#and ‘THE GUYS FROM FAKIN IT AND QUIPLASH DID WHAT’

[beepsparks]

Hyperfixating on something you never really acknowledged too much previously is actually so funny because then you’ll start doing deep dives into the thing you faintly remember from like years ago and go “OH MY GOD I DIDNT KNOW (blank)???”

[thatpainting]

2016 Games in Review

Welp, the worst year in recent memory has wrapped up. I don’t know if that rubbed off on me or not, but personally this was a very bittersweet year in gaming. Lots of disappointing sequels highlighted by great original games.

13.) Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright

I feel sad for the Fire Emblem franchise. Awakening had its problems, but it was still a decent game that recognized the fundamentals of the franchise. This game, on the other hand, decided “Eff that, lets get rid of weapon durability”. By doing this, they “solved” the problem of making the more powerful weapons, that you could now use as much as you want, have detrimental effects. It doesn’t make the game feel more strategic, but instead makes it feel like you are being penalized for using these stronger weapons, where in other games these were a reward to be used when your character had the stats to wield them properly, or when you had the money to burn. The protagonist also falls into the character trope that I hate the most: the useless idealist, who has no strategic insight or reason to be a leader other than “These guys are wrong, we have to stop them!”. Finally, the game still hasn’t balanced the stats formula, with only a couple units in the army being survivable. I should not have a character who focuses on speed be in the endgame and have a 50% chance of being one-shot by a character with a weapon triangle disadvantage. I could go on for many more paragraphs about subtle things that make this a bad game, but I’ll stop myself here. The game still does some interesting things, such as the myriad of stat changing weapons and skills as well as some of the classes, but it is unfortunate that they exist in a game that I don’t want to play.

12.) Undertale

Now, I didn’t get too far into Undertale, so I know I’m selling it short considering some of the stuff I’ve heard about in the later parts of the game. However, the start of this game is bad enough that I didn’t want to continue. The puzzles are not interesting, and while the random encounters are engaging, they are very one-note, making every subsequent encounter with the same enemy group nothing more than an annoyance considering you get basically nothing from battles. Speaking of which, the bullet-hell “combat” is inventive, but not something that I personally liked. Finally, and I know this is the most minor of nitpicks, the part at the beginning where you are told to not leave a room for a while has no payoff if you do so. I stayed in there for an hour and nothing happened, which is pretty surprising for a game that is supposedly as subversive as this one is.

11.) XCOM 2

More like XCOM 2-buggy-and-unoptimized-to-run-properly, amiright? This game solidly improves upon the base mechanics of it’s prequel, and introduces the genius character pool mechanic, however it suffers from the same problems that the first one did: Not enough customization, not enough steps in the gear upgrade path and a host of bugs (technical ones, not the Crysallids). Also, no controller support at launch was a bummer considering how natural that felt in the previous one. This is a textbook example of a game feeling like it was rushed to market.

10.) Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest

Take everything I said about Birthright, but add some actually very interesting map designs. The protagonist was far better in this version, they come off as cunning and overcome far more hardships than the Birthright counterpart. Still, the core gameplay is not compelling, and frustrated me enough that I did not want to play Revelations. I really, REALLY hope that the series can get on track, 6 through 10 are great strategy games, but I remain convinced that Intelligent Systems will continue to be satisfied putting more effort into writing wacky, trope-filled characters than actually making a strategy game that involves strategy.

9.) Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Disappointing is the best word for this game. I loved the first two entries into the Zero Escape series, and this does not deliver. The gameplay is very similar to VLR, but because we’ve seen it before it comes off as repetitive and uninspired, where in VLR it felt fresh and innovative, though I suppose this is only natural for a game that relies on twists and subversion as much as this one. The characters aren’t particularly well realized, especially the returning ones (And seriously Japan, do you have to put a character with gigantic, revealed breasts in every game? C’mon). The twists in this game range from jaw-dropping, to pretty stupid, to completely illogical and cheap. The plot also relied too much on a “get out of jail free” lore thing, and tries to make everything fit together by force more than by naturally introducing thoughtful concepts. Not a fitting end to an amazing series, and while I am glad that it was able to be made, it makes the series hard to recommend.

8.) Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice

This just felt like the series is spinning its wheels. The game focuses on the two aspects of the Ace Attorney series that I like the least: the spiritual aspect and Apollo Justice. As opposed to the previous game in the series, which had a good amount of focus on the three different attorneys, there is barely any Athena in this game. Also, for how much they advertised that Maya returned in this game, she is also barely in the game. Finally, the new prosecutor is completely unlikable with a super predictable story arc. Sure, the gameplay is fine and the story takes some interesting turns, but I play these games for the characters, and they disappointed in this iteration.

