ZombiePie's 2015 Anime and Video Game Award Show

A Foreword From Your Author

I rarely play and enjoy enough quality games in order to really create a full fledged top ten "Game of the Year" blog or list. While I love video games, and moderate a video game website, my video game library is woefully swamped with games that I have never played, and have not gotten around to. Sometimes my other "passion," anime, can get in the way of me effectively tackling my gaming backlog. I watched approximately fifteen to sixteen animes during the course of 2015. Of the shows that I watched...I think that I only watched three or four that I actually enjoyed. As I have mentioned to the community on a multiple of occasions I have the horrible habit of deliberately watching the worst anime of any given year.

So, instead of whipping up a "traditional" Game of the Year blog I usually hand out "Special Distinction Awards" for a variety of shows and games that have graced me throughout 2015. So with that, let's get on with my awards.

Most Disappointing Source of Entertainment in 2015 Award - Utawarerumono: The False Faces

I genuinely love the original Utawarerumono anime. It has one of the all time greatest anime bait and switch, or Cerebus Syndrome, moments. It starts out like your standard fantasy shoujo anime. There's a mysterious man with a mask and a harem of anime catgirls begin to swoon over him almost immediately. The mayorof the village that they are at is this kindly grandma, and its is populated by a number of plucky farmers. Everything seemed from a glance seemed atypical of your standard fantasy drama anime. There was a bathhouse episode, and entire episodes dedicated towards providing your standard harem based humor. Initially, Utawarerumono seemed like an inauspicious, and totally forgettable anime experience.

Then the story kicked into gear at about episode four.

Grandma gets killed. An evil army rolls into the village and begins massacring everyone. The masked man leads an insurrection against an evil king, and people start dying left and right when an ultimate evil reveals itself at the end. All of the cutesy characters from before become victims or witnesses of war crimes. The show becomes a blood bath literally overnight.

The show went from zero to blood everywhere at the drop of a hat, and it was AWESOME! The characters changed dramatically, and all of that romantic harem drama from before served its purpose in making you really caring for all of the cast members of the show. Now to be expected Utawarerumono was "controversial." People who REALLY wanted a romantic harem show complained to bloody Hell about how they wanted their show back.

Unfortunately, Utawarerumono: The False Faces is an appeasement to those fans that complained about the direction of the original series. It plays itself safe and provides more harem anime fair than the previous series. Everything about it felt like whoever was making it was phoning it in. The show has all of the cast members to make this story work, and even a hunky human male with a mask, but it just doesn't gel together the same way the original series did. Now as its title suggests there are a number of charlatans and spies to be had in Utawarerumono: The False Faces, but none of its surprise reveals ever felt especially "dramatic." Whenever the show decided to drop a "pipe bomb" on its audience I responded with a simple "Oh...okay," and I can only assume that that was the exact response that most people had when watching it as well. The original series practically defined itself out of providing its audience with a series of "OH CRAP" moments over and over again. The fact that Utawarerumono: The False Faces doesn't come anywhere close to accomplishing that throughout all of its episodes makes it my most disappointing moment of the year. I mean the last episode literally ends with one of the characters falling asleep with two catgirls in his arms, and that's just not okay with me.

Flat-out Worst Thing Claiming to be Entertainment in 2015 Award - Everything That Winged Cloud Published on Steam

There were a number of "viable" candidates for this award this year. At first I considered awarding Prison School the anime with this dubious distinction. While Prison School is indeed smut, it is still just one show, and one manga series. Prison School is essentially garbage, but it is easily avoided garbage that makes no qualms about what it is. Then there was Monster Musume...the "joke" of 2015. Admittedly, I felt the same way about Monster Musume as I did with Prison School. It is smut, but it is smut that is easily avoided and limited to a single show and manga series.

Winged Cloud made SEVEN VIDEO GAMES in 2015, AND THEY ARE ALL THE SAME EXACT THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN! Don't believe me? Fine, here's the list of games that they made in 2015:

• Sakura Angels January 16, 2015
• Sakura Fantasy Chapter 1 May 29, 2015
• Sakura Clicker July 29, 2015
• Sakura Beach August 14, 2015
• Sakura Swim Club September 11, 2015
• Sakura Beach 2 November 6, 2015
• Sakura Santa December 21, 2015

Regarding Sakura Clicker, Jeff said it best when he declared that "IT'S A FUCKING BAD THING!" But let's talk about how Winged Cloud make the same game over and over again.

