YOUR 2016 Blu-ray.com Video Game Awards!!!

[Harry Güchenschlong]

I want to hear what are YOUR games of 2016! Good, bad, ugly. Create your own categories, praise what was great, shred what was garbage, YOU decide because they are YOUR awards

For me, a quick run-down would go as follows:

Game of the Year goes to:
This is a tough one. I loved Dishonored 2 and Witcher 3's "Blood and Wine" dlc. I believe this one goes to Blood and Wine by a hair, which would be the first year ever that my favorite game was actually DLC.

Huge Disappointment that can suck my Nads goes to:
Street Fighter 5. What a disaster capcom turned this into.

The I Still Like the Original much better than the Sequel award goes to:
Mirror's Edge Catalyst. It wasn't BAD by any means, but it didn't grab me the way the first one did at all. Decent but bland.

The This game is great but everyone already played it last year on Xbox award:
Rise of the Tomb Raider

Best Visuals:
Uncharted 4. Graphically this is just in a class by itself.

My award for Wow that was a lot more fun than I ever expected it would be goes to:
Infinite Warfare's single-player campaign. I had a blast throughout.

The What is this boring-ass crap trying to pass itself off as a video game? award goes to:
No man's sky. This "game" is much better than Xanax.

My I want a skiing/snowbaording game already for crying out loud award goes to:
Steep... which I haven't played yet but will. Because it is the only choice I have this entire generation.


And I'm probably forgetting some others but enough of that. Let's hear all of YOUR awards for this year!

[Zivouhr]

Good thread topic.

Man, I didn't buy too many games in 2016:
I bought more new 2015 PS4 games for the most part that were on sale. About 4 games bought in 2016 from 2015, $20 each. $80.

Of 2016:

Mafia 3: 8/10. Graphic issues aside, lots of fun with this one.
Uncharted 4: 9/10. Very polished, fun adventure game.
Watch Dogs 2: 8/10. Story was disappointing, but great game otherwise.
FFXV: 8/10. Great scale to the open world, good game so far.
No Man's Sky: 7/10. Great for outer space exploring anyway. Needs more ways to have fun, like a go cart on the planets, 3rd person view. The update definitely helps.
Last Guardian: May buy this before the end of 2016...

$65 a game with tax, x 6 games = $390. Gaming is expensive these days.

Most Fun: Uncharted 4 was probably the most fun I had this year in a game, followed by Mafia 3, then Watch Dogs 2.

Best Open World: Watch Dogs 2 is fun to explore. Mafia 3 is fun to explore too, as well as FFXV's vast open landscape. No Man's Sky, certain planets are kind of fun to explore, but they need more purpose.

Best Combat: Mafia 3 wins for the best gun fighting, melee and stealth. I love the ease of the controls and camera views too.

Best Creativity: Watch Dogs 2's RC copter and RC Car. No Man's Sky for being one of the first endless planets first person exploration games.

Most played game of 2016: Mafia 3. Then Watch Dogs 2, etc.

Good year for the PS4.

[Derb]

Need more time with The Last Guardian & FFXV.

As it stands now, Ratchet & Clank gets my honors.

[Zivouhr]

FFXV is definitely starting to get more interesting storywise, and has me looking forward to the unexpected.

[Captain Flint]

I think my game of the year has to go to Doom. It was just the pure balls to the wall bloody/heavy metal chaos I needed.

Runner up is a tie between Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1 both for exceptional multiplayer.

[jsteinhauer]

There were lot of pretty good, just pretty good, games this year, but none really stands out among them for me.

I agree with derb that Ratchet and Clank is a strong candidate considering the complete package. That's a finished and polished game. I simply don't think UC4 was that much fun to play. It's value was as the interactive cinematic adventure rather than as a game, and I would not suggest anyone pass it up. Dishonored 2 was really good. This probably brought me the most fun over the longest stretch of time and provided two completely unique playthroughs, and it's probably my true favorite game of the year. Deus Ex was pretty good, too, but second time through was kind of sloggy, and the rift mode, or whatever it was, sucked ass.

