2016 was an amazing year for video games. From blockbuster titles like Uncharted 4, Overwatch, and DOOM, to smaller beloved titles like Stardew Valley, Inside, and Firewatch, there was never a shortage of excellent titles to keep us entertained for days on end. However, with a year as big as 2016, there tend to be a lot of equally special games that get overshadowed and pushed to the wayside to make way for the larger hype campaigns of more popular titles. Luckily for you, we’ve put together a list of the overlooked and underappreciated games we think you may want to check out during this summer’s dry spell of big game releases.
Planet Coaster is, in a word, lovely. Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 and 3 were a huge part of my childhood, but it’s been nearly a decade since the last great theme park sim came out, and I wasn’t sure that a modern re-imagining of the genre could capture what made those old games so special. As such, I didn’t pay attention to Planet Coaster’s announcement or subsequent closed alpha and beta stages, so I was pleasantly surprised at the positive reception it received from reviewers last November. It’s difficult to describe what makes Planet Coaster so special: I can point to any number of mechanical or aesthetic elements that make it worth playing, but it’s the unexpectedly peaceful, almost-therapeutic feel of the game that really made it special to me- and I’m not alone. Across the dozens of blog posts, podcast discussions, and forum threads I’ve encountered, it seems that many agree it’s (strangely) one of the most soothing games ever. Something about the cheerful art direction and soundtrack makes these fantasy theme parks a pleasant space to inhabit, and the excellent creation tools balance power and user-friendliness, allowing for complex, obsessive design, or simple (but still visually pleasing) item placement and terraforming. One day I spent two hours meticulously placing flower beds and trees along my paths, and loved every second of it. There was no gameplay reason to do so, and I swear I’m not the type to care about this in other games, but Planet Coaster is just so charming that I couldn’t help but care about how my creations looked. The robust simulation aspect shouldn’t be downplayed either: should you choose to play it this way, Planet Coaster is also a surprisingly in-depth strategy and management game, requiring you to min-max ride costs, guest happiness, and financial details like loans, staff wages and ad campaigns, an entirely different experience from Sandbox mode that is nevertheless equally rewarding if you’re up to the challenge. While I only spent about twenty hours on these modes as opposed to the dozens in Sandbox, they’re still well-worth experiencing and will give even the creatively-challenged something to chew on. I haven’t fallen for a game with creation tools like this since Minecraft, and if any aspect of what I’ve just described sounds appealing to you and you own a capable PC, I can’t recommend Planet Coaster highly enough.
– Sam Young
As one of the earliest games of 2016, it’s no surprise Amplitude was largely overlooked. After two years of development, beginning with a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, Amplitude finally released on January 5, 2016. This reboot of the popular PlayStation 2 game was nearly identical to the original, from the futuristic visuals to the simplistic, yet difficult-to-master gameplay. Players control a spaceship of sorts as it follows tracks and destroys notes to the beat of a song. Speaking of which, the songs are as techno as can be. The majority of Amplitude’s soundtrack is original music created specifically for the game, however there are still a handful of licensed tracks, like “Phantoms” from Harmonix favorite Freezepop. Amplitude’s dedication to the original’s classic format makes for an incredibly fun experience, and I was surprised by just how easy it was to get back into the groove. For a concept dreamed up in 2003, the simple controls (either a combination of the triggers and bumpers, or three face buttons) still hold up extremely well, and there was never a dull moment. However, I would have liked to hear more music I knew. The original’s inclusion of hit artists like Weezer, Run-DMC, and David Bowie made for an insane collection of remixes that fit perfectly with Amplitude’s style. Unfortunately, the techno-heavy sound of this 2016 remake definitely turned off some players, and combined with its very early release date, ultimately set the game up for failure. It would have been nice to see Amplitude get more attention, and perhaps receive a sequel down the line. Its Kickstarter certainly proved that the people wanted more Amplitude, but critics’ reception (the game has an average of 74 on Metacritic) and its lack of variety was Amplitude 2016’s downfall. Unfortunate, because it’s quite a beautiful game that shows a lot of devotion to its roots. It just doesn’t hit the mark of perfection set all those years ago.
