The 2016 Fexy Awards

Dec. 29, 2016

Uncharted 4had it all from a narrative perspective. Loyalty, deception, trust, and the bonds between friends and family. It represents the culmination of 4 games of Drake and his supporting cast and is a wonderful retrospective on everything that has happened. One can’t help but feel the emotional tug in tender moments with Elena or Sully and the game’s story payoff is as explosive as the brilliant gameplay.

Dark Souls 3brought the franchise back to its gameplay roots while also incorporating elements from its sister franchise,Bloodborne. The game returned to its interconnected world design, and featured several dynamic NPC side quests. The usual arsenal of fun toys made its return, with hundreds ofweaponsandspellsto combine and play around with in countless builds, as well as an intuitive upgrade system that blended elements of past Soulsborne games.

There simply isn’t a more visually striking game than Uncharted 4, and its orchestral score is iconic at this point. The game’s design is impeccable with brilliant voice acting and facial animations that make the characters all feel like real, living characters. The beautiful set pieces capture the essence of the various landscapes, from Madagascar to pirate islands in the Indian Ocean and the game’s photo mode allows for some stunning shots. Naughty Dog has maximized the power of the PS4 and continues to push the envelope for graphical prowess.

Salt & Sanctuaryis a fully realized 2D Soulslike RPG that eclipsed most RPGs out there in quality content, and released for under 20 USD. The game could have easily sold for significantly more, given its tremendous gameplay, gorgeous hand drawn art and deep skill and itemization systems. In all, it was a tremendous achievement by the 2 person team of Ska Studios, and not only epitomizes the Soulslike genre, but transcends the label and stands on its own as wonderful and innovative experience.

Overwatchis frantic yet deliberate, chaotic yet coordinated and a ton of fun to play. With first person mechanics that are as fluid as they come, the game’s roster ofheroesfeature dozens of unique abilities that combine in countless ways. While the perspective is in first person, the game does not limit you to guns, allowing for smooth ninja star tossing, katana swiping, hammer smashing and arrow sniping. Blizzard’s commitment to their franchises is unparalleled, and Overwatch consistently receives updates and improvements to keep the balance and mechanics optimal.

TheBlood & Wineexpansion for theWitcher 3sent the game off on the highest possible note. The expansion was so good that many regarded it as a game on its own. The intriguing story brought us back to the world ofGeralt, and sent him all over a brand new location across dozens of newquests, while also touching base with some beloved characters. Newgeargave fans new toys to play with as they ventured out against some of the newly crafted monsters. Adding dozens of hours to a game that already featured hundreds was icing on the cake for one of the most celebrated RPGs in the current gen.

Dark Souls 3 was the homage to the series and fans that many were hoping for. The game is packed full of references to the past games in the series, and brought as much closure to the overarching story as was possible given the cryptic narrative method the franchise is known for. It is the most visually complete game to date and save for a few poorly implementedcovenantchoices, features the most varied and seamlessmultiplayerof the series. Thebossdesigns are fantastic and represent the most collectively challenging of the series, and equally boast cinematic and dramatic highs. The atmosphere is predictably somber but features a brightness and hope missing from the first 2, which give the game a bittersweet finish as we come to accept that our time with the worlds of Dark Souls is near an end. Here’s hoping for a new universe to become attached to from From Software’s future projects.

Helpful, thoughtful and prolific, community memberTSMPis our resident Magic expert in Dark Souls 3 as well as a possessor of knowledge across the Soulsborne games. There aren’t many threads that go unseen by TSMP and we can always anticipate measured and level headed responses.

Always ready to contribute to a wiki project, whether it’s making cleanups or rounding up troops for overhauls community member and newly promoted moderatormothereternityis as reliable as they come with an unmatched cheer to boot. Wikis are the pumping heart of the community and Mother E, as we affectionately say, has their pulse.

Community member and moderatorSkarekrow13cracked one of the biggest mysteries of the Souls series by deciphering how totranslate the runes on the Titanite Slab! It was a revelation and huge reveal in a game series that is full of red herrings and dead ends. The article went viral, spreading through the Souls community, blowing minds along the way. Skarekrow’sfollow up articletook a look at some of the smaller translations found on the various shards and chunks throughout the series.

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Emergence

Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.

Did Lanzen write any reviews last year? That woulda been my pick. Pure review gold

TSMP was the community member of the year for his forum participation. Skare for blog articles, Mothereternity for wiki-ing!

To be honest it was difficult to decide on one person for each because I know there are many others making amazingly helpful contributions – I’m sure next year will be just as hard.

Of course I didn’t read the full article. I ascribe to traditional rules of journalism, since I studied it in college: everything of import has to be up top, in the first paragraph. Succinct.

But I read it now after realizing it had community awards. My only thought, sorry Skare, was that it had to be TSMP. Dude is a Souls posting beast. He participates in almost every thread and tries to help a lot of people, especially one-post noobs who come here once for their own need and never appear again.

Yup, some pretty good long-time members here, who try to help rather than just argue and snark. TSMP would be top of my list for helpful, certainly prolific, members.

Oi I just saw this! Congratulations

Congrats on the Awards.

Congrats to the winners. Truth be told, i found many articles and responses to be really helpful from these guys. Keep it up ^^

Congratulations to all the winners, but particularly to the community winners. This site wouldn’t be what it is without you guys. I’d like to award the staff – you’ve made a fantastic site!!!

I humbly accept this honor, as well as the outrageously expensive gift basket that I’m sure it comes with.

My usual shout out to the community and for the assist.

I’m actually most proud to be with the other two names on the list as they’re tremendous community members who have been major cogs for some time. Really though, that’s a long list of people and we could give awards for days I bet.

Thanks to the entire Fextra community for being what you are…

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