2016 Video Game Retrospective

By: Cam Wohlfeil
Published: 2017-01-18 0000 EST
Modified: 2017-12-31 0000 EST
Category: General

Music to read this to: DOOM 2016 OST

This is a list of games I played in 2016, not games that were released. Overall this was an average year, both for me and games in general. This might be an improvement though since 2014 and 2015 were underwhelming.

Games I Loved

Dishonored
While I wait for the price of Dishonored 2 to come down and the bugs to get ironed out I finished up my 3 year old PC playthrough of the original. I had stopped right after getting to the flooded district and never played the DLC before which is a shame because it turned out to be some of the best content in the game. This game easily became on of my favorites of all time.
DOOM 2016
RIP AND TEAR. id really nailed the feeling of classic Doom in a modern package. Except for the last boss fight the game was fantastic with top notch combat and music. Also it's one of the most well made PC games I've ever played, it's so smooth.
Life is Strange
Dontnod really raised the bar in what modern Telltale style adventure games should be. The level of care and detail that went in to this game really made it special.
Owlboy
Something about this game was just perfect for me, the attention to detail and positivity in the face of hardship and failure was delightful.
Oxenfree
Wouldn't it be great if someone made Life is Strange, but stripped out all the excess and added more of what makes that game great? Well in my opinion thats exactly what Oxenfree did. Don't get me wrong, Life is Strange is also on this list and I loved it to pieces, but Oxenfree just made it much less "Telltale" and much more classic point and click, and used the savings to make everything else better. The only thing Life is Strange does better is soundtrack, but it's kind of hard to compete with an awesome collection of licensed music.
Pony Island
This game was really silly fun, sort of a bigger budget and more coherent Frog Fractions. I was cracking up several times throughout this game, and the ending was perfect.
Titanfall 2
Something about Titanfall 2 really grabbed me even though I didn't like the first one. It has just the right balance of arena and Cod shooter and giant mech combat. I don't know how long it will keep my attention for but it may overtake Battlefield as my top shooter as long as the community holds out.
Undertale
Despite the fanbase I really enjoyed this game even coming to it late. It's cute and well made with lots of care and doesn't overstay it's welcome. I didn't have the patience to replay it for a genocide run so I just watched it. It's really impressive the level of detail that was put in to the different routes.
FarCry 3: Blood Dragon
Not much to say here I just loved the humor and aesthetic choices in this DLC. It was just enough open world for me to not get sick of it.
LA Noire DLC
I played LA Noire when it came out and loved it and the DLC was more of the same, if not better.
SOMA
This game really blew me away. It's so much better than Amnesia, in fact it might be a better experience with less of the Amnesia trappings. The story was a fantastic exploration of cyberpunk and trans-humanist ideas with a bittersweet ending.

Games I Liked

Battlefield 1
It's not sticking with me like Battlefield 4 did but this is still a solid entry in the franchise.
Call of Duty Black Ops
Finally got around to finishing this on PC after playing multiplayer on XBox 360 a while ago, and I really enjoyed it. It really reminded me what I love about Call of Duty games when the last few have been disappointing. The story even had some fun turns that didn't rely on the player dying in cutscenes.
Car Mechanic Sim 2015
Surprisingly relaxing, much like Euro Truck Simulator 2. Not sure how much I will actually play.
Dark Souls 3
Demons Soul is one of the games that re-ignited my love for RPGs, Dark Souls and Bloodborne are two of my favorite games, and I'm a Dark Souls 2 (post Scholar) apologist, but Dark Souls 3 is my breaking point. It leaned too heavily on aspects of the series I don't like and while there were some great moments I feel like the level of quality and inspiration were low, especially in the DLC. It's time for the series to take a break and From to try something different.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
A lot of people were down on this but I really enjoyed it, especially the prison DLC. It was fun to explore a more detailed central location with a few spokes instead of the usual Deus Ex formula.
Duck Game
Just a really fun party game with lots of variety. Perfect for playing with friends for an hour or two.
Endless Legend
Endless Legend really blew Civilization 5 out of the water for me. It's so much more varied and interesting I wouldn't be surprised if the next Civilization game pulls ideas from it.
Layers of Fear
This game does a really good job of blending Amnesia, Gone Home, and Antichamber elements in a nice package. It never runs out of tricks or overstays its welcome and is very well made. Despite some framerate issues the game looks great.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
This is easily the most fun Metal Gear game to play, the story was a bit confused though even and the cut content. You can tell Kojima was done with the series. It's a pretty impressive achievement to make an open world I actually enjoy being in and feels justified. The online and side missions were pretty meh in my opinion, but I'm sure some people loved them.
INSIDE
I loved the beginning and end of this game but the middle left a lot to be desired. Visually it was fine but the puzzles were not enjoyable, and kept me from seeing more of the stuff I did like.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Even with the usual open world annoyances and busy work missions (my god the RC helicopter) this game had so much style and humor I couldn't help but enjoy it.
Hearts of Iron 4
Hearts of Iron 3 has been my white whale for a while now and Hearts of Iron 4 really streamlined the game. A bit too much maybe, hopefully the game gets expanded on with good updates quickly. After playing for a while I might finally get the desire to dive in to the other Hearts of Iron games.

