1. The Witcher 3 ; My most appreciated game of 2015. CD Project showed how to make brilliant game~
2. Bloodborne ; I dont have this game, but i know from people who liked DS, that this game is real diamond~
3. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; I just bought Wiiu for this game ^^

1. Bloodborne ; Because it's perfect.
2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Almost perfect.
3. Fallout 4 ; Not the jump i was expecting but i still love the bethesda formula.
4. Rocket League
5. Tearaway Unfolded
6. Star Wars Battlefront
7. Life is Strange
8. Tales from the Borderlands
9. Batman: Arkham Knight
10. Mad Max

Magic Mushroom said:

Hope so. It's the better game.

Click to expand...

You really want to convince yourself that's true.

badboyyy said:

1. The Witcher 3 - Goty
2. Bloodborne - Superb
3. Xenoblade Chronicles X - impressive

Click to expand...

Replace the - with an ; and I would probably go a bit more in depth with at least one comment just to be sure.

1. Ori and the Blind Forest ; My perfect game. Metroid x Super Meat Boy. Beautiful & enchanting.
2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; A tour de force of narrative, storytelling and world building.
3. Super Mario Maker ; Brilliant in every way, these creation tools are unmatched.
4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Some of the most sublime gameplay in history.
5. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; I love Mira, exploring it is extraordinary.
6. Splatoon ; The most innovative and creative game of the year. Wonderful.
7. Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. ; My diamond in the rough. I feel like this was misunderstood.
8. Tales From The Borderlands ; The funniest game of the year with amazing characters.
9. Axiom Verge ; Its a Metroid thing, I like Metroid things. Also glitches are cool.
10. Box Boy! ; Proves that gameplay is king, close to a flawless puzzle game.

1. The Witcher 3; It's first because it's high quality top to bottom, it has a massive amount of content and it is all top notch, and i kept thinking about it even when the game was off.
2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Story is kind of garbage, but it had by far the best gameplay of the year, just takes what makes "open world" great and makes it its core philosophy.
3. Bloodborne; Just an all around excellent game, with a superb art direction, not as good as Dark Souls, but still an amazing game.
4. Mad Max; Has a fun gameplay loop, and it captures the mood of the films very well.
5. Assassin's Creed Syndicate; Lacks in ambition, but it's at least a competent realization of the good ideas Unity had, but fucked up, and that's why it's actually fun to play.
6. Until Dawn; Basically took the formula David Cage made popular with Heavy Rain, and made it actually work well, with an appropriate tone and more branching paths.
7. Just Cause 3; It's got a LOT of problems, but the "moment to moment" gameplay is still enjoyable, and that wingsuit feels so good to use.

There were several other games i wanted to play this year, but didn't have time to.
Some of these in the list weren't exactly stellar, but i still had fun.

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Amazing game from start to finish for me. The open mission design is everything I've ever wanted from an open world game, and something I hope every developer of open world or sandbox mission-design pays very close attention to. The classic metal gear quirkiness just oozes throughout the gameplay and item/weapon options. The soundtrack, both original and licensed, is amazing from top to bottom. The story has a ton of pacing issues, but I think it's rather good as a whole. A story mode that included only the most pertinent of missions, side ops, and cutscenes would have gone a long way to help with this. Either way at this point I don't think a game with as meaty of a gameplay experience as MGSV should be hurt by its story, even if you might think it's bad. Most video games have weak stories, in fact I'd venture to say that the vast majority of video game stories are not only bad, but completely forgettable. MGSV has numerous moments that were memorable and emotionally resonant with me (the prologue, episode ), so I'm willing to forgive the pacing issues. Especially with the remaining 200+ hours I spent with it were so much fun. Tough to say where it falls for me historically, but it's definitely one of the best video games i've ever played.

2. Bloodborne ; Prior to Bloodborne, the exist to which I had played any souls game was Demon's Souls for about 2 hours, and I just couldn't get into it. I gave Bloodborne a shot because most of the previews described the combat as more fast-paced. After a pretty steep 6 hour learning curve, I fell in love with the game. Amazing from start to finish. I loved it so much that I went back and played and loved demon's, played and liked DaSII scholar, and plan to run through DaS at some point, and i'm highly anticipating DaSIII. Would have certainly been my GOTY in a lot of other years.

3. Rocket League ; I cannot believe how much time I've put in with this game. I very, very rarely even play sports games (even though I love watching sports), but this game is just so damn addicting and I'm still playing it to this day.

4. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; I put in a ton of time with this game and completed it on its hardest difficulty. It's a beautiful game to look at, with great music and some really well written quests and some solid voice acting. Now for the bad. Exploring the environments got tiring down the stretch because there's really not all that much to find that you won't come upon by just running through the quests. I hated the combat in this game. The quest design, in terms of how quests interact and how they are written was top notch, but the level design and quest progression was really linear point a to point b, with very little freedom in terms of how to approach things. Something I've always hated about open world games like gta, the moment you enter "mission-mode" the game becomes 100% linear until the mission is completed. Hopefully things like this and the combat are improved upon in a sequel, or in cyberpunk. Either way, as someone who didn't like the previous games enough to play them much. This was a really good action RPG.

5. Resident Evil HD Remaster ; As someone who played the PS1 classics when they first came out, and loved REmake, this holds up really well for me. Tank controls and all. I really hope the Remake of 2 follows the same blueprint.

6. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin ; Not as good as the other soulsborne games, but I still very much enjoyed running through this game, especially the DLC.

7. Oddworld: New'n'Tasty ; A wonderful remake of the ps1 classic. Like REmake it was the perfect blend of updated graphics and new features while honoring what made the original so great.

8. Batman: Arkham Knight ; Everything about this game other than the batmobile was amazing to me. Let me preface this by saying I played on PS4. It looked great, and ran nearly perfectly. The city was more fully realized to me than it was in City, which felt kind of unnecessary in rocksteady's last game. I really liked how some side missions you would simply come across while exploring the world without any way points or anything like that (something I wish MGS did more of). I loved how your progression was reflected in there being more inmates at GCPD every time you went back. I have similar complaints about the mission design in this game as I do with Witcher, but the fact that the combat is so much more satisfying makes that easier to overlook. Now to the worst of it. The batmobile. Driving it around is fine, doing some courses and chase missions like the firefly missions was okay in moderation. but the tank stuff. My god the tank stuff was an atrocious idea. The batmobile tank stuff in this game has to be the worst game design decision in a AAA game sequel that I can ever remember. If you simply removed the tank scenarios and diverted those resources into boss battles and some more side content, this game would have been way higher on this list.

9. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; I totally get, and somewhat agree with, the complaints about this game in relation to the first game. But I still had a ton of fun trying to conquer the levels. And the soundtrack might be ever better than the previous game.

10. Fallout 4 ; Too similar to F3 to me. I wanted the shooting to improve more than it did. I wanted better writing (it was actually a little worse in spots). Basically I totally agree with Jeff Gerstman on this one.

Games I didn't play or didn't play enough of (for referrence): Until Dawn, Assassin Creed: Syndicate, Game of Thrones, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Dying Light, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Ori and the Blind Forest, Just Cause 3

1. Bloodborne ; A twisted masterpiece that lives up to Miyazaki's previous titles and even surpasses them in some aspects.
2. Life Is Strange ; I felt like a teenage girl living through petty drama, and I loved it.
3. Rocket League ; Addictive like any good multiplayer game should be. Ingenious.
4. Until Dawn ; David Cage taken to task. This is how you do it right.
5. Undertale ; The charm of Mother, but made for modern times. This is destined to be a classic and essential for gamers that long for retro days.
6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Gameplay perfected, MGS abandoned.
7. Hotline Miami 2 ; Music and visuals collide for a psychedelic roller ride.
8. Ori and the Blind Forest; Gorgeous art direction and a Metroidvania flair.
9. Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate ; It's Monster Hunter. It's handheld. It's fucking awesome.
10. Crypt of the Necrodancer ; Super catchy music and an ingenious melding of genres. You will keep coming back to play "one more" level.

zero shift said:

Sorry about that. Wasn't aware the quoting would mess things up. I fixed it. Is my vote still disqualified?

Click to expand...

Your edit fixed the problem, thanks.

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Fantastic RPG with excellent characters and believable motivations. Great world and lore and a nice send off to Geralt's adventures.
2. Life is Strange ; A surprising narrative experience with lots of interesting twists and turns. I had just finished Remember Me when this was first announced and recognized that it used the same mechanic as the memory altering scenes, which I thought were under utilized in Remember Me. Turned out to be a great episodic experience.
3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; The open world system took away a lot form the narrative and it lost a lot of what makes Metal Gear special, as far as story and world-building is concerned, because of it. The moment-to-moment gameplay, however, is easily the best in the series.
4. Undertale ; An excellent throwback to 16-bit RPG's with a nice modern twist. Endearing characters and amusing, 4th-wall-breaking humor make this game ooze with charm.
5. Ori and the Blind Forest ; A fun metroidvania with beautiful design and animation. A few interesting takes on the traversal abilities you see in this sort of game keep things interesting. The difficulty curve is just right and the game doesn't overstay its welcome.
6. Her Story ; An amazingly clever and personal way to tell a story. Pulling the threads of each video and following it down the rabbit hole was incredibly engaging.
7. Fallout 4 ; Disappointing as an RPG, but incredibly fun as a single-player exploration game. I'd rather the former were the emphasis, but I'm okay with the latter.
8. The Beginner's Guide ; An interesting character study told in a way that only a game could tell it. It deals with some issues that a lot of creatives have through the lens of game design.
9. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse ; An unapologetically fun and cute metroidvania, the Shantae games always have the right amount of humor and charm. I just wish they were a bit longer.
10. Portal Stories: Mel ; Pretty high production values for a mod. The story and characters weren't terribly interesting, but the puzzles were well-designed with the veteran portal player in mind. The game itself falls apart a bit in the last act where the focus becomes "combat" rather than traditional puzzle solving.

