Because why not, right? I had my 10 games all lined up, submitted to the GOTY list on the site, then went "You know what? I can fit a few more on here." Because who's going to stop me? Plus there's this whole thing with the year being 2015 and I'm including 15 games. Which honestly I didn't think about when adding the 5 games and only thought about when I was writing the title. Anyway. Without further ado.
Showing 1-10 of 15 items
Number 15 I wrote a review for this earlier this year, and a lot of my opinions still stand. It's unequivocally the best valued collection of classic video games, possibly of all time, and with a few standout hits, it's hard not to recommend. Assorted 360 emulation issues and completely esoteric C64 games aside.
Number 14 There's something incredibly calming about riding a radically quick growing flower bud, Slim Pickens-in-Dr. Strangelove-style right into a floating island to enable the main flower to grow even taller. I don't really know either, but I had fun regardless.
Number 13 Full disclosure: I'm not very far in Just Cause 3. It also doesn't run particularly well on my computer, even with everything turned down low, and that's kind of a bummer. Regardless of my distance in the story or computer related bottlenecks: Just Cause 3's blend of destruction and mayhem is something that's just rarely seen these days, and I'm glad it's still kicking. People in the face. After they've been caught with a grappling hook.
Number 12 Cyberpunk and Hong Kong go together like chocolate and peanut butter. The Shadowrun universe's particular blend of mysticism and technology make an even better combination. A rough, buggy start might've marred my first impressions of it, but with an appreciated revamp to stats and cyberware, an excellent world with excellent characters in interesting situations, it's well worth a shot now.
Number 11 Never has a digital board game exuded as much character or been as simply fun to play with a group of friends as Armello. It's a heady game of backstabs and betrayals, of plots and plans, of "Leave me alone I'm a mostly invisible rat with two health and I just need to get past you please." But really: play this one with friends. Not quite as much fun by yourself.
Number 10 Breaking into the top 10 proper lies Contradiction, easily the most charming and funniest game released this year. With interesting characters, out/standing/ acting, and a plot that seemingly goes all over the place, yet actually manages to constantly follow its own logic, Contradiction is a veritable gem. I hope they make a sequel.
Number 9 Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate's innovations on the formula show why when it comes to fighting big monsters, Monster Hunter is still the king. The verticality in the hunting areas and the new Felyne systems add a lot of depth to the overall game, but they're accessible enough that they're easy to pick up for new players. The new monster designs are among the best they've ever been, with some personal appreciation to the new, banner, Magalu family. That fight with the Shagaru Magala in the story? Magical.
Number 8 Look. Dancing All Night is the cotton candy of video games released this year. I'll admit that. It's fluffy, it's probably entirely unnecessary, and it's literally just sugar. On the other hand: cotton candy is really, really good. (Especially this new discovery for me of maple cotton candy, but that's beside the point.) The remixes are fantastic (with a particular shout-out to Norihiko Hibino's Heaven remix being the best song in a video game this year), the rhythm gameplay is fun enough (although All Night mode can die in a burning hellscape), and the story fits for what the game is, a lightweight, now the adventure continues kind of anthology entry. Plus it's proven that my favorite character is the most powerful human being in this universe, having survived being specifically singled out for murder attempts from two different members of the Shinto pantheon. Just saying.
Number 7 I do a lot of stuff with the Unreal Engine. One of my favorite things about it is the fact that anywhere in the level you're creating, you can right click the ground, click "Play from here", and then go. It's just about the most useful thing for anyone working on a game, being able to test new segments and ideas at the drop of a hat. The fact that, not only is all the hard work of programming things like physics and enemy behavior, creating all the art assets, and menus (Seriously: making menus suck. Thank a UI designer the next time you see one) are all done automatically, and you can instead focus on creating levels in the universe of one of the best series of all time? It's sort of mind-blowing.
Number 6 Oh, Life is Strange. If only you could've stuck the landing, you would've placed higher. It's like taking a plane flight that went perfectly, right up until you're about 20 feet above the ground at your destination and then the plane just suddenly drops out of the sky and skitters across the runway. Barring that tail end landing mishap, Life is Strange is what choice-based episodic gaming should be. It's one of two games I can think of that had choices that directly led into later situations, making it feel like there was impact to what you did. That all culminated in one of the better "Alright, we've let you have your fun, now we need to pull you into the ending" moments in video games, with the section of episode 5 that started about 45 minutes in and ended about 10 minutes from the end. Up until the point they went "Yeah that Deus Ex: Human Revolution ending was alright, just do that." I couldn't think of a better episodic game.