Top 5 Games Of 2016

Merry Chrismahanakwanza, fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

Well, here we are at the end of 2016. This year has definitely been a rough one. The deaths of famous people that were near & dear to us, shootings, and perhaps one of the wildest political campaigns ever really took a lot out of us. Luckily, there were a lot of good games, movies, and albums to soften the blow for us. To star off the top 5's of 2016, let’s take a look at games, and boy oh boy was this a year of hits! Genres from across the spectrum came out with smashing titles, so I wanted to show off what I consider to be the top 5 games of 2016. Enjoy!

5) Super 3d Noah’s Ark (Trailer)

Right now, all of you are collectively facepalming yourselves when you saw this. You’re probably asking: Super 3d Noah’s Ark? Isn’t that the game that the Angry Video Game Nerd & Lazy Game Reviews looked at? Wasn’t also released on Steam last year? Yes, this is indeed that game. Truth be told I was tempted to put this in my “Honorable Mentions” section, but then I took a step back, and looked at this in a different light. Sure this was meant for kids! Sure this was a religious game! Sure this was basically a family-friendly version of Wolfenstein 3d! But you know what?...It was fun!

Yeah there’s no blood, and there’s God involved, and the Nazi imagery has been replaced with Noah & his wife (Along with his animals), but at it’s core it’s still a Wolfenstein game. There’s still that title’s gunplay (Replace with “Feeding”) involved, and the animals that replace the various Nazi characters can be surprisingly vicious, but it’s still a FPS game. If you want a strange game in your collection, and a cheap one to boot (It only costs $4.99), Super 3d Noah’s Ark.....might just be that game.

4) Nekopara: Vol 2 (Trailer)

Are here we come to an oddball of a title. Nekopara: Vol 2 isn’t so much of a game, as it is a Japanese visual novel. An adult visual novel, to be exact. Since Steam has a zero tolerance on adult material, the scenes in questions were taken out. This is mildly ironic, are some of the sexual content is still within, although said scenes are tame when compared to the actual sex. With that out of the way, Nekopara: Vol 2 (Along with the previous 2 titles) is a nice little romp. Equal parts silly, emotional, & naughty, the cast of characters is what will really keep you reading further into the story. The catgirls are just fun to watch, and even the main guy, who you hardly see, can be an interesting character in his own right. If you want a game that’s not a game, then give Nekopara: Vol 2 a try. Also, play volume 1 & 0 (0 is the prequel) before this one, as you’ll have experienced the story in it’s proper order.

3) Tokyo Mirage Sessions (Trailer)

I do not own a Wii U. I do not have a desire to get one. However, if there was a reason, it would be because of this game. My friend Amanda (The same Amanda that introduced me to Heroes of the Storm) told me about this game over a year ago, and when it came to the U.S., she & I watched playthroughs of it, and boy oh boy was it something. If I’m remembering right, I called Tokyo Mirage Sessions “Anime: The Game”, and it proved to be an apt description: everything looked & felt like it was a Shonen anime. The guys looked tough, the girls pretty & sexy, and the enemies were larger than life (Some of them, anyway). As for the world itself, just about any anime trope you could find was there....and I was okay with this. It’s very fitting that this happened to come after Nekopara: Vol 2, as both games are pure unadulterated Japanese cheese. I love this kind of stuff, and as I said earlier, if I had any notion of getting a Wii U......it would be because of this game!

2) Doom (Trailer)

Id’s return to the FPS genre was a rocky one. Going through a lot of changes (At one point, it was going to be more like CoD), and the fact that review copies weren’t handed-out until the game got released really got people worried. Those worries were immediately throw into the street to get run over by a car once gamers got a hold of the singleplayer, and dear lord is the singleplayer phenomenal! Simultaneously reminiscent of the previous Doom games, while at the same time bringing in some modern shooter elements, and it succeeds at mixing both together.  This new entry into the Doom series also has a surprisingly good story, and some good characters as well, despite not having them in the spotlight often. Even the multiplayer itself is fun, despite it’s flaws. Overall, Doom is out of this world, but as magical as it is, another shooter just managed to skirt past it. 3 shooters, actually.

So before we get to my number 1 game of 2016, let’s take a look at some Honorable Mentions. Normally I do 2, but this year I’m making a small exception, and covering 3 here instead. These games, while great to play, just didn’t quite have the stuff. Maybe it was because it was released a year or two before, maybe it was lacking in something, etc. So with that out of the way, let’s look at some honorable mentions for 2016.

