GOTY 2016

[licketysplit]

Both Dishonored and Mankind Divided were my biggest disappointments. I was so sure both of those dev teams would deliver greatness. 

[Oner]

You know... I'm not sure I even played anything that was released this year...

 

Oh wait, Halcyon 6. I guess it wins by default?

[Keyrock]

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. I was going to wait until I finished it, but I'm far enough in that only a ME3 level ending fiasco could sour the experience enough to knock it down off this year's top spot. This gem of a game not only revived what was a dead genre, it did so in style. I consider 2016 the year that procedurally generated became a dirty word(s) and Shadow Tactics shows the value of hand crafting content. Simply put, Shadow Tactics has the best level design I have seen in a game in years. The game is ruthlessly difficult (as it should be) but fair. Enemy placement and patrol routes combined with meticulously crafted environments create a series of at first seemingly impossible challenges that nevertheless have multiple solutions and reguire imagination, strategy, coordination, and increasingly more razor thin timing. The difficulty curve is near perfect and the design excellence never wavers, plus fresh challenges appear regularly. This is the triumphant spiritual succesor to Commandos.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

Enter the Gungeon - Proving that procedurally generated can work well under the right circumstances.

 

Tyranny - Mediocre combat is bolstered by an interesting setting and great choice and consequence.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Keyrock

[Katphood]

I would like to change my GOTY from DOOM to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.    Haven't finished it yet but good lord...this game was made for PS2 era hardware and still it manages to suck me in like no other game this year.

[redneckdevil]

Changing mine to FF 15. Not the best game whatsoever, but it's one of the few games this year to hold my attention.

[Fenixp]

I actually found Dishonoured 2 and Mankind Divided to be two of the year's most underwhelming games. Not because they're bad, but because they felt like a backward step.

I get Mankind Divided, had the same feeling, but why Dishonored 2?

[Tel Aviv]

 

I actually found Dishonoured 2 and Mankind Divided to be two of the year's most underwhelming games. Not because they're bad, but because they felt like a backward step.

I get Mankind Divided, had the same feeling, but why Dishonored 2?

 

I think its too much the same game, and it has all the same issues as the first - a lacklustre story and characters most of all. They have some terrific writers at Arkane - you only have to read the books and diaries in-world to realise that - and all the potential is there for a ripping yarn yet they can't seem to make good on that promise. I can't say I'm sold on voiced protagonists either.

 

Also, as much as I like Karnaca its no Dunwall. In Dishonoured it felt like every mission told me something greater about the city itself. Other than The Dust District, I didn't get that same feeling from the sequel. Even The Dreadful Wale felt pretty lifeless in comparison to The Hound Pits Pub.

 

Having said that, my expectations were sky-high ...to the point of being unrealistic. I think it's good overall, great in places (level design) - just not quite the transcendent life-affirming experience I was hoping for.

[Fenixp]

Yeah, I can definitely see where you're coming from. When it comes to lore and storytelling, Dishonored 2 certainly was a step back from the original. I was mostly loving the gameplay changes and improvements in level design, but Karnaca just didn't have feeling of an actual place as strong as Dunwall did (it's still leagues above what most games have to offer tho)

[sorophx]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/goty_vote.php

there's a poll up on The Codex, contains all RPGs from 2012 to 2016, and it turns out my favorite RPG of the last 4 years is Borderlands The Pre-sequel. who would've thought...

Edited January 15, 2017 by sorophx