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2016 brought us some amazing things and a bunch of horrible occurrences as well.
If we’re just talking about gaming, then that aforementioned statement applies to that entertainment medium. Among all the crappy games and overhyped projects that turned out to be just as bad, there were a bunch of great games that launched. The PlayStation 4 became home to several more quality 1st-party classics and a flood of great 3rd-party games. There were awesome fighters, top-notch 3rd- and 1st-person shooters, standout sports games and tons of other memorable games from other genres. The PS4 got the best of the best last year.
Some of these you’ve played and some of these you’ve missed. We’re going to make sure you know about every superb PS4 game that launched in 2016.
The Witness
The genius behind Braid made sure to take his time creating his next project. We waited a good while for it to reach the PS4, but the wait finally came to an end at the start of 2016. The Witness employs the open world/puzzle solving structure that made Myst such a classic. Blow’s mysterious title gave its players a ton of deceptively difficult dot sequence puzzles that, upon completion, opened up the mysterious island even more. Besides the game’s main pull of throwing over 650 puzzles your way, the island’s perplexities also gave you an incentive to discover more about its past. The Witness is the best playable brainteaser of 2016.
Darkest Dungeon
Taken from Best PS Vita Games Description: Darkest Dungeon is one of the hardest gaming trials we’ve endured this year. Taking on grotesque creatures isn’t the only danger presented to you and your party; the dangers of mental status ailments can bring your warriors down to nothingness real fast. Managing your characters’ stress levels and also making sure they navigate through dangerous dungeons somewhat unscathed are on your to-do list. The art style perfectly reflects the horrific monsters the game’s massive manor and dungeons houses. A true challenge awaits those in Darkest Dungeon, Red Hook Studios’ mind-breaking dungeon crawler.
Buy a PSN Gift Card here so you can digitally purchase Salt and Sanctuary.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Taken from Game Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 sends the long-running series out on a high note. The massive offering of recognizable characters should satisfy hardcore fans and the improved battle mechanics are now at its absolute best. On the visual front, everything looks delightful. The boss fights’ cinematic endings will most certainly have you in awe every time. The Story Mode format falters due to the overly long cutscenes, plus the use of still images throughout most chapters are boring to watch. The lip-synching could be a lot better, as well. Those nagging issues may be prevalent, but the pros behind this anime fighter manage to make it enjoyable after all.
Buy Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 here.
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Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
The 1st Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was a surprise hit to a lot of people. It placed all of the original mobile game’s zany cast of fighting plants and zombies into a fast-paced 3rd-person shooter. The sequel did everything right when it comes to offering fans a sequel worth adopting. There was a substantial offering of new plant/zombie classes, a wealth of new online multiplayer modes and even some meaningful single-player content. Blasting apart the undead as a super-powered stalk of corn or punching all plant life into oblivion as a superhero zombie is just a portion of the manic fun this excellent sequel provides.
Buy Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 here.
Street Fighter V
When Capcom’s mainline fighter initially launched, it was the most bare bones experience the franchise has ever released. Over the year though, the devs behind Street Fighter V did a lot to make their game more worthy of its placement at the top of fighting game tournament lineups. Alex, Urien, Ibuki, Guile, Juri and Balrog all made their way onto the well-rounded roster. A cinematic Story Mode became a part of the package. Weekly missions gave players more of a reason to return, plus it awarded the currency needed to purchase more DLC goodies without real-world money. The online works a bit better than before, several updates balanced the roster and we even got Akuma when the game’s 1st season came to a close. SFV has finally turned into something worthwhile.
Lego Marvel’s Avengers
Taken from Best PS Vita Games Description: For the 2nd Lego game on our list, we’re heading into Marvel Super Heroes territory. Lego Marvel’s Avengers mashes together the cinematic experiences of standout MCU films into your usual Lego video game. Marvel’s take on the city that never sleeps is back and fully explorable, which means a wealth of side missions and comic book Easter Eggs are ready to discovered. With over 200 heroes and villains to collect, there’s a near limitless amount of team-up moves you’ll end up activating as well. Tap into your Marvel Comics fandom with this quality take on the MCU in Lego form.
Buy Lego Marvel’s Avengers here.
Salt and Sanctuary
Taken from Best PS Vita Games Description: We never knew we wanted a side-scrolling rendition of Dark Souls, but we’re glad someone realized our unknown desires for us. Ska Studios obviously took note of FromSoftware’s hardcore action RPG series for their take on the franchise. Salt and Sanctuary throws you into a world rife with strife, as evidenced by all the darkness that enraptures it. Your custom character can adopt one/two-handed weapons, shields, magical spells and other essential tools for battle. The gameplay is deep and expectedly tough to endure. Finally beating Salt and Sanctuary will put you on a high that’s hard to come down from. Multiple playthrough’s of this dark adventure are a must.
Buy a PSN Gift Card here so you can digitally purchase Salt and Sanctuary.
TrackMania Turbo
You probably didn’t even know this crazy racer dropped last year, did you? You’d be forgiven for not knowing it ever existed. TrackMania Turbo not only threw in some of the wildest tracks ever included in a racer, it also gave you the chance to make some of your very own. We spent most of our time crafting roller coaster loops within some lush green expanses just so we could throw ourselves into some motor mayhem. The co-op multiplayer mode is another feature of this racer that helps separate it from Ubisoft’s underwhelming open-world racer. Ignore The Crew and spend more of your time making wild leaps with your custom ride in TrackMania Turbo. This stands tall as the current-gen ModNation Racers successor we always wanted.
Dark Souls 3
The world’s toughest, yet supremely gratifying action RPG came back for a farewell tour. Thankfully, this Dark Souls finale included the same dreary, soul sapping environments it sends your warrior into. From Software made the proper adjustments to the battle system to make it way more fluid, faster and exciting thanks to new special weapon maneuvers. The “Ashes of Ariandel” DLC added even more substantial content to a game that’s already packed with enough it. Thrilling PvP battles, amazing orchestral anthems, plenty of hidden secrets and balanced combat are all a part of the Dark Souls 3 experience.
DiRT Rally
Taken from Game Review: DiRT Rally is indeed quite the hill to overcome for those who aren’t very experienced with rally racing releases. But for those who are (or for those who’re willing to put in the time to learn the game’s basics), there’s a rewarding racer here. There’s so much to do – mastering tracks during solo runs, buying new team mechanic contracts, adding new cars to your garage, excelling on stages with ever changing terrain etc. The racing itself is finely tuned here, so you can only blame yourself for your mistakes and not the mechanics at play. Mastering DiRT Rally may prove to be a challenge that some may not overcome. But it’s a challenge that’s supplemented by an addictive loop that will push you to become the very best.
