2015 has been a redemption year for gaming. This year has been host to some of the best games from the whole industry. Hideo Kojima has finally parted ways with Konami, a company that seems to be getting out of the video game business (and going full on into the pachinko gaming business). A staggering number of indie games were released in 2015, hosting some of the best stories gaming has seen. Compared to last year, it didn’t seem like games were shipping broken (but I’m still looking at you Arkham Knight), and games weren’t pushed to 2016 (but I’m still looking at you Persona 4). Mostly. Apart from the few falters here and there, 2015 has been a pleasure to play through.
As for myself, I hope to find myself playing even more games next year- and a first for me, reviewing and writing about them. A top ten list like this feels pretty click-baity, but I guess it’s also a start for my foray into writing about games. I’ve got to start somewhere. But enough about myself, here are some of the best games I’ve played this year.
##10. Just Cause 3
One of 2015’s more recent releases, Just Cause 3 offers an absolutely massive open world for the player to cause mayhem, destruction, and gigantic explosions. While the game is an extremely fun open sandbox, many of the games shortcomings come in the somewhat generic open world side-missions. Unfortunately, the games upgrades are gated by these missions, leaving no choice but to grind through them in order to improve your arsenal. The gameplay itself however is incredibly fun, and the wingsuit is a welcome addition when traversing the world. The fun of this game comes from creating “action movie”-esque scenes coupled with it’s gratuitous love of explosions. There are problems with the console versions at the moment, and though the developers have upcoming patches that may address the issues, I can’t see it running particularly well. As with most games this year, PC is the ideal platform. The modding scene for the game should develop quickly, with an already established fan base.
##9. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
A surprising entry for myself, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate makes a number of large improvements from the previous Unity game. Such as actually running properly. Obvious differences aside, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate feels like a much more focused game, with a return to the overarching modern plotline. The pair of twin assassin’s was a nice attempt to cater to different playstyles, though in the end they are barely indistinguishable in terms of ability. Especially in killing ability, as Syndicate feels like bit more murderous than the previous games. The characterization of the Jacob and Evie didn’t lend itself to much more than “fighting the Templar order, because well, Assassins.” That said, Evie felt like a much stronger character than Jacob, and they serve a good enough role as dual protagonists. Traversal in this game has also improved, with the addition of the grappling hook, traveling over London becomes trivial. I’m not entirely sure how they can not include this level of mobility in future games, so you should expect the grappling hook to appear in the sequel. If it doesn’t, then perhaps Assassin’s Creed will be another addition one to my “every other year” games list.
##8. Life is Strange
This is the game I’ve played the least of so far, but has probably gripped me the most. A story focused adventure game, you take the place of Max- as new student at an art school taking place in the Pacific Northwest. Living in Seattle nowadays combined with the almost uncomfortable way I related to Max has found be drawn into the narrative. Much more than any other game I’ve played this year. Some minor spoilers in case you want to go in completely dark, but Life is Strange has an incredibly interesting game mechanic- the ability to rewind time. This allows the player to redo choices depending on their outcome, to a point. I haven’t played enough of it to see how this plays into the story, but this game is interesting enough to give it a chance.
##7. Fallout 4
Bethesda has come out with the much anticipated sequel to Fallout 3. Let’s be real, this wasn’t a sequel to New Vegas. The post-apocalyptic wasteland that Fallout 4 offers is absolutely massive, and filled to the brim with places to explore. Quite similar to its sister game based in Tamriel. The wasteland also offers some of the best shooting in a Fallout game to date, which is a massive improvement off the RNG-based shots from previous games. Many of the systems implemented in previous games have recieved an uplift, namely the looting system, which has been streamlined and allows players to quickly grab the items they need throughout the wasteland. The settlement system is also a new addition to the series, expanding upon Skyrim’s Hearthstone and the huge number of mods that offered players the ability to build their own bases. However, the system as implemented is janky, and difficult to manage at times. Storywise, Fallout 4 is significantly weaker than New Vegas, but comparable to Fallout 3- as is expected. Sadly, it seems that Bethesda has taken a default stance of shooting our way out of situations rather than talking, a minor departure from previous games. Probably the most glaring issue is the continued bugs foudn in the Creation Engine, which is a holdover from Skyrim. While Fallout 4 is arguably the least buggy of the games, it’s hard to give Bethesda a free pass- especially as consoles seem to be affected more than the PC version. As of now, modding tools have not been officially released for the game, so it remains to be seen what the scene will bring to the game, and the annoucement of mods for the consoles should be an interesting development. All that said, Fallout 4 is one of the best games of this year, and offers numerous game hours to spend in the Commonwealth.
##6. Bloodborne
I’ll be honest, I’ve never really gotten into the Dark Souls games. I’ve enjoyed watching other people play, and the community is probably one of the more interesting things to watch unfold on the internet. But Bloodborne was probably one of the major reasons I bought a PS4, and it paid off. A much faster paced version of the Souls games, Bloodborne rewards timing, skill, and the ability to adapt to the various monsters it throws at you. I’ve personally been told Bloodborne is not as hard as the Souls games, but after spending many hours within this world, I now understand the appeal. A mixture of archaic descriptions and gothic enviornments, there is a lot of lore and secret hidden beneath the surface of this game. Similar to the gameplay itself, there’s something rewarding about figuring out the secrets Bloodborne holds.
