We’ll officially do something next month. But given that most of the major releases are already out – with the exception of Final Fantasy 15, which doesn’t land until the 29th – it seemed as good a time as any to get your take on the GOTY of 2017.
It’s undoubtedly been a great year if you like shooting stuff. Putting aside the Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and Call of Duty triumvirate, 2016 had already been really accommodating. February had SUPERHOT, which should be a good pickup right about now, and I’d be surprised if DOOM doesn’t end up on most lists for the singleplayer alone.
Overwatch has left an undeniable mark on the genre, but other games that have broken through include Paladins. I’ve personally gotten a lot of enjoyment out of Destiny: Rise of Iron, having largely skipped it for the last couple of years, and I’m now at the point where I’m a little obsessed with climbing the ranks.
But other things that come to mind: the new Jackbox Pack was great, although you have to give it a bit more time than the others. Stardew Valley is a special beast. Pokemon GO was a special ride that might not have lasted as long as people liked, but it was fascinating nonetheless. And Sun and Moon have proven to be superb anyway, but Pokemon Uranium shouldn’t be ignored either.
And then you’ve got titles like Uncharted 4. The Witcher 3’s superb expansion. Pony Island. Dark Souls 3. The surprisingly good Hitman. Civilization 6. XCOM 2 was a thing. Planet Coaster has put a lot of smiles on people’s faces already.
And then there was VR: the Rift, then the Vive, then PSVR, and all the games that followed.
So tell us. What’s been your favourite of the year so far, at least from what you’ve been able to play? (Because let’s face it, next month a lot of people are going to be playing catch up. That’s the fun of the holidays, right?)
Comments
77 responses to “Tell Us Dammit: Your Game Of The Year So Far”
I’ve fallen so far behind new games that the only two games I played this year that were released this year were Stardew Valley and Pokemon Go.
Pokemon Go is a battery draining waste of time so by default, Stardew Valley is my GOTY so far.
That’s not a bad thing in the slightest though. Stardew Valley is brilliant. It’s the perfect spiritual successor to Harvest Moon. Balancing nostalgia with updated and refined mechanics. It’s just rad. I should go play some more.
@Trjn
STARDEW VALLEY 4LYF
150 hours and counting, Stardew Valley is bloody brilliant. You picked a good game to play out of the great ones to come this year!
Stuff choosing a game of the year. This is the year of the game! Let’s just award 2016. Considering all the other bullshit occurring at the moment I would like to just reflect fondly on the abundance of sheer joy and entertainment I have had with a huge range of games.
EVE Online
As a self proclaimed hater of the idea of the Dark souls games, im pleasantly surprised at how much i got into DS3…. after the rage subsided and i could see the sexy underneath… im hooked, 80 hours into DS3 not started NG+ or the DLC (have completed main “story”) but it made me want to play the first before playing any more of 3… so now im 23 hours into Dark Souls prepare to die edition… and i dont think i’ll quit any time soon…
So my vote is DS3
And having gone back to DS1, how great is the interlocking design of the world? DS3 just doesn’t manage to do it as well.
Yeah, the world was a big reason I kept pushing through. I was actually having an easier time in 2 but just stopped (even though I was enjoying it).
I will get 3, but happy to wait for a complete version.
I’ve only just made it about half way through Blighttown (NOT a fan of this area), but yeah it surprises me how connected the Undead Burg and Parish are and then when you randomly end up at fire-link and your like…. AHHHH i see how that happened.
Easily doom and battlefield 1.
Doom is one of the best games I’ve ever played. The multiplayer is fast and action packed. Give it another go, guys!
Battlefield 1. Amazing launch, beautiful graphics, the maps are great and huge, the sound design is the best you can get in a game, i love the gun play and vehicle play, some very funny moments as well lol. I’ll be playing it for years to come, along with still playing battlefield 4.
What this guy said 100%.