HM1) Dark Souls 3 (Trailer)

This game scares me. In fact, this whole franchise terrifies me! I’m all for a challenge in an RPG, but there’s a fine line between a challenge....and a stress test. Dark Souls 3 is easily in the stress test category, and a daunting one at that. Even when you’re all decked out in the strongest weapons & armor, you’ll have to be strategic in your battles. Even if it’s just one or two of the smaller foes, you’ll have to be on your toes. With all of that said, why am I putting this 3rd entry into the Dark Souls? Well, DS3 has one of the most dark & gothic fantasy settings I’ve ever seen! The world is massive, but it’s also one of the bleakest settings made for a game. You feel like a small fish in an ocean where everyone is a shark, and even at the height of the player’s power, one must be careful of something lurking in the shadows. Eventually I’ll brave the waters of Dark Souls 3, but until then I’ll just enjoy the scenery.

HM2) Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location (Trailer)

Last year I had put both Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 & 4 on the list, and I still stand by my choice of putting the two together. It’s a safe bet to say that the franchise ran it’s course, mainly around the release of Five Nights At Freddy’s World earlier this year. Then came the reveal of Sister Location, and I breathed a sigh of frustration. There didn’t need to be a new game, cause it was pointless! Out of a weird curiosity, I picked it up on sale for dirt cheap, and was shocked to discover that it was good! Again, Sister Location didn’t need to get made, but in comparison to previous titles, this was one of the most varied in terms of gameplay. You have far more things to do in this game than all the others combined, and that makes for a far superior game. Again, Sister Location wasn’t needed, and thus I placed it here, but it still somehow managed to ensnare me.

HM3) Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Trailer)

I didn’t want to put this here. I really didn’t! If anyone has met me personally, you’ll know that I’ve been with this franchise since it’s inception back in 2003, and as any gamer can tell you, this series has certainly...gained a reputation. Ghosts from 2013 certainly twisted the knife more, and while Advanced Warfare from 2014 definitely brought back some credibility, it didn’t quite have enough. Then comes Black Ops 3 from last year. I’ll admit I loved it, despite it’s flaws. It still had the Treyarch touch, but looking back there were some issues aplenty. Once the likes of my number 1, 2, 3, and even my number 5 came my way, it seemed unfortunately right to place the conclusion of the Black Ops trilogy in my honorable mentions. A little weak, but still a fun time.

1) Overwatch (Trailer) & Shadow Warrior 2 (Trailer) & Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour (Trailer)

Yes, even more so than the almighty Doom, Blizzard’s first step into the world of FPS gaming gets the number 1 spot on this list. Overwatch is an absolute treat of a game. It’s got the funky world like Borderlands, the run & gun pacing of Call of Duty, and the class selection like Team Fortress (But with far more depth). Graphically the game looks amazing, with a level of detail you don’t see in some modern shooter titles, yet having a slight cartoonish feel. Every single match I’ve played, from release date to before this list, has been nothing but pure bliss (Despite some hiccups). As much as I was excited for Id’s return, a FPS game from a company that mains in Strategy, RPG, and MMOs, was far more intriguing to me. Simply put, Overwatch is the number 1 game of 2016, and one that should be on all of your lists as well!

Well, Overwatch isn’t the only number 1 game of this year. There is Shadow Warrior 2, after all. While I had an issue or two, it’s great to see one of gaming’s most inappropriate characters make a 2nd comeback. Taking the success of the 2013 reboot, SW2 is a balls-to-the-wall shooter. Filled with a wealth of guns & swords (Along with more upgrades than Trump has factual blunders), the game throws you into a world that requires you to kill everything that moves, and be a total badass while you do it. Again, I had some small problems crop up, but they in no way diminished the sheer fun factor that Shadow Warrior 2 provided. A great game all around!

Wait, Lo Wang’s 2nd arrival still isn’t the only number 1 game. Duke Nukem has returned for his 20+ year anniversary! Despite the release of Duke Nukem Forever over 5 years ago, it didn’t really win most gamers over (Apart from Duke fans). Many pitched a fit about it, complaining about many things (Legitimate or not), and Gearbox seemed to skirt away from it. In the years since, we’ve got the incredible Megaton Edition back in 2013 (Original game + 3 expansions), and now there’s Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary Edition World Tour. We’ve got the original game once again, but now there’s a completely new episode created by some of the original level designers. Real 3d rendering gives the look of Duke a new lease on life, and new & revised voice records from John St. Jon himself makes this experiences seem brand new. Complete with commentary from the developers, and you have proof that old-school characters can still have life in this modern age!

So these are my top 5 games of 2016. A motley bunch, to be sure, but a bunch of games that were a blast to play! If any of you are reading this list, I hope that you’re convinced to get at least one of these titles. I’ll see you all two days from now, when we’ll take a look at my top 5 movies of this year. See you then.




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If you’d like to see what my top 5 games of last year were, check out the link below.

Top 5 Games of 2015