Honorable Mentions
x. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky ; One of my favorite games this year. Didn't vote for it because it feels odd to vote an 11 year-old game as one of the best of 2015. It had been years since I'd played a traditional JRPG, and this game scratched the itch very well.
x. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim ; I played Ys Origins with it first hit Steam and have played each game in the series that's been released on that platform as they were made available. This is one doesn't do anything terribly exciting for the series, but since the games are tons of fun, I don't mind more of the same.
x. Castle in the Darkness ; Lots of fun. It hits the old-school sweet spot much like Shovel Knight. Unlike Shovel Knight though, this one keeps the difficulty of the older games which is a bit of a double-edged sword.
x. The Witcher III: Hearts of Stone ; Fantastic expansion with just as much love and craft as the main game. Not voting for it, because I consider it part of the full game which is already my Game of the Year.
x. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes ; I haven't actually played this yet, but I have seen it in action. It's a really novel idea and I'm glad these sorts of experimental games are still alive and kicking.

1. Rocket League; Deceptively simple at first glance, but once you spend more time with it, you slowly realize the insane skill ceiling it has. A game that perfectly embodies both the anguish and ecstasy of any sport you might be a fan of. Inside that pitch I have witnessed amazing feats of skill, incomprehensible blunders, impossible plays guided by fate or luck or who knows what, perfectly executed plays with no communication between the players, and plays that got everyone in the game laughing together. Together with a couple strangers, I have overcome seemingly unsurmountable odds in the very last second, matches that anybody could have given up on were won, and I have also witnessed how the other team caught up on us when we thought everything was decided. I have seen the shortest and longest overtimes being won and lost by a gentle graze of the ball, or a thunderous shot from an airborne player. From all the people I have played with and against, almost all of those strangers names are lost on me. But even if their names are forgotten, the feeling of congratulating someone on an amazing goal, of trying to lift someone else's spirits after a missed ball that costed us the match, that isn't forgotten at all, and that is what Rocket League means to me now.

1. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt; Simply put this is one of the best experiences I have had in a long time. This wins the top spot for me because it's a standard setter, whether or not games follow it. It shows you sidequests can actually just as compelling as main story if done right. There were times that I though I WAS playing the main story, but it was a side quest. They're that good, and I feel like every open world game with sidequesting should follow this example. I liked pretty much every character in the game, good guy or bad. The vistas were breathtaking. I often found myself just walking the upper level of Ard Skellig and looking down at the city and just admiring the work they've done building the world.

And I'll just come out and say it, I think the gameplay is good. My main complaints are the controls are janky (might have been improved since its release) and you have to do a little too much hopping, but other than that I had fun. There are better combat systems, there are worse combat systems. I always felt the hatred for the combat was a little too much, or maybe it gets mentioned cuz it's the only real flaw the game has outside of things you don't like for personal/taste reasons.

I also have to say that Hearts of Stone was so good that CDPR pretty much earned my confidence in getting their season passes for future games. There would be no DLC stigma if it was handled like that. Bring on Blood and Wine.

2. Bloodborne; Combat. Enemy/boss design. Level design. Atmosphere. All top notch. I appreciate that they went with a game that's more offensive. However I have to say...it was too hard for me. I was used to shields and magic from the previous Souls games, plus I'm bad at rushdown in general. So I think my approach to the game combined with my strengths as a gamer did not work as well in this. While I do plan on playing this again w/ the expansion, the thought of doing so seems like more of a hassle than when I replayed other 'Souls' games. The reason why Witcher got my first spot over this is because BB just isn't setting any standards for me. It's got great combat, but it's not something I'd want other games to emulate. It's got great atmospheric storytelling, which is fine to include in other games, but frankly that and item descriptions don't quite cut it for me. It doesn't make the Souls game worse for it, but it's not something I'd want other games doing.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles X; Oh man. The exploration. Such a joy. You can go anywhere from the get go, but you do have to be careful. I liked the little details like animals sleeping or walking over to water sources for a drink. The alien visual design shows you why there needs to be more explorable sci fi RPGs. They took my main complaint of the first game and improved the sidequests, but here the main story is lacking. I don't mind the direction they were going with it, but it felt like there needed to be more. I am on the last story mission and I read that it ends on a cliffhanger. It makes sense since it felt like things were starting to get good, then I'm suddenly on the last mission. I hope Takahashi continues this story and makes the next game more story focused like he said.

4. Pillars of Eternity; I probably shouldn't put this on the list since I haven't played through most of it yet. But I'm enjoying what I'm playing so far. This is probably the first type of game I played like this, the old school PC RPG. Unless Dragon Age Origins counts. Again I'm not far, but it's solid from what I've played.

5. Fallout 4; I can't front. I loved the exploring. The improved shooting, while not on the level of a true shooter, is improved over the previous games. Modding and settlement building could be more interesting, but I had fun with what was available. I'll come back for one more go when DLC comes out and community mods are crazy.
6. Metal Gear Solid 5; This game has some of the best 3rd person shooting mechanics and controls I have ever played. It's too bad I was let down by everything else. With a majority of story being told through audio tapes you listen to and a significant portion of the game being unfinished, I will be forever unsatisfied with the last (Kojima) MGS.

Okay, well I thought the poor combat in the Witcher III would really hinder my enjoyment of the game so I never bothered to play it.

I am so fucking glad I bought it for $25 bucks on PSN after reading how well it's doing in this thread, the combat isn't great but it's serviceable enough for me to be completely enthralled in this world, wow.

pablito said:

1. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

2. Bloodborne

3. Pillars of Eternity

4. Fallout 4

5. Metal Gear Solid 5

Didn't play that many games this year.

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At least one comment, separated from the name by a semicolon needed for the vote to count.

lordfuzzybutt said:

Your votes must go from 1 to 10.

Click to expand...

That's not a requirement.

Can I order my list from 10 to 1?
Yes, but this may increase the chances of you accidentally skipping a place and invalidating your ballot.

Click to expand...

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt; To be honest, it was a close call with Bloodborne, especially since the combat in Bloodborne is so much better than the effortless button mashing of The Witcher, but CD Projekt Red's latest sprawling open-world RPG sets such a high bar for world-building and especially the quality of each individual quest, it won out by a tiny margin.
I never would have expected that, in a year that should have been all about Xenoblade Chronicles X, the third installment of a series I had never touched before would end up impressing me the most, but there you go. Monolith Soft dropped the ball, and CD Projekt Red picked it right up.

2. Bloodborne; Or as I tend to call it: "The Souls game I've always wanted." Bloodborne finally does away with the Souls series' penchant for sluggish, trial-and-error gameplay, and replaces it with some much-needed fast-paced, offense-oriented combat.

3. Theatrhythm: Dragon Quest; I am a shameless slave to Theatrhythm. Square Enix can keep repackaging this game over and over and I will keep buying every single outing, even if it's focused on a series I don't particularly care about, or even like the music of. Sure enough, the track selection is underwhelming, and going back from Curtain Call's whopping 220+ (vastly superior) songs to a paltry 60+ for the same price hardly constitutes what you'd call a superior sequel, so it's a testament to the series' addictive gameplay that it still manages to end up being so friggin' good.
No other rhythm games offer this much variety, depth, and fun. NONE.

4. Yoshi's Woolly World; The original Yoshi's Island on SNES is one of the finest platformers ever made, and it still holds up amazingly well in this day and age. Nintendo has tried 2 times to capture the magic of the original game, once with a frustrating and annoying sequel on DS, and once more with a pedestrian and utterly forgettable outing on 3DS.
I'd all but given up hope of the series ever reaching its original quality again, but I'll be damned if Woolly World doesn't come close.

5. Batman: Arkham Knight; This has been a straight-hit series for me. I've liked every single entry so far, and Knight is no exception. It's not quite as good as City, and maybe not even Origins (which had much better boss battles), but these games still excel at making you feel like the Dark Knight himself, and I could not imagine any studio ever topping this.

6. Tales From the Borderlands; I love Telltale Games. I also love Telltale Games' games. Tales From the Borderlands, although I didn't like it quite as much as Season 1 of The Walking Dead, or The Wolf Among Us, is a greatly entertaining game that manages to make up for the lack of drama when compared to the aforementioned two titles by some fantastic presentation (I don't think I've ever played a game with such a phenomenal choice and use of licensed music) and silly humor. Contrary to TWD and TWAU, it didn't hit any emotional strings, in as far as I have any left, but it's still a great piece of work all the same.

7. Fire Emblem Fates (Birthright); Not much to say here. I loved Awakenings, and Fates is just more of the same goodness. I didn't like Fates quite as much as Awakenings, but it's still a great game. I played both the Birthright and Conquest versions, but found Birthright to be the superior one. Yes, it's easier, but it's also got a lot more content.

