2015 Game of the Year: Day 5

by bravobuster1200

Welcome to day 5 of my personal game of the year lists. Today is the big day where I list my Top 10 games in order, as well as look ahead to next year. As always be wary of spoilers. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Before I get started, I would like to throw a quick acknowledgement to Gamefly. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to play most of these games. List of games I played (alphabetical): Ass...

Welcome to day 5 of my personal game of the year lists. Today is the big day where I list my Top 10 games in order, as well as look ahead to next year. As always be wary of spoilers.

Before I get started, I would like to throw a quick acknowledgement to Gamefly. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to play most of these games.

List of games I played (alphabetical):

Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Batman Arkham Knight
Battlefield Hardline
The Beginner’s Guide
Bloodborne
Broken Age
Call of Duty Black Ops 3
Cibele
Dying Light
Fallout 4
Fallout Shelter
Grow Home
Her story
Just Cause 3
Life is Strange
MLB '15: The Show
Mortal Kombat X
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Need For Speed
The Order: 1886
Pac-Man 256
Rainbow Six: Siege
Rocket League
Shooty Skies
Splatoon
Star Wars: Battlefront
Super Mario Maker
Tales from the Borderlands
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Undertale
Until Dawn
The Witcher 3
Yoshi's Wooly World

Although the game is disappointing, it gets to the heart of some real issues.

Dishonorable Mention:

Broken Age: I can be quoted as saying of part 1, “This game wins overall game of the year if part 2 had come out. Part 1 is just that good. Everything from the gorgeous art style, to the voice acting, to the brilliant writing make this half of the game the best thing I played all year. The ending is one of the few that left me craving the second part seconds after I finished the first. I will tell you right now, you are looking at a heavy favorite for 2015 game of the year”. When part 2 came out a year and a half after part 1, I was already a tad put-off. When I played through part 2, I found the most profoundly disappointing game of the year. The puzzles in part 2 become completely unfair and tedious. Not only do the puzzles become a chore, the story falls completely off from the incredible ending of part 1. There are some reveals that I can’t even spoil because I didn’t care at the time and I care less now. The characters are really the only thing that carry over from the incredible first chapter. What should have been a front-runner this year, doesn’t even make the honorable mentions list.

Honorable mentions:

Undertale- This game does some incredible things. Taking on the entire notion of violence in games is something I have been waiting to see a game do for a long time. That is where this game shines. It also has one of the best soundtracks of the year, coming from someone who doesn’t care for chip-tune music. Unfortunately, the rest of the game doesn’t match these elements. Most of the characters fell flat, and the humor was mostly miss. The actual act of playing Undertale is incredibly unique, but not necessarily good. This game is a slog. It took me two weeks to reach 5 hours of game time because it did nothing for me. I appreciate the things this game does, but I just wish there was a better game around those elements.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate- This game is a fantastic return to form for the series. The past few games in the franchise have ranged from okay to offensively bad, but Syndicate is a vastly superior game to the past three. The two characters, twins Jacob and Evie Frye, are likable. The story isn’t the best thing you’ll see, but the historical and modern aspects are both solid. The world of industrial revolution London is visually impressive and gets rid of all the garbage that plagued the map of Unity. It also took the more open assassinations, the one good aspect of Unity, and expanded upon them in some great ways. This is easily the best Assassin’s Creed since Revelations (Yes, I liked Revelations).

Her story- I’ll say it. Her Story is a better idea than it is a game. The idea of searching through a database of videos to piece together the incredible story is fantastic on paper. But actually playing this game leaves much to be desired. It is a good thing that the story is as good as it is and Viva Seifert’s phenomenal performance make the weak aspects of this game more than worth it.

THE TOP TEN:

10.

Super Mario Maker is exactly what it sounds like. You get to make Mario levels. The actual making of the levels is super easy, fun, and incredibly intuitive. The amount of things that can be pulled of in this game is mind numbing and the way Nintendo has continued to support it with not only fixes, but by adding new items keeps the game continually fresh. The actual act of playing those levels is great because of the top-notch platforming that the series was founded on. However there is one minor flaw and one major flaw in this game. Most of the levels you’ll find in this game are complete garbage filled with the most trashtastic trash to ever grace a videogame. This is easy to overlook because it’s not the game’s fault that nobody understands good game design and instead chooses to make awful nonsense. The major flaw, however, renders the game pointless. If you don’t have a group of people to share levels with, this game is a waste of time. Most of the hype for this game comes from people who have a platform to promote their levels, and that community interaction is fantastic. There are people who love this game because they make levels specifically for their group of friends and that’s fine, but if you are just making levels and putting them online you’ll be lucky if you get 10 people to play it. This isn’t so much a complaint as it is a warning to anyone interested in picking this game up. If you don’t have a dedicated group to swap levels, don’t play this game. If you do have a community, no matter how small, this game will be one of the most enjoyable and rich games of the year. I cannot overstate how damn easy and intuitive it is to make levels.

