User-Voted PlayStation Game of the Year 2016 Winners

With more than 500,000 votes cast, the winners of the user-voted PlayStation Game of the Year 2016 awards on the PlayStation Blog have been revealed.

Unsurprisingly, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End took home Best PS4 Game (as well as many other awards), receiving more than 40% of total submitted votes. World of Final Fantasy won Best PS Vita Game, while Batman: Arkham VR was #1 on PlayStation VR.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best PS4 Game

Winner – Uncharted 4

Runners-Up – Final Fantasy XV, Battlefield 1, Overwatch

Best PS Vita Game

Winner – World of Final Fantasy

Runners-Up – Lara Croft GO, Dragon Quest Builders, Darkest Dungeon

Best Independent Game

Winner – Firewatch

Runners-Up – Inside, The Witness, Stardew Valley

Best Use of PS4 Pro

Winner – Battlefield 1

Runners-Up – Final Fantasy XV, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Watch Dogs 2

Best PlayStation VR Game

Winner – Batman: Arkham VR

Runners-Up – Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One X-Wing VR Mission, Job Simulator, EVE Valkyrie

Best Story

Winner – Uncharted 4

Runners-Up – The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, Final Fantasy XV, The Last Guardian

Best Performance

Winner – Nolan North (Uncharted 4)

Runners-Up – Trico (The Last Guardian), Emily Rose (Uncharted 4), Camilla Luddington (Rise of the Tomb Raider)

Best Soundtrack

Winner – Uncharted 4

Runners-Up – Final Fantasy XV, Doom, Dark Souls III

Best Visuals

Winner – Uncharted 4

Runners-Up – Final Fantasy XV, Battlefield 1, The Last Guardian

Best Multiplayer

Winner – Battlefield 1

Runners-Up – Overwatch, Uncharted 4, Titanfall 2

Best Post-Release Content

Winner – The Witcher 3

Runners-Up – Uncharted 4, Overwatch, Destiny

Most Innovative

Winner – The Last Guardian

Runners-Up – Overwatch, The Division, Firewatch

Most Anticipated

Winner – The Last of Us Part II

Runners-Up – God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake

Studio of the Year

Winner – Naughty Dog

Runners-Up – Square Enix, Blizzard, DICE

Last year’s Best PS4 Game was The Witcher 3.

Do you agree with all of the winners?

[Source: PlayStation Blog]

Best of 2016 Game Awards - Game of the Year

Best of 2016 Game Awards - Game of the Year
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.

(Read the review)
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!

(Read the review)
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.

(Read the review)
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.

(Read the review)
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.

(Read the review)
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.

(Read the review)
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.

(Read the review)
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.

(Read the review)
And the winner is...
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!

(Read the review)