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; The gameplay loop of MGSV is probably one of the best ever made, all of the systems are feeding on one another to create the ultimate “just one more mission” kind of game, so that you can get the next base upgrade, weapon or buddy equipment. Combat is amazing and gives you many avenues to experiment and do some truly spectacular maneuvers in the course of battle. I feel like a lot of people have been really hard on the game’s story which I think is outstanding, it ditches many of the long cut scenes from MGS4 (or pretty much any game in the series) and codec conversations in favor of real time communications and cassette tapes. However I think it maintains the craziness which gives the series its unique flavor. I also feel it finishes the loop that was started by the original Metal Gear in 1987 in a very unique and unexpected way that feels satisfying as a longtime fan. And finally, Quiet is my favorite new character from 2015, looking past her attire, she is a strong female character and in many ways is more badass than Big Boss himself, and probably the most useful buddy in the game. She has a great story arc and her humming during battle is something that I miss long after finishing the game.
2. Bloodborne; This is probably one of the most rewarding games I have ever played, I never played any of the ‘Souls’ games before Bloodborne, not because of a lack of interest but just a lack of time. So I really didn’t know what to expect but this games was just amazing, every battle is a challenge and you feel like you accomplish something with every vanquished foe. The boss bottles are especially rewarding, every one of them get your heart pounding and some are a great challenge and you really start to get nervous as your blood vials run out or as you try desperately to dodge and get to a safe place to heal. When you finally beat a boss that has been giving you headaches it is a wonderful feeling, many times I would yell out or even hold my hands up in victory and relief. Such a surprising game for me and I even bought Dark Souls II for PS4 recently to try and go back and see what I have been missing.
3. Batman: Arkham Knight; There’s been a fair amount of negativity surrounding this game but I have to tell you that I really love it. I actually enjoyed the tank sections, though I do agree that they get overused in a few sections but they are still fun and control well. I also disagree that they are out of character for Batman who does has a tank in The Dark Knight Returns, so it isn’t unprecedented. The story is fantastic and very original as far as Batman storylines go, and I’m not talking about the baseline Arkham Knight/Scarecrow storyline but I won’t say anymore to avoid all spoilers. Combat is as fun as always and it is a gorgeous game. I wish there would have been more boss bottles and side quests but that is just because the game is so good that I always want more of these Batman games. Overall Arkham Knight was just a superb ending to a wonderful series.
4. Fallout 4; Of the modern Fallout games, this has been my favorite and I recently got the Platinum trophy after about 80 hours in the wasteland. I love the crafting system and it adds great variety to the weapons. I wished guns still deteriorated in some way and that there were a few more high level mods but the system works great. I also really enjoyed the settlement building, though it can be really awkward at times and clearly needs much refinement, also the benevolent leader trophy is annoying and obtuse, which since I wanted the platinum made that endeavor frustrating. Adding a voice to your character was a great move and it makes you feel very connected to your character and many of the great companions in the game. I also want to speak about Fallout 4 from a technical standpoint. I had zero issues with how the game ran for the most part, I think I had a total of 2 major framerate dips over my 80 hour playtime, zero game crashes and no major bugs outside of the occasional floating body every once in a while. All of this is pretty impressive for such a large game and I personally thought the game was decent looking though the engine is clearly getting dated at this point and a new one is needed soon. I actually thought this game could win my GOTY for 2015, and though I enjoyed it thoroughly, it is a very safe game and feels like we’ve played through this RPG a few times now. That being said nobody really does what Bethesda does and it is still a great experience even if it is just an iteration on a tried and true formula.
5. Until Dawn; I had been following this game since it was a first person move game on PS3. It has changed a great amount to get to this point but it turned out very well. It takes the best ideas of Heavy Rain, which is one of my favorite PS3 games, and adds some original ideas of its own, like the butterfly effect and the fact that you can track how your decisions are affecting the relationships of the characters in a very tangible way. The story is solid with a decent twist and provides great tension throughout the entire experience. I really enjoyed the characters and Supermassive did a great job of constantly changing your feelings towards the characters, in fact one of my most hated characters early on ended up being one of my favorites by the end of the game. Finally I must commend the way Supermassive utilized the Killzone engine and created an absolutely gorgeous game. Not only was this one of the most unique experiences of the year but it was technically very impressive, hopefully Sony makes this into a series and can do different stories with new characters using the same formula and series name. Though it does worry me that Sony didn’t seem to understand what they really had and were surprised by the more than positive reviews that the game garnered.
6. Tearaway Unfolded; This was my favorite game on Vita and a truly special experience. I’m glad it got new life on PS4 but I wish more people took notice of this game and I’m not really sure why it doesn’t get the coverage it deserves despite fantastic reviews and a charming design. Now I will say that the Dualshock 4 does harm the experience a bit but Media Molecule still does a wonderful job showcasing what the controller can really do. The world however benefits greatly from being on PS4 and feels more detailed and populated than its Vita counterpart. I truly hope more people give this game a chance so that maybe we can get a full blown sequel down the line; it deserves it more than most games.
7. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt; This game could easily be higher on my list but I’ve only played about 25 hours or so, but what I’ve played was enough to warrant placement on this list and I definitely plan to go back to this game after playing through some other backlog games. During my time I can tell you that it is easily the most beautiful open world RPG I have seen, it is huge, dense and technically impressive. Gwent is easily one of the best mini games ever in an RPG and I’ve already spent hours playing it and I wouldn’t mind seeing a physical version of the card game at some point. My only major complaint is that movement can be a little unruly and awkward at times in towns and shops. Also CD Projekt Red put together one of the best physical releases of a game in years, with a note thanking the players, the soundtrack and a map all for the normal 60 dollar price point. Honestly they are my developer of the year, they really seem to appreciate the player and I like that they care. The Witcher 3 has really got me excited for their next game, Cyberpunk 2077, which I personally find to be a more exciting setting.
8. Axiom Verge; One of the best examples of a metroidvania game ever, even besting some of the best that each of those series has to offer. The address disruptor is a great tool which really changes up the standard formula. The game has fantastic 16 bit art and a fantastic soundtrack; it is truly amazing that one man, Thomas Happ, created this experience.
9. Rocket League; This is a game that wasn’t on my radar for most of the year, I just really didn’t know about it. It ended up being the best multiplayer game of the year and probably the best sports games in a while (assuming that is what we should classify it as). The gameplay is simple but ingenious, soccer with rocket powered cars (or SocCar if you will). Matches are really intense and I like that you have to work as a team and that you can specialize if you are better at one thing or another. I have found that I am a pretty good goalie and can snipe some goals from my own end when needed but I’m not the best passer or pure scorer because I still haven’t mastered the rocket propelled aerial hit. However I provide a great service by playing goalie and defense, which is my favorite thing about the game, it is simple but depth can be found and used to come up with an effective team strategy. The developers have added some great free content over the months and the game continues to grow. This is one game I will be playing with friends for years to come. I still can’t believe this game was free with PlayStation Plus this year, probably one of the best free games released day and date for that service.
10. Tales from the Borderlands; Telltale is starting to overextend themselves and their quality is dropping a bit as of late but Tales from the Borderlands avoids this and is one of their best ever. It is funny and poignant, plus the characters are fantastic. I love Loader Bot, Gortys and Sasha; they are some of the best characters of the year. It is also a beautiful game and really nails the Borderlands art style and feeling. The openings for each chapter are amazing and the music for all of them are great and suit the moment. This was actually a surprise game for me that I played at the very end of the year. I thought I was going to skip this one but I’m glad that I didn’t. Now hopefully Telltale can deliver a great Batman game next year.

x. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number:
x. OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood:
x. Shovel Knight:
x. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection:
x. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture:
x. Dying Light

Cheesemeister said:

That's not a requirement.

Click to expand...

I stand corrected. For some reason my mind was impressed that was the case.

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; The Witcher 3 is the densest, largest, best-written, most elaborate game this year. It is beautiful, gigantic in scope, and fascinating. It is Game of the Year in a hard fought year and deserves it. There's not much to say because everyone has heard it a thousand times, but The Witcher 3 is the game I've been hoping western RPG developers would make.


2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; I have never been able to decide if my disappointment in Metal Gear Solid V is fair or not. Am I disappointed because of what it is or because I want it to be? Is the latter even really unfair? Perhaps more baffling is how, despite the haze of disappointment MGSV occupies in my mind, how much I seemed to actually enjoy playing it. I will defend to my dying day that MGS3 is a fun video game, once you get the hang of it. MGSV takes those core ideas and does something novel with them. It finally completes the loop on stealth and open world designs. It makes tackling situations optimally actually incredibly fun. I have significant issues with the implementation (especially how it's almost always graded better to be loud and fatal), but the core framework there is so good that I was compelled to keep going for dozens and dozens of hours. Despite everything, this Metal Gear Solid gave me moments like this, and this, and THIS, and this, and of course this, and many more...I am so disappointed, but so enthralled.


3. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ; I have tried a few times to get into Monster Hunter. I played a PSP game, wondered who could possibly deal with this shit, and never got very far. I tried Monster Hunter Tri on Wii, I killed a giant bear, then got bored and never got any further. Then I tried MH3U on Wii U and!...still nothing. The series just wasn't for me, I decided. I made one final, almost accidental stab - I really liked the way the MH4U n3DS looked, I couldn't get a Majora's Mask one, so I decided to go for it. I don't know what clicked this time. Maybe it was the new movement. Maybe it was the friends I had that also played the game. Maybe it was being in on the ground floor. But for some reason, I put hundreds of hours in to this Monster Hunter. I immersed myself in the lingo. I kept a bookmark to a Wiki on my phone. I started unironically talking about the Desire Sensor. Finding armor that was functional and also looked cool became more important than anything else. Now I wonder what other series I've tried, disliked, and would probably kick myself for sleeping on now.


4. Bloodborne ; There's a part in Bloodborne where you're traveling through a city and end up back at the Hypogean Gaol, an area you had only seen as if it were completely separate from the rest of the game before. There, you meet three nameless hunters that descend upon you at once. My instinct kicked in and I killed the smallest one without weapons first - it was too dark and too fast to see what the others were holding. I managed to get a full charged thrust from my longsword on him, a few follow ups, and he thankfully died before the others reached me. I dodged both their weapons coming at me in a pincer attack as I ran down to the jail cells, an area I at least knew fairly well. The two hunters followed me quickly, slashing and firing at the walls as they caught glimpses of my caped form from the angled stairwells. I lured them both to the bottom floor, took a few potshots from my sword, and lead them back upstairs. I ended up clashing with both of them in the same small area where they struck down the lantern that I had depended on so thoroughly when I was fighting the jailers, or when I was making my runs on Paarl, that was now just completely gone. I dodged back and forth, switching between both forms of my sword as they barely escaped the range of my one-handed variation. Finally, after a few minutes and many blood vials later, they died. And I thought to myself "Man, this game is really damn cool."