Doom, Titanfall 2, Mafia 3, Steep, Mirror's Edge, Watch_Dogs 2 were all fun. Mafia 3 lacked creativity and has no replay value. Doom was surprisingly fun. Hitman grew tedious quickly. I still have not finished the last installment. Don't expect to play FF15 or TLG.

[Talal86]

I can't pick a 'Game of the Year' right now, because I'm very behind with the fall games, I still haven't completed Final Fantasy 15 (a contender?), Dragon Quest Builders, World of Final Fantasy and Titanfall 2

My top favorites are:
- Street Fighter V
- Dark Souls 3
- Uncharted 4
- Doom
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Division

Honorable Mentions:
- Overwatch
- Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator
- King of Fighters XIV
- I Am Setsuna
- Gears of War 4
- Forza Horizon 3

Disappointment:
- Quantum Break
- Deus Ex Mankind Divided

Best Visuals:
- Uncharted 4
- Forza Horizon 3

Didn't Expect to Like it As Much As I Did
- Far Cry Primal
- The Division

[MosHighDef]

I still havent played UC4 haha, waiting to snag it for like $15 bucks.

Doom was cool, but i only redboxed it for 3 days and beat the campaign.

All i want is GOD OF WAR, but that is next year!! If i find Mafia 3 for cheap will also try that out.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by MosHighDef

I still havent played UC4 haha, waiting to snag it for like $15 bucks.

Doom was cool, but i only redboxed it for 3 days and beat the campaign.

All i want is GOD OF WAR, but that is next year!! If i find Mafia 3 for cheap will also try that out.

Mafia 3 is a lot of fun IMO, even with the repetitious mission design, probably because of the fast, responsive gunplay. Lincoln's stealth is great too. The guy's stealth kill moves are sick in the game.

[jd_from_da_80s]

I can only give input to one category, most addictive game: The Division. For the most part that is the only game I've played this year & I bought over 20 games. I've played a couple of hours of Uncharted 4 & Tomb Raider & played the Lego games with the boy, but I always go back to the Division.

[Al_The_Strange]

Al's Top Picks:

X-Com 2: Same basic gameplay I know and love from the 2012 remake, but with a gripping new story and layout that demands more focus and determination. It's refreshing to work your way to earn each nation's help, rather than struggling to keep them together. Lots of tough new enemies and challenges, but with impressive rewards. It's an interesting new story and a very cool follow-up to the first game. The only bummer is that on the PS4, save game files make the loading screens agonizingly long.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: Pretty much the same as Human Revolution, and I consider that a great thing. Loved the story, loved the gameplay, and loved the immersive settings.

Doom: Didn't even think I could handle it, but it turned out to be a breeze. Not just any breeze, but an awesome breeze of effortless mayhem and movement. Rune trials were my only sticking point, but the campaign was great and the game was a very empowering and invigorating experience.

Watch_Dogs 2: Fun, plain and simple. Has all the stuff I enjoyed about the first game, but they took out some of the duller side activities and gave the game a colorful makeover.

Honorable Mentions:

No Man's Sky: I was fine with it while it lasted. After the platinum though, there was zero point in revisiting it. I appreciate what the game strode for: a whole galaxy of endless exploration, where your personal adventure can take you randomly across the planet or hopping to other stars. Alas, the game really needed something else to keep gamers interested and invested. Maybe someday, they could make something else this way with more story and action.

Dead Star: I was so into it for a good while. Simple multiplayer action--I loved being part of a fleet trying to wipe out enemies and capture stations. It was rewarding and harmless fun. Alas, for some reason the enthusiasm faded and the game became forgotten--not just by me either, I don't even know if it's still active.

Asemblance: I have to give this game credit, it demands attention and active thinking. Like watching an arthouse film that doesn't make sense, this game forces you to look at the details shown and draw your own conclusions. It's a brief and trippy experience. My biggest gripes about it would be its shortness and the seemingly-impossible task of unlocking the White ending.

--------------------------------------

Only scratched the surface of Rise of the Tomb Raider and Dishonored 2--I have no doubt they'll be great, but I haven't played them enough to comment just yet. Uncharted 4 remains on my wishlist.

2016 has been okay with new games, but there really wasn't much new that wowed me to the point where I looked forward to a new release or couldn't wait to rush home and dump time into a specific title.

