1. South Park: The Stick of Truth

My vote for the funniest video game ever made. Laughter is my favorite involuntary response so South Park providing me with 19 hours of laughter makes it my game of the year. There are many many great games in the world. Many great shooters, rpgs, sidescrollers, fighters, racers, etc. There aren't a lot of great comedies.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is funny in nearly every way it is built. The items are funny, the moves are funny, the story is funny, the characters are funny, the idle stances are funny, the world is funny, the references are funny, the artwork is funny, the subject matter is funny, and so on! It is jam packed with jokes in a staggering way.

2. Bayonetta 2

If I based my decision for the best game this year strictly on how fun the game was, then Bayonetta 2 would have won. Bayonetta 2 is so much fun. It's unbelievable how fun it is. You couldn't not have fun if you tried. I guarantee it. It's impossible.

I hadn't played the original so I decided to play them in order and my playthrough of 2 benefited greatly from that. The first is a much harder game. It's great but I was getting consistent stone trophies and really struggled to make it to the end. That initial "hardship" made Bayonetta 2 sing all the more because I felt I had worked to beat the first and now I was on my victory lap.

The combat system is nearly identical (down to the move-list) but the counter window was bigger, the visual splendor of it was multiplied by a billion, and everything happened faster. I was pulling off better moves more consistently and getting to watch it happen with more detail and style than before. It's a nearly flawless game.

3. Fract OSC

Fract OSC is a musical instrument. That is a really interesting concept. You can go into the game and make completely original music with an impressive amount of tools and options. If this were billed as an actual music program it would be $900 or some dumb shit. It's basically like buying Ableton Live in a 95% off sale and getting a great free puzzle game with it. A puzzle game that basically works as a tutorial in how to create your own music and work with different volumes and filters. It's brilliant. The synthesizer samples are incredible and the soundtrack is the best of the year.

Play with headphones.

4. Wolfenstein

Anyone else like cartoony, gory, hyper violence in video games? I really like cartoony, gory, hyper violence in video games. I especially like it when it plays fast and there's a lot of it.

Utilizing the power of the Blubstation 4's zinger tech Wolfenstein sticks out with assurance as a leading example of mixing modern and old school sensibilities into a game that feels new. It has a great story with emotional writing and great characters but also has some of the fastest and most fun gunplay of the year. They didn't cut any corners or shoehorn anything in. It's a well polished game that delivered a good long story and great replayability.

5. Mario Kart 8

It has been a while since I've cared about Mario Kart. I haven't played the handheld versions in years and didn't play more than 20 minutes of the Wii version. The last one I really enjoyed was Double Dash and I have noticed that my enjoyment of Mario Kart lies in how invested I can get into it with a friend. I can't just really get back into Mario Kart, I need someone else to dive in with me. Mario Kart 8 was an obsession for me this year. It was the game that I played more than any other game due to how fun racing games are splitscreen and the fact that you can do splitscreen online.

You're unlocking stuff left and right, the tracks are colorful, the graphics are gorgeous, the competition is stiff, and the customization of karts is deep. Playing in 16 person matches online gets the blood going and it's almost hard to stop once you start playing. I kept wanting just one more race. The only things I can see why someone wouldn't think this is the best Mario Kart to date are the roster being filled with babies that are too slow and stupid to even play with and battle mode being a wash. The quality and quantity of tracks make up for it in my opinion and the roster is improving with DLC. Probably my favorite Mario Kart and one of the best of the year.