On top of the below five games, I played a bit (around 3 hours) of The Last Guardian (PS4) this week, and I'm really into what I've played so far. Its a very strange game, absolutely beautiful, both the characters and the world its set in, sort of like Mysterious Cities of Gold if it was a bit more muddy. The gameplay is really squirrelly, its nailed the feeling of darting about as a child, platforming feels more luck that skill. The main task in the game is guiding around the giant cat-bird-dog Trico, which despite my reservations is adorable and it guiding it around it acts as both a weapon and a platform for navigating the environment. Its a lot less frustrating that I expected, the beast does have a mind of its own, but i've found that quite endearing and twice its got so bored of my botched attempts of working out puzzles that its pretty much picked me up and moved me onto the next section. I'm not too sure how much of the game I can take, i'm playing it in very small chunks and can't see much variety in what i'm doing, hopefully it will go places and I'm liking a lot about it.
Anyway below is my top five games of 2016:
05.Pocket Card Jockey (3DS) Such an unusual game, constructed of so many ill fitting parts that it really shouldn't work. Somehow an RPG where you spend your time on horseback playing solitaire is the most addictive game i've played this year. Theres a sense of ownership of the horses through breeding and naming them, it all looks impossibly cute and has a great sense of humour. I'm sure I'll be playing it well into next year.
04.Pokemon Moon (3DS) the sharp hooks of Pokemon games were firmly in my back by the point this game came out. For the first time though I am playing a Pokemon game without forgiving it its flaws. Its a lot of fun and I struggle to convey how great it looks. The game has developed way beyond the simple task of taking a gym leader on to a more interesting set of tasks to complete before inevitably fighting an equivalent gym leader or strong Pokemon and theres also a world dotted with NPCs offering rewards for side quests which also show a nice variety. The basic premise of rock, paper, scissors in these games is helped by a varied cast so I no longer have to put a grass Pokemon in my party to get through a section, theres plenty of Pokemon to catch so I'm finding ones that are atheistically pleasing. At the end of everything a game which has me wander about islands with a dolled up seal, horse with dreadlocks, stuffed bear, boxing crab, magnet and an Easter Island head is pretty cool in my book.
03.DOOM (PS4) I've a fondness for the Doom franchise which is higher than any other first person shooter and this game certainly didn't disappoint. Moving away from the horror aspects of Doom 3 and toward the big guy with a big gun shoots bad monsters. At times it felt like a remake of the original Doom, some of the action sequences felt pleasingly similar and the return to hell in the middle section was as happy an event as a return to hell could be. The nods toward older games continue with some more interesting takes on the iconic demons than in Doom 3 and some inventive use of the coloured key cards. There is some drastic changes to gameplay, which feel a lot more natural than I feared, clearing sections before moving forward, severely limiting chainsaw fuel and brutal finishing moves on monsters never gets boring or repetitive. The end of the game introduced further monsters that were familiar and it's open ended nature left me really excited to see where it goes next.
02.Uncharted 4 (PS4) I was dubious about playing this game, I'd not played any of the previous games in the series and more than anything was worried I needed some context. Luckily I played in anyway as it was an absolute blast throughout. Everything I was expecting from what I'd heard was there, great dialogue and acting, amazing action sequences and some great toys to play with throughout the game. It peaked about two thirds of the way through, but thats not to say that the rest of a game was a slog. The only, thing I disliked about the game is quite a big thing, I hated the final boss fight in the game, had that been better I'd have struggled to find any faults in what is a game I still really, really liked.
01.Inside (PS4) I don't think I can say a bad thing about this game. It looks amazing, is so intricately designed that every moment feels right and is spot on with its duration. The only thing I am wary of saying about this game is too much, as the most delightful thing about the game was discovering and trying to decipher what is occurring in this game. Like all great puzzle games it made me feel cleaver when I found the solution to what I was doing and as the tasks become more ingenious it continued to impress me. On top of all of this nothing is overused and it's the perfect duration. An absolutely wonderful game.
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