GOTY 2016

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Last year I did a kind of half-assed Game of the Year listing, where I randomly chose ten of the games I played (and watched LP's of) last year, and came up with reasons as to why I liked them. Looking back, that list would be a lot different (especially since Undertale is listed as an honourable mention and that game is udder shit). This year, I've actually put some thought into this, and as such these will go into much more detail and depth.
2016 was quite the year, huh. Not a great one, if I do say so myself. Even for video games it was, in my opinion, quite lackluster. Very few games really interested me, especially when it came to Nintendo. Going in to the year, I had a lot of contenders for possible game of the year: Persona 5, The Legend of Zelda U, Yooka-Laylee, New Danganronpa V3... Yeah... too bad they've all been delayed to "sometime in 2017" (unless you're Persona 5, in which case you've been delayed to April.... for now) or didn't get a release date for this year period even though they were previously said to.
This is Jake's Top 5 Video Games of 2016! The only games that are exempt from being placed on this list are ports (unless I never played the original game), so this excludes Corpse Party (Nintendo 3DS) and Twilight Princess HD (Wii U).
Please keep in mind that this is all based on my personal opinion, and only for games that I have personally played.
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=== #5 ===
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Number five on this list is a game I didn't expect to like so much.
Pokkén Tournament
Series: Pokémon / Tekken spin-off
Platform: 
Released: March 18 (NA)
Aside from Super Smash Bros., I had never really gotten into fighting games, so that's why number five on that list - Pokkén Tournament - surprised me so much. What do you get when you take a slow turn-based RPG like Pokémon and mix it with a fast-paced fighting game like Tekken? Apparently something amazing, because that's what Pokkén is.
Pokkén Tournament is a strange game. It's not entirely 2D like Tekken is, but instead a hybrid 2D/3D fighter, switching between phases whenever enough damage or knockback is dealt to a Pokémon. At first, this may be a bit confusing, but I found it an interesting feature; one that I liked to experiment with in the story mode.
Speaking of which... there's a story mode. Not an especially good one, but there is one. The story, which you find out while climbing the ranks of the Ferrum League, revolves around the glass-cannon monstrosity Shadow Mewtwo, who has been corrupted by a Shadow Synergy Stone embedded within its shoulder. Basically you have to defeat it and restore it to normal, at which point you unlock both Shadow Mewtwo and Mewtwo as playable characters. While it's not relatively deep or particularly interesting, I felt inclined to go through it solely because of one character: Anne. I won't spoil it (it's short anyway), but I really ended up liking Anne... even if her (and every other character's) voice acting sucked.
One of the big things I liked about Pokkén was its roster. While small, the game's roster had a wide range of different Pokémon to play as, from quadrupeds like Suicune and bipeds like Blaziken to even... uhh... no-legged creatures like Chandelure. Personally, I fell in love with Braixen, whose moveset is primarily made up of projectiles so she can attack from a distance. While I do wish the game's roster was larger (heck, they could even include the four Pokémon exclusive to the arcade version - Scizor, Empoleon, Croagunk, and Darkrai - and I'd be happy), considering this seemed like an experiment more than anything, I can see why the roster's small. It makes up for this by having quite a lot of Support Pokémon to choose from, which all have unique abilities. Unfortunately, while you can't mix-and-match the pairs, they're balanced in such a way that I'm okay with it; though I've mainly chosen the Fennekin and Emolga combo you get at the beginning of the game.
I don't have much else to say about the game. The stages, while simple backdrops, all have some great music to listen to while you fight. You can customize your trainer (though to unlock stuff to do so you pretty much need to spend time just scanning amiibo, since you unlock stuff by beating the different Leagues, through rare Lucky Bonuses, and mainly through scanning amiibo).
The main reason it's placed at #5 on this list is simply that: it's a simple game. It's fun, which is why I like it, and it's addictive. I found it really fun and I still continue to go back to it just to fight the 'endgame' Chroma League.
Metacritic score: 76 / 100
My score: 8 / 10
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=== #4 ===
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Hey, you know what was a pretty stale franchise? Pokémon. For 25 years we've had the same game released with very small changes. Aside from graphics, Pokémon X and Y are nearly identical to Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, with the only differences being that there are more Pokémon and another type. But you know what changed that?
