The Impact Factor

The Impact Factor’s Top 10 Games of 2016!

Perspectives

2016. It’s a year that’s best described by the number itself. No year has been as explicitly independent from other years in recent memory as 2016. The year was a rollercoaster for most, one many of us were more than happy to hop off by the end of December. In my life, 2016 is a year of extraordinarily high highs, and some pretty low lows. I will forever cherish 2016 as the year I got married to the love of my life, Justine. We grew together and shared so much in 2016 it’s hard to look back on the year as a whole negatively.

2016, however, was also a year that showed us that hate and ignorance is alive and well—and that, politically at least, it will only continue to grow in the months and years ahead. 2016 was also the year I realized I had to take a step back from The Impact Factor. Graduate school demands materialized as shackles, and there were several times throughout the year I felt utterly defeated by my Ph.D. work.

But thankfully you’re all here for the games. I am too. 2016 has been a surprisingly stellar year, from AAA to indie. Though still not all the way there, this current console generation seems to finally have its feet under it. 2016 was the year of virtual reality, games that celebrated diversity, and pure gameplay joys that need little explanation. Cutting my favorite games of the year to just ten titles was challenging. Ordering those ten was an even bigger hurdle. But I did it!

My list this year is best in audio form, which you can find by checking out Episode 88 of The Impact Factor podcast.

If you don’t have the time, or you don’t enjoy the sound of my voice, don’t worry. You can check out my top ten games of 2016 right here!

10. Final Fantasy XV

A late contender to the list but one that well-earned its spot here, Final Fantasy XV delivered something I thought impossible: a great new Final Fantasy game. FFXV had the odds stacked against it. Not many games can come out the other side of a tortured decade-long development playing as well, looking as great, and being as engaging as FFXV is. The game is not without its problems. Tedium is built a little too intractably from its open world and the second half has some serious pacing & design problems. But every single time I picked up FFXV I didn’t want to put it down. Combat is fantastic. The characters are endearing, distinct, and show an underrepresented side to male companionship. FFXV had me hooked from start to 50+ hour finish, and is easily in my top five of the franchise.

9. Overcooked

Frantic fun is the name of the game (it’s Overcooked, actually) in this couch co-op gem about working as a chef. Yeah, you read that right. A cooking game is in my top ten games of the year. And honestly, it could easily be so much higher. Overcooked is uproariously fun. The intricate choreography of prepping ingredients, cooking food, plating and service is satisfyingly skill intensive. Achieving a 3-star rating on every level is a challenge, and one that my wife and I had the pleasure of accomplishing. Overcooked combines its simple but perfect gameplay with a charming aesthetic, a memorable soundtrack, and an awesome throwback world map. Overcooked is couch co-op at its finest and one of the year’s biggest surprises.

8. Clash Royale

When a new mobile game usurps my Hearthstone time for the better part of a year, I need to give it serious game of the year thought. And thought I did. For the longest time, Clash Royale existed just outside of my top ten. It was fun, sure, but it also has serious faults that even after 9+ months of playing I cannot get over.  But that ignores the fact that I have been really enjoying Clash Royale for 9+ months. I play the game daily. Still. Clash Royale’s hybrid of competitive card game with tower defense and real time strategy still boggles my mind. The mix works so well. Whether duking it out in legendary arena, playing in special event challenges, or trying out new decks, Clash Royale has provided a consistently fun experience that’s defined my 2016 gaming. It deserves its spot here. If you’re curious, you can read my review for the game here. The only thing that has changed since then is that I like it even more. It would still get 4 stars, though.

7. Dark Souls III

The alleged end of the storied franchise, Dark Souls III delivered on all fronts. The game maintains the brilliant design, excellent balance of risk and reward, and eerie fantasy setting that’s a staple for the franchise. Like the other Souls games before it, once I started playing Dark Souls III, I couldn’t stop until I had defeated every single boss and scoured its immense world. Dark Souls III righted the slight wrongs of its predecessor, returning the series to peak form. Playing the game truly felt like the end, with plot callbacks throughout. Dark Souls III was the first Souls game, however, in which I started to feel slight franchise fatigue. It makes me extra happy then that the series gets to end on a high note, long before I crossed too far into exhaustion. Dark Souls III is fantastic. For more detailed thoughts about the game, please check out my review here.

6. Inside

 Here’s an almost impossible argument to make: “so-and-so is a perfect game.” What game would be in consideration? What even is a perfect game? After weeks of reflection, Inside comes pretty darn close. Every single element of Inside hits the nail squarely on the head. Creepy, dystopian aesthetic? Perfect. Platforming physics and challenges? Perfect. Puzzles? Perfect – they never keep you stalled for long but are just hard enough to give a satisfying sense of completion once solved. Surprises? A meta-narrative about playing games? Check and check. Inside is a game you could tell took full advantage of its six year development cycle. Inside learns from its predecessor, Limbo, and improves every single aspect. I got lost in Inside’s world and challenges. The only thing going against Inside is that I haven’t really thought about it much after completion. Still, Inside is a tremendous achievement and I game I think everyone should play. Everyone.