But one thing that impressed me this year were the remasters.

Al's Top Remasters:

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: My all-time favorite probably remains my favorite release of 2016. Same game, but hardly any crashes, which by default blows my PS3 experience out of the water. Graphics may not be aging well, but some enhancements help, and the atmosphere of it (the slick combination of landscaping, weather effects, music, world-building) remains captivating. In addition to re-experiencing the game, it's also a great opportunity to play all the DLCs I never invested in. Folks may harp on the price of it and mods and such, but I personally couldn't be happier.

Bioshock Collection: It looks good, sounds good, runs good. I wasn't even sure if the series would hold up, but it does, and revisiting Infinite with the performance boost was just as awe-inspiring as the fist time around.

Dead Island Collection: Wow. The graphic ugprades really bring out details I swear I never noticed before. Even on the loading screens I swear I never saw the artwork so vividly on the PS3. I always found these games addicting, and playing them again on the new console is a no-brainer to me.

Day of the Tentacle: I never thought I'd see the day when this classic gem gets a modernized makeover. The new graphics look great, but they were also respectful enough to allow you to play with the older graphics as well. The story was always wonderful, the comedy is great, and the game is a nice, laid-back, satisfying puzzler.

Duke Nukem 3D: How could I pass up a chance to revisit this crazy world where you get to rip apart aliens while breezing through strip clubs? Like DOTT, you get the choice to play with upgraded graphics or the original engine, and both play as smooth and fast as I remember. This was always a little tough for me, but it is a satisfying over-the-top experience. And the anniversary edition has all the levels. The only thing I don't see is a level editor (like I had when I was a kid, but then that might be hard to work with on a console).

Atari Flashback Collections: Real pieces of gaming history, lovingly recreated with all the original look, sounds, and feels of the original games. It's a jolly good effort.

Don't really have any disappointments, but...

Al's Biggest Waste of Time:

My Name Is Mayo: I spent an hour rolling a pen over the button to click on a jar 10,000 times. Oh the things I do for a platinum. The game is a bizarre little quirk with narratives to unlock and such, but in the end, I didn't find it all that hilarious or impressive. Once all the rewards were unlocked, all the stories experienced, all the nutty graphics seen, there was no more reason to keep going (except I needed 5,000 more hits for that plat, so that became a chore). Biggest one-and-done type of game I've had. Goat Simulator kept me more amused for longer.

[dvd_mazter]

My favourite game of 2016 is Uncharted 4 - it's a beautiful cap off (if it truly is the end...) to this franchise. It's visually stunning, and a riveting cinematic experience in gaming. I showed the game to my cousin who hasn't been an avid gamer since the PS2 era and his jaw-dropped at the graphics, design, and gameplay.

Honorable mentions:

Ratchet & Clank - I missed the series on the PS2, but wow - this remaster/remake was pure eye candy, and a blast to play.

Battlefield One - This is solely based on the campaign. I loved the narrative structure of each episode, and the production design on the game was first-rate.

[Blu Lemmy]

For me, Battlefield 1. I didn't love the SP, but have clocked over 50 hours on MP thus far. Hate it or love it, it's the game for me.

[Bishop_99]

I only bought 4 games this year.

Top of the list has to be The Division. I really didn't think I would end up liking and playing the game as much as I did and still do with all the updates and improvements. I'm not into FPS games, so this being an open world third person shooter, plus all the updates to improve the loot drops for a solo player, it turned out to be the game that had the most replay value for me. My only RNG game, so that got my hooked a bit more as well. Plus the excellent looking open world NYC with a great Snow storm system.

Second is Watch Dogs 2. The open world play and the actual story missions turned out to be more entertaining than what I ever expected. I had a blast exploring the city and truly enjoyed playing all the main and side missions. Great looking city that I can continue exploring and with new content, I'll continue to have fun in this game. Different tone than the first game, so I enjoy both games and view them differently, although I prefer the darker tone of Watch Dogs 1...... My biggest problem are all the changes they made to the Online Hacking, which was my favorite feature in Watch Dogs 1 and the main reason I played it continuously. The Online Hacking has been changed so much in Watch Dogs 2, that I don't find it very entertaining and that sort of kills the replay value of the second installment. Which in turn just makes me go back to Watch Dogs 1 for the really good Online Hacking.