Pokémon Moon
Series: Pokémon #15
Platform: 
Released: November 18 (NA) / October 23 (PAL)
Okay, I've always liked Pokémon (as evident by the fact that there are two Pokémon games on this list), but I will always stand by the fact that it's been incredibly stale.
That's why Pokémon Sun and Moon (well, just Pokémon Moon since that's the version I got) are number four on that list. While they're still Pokémon games, they got rid of the structure that kept them successful. No more Gyms, no more Gym Leaders. Instead, they replaced them with the new Trials and Trial Captains and Island Kahunas.
Maybe it's just that the game is different from the others in its series that I liked it so much. The Trials, each are unique and, unlike Gyms which I felt were just minor tests, I actually looked forward to seeing how every Trial played out.
But most of all, they actually had a story. Generation V will always be my favourite Pokémon games, because I loved N and Team Plasma and the Unova region, but Pokémon Sun and Moon are placed only slightly below them in my mind.
Team Skull is an amazing entertaining villainous group with a surprisingly deep leader. The Alola region, with their unique traditions and styles, is so fun to explore. Lillie, Mallow, and Acerola are some of my overall favourite Pokémon (game) characters ever.
But quite obviously, the game cannot be without its flaws.
Pokémon Sun and Moon, in my opinion, introduces very few 'cool' Pokémon; and a lot of them are incredibly slow; my team consisted almost-entirely of older Pokémon. Another big problem I have is the Alola region itself... to me it was just really unmemorable. There were few landmarks that really stood out to me off the first island - off the top of my head, I only clearly remember the site of the Ghost-type Trial and Maile City.
Additionally, while the story has been acclaimed by a lot of people I've asked... I found it pretty mediocre. From pre-release material, two of the biggest 'twists' were obvious, and what wasn't obvious from pre-release material just didn't interest me. While I liked all of the characters - Nebby, Lillie, Gladion, etc. - I feel like their potential was kind of wasted on a lackluster story that had few surprises. While Pokémon Black and White didn't have many surprises either, I enjoyed it much more than I did the story of Sun and Moon. In fact, the main reason I continued with the game was to see the different trials and find out what was the deal with Kukui's Elite Four.
I hope, if they make a sequel to Pokémon Sun and Moon they don't get rid of the Trials and replace them with Gyms... though I kind of feel like they will do that.
Also, I know I'm in the way minority, but I'm not a huge fan of the Ride Pokémon feature. I like that it got rid of the HM's because they've been annoying, but there was something about the Ride Pokémon that I just didn't like. Maybe it was the music.
Metacritic score: 87 / 100
My score: 8.5 / 10
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=== #3 ===
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Back in November of 2015, Kadokawa Games announced a new visual novel, and with only the announcement trailer, they had already sold me on the game.
√Letter
Series: Kadokawa Game Mystery #1
Platform: / PlayStation Vita
Released: November 10 (NA) / October 28 (PAL)
Root Letter takes number three. Even within the niche audience, this game seems to be incredibly niche, and it's such a shame too.
Root Letter puts players in the role of "Max" (whose real name is, by default, Takayuki, but you can name him). Fifteen years ago, Max corresponded with a girl named Aya Fumino, whom he got in touch with by sending out an advertisement requesting a penpal. Now, fifteen years later, Max finds an eleventh letter from Aya that he never opened, a letter saying that she killed someone. Wanting to find out the truth behind his penpal, Max sets out to the small town of Matsue to track down Aya and her seven friends that she mentioned in her letters: Shorty, Fatty, Monkey, Four-Eyes, Snappy, Bitch, and Bestie.
Depending on what Max's replies were to Aya, the player can receive five different endings, with varying amounts of nonsense. Gameplay-wise, Root Letter can most easily be compared to the Ace Attorney or Danganronpa games: the player collects evidence by searching areas and talking to people, and must use them to corner people in "investigations". Alongside the ability to ask questions or present evidence to move along the story, there's also a small minigame thing known as "Max Mode", wherein Max kinda just shouts nonsense at someone depending on when you click the X button.
