Did anyone play any games this year that were mostly publicly and critically lambasted, but you actually liked? A guilty pleasure, if you will.

Mine was probably Bombshell. Despite all the scathing reviews, I actually enjoyed it for what it was. This isn't to say the bad reviews weren't valid and I didn't have my own issues with the game, but I was able to soldier on and finish it and actually had a good time for the most part, making it my favorite "bad" game.

No Man's Sky. However, don't spend more than $9.99 for it, even that is a bit much I think.

When I bought and started playing Mad Max, I had read/watched only bad reviews, claiming that it was dull, empty, tedious, repetitive, dragged down by boring fistfights. Yet, I find this game brilliant. But now it seems that, on average, the reviews are positive ? Had I stumbled upon the few negative ones ? I am confused. Even TotalBiscuit had been very critical of that game, and now suddenly mentionned it as one of the top games of the year or something.

That said, maybe low expectations due to these reviews helped me appreciate this game better ? Dunno.

It's a great game. I didn't expect to get that hooked, and to have so much joy completing all the optional sidequests (except landmine missions).

Mine would be Conga Master.

When it arrived here it got a lot of hate in the release thread, but I had fun with it and still play it from time to time. It's certainly not the best game ever, but good fun for a short while and probably quite good when you play against friends on multiplayer.

Pokemon Go. There are so many emotions around this game, it's hilarious. Give it a few months and it will get better. Sadly, what we've received during global release felt like a buggy unstable alpha. Is it a sign of early access games on mobile devices? The thought itself is pretty scary!

The only thing that I can think of is Mighty No. 9, but at the same time I thought the game was disappointingly average (didn't like it, but didn't hate it). Every other game I've played that came out in 2016 (Dark Souls 3, Furi, Hyper Light Drifter, etc.) ended up being good. So...I guess I got nothing.

You mean that came out this year?
I don't think I've played anything that new.