Third is Uncharted 4. The Last Of Us is my favorite game, so I bought Uncharted 4 because it was from Naughty Dog and I played the remastered trilogy for the first time. It definitely falls well short of the story of The Last Of Us, but its story telling has been significantly improved over Uncharted 1-3. Great visuals all around and a well put story for the series, but it just isn't as impressive as The Last Of Us was overall. Since it's from Naughty Dog, it is hard for me to not compare it to the level of that game, although I understand they are completely different.

Last, Street Fighter V. I bought it for $25. I'll play it from time to time, but it feels like it is really lacking a lot of things. It's hard to play this game when I can play Mortal Kombat X instead. Good game for the price I paid for it though.

[Trace17]

It's been an...incomplete kind of year for me. I still haven't finished Uncharted 4 and haven't started The Last Guardian, Watch Dogs 2 or The Division. I also haven't finished Titanfall 2. So on with the show...

Best Game That I Actually Finished
Absolute Drift Zen Edition - I instantly fell in love with this game and despite being a small, bite-size game I got more value out of it than anything else this year.

Best Game That I Have Not Finished
Uncharted 4 - I'll finish it eventually. Probably. Definitely. Maybe.

Best Game That I Haven't Even Started
The Last Guardian - Maybe?

Best Winter Game That Isn't SSX
Steep: It's the only winter game, sure, but it's fun and addicting in a different way. I'm enjoying it so far.

Best Destiny Patch Change
Auto-decrypting green engrams!

Best Use of Tetrominos
The Witness

Worst Use of Tetrominos
The Witness

Worst Trials Game
Trials of the Blood Dragon: Seriously Ubisoft, don't do that again.

Best non-2016 Game
Driveclub. Still Driveclub. Still awesome.

Worst Game & Biggest Disappointment
No Man's Sky - Just see any other internet post about it.

On a serious note, here's my favorite games that I actually played this year in no particular order:
Steep
Destiny
Absolute Drift: Zen Edition
Titanfall2 (MP)
Abzu
Rocket League
Trackmania Turbo
Uncharted 4

[jedilips]

Dark Souls III
Inside
Firewatch
The Division

Doom was cool, but had no longevity for me.
No Man's Sky is actually a lot better with the update and will likely spend some time over the holidays with it.
Skyrim Special Edition still fun enough to keep me interested. Love the mods (but I play this on the Xbox One).

[Talal86]

Originally Posted by Bishop_99

I only bought 4 games this year.

I wish I could do something like this

[Bishop_99]

Originally Posted by Talal86

I wish I could do something like this

Ha ha ha . Yeah I just try to buy a game which may have the most replay value for me. I'll try some random games from time to time, but when I find a new game that I like, I'll play it for a good while. Takes up most time from trying out any other new game.

[thenexus6]

Favourites of the year

Hyper Light Drifter
Deus Ex Mankind Divided
Hitman
Dishonored 2
Oxenfree
Ratchet and Clank

Disappointments

No Mans Sky
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 (first game was a personal favourite and they dropped the ball with 2)

Everything I bought in 2016 (new releases)
FIREWATCH
ABZU
OXENFREE
HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER
HITMAN
DEUS EX MANKIND DIVIDED
RATCHET AND CLANK
OVERWATCH
PLANTS V ZOMBIES GARDEN WARFARE 2
UNCHARTED 4
DISHONORED 2
BATTLEFIELD 1
VIRGINIA
INSIDE

[RJ MacReady]

My Top 5 this year:

1. Forza Horizon 3
2. DOOM
3. Uncharted 4
4. Battlefield 1
5. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Honorable mentions: EVE: Valkyrie, Thumper, CoD: Infinite Warfare campaign, MLB 16, Ratchet & Clank, King of Fighters XIV, Titanfall 2 campaign

Still need to play: Dark Souls III, FFXV, Dishonored 2, Dead Rising 4, the Last Guardian, Deus Ex, XCOM 2, Watch Dogs 2, Steep, Gears of War 4