Throughout the whole game, you're blessed with great and catchy music that I can't stop listening to. From calming peaceful music like Over the Truth (the game's main theme), to the mysterious Labyrinth and the way-too-epic-for-no-reason Break Down, the game has some of the best music in any game on this list. Coupled with the great music is great art by Mino Taro. Kadokawa actually used the real-world town of Matsue and real-world locations for the game, and it's amazing how amazing all the art is. Just look at this comparison between the real world and Root Letter versions of the Kyomise Shopping District:
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While I loved the story the game told, the game's obviously not without it's flaws. One of my biggest complaints was searching environments. Unlike Danganronpa, there's no way to highlight which items you can suspect aside from the cursor growing a little bigger and making a noise, so sometimes I resorted to randomly clicking around until I could find whatever I needed to check. Even more confusing, some objects that you can investigate only move along the story should you click the right place. For instance, when he first arrives in Matsue, Max tries to find a guidebook. One of the obvious answers would be to check the pamphlet stand, though you only get the guidebook if you search the bottom of it, and there's no way to know that the top and bottom are considered separate.
And while I can rave on and on about how the story kept be entranced enough to get me to play through it and get not only all five endings, but also every trophy (most of which you get just by playing through each route, though there are three optional sidequests that grant trophies and various gallery options), I'll also be the first to point out of my least favourite points of the game: the endings. The first two endings I got (the second being what I assume is the "true" ending) made some sense in the context of the rest of the story... but then the other three are a dramatic shift in the plot. Not to spoil anything, but let's just say... they're... interesting to say the least.
But even though they're one of my least favourite parts of the game, the endings are all interesting. I was entranced by every single plot point each ending had, and I was really excited to go through each time and see what was so different in each past. Its a really interesting game, and even though almost everything you learn about Aya Fumino comes from second-hand accounts (that can change depending on endings) and the letters, she is a very interesting character that I really liked.
Before the game was released, critics likened the game to the Ace Attorney series, saying it's a much more serious version of it. While it definitely has its humorous moments, I'm inclined to believe that. If you like the Ace Attorney games, I highly recommend trying the game out. Even if you don't like it's first route, I implore you to try and get all five endings... or at least the "true" ending.
While you can purchase the game digitally through the PlayStation Store worldwide, in North America, you can only buy the physical version of the game through specific online retailers. PQube - the people who localized it - are based in Europe and as such I believe you can purchase physical versions of the game in GAME and probably any other gaming retailer. Speaking of PQube... They don't seem to have much of an editor, or someone to go through and make sure things are spelled correctly. They misspell "whoa" as "woah" in almost every instance, and it seems as though they cut some dialogue out accidentally (at one point Max and a girl who works at the inn he's staying at randomly start a rather impromptu conversation about ghosts, and it seems to have some sort of origin that just didn't happen)... though the latter is quite rare.
Metacritic score: 72 / 100
My score: 9 / 10
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=== #2 ===
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Hey, you know what I like? Time travel. I've always been a big fan of time travel and how it is portrayed in different media... but there are very few works of fiction that I feel do time travel in a way that makes sense, or at least to me. In my opinion, 5pb and Nitroplus have done time travel in the best way.
Steins;Gate 0
Series: Steins;Gate #2 / Science Adventure #2 (chronologically)
Platform: / PlayStation Vita
Released: November 25
Being a visual novel, I can't really say much about Steins;Gate 0 without spoiling much.... and the entire game is based off a spoiler for the original Steins;Gate. Sorry, but if you've yet to play Steins;Gate or watch it's anime adaption - which I highly recommend you do - then you may want to just skip this entry (though it's also extremely short because I highly recommend this one as well).
Steins;Gate 0 continues off one of the many alternate endings of the original Steins;Gate. In that ending, Rintaro Okabe is unable to save Makise Kurisu's life, and ultimately ends up killing her himself. After returning to the world line he left from, he breaks down and vows never to mess with time again, having chosen the life of Mayuri Shiina over Makise Kurisu's. Steins;Gate 0 begins with that ending, and continues on from there.
