The Games You Won’t See on My 2016 GOTY Lists

Originally published on Trevor Trove on December 28, 2016

There were a lot of great games this year. And despite playing somewhere in the ballpark of one hundred things in 2016, I didn’t get to all of them. Last year, I put together a few lists of games that I didn’t get to in preparation for the Game of the Year conversations so here are some thoughts on some of the bigger 2016 games that you won’t see on my Game of the Year lists in the next week or so and the reasoning behind them.

Overwatch

Better rip this band-aid off first. A lot of people love Overwatch. I think it will win a healthy amount of Game of the Year Awards (it already won the big prize at the Game Awards). But it didn’t resonate with me. In the brief time I spent with it, I think I only progressed to level 10 or so. As someone who simply doesn’t connect with online multiplayer shooters, this was not the game for me. I tried it. I respect what it does and the way Blizzard has and will continue to support it. But there were too many other things I wanted to play this year and the idea of a game staying with me month after month just isn’t the go-to experience.

Hitman

Given how much I wound up loving the choose your play style sandbox games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Dishonored 2, it seems like Hitman could have really sung for me. But the episodic approach to the game was a turn-off out the gate (see the comment above about revisiting a game periodically throughout the year). I’ve also never played any of the other Hitman games (save Hitman GO) so there wasn’t any sense of franchise loyalty to draw me in.

I am admittedly a little more bummed I couldn’t find time for it though after watching Giant Bomb’s recent Hitsmas video.

Homefront: The Revolution

Didn’t go near this one so I’m just highlighting something that won’t be on my Worst of… list either.

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Given I had already walked away from Destiny, I wasn’t one of the people who jumped from Destiny over to The Division for a hot second before returning to life as a Guardian.

Far Cry Primal

By most accounts, Far Cry Primal was more Far Cry with a prehistoric coat of paint. I absolutely loved Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 was my 10th favorite game of 2014. But I was just in a different headspace when Far Cry Primal launched in February this year and never really found the time to go back to it. Maybe it’s something I grab on sale and dive into in the new year.

Dark Souls 3

Hahahahahahaha! I dedicated my entire Extra Life stream to Bloodborne and hated my time in the Soulsborne world. Of course you won’t find Dark Souls on my lists.

Darkest Dungeon

I really wanted to get around to this game but I just never really seemed to find the time for it. It’s still sitting on my Vita though.

Civilization VI/XCOM 2

It breaks my heart that I didn’t have the time or the computing power to spend time with these two games as they represent some of my most beloved franchises. Civilization VI is something I’m sure I will absolutely lose hours to whenever I finally decide to invest in a new computer. And by the time XCOM 2 came to console, I was already trying to keep my head above water with all of the other fall releases.

Dragon Quest Builders/World of Final Fantasy

More victims of an overly crowded fall release schedule. I don’t really have an interest in Minecraft but the Dragon Quest franchise might have pulled me in. And Worlds of Final Fantasy could have conceivably hit enough nostalgic buttons even if I don’t really care about the art style. But knowing Final Fantasy XV would also take up a ton of my time, I chose to invest the time in that game instead.

Most Things Nintendo (Again)

I don’t think I touched my Wii U once this year so games like Tokyo Mirage Sessions #Fe, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and Star Fox Zero are completely off the table (for better or worse). And the only 3DS games I put any significant time into were Fire Emblem Fates and Dragon Quest VII. So you won’t find Pokemon Sun/Moon, Kirby: Planet Robobot, or Metroid: Federation Force (again for better or worse).

So there’s a pretty handy run-down of some of the games that won’t be making the final cut. I could certainly still be missing some pretty notable titles but I think I got most of the real heavy hitters that I won’t be considering. I found time for most of the others.