5. Splatoon ; Earlier this year, I was playing Rising Thunder and thinking about the emphasis that game makes on different aspects of fighting games. Execution matters, yeah, but so does being clever and creative, playing mind games with the opponents. I think Splatoon does this same thing for shooters. It simplifies the shooter to the point where the battle itself is an artistic performance. It makes it all sound so grand, but in the moment, it's just a fun thing where you do your best and have fun. It's the espresso shot shooter and it's masterful at it.


6. Undertale ; When Undertale originally came out, I was in the middle of a move. I didn't really have time to pay attention to it, though much of the internet was blowing up about it. I finally got around to it in the last few weeks and, well, I wasn't blown away at first. It was cute. The pacifism angle was interesting. Then the game kept going. Then pacifism became really hard to do (note: I had a flu when attempting this). Then the slow hallway walk happened. And then everything after. And the time spent figuring out what the hell just happened happened. And the hours, HOURS, listening to the music over and over on Youtube. And then all I did was think about Undertale, change my phone's wallpaper, buy the OST...I'm not a crazy fan, I swear. I just really, really liked it. It is the weird case of a game that is far better in retrospect than it has any right to be.


7. Super Mario Maker ; When I was at PAX, I approached a Nintendo rep and said "I have had this idea for a level for Mario 3 since I was six years old. If I can do that level, I will buy this game." He said "Let's try, then" and we proceeded to make the same level that, until then, only existed in my head. Then when I got the game, I made other levels I have had ideas for. Then levels I was inspired to make after playing other people's levels. Then levels that were stupid ideas I massaged into smart ones. I watched streamers make cool levels. I watched streamers make the world's worst hellscapes from which no soul could emerge without visible scars. All of it was entertaining. If I judge a game on how much fun it brings me through its existence, as I often do with fighting games, then I think Super Mario Maker absolutely deserves to be in my list.


8. Life is Strange ; I think I got Life is Strange at launch as something of a fist bump. Like, hey, neat, you guys made a thing that seems pretty cool and your weird French-Oregon is neat, I'll play this. After a lot of cajoling, I got around to playing the game earnestly around October. When I finished Episode 2, and I failed, I crawled into a ball on my bed and didn't talk to anyone. Something similar had happened to me when I was younger and I was completely unprepared for that moment in the game. Good or bad, Life is Strange affected me more than any other game this year - I guess I should say good and bad, actually. Life is Strange isn't perfect. It doesn't push the medium forward. It could be a lot better than it is. Who cares, I loved it, it resonated with me emotionally, and I treasure that experience as a whole.


9. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; This is easily my most surprising game of the year. I wasn't expecting to like it, much less love it, but Rise of the Tomb Raider came out of nowhere to assert itself into my GOTY list. The changes Crystal Dynamics has made to the linear climb-and-shoot formula that this genre has mucked itself in do wonders. If they had gone further in that direction and incorporated the survival aspects from the other modes into the campaign, it actually might have been far higher on my list. The semi-open sandbox that breaks up the set pieces is actually a structure I think might have fit MGSV better than the mission-based open world it turned out to be. I finished Rise of the Tomb Raider realizing that the things it does to shake things up are actually going to make similar games that don't do this feel kind of archaic.


10. Ori and the Blind Forest ; I think last year, this spot was for Transistor, this year it's Ori. I guess this spot is good for games I love aesthetically but am not sure I loved as a game. Regardless of what I think of Ori's gameplay, its "living painting" aesthetic was unmatched this year. The game was haunting at the right times, beautiful at the right times, and a mixture of both at times when even I didn't know I needed it to be. Ori should make a lot of developers envious, because they've been searching for a way to make video games more like movies, without looking to the short, beautiful pieces of animation that litter cinematic history.

Zolbrod said:

list

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Add ; between the game and the comment. Looking at the last page or so, I think half of the lists are illegible because of wrong design

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190039697&postcount=378

Finished my votes in case someone is interested.

ShockingAlberto said:

List

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A great read. Thanks man.

ShockingAlberto said:

.

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I liked this list too. Not because of the games, but because of your descriptions, and I found myself reading it out loud. I'm skipping most other lists, that doesn't have pictures or thorough explanations.

1. Bloodborne ; Amazing aesthetic, great combat, strong atmosphere and overall extremely gripping. Might even be the best Souls game.


2. Yakuza 5 ; Finally it's arrived in the west, and it's incredible. SO much to do, and as usual it reminds me of the times I spent in Japan with how picturesque it is.

http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com...l-Huge-World-Fluid-Combat-Report-471205-5.jpg

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3. The Witcher 3 ; So much content, and it's all quality content. Great writing, great visuals, and the best western console-style RPG ever.


4. Dying Light ; Super underrated game that's extremely satisfying to play, with amazing parkour, visceral combat, and an open world that doesn't feel copy pasted and empty. The visual style is also really nice, and nightttime is an experience for sure.


5. Axiom Verge ; Best platformer of the year with great music and artwork, and the best homage to Metroid that also stands on its own.


6. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls ; The latest episode in the saga, and the writing is still as snappy as aver, and the shooter spin on the franchise lets them explore different aspects of the world and cool puzzle shooter gameplay.


7. Satellite Reign ; Amazing game! Great stealth and level design, with a cool art style and a worthy successor to Syndicate.


8. Shadowrun Hong Kong ; These games are some of the best RPGs out there, and Hong Kong is no exception. The cyberpunk setting is taken to the next level with the Asian aesthetic, and the writing is as great as it always is.


9. Rainbow Six Siege ; Best multiplayer shooter I've played in years. Tactical, brutal and refreshing. The toolset you have and how malleable the world is means that no two games will play out the same way, and it's always engaging and tense.


10. Splatoon ; The freshest game. Super cool and creative mechanics. Just a blast (a splat?) to play.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D ; It's impossible to describe this game since there isn't ANYTHING like it, no other game used the time traveling mechanic like this one, no other Zelda has a story so strong yet so perfectly mixed with gameplay. Majora's Mask is that weird Nintendo game that sometimes happens and reminds me why I love the company, it's a 15 years old game and yet feels fresh and fun, the remake quality is very good and what else can I say, it's my GOTY and I didn't expect it to be.
2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Yeah yeah, I know, chapter 2 sucks. But when you have the best gameplay ever, both considering the series and the genre, some amazing graphics and still some very good, unforgettable moments, you can forgive some shit. And you can shoot a robot arm, scream "Rocket PUNCH!", ride a horse while listening to Rebel Yells, I mean THAT'S CRAZY! I read lots of complaints for this game and even if some things were perfect for my tastes (Venom Snake and Ocelot being silent) I think that many people just played it the wrong way, asking "how can I do this?" instead of just trying new ways to approach missions.
3. Bloodborne ; A dream... sorry, a nightmare come true. Personally I'm a big fan of gothic horror, Bram Stoker, sci-fi and this game HAS IT ALL, and does even more! Extremely fun and haunting from beginning to end, Bloodborne is one of the best games ever made and if it wasn't for Majora's Mask I would say the best atmosphere in a game this year. Even though I vastly prefer the gameplay in this over Dark Souls, a bigger number of weapons and armors would have been a lot better but whatever, we're talking about minor problems in a game that's almost perfect. Yes, it was really hard to put it behind MGSV but I just wanted to shake things up a little.
4. Splatoon ; We all won with this game: Nintendo made money, we played the most fun and innovative game this year, and the developers learned that making a proper new IP is possible. This is Nintendo finally making a NEW game and holy shit did they deliver! So much content, such a polished game, even a fantastic single player campaign. This is my new Counter Strike, can't believe I'm saying it.
5. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; Mira, what a wonderful place to explore. Yes, the game has some of the dumbest interface ever concieved, the sound design is shit, some animations are stiff and yet I fucking love it because the rest is SO GOOD.
6. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Amazing art direction coupled with the best subquests ever seen in a RPG, Witcher 3 is my favorite WRPG, and I'm not a big fan of the genre. The only problem I have is that the story didn't keep me interested a lot, and the combat system is just ok. The writing though, that's unprecedented. I mean, it feels like I should rank it higher but we're talking about tastes...
7. Super Mario Maker ; You know what? I both love and hate this game. Making levels, seeing people liking them, playing some fantastic ones, that's awesome! But then you have billions of automario, stupidly hard levels and a search enginge that got better but still isn't perfect. Besides this, I normally don't like editors yet I played this for hours and hours and I still have many ideas that hopefully will turn in levels. And what about the soundtrack, with new 8/16 bits songs? So good!
8. Yoshi's Woolly World ; The true sequel for Yoshi's Island. If it wasn't for the thousands of platform I played recently I would probably rank Woolly World higher because it's a very good Yoshi game. Not extremely original but definitely captured the feeling of the SNES one and that says a lot.
9. FAST racing NEO ; It's fast. And fun. Buy it now.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes ; Another case of love/hate relationship. When you lag or find bad companions, this game sucks. But when everything goes well (and it happened often for me) you have the time of your life! Also, the soundtrack is DOPE, I pray for Ryo Nagamatsu to be the composer for Zelda WiiU. I love you man!

Honorable Mentions
x. Star Wars Battlefront ; Yeah I'm a fucking casual, I bought it for the fanservice and amazing graphics and I don't regret it. Forset Moon of Endor is the best looking thing I've ever seen in a game.
x. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam ; Very very good game.
x. Batman Arkham Knight ; It makes you feel like you're batman but the edgy story and some gameplay parts were meh.
x. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker ; I expected more. Fuck the new difficuly curve of EAD Tokyo, easy and boring but then instantly fucking hard, that's just lazy.
x. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse ; It's good. Autoscrolling levels suck.