Would be higher if: You could create multi-stage worlds as opposed to just single levels.

The Witcher 3 is a game the only game on this list that I don’t feel strongly about. I like most of the characters (except the plank of wood known as Geralt), I like the massive open world that feels alive, I like the parts where the game isn’t afraid to get weird with quests the involve taking part in a stage play, and I like a lot of the writing. But my 100+ hours with this game were spent wondering when it was going to turn the corner and click with me the way it had with many others. It never did. The gameplay feels loose and ineffective, but then again I just came off Bloodborne’s incredible combat. I hated the mission structure that became pre-improved Destiny levels of repetitive. I took a month and a half off to play Metal Gear. I could have dropped the game and cut my losses, but I saw it through. Looking back, this game has some incredible moments. The entire Bloody Baron quest, the entire Skellige arc where you get to influence who becomes the ruler of the archipelago, and most importantly the Gwent were some of the best moments of the year. The open world trounces most of the open worlds in other games this year. There are many criticisms I have of this game but looking back it is better than most of the other games I played this year. I may need to give this game a second chance in a year or two, but for now it rests firmly in the #9 spot.

Would be higher if: Gwent was the whole game or you got to play as Ciri the whole time. Not only does she play far better than Geralt, she is a more interesting character. Her abilities alone pretty much nullified all of my complaints about the combat and I hope they add some DLC that explores this character further from a gameplay standpoint.

Most multiplayer shooters follow the usual formula of point gun at enemy, pull trigger, enemy dies/you die/who cares, repeat. Splatoon takes that and turns it into spraying the level itself with paint, creating one of the most refreshing titles to hit the genre in a while. As stated the main goal is to cover as much of the level as you and your team can within the time limit, there are a variety of ways to do so. You can use a standard paint gun, but you can quickly unlock a paint roller that allows you to paint massive amounts of the area as you move around, a sniper rifle that can take over territory from range, or pick up a paintbrush that allows you to take over an area as fast as you can hit the fire button. This innovative take on the typical multiplayer shooter was equally refreshing as it was familiar. It’s the same basic premise as the Call of Duty’s of the world, just with a different goal and that makes it incredibly easy to pick up and just go. By breaking the mold of the usual multiplayer shooter, Nintendo created on of the most fun, innovative, and just plain styyyyyylish games of the year.

Would be higher if: The single player stuff was worth playing.

As I’ve brought up multiple times throughout these past few days, The Beginner’s Guide is one of the most thought provoking games I’ve ever played. What starts as an exploration of what you can learn about a person from their work spirals into a possible admission of stealing someone else's work to feed an addiction to external validation. Whether or not the events of The Beginner’s Guide are true, this game made me feel conflicted because no matter how much I want to believe it is fictional, there is the ever so slight chance that it is real. And that is disturbing prospect. I could detail more of what makes this game fascinating, but this article by Patrick Klepek demonstrates that the conversation surrounding the game is just as interesting as the game itself.

Would be higher if: ?. There’s not much I would change about this game as it is.

Until Dawn game is similar to Heavy Rain, but is far more engaging than that game ever was. Until Dawn is essentially a playable horror movie, and as the game progresses, the characters can die at a few points in the game based on your choices. That is where Until Dawn shines. The way this game handles player choice is easily the best I’ve seen from games based around player choice. It also helps that it never said that your choices would change anything but who is alive at the end. There’s a lot to be said about expectations. On top of the player choice aspects, this game is a fantastic homage to many modern horror franchises. Starting as a snowy take on I Know What You Did Last Summer and eventually turning into Saw, this game takes on all the tropes of the genre and does some great things with them. Finding out that the whole psychotic killer aspects were a giant prank was one of the most genuinely surprising plot twists of the year and the wendigo nonsense that follows was truly unexpected. This game does a great job of playing with expectations in a lot of ways and was the perfect game to play until 4 a.m on Halloween morning.

Would be higher if: All of the action didn’t happen in the last 2 hours.

I will say that the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands may be outright one of the best things I played all year. It not only does its job of introducing all the characters and story elements, a ton of important events happen in this first episode. The rest of the game matches this incredible start and keeps the typical Borderlands humor running throughout even the most dramatic moments and this total lack of seriousness was a welcome change to a year filled with heavy narratives. Some of the best characters of the year, some of the best moments of the year, incredible performances, and some of the most hysterical uses of gameplay I’ve seen in a game this year, all come together to create one of the most rollicking adventures I’ve played in a long time. This is without a doubt Telltale's best game.

