What is the best video game you've played this year?

Question is pretty self explanatory. It doesn't have to be specifically a game that came out this year, however, it has been a really good year for video games this year you'd have to admit.

Anyways, as you can probably assume by the cover image, my best game I've played this year so far has been Life Is Strange. I'm the kind of gamer that loves games that give me an emotional connection to the character. Bioshock Infinite did that for me with Elizaberh, as well Destiny with the Guardian that I've poured (too) many hours into. Life Is Strange had such excellent character development that at different points in the game my heart sank and stopped by what was happening. I generally avoid episodic games like the plague, but this is a "must-play" game for others.

Honorable mention goes to Dark Souls 3. I perfected that game, meaning I got all the achievements for that game, something which is no small feat. The music is amazing, the boss fights are stellar - fuck you Nameless King - and the environments are rich and engaging. Can't wait for the DLC to drop in October.

It's hack and slash combat/bullet hell mix of a game where you play as a samurai looking guy and only fight bosses. No stages, no mooks, just bosses. And every single one of those bosses is hard and challenging and fairly unique from both design and gameplay perspective. The music also fits each boss and their gameplay perfectly. There are 10 bosses currently, and 3 difficulties (Promenade which is a pushover, Furi which is the normal difficulty, Furier is the hard difficulty, and believe me it IS hard), but the publishers are thinking of adding some DLC.

I love this game. Currently 31/33 in achievements. Only missing the achievements for beating Furier difficulty and one for S ranking it. Also I think 46th Speedrunner in the world (maybe I got pushed down a little though since I last checked).

Game is on 20% sale on Steam atm if anybody wants to check it out (idk about PS4). Highly recommend if you like difficult and challenging games. It is a little bit expensive for the content it offers atm though, so I would recommend to check out some videos or something before getting it.

Admittedly, I haven't played as many games this year, but this award has to go to the game I've put the most hours in this year - Stardew Valley. It's just a combination of all my favorite things + the nostalgia of Harvest Moon, though I'm sure it's enjoyable even if you haven't played HM. It's what I mentioned in the other thread about what kinds of games I like most - I love building things from ground up, and I got to do that a lot here; building relationships, building my farm, building a family, building up my character, etc. It's a laidback, fun game with lots of freedom of what you can focus on, and for a long time it felt like the amount of things I could do in it was endless (but, of course, eventually I did run out of things to do, which brings me to my next point).

Another thing I love about it is has a dedicated dev who loves the game himself. It really shows how much he cares about the community, the way he still tirelessly works on this game months after its release, updating it, improving it, putting his heart and soul into it. It's a game that's still growing, and I can't wait to see where it goes next!

I think the game I've enjoyed playing the most this year would be Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. As a fan of both Naughty Dog and all the previous Uncharted games, I was super excited for this game, and it definitely didn't fail to deliver. The visuals are among the best I've seen in a game, and (as standard with Naughty Dog games these days) the gameplay + story are incredibly enjoyable. I'm a history buff too, so being able to explore (albeit fictional) lost pirate colonies and absorb the beauty of uninhabited islands is a real treat.

I had a blast playing this game and I definitely recommend it to anyone who has a PS4 and enjoys action/adventure games.

Juno said:

Admittedly, I haven't played as many games this year, but this award has to go to the game I've put the most hours in this year - Stardew Valley. It's just a combination of all my favorite things + the nostalgia of Harvest Moon, though I'm sure it's enjoyable even if you haven't played HM. It's what I mentioned in the other thread about what kinds of games I like most - I love building things from ground up, and I got to do that a lot here; building relationships, building my farm, building a family, building up my character, etc. It's a laidback, fun game with lots of freedom of what you can focus on, and for a long time it felt like the amount of things I could do in it was endless (but, of course, eventually I did run out of things to do, which brings me to my next point).

Another thing I love about it is has a dedicated dev who loves the game himself. It really shows how much he cares about the community, the way he still tirelessly works on this game months after its release, updating it, improving it, putting his heart and soul into it. It's a game that's still growing, and I can't wait to see where it goes next!

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That's really awesome to hear! So I'm curious: you compared it to Harvest Moon, while personally for me - and most likely others - I think if Minecraft. Has the creator been updating the game to add new content to the game through free updates similar to what a Minecraft does? I remember watching a video of someone play it when the game initially came out and it looked like you could do a lot in the game already.