Unlike the original, which mainly focused on Okabe and Mayuri, Steins;Gate 0 jumps around to the perspectives of a variety of characters, from the aforementioned Okabe to Suzuha Amane and even characters that did not appear in the original game like Yuki Amane and Maho Hiyajo. The game also moves away from the time travel-focused plot, and instead moves towards artificial intelligence; though that doesn't mean time travel isn't involved in the story.
Steins;Gate 0 primarily centres around Okabe and Hiyajo, the latter having been Kurisu's partner at Viktor Chondria University prior to her death. Hiyajo and Kurisu co-developed an program - called Amadeus - that uses a person's memories to create an AI version of them. Okabe ends up testing it after meeting with Dr. Leskinen, Kurisu and Hiyajo's supervisor. All of the major characters from the original game return too: Mayuri Shiina, Luka Urushihara, Faris Nyannyan, Itaru Hashida, Suzuha Amane, Moeka Kiryu, and the Tennoujis; though some are differences with them considering they're in another world line.
I'm sorry this entry is so short, but I really don't want to spoil anything for the game.
And, here's a little hint for if you decide to play the game: you don't need to answer every single Amadeus phone call starting somewhere in mid-December; answering all of them triggers the worst ending. It's useful because the worst ending... it's literally the worst possible ending to the story in that it just ends with no resolution at all.
Much like Root Letter, Steins;Gate 0 was localized by PQube, though they did a considerably better job with Steins;Gate 0 than they did with Root Letter. Again, PQube released a physical version in Europe and online-only in North America, though you can download it digitally.
Metacritic score: 86 / 100
My score: 9 / 10
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=== Honourable Mentions ===
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As with all GOTY lists, I feel as though I should probably list an honourable mention.
In recent years, I've taken quite a liking to Koei Tecmo's Warriors series. Even though they all share similar gameplay, it's always interesting to see how different each game plays.
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
Series: The Heroic Legend of Arslan / Warriors spin-off
Platform: / Xbox One / Steam
Released: February 9 (NA) / February 12 (PAL)
The honourable mention for this list is Arslan: The Warriors of Legend.
I'm going to be completely honest, prior to playing this game I had never even heard of the Arslan series; I only picked the game up because of a "buy one recycled game get another half off" deal at the EB Games nearest me.
From what I understand, Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is based on the first season of the 2015 The Heroic Legend of Arslan anime... which itself is based on the manga series by Hiromu Arakawa... which is based on the series of novels written by Yoshiki Tanaka. The game centres around Arslan, the prince of the Kingdom of Pars. After the capital of Pars was seized by the neighbouring Lusitania and his parents kidnapped, Arslan tries to gather allies in order to take back the capital and become the new ruler of Pars. This is no easy feat, as his morale suffers as he is betrayed by some of his allies, and his party attacked by other nations.
Like all Warriors games, Arslan is a hack-and-slash game where players use various different combinations of attacks in order to defeat enemies. Unlike Hyrule Warriors, where players are stuck with a single weapon throughout each mission, Arslan, like several other Warriors games, allows players to switch between various weapons in the midst of battle. Also borrowing from other Warriors titles is the ability to call upon and ride a horse, which is very useful for traversing the large battlefield.
Arslan also features a really weird gameplay mechanic known as the Mardān Rush. Though it was interesting, I never really enjoyed it much. Upon running into blue walls of energy, the player can call all their troops to a single location in order to defeat large groups of enemies or destroy barricades. There are a few different versions of the Mardān Rush technique, with troops running on foot, riding horses, or firing barrages of arrows at targets. I really did not like it, and just sighed whenever you had to do it to continue on in a mission.
But aside from that, Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is just like any other Warriors game. I really enjoyed the story, and I felt that it was a rather interesting one - which makes sense as it is an abridged version of the anime's. I got really invested in most of the characters. While most characters use the same weapons - either swords, bows, or spears - each seem to have their own little quirks to make them unique, although I felt as if a lot of the attacks were shared between characters. The characters that had their own unique weapons are the characters I liked playing as the most - specifically, one of the characters I liked playing as the most was Narsus, who uses a paint brush that changes element depending on the colour of paint.
Speaking of elements, one thing I really liked was the ability to change a weapon's elemental properties. Not every weapon can be changed to any element. There is also a Skill Card system that also allows the player to add a little more variety to each warrior.