5. Firewatch

 I’m going to let my review do most of the talking here, “Firewatch is a game, a vignette of the human experience, that’s in a league of its own. There are no aliens, no headshots, no fate of the world, not even a focus on one of life’s particular moments.Firewatch transports the player into a snapshot of existence. It takes you to a time and a place and a mindset we haven’t really seen before in games. Firewatch is gorgeous, well-written, well-acted and gripping. The game skillfully touches on themes of love, loss, isolation and paranoia, delivering a mature narrative that has stayed with me. I give it my highest recommendation.” Well said, early 2016 me. Nearly a year later Firewatch still means a lot of me. It was an engrossing, human experience that gave me something I never knew I wanted in games.

4. Enter the Gungeon

 I love roguelikes. It should come as no surprise that much like in 2015 when Nuclear Throne slipped into my top five, so too would another absolutely phenomenal roguelike. This year, it’s Enter the Gungeon. Enter the Gungeon does so much so well I don’t really even know where to start. The game mashes together the fast, bullet-hell + twin-stick gameplay of other roguelikes with depth and mystery matching the best in the roguelike genre. Enter the Gungeon’s gameplay loop is endlessly addictive. I played off and on for months, ignoring big releases to focus on perfecting my runs. The freshness new guns, items, and characters add to each run meant that the dozens of hours I played never felt boring. Enter the Gungeon has a brutal skill ceiling that always pushed me to try harder and do better, with challenges I have yet to beat still calling out to me. Enter the Gungeon has etched its name into my pantheon of extraordinary roguelikes, and I’m excited to jump back in. For more detailed thoughts on the game, you can find my full review here.

3. Hyper Light Drifter

 Hyper Light Drifter has earned itself a rare distinction. It was a game that, despite my years of anticipation and incredibly high expectations, far surpassed anything I imagined. Hyper Light Drifter is amazing. I’m going to let past me have a turn at this again, “Hyper Light Drifter is a new classic. The game’s stunning art direction and soundtrack compliment an immensely satisfying gameplay experience. Combat is a perfect balance of simplicity with depth and fluidity with strategy. Hyper Light Drifter creates a world that is easy to get lost in and is filled with hidden secrets. The game does so much with so little and respects the player’s intelligence and perseverance throughout. Hyper Light Drifter should not be missed. It is easily one of 2016’s best.” Yeah, it sure is. You really should read my full review of Hyper Light Drifter here. There are so many reasons it is one of the year’s best games—too many to write here now. Just do yourself a favor and go play it.

2. Uncharted 4: A Theif’s End

Nobody does cinematic storytelling better than Naughty Dog, and they made one of their best in Uncharted 4. Uncharted 4 is the culmination of a long running, and critically acclaimed, franchise that bests all entries before it. We’re given a more nuanced take on adventuring, the price of ambition, and the lengths people will go to protect the people they love. Uncharted 4 refines and adds to the gameplay in ways that tighten up a franchise in little need of improvement. Uncharted 4 was so good it made me look more favorably on the entire franchise. It was always something I enjoyed, but never felt like a key part to my gaming identity. After Uncharted 4, Uncharted is integral to my gaming lineage. And that’s an accomplishment a precious few franchises can boast. For more about what I actually loved about the game itself, you can read my full review here.

1. Overwatch

 For the longest time (really, I mean long) Uncharted 4 was my 2016 game of the year. It gave me everything I could ever ask for in a game of the year. But then there was Overwatch. A game that, for most people, defined 2016. Rescued from the ashes of a failed MMO, Overwatch took everyone by surprise (myself included) with how brilliant it was. Overwatch is game design euphoria. As Blizzard always does, the gameplay is refined to a razor’s edge. Simple, elegant, but with extraordinary depth. Overwatch made me care for and identify with 20+ insane characters. It soothed during hard times and had me yelling at the TV in frustration at others. Overwatch stuck with me throughout 2016, grew as I grew, changed as I changed. I thought I was done with competitive FPS games. Overwatch proved me wrong. I thought hero shooters would all suck. Overwatch proved me wrong. I thought I wouldn’t adopt another lifestyle game. Overwatch, again, proved me wrong. Overwatch celebrated joy and diversity in a year desperately needing positivity. And it delivered on all its promises (some of which I detail in my review). I’m thrilled with the year I spent playing Overwatch, and I’m looking forward to keeping it a small part of my life as 2017 rolls on. Congratulations Overwatch! You are The Impact Factor’s 2016 Game of the Year!