Here it is! We’re down to our final end-of-year awards and as one can expect, it’s for the biggest one there is! To end things with a bang, PlayStation LifeStyle awards what we deem the best game of the year.
If you weren’t able to keep track of all the awards we’ve given out for our Best of 2016 month-long celebration, you can check them out here, or watch the video above to see all the categories, winners and of course, our pick for Game of the Year 2016!
What game did we think was the best one out of the bunch this 2016? Check out the gallery below to find out. And don’t forget, same as with our awards, the winner is based on a staff-wide vote and isn’t determined by the review score, or any other metric. In short: this is the game the PSLS staff most voted on as their personal Game of the Year. Needless to say, the games nominated are all must-plays and should be in your gaming collection. If not, go get ’em, you won’t regret it.
Shocked by our pick? No? What’s your game of the year for 2016? Discuss and share your pick in the comments! And don’t forget, it’s fine to have different tastes, alright?
What’s next for PlayStation LifeStyle? Well, seeing as we’re not taking a break at all this holiday, prepare for more features, and end-of-year specials next week!
Be sure to follow PlayStation LifeStyle on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and YouTube for the latest in PlayStation coverage.
You can check out the other Best of 2016 winners here!
Essential Reading:
- Game of the Year 2015 Winner and Recap
- Top 5 Best PlayStation Experience 2016 Moments
- 10 Reasons for PS4 Owners to Be Thankful
Best of 2016 Game Awards - Game of the Year
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Best of 2016 Game Awards - Game of the Year
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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Naughty Dog could beat the series into perpetuity, but they chose to close this chapter of their story at a high point and allow themselves and players to move on. In some ways it feels like I’m playing Uncharted for the first time again, living that sense of incredulity and adventure as we join Nathan Drake and his charming half-tuck for one final adventure rooted in love and sacrifice. It’s a bittersweet feeling, but they’ve gone all in to make sure that A Thief’s End is the Uncharted finale that the fans deserve. A farewell this monumental is spectacularly deserving of a nomination for Game of the Year.
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Titanfall 2
The team at Respawn Entertainment took everything they learned from the original Titanfall, and applied it perfectly to Titanfall 2. Considering this developer started with members from Infinity Ward of Call of Duty fame, their experience in crafting a masterful multiplayer experience shows throughout Titanfall 2. The campaign even kicks ass, to boot!
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World of Final Fantasy
Square Enix may have tried to write love letters to Final Fantasy fans in the past, but World of Final Fantasy is the true love letter to these fans. The hilarious dialogue, innovative gameplay, and adorable Pokemon-esque features make World of Final Fantasy one of the best FF games in years, if not one of the best Final Fantasy spin-offs.
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The Last Guardian
In an industry where every developer packs in as many new features, as many modes, options, and configurations, The Last Guardian has no upgrades, no leveling, no add-on map packs, no RPG elements – it is an almost solitary experience, between nothing more than a boy, a beast, and the big world around them, yet it outshines nearly everything else. Video games as a market might demand the Call of Duty’s of the world to move units and put a spotlight on the industry through hype and marketing buzz, but video games as a medium deserves The Last Guardian.
Beautiful. In every way.
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Battlefield 1
Though the “1” in its name may officially stand for the Great War, it could also represent the rebirth of a franchise that took a bit of a beating with Battlefield 4, went down an awkward path with Hardline, before finally rising as the Battlefield title that simply all shooter fans must buy."Boasting both solid single-player and top-tier multiplayer components, Battlefield 1 is the complete package for fans of warfare on a huge scale. -
Overwatch
It’s ironic to imagine a title about a fragmented team fighting amongst itself serving as a big unifier, but that might just be what we need. At a time when the division between our hobby’s constituents seems more visible than ever, Overwatch reminds us that we’re more alike than different — if we let them, games can bring us together. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s something well worth fighting for.
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Inside
Inside is a very peculiar game in the sense it differs so much from what we’re used to seeing in games that the only thing I can compare it to is Playdead’s own Limbo. If there ever was a game that the phrase “less is more” applies to, it’s none other than this game. There’s no explosions, gunfights or anything that almost all games these days have in order to be a guaranteed seller. But it does have a lot of soul though, and a story that’ll make you ask questions and stick to your brain long after it’s over, which is rare in our medium.
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Ratchet and Clank
I knew that I was looking forward to revisiting Ratchet and Clank’s origins, but I didn’t know how much I’d really missed Ratchet & Clank until I got the opportunity to play it all over again for the first time, and this brand new experience is every bit as good as I remember it being 14 years ago. Sometimes you have to revisit the classics on today's terms, and Ratchet and Clank is a perfect example of a faithful rebuild on the mesh of the original.
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And the winner is...
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Winner - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Surprised? Yeah, most likely not -- and even that lack of shock is a testament to just how well crafted Naughty Dog's latest, and possibly last, Uncharted game is.
From the story, gameplay, and even from a technical perspective, Uncharted 4 is a masterclass of how to end things with a bang, and with class.
If there's a game that's a good showpiece as to why AAA gaming cannot -- and should not -- cease, ever, Uncharted 4 would be it.
Naughty Dog has once again delivered and then some. Will we see Nathan Drake again? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever Sony and Naughty Dog decides on, we hope it continues the franchise's stellar streak of awesomeness.
Congrats, Naughty Dog! Here's to us raising our glasses to Drake, Sully, Elena and the rest of the crew!