1. Metal Gear Solid V ; amazing combo of some MGS story telling and incredible mechanics.
2. Bloodborne ; best game in the Souls lineage for my money.
3. Destiny The Taken King ; amazing follow up to the mildly disappointing Destiny game released in 2014.
4. Fallout 4 ; felt like Fallout 3.5 but I loved Fallout 3.
5. Axiom Verge ; great Metroid style game
6. Rocket League ; way more hours from this than I would have ever thought
7. Resident Evil HD Remaster ; was amazed to come back to this game and get hooked into completing it like I did. This was the only of the games in my top 10 I had the time to finish this year.
8. Geometry Wars 3 ; great follow up to Geo Wars 1/2.
9. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ; my first MonHun
experience and it really grabbed me.
10. Halo 5 ; amazing looking game that I really enjoyed what I played of

My backlog shames me in not adding some of the below:
Witcher III
Super Mario Maker
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Undertale
Until Dawn
Life is Strange

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Incredible quality given the massive scope and scale.
2. Pillars of Eternity
3. Ori and the blind forest
4. Cities: Skylines
5. Rocket League
6. Lara Croft Go

Sakura said:

Little too easy to break the game though.

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Literally every game in the SRW Z series except the first one.

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Goty feels almost to small. This might turn out to be my game of this console generation.

2. Soma ; Probably the biggest surprise for me. Came for the horror, stayed for the story and characters.

3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

4. Tales From The Borderlands

5. Yakuza 5

6. Batman: Arkham Knight

Thanks to this thread, I just picked up "Life is Strange."

ShockingAlberto said:

List.

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Love this list. I feel similarly about every game on your list that I've played. I've expressed my disappointment with MGSV quite a bit, but the framework there is incredible even if the game doesn't nail many other aspects of its design nearly as well as it should.

I find it to be a game that is better played in one or two missions at a time so you can take in the full wealth of options at your disposal and the core mechanics. During longer playsessions, its faults are very glaring. Ori is a game that I really like, but it feels like I should love it. Bash is a great mechanic, but I'm still not sure how I feel about Spirit Flame and there are a couple weak levels.

Undertale is definitely the classic "more than the sum of its parts." I probably should knock Undertale for the underwhelming opening hour or two(substantial portion of a short RPG like this), but the rest of the game is so damn good. Somewhat fatigued on the cinematic TPS so I'm probably not giving Tomb Raider a fair shake atm. It does utilize its mechanics better than the first though.(so far) I agree with a semi-open sandbox with varied locations being a much better fit for MGSV as well.

Life is Strange is something I liked a lot more than I thought I would've despite it's flaws. I'd probably love Bloodborne too. Demon's is one of my favorite RPGs and Dark 1 is also great. I doubt anything will top TW3 as my GOTG unless it's CDPR themselves and we still have the Blood & Wine expansion to look forward too!

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; One of the single most expansive games I've ever played, The Witcher 3 was an absolutely amazing game throughout. It had some of the most unique storylines and memorable characters of the year and looked absolutely fantastic, even on consoles. It was also a marked improvement over the Witcher 2, which I was only able to get about halfway through before getting too frustrated with to finish. All in all, it was my favorite of the year and one of my favorite games of all time.
2. Halo 5: Guardians ; While the campaign was fairly dreadful, the Halo 5's multiplayer is incredible. It's the best Halo since the third installation, which I still consider to be the strongest entry in the series. The gunplay has had some amazing upgrades and just feels so good and rewarding. I was initially hesitant that Warzone would be something I'd want to play, but now I'm finding that the Warzone Assault variant is my most-played hopper. And the REQ system is the carrot-on-a-stick that keeps me coming back day after day.
3. Life is Strange ; I'm so happy that Life is Strange seemingly came out of nowhere this year. It certainly had one of the best stories of the year, with some seriously heart-wrenching twists and turns. My only criticism of the game was how long it took to get out each episode. I couldn't put it down.
4. Fallout 4 ; While I've only played around 40 hours (yes, only), I've found Fallout 4 to be a great iteration of Fallout. It might not look amazing or be that big of a jump from previous games, but what is there is a solid world that's fun to play around in.
5. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; An absolute treat. I really liked the original Tomb Raider reboot and this was better in every conceivable way. Blew threw the game in only three or four sittings.
6. Ori and the Blind Forest ; The hand drawn art, the music, the challenging gameplay. Ori is a big winner this year.
7. Batman: Arkham Knight ; A very capable Batman game. I didn't mind the Batmobile tank addition as much as some other people and really liked some elements of the story (the "dream sequences" especially).
8. Tales from the Borderlands ; Possibly one of my favorite Telltale games of all time, Tales was a very funny, surprisingly moving game. They did Borderlands right.
9. Splatoon ; I only had very little time with this game (a handful of hours over the course of a couple of days), but what I did play I really loved. Very unique gameplay with fantastic music.
10. Mad Max ; I don't get the hate for this game. It's a fun, big open world that's beautiful and feels like Mad Max. Really enjoyed my time with it.

x. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 ; One of the best Call of Duty entries in a while. I really like the meaningful variations in classes.
x. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; I spent way too little time with this game. I love the open world moments, but have been disappointed so far by the actual story. Anyway, what I've played of it has been fun.

1. Undertale ; Really clever and inventive stuff going on, charming and amazingly fun gameplay.
2. Rocket League ; Car Football. Rocket-powered Car Football.
3. Until Dawn ; Heavy Rain done right.
4. Bloodborne ; Brilliant gameplay.
5. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Too much too say.
6. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ; 3 of the best games from last gen on one disc.

Majestad said:

Witcher 3 is such an amazing game. GAF will be two years on a row spot-on with my own choices if it wins GOTY.

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Haven't done my list yet but I just sat down to finish off Witcher 3 this week. I got sidetracked after FFXIV Heavensward came out and never went back to it.

Witcher III really is shooting up my potential list. I ignored it for too long. It's a beautiful game with a rich story. I have no issues with the gameplay either.

1. Metal Gear Solid V TPP; Story adise, this is by far the best Metal Gear ever made. What ive wanted Metal Gear to be since I played the original way back in 98.

2. Fallout 4; Cannot stop building up my settlements. It might not have that much appeal to everyone but to me its the best part of this game and hope they really expand upon it in the next entries.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles X; Giant Robots in an awesome Sci Fi open world. The younger me couldnt have asked for a better combo!

4. The Witcher 3
5. Bloodborne
6. Ori and the Blind Forest
7. SMT Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker
8. Destiny The Taken King
9. Downwell
10. Super Mario Maker

Honorable Mentions
(Either havent had time to play much or just dont have a full opinion yet formed)

Rise of the Tomb Raider
Star Wars Battlefront

1. Undertale ; If you've played or read about the game, you know why it's here, even if you disagree. There's just nothing I can say that won't feel like a retread of every glowing Undertale review ever.
2. Bloodborne ; Enjoyed far more than Demon's Souls (the only other Souls game I've played through), but I'm not as much as a masochist as most Souls fan, or the way its approach leads to grinding, so it gets to sit below a game that respects my time more and felt "denser".
3. Pillars of Eternity ; It's an Obsidian RPG that wasn't rushed out in a nearly broken state - of course it's great. The writing isn't as good as it could be, though, and I don't think it's going to get better in future games (miss you, MCA)

My list is short because there are many games I started but ended up not liking for various reasons (The Witcher III, Undertale, Tales from the Borderlands, for example) and I haven't necessarily finished the few I have on here.

1. Rebel Galaxy ; Great music, fun combat, just enough complexity to be fun.
2. Sunless Sea ; Simple game mechanically but so much good stuff in terms of the story. Just picked this up a few days ago but I love it.
3. Pillars of Eternity ; Backed this on Kickstarter a long time ago. Given how rarely I like this style of RPG how much I liked this game surprised me.
4. Heroes of the Storm ; Not enough to take me away from League of Legends but a great change of pace.
5. Huniepop ; Yes, the game is extremely crass but the gameplay is really fun. Some great tweaks on the match 3 formula.

1. Bloodborne ; Since getting hooked on Galaga as a young kid, the list of games that have spiced up my three-decade-long relationship with gaming at low ebb is a short one: Super Mario Bros.; LTTP; Super Mario 64; Super Mario Galaxy; and now Bloodborne. I had tried my hand at Dark Souls several moons ago, but for whatever arcane reasons didn't persevere despite being intrigued by its difficulty and deliberate awkwardness (I've since returned to it, fully engrossed). Even with Bloodborne, it took me a while to get hooked. The challenge itself wasn't a turn off, but the sense that I was "doing it wrong" was. I'm rather loathe to look up how to play a game "properly," and so it took literal months of very intermittent play sessions before I finally defeated the Cleric Beast. Once I got over that formidable hump, though, I knew I was ecstatically trapped in the game's jaws full of serrated teeth. The atmosphere of the game is hugely impressive, but in the end it's its least impressive feat. Atmospherics themselves can be effected by accomplished technicians; the game's artistry, rather, is in its genuine strangeness, its orchestrated ellipticity, and its uncommon insistences on the player. Perhaps I'm overestimating it because it's my first true Souls experience, but in the grander picture that's hardly an unearned injustice.
2. Super Mario Maker ; A tremendous success on two very distinct planes. I can't help but marvel at the language Nintendo has devised with SMM. With its alphabet, one can write a short story in nigh any conceivable genre: suspense (platformer), mystery (puzzle), comedy (referential), horror (brutally difficult), trash (trash). But the game's poetry lies within its raison d'etre: enabling you to do what you love. A surefire GOTY in most other years.
3. Rocket League ; The world's very greatest Pong remake.
4. Yoshi's Wooly World ; Yet another instance of Nintendo inventing new 2D gameplay ideas at such a breathless pace that after a while one's admiration fades in inverse proportion to the size of one's childlike smile.

1. Bloodborne ; Absolutely fantastic game. The art style, combat, level design, pacing, atmosphere, music, and gameplay all come together for an unbelievable experience. No game has gripped me like Bloodborne has since Dark Souls. I found myself awed at the beauty of the art style and my surroundings. The boss designs were superb and rewarding. This game is definitely up there for me for my greatest of all time.

2. Splatoon ; Extremely fun and original. The art style and fun factor of this game is off the charts. I think it's an excellent new IP and has tons of potential for the future as well.

