Favorite 2016 Release: Titanfall 2. I was a big Call of Duty player through high school and have continued to play competitive shooters on pc from CS:GO to my close second favorite of the year, Overwatch. I got Titanfall on a whim hearing all of the praise it was getting, I didn't play the first release, and I'm not all that interested in futuristic/sci-fi shooters, at least the way CoD has portrayed them. For me it was really the movement and platforming found in Titanfall that puts it in another league. I enjoyed the campaign for what it was, disappointed in the lackluster and uninteresting story overall, I still rolled through it on both Hard and Master difficulties, and found that the changes required tactically for Master made it a bit more interesting. The multiplayer has been a hell of a lot of fun as well, bringing me back to those late nights staying up playing CoD with friends.
Least Favorite 2016 Release: The only title I've played that was released this year would have to be Street Fighter 5. I'm not a big fighting game player, I've played plenty of them in the past, but have never taken the time to invest in the nuance and strategy involved in actually getting good at them. I got Street Fighter hoping to maybe get into that experience a bit, and learn how to actually play it. I only had the game for a few weeks before I resold it. Buying it semi early, the lack of features, missing story mode, and just the incomplete feel of it all left me displeased to say the least. I had no expectations really going in, and knew about a lot of the issues, but they proved too much for me to overlook so I moved on. On a side note, even though I haven't played it yet or purchased it, my biggest disappointment was probably No Man's Sky, if only because I'd have loved for it to be great and to have had a reason to purchase it beyond the general hype around it. Maybe when it's out of early access next year! =D
Favorite Game Played in 2016: I'll have to put this up as a tie between Titanfall 2, Overwatch, and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the Wii U. For me Titanfall scratched a nostalgic itch for me that was a one time a yearly ritual, driving to the city to purchase the yearly CoD release, and enjoying some fast paced and fun mutliplayer while occasionally finishing up a campaign mission. Overwatch really took over as my replacement for CS:GO, logging my 1000th hour in that late last year, me and a group of friends online decided to try out the new kid on the block and were quickly hooked. Monster Hunter was my biggest surprise of the year (more on that later) and easily became one of my favorite gaming experiences over the summer.
Least Favorite Game Played in 2016: This is essentially a throw away category for me since I didn't really invest time into any titles that I disliked! Mountain Bike Adrenaline. I didn't play this back when it came out on PS2, I had never heard of it until I purchased a PS2 Slim off of Ebay and this game was included among a few others. All I can wonder is if anyone else has played and enjoyed this game.
Sleeper Hit of 2016: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Alright so, I'm a huge Dark Souls, and fan of the Souls franchise in general. I've played through to completion all of the titles from Demon's Souls up to Bloodborne, have not completed Dark Souls 3 yet! One thing I have had recommended to me though time and time again has been the Monster Hunter franchise. Well when Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was released, I picked that up for my 3DS XL. . . and hated it. Playing with just a single analog stick absolutely ruined it for me, the inability to use a simple lock-on command like in the Souls games, coupled with the inaccurate camera controls relegated to hitting the Right Trigger button to center the camera, had me boxing the game back up and reselling it. Fast forward to this summer when I was able to get my hands on a Wii U for free (reward perks from my job). Mario Maker was the only title I picked up for the Wii U at the time, but browsing through Gamestop I caught sight of Monster Hunter 3 U. I grabbed it, hoping to give the series that still interested me a chance, and boy am I glad I did.
Almost becoming a different game, I fell in love. This game surprised the hell out of me, not only did the combat and movement feel good, but damn near every weapon I've tried I've enjoyed using to some degree. I think at this point the hammer and long sword are my bread and butter, but I had a hell of a time taking the hunting horn for a spin and knocking the hell out of the Great Baggi. I put in a ton of time during my couple weeks spent with this game. I haven't "completed" it yet but I've made it to the 4th and final area of the game and still plan to return to make my way through some of the end game monsters.
Favorite Gaming Moments/Achievements in 2016: I've added my favorite gaming achievement to this category because I feel they go hand in hand for me this year. I feel that my biggest achievement this year was finally completing Final Fantasy X. I had played all the way up to the beginning of the final battle with Sin in the past but had not completed the game at that point. One of my favorite moments from that experience was. . . getting that damned celestial weapon for dodging 200 lighting strikes, my god. In reality it only took me 2 failed attempts, both over 100 dodges, to complete it, but it was still nerve wracking. I delved into some late game content before completing the final boss fight, and actually turned the final boss fight from something I was really struggling with in my first attempts, to a joke where I rolled over all phases of it.
Successfully hunting Qurupeco in MH3U. Even though this is only the second (I can't remember exactly but I think its the second) monster you face in 3U, I feel like of all of the monsters I've faced, this was the most difficult. His attacks can range from slow with a big windup, to quick and with succession. I struggled early on against him, especially since I didn't know any better and was wearing Great Jaggi armor, making me weak to his fire based attacks. The first fight I was well under-prepared and ended up having the hunt drag on to the 45 minute mark before I barely managed to kill him. I turned what should have been a straight forward fight into a slug fest for both sides. I won though, and I have the hunting horn to prove it =).
Finally and most recently, getting the platinum trophy in Titanfall. Even though it wasn't particularly difficult, I really enjoyed getting it for this game. The last achievement I unlocked was completing the game on Master difficulty. I ended up doing this on Thanksgiving day before going with my family to my parents house for dinner, but the night before, I had finished the time trial achievement, running the training course at the beginning of the game, I spend nearly 2 hours grinding on this course, running trial after trial, stopping each time I made a single mistake and restarting. When I finally managed it, I only got there by .05 seconds, and lost my shit. I had been ready to give up for the night for a good 30 minutes but just kept telling myself 1 more try!
Proudest Collection Accomplishment of 2016: I went to Portland Retro Gaming Expo! This year has really been the beginning of my game collection, of older titles at least, I managed to get my hands on a few systems, one that I remember wanting so bad when I was growing up, and still remember, for some reason, the day my mom told me that it was going out of production, the N64. Even though my memories of this system are very much focused on Zelda OoT and F-Zero, it still felt like a big deal holding that console so many years later and knowing it was finally mine.
And finally in no particular order, a short list of my favorite games I've played this year, regardless of release.
- Overwatch (PC)
- Titanfall 2 (PS4)
- Final Fantasy X HD (PS4)
- Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U)
- DOOM (PC)
- Dark Souls 3 (PS4)
- Planet Coaster (PC)
- Pillars of Eternity (PC)
- Battlezone 98 Redux(PC)
- Stellaris (PC)