Yeah new DOOM single player absolutely knocked it out of the park. Happily surprised by how good it was and refreshing an Arena shooter was in this day and age
Doom is great, and so is Battlefield 1, though I desperately want a mod for BF1 where when you die in multiplayer in goes to the black screen from the single player intro level and gives you a random name and date of birth and date of death… I like the emotional hit of the futility of war that would bring to the multiplayer.
I played a lot of older games this year in an effort to catch up. I would say Dishonoured 1 is my game of the year. Ha.
I love GOTY stuff!!!
It’s got to be Uncharted. It was just flat out fun, and surprisingly emotional.
That, and Firewatch took me on a proper journey with feels.
It’s hard, I’ve liked a lot of stuff this year…
but The Witness was really very special.
Has to be The Witness.
I didn’t play NMS but almost everything else felt a 2.0 of something we’ve seen before.
As much as I’ve played Overwatch, my vote is going towards DOOM. A game that makes me proud to be a gamer.
I would say Squad because of the amount of hours I’ve put into back it was released late last year.
So I’ll just give it DooM. DooM showed that singleplayer campaigns for FPS’s can still be great without it just being a narrow corridor to set pieces.
Dark Souls 3 is my pick – and it’s not like I’ve finished it either (I only beat the Deacon’s of the Deep last night!!!) though watched on vicariously as my now 13 yo (who has waaaay more free time) beat the game twice!
Close second is SuperHOT which I switched Xbox regions to get (stupid compliant Microsoft!) and Rocket League which is incredible!
Forza Horizon 3. Out of all the new games this is the one I keep going back too.
Oh snap……forgot about that one. It was great.
Pokemon Moon followed by DOOM.
That’s the only really good new stuff I’ve played this year.
Older stuff I got to try & loved was Shadow Hearts on PS2 & Pillars of Eternity because I got a PC.
I also started Morrowind for the first time, but early to give an opinion on though.
Morrowind is a buggy, sprawling, irritating, and glorious mess. Insane wizards live in four story mushrooms that require levitation spells to access. I’m not sure what could be better.
The best bug/exploit I ever found in Morrowind was creating intelligence potions, drinking them so I could make better intelligence potions (the potion efficacy scales off intellect), and so on and so forth. Then, when you’re intelligence is ridiculously high, you make a speed potion, drink it and tap forward sending you speeding along so fast that you’re likely to pass right through the world because the collision detection can’t keep up.
Then you reload and see what other insane potions you can make.
I’ve added some mods to sort out some of the SHIT & make it all look a tad prettier.
Enjoying it so far, but man is the start a slow burn.
Titanfall 2 had an incredible single player campaign… I’d say it was better that Doom.
I keep coming back to the Titanfall 2 level with the SMART Pistol… it was so good.
Also, XCom 2 came out this year.
What else… Uncharted, Gears, Battlefield, Mafia 3, Forza, Inside, Civ 6,
Not mentioned is all the VR shovel ware.
I’m with you- Titanfall 2 is great. I am looking forward to playing the campaign through again, which is something I haven’t done for yeasrs. The multiplayer is surprisingly addictive too.
Overwatch is the game I’ve played most of, but I’d be interested in knowing if we can nominate Rimworld? It’s not officially released as it’s still in alpha, but it’s certainly pushed into new territory and isn’t just another FPS or JRPG with a fresh coat of paint. Game of the year should be something that shows how games can grow and what they can be capable of, not just “same game as the last one, graphics were great 10/10”.
Definitely the Witness for me. Different, thought provoking, beautiful, and consumed my every waking thought for weeks. A master class in how to guide players on what to do without actually telling them.
Shame it was so early in the year, such that it may be overlooked by many in the (admittedly meaningless) awards.
Yeah, that Final Caretaker, Lost Garden, Last Graduation or whatever it is is pretty unremarkable. I don’t know why anyone really cares about it. ^_-
For me my GOTYs this year have been Salt & Sanctuary, Odin Sphere: Leifthraisir, Dragon Quest Builders and World of Final Fantasy. I never expected to enjoy those last two as much as I did.