While I thoroughly enjoyed playing through the game, the reason why the game is placed at number two is quite simple: it's ending is incredibly lackluster. Because it is based on the first season which ends on a cliffhanger, so too does the game. There is no real resolution to the story. Because of this, the game's story retro-actively feels a little lackluster. I plan on watching both seasons of the anime, mainly to (hopefully) get resolution to the story.
Overall, I recommend playing this if you like Warriors games. In my opinion, it is not better than Hyrule Warriors, though it definitely comes close. It's really fun and the characters are all so well-written. It's just way too short, and, like all Warriors games, gets very repetitive.
Metacritic score: 69 / 100
My score: 8 / 10
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=== #1 ===
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So I've never really been big into indie games. Sure there have been some in the past that have caught my attention, but there have been very few I've enjoyed. None however have even come close to how much I liked this game.
Shantae: ½ Genie Hero
Series: Shantae #4
Platform: PC / Wii U / / PlayStation Vita / Xbox One
Released: November 20
My game of the year is none other than Shantae: ½ Genie Hero!
For those of you who don't know, the Shantae series centres around the character of the same name. A half-genie, Shantae is the Guardian Genie of Scuttle Town, though the respect she earns from the mayor fluctuates depending on the game.
In all games, a major part of the gameplay is performing dances to have Shantae transform into a variety of different animals to perform different tasks, and Half-Genie Hero is no different. From what I believe, sans the ability to transform into the recurring Tinkerbat enemy, all of the transformations from the first Shantae title return alongside several new ones. Something I love is how each of these transformations feel very unique, yet at the same time they all feel very much like Shantae.
Speaking of Shantae herself, she and the game at large are full of personality. The writing is quirky and there are often times where the fourth wall is broken, but this isn't done in an annoying way and a lot of the time it's very subtle. And then there're the character's sprites. For the first time in the series, Half-Genie Hero employs full HD visuals as opposed to the sprites of previous games, and with these visuals come brand new sprites. While every Shantae game has had great animations, I feel the HD visuals greatly highlight the personality they ooze; from how Shantae and Rottytops never stop bouncing around, and even how the generic townsfolk just wander about in unique ways.
While I've always been a fan of platformers (and, to a lesser extent, Metroidvania games), I'd say Shantae: Half-Genie Hero may be the best one I've ever played. While Super Mario World is a great and fun game, Shantae revs it up by coating the entire game in a nice personality. It can be a challenging game, but it's not rage-inducing. Every time I got a Game Over I always had a fun time trying to explore areas I may have missed and collecting anything that may catch my interest.
There's no shortage of things to collect in the game either, and the game has a large amount of replayability. Every time I've gained a new transformation, I've gone through the previous levels to try and find new secrets using whatever the new transformation's abilities may be. Heck, some even have upgrades that you can get throughout the game, meaning that you will have to return to a level multiple times to collect everything. The game even forces you to go back to old levels, but they all have changes after their first run-through - and you often meet new characters - that make every trip back fun.
The best thing about Shantae has to be that it's available on every platform, so it's easy for you to pick up if it looks to be your thing. The game has also seen a limited physical release (for the PS4, Vita, and Wii U) that comes with the game's soundtrack - which is amazing - so I highly recommend picking it up physical if anything.
Obviously the game isn't without it's flaws, but a lot of the ones that I have I can chalk up to simply that I'm not good at video games. Some enemies are hard to attack without being hit yourself, but when you learn their patterns they get much easier. One of the bosses requires you to have very specific timing when attacking them, and while I suck at that kind of thing, I didn't get annoyed by it because - like I said - it just seemed like it was me who was at fault, not the game.
And for new Shantae fans (kinda like me - I only played the original and that was a long time ago), while there do seem to be references to previous games, its story stands on its own, and most of what you need to know comes down to this: Shantae's the good guy, Risky Boots is her arch-enemy, and Scuttle Town practically gets attacked every Wednesday.
All in all, it's one heck of a masterpiece. Good on WayForward for making such a great game. And it was Crowdfunded too (though I didn't help fund it but I wish I had because backers get some exclusive content and I'm a bit jealous).
Metacritic score: 81 / 100
My score: 9.5 / 10