Games That Were Okay

35mm
I have a soft spot for Eastern European games. A lot of effort clearly went in to this walking simulator but the quality is lacking in places, especially the subtitles. The survival aspects were never very well explained.
Mind: Path to Thalamus
An interesting walking simulator with some minor environment puzzles. Nice environments and a somewhat interesting poetic narrative.
Superhot
Pretty neat shooter but that was about it. The story started interesting but in the end was kind of lame. I liked the CLI-style main interface.
The Magic Circle
Entertaining with an interesting mechanic of mixing and matching enemy properties to use their powers to solve problems. The best part was the conversations between the workers but by the end it didn't leave a strong impression on me.
Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery
With how much love this game got I expected a lot more, but maybe that's my fault for listening to the hype and waiting so long. It was cute and the art was beautiful but as a game I was unimpressed.
Grow Home
Fun for a few hours but after making quite a bit of progress any setback made it harder to want to keep going. A cute idea that overstayed it's welcome a little.
Alan Wake/'s American Nightmare
I wanted to like this game a lot more but the combat left much to be desired and the game went on a bit too long. The DLC was a much tighter and more fun experience.
Home
Not a lot of substance but fun enough for what it is.
Shelter 1 and 2
I enjoyed them for a while, especially the first game, but after a few hours in the second one I'd had my fill. Very cute and fun, has almost a rogue-like feel to it.
Thomas Was Alone
Fun enough platformer, just enough complexity and the narration kept me going to the end.
Firewatch
I was underwhelmed by CampoSantos first game, there was quite a bit of systems and level of detail added for a walking simulator but it just left me with an overall feeling of disappointment. The game was pretty and the conversations were entertaining enough but exploration didn't feel interesting and the ending just felt like a huge let down. I would have appreciated a more straightforward story or an ending that paid off everything that was set up instead of what I got.
The Witness
I liked this game at first, but after a while it just started to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I don't feel like some of the puzzles were self-evident enough to not have an actual tutorial, especially when they would tweak or complicate their rules. Add on top of that puzzles that would add several layers of rules it was a recipe for frustration. When watching the videos or listening to the audio collectibles I was hoping they were put in as jokes because it came off as really pretentious. Also, some of the puzzles with visual glitches inside the mountain were making me very nauseous.

Games I Kept Playing

Europa Universalis 4
Some interesting changes with the DLC this year, not all positive but with time I'm sure the updates will fix everything up.
Victoria II
It's not perfect but I love this game so much. What I wouldn't give for a sequel.
Battlefield 4
DICE has polished this game to a shine and I still like playing it from time to time.
Crusader Kings 2
I keep trying to get in to this game but for some reason it isn't clicking like the other Paradox games. Not that I don't enjoy it but I like the other Paradox Games so much it's strange that I don't like this one more.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Just like Elite Dangerous something about this game puts me in a Zen state where I can just relax and watch or listen to something while I make deliveries and see some beautiful sights.

Games I Dropped

Overwatch
I had to stop playing, this game was starting to make me rage for some reason.
Rainbow Six Siege
I gave it a shot but I just couldn't get in to this game. Despite how much I love shooters this one just doesn't feel good to me. I didn't like the changes to terrorist hunt either.
Squad
Had fun for a while but I think I'm burnt out on "realistic" shooters, especially ones in early access.
The Division
I got about halfway through the story but even with friends this game was a bore.
Verdun
Really really fun but I could only handle so much instant death and glitchiness. Got my money's worth at least.
World of Tanks
The game was fun for about 10 hours but once I hit Tier 3-4 the grind was miserable. No thanks.
World of Warships
Same as World of Tanks.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
I'm sort of a The Chinese Room hater but I do love a good walking simulator. This was not one. I don't understand why this was even a game, it doesn't seem like it was designed to be one. It seems like they wanted to make a bigger budget Dear Esther, but the world has moved on.
Banished
Banished was so addicting and I discovered mods that added a lot more content but I think I need to stop this game before it absorbs my life.
Elite Dangerous
I've had my fill, though I really enjoyed my time with the game. Nothing beats being a space trucker!