Game of the Year for Mobile Games
Mobius Final Fantasy
The mobile market is a lucrative one for developers. Mega publisher Square-Enix is no stranger to this, taking to mobile platforms to re-release nearly each of its classic RPG gems. Square-Enix has not, however, found the same success in most of its original content. Still, with each attempt, it appeared that SE looked to learn from its mistakes. In early 2016, Square-Enix released its first, full-fledged Final Fantasy title on mobile devices: Mobius Final Fantasy. Providing gorgeous graphics, innovative gameplay (particularly for mobile devices), and a decent enough narrative, Mobius Final Fantasy gave mobile gamers a true RPG experience.
What makes Mobius Final Fantasy stand out from other mobile games that flooded the market in 2016 is its amount of content. Of course micro-transactions exist, but the game itself required no purchases to progress the storyline. So massive is Mobius Final Fantasy that only two chapters were available upon launch, and those were padded with excess content, weekly, and monthly dungeons. Since its release, Mobius Final Fantasy has continued its narrative, added more dungeons, and introduced a multiplayer functionality (you can join up in a party with other users to take down massive baddies) to keep players involved. Clearly, Square-Enix put time and effort into this mobile RPG, and it shows in the final product.
Read our review here.
Runner Up
Pokemon Go
Few games, period, can boast the commercial and financial successes that Pokemon Go did. Few games, too, have been able to unite its fanbase like the Pokemon Go experience. Adults who enjoyed Pokemon as children and children who currently love the games could be seen walking the streets, exploring parks, and navigating cities to find new and rare Pokemon. And when those super rare Pokemon were known to have appeared, traffic jams and chaos ensued. So while the overall experience could be seen as dangerous, the pure joy of catching Pokemon and adventuring with friends lands it as our runner up for mobile gaming.