Dark souls 3… was there any other choice.
Honourable metions
– DOOM (way better than I expected)
– Stranger in sword city
– Witcher 3 (GOTY edition)
Dark Souls 3
Overwatch
Battlefield 1
XCOM 2
Hopefully FFXV can be added to this list.
I thought it would be Dark Souls 3, but nope: Uncharted 4 blew it away.
Where’s all the No Mans Sky love?
In a tissue, flushed don the toilet…
I haven’t played that many new games, but:
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Pokémon Moon
Overwatch
Probably have the most playtime/have been enjoyed the most.
Finally played Gravity Rush and really enjoyed it, too.
The Division, believe it or not. Despite it’s massive (no pun intended) hiccups and technical issues, it’s a game I just keep going back to and having a blast, both solo and with friends.
Honorable mentions to Titanfall 2 and Doom.
Doom was just…. everything I needed it to be. I can’t describe it any other way. And this is from a 30 something year old with precious, precious memories of Doom on kludged serial cables on an old 386 way back when. I didn’t think it could break through the nostalgia, but it didn’t try. It turns out it didn’t need to. It was just Doom.
I remember this guy
Dad? Is that you?
Sooooooooooooooon (that doesn’t say soon)
Firewatch. I will admit to saltwater leakage from my eyeballs while playing through that.
Dark Souls 3, prefer Bloodborne but nothing has topped it for me this year.
Deus Ex was awesome, Dishonoured 2 is great and Battlefield 1 will be played for the next 2 years weekly.
Can we vote for Bloodborne this year too? If so, let’s give it the award!
I’d like to place my Bloodborne vote for every year.
Screw it! Bloodborne for GOTY!
Stardew Valley would be my GOTY and Doom would be the runner up. I have been waiting so long for a game like harvest moon but better.
@PiratePete
Every vote for Stardew Valley makes me so happy
Kind of a difficult choice really. I reserve judgement until FF15 drops and I get a chance to spend some time with it but for now, the newly released Pokemon Sun/Moon make the grade for me.
There is simply so much to like about all the little improvements in the game. Competitively I expect it to open up in January with the release of PokeBank etc. but at this stage it has done something (well 2 things) that I haven’t had happen to me in a Pokemon game. First is that I give a shit about characters and story, second that the game has a higher difficulty to the point where I actually lost a battle with an NPC.
Tough one. I’d probably have to go:
Titanfall 2
Runners up:
Doom
Dark Souls 3
Overwatch
Forza Horizon 3
(Keep in mind that I’m less than an hour into Dishonored 2 thanks to performance issues)
FED FORCE!
And Star Fox.
– The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine :p
I’m counting it because, let’s be honest, if any other dev released this it’d almost be counted as an entire game. Absolutely incredible.
Honourable mentions go to Titanfall 2, Battlefield 1 and Forza Horizon 3.
The metric I use for my ‘favourite game’ is that I think about playing it even when I’m not able to game.
I play and think about Overwatch A LOT. Overwatch is my family.
Why you no play with us then?
I’m on PS4, highperforma89; I’m a Lucio main 😉
Ah, that’s why. We play on PC master race.
As far as AAA games go, would have to say uncharted 4, I didnt really get blown away by anything else this year, although Deus ex was really enjoyable. Haven’t gotten around to dishonoured 2 or dark souls 3 yet, so who knows might change my mind at some point. Plus there are a couple more games to look forward to before the year is out.
I guess I have to go with Overwatch. Not meaning to sound unenthused as Overwatch is great fun, but this year has been a bit dull for PC games overall.
I barely ever buy games in the year they are released (this saves me a lot of money and hype doesn’t ruin otherwise good games) so I’ve barely played any of them and found Super Hot to be rather disappointing. N++ was a major highlight of this year, but I’m not sure if that counts as it was a remake/ re-release on PC.