3. Rocket League ; Rocket League is a special game. It's a very simple concept, but it was executed perfectly. It is simple to pick up, difficult to master. It can bring out all sorts of emotions. I think Rocket League will have quite a following and be supported for a long time.

4. Fallout 4 ; Definitely a fun and engaging game although I feel the dialog options that were stripped out hurt the overall product of the game. There is a lot to like about Fallout 4 and I hope that it gets some continued support from the modding community.

5. Super Mario Maker ; I'm not one for level creation much, but since Super Mario World for SNES is my favourite game of all time, I just have to give the nod to SMM as a top 5 game of 2015. I love playing all the cool and wacky levels people make, and making your own is quite easy and intuitive. The fact you can't have all the tools at your disposal right away and have to wait kind of annoyed me, but I will forgive that as the overall product is very solid and will be played for years to come.

1. Bloodborne ; Souls but more aggressive in a Lovecraftian nightmare of a world.
2. Rocket League ; the best multiplayer game of the year, easy to pick up and play but with a high skill ceiling.
3. Metal Gear Solid V ; I care nothing for the story in this franchise, but the gameplay and mechanics here are super solid and I appreciate the absurdity in game.

forgeforsaken said:

1. Bloodborne
2. Rocket League
3. Metal Gear Solid V

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You must have at least one substantial comment about a game for your ballot to be counted.

1. The Witcher III The Wild Hunt ; My all time favorite role-playing game. For a fan of the books and the lore, this game is an absolute treat. You also get stunning graphics, an excellent OST and a very well realized world and characters.

2. Bloodborne ; Bloodborne has the best gameplay of any game I played this year. I enjoyed my time with it immensely and it is my first and only platinum trophy.

3. Destiny: The Taken King ; I spent more time on Destiny this year than any other game. It has serious flaws but it is also seriously fun and contains some of the best fps gameplay that I have ever experienced.

4. Divinity Original Sin: Enhanced Edition ; 2014's GoTY except better! What's not to like?

5. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel ; A seriously good, seriously well written JRPG. Don't skip this one just because it's PS3/Vita only. You would be making a big mistake because this game is well worth your time.

6. Just Cause 3 ; Stupid, stupid fun. Just Cause is the junk food of video gaming and this latest iteration is the best yet. Nothing beats traversing Medici with the combination of the wingsuit and parachute. Bonus points for gorgeous and plentiful explosions.

7. Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax ; As an anime/light novel fan, this game is a fan service treat. It is also quite a good fighting game in its own right!

8. Dragon Quest Heroes ; You got Dynasty Warriors in my Dragon Quest!

9. Tales of Zestria ; A competent PC port and a 60fps mod help this be the best playing Tales game since Tales of Graces. The lighthearted and fun script and characters were also a plus.

10. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D ; Small enhancements and refinements to the original game but this time its on the go on your 3DS! I spent more than my fair share of time this year on this game and really enjoyed it.

1. Life is Strange ; the game pushed all the right buttons inside me. I never was that hooked when it comes to adventure games. Best game this year for me and I hope more coming of age themed games come out. The hunger is real
2. Fallout 4 ; a huge open world where everything is somehow connected and simulated. I actually feel like having an impact on the world. There are also some really good quests and the writing isn't half as bad as some people make it out to be.
3. NBA 2k16 ; the best basketball game got even better with the Story mode. It's honestly nothing to write home about in a general view, it is still by far the best effort in this regards when it comes to sports games.
4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; the best stealth gameplay ever.

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is the best RPG I've ever played, and CD Projekt Red deserve all the praise they are getting for this game. Continuing on the adventures of Geralt, we see the witcher getting into all sorts of situations in pursuit of his adoptive daughter Ciri. It is rare that side quests in RPGs have as much polish as main ones, but CDPR maintains the same level of quality throughout every quest in this game. It also features some of the most memorable and unique characters that are written brilliantly and voice acted perfectly. On the PC, this game looks amazing, and considering the scope of the game, to achieve aesthetics like this is truly a feat. CDPR has shown that they can learn and evolve from the mistakes they've made in the past, and is becoming my favorite developer in the industry today. If you haven't played Witcher 3 yet, you are doing yourself a disservice, as it is undoubtedly the GOTY.



2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Metal Gear is my favorite franchise in gaming. I've beaten MGS2 and 3 at least 20 times and I can recite the story to you by heart. Naturally, I followed the development cycle and marketing of this game like a hawk, analyzing every trailer, and even staying up to watch TGS streams. So as the last line of credits past, all I felt was...disappointment? Considering the fallout between Konami and Kojima, is this really how the saga ends? Over the next few months after beating it, I kept searching and hoping there would be more, but alas, nothing. This is how the story ends, and I've never felt disappointment like this.

So why is this number 2 on my list? Well, despite the shortcomings of the story, this is easily the best playing MGS game by a mile. Every method of infiltration feels right, and the classic Kojima attention to detail is in full effect. Soldiers drown if you leave them in the water, blowing up a comm station cuts off all radio communications, not to mention all the fun gadgets at your disposal. As a fan of Peace Walker, the inclusion of the base building and weapon development seem like a natural evolution of the series. Yes, the story was a major disappointment, but this is the best stealth gameplay in any video game, and if the story held up, it would've easily been number 1 on my list.




3. Bloodborne ; By taking away your shield and turning the speed up to 11, Bloodborne offers an experience for Souls players thats familiar...yet very, very different. The combat in this game is now revolved around dodging, parrying, and going on the offensive when you get hit, a far cry from my souls strategy of hiding behind a shield. And yet, this is the most fun I've had in a souls game ever. The combat is exhilarating, and nothing feels as good as defeating a boss in Bloodborne. Insipired by H.P Lovecraft, the art style influences both the environment and enemy design, and some of these monsters are downright terrifying. The lack of hand holding might be a turn off to new players, but stick with it, and you will realize why From Software's SoulsBorne series is one of the best in gaming.



4. The Witcher III: Hearts of Stone ; CD Projekt continues to amaze with the first expansion for The Witcher 3. Bringing back some memorable characters as well as introducing some new ones, the story of Hearts of Stone is just as memorable as the main game if not better. With new gameplay mechanics and the inclusions of a "souls-like" boss, Hearts of Stone is the best DLC in recent years and a must-play for fans of the main game.



5. Life is Strange ; High school drama and time travel, two glaringly different concepts that somehow merge tremendously well in Life is Strange. The story of Max Caulfield is a great one, and one that kept me coming back again and again. Yes, the writing is spotty at times and some of the middle episodes began to drag, but all of that is overshadowed by the great performances of the cast, especially Hannah Telle as Max. The art style and the soundtrack help establish the atmosphere of Arcadia Bay, and I'm definitely looking forward to more adventures from Max and Dontnod Entertainment.



6. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; In a year full of open world games, Xenoblade Chronicles X manages to have the most impressive open world packed in the least powerful system. The world of Mira is beautiful, and the vast landscapes and wild indigens are a treat to explore. About 30 hours into the game, you are given the Skell, XCX's version of mechs, and it opens up a whole new way to play and explore. Although the story is light and the soundtrack is lackluster compared to the original Xenoblade, XCX is one of the best JRPGs out now and a great reason to own a Wii U.



7. Splatoon ; Nintendo isn't known for producing top quality shooters, but Splatoon is a fantastic one and a great addition to Nintendo's family of IPs. Playing and experimenting with different weapon types to fit your play style is something Splatoon does tremendously well. The movement is fluid and fun thanks to the lovable inkling/squid transformation that allows you to flow through your colored ink. Splatoon also boasts a surprisingly featured campaign with one of the best final bosses ever in a shooter. All this coupled with brilliant sound design and OST makes Splatoon my favorite shooter of 2015.



8. Grand Theft Auto V ; One of my favorite games of last year finally gets ported to the PC. It's a blast to play through the story again at 1080/60 with new modes like first person. And as troubled as GTA Online has been, I had a blast cruising around Los Santos with friends and causing mayhem. Rockstar has done a great job with this port (especially when you consider GTA4) and hope that some single player DLC is on its way for GTAV.



9. Guilty Gear Xrd ; My first experience with the Guilty Gear franchise was in arcades in the early 2000s and its amazing to see the franchise grow among the juggernauts in the fighting game genre. Xrd Sign looks absolutely amazing especially during its 3D swivel. The anime art style shines brilliantly in UE3 and character models look exceptional. Although I am nowhere near "good", the game is still a blast to play and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- is hands down my favorite fighter of 2015.



10. Undertale ; Indie games are usually not my cup of tea, but developer tobyfox really nailed it in this 16-bit RPG. The unique combat system borrows ideas from the SMT series as well as old school arcade shooters, and merges these elements brilliantly. However, the star of the show is the soundtrack. Every track sets the tone for the area you are in and Fox deserves all the praise for his work as a composer. Witty and charming, Undertale proved to be a great surprise and a good finisher to a great year of gaming.

Honorable Mentions
x. Assassin's Creed Syndicate;
x. Madden NFL 16 ;

Disappointments

* Fallout 4
* Star Wars Battlefront

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Amazing gameplay along with it being MGS in an open world enviroment.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; Had no hype about this one and it blew me away. When you finally get your flight module for your Skell is amazing.
3. Fallout 4 ; Great RPG that takes place in one of my favorite cities
4. The Witcher 3 ; Beatiful open world with a great story to accompany it.
5. Cities: Skylines ; A very much needed game in a dead genre. Everything you could want from a city builder.
6. Bloodborne ; Great art direction and combat.
7. Her Story ; Wasn't really sure what to expect going in but loved it and even got my wife to play it and she enjoyed it also.
8. Dragonball: Xenoverse ; Not the RPG I've been wanting but good enough for now.
9. Batman: Arkham Knight ; Great ending to the Rocksteady trilogy.
10. Star Wars: Battlefront ; Great casual entry to a rebooted franchise we all missed.

