It was an interesting year – as is usually the case – for Sony’s PlayStation 4. The publisher continued its trend of introducing games that were still a ways off from release with no sign of Media Molecule’s Dreams or Quantic Dream’s Detroit: Being Human. E3 2016 and PlayStation Experience also saw a ton of new announcements for 2017 and beyond. What did this year hold though? Thankfully, there were plenty of strong titles that would be remembered well into the future. Let’s take a look at the nominees for best PS4 game of 2016.

NOMINEES

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Nathan Drake’s last hurrah was an emotional albeit typical adventure that best displayed Naughty Dog’s signature cinematic formula. Its visual detail set new standards for PS4 titles and gaming in general. However, more than anything else, Uncharted 4 showed us how easy it is to adventure with Drake again and the send-off provided was a fairly high note for the series to go off on.

Ratchet and Clank

Don’t be fooled by the title. Despite its similarities to the very first game in the franchise, Ratchet and Clank on the PS4 was a brand new adventure. Packed with the same bolt gathering and bizarro weapon shooting goodness, Ratchet and Clank introduced plenty of new planets and missions to provide some of the franchise’s finest gameplay till date.

The Last Guardian

More than nine years and tons of delays later, The Last Guardian has finally released. Technical issues are always a given in projects like this (and Team ICO has never been known for its prowess with physics or controls) but what distinguishes The Last Guardian is its story-telling. The low-key, wordless plot flows through an almost ethereal world full of danger. Trico and the boy have nothing to rely on but each other and as their bonds grows, so too does the emotional significance that The Last Guardian holds.

Street Fighter 5

With a less than ideal launch thanks to network issues and lack of content, Street Fighter 5 quickly dusted off its knuckles and became one of the better fighting games of the year. A cinematic campaign, better net code (including improvements to deal with rage quitters), new characters, new stages and much more were added to the base experience. And since the gameplay of Street Fighter 5 was never really an issue, there’s no better time than now to experience it.

MLB The Show 16

A pro-baseball title for best PS4 game? Like it or not, MLB The Show has been one of the consistent exclusives for Sony yet. This year’s MLB The Show 16 further built on that, offering highly realistic visuals, a much better franchise mode and the awesome new Battle Royale mode which takes  competitive online drafting to a whole new level.

WINNER

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

The end of Nathan Drake was always hotly discussed. Would he go out on a death? Would it be Sam Drake taking the fall? But Uncharted 4 didn’t focus on any of that too much, instead presenting an extremely well-paced adventure with responsive gun play, excellent set-pieces that involved some amazing hand-to-hand fighting and genuinely tense story-telling that had you on the edge of your seat, waiting for that next big bang. It may not unseat Uncharted 2: Among Thieves as the best in the series but it comes real close, which is saying a lot.

Note: GamingBolt’s Game of the Year categories, nominations and awards are selected via an internal nomination, voting and debate process. You can check the rest of categories and the respective winners here.