##5. Dying Light
This is a game for some strange reasons I did not remember came out in 2015, until I went back and ran through the list of releases for this year. Dying Light is the spiritual successor to Dead Island, that zombie survival game with a better opening cutscene than actual game. However, Dying Light is a much more enjoyable game, with the melee aspect of fighting through hordes of zombies being incredibly delightful. A much simpler combat system combined with the much improved parkour/movement mechanics makes this game a much better action survival game compared to it’s predecessor. I can clearly remember a time when I was running in the middle of night, and while I wasn’t in any real immediate danager, the game’s visuals and mechanics made it blood-pumping rush as I dodged through the horde. The biggest weakness of this game is probably the main storyline, a simple cliched version of the evil CDC storyline. The side missions offered the more interesing stories, with a touch of quirkiness that Dead Island had.
##4. Destiny: The Taken King
Perhaps this doesn’t count necessarily as an expansion to an existing 2014 game, but The Taken King has elevated Destiny into- well into an actual good game. The main core of Destiny remained the same, pulling the trigger has never felt better for any console shooter, rivaling Halo in feel. What The Taken King improves upon is the loot and character systems, separating a player’s level and their “light” level, which is based on gear. The biggest problem of loot in a MMO like game was solved, allowing players to “feed” their weapons to other weapons increasing their strength or defense, and most importantly their light level. This coupled with new content turned Destiny into a much more enjoyable timesink, with loot caves becoming unnecessary. However, Destiny is still not without it’s own faults, with it’s implementation of a microtransaction system that seems to becoming more unethical as time goes on. Additionally, there’s already talk of a Destiny 2 in the works, which is concerning, if you take into the amount of money already invested in Destiny. This all remains to be seen in the future, and time will tell if Destiny ever reaches it’s own lofty goals it set in the very beginning.
##3. Rocket League
The multiplayer game of the year. At least for me. Rocket League offers a quick easy to learn version of soccer involving cars and a giant soccer ball. Or perhaps the cars are miniture RC cars. Regardless of the story, Rocket League quickly became one of the most fun games of the year, with what seems like a huge community. The simple mechanics probably attributed to it’s almost widespread adoption, both on PC and PS4. (It didn’t hurt that it was offered free for PS Plus members upon it’s release.) Coupled with an ethical DLC model and clear post-release support, Rocket League is definitely one of my favorite games for 2015.
##2. Metal Gear Solid V
Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece of 2015. Metal Gear Solid V is probably one of the most incredible projects to have ever been released in the history of games. A massive departure from the gameplay of previous Metal Gear Solids, Kojima left his mark on an open-world version of Metal Gear Solid. Although the story of the world is quite lacking compared to previous games (no cutscene has lasted an hour), the meaning of “emergent gameplay” has actually been created in MGS V. Providing the player with a variety of tools and systems make MGS V this strange, quirky, but incredibly fun game to run around. All the while being incredibly cool while doing so. The game has an incredibly complex system underlying it, that all works together in order to provide some of the best moments I’ve had in gaming for a long time. The worst part about MGS V is probably the addition of microtransactions and the entire FOB section of the game. It’s deceptively necessary to unlock certain tools in the game, all the while being the most annoying part of the whole game. That said, this is probably the best video game Kojima has ever made, and I hope he gets the funding and permission to continue his incredible (but also somewhat insane) vision.
##1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
My 2015 game of the year, The Witcher 3. I said 2015 has been a year of compelling stories, and none were as rich and as varied as The Witcher 3. The entirety of this game from beginning to end had a compelling story and incredibly deep gameplay mechanics. While the previous Witcher games had a large number of obtuse mechanics, Witcher 3 streamlines this while remaining true to it’s depth and lore. The combat in this game felt like a dash of Shadow of Mordor while keeping the complexity of previous Witcher games with it’s potion and magic mechanics. The side missions also provided a ton of hours of gameplay, with unique moral decisions that made the world seem alive, and more importantly realistic. Even for a fantastical world, the characterization for even minor NPCs felt detailed and nuanced. Even the optional minigame, Gwent, was incredibly fun (although easy once you got enough cards). I’m sad to say I haven’t been able to play any of the DLC for this game, and from what I’ve been told it might even be better than the original game. All that said, I cannot recommend The Witcher 3 enough, and it is a must play for 2015.
#Honorable Mentions
I also have a set of honorable mentions, for games that might have made the list, if not for a few minor setbacks.
##Super Mario Maker
I need to get a Wii U. In particular for this game. As a longtime fan of the Mario series, Super Mario Maker has made it incredibly easy to take the game’s mechanics and create your own levels. From what I’ve seen online, some of those created levels are absolutely brutal.
##Undertale
I’ve started Undertale, but I haven’t found time to play through it. I’m listing it here if only because of it’s almost universal praise, but it hasn’t gripped me as much as other games have. I’ll have to delve more into it, and perhaps I’ll write about it in the future.
##Rise of the Tomb Raider
I’ve also heard almost universal praise for the new Tomb Raider, as it seems to be a much improved version of the original reboot. That said, it’s locked to the Xbox One for now, so I’ll revisit this when I have the chance.