El Héroe Oscuro said:

That's really awesome to hear! So I'm curious: you compared it to Harvest Moon, while personally for me - and most likely others - I think if Minecraft. Has the creator been updating the game to add new content to the game through free updates similar to what a Minecraft does? I remember watching a video of someone play it when the game initially came out and it looked like you could do a lot in the game already.

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Yup! He's always updating the site with what he's planning on adding, and there's still a bunch of stuff he's working on. I believe he just opened beta for his big 1.1 update, which has a ton of new features and late-game content for those who have finished with most of the original content and have earned way more money than they can spend, lol. New quests and stuff too, I hear, and they're still planning on implementing multiplayer, something I'm super excited for.

The best game I've played this year? Tricky... I can't pick just one (call me scared of commitment), so here are my top few:

Best original concept / gaming experience: Kerbal Space Program
Best game to play with a friend: Rocket League
Best at wasting away the hours: Fallout 4
Best game I revisited: Pokemon Emerald

As of right now it's a tie between Overwatch and Forza Horizon 3. I'm only taking into consideration new games. I have a feeling though that Infinite Warfare will probably top the list, as I am a shameless COD fanboy.

OMG i love life is strange. i haven't played it myself because i've watched people play it via streams so it isn't worth it for me to buy the game.
The best game i have played this year is..monster hunter generations for the 3ds.
it's great, but i haven't played that much lately...
this might change once i try out disney magical world 2.

Kotone said:

OMG i love life is strange. i haven't played it myself because i've watched people play it via streams so it isn't worth it for me to buy the game.
The best game i have played this year is..monster hunter generations for the 3ds.
it's great, but i haven't played that much lately...
this might change once i try out disney magical world 2.

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Did you watch all five episodes on stream? Cause if you did than I need to vent all my feels with ya about the game ):

So far, it's been...

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jaam Bros
Luigi's Mansion 2
Dragon Quest VII (I'm not even that far in to the game yet)

And the best ROM Hacks I've played are...
Pokémon Vega
Super Mario Land 3: Tatanga Returns

DOOM 2016.

There's a whole fckin reason why my current signature's centerpiece is the Doom Slayer, or the 2016 Doomguy surrounded by some other badass mother fckrz, along with Doomguy's less popular older brother in BJ Blaszkowicz, Master cuck Chief, Salvador the Gunzerker, the Homefront Guy, Graves of League of Legends, and even Daniel Lamb from Painkiller.

There's something about Doom 2016 that just made me feel happy, like a trigger happy crazed demon slayer, terrorist hunting, League hyper carrying jungling sumbeach. Doom 2016 to me was simply put that FPS game that simply told the genre "HEY FIRST PERSON SHOOTING! WE CAN BE FCKING GREAT AGAIN, BE MANLY AS FCUK, HAVE MUSCLES OVER OUR PECS OVER OUR PECS, YELL IN ALLCAPS, smash pointless exposition in the face, Rip and Tear, and have a blasting great time! AND NOT BE SOME GAMES WHERE WE HAVE TO PRESS Z TO PAY FCKIN RESPECTS, BE A TYPICAL ON RAILS MICHEAL BAY SIMULATOR RIPOFF OVERLY LINEAR PIECES OF CODCUCK". Of course, i would not say that Doom 2016 was the sole MANLY slap in the face in the FPS genre when games before our lovely Doom reboot such as in Shadow Warrior 2013 and Wolfenstein the New Order (2014) have helped the genre rise to the necessary levels of testosterone and manliness.. but DOOM 2016 completed the ever growing circle of hope and bulletstorms. It had a lot to prove.. and I'd write that in a future game review some time why i believe it has succeeded. Coming soon.. hopefully.

Okay for a game not necessarily released in 2016...

Wolfenstein the New Order (2014): LUL XIN YOU FCKIN IDSOFTWARE FANBOI! First of all you smutty lil bandit, Wolfenstein the New Order was developed by Machine Games with still some cooperation with Idsoftware (since Wolftenstein is Idsoftware IP), secondly, I have played Wolfenstein the New Order just last year but only for 5 minutes. This year, i finally got to play more of it and I have to say... Wolf TNO is simply one of the games that really is helping the First Person Shooter genre raise its balls and its levels of manhood. I'm so glad that I got to play this and I have to say.. this is definitely one of the reasons why I love the genre so much. The only problem with Wolf TNO for me is that it still has its "Modern FPS" tropes and cliches but its quickly shruged off when the action starts. Not to mention, Wolf TNO for what it is has an excellent story that is quite rare to find in a rather mindlessly fun and great First Person Shootin game.

