Overall, most people would consider 2016 to have been a bit of a dumpster fire, but even with that characterization of the year, some good games came out this year, more than any responsible “adult” could play if it wasn’t their primary job to do so.
With that, there’s are my personal top five games of 2016.
- Civilization VI
The Civilization series has always been solid with their main numbered titles, and Civ VI is no exception. Bringing a wealth of new leaders and interesting abilities, Civ VI has had me playing several multiple-day games without getting bored too easily. It’s greatness, however, is tempered by its similarity to previous titles. It is still a Civilization game, through and through, and I miss the unit stacking ability from previous Civilization titles that has been missing in the past few instances.
- Firewatch
This game from Campo Santo was a great surprise. The story and performances in this game were quick to grab my attention and make me invested in the story quite quickly. The great dialogue between the two characters Henry and Delilah and its simple, yet elegant design was enough to entice me to play it all in one sitting. Some of the plot structure does fall flat at the end of the story, but seems more true to life, with elaborate theories made up in the desperation of isolation turning out to be far simpler than imagined.
- Mafia III
This game had an amazing setting and an amazing story. shifting forward in time from the previous Mafia series to the mid to late 60’s and changing the protagonist from an Italian mobster to a black Vietnam Vet coming back home and getting swept up in a gang war.
The series kept some times to the old characters, but let the new ones shine through. The detail of the open world was quite satisfactory even though the gameplay lacked true variety in later stages of the story.
- Fallout: Far Harbor (and other Fallout expansions)
This expansion to Fallout 4 brought a great story and some interesting choices, including a glimpse into the past of one of the original Fallout 4 companions, Nick Valentine. While Far Harbor was my favorite expansion to Fallout 4, the other expansions brought much needed variety to the settlement mechanic, as well as an invaluable tool in settler management, a much needed improvement that was lacking in the base game. The inclusion of the ability to make vault structures with the Vault-Tec Workshop expansion has allowed me to finally make complete structures that actually look nice and clean on the inside and actually has me settling down to build the settlements out instead of plopping a big plain structure with as many sleeping bags as I can fit in them.
Some honorable mentions or 2016: While great in their own right, these games for me did not rise to the level of top five based on my personal interest and time devoted in game.
Overwatch, Watch_Dogs 2, XCOM 2, Battlefield 1, Planet Coaster
- Batman: The Telltale Series
The Telltale team has done it again. With stunning performances from husband and wife duo of Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Harvey Dent/Twoface, Troy Baker as Bruce Wayne/Batman, this exciting take on the Batman mythos was an interesting examination on this classic character. This installment from Telltale had more unique experiences on multiple play throughs than any other Telltale series I have played so far, and I felt like my actions really did influence the world. Twists and turns abound and some of the events of this game truly surprised me. I found this game to be superb in its execution and quality.