7.) The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

When I first heard that this game was being made, I was furious. A Link to the Past is my favourite Zelda game, and a game that just aimed to recapture nostalgia and not innovate sounded like a terrible move. However, the game hearkens back to the original LoZ by being somewhat non-linear, and this works in its favour to create a fresh experience despite using basically the same map, and some similar dungeons, to A Link to the Past. Also, even though the nostalgia grab was obvious from the outset, I still fell for it, hard. Running around the similar areas, hearing the updated versions of the music just put a smile on my face. The biggest problem with this game is that it is way too easy. I understand this to some extent, it is a Nintendo game after all, but the puzzles and combat are not engaging enough to offset this.

6.) Pokémon Sun

The biggest knock against this game is the longer-than-an-Alola-Exeggutor tutorial. At this point in the series, there should just be an option to streamline the beginning of the game for veterans of the series. Also, the heavier focus on story made the game feel more railroad-y, and the Rotom dex sucks (I could go the rest of my life without having a quipy sidekick in games). Still, at the end of the day, it is a solid Pokémon game that adds interesting new Pokémon, and the Alola forms are a much better spin on older Pokémon than goddamn Mega evolutions. I wouldn’t mind playing through the game again with a different team, but unfortunately there is still ONLY ONE SAVE SLOT GODDAMNIT.

5.) Rocket League

I got to this game early in the year, and thought that it would probably top the list. Crazy how this year went, yeah? The only problem I had with this game is that it is so much better playing with people that you know, so I never wanted to play with random people. This made the game unsustainable for me, as I rarely had the time to get people together to play. The core gameplay is just so solid, and it does what many great games do in that when you mess up, you know what it is that you did wrong, as well as the inverse. The developers are also doing great work, pioneering cross-platform play and continuing to improve the game with free content. This game led to the most hype moments of the year, and remains one that I would love to go back to.

4.) Overwatch

This is the game that I spent the most time on this year, and for good reason. Overwatch bleeds colour and personality, with every character feeling unique and fun to play (Except McCree. Fuck McCree). The game does a great job of making each game feel very team-focused, with the expected pros and cons. Playing with friends is great, while randoms can be assholes. While I am not a fan of some of their business decisions, especially regarding the Summer Games event, they seem to be listening to the community enough to feel good about the game’s future. I would also like to see more content out of Blizzard more quickly for the game: more maps, more characters, and more cosmetics not tied to seasonal events.

3.) Jackbox Party Pack 3

A true achievement in gaming, the Jackbox Party Pack continues to impress. This pack doesn’t have any duds in it like the first two; every game is worth playing more than once. Murder Trivia Party has style, Guesspionage is a great concept, Fakin’ It is great provided you have 5 or more people, Quiplash 2 remains awesome, and Tee-KO may be the best game they have ever made. There wasn’t a game that I had more fun with this year, and the only complaint that I have is that it would be nice if the games supported more than 8 people.

2.) Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Holy crap, this was a breath of fresh air after Phoenix Wright 6. The art and animation are superb, something that is quite noteworthy for a DS game. The puzzles aren’t that deep, but are inventive and fun to solve. The story is a great example of trickling out information to the player in a way that makes them want to keep playing, and the twists and payoffs in this game are some of the most mindblowing that I’ve ever seen. It is an exceptional self-contained experience, and while I don’t necessarily want a sequel, I would love to see this team try to tackle more original ideas.

1.) The Witness

This is the best designed game that I’ve played in a very long time. Everything feels so purposeful, and for a game with no written text it conveys the puzzle elements perfectly. The game is also beautiful visually, and while the island is relatively small, it is packed to the brim with puzzles and stunning visual areas. The shading deserves special mention, as it makes everything look awesome. While at times the game was frustrating, overcoming puzzles that I was stuck on for days was incredibly satisfying. I’ve heard some disdain for the philosophy stuff that is scattered around the game, but for me it worked, as it wasn’t necessarily laid out in an argumentative fashion, but instead was just there to make you think. I finished every panel in the game (except for one), and even though I could probably play hundreds more puzzles, I still feel satisfied with the experience.

That wraps up the games that I played in 2016. 2017 is going to be a huge transitional year for me, as I am wrapping up school and plan on getting into the games industry. This will surely change how I play games and how frequently I am able to play them, but it is a change that I am anxious to experience.