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Game of the Year 2016: Stevivor staff picks

We’ve gone through the best games of 2016, but Stevivor staffers didn’t agree on everything. With that in mind, we present to you, in no particular order, the games we feel are strong contenders for the overall Game of the Year of 2016.

Titanfall 2

Sure, its been nominated for a wooden spoon award due to sh*tty marketing and being wedged in between Call of Duty and Battlefield. Sure, finding a multiplayer game outside of Attrition or Bounty Hunt is impossible. But let’s not forget that Titanfall 2 had an excellent campaign that not only managed to appropriately make use of the mechanics that make the game unique (before COD copied it) but also included one of the best buddy stories since Turner and Hooch! And that time travel level? The highlight of my 2016 in gaming, without a doubt.

Its multiplayer, delivered in bite sized nuggets of gold, is well balanced and free of the bullsh*t deaths that other shooters are known for.  It has interesting maps allowing for all play styles and strategies and here’s customisation options a plenty. What’s not to love?

Poor marketing strategies and being forced to live in the shadow of two well established franchises is what caused Titanfall 2 to fail. Not poor game design, not flaws in the story and not even bad multiplayer. Let’s not punish a developer because their publisher threw them under a bus.

Titanfall 2 has my vote for Game of the Year and deserves yours as well. Everyone should be playing it right now — especially because I can’t find a game in Hardpoint to save my life. Let’s make Titanfall great again.

– Jay Ball

Dark Souls III

Dark Souls III rewards players that have the patience to learn deep game mechanics and complex combat by having them die over, and over again.

With most video games these days you’ll be lucky if you get to see what a death screen even looks like, but Dark Souls III spends the entire game teaching the player through death – right up until the final boss battle.

Overall, it’s a challenging game while also being an extremely satisfying experience. In my review I said that Dark Souls III “is one of the best games of this year,” but I was slightly off the mark — Dark Souls III is, hands down, the best game of this year.

– Luke Lawrie

Dishonored 2

Despite 2016 being a pretty crap year, we were really spoiled with some great video games. Arkane Studios’ Dishonored 2 was not only an impressive narrative with intricate combat but had a complex sense of level design.

The changing architecture in “The Clockwork Mansion” is the most entertaining and multi-layered level I’ve played this year. There’s always at least two very different approaches to each scenario, and I appreciated being rewarded for playing mercifully.The consequences of playing with time in the “A Crack in the Slab” chapter, most of which were optional and hidden, were incredibly satisfying to pull off and had a tangible impact on characters’ lives and the story.

– Julian Rizzo-Smith

Final Fantasy XV

It’s hard to ignore one of the great JRPGs that launched this year — namely, Final Fantasy XV.

Its dialogue, voice acting and character animations were a phenomenal mix of realism and Shakespearean fantasy. Its protagonists, fleshed-out and enjoyable, never bordering on bro-ing out.

Even though its opening — “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers” — is cringe-worthy, it’s ultimately correct.

– Julian Rizzo-Smith & Steve Wright

Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE

It’s equally hard to ignore Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE

Basically Persona with Fire Emblem aesthetics, Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE’s hyper-stylised turn-based combat and J-Pop soundtrack were refreshingly dynamic and incredibly addicting.

– Julian Rizzo-Smith


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