Earlier this week I asked everyone, if they could be so kind, to vote on their favourite game of the year. Very graciously, you responded. So without further ado, here are the reader-voted favourite games of 2016.
In third place …
DOOM
There might not have been much to do with SnapMap at launch, and I’ve said plenty about the multiplayer. But even though the Australian pricing of DOOM yo-yo’d a little it didn’t stop the campaign from being an absolute blast.
It was a super tight vote between DOOM and Stardew Valley for third, but DOOM eventually squeaked it out with 8% of the vote. Good job, Doom Guy.
But let’s move on: the runner-up for your favourite game of the year was:
Uncharted 4
Nathan Drake has been a bit quiet on the honours list this year, but you certainly didn’t forget him. The best climbing game of 2016 had plenty of exceptionally well crafted scenes, and was a fitting end to Drake’s exhausting, swashbuckling life. Now I just hope him and Elena settle down to regular battles of Crash Bandicoot to see who does the dishes.
Uncharted 4 had a pretty clear gap from DOOM for #2, with 12% of the vote. But it didn’t come within a hair of your favourite …
And finally … the Kotaku Australia’ readers favourite game of 2016:
Overwatch
Not a big surprise this one. It’s been the one game that people consistently played, talked about, read, and watched throughout the whole year. It’s also a stunning return to form for Blizzard, after all the blood, sweat and tears they poured into Project Titan. That development wasn’t all for naught.
Overwatch ended up winning with 25% of the vote, more than double what Uncharted 4 got. It was a runaway winner from the outset, especially considering there were a lot of titles fighting it out for smaller honours.
Here’s some of your other favourites:
- Stardew Valley: coming in at #4 with 7% of the vote, this very narrowly missed out on the podium. It was beloved inside the Kotaku Australia offices though, with Amanda and I giving it plenty of love.
- Dark Souls 3: There was one vote between Dark Souls 3 and Stardew Valley, which seems a little staggering considering a) how accomplished it is and b) how beloved the Dark Souls series is on the site. Perhaps that’s the true indicator of how many good games there have been this year.
- Final Fantasy 15: The last honourable mention with 5% of the vote. The problems with the second half of the story didn’t detract from the fact that FF15 is perhaps the most accessible Final Fantasy game ever released, and a true sight to behold. There is the whole part where you have to spend hours listening to Prompto, but that’s balanced out by the ability to leave him to his own devices in combat. That’ll teach him to take photos from my bad side.
So those are your favourite games of the year. But stay tuned – later today we’ll have your most disappointing games of 2016.
Comments
24 responses to “2016’s Game Of The Year, As Voted By You”
Good.
That’s cool, I’ll wait for the follow-up article where you clarify that the actual game of the year was No Man’s Sky 🙂
Ah, I think I see what you’re getting at here. But even in that regard, I think Overwatch would still beat out NMS on that front.
GOTY in the same way Donald Trump was Time’s Person of the Year?
Clearly my best game of the year. I just cant stop playing it.
Dammit. This is why we can’t have nice things.
By which I mean, this sort of thing is why people like EA’s president say that there’s no point in making single-player/offline games. ;_;
EA have the best intentions.
We as responsible adults need to know who in the squealer demographic have slept with one or both of our parents. This is the fastest way to find out, multiplayer only, can’t play without a connected headset.
Thanks EA *Dale Cooper level thumbs up*
Dont understand this? Doom has a pretty good single player. Uncharted 4 has an excellent single player. Stardew Valley is single player only I believe? FFXV is a single player only game. Thats 4 of the top 6 mentioned above. Not to mention No Man’s Sky (not offline, but it’s a single player game), Ace Attorney 6, Fire Emblem Birthright etc, Pokemon Sun and Moon, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Civilization 6 can be played single player…and that’s just this years games that I can think of…
Is this purely because Overwatch got a unanimous victory in this poll? Because, unlike a lot of garbage multiplayer games, Overwatch is actually fun for a lot of people and is very accessible. It’s a gem in a lot of rough…
FFXV may have done a bit better if it didn’t alienate half the gamers out there by being exclusive to consoles til the end of next year at the earliest..
PC snobs alienate themselves.
If I see a console in the next year that can pull 4k res at ultra graphics, I will concede your point. Until then, #PC4Life 😛
Oh man, I missed all this. Would have voted for Ace Attorney 6 for sure. Honourable mention to Uncharted 4.
Stardew Valley beating Dark Souls 3 in votes is not surprising. It appeals to a different segment of the market than Doom, Overwatch and Dark Souls 3.
I bet there are plenty of Dark Souls 3 fans who just ended up voting for another game.
I missed voting, but I would have voted for DS3 for sure
So… it’s your fault.
Yup
Yup. I liked Dark Souls 3, but since I vastly preferred DS1 and felt really let down by many aspects of 3, it doesn’t sit as high in my list as something I’m still utterly in love with, like FF15.
25% for overwatch? What unrepresentative swill living in an isolated petri-dish of self validation.
You are all terrible people for not voting DOOM, given it is the most fun singleplayer game in years.
Keep your multiplayer bollocks. Ho hum, bah humbug, pish posh, what tosh.
It takes me ten minutes to find a game on Overwatch. Then once that’s done, spend another ten minutes looking for a game. No thanks.
When are you playing? The longest I’ve ever waited for a game (since I purchased it in May) was 5 minutes and that happened once ever. average wait time is probably 2 minutes or so…
You’ve all disappointed me greatly.
This electoral college voting thing is a racket.
the gaming world is obsessed with online multiplayer.
Is it?
It’s hard to tell. Most SP games these days have multi-player elements but how many people actually play them.
MP games on face value would be cheaper to make. No story, no voice acting etc etc.
Hmmm. I consider myself a gamer of pretty diverse tastes, but i just don’t get the Overwatch hype. Maybe its cuz I’m getting older, but i hate its asthetic. Saccharine sweet and reeking of disney/pixar-esque perfection n polish (yet i still love Ninty’s cheery styles, particularly Wind Waker). And for some unknown reason I just can’t stomach it’s overdone “welcome all” ethos. Just how thick does the “safe, welcome place for all” schtick need to be? And yes it does feel like a “feature” or sales bullet point. Games can be inclusive without being told over n over just how inclusive n diverse they are. Now i know it obviously wouldn’t work with a coat of 40k brand grimdark, nor would i want it to be a douchebag mecca of “leets vs scrubs” a la COD. But… Oh idk. I know its a finely balanced team shooter but it just feels so damn shallow, with bugger all moves or depth. No alternate movesets to choose and switch up. So every tracer, reaper ,bastion etc will always play the same every damn game. Like its sacrificing any entry level difficulty on the altar of accessibility and leaving your only tactical pre game option being which chars on the team, an exercise in herding cats when playing randos if there ever was. Splatoon felt like it had more depth, learning curve and just a tiny bit of sass n grit. Look im sorry about yet another rant. To all Overwatch players who are perfectly happy with their game of choice- power to u guys. I envy the fondness you feel for it. Ive looked for that and ive tried so hard to enjoy it, but if I have to “try” to enjoy something, i clearly wont. Bah humbug. I’ll just boot up Doom (my GOTY) and clock it again. And follow it up with some BF1 with my mates for what i feel is a more deep, customisable team experience.
Tldr- PIXAR: The Shooty Game Tie In ©®™ pales beside the abotoir-grade majesty of DOOM.
RIP AND TEAR!!!