– Graydon Webb
Early 2016 delivered some pretty big games, from Far Cry Primal in February to The Division and the first episode of Hitman in March, but one little game that stealthily sailed its way out of early access in early 2016 was Don’t Starve’s final DLC expansion, Shipwrecked. A nautical adventure that livens up the dark Tim Burton-esque world of the original game, Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked lets Wilson and company sail the high seas in a randomly generated archipelago teeming with mystery and danger. Following the traditional survival gameplay of the base game, Shipwrecked puts players on a deserted island holding a handful of resources and gives them one direction — don’t die. Before long, players will be crafting their own boat and setting sail in search of other islands holding even more resources. Aside from the new destination, Shipwrecked introduces new creatures, bosses, weather systems, and a wealth of new items, practically giving fans a whole new game to play. Shipwrecked further livens up the scene with its new cast of characters, such as Walani “the Unperturbable,” Woodlegs “the Pirate Captain,” or my personal favorite, Wilbur “the Monkey King.” Each of these characters have their own quirks and abilities that present unique ways to play through the DLC. As much as it delighted huge Don’t Starve fans like myself, Shipwrecked unfortunately didn’t quite get the widespread attention it deserved. Well let me be the first to tell you: if you’re a fan of Don’t Starve or survival games in general, go pick up Shipwrecked. You can pick it up along with the base game for just $20, so what are you waiting for? You can play as a monkey king and throw poop at snakes. It’s great.
– Kelson Howerton
Trackmania Turbo is not for everybody. It’s stupid hard (Dark Souls, eat your heart out), requires lots of patience, and despite its misleading focus on cars and racetracks, has little to do with actual driving. Rather, it’s a challenging puzzle platformer/time attack game that just happens to involve handling a race car. Each of the campaign’s 200 levels are tests of reflex, memorization, and stamina, set in four distinct environments with their own challenges. This weird concept has probably got a lot to do with why so few people have heard of the long-running Trackmania series, as many racing fans probably won’t find what they’re looking for in Turbo, and others who probably would like its unique gameplay are turned off by its apparent focus on automotives. Yes, it has driving, but probably not in a way you’ve experienced before.
The value of Trackmania Turbo is also a huge selling point. Even at its full price of $40, it packs in a ton of content: the aforementioned campaign, which can easily take over thirty hours to complete, a robust track editor and sharing tool, and multiple online and splitscreen modes that can be played on any track. Building your own tracks and sharing them with the community has been the selling point of Trackmania since its inception a decade ago, and while Turbo’s iteration of the editing tools may not be the best the series has ever had, they’re certainly capable of turning out some neat tracks, and well-worth playing around with if you’re the type who enjoys making things. If you’re a person who’s ever loved a Trials game before, or found the concept appealing but didn’t like the way those games controlled, check Trackmania Turbo out. She isn’t always a kind mistress, but she’s a fair one.
– Sam Young
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was the long-awaited sequel to the 2008 first-person parkour title Mirror’s Edge. The original provided a mix of unique gameplay and story, involving a group of messengers- freerunning outlaws who deliver packages to and from unscrupulous individuals in a world controlled by a tyrannical government. In Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, much of the gameplay and story are similar to its predecessor, such as the first-person perspective and the main character, Faith. However, many players (including myself) were turned off by the fact that Catalyst reboots the series’ story rather than addressing the original’s cliffhanger ending. As such, Catalyst wasn’t so well-received. I find this a shame, personally, as I was highly anticipating Catalyst’s release, even through its multiple delays, and in my opinion the finished product delivered an experience that was just as much fun as the first installment. The parkour was fine-tuned with new methods of wall-running and swinging around objects, and the exclusion of guns this time around made for an even smoother experience with more meaningful hand-to-hand combat. Its main downfall (which you can read about in John’s review) was its story, which was hindered by the vast open world. This addition felt forced, and the side missions weren’t meaty enough to care about. But overall, it really is a shame that Catalyst became a lost gem of 2016. Released on June 7, one would assume it provided something to play during the great summer drought. But alas, it was still forgotten by most.
– Graydon Webb
It’s very rare that a Kickstarter project truly pays off in the end, but indie studio Heart Machine’s first title, Hyper Light Drifter, is an exception to this unfortunate rule. After being funded by an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign that far exceeded its $27,000 goal, Hyper Light Drifter finally emerged victorious, despite several delays, as a vibrant and polished gem that sticks out from the usual crowd of failed Kickstarter games. Developed by Alex Preston and his tiny team at Heart Machine, Hyper Light stands as a lovingly-made callback to old-school 8-bit and 16-bit action-adventure RPGs, like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Unlike Zelda, Hyper Light Drifter is set in a stunningly beautiful yet hauntingly isolated sci-fi world that is accompanied by an equally-haunting electronic score, together creating one of the most atmospheric games I’ve ever played. Additionally, Hyper Light holds to the style of old-school games by refusing to hold your hand as you explore its world, piece together its story, and fight off its legion of foes hardened by the game’s punishing difficulty. Every fight requires skill and precision to shoot, slice, and dodge your way through the many enemies you’ll encounter, thereby making for a rewarding victory when you finally slay that boss or clear that room full of enemies. And let me be clear, the game’s difficulty is hard- so much so that Heart Machine had to patch in an easier difficulty for those who wanted to take in the gorgeous sights and sounds of the game without the punishing difficulty of combat. While the game’s crushing difficulty may have been reason enough to turn many players off from the game, that is fortunately no longer an excuse for you not to pick up this incredible nostalgia trip of an indie title.