1. Bloodborne ; I've been a Souls fans since Demon's and it's no surprise that Bloodborne ends up on my list this year. Despite my love of of the Souls games I never would have guessed how enthralled I'd be over Bloodborne. It resonated with me in a way that I haven't felt since Demon's Souls. The gameplay is fast and vicious, the bosses are amazing, and the lore surrounding Yharnam is fascinating and had me reading pages upon pages of lore analysis. The way the game transition from Victorian inspired werewolf hunters to Lovecraftian cosmic horror is one of the most pleasant and unexpected surprises of the year for me.


2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; MGSV is a weird game. Similar to Bloodborne, I've been a huge fan of Metal Gear for years and there was no doubt that the 5th entry would end up on my list this year. But it's on my list for a completely different reason than I expected it to. I primarily played the Metal Gear games for their plot (as bonkers and insane as it gets) and there was disappointingly little story happening in MGSV. However the the actual game part of MGSV is such a joy to play. I've always enjoyed how the MGS games play but MGSV turns that up a few notches on this release making it easily the most fun MGS to play.


3. Life is Strange ; Life is Strange was the first episodic game I've played where I didn't wait until all the episodes were out. I bought the first episode in January last year and it got it's hooks into me that I went ahead and decided to buy the rest of the episodes and wait for their releases. It made me revisit the game every so often throughout the year which is normally not something I do with a game and I feel the game left a bigger impression on me because of it. But as for the actual game I really enjoyed what they put out. The game's narrative swings pretty far out there at times and I feel the game hits more than it misses. I was able to buy into the story, characters, and setting they were selling and just immerse my self in the game. It was an excellent experience and I hope that Dontnod is able to create another excellent experience that rivals it.



4. Undertale ; This is a game that I had no idea existed until about 2 hours before I bought it. It is a really good game though I wasn't able to appreciate the game in full until after I've beaten it. The game has an interesting take on combat (combining almost bullethell-esque dodging with Shin Megami Tensei style demon negotiations) and it's music is superb. The game certainly has it's charm and is a game I would most certainly recommend to people to give a try.


5. Her Story ; Another game that I didn't know existed until just a few hours before a purchase. Her Story is an interesting experiment and it's the type of experience that lives and dies by how the player ends up at the big plot points in it's narrative. The mechanic you use, searching a video database using keywords, to unravel the plot of Her Story makes it so that players can arrive at their conclusions and completely separate times. It's a game that truly let's you play detective and allows your own curiosity to guide you along as you 'play' the game.


6. Cities: Skylines ; I'm a huge fan of the SimCity franchise and was really let down by that series's latest entry. I've been dying for a really good city builder game for a real long while and Skylines seemed to have just popped up and gave me all the joy that came with building and managing my own city. I've spent countless hours playing this game and have seen whole nights just disappear in a flash. The game has really good mod support as well and will probably be one of the games on this list that I'll still be playing a lot of in 2016.


7. Rocket League ; Super fun game and one I'm glad that was given away with PS+ otherwise I may have overlooked it entirely. It's soccer with cars but saying that is underselling it. The game is super addicting and the developers have consistently put out free updates and support for the game to keep it fresh and interesting long after it's release.


8. Until Dawn ; This game was off my radar for the longest time. It was in development for so long (as a Move game of all things)that I wasn't expecting much out of it. Boy was I wrong. It's a Quantic Dream game if Quantic Dream made a teenage horror flick. You have all the makings of a cliche horror flick but get to choose how certain scenes play out, who lives and who dies, how the teenagers treat eachother. It's a wild ride and one that I've gone through multiple times.


9. Galak-Z: The Dimensional ; Been waiting on this game for awhile and boy was it worth it! I'm not the biggest fans of rougelike type of games but Galak-Z was super fun getting through. These games live off it's gameplay and it doesn't fail to deliver on that front. But besides that, the story telling in the game give a nice reprieve from the action. The game is also just oozing with style.


10. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; Hotline Miami 2 isn't exactly the sequel I was expecting. It still has all that style and amazing music the first one had but the game made it's arena bigger and more sprawling than the stages found in the original game. This meant you had to approach the game differently than what you've been conditioned for in Hotline Miami. This design change sometimes worked, other times didn't. But regardless the game is still super fun and enjoyed my time getting through it and then moreso when going for some high scores.

Honorable Mentions

x. Armello ;
x. OlliOlli 2 ;
x. Grow Home ;
x. SOMA ;
x. The Order 1886 ;

And just because here is a list of games that I will definitely be playing in 2016 but unfortunately didn't get the chance to in 2015: Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Fallout 4, The Talos Principal, Yakuza 5.

Personal Games of the Year 2015:
1. Code: Realize: Guardian of Rebirth ; Fantastic story and cast bring to life what is otherwise just a standard visual novel. Despite not having any real gameplay elements, the story and characters are strong enough that I enjoyed almost every minute of the adventure. Great female lead character as well because she develops over time from being a relatively timid and skill-less girl to someone who is formidable and not in need of saving constantly. Every character is fun to get to know. This game now ranks high among my favorite Vita games (i.e. Persona 4 Golden and Soul Sacrifice Delta) because of its story and characters. If you can keep an open mind about visual novels and otome (visual novels from a girl's perspective) then this is an outstanding game.

2. Until Dawn ; A game with a fantastic amount of technical prowess as well as a surprisingly fun story to play through. It's amazing talking to friends and reading about how different my first experience with the game was. It's the most fun I've ever had with the "adventure" or "point and click" genre.

3. Yakuza 5 ; I haven't finished the game yet, but the game has enough content to keep you distracted from the main story. When you're finished doing sidequests (i.e. taxi driving, hunting, etc.) then there is a gripping crime drama like in all Yakuza games to appreciate and love.

4. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; If you like Tomb Raider 2013, then there's a good chance you'll love Rise of the Tomb Raider. It's the same game but bigger. I personally felt the final battles were a bit much but it could be because I didn't do any sidequests to improve Lara. Despite the last "fodder" battle being an obstacle for me, I really enjoyed playing through the game. Polished and fun to play.

5. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ; I've been trying to get into the Monster Hunter series for years, but I never liked the prior entries due to how clunky and time consuming the game is. However, Monster Hunter 4 makes everything just accessible enough for me to enjoy the process of hunting and improving weapons/armor. The best part is playing with friends online. One of the 3DS's best games. The only thing it lacks is a gripping story.

6. Bloodborne ; While I don't enjoy the Souls series as much as other gamers here, there's something to be said when I keep getting pulled back into the game world to fight just one more boss or try to find the next secret. A gamer's game for sure, which includes all the frustrations you'd expect, but unlike the Souls games, Bloodborne has a faster paced action feel to its battles.

7. Batman: Arkham Knight ; I loved the Batmobile sections more than most gamers here, but I still felt this game wasn't as good as previous entries. However, I am probably in the minority who thought that Batman: Arkham Origin is the best Batman game ever made as it made the player feel like Batman the most as well as shows off Bruce/Batman the best in any prior games. However, despite my criticism and disappointment, the game was still fun to play as always. I'm hoping for a Batman Beyond game...

8. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel ; A relative late comer to my list, this game does a lot of things right. It makes the Legend of Heroes' Trails game more accessible to the player since it's polished and faster paced than Trails of the Sky. While wholly generic, the cast of characters is strong enough to keep my attention since their dialogue is quite fun to get through and not a chore to read through.
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9. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; This game is ambitious and I can't think of another game like it. I enjoyed it even more than the original Xenoblade Chronicles simply because of the premise of having your own mech suit. While artistically, the open world stands out, I didn't like exploring it as much as other players did. The battle system is also faster than its predecessor, however, I still didn't like the omission of standard commands such as heal that other JRPGs made standard. Despite all my criticisms, I logged a fair amount of time with the game and I enjoyed it. .

10. The Order: 1886 ; The early parts of the game were slow and sluggish...but I saw so much potential with the game as it continued. I couldn't help but feel that the game ended too soon but I also wanted more. If ever there was a game from this year I wished there was a sequel for, it's The Order 1886. Why did this game beat out the other games on my Honorable Mentions list? It's because it gripped me enough halfway through the game for me to beat it. I rarely beat games nowadays due to work, however, this one was just good enough.

Honorable Mentions (aka, Games I wished I had more time to play)
x. Dragon Quest Heroes ; Fun Dynaster Warriors and tower defense inspired game.

x. Grow Home ; I loved exploring in this game. Reminds me a bit of the N64 days.

x. Tales of Zestiria ; Fun and lighthearted cast of characters made this the longest I've spent with a Tales game since Xillia 1.

x. Rocket League ; Didn't get a chance to play this too much, but it was fun and I see why everyone loves it.

x. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; This probably would've made my Top 5 had I spent more time with it. I saw much potential from the first hour, however, work and life obligations prevented me from playing it much this year.

Great Remasters & Re-Releases (aka, Games that would've won my personal picks in their own year)
x. Resident Evil HD Remaster ; My favorite remake in video game history so far. An amazing survival horror experience all around.

x. State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition ; Despite the unpolished aspects of the game, it's certainly a very fun game. At the end of the day, this game may be one of the most "fun" on my entire list. Highly recommended for the zombie/post-apocalyptic world fan..

x. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D ; One of my favorite Zelda games remastered. Highly recommended.

x. Toukiden: Kiwami ; I loved the original Toukiden from 2014 and I see why Japan loves this game. It's basically an easier and faster paced version of Monster Hunter with a better story and cast of characters. Shout out to the graphics on the Vita as well.

x. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ; Seriously, all of the Uncharted games were among the best games from the last generation. I loved each and every one of them. I have a soft spot for Uncharted 1 the most though.

Not even gonna lie, don't thinkk I have even played through 10 2015 games. Yikes.
Seriously, being the frugal type, and deciding that unless I am super invested, I will focus on my backlog, means I hardly have bought games this year.

Anyway...




