Written by William Chandler, Jr., on December 22, 2016, at 7:42 a.m.
On any given day, you can get a taste, based on a relentless need, for something impossible. You put together the best idea of what will suit your taste.
The other day, it was Frito Pie. The crisp, crunchy, corn chip, bottom layer, with a steak-based, well-seasoned, chili and cheddar surface suited the need just the other day. You make a decision you live with and find real comfort in.
The best games of 2016 represent the best visuals, gameplay, fun factor, and experiences any individual can have in video game entertainment for the year. You can go down the line and find many games you think are the best. Only ten choices require real thought, reason, and spot on the list.
I will admit, right now. I have a Nintendo bias. Ten games are important, in my opinion, and give the experience you want over any titles that may cross your path. The choices, as in most lists of this kind, breed controversy. Not forgotten, there are games from Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One that drive the imagination. Here we go from ten.
Top 10 Games of 2016
10. Devil’s Third
I know it is not a 2016 title, but it is here for a specific reason. The poorly rated game just based on Metacritic, from Valhalla Game Studios and Nintendo represents a marker. You visit Unseen 64.
You witness a few titles meant to come to Nintendo’s most recent console but were canceled. The absence of third-party software was the undoing of Nintendo’s Wii U. This game, Devil’s Third, is the title that made it. You play the game with Nintendo’s Wii U Gamepad and will realize the game is more difficult than you can imagine.
If you use the Wii U Pro Controller, this third person title moves. You switch between melee and distance weapons. You plan for the enemies that come for you. You slide into the action you want and avoid the combat you did not. Designed by Tomonobu Itagaki, Devil’s Third is a nice blend of action, shooter, and strategy for Nintendo Wii U.
The online for the game is fair. The game itself is more solid than the reviews indicate.
9. Shovel Knight
This game will continue to evolve. It deserves to be on this list. The title by Yacht Club Games is solid. The single-player platform game challenges but is fair. I remember Capcom’s Mega Man, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Mega Man just kills you with its masterful levels and rampant difficulty.
In Shovel Knight, you swipe enemies with your shovel; you dig up treasure, enemies, and upgrade your character. You interact with some unique non-playable characters. The game is full of surprises. It allows you to play as Shovel Knight but also permits you to experience a different adventure with the enemies in the game.
The game has codes to upgrade Shovel Knight to epic proportions. The game commands its own Amiibo statue. [WILLIAM -WHERE?] You can talk about Shovel Knight. If you sit down, with anyone, and share the experience on most platforms, the game tells a great story and builds an epic, all on its own.
8. Gears of War 4
This series is just right. It asks players to operate strategically, and viciously. Ryan McCaffrey, at IGN, addresses the game properly in his review. Twenty-five years after the first Gears of War series, Marcus Fenix’s son, JD leads his friends into the cyclical legacy that is warfare and fun.
Gears of War, as a series, will always have a method, means, and purpose that coats players’ taste buds with a down-home flavor. The use of cover, the sound of gunfire, the endless carnage, and the dramatic beats of its story keep the game fresh.
The engine, the Microsoft Xbox One, allows this game’s visuals to rise and excel but always call back to its predecessors. The online modes continue to impress. The game just knows where it hits best and often in the hands of The Coalition.
7. Star Fox Zero
There is a boo. I hear a hiss over there. Platinum Games and Nintendo always deliver unique content. If you have immersed yourself in Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, or even MadWorld, on Nintendo’s Wii, the two company’s efforts are not just about the looks, but the experiences you feel. Star Fox Zero requires the Wii U Gamepad.
Peter Brown, in his Gamespot review, describes it best. Starfox Zero recalls the success of Star Fox 64, for the Nintendo 64. Only now, this game uses the motion on the Wii U Gamepad, as the control option. This adds a fear factor to the gameplay. The scarcity of enemies puts more pressure on the artificial intelligence to perform.
In this case, it does very well. The more accurate the Gamepad movement, the more potent your gameplay. Star Fox Zero using only buttons and control pad movements, in the past, requires technique and skill this time. This will not be everyone’s cup of tea. The game is all about the learning curve. As life unfolds daily, it just is. The dogfights can leave you unsteady. The levels’ trials ask any player to push their game knowledge. It is a title you must experience and learn completely.