– Kelson Howerton
I have serious reservations about recommending games that I know are buggy and poorly optimized, but every once in a while, a game comes along that does something so well that I can forgive those issues (with some caveats). XCOM 2 is one such game. Despite a rocky PC launch in February last year and an equally rough start on console in September, XCOM 2 still manages to overcome some abysmal technical issues by playing downright fantastically. It’s everything I wanted from an XCOM sequel, adding much-needed visual variety, new classes and weapons, and turning the metagame on its head by putting you in command of a rebel uprising following the fall of Earth. It’s understandable why the excitement around this game was relatively silent compared to its predecessor- reviewers rightfully slammed it for running terribly and turn-based strategy games have somewhat niche appeal, but the improvements made to nearly every aspect of Enemy Unknown and the burgeoning mod scene (on PC at least) make XCOM 2 my favorite strategy game in years, bugs and all. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely far from the trainwreck that some have made it out to be, and if you’re willing to look past some sharp edges there’s a rich, entertaining experience to be found.
– Sam Young
While the fourth game in the Shantae franchise, Half-Genie Hero, was released worldwide on December 20, 2016 for all platforms, the third installment had only just been released for modern consoles in April. I played Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse for the first time on a PlayStation 4, even though it was originally released back in 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS. This may have been why it got overlooked in 2016, as people had played it already. However, I feel it should be on this list because I truly believe the Shantae franchise gets overlooked by most these days. The original Shantae was released in 2002 for the Game Boy Color, and we didn’t see an official sequel until 8 years later. Developed by WayForward, this series of platformers utilizes a retro art style to tell the story of a young half-genie named Shantae and her adventures on Scuttle Island. The first sequel, Risky’s Revenge, was originally released as DSiWare, which was most likely an obstacle in terms of gaining an audience. This brings us to 2016, and the re-release of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. Shantae continues to provide a fun journey from beginning to end. Fan-favorite characters like Rottytops and Squid Baron return and liven up the story with more humor than ever before, and the addition of Risky Boots as a sidekick and new gadgets in the form of her gun and hat shakes up the gameplay in this installment. I personally loved every aspect of this game, from the visuals, to the music, to the gameplay that stays true to the formula of previous installments.
– Graydon Webb
In 2015, indie studios Noio and Licorice released the minimalist 2D side scrolling strategy game Kingdom on PC and mobile devices. While the game was a beautifully relaxing adventure, it was also a barebones title, desperately in need of additional content. In an effort to remedy this, Noio and Licorice relaunched the game in 2016 as Kingdom: New Lands, a more polished version of the original game with additional content to keep your 2D monarch happy. At its core, Kingdom is a survival/strategy game in which the player tries to create, expand, and defend his or her kingdom from an army of monsters known as the Greed. From the start, you’re placed into the shoes of a lovely horse-mounted king or queen with nothing but a little pocket change. You then ride through the country, recruiting vagrants by throwing coins to them and tasking them to either build structures for your kingdom or bring in more coin by hunting or farming. Before long, you’ll expand the borders of your kingdom and start constructing defenses to keep the Greed at bay. Eventually, you can even build an army of your own and take the fight to the Greed’s doorstep. However, with the launch of New Lands, the developers expanded the gameplay further by giving players a new way to “win” the game —repairing a broken-down boat and using it to travel to, well you guessed it, new lands. Each land presents increased difficulties for you and your kingdom, thereby further raising the stakes for survival in your race to repair the boat and sail off for a new island.
While this sounds like a lot to have on your plate, the game is actually very lovely. First of all, the gameplay is very simplistic, consisting solely of moving left and right along the 2D island and dropping coins to assign your workers to various jobs. From chopping down trees to building walls, your workers take care of the rest. Additionally, the game’s gorgeous pixel art and soothing score work to ease the tensions of building and defending your kingdom. I frequently found myself completely entranced while playing Kingdom, oftentimes choosing to ride through the woods and admire the beautifully-animated trees and streams rather than actually working to better my kingdom. Whether you choose to hunker down and defend your kingdom or enjoy a pleasant walk through the woods, Kingdom: New Lands is an incredibly lovely indie experience well worth the meager price tag of $15 on Steam or $10 on Apple and Android devices.