El Héroe Oscuro said:

Did you watch all five episodes on stream? Cause if you did than I need to vent all my feels with ya about the game ):

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haha yes i did. we can vent together <3

Children of a Dead Earth, a space combat simulator, as in ultra-realism with N-body orbital mechanics and combat encounters lasting seconds, using design-it-yourself equipment and ships. Everything in the game is mathematically modelled based on real-world data with only a scant few assumptions thrown in (extrapolated from current trends in tech advancement, no less); there are no health meters or anything. It's a very nuanced game, and not necessarily even a game, with the driving purpose of its creation being to provide a means to discover what space warfare would actually turn out to look like once you plug all the math into an accessible format and let a minmaxing playerbase search for optimal designs and tactics.

I find it fascinating, and I hope someone else who comes here and reads this post will too; it's the sort of game that deserves one of those tiny but extremely dedicated fanbases.

Cassino said:

Children of a Dead Earth, a space combat simulator, as in ultra-realism with N-body orbital mechanics and combat encounters lasting seconds, using design-it-yourself equipment and ships. Everything in the game is mathematically modelled based on real-world data with only a scant few assumptions thrown in (extrapolated from current trends in tech advancement, no less); there are no health meters or anything. It's a very nuanced game, and not necessarily even a game, with the driving purpose of its creation being to provide a means to discover what space warfare would actually turn out to look like once you plug all the math into an accessible format and let a minmaxing playerbase search for optimal designs and tactics.

I find it fascinating, and I hope someone else who comes here and reads this post will too; it's the sort of game that deserves one of those tiny but extremely dedicated fanbases.

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This is absolutely my kind of thing! I just added it to my Steam wishlist. It looks awesome!

I had a lot of fun playing the Witcher III, so I'll go with that.

Thus far...

Megadimension Neptunia VII
Pokemon Heart Gold*
Forza Horizon 3
Rare Replay*

*Replay of a game I haven't played through in a long time

I haven't really played anything particularly new this year. Rather it's been games that I've wanted to revisit for the longest time. There are some games I wanna try before years end though, whether they came out one year ago or twenty.

While its obviously a game that's far older than it should be, i feel like i want to say that...

Borderlands 2 especially after getting all the must have DLCs save for any of the headhunter packs has gotten to be one of my favorite games that I have played for quite a time. I remember getting Borderands 1 just last year and I loved that game, then came Borderlands 2 where upon being lucky enough to get it during a sale, I was able to play it long enough to be my number 1 past time after Doom. After spending 400++ hours in Pandora, i can finally say that my vacation in Pandora is finally over and i can go back to my other daily routines.

Also, Fire Emblem Fates, a game that got its international release early this year. This is another of my 3DS games that I've really embraced for it being such a huge improvement over Awakening, a game that literally stole my heart last year. This game also manages to steal my heart in such a way that despite me not being a really hardcore fan of the FE Franchise, Fates and Awakening have helped me at least get a nice grasp of why people love FE so much.

And for another that I just got thanks to a good friend of mine, Halo 1 for the PC. Yep. A classic and its PC port. a game that I played several years ago in an internet cafe, now in my laptop. In exchange for Halo 1 for the PC, i gave my copy of Duke Nukem 3D to a friend who has never fully played DN3D before.

As for 2016 in releases, for some it may not be as good for some people, but for me, 2016 just gave me the lovely doses that i needed. Doom reboot (already mentioned previously how this game gave me an endless Joygasm the minute i played it), Overwatch, Homefront: The Revolution (it may be mediocre, but its still one of those games that made me feel happy) Gears of War Ultimate Edition (via a friend's place), Hyrule Warriors legends, and it just keeps getting better for me.

Xin said:

Also, Fire Emblem Fates, a game that got its international release early this year. This is another of my 3DS games that I've really embraced for it being such a huge improvement over Awakening, a game that literally stole my heart last year. This game also manages to steal my heart in such a way that despite me not being a really hardcore fan of the FE Franchise, Fates and Awakening have helped me at least get a nice grasp of why people love FE so much.

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This is exactly why I love Fire Emblem Fates, especially the third version (Revelations). Though.... I haven't really played that many games this year yet haha.