Here's an image from Sakura Angels:

Now here's an image from Sakura Swim Club:

IT IS THE SAME GODDAMNED GAME! AND THE CHARACTERS ARE EVEN THE SAME EXACT MODELS JUST WITH DIFFERENT FACES PASTED ON THEM!

Churning out the same exact video game over and over again is one thing, but there's one more nefarious aspect to Winged Cloud that I find even more objectionable than their laziness. Winged Cloud funds the development of their games through Patreon.

Now there are two issues that I have with that. Firstly, Winged Cloud is netting about $10,000 a month via Patreon, and clearly they are not using that money to create new character models despite promising that on their Patreon page. Secondly, there's the issue with Winged Cloud not honoring the spirit of Patreon. All of their games, with the exclusion of Sakura Clicker, have to be purchased with actual money. Patrons also need to purchase their games with actual money. Winged Cloud isn't just drawing in money from their Patreon, but their also pocketing money from the sale of their games...and STILL AREN'T DESIGNING NEW CHARACTER MODELS OR GAME GENRES OR PROPERLY PROOF READING THEIR FUCKING GAMES!

It's just the worst thing ever, and let's stop at that.

Food Revelation of 2015 Award - I Suck at Making Tea

Thanks to my fellow moderators I have been informed that I have been committing "tea sacrilege" my entire life. Until this year I had no idea that there was a difference between a tea kettle and a teapot. I honestly thought they were the same exact thing until this year. I have also been informed that my I preferred technique for brewing tea is COMPLETE HEARSAY! What I normally do is take a cup, fill the cup with water, place a single tea bag in the cup, microwave the entire package for two and a half minutes, and then drink the tea. When I got chewed out for this practice I decided to try my hand at preparing loose leaf tea, and I sucked at it.

My first mistake was not realizing that with loose leaf tea the leaves expand when they are exposed to water. So when I tried to make my normal microwave fair...it looked like a literal tree was in my teacup. Then I found a teapot or a tea kettle (I still don't understand the difference), and used that to make tea. I think it worked? I don't know...I still feel like there are more disadvantages when dealing with loose leaf tea than just tea bags.

So how do I make my tea right now? I microwave a cup of water with a tea bag. The one new addition that I have included is occasionally placing two lemon and honey flavored cough drops into my tea concoction. Because cough drops are cheaper than just buying honey and lemons, I use the cough drops. I fail to see how making my tea have a slight menthol taste is a "crime against tea," as @mike and @mattyftm have tried to convince me.

Oh Hey Mobile Games are Okay Award of 2015 - Pac-Man 256

At this point can we stop referring to iOS and Adnroid games as if they are a swear word worthy of condemnation by default? The platform still has a ways to go in regards to curation, and certainly some mobile games are downright predatory when it comes to micro-transactions. That aside, the games that are gems are really good. This year, and last year in factm were especially strong years for mobile games.

I did not think much of Pac-Man 256 when I first played it. It initially appears to be yet another rendition of Pac-Man Championship Edition, but with a endless runner flair. There were fruit, and power-ups that require that you either wait, or spend money, in order to use them. It seemed like a standard ass mobile game for all intents and purposes. For a bit, I was honestly wondering what the fuss was for this game.

Then the abyss of corruption attacks you for the very first time...that's when I realized that this game had the "right" amount of moxie. Unlike a lot of mobile and iOS/Android games Pac-Man 256 is more than the sum of its parts. You'll swear and shout as you rush to stay alive, or eat as many ghosts as possible as the corruption inches towards collecting the soul of your poor Pac-Man. It also helps that the blocky art-style feels appropriate, and works in the context of this being a Pac-Man game.

Best Anime of 2015 Award - School-Live!

Now I know that a lot of people have been nominating a different anime show with "Live" with an exclamation mark in the title for their favorite anime of 2015...you should not talk to those people. School-Live! sneaks up behind you and stabs you behind the back repeatedly. Over and over again. That's about all I can say without spoiling the entire show for you. The reason why I say that is because School-Live! is a "bait and switch" anime.