1. Life is Strange ; Ohhhhhhhh boy. You know when you have been involved in a world so heavily, that when it ends you just feel a small sense of loss? Yeah, this game does that. It isn't a game you 'like' or 'enjoy the gameplay' of. It's a game you love.

Considering it doesn't 'do' that much, it accomplishes greatness. I think the word is depth - everthing was lovingly crafted and purposeful. Really bridged that space between Games and Media. The package, as a whole, connected you with the world and the people that inhabit in. Being episodic also helped me to feel a sense of completion and accomplishment within each sitting.

I already feel nostalgia for Arcadia Bay.




2. Splatoon ; Engaging and fun TPS. Probably the game I have put most time into this year. Stylish as hell and extremely engaging gameplay.The slowly released content intices me to come back to it. And yeah, squids are cool.



3. Yoshi's Woolly World ; Sometimes games do not need to be groundbreaking, they just need to do things right. This is a game that is knows what it wants to be and does it well Fun, simple, co-op platforming.

1. The Legends of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC ; I really loved how the first Trails in the Sky turned out, but I wouldn’t make any excuses for how slow it starts off. It is a very slow burn that eventually catches fire and doesn't stop. Trails in the Sky SC starts off right where the first left off and just hits all the right notes from there on. This one features a perfect pace of story, dungeon exploration, optional content, and introductions of new and returning party members. Anyone who has been longing for a Japanese RPG to match the greats of old and maintain that classic feel, Trails in the Sky SC is that game. It's also been one of the few RPGs of late where I just wanted to keep doing all the content, regardless of how much time I'd already spent with it. That's truly high praise from me.

2. Tales from the Borderlands ; Having only played Borderlands 2 and not being a huge fan of the narrative, I didn't expect much from Tales from the Borderlands and almost ignored it. That would have been a big mistake, because this quickly became one of my favorite narrative adventures to date. Taking the formula that worked so well for Telltale's The Walking Dead and spinning it into a comedy made for an amazing experience that had me smiling and laughing out loud more than any other game in recent memory. The cast was amazing and the dual protagonist style worked perfectly. In terms of storytelling, places where Telltale would normally go for an emotional scene, the writers would go for a laugh instead. Everything about this game was just fantastic in ways I didn't expect, especially Loader Bot. It even made me appreciate the cast from the prior games in a way I didn't expect. Also, Loader Bot is awesome, because I can't say that enough. Oh, and don't mess with accountants. *bang bang*

3. Life is Strange ; This has truly been the year for great narrative adventures, and Life is Strange really nailed the butterfly effect story quite well. Initially the rewind function seemed like it was going to be cheating, it quickly becomes apparent that it's designed into the game in such a way to help add to the story. While your choices don't always have the same impact as something like Until Dawn, there are still plenty of gut punches that hit when you don't expect them. My only disappointment was the ending choices where one worked and the other fell flat, but the one that did work really nailed the theme of the game in just the right way.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D ; Playing Xenoblade X (see #10) has made me appreciate the original even more, as the two games couldn't be more different despite sharing similar DNA. Replaying this on the New 3DS has been wonderful, as this version is much easier to navigate thanks to UI changes, despite being on smaller hardware. I've been savoring my experience this time around and appreciate it all the more now, especially the characters, story, and pacing. If you have a New 3DS and don't have this game, fix that immediately.

5. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; This is easily the simplest of the games I played this year in terms of it just being mostly action, but much like my experience with the first one I couldn't stop playing. The quick restart option made this super challenging puzzle, action game tolerable where other tough games like this would have lost me early on. While not as tightly designed as the first game, Hotline Miami 2 was a perfect fit for Vita and on the go play. The story was insane, but that just made it more fun for me.

6. Until Dawn ; Until Dawn helped kickstart my second half of the year, as I'd been somewhat disappointed by many of the other offerings. I was in the mood for a narrative adventure and this was just what I needed. The slasher film setting setup some great jump scares, wonderfully cheesy dialogue, and some horrific deaths. My favorite part of this game was how your choices ended up being meaningful. One dumb choice would mean the death of a character, but it was all your own doing. I killed almost everyone during my playthrough. The characters might not have been likeable, but that was kinda the point. Would love to see another game from this developer, but in a different setting.

7. Bloodborne ; I'm a sucker for From Software's Souls games, so Bloodborne was an easy pickup. I thought the level design was fantastic, even if some of the bosses were a tad on the cheap side. After struggling with the Cleric Beast for longer than I should have, I ran into very few obstacles after that other than some of the optional fights. I loved the structural layout of the world, so even if it wasn't my favorite From Soft experience, it still stood up as one of my favorites this year.

8. Game of Thrones ; While it would be a tough recommendation for non-fans of the show/books, I highly recommend this one for those who are. Telltale's stylistic formula works so well with this series in the same gritty way that The Walking Dead does. People die...brutally, and often it's your fault that they did. I would have almost preferred not to have as many characters from the show on this, because it was good enough with the original characters Telltale created. Great experience.

9. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel ; The only reason this one isn't higher is because I've not finished it yet. I love the style, characters, and having played this right on the heels of Trails in the Sky SC, it's great to see all of the gameplay improvements that have happened over the past decade. So glad to have more of these still happening.

10. Persona 4: Dancing All Night ; Rhythm games live or die by their music, and Persona 4 Dancing All Night really nails it. Revisiting the Persona 4 cast is always a delight, even if the overall story of DAN was a tad predictable. I found myself returning to the free play mode to listen to the fantastic remixes over and over more than anything, so that's what worked for me. I enjoy rhythm games, but am rarely good at them. Persona 4 Dancing All Night made me want to keep going back to get better, because the music was just that good.

Honorable Mentions
x. Minecraft Story Mode ; Really like what Telltale did this year, but this one had the least impact on me.
x. Broken Age ; I wish I could just vote for the first half of this one, because Act 1 was great where as Act 2 felt rushed and wasn't as fun.

1. Bloodborne ; As punishing as this game was, I kept coming back to it. Not because I wanted to prove myself something, and not because I wanted to brag about it. I kept coming back because I wanted more of it. This game makes exploration feel challenging, meaningful, and rewarding. This game makes boss fights feel intimidating yet reasonably surmountable. Bloodborne is a difficult game to master, but once you do, it's a feeling that very few games can achieve.
On top of all that, this game has superb art direction, a great soundtrack, and impressive monster design. If you're going to be killing huge beasts, this game makes sure you look like a badass doing so. The animations when switching weapon modes are among the coolest animations to have graced gaming.


2. Undertale ; While Undertale is by no means a technical marvel or a game with a cinematic approach, it certainly is a game with a huge heart. The hype surrounding this game made me curious about it, and I honestly thought people were exaggerating. I was wrong. I can now see why this game is so highly praised.
This is a unique game with excellent writing. Regardless of what you may think of the story, it's hard to deny its characters are incredibly well presented. I really grew attached to them. It does a great job on making sure no moment in the game is generic, everything either has personality or a purpose.
Undertale is a game that evoked the most feelings out of me this last year, and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to experience this beautiful creation.
Bonus points for making fights and dialogues really entertaining, and even more bonus points for its epic masterpiece of a soundtrack.


3. Super Mario Maker ; Is this cheating? I mean, a big part of this game relies on what people across the globe have done with it. I don't know, but this game / tool certainly makes it possible for users to unleash the game designer within them. And most importantly, it makes sure it is fun and intuitive to do so. I've been amazed by a lot of levels that people have put out there. Truly masterful work. Sadly, there's also a lot of chaotic levels with not even a glimpse of conscious level design in them.
Whether you like creating or playing, this game is the best thing to have ever happened to the Wii U. I never thought I would spend so much time with this game, and believe it or not, Nintendo keeps adding (free) stuff to it.
TL;DR: This game is just pure fun.


4. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward; Final Fantasy XIV got a ton more epic after this expansion. With its massive amount of new content, and an excellent new story chapter in FFXIV, Heavensward was a joy to play.
Continuing ARR's beautiful art and sound design with now a darker tone, Heavensward takes us to new lands, introduces flying, new jobs, new Primals, new songs, new enemies, new everything.
But what I liked the most, was that feeling of journey and discovery that the main quest provided, all while being accompanied by a very likeable cast of NPC allies. It felt like a classic jRPG journey and story, and that is something that I really appreciate.
Minus points for the very bad quality of NPC quests (those moogles&#8230 and the

5. Fallout 4 ; It is no secret that Bethesda played it a bit too safe with Fallout 4. Nevertheless, Fallout 4 is a solid RPG. Exploring extensive worlds never gets old for me. If anything, I wish I had more time to do so. This time, while player choice was more restrictive, I felt like the main quest was pretty enjoyable.
Still, the main appeal in Bethesda's games is just exploring the world, and clearing dungeons and side-quests as you do so. And Fallout 4 still delivers in that aspect. New to this entry are the settlements, which are a welcome addition to the franchise. I believe they were a bit underutilized (not once was Sanctuary attacked for me). A missed tower defense influenced gameplay opportunity.
Fallout 4 doesn't try to do great new things, and as I've heard it is not a great Fallout, but it certainly is a great Bethesda RPG.


6. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; Sequel to an even greater game, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is an excellent fast-paced arcade style game. The game stays true to the formula of its predecessor: violently kill thugs while adrenaline-inducing music plays in the background. That combination makes the gameplay experience very satisfying.
This entry is crazier and harder, since this time it's harder to hide due to a higher number of windows when compared to hard walls. While at a simple glance it may look too similar to Hotline Miami, once you play it you can actually notice it is different enough to feel like a different experience.
Great soundtrack and great gameplay deliver once again. A challenging and very enjoyable game to play.

x. Her Story ; This is a very interesting game. It is definitely worth your time (it's not long anyways). Very clever and well put together.

I did play more than 6 games released in 2015, however, I do not feel they deserve a GOTY nomination. And I'm not saying they are bad games, a lot of them were very enjoyable, but just did not impact me as the ones I listed above.

Sadly, I did not have time to play The Witcher 3, but one day I will.