– Kelson Howerton
Good local multiplayer games are hard to come by these days. Since splitscreen effectively died last generation, it’s incredibly unusual for a modern title to be designed with parties in mind, which is why the Jackbox series deserves recognition. 2016’s The Jackbox Party Pack 3 is the latest and greatest set of minigames from Jackbox studios, and has been the star of many of my family gatherings and parties since release.
It’s hard to evaluate Jackbox in the terms normally used when talking about games: it’s a collection, not a single product, and the amount of fun you have with each will largely be determined by who you play with, which is probably why they’re so rarely covered by the games press, despite their sizable fanbase and Twitch presence. For the unfamiliar, a big part of what makes Jackbox so great is its accessibility: the game is played on phones, tablets, and laptops through a web browser. The vast majority of people carry at least one of these devices with them at all times (and know how to use them), which completely removes the barrier to entry that other games present. Coupled with easy-to-understand rules and audience mode, which allows hundreds of people to play a role in the game, it’s almost guaranteed to be a hit at any party, even with non-gamers. From the hilarious creative collaboration of Tee-K.O. to the screw-your-friends-over chaos of Trivia Murder Party, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
– Sam Young
Digimon has a history of being forgotten. For years it has been considered a simple Pokémon rip-off (since, y’know, it’s about children fighting each other with “pocket monsters”). To be fair, people who say this aren’t wrong, as Digimon came about 2 years later than Pokémon and also went from a trading card game, to an anime, to a series of games. However, I have always preferred Digimon to its mainstream cousin, as it breaks the mold of the “pocket monster” formula. Digimon are exactly what the name implies: digital monsters. They exist within a digital realm, and in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, that’s more apparent than ever. The game follows a group of kids who get stuck inside a chat-room simulation, encounter and tame their own Digimon, and get sucked into a whole new world of monsters and technology. Going back to what I said about breaking the mold, Digimon games are quite varied in their gameplay. Whereas Pokémon has a standard series of games that we all know, from Red to Ruby, to Black to Moon, and then spin-offs like Mystery Dungeon or Colosseum, Digimon has never had a main series formula to follow. Digimon games span a variety of titles, from racers, to fighters, to digital trading card games. But in 2016, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth provided a new role-playing experience for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. Its unique battle system and colorful visuals sucked me in almost instantly, and I found myself hooked. An interesting cast of characters kept the story feeling fresh, and the futuristic story itself was just as fun to be a part of. I had rented the PS4 version, and with cross-save, was able to purchase the Vita version and continue playing there. I fully enjoyed my experience, as did most critics. Sales were high in Japan, with the Vita version becoming the third highest-selling title in the game’s debut week. In America, it even became a best selling digital title. This success earned it a sequel, Digimon World: New Order, which was released this January. However, Cyber Sleuth made the list because I feel the Digimon franchise is vastly overlooked in the grand scheme of RPG games. It’s a series that deserves far more attention than it receives; especially in a world dominated by Pokémon.
– Graydon Webb
I know what you’re probably thinking. “Dishonored 2? A big AAA game that almost universally received glowing reviews”? While the long-awaited sequel to Arkane’s adored 2012 stealth-action game greatly pleased fans, Dishonored 2 didn’t exactly set sales records when it came to launch day. Releasing among titles like Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Watch Dogs 2, and Final Fantasy XV, Dishonored 2 was left a little overshadowed amid the incredibly crowded fall release window. Because of this, many missed out on one of Fall’s best titles: a finely polished improvement of the first game. While the story is largely the same as the first Dishonored – you’ve been betrayed, so it’s time to get your revenge, yadda yadda – Dishonored 2 livens up the gameplay with new weapons and powers, and some more ambitious level design. The fun and emergent power combinations of the first game are back with a vengeance, introducing a handful of new powers for Corvo and an entirely new power set tied to Empress Emily Kaldwin. Combined with the game’s various tools of destruction, you are given a ton of freedom and creativity in how you choose to deal out death or mercy. This freedom extends to each of the game’s nine levels, as Dishonored 2’s level design is far more open and vertical, giving you many avenues to your objective that cater to various playstyles. Some levels, such as the two standouts (“The Clockwork Mansion” and “A Crack in the Slab”), play with players’ expectations and break level design conventions to make traversing the game’s environments and taking out baddies along the way a unique challenge. Whether you take a slow and methodical approach or run in guns, swords, and supernatural powers blazing, Dishonored 2 is an incredibly fun single-player title worthy of your attention.
– Kelson Howerton
Leave a Reply