The Best Game of November 2016

Honorable Mention #1: Watch Dogs 2

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Features Editor Ishmael Romero: Having a predecessor that didn’t meet its lofty expectations didn’t Watch Dogs 2 any favors. It had a lot to prove thanks to Aiden Pearce rubbing absolutely everyone the wrong way and a setting in Chicago that was large, but mostly dead. Ubisoft went back to the drawing board when it came to the sequel’s world and protagonist, and what they came up with was one of the best games of the fall.

Watch Dogs 2 puts you into the kicks of Marcus “Retr0” Holloway, a young hacker who managed to join the ranks over at DedSec. He’s fun, likable, and has a good head on his soldiers as he works to take down Blume and free the people of San Francisco from their technological prison. That city, by the way, is full of life and possibility as players are able to fully explore it with a new sense of verticality, new hacking abilities, and some fun gadgets to make things interesting. There’s always something to do as you drive around and hack your way through the city. The crowded streets and the varied locales add a vibrancy that the first Watch Dogs was sorely missing.

Then you have the supporting cast. Other members of DedSec, government officials, and a clever antagonist that give the story more oomph. You aren’t some gruff guy seeking revenge for a problem you started in the first place. Instead, you’re a young man looking to make some positive change in the world, to help those who don’t even realize they are being wronged. And what’s best is that you’re given an incredible amount of freedom to decide how you do so. You can play however you want. Want to be stealthy? Go ahead. Want to use your gadgets for a bit of trickery? Nobody is stopping you. If you think getting lethal is the way to send a message, we won’t judge you.

Watch Dogs 2 allows you to leave your mark on the world, and not be forced to follow the machinations of a madman. Seriously, Aiden had some issues.

Honorable Mention #2: Planet Coaster

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Managing Editor Ed McGlone: Finally… Finally, theme park sim fans got the game they deserve and have been asking for. It may have taken years but it finally happened. Planet Coaster is the first major, and successful step forward for the theme park sim genre in a very long time.

The park management parts of the game are just as deep and engrossing as you remember in classic games such as Roller Coaster Tycoon. Planet Coaster allows you to hire (and even train) staff, research new rides, set ticket prices, check visitor comments for feedback and more. If you’re like me or our Publisher Yami whom is also a big theme park sim lover, and care less about designing a cool park and just enjoy managing a park’s finance and development, you’ll feel right at home with Planet Coaster.

Where Planet Coaster takes things to the next level though is on the creative end. There has never been a more beautiful theme park game than Planet Coaster. It is visually stunning, and creators have all the tools needed at their disposal to make their wildest park ideas come true, and also share them with the world via Steam mods.

Some small technical and control issues aside, Planet Coaster is almost a perfect theme park sim game, and will be one that remains on fan’s radars for years to come.

Honorable Mention #3: Final Fantasy XV

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Features Editor Ishmael Romero: Final Fantasy XV had a lot working against it leading up to its release. First there was that 10-year long development cycle that saw a name and platform change as the newest generation of consoles was released.

When coupled with the open world, road trip, and more action-oriented focus that would help to set it apart from its predecessors, long-time fans of the Final Fantasy series grew worried. Thankfully, after finally getting our hands on the highly anticipated RPG, those same elements that had fans worried ended up being Final Fantasy XV’s strengths. As a result, Final Fantasy XV is one the most unique and refreshing entries to the series we’ve seen in quite some time.

While the combat certainly is much different from what many were expecting, it’s far from being a simple action game. The game encourages players to try new approaches and to constantly switch their gear to maintain an edge in battle. Your party is there fighting alongside you, doing everything they can to help you achieve victory, bringing some much needed life to what was normally a matter of choosing actions from a menu.

Then there’s that beautiful, open world. It’s difficult to care about a world that you hardly see, one that’s just constantly looming in the background as mere decoration for the story that developers want to tell. The world of Eos is more than window dressing, though, as it is teeming with life and challenges for anyone willing to seek them out. The world is in dire straits, and it requires much more than you just following the story to help it. There are dungeons full of deadly creatures, people needing help with day to day life, and beautiful vistas waiting to be captured with your camera.

Yet, even with these differences, Final Fantasy XV managed to maintain the core of what makes the series so great: The characters that grow on you, an enemy you can’t help but like a little, and a story that sends you through the world on a quest to save it all even though everything is stacked against you.

I went into Square Enix’s latest release hesitant after having been a fan of the classics for so long. But when it was all said and done, it was clear that they had recaptured that Final Fantasy magic.

November 2016’s Game of the Month: Pokemon Sun and Moon

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Assistant Editor Hayes Madsen: Pokemon is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Sun and Moon are the perfect games to celebrate everything the series has evolved into. There’s so much that the new games do to make them feel different and fresh from the rest of the series. It all thanks to the new Hawaii inspired region, Alola, which has a very unique culture, with different traditions, than the rest of the regions we’ve visited so far in previous games.

Although the games are a bit easier than past titles, it’s the spirit of adventure that drives your journey. Pokemon Gyms have been replaced with Island Trials and Trial Captains, which flesh out the characters a bit more and diversify the gameplay with different objectives. Also, the game’s story is front and center, featuring a climatic battle more intense than any game in the series thus far.

The new Pokemon are weird and interesting, and the Alolan forms of the first generation are fresh takes on old Pokemon. With Sun and Moon the series has advanced its formula with new ideas, while still evoking the nostalgia of older games. It’s the best the series has been since the days of Gold and Silver and it’s why it’s our Game of the Month for November 2016.

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That does it for our November 2016 Game of the Month. Congratulations to Pokemon Sun and Moon! For December we’ll be onto our end of year awards including our Game of the Year. Stay tuned!