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CheatCC’s 2016 Game of the Year Predictions

CheatCC’s 2016 Game of the Year Predictions

I keep a pretty tight budget, so I like to know what games are coming out in the near future. Toward the end of each month I’ll take a look at the games coming out the following month that I just have to play, and then I budget accordingly. We’re still slogging through the first third of the year, but it’s already been a huge year for games. Looking ahead to the rest of April and the month of May, I have no idea how I’ll pick and choose which games to buy and which games I can leave behind – and the thing is, it won’t be getting any easier as we dive into summer and blow through fall.

With so many huge games coming out this year, I figured I’d go ahead and acknowledge the titles that are going to do big things. Michael Pachter isn’t the only one who can predict the future, you know. I have my own crystal ball, and while I try not to divine the future for just any ‘ol thing, I figure video games are probably worth a little space-time tinkering. I’ve drawn my pentagram and lit my candles, and now it’s time to channel the spirits. Without further ado, here are your games of the year for 2016 (not all of them, just the ones you care about):

::Insert Wayne’s World time travel effects here::

Action / Adventure Game of the Year

Finalists: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Recore.

This was a real close call, and in the end it boiled down to Uncharted and Horiz on. The new Legend of Zelda for the NX and Wii U would have been a clear winner if it had come out before December. Though Horizon enjoyed one of the best launches of a new IP we’ve ever witnessed and is sitting high on metacritic with a 92, there was just no competing with Naughty Dog’s epic finale to the Uncharted saga. We still can’t stop talking about that mind-blowing ending.

RPG of the Year

Finalists: Dark Souls III, The Division, Final Fantasy XV, Persona 5, and Fire Emblem Fates

Depending on the show, you’ll also find titles like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Horizon: Zero Dawn grouped in with the RPG nominees; Bravely Second got more than a few nods as well, but the competition was absolutely cutthroat. Dark Souls fans didn’t play anything else after April, Persona 5 blew away even the hardcore Atlus fans, Final Fantasy XV is an absolute spectacle, and everyone expected The Division to win because it’s managed to maintain a huge average of daily active users. In the end Final Fantasy XV managed to steal the show because of that one scene. I still can’t even say the word “Chocobo” without crying.

CheatCC’s 2016 Game of the Year Predictions

Best New IP

Finalists: Recore, Cuphead, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Quantum Break, Unravel, and Overwatch

Early in the year we all expected No Man’s Sky to end up taking this one home, but boy were we surprised. The clear winner here was Horizon. The game launched with some serious performance issues, and even on PS4 you couldn’t hope for a consistent 30 fps during the tamer moments. Thankfully about a month after launch we got a miracle patch that nerfed the draw distance on all platforms and improved performance dramatically. The result is one of the best games of the year that still looks gorgeous.

Multiplayer Game of the Year

Finalists: Overwatch, Paragon, Battleborn, Rainbow Six: Siege, Street Fighter V, Pokken Tournament

There were so many great new multiplayer games this year. Surprisingly DOOM is in the running at a few shows in the multiplayer category thanks to consistent support and additional game modes from Bethesda. The unanimous winner though, no matter where you look, is Battleborn . This game surprisingly took the console world by storm and is currently the most watched multiplayer game on Twitch and YouTube Gaming.

Game of the Year

Finalists: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Overwatch, Cuphead, Final Fantasy XV, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Persona 5

You guys are going to see a lot of standing ovations at these awards shows as developers commend one another on all of the fantastic games that were produced this year. It’s rare that we see so many genre-defining and genre-bending games in a single year, and if this was a fan vote it’d be hard to call a winner. Looking back, the critics agree that Uncharted deserved to take home GOTY for world-class storytelling and next-generation visuals; seriously, the whole industry is amazed and bewildered as to how Naughty Dog was able to pull of these visuals on the PS4.

There you have it. It was a fantastic year, and it seems like the whole world can’t stop talking about Uncharted 4 . Unfortunately, Sony is still trying to figure out how to deal with the mass of people demanding account transfers and download vouchers after the exodus that occurred after Donald Trump’s election as the next US president. If you’re in the past and reading this in April, take my advice and look into moving to Antwerp. Also, please remember to not to drink milk on May 17. Just trust me.

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