The games I’ve enjoyed the most this year then are all from a year or 10 ago, Mass Effect makes an appearance as it does almost every year, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 also makes it on every year as does Team Fortress 2. Dreamfall: Chapters actually was from this year and while I enjoyed it it was only for the series it’s a part of, the game itself wasn’t fantastic. I finally played Gone Home and that has to be my favourite (new) experience from this year.
Increasingly I’m wondering why I even bother buying new (AAA) games at all, I’m pretty satisfied replaying the Mass Effect series, the Half-Life series and a bunch of TF2, while indie/smaller titles like N++, Gone Home, Undertale, Her Story and The Music Machine pretty much satisfy me on every level (game-playwise that’s N++, storywise that’s Her Story or Gone Home and writingwise that’s The Music Machine or Undertale).
Maybe I’ve just been spoiled, or perhaps my cynicism has reached new heights, but the best AAA games (on PC at least) for me are better the 2nd (or 8th in the case of Half-Life and friends) time around than the first play-through of most new games in their respective genres. ME Andromeda is the first AAA game in ages I’ve held any excitement for and that’s mostly because Bioware were claiming they were aiming for more of an ME:1 experience.
I can’t decide between DOOM, Hyper Light Drifter, or Titanfall 2.
Great year though.
Yay finally some hyper light love in here! Amazing experience.
Forza Horizon 3, although that all depends on how good FFXV is!
Zero Time Dilemma for me.
Firewatch will probably be up there too- it’s in my holidays hit list. Also I imagine FFXV and The Last Guardian will be too. Telltale’s Batman too, except I’m waiting for the full season to come out before starting it.
Oh and Blood and Wine! DLC of the century.
rocket league.
Stellaris
Have you played the DLC yet? I’m trying to decide whether now is a good time to jump back into the game.
Favourite game of the year… same as every year. Te spectacle of watching game developers and publishers make such obvious mistakes and act all confused why consumers turn against them or abonden them so quickly. Or how these publishers are praying the purest diehard fans can keep them afloat on micro transactions after they release buggy, incomplete and woefully featureless games as part of a rush schedule as they try to remake and sequel every IP they own with dismal results.
2016: the year of the shooter.
2016: full of tons of fantastic indies.
2016: most of the AAA’s were solid to real good.
2016: everything was shit, but video games were great.
That’s pretty much my takeaway.
Surprisingly, I’d probably have to say hyper light drifter. I got pretty obsessed with it.
If not that, it’d be Dark Souls 3, I certainly played it enough.
Enter the Gungeon
Overwatch. I just keep playing the bloody thing
I haven’t played a lot of new games this year but would say Civ 6. First civ game in a long while that didn’t feel like a big step backwards compared to the previous version.
I found that Doom had the best campaign of 2016 but I did not enjoy the multiplayer. So I have to give it to Gears 4. It had a really fun campaign and it followed up with a rock solid multiplayer.
I feel kinda bad for saying this being a massive Souls/Borne fanboy but my GOTY is probably Overwatch. Spent so many goddamn hours playing with friends.
I blame … @scree, and the schools.
But… Ana said that it would be okay.
Overwatch!
Dark Souls 3 and maybe Dishonored 2 which I haven’t started.
Well I bought 2 games this year (from memory) World of Warcraft: Legion on & Mafia III on PS4. Both whilst okay, I wouldn’t award either the title of Game of the Year..
As a unabashed cheapskate, I really can’t wait until next year when all these great single player games go on sale – DOOM, XCOM2, Fallout 4, Titanfall 2… it’s gonna be glorious.
That being said, I did fork out for a couple of AAA games this year. Battlefield 1 has been something special, but Overwatch has stolen the show. Coming from Dota being my go-to competitive game, it’s been a joy to be able to play a competitive game that doesn’t require a 1+ hour commitment to start.