It seems like coming late with these annual top 10 games lists is now a tradition. Publishing a month late does give me more time and room to meditate on which games really moved me in the previous year, thus coming up with a better video and post to explain my feelings about my picks. With that said, I didn’t play as many games as I could have last year, which explains why I left so many good titles out. Despite that, I feel pretty good about this list of the ten best games of 2016 I got to play.
Take note—this list only includes games that were officially released in 2016 that I got to play in the same year. I mentioned a few games at the start of the video that I think could have been easily in the list, but I didn’t get to play them in that very year, so I had to leave them out. But they’re still noteworthy since they’re good games (as I’ve come to find later on), so think of them as other honorable mentions.
The List
10. Street Fighter V
- Also one of the most disappointing games of 2016 due to lacking singleplayer experience
- Easier for casual players; somehow alienating for pro players
- Okay online experience; not perfect
9. Owlboy
- Great animation
- Gameplay isn’t too special as a platformer
- In development for nine years by a small team
8. VA-11 HALL-A
- Relaxing and intriguing at the same time.
- Cyberpunk setting; Bubblegum-Crisis-in-a-bar trappings
- Same genre as Papers Please and The Westport Independent
- Interesting characters and good soundtrack
7. Darkest Dungeon
- In early access for a long time
- Basically Murphy’s Law: The Game—something will definitely go wrong
- Good amount of grimdark
6. Enter the Gungeon
- Top-down shooter with roguelike elements
- Responsive controls
- Nice artstyle
- Pretty tough
5. XCOM 2
- Aliens won in the first game
- Permadeath and being able to customize your soldiers
- Long War 2 just came out (as of this writing)
4. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Sequel of Deus Ex: Human Revolution (inspiration for this blog’s design)
- Review for this game here
3. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
- Inspired by the Commandos series
- Good story and well-developed characters
- Well-designed tactical gameplay
2. DOOM
- Multiplayer beta was not very good
- Has all the good parts of an old-school shooter
- Additions include glory kills, upgrades, maps, codex, etc.
- Added arcade mode and other features in subsequent patches
- Multiplayer could be better
Honorable Mention — Enderal: The Shards of Order
- Full conversion mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Sequel to Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Developed by German studio SureAI
- Available for free; regularly updated
- Interesting role-playing system with consequential mechanics for magic
1. Overwatch
- Team game that’s not a MOBA
- Multiplayer game with great characters and lore, even when not necessary
- Good for both fun and competitive play
- Polished and regularly updated with patches and in-game events
- Helped me connect with friends
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