Would be higher if: The rest of the episodes were better than the incredible first episode as opposed to just matching it.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's first 20 hours would run away with game of the year. The incredible way it drip feeds new features is one of the best aspects of a game this whole year. The game plays like a dream in all aspects, and surpasses everything the series has done to this point. It's a shame that when the bad parts of this game rear their head, they are some of the worst parts of any game this year. The downright terrible story, the insulting justifications for the awful portrayals of women, the repetitive mission structure all scar what otherwise should be Game of the Year. Arguably the worst thing is how this game changed post-release. Konami decided to double down on the rather forgettable F.O.B aspects in the name of micro-transactions and proceeded to drive an otherwise incredible game into the ground. Granted they kind of fixed it, but with every update this game got worse. There is a lot to be said about post release support for games, but this game proves that it is a double edged sword. The bad pars of this game may be awful, but the good is amazing. The good makes up the bad in such a way, that this game comes in at #4 despite the fact it sounds like I hate it.

Would be higher if: A concerning amount of this game wasn’t terrible and insulting.

The best thing about Bloodborne is the way it subverts the typical souls formula. By focusing on one style of play, From Software was able to fully build around it and made one of the most fun and satisfying games in many years. Taking down one of the incredibly difficult and unique bosses is always a phenomenal experience that drew me into the game further than Dark Souls 2 or Demon's Souls ever did. This is by far the best game of this genre and hopefully Dark Souls 3 can take the best parts of Bloodborne and improve them.

Would be higher if: There was a reason to care about anything happening on screen

Rocket League is both my favorite game and the best game I played all year. I put more time into this game than The Witcher, Metal Gear, Fallout combined. The reason is simple. Rocket League is one of the most simple yet deep games I've ever played. At first it just seems like soccer with cars, but as you keep playing and improving, this game open up in an incredible way. Once you master the ground game, the 3rd dimension opens up and aerials become the biggest part of the game. Once aerials become second nature, playing off the walls becomes a big part of the game. The combination of these elements of gameplay make Rocket League an infinitely replayable game and the continued learning curve makes me want to come back to this game. This game combines finesse plays, power shots, incredible defensive efforts, aerial dunks, complete garbage glitches, and some thrilling drama that matches the intensity of a buzzer beater during March Madness. All of these come together in a game that I will continue playing for a long time to come. Here is a montage of some of my best plays to date.

Would be higher if: My #1 game hadn’t done something I once thought impossible.

2015 Game of the Year:

This is a controversial pick mostly because I would go as far as saying that Life is Strange isn’t actually the best game I played all year (that would be Rocket League. Rocket League is SO GODDAMN GOOD). This game does have a ton of problems, but damn when this game is good, it is incredible. In this game you'll find writing problems in bounds, but you'll also find some of the most heartfelt moments in the entire medium. This game will not appeal to everyone, but it does some truly incredible things. At its core Life is Strange is a deeply relatable story of friendship, and possible romance, between two estranged friends name Max Caulfield and Chloe Price. The story focuses on them reconnecting after five years, while also trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of Chloe new best friend Rachael Amber. As the narrative progresses, so does the relationship between the two. When these two characters are on screen together, the interactions feel so real and human in a way that I've never seen in a game before. On top of the two incredible main characters, there are many commendable things in this game. The way it takes on some sensitive and relevant issues is brave and the way that is handles all of them with grace and tact is a truly impressive feat. From the self-identity issues we all go through at one point in our lives, to teen pregnancy and abortion, all the way to dark topics such as teen suicide caused by bullying and even taking one's innocence, these topics and more are touched upon, while still remaining aware of people who have gone through these issues. Seriously name one other game where the numbers for depression and suicide hotlines scroll across the bottom of the main menu. From a gameplay standpoint, this game alleviates many of the problems people have with choice based games. By allowing the player to rewind time and choose another option, this gets rid of the issue where the character will say something that doesn't match what the dialogue wheel says. This mechanic also finds its way into a variety of gameplay puzzles that aren't great, but they are interesting uses of the ability. The way this ability is intertwined with every moment of this game is one of the most groundbreaking combinations of gameplay and narrative that I've seen in years.

At the end of the day, this is a biased pick (really all of these games are) because no other game I've have ever played has affected me in the ways that this one did. Life is Strange is a game with plenty of flaws, but the way it was able to make me relate so deeply with a set of characters is incredible. Every moment felt real in ways I've never seen before. This is a game that isn't afraid to linger on its quieter moments to great effect. If you break down Life is Strange into its individual parts, there is a lot holding it back. On the whole however, DONTNOD created one of the most powerful, unique, groundbreaking, and just plain fearless games I have ever played. I wholeheartedly believe that in a few years I will look back on this beautiful little game and count it among the most important games of this generation. With the way this game handles character writing, tackles important issues in unique yet respectful ways, and how it weaves narrative and gameplay together, I firmly feel that games of the near future will borrow heavily from this underrated gem. But for now, I will just look back on this incredible achievement in both design and storytelling as 2015's Game of the Year.

That does it for my 2015 Game of the Year lists. Thank you for reading. Before I dive back into Rocket League for the next few weeks, I will leave you with some of my most anticipated games for 2016.

Most Anticipated Games for next year:

Mass Effect Andromeda

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Unravel