6. Splatoon
Splatoon is a blast from 2015 that uses 2016 to get even better. Nintendo develops a game like this. Time Magazine’s Matt Peckham explains it well enough. A humanoid carries an ink gun coats the battle arenas they play in various colors and the characters transform into ”turbo” squids with different properties. This game seems to have a short, shelf life, at first glance.
In reality, to this day, it continues to grow and gathers more fans daily. The single player campaign amazes and the online battles require imagination and true strategy. Players at level three look to disintegrate players at level 20.
If you understand the terrain and utilize your weaponry at the right moments, anything is possible. Splatoon continues to gather steam. If it does not make a splash, in Super Smash Brothers for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, the game sets a precedent in the debut trailer for Nintendo’s upcoming console, the Switch.
5. Severed
They are a newer company without a doubt. The company Drinkbox Studios gets to produce some of the most diverse and innovative titles for Nintendo’s Wii U, and other platforms. I have played Gaucamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition.
The two-dimensional side-scrolling, action game did not carry my attention as well as Severed. You follow the review, by Ben Stegner at Nintendo Life, and understand you survive as Sasha. You move and defend your life in this horrible world, with a missing arm, in search of your family. The sword that you carry makes you valiant.
The use of the stylus, fast action, and strong graphics makes this first-person game a unique challenge for those who want it. The control is within borders meant to protect you. Every slash you make must be accurate, your movements must have a purpose, and the game is a fast response test. You live or die with every movement in Severed.
4. Final Fantasy XV
It is not some adventure of strangers. In search of true group purpose, on a dangerous quest, four good friends, a prince and his bodyguards, follow a quest to discover their king, in modern times. This is a necessary venture for the Final Fantasy franchise.
Real-time combat drives the game. It is one of the top selling games one of 2016 and follows the early predictions of the early predictions of many. It is the “mundane” title in a real, expressive, landscape that Peter Brown, at Gamespot highlights gleefully.
It is a new fantastic experiment in “detail” and “scale”. It may not fit everyone’s ideal Final Fantasy as Vince Ingenito, at IGN indicates. Put this tailor made title puts your Sony Playstation 4 to work. See its positives, negatives, differences, and difficulties in order to come to your own decision.
3. Overwatch
Character is as important as any other aspect of gameplay. Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch is full of it. It is a means of rapid expression in a tactical first-person shooter without quit.
This is not my favorite title, but it is clearly one of the surprising games of 2016. Its essence is the “synergy” and “cooperation” that Rush Frushtick plays through at Polygon. The game looks good. The game is slick.
Overwatch’s gameplay may continue for others through this console, and game life cycle, and into the next. It is just a matter of perspective.
2. Fast Racing Neo
This game calls to the past, with influences like Wipeout and F-Zero. As we speak, others connect online and play this nascent game with various, hovering, vehicles, dynamic tracks, and rapid game play.
This Shin’en Multimedia and Arc System Works game permits competitive aspirations. This means competitive comparison between corporate vehicles and the complexities of racing levels. It is a test of how to defeat a merciless artificial intelligence and always finish any race with a huge lead.
Like the website, it is direct and clear about what it brings. You race. You try hard but learn harder to drive with real purpose. You win and, only get better, with each race you take on. The visual look and design of the game speaks to the player. It compares with Nintendo Wii U’s first party titles. Try it. Learn it. Dominate in it.
1. Battlefield 1
This game is the first person shooter that delivers an interpretation of World War I’s warfare in a visually grand and appealing package. The Electronic Arts and DICE title is an arduous trek in what makes this genre so popular today. The “inevitability of death” gives the game weight as Miguel Concepcion at Gamespot expresses but looks to deliver the most fun in warfare.
The multiplayer for this game is out of control. I wish this were a Halo or Kill Zone title. Past wartime immersion is not the kind of game I look toward first. The visuals of the game, the sounds, and the capacity of the title draw you in.
Solid gameplay, no matter how it interprets itself, deserves your time. I would not snatch this game off the shelves at first glance. However, Battlefield 1 only surprises as I continue to play. It pulls from that past, delivers that it has now, and can only get better as Electronic Arts and DICE move forward with the franchise.
Links
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