Following our award for our pick on this year’s best RPG, PlayStation LifeStyle’s “Best of 2016” awards continues today with our pick for the best adventure game of 2016!
Given the list of PS4 games nominated, we suspect that this award winner might be one of the most controversial ones of the year. Even so, that doesn’t diminish the other games’ value and awesomeness. If a game is good enough to be nominated by PlayStation LifeStyle, then it deserves to be played. Like in our other Best of 2016 awards, the winner was picked based on the total number of votes it got among staff, and not based on just the review score.
Agree with our winner? Or do you think that other game should have won this category? Let us know what your picks are in the comments.
Don’t forget to check back all throughout the month for our other “Best Of” picks of the year! 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:
- Everything Wrong With The Last Guardian
- Short PS4 Games Worth Playing
- Levels of Game Time Tracking Obsession
Best of 2016 Game Awards - Adventure
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Best of 2016 Game Awards - Adventure
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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 and 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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The Witness
An adventure on the island also becomes an adventure of self discovery. The Witness uses an asset long available but largely forgotten to most developers: the player’s mind. It requires discovery, perception, and real power of the mind, something decidedly missing from modern gaming as we gain more and more technological capability. This primordial approach is The Witness‘ biggest asset.
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No Man's Sky
2016 was the year that finally saw No Man's Sky's release. There was no way this game could live up to the gargantuan hype that had built up over the course of three years of anticipation for everybody. How divisive was reception on No Man's Sky? Well, it's up for nominations in our "Best Exclusives" and "Most Disappointing" categories. A recent "Foundation Update" has improved the game's content and gameplay substantially, and Hello Games is no doubt hoping to lure back some players who may have stopped playing due to shattered expectations. As a technical achievement, however, few games come close to the 18 quintillion planets available to discover in No Man's Sky.
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Valley
Valley exhibits the finest balance of gameplay and story I have ever experienced in this genre. It’s not a walking simulator, it’s not a platformer, and it definitely doesn’t have a story that is thrown together. Valley won’t speak to just one type of gamer; it will strike a chord with all walks, especially since gamers can make it as challenging as they wish. It's this amazing balance, as well as gorgeous environment and deep story, that warrants Valley a nod in the game of the year discussions.
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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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And the winner is...
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Winner - 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