Unlike most "bait and switch" anime, School-Live! hits you with its conceit at the end of its first episode, and remains committed to that conceit in a compelling and powerful way throughout the series. Now that conceit is that the world has experienced a zombie Apocalypse and these young and impressionable girls are suffering from delusions regarding their surroundings. While they play at the swimming pool at their school it is eventually revealed to the audience to be a smoldering rubble pit. The family members that all of the cast talk of fondly, are dead and have been for years. Slowly, but surely the characters come to terms with their surroundings and the veneer peels away from them, and that is what makes School-Live! my anime of 2015. These are young girls that are forced to come to terms with a devastating reality, and they react accordingly. Its a taut and draining experience, and you just now that something terrible is looming around the corner for the cast, and when it happens you actually feel for the characters.

School-Live! was a pleasant surprise to say the least. At the very least watch the first episode of the show and decide on your own if you want to see these characters through their draining and emotional journey. Trust me, if you decide to commit to this show you will not regret it for a moment. Now speaking of anime....

The Quit While You're Ahead Award of 2015 - One-Punch Man

Now let's get one thing straight, I really like One-Punch Man. It's my number two anime of 2015, and just barely lost out to School-Live! by a centimeter. That aside there's something very important that I would like to discuss about One-Punch Man on this blog.

You don't want a second season of One-Punch Man.

Trust me on this; you just don't. Now from an entirely pragmatic perspective Madhouse, the studio that created the anime, rarely do second seasons of their works. Now admittedly, One-Punch Man is based on a manga series, but with that said let me warn you that the manga series never reaches the same heights as the Lord Boros battle. That was the high water mark of entire the manga series, and it was all down hill after that. In fact the manga series has essentially been recycling the same story beats for a while now. In the most recent manga Sonic got punched in the genitals by Saitama...again. You got more backstory about the Hero Association...again. Then there's a new villain that's built up to be super powerful, but gets offed with relative ease...AGAIN. Worse yet is what the author of the manga series has attempted to do in order to solve these issues. In the most recent manga the non-Saitama heroes have begun playing a larger role in the story. So instead of having Saitama say his comical quips you have entire battles that last two to three chapters between a-typical villains with a-typical heroes and it's just...okay. It's not bad, but it's just not in the spirit of what made One-Punch Man special in the first place.

Then there's the issue of workable content for a second season. This first run of One-Punch Man essentially covers volumes one through seven of the manga series. Right now the manga has completed its tenth volume, so there's maybe three volumes to work with at this point. So that's another problem with having a second season. All I will say is...enjoy this original run as it should be, and be prepared to be disappointed for the second season if one happens.

Most Mediocre Video Game of 2015 Award - Massive Chalice

I feel as if we have begun "retiring" the word "mediocre" in favor of other euphemisms like "ho-hum," "average," "middle of the road," and worst of all "middling." I personally find all of these euphemisms to be incredibly distracting. "Mediocre," is a great word, and it perfectly describes my impressions of Massive Chalice. Now I finished Massive Chalice on the default difficulty setting once, and never felt the desire to go back to it. The game borrows a ton of mechanics from other more well established games such as XCOM, and its implementation of those mechanics is mediocre. The game does exactly what it promises to do, and that's about it.

Halfway into the game the battles all became a blur. There's a severe lack of enemy variety, but worse yet I never felt especially invested with any of the characters that I was controlling. This is compounded by the fact that the actual Massive Chalice spends a great deal of time announcing when your avatars have passed away or meet a tragic end. Then there were random events, which I feel are the BANE of this genre of strategy games. You can customize your fighting parties with new weapons, but I found most of those new weapons to be more work that they were worth. Then it feels like the game is building up to this massive confrontation, and it just happens. There's this big battle and...it's just there.

What I can say about Massive Chalice in summation is this: Massive Chalice is exactly the sum of its parts. Massive Chalice fails to elevate its myriad of mechanics above and beyond their potential. This isn't a game worthy of condemnation, but I never felt as if it warranted any commendations either. So I guess try it, but maybe don't...I don't know.

Best Exploitation of Nostalgia in 2015 Award - Rare Replay

A number of users have expressed a great deal of hesitation when it comes to including Rare Replay on their GOTY lists and blogs as it is essentially a re-packaging of previously released Rare games. To that I say POPPYCOCK! A great deal of care and attention has been put into Rare Replay and it shows. Did I find the ZX Spectrum games tough to go back to? Absolutely, but maybe that's just a generation of games that don't resonate with me, but may resonate with another person. There is at least one game in this package worth playing for every gamer that has a heart. If you were a gamer that grew up with the N64 as your first "real" console, as I did, then I can easily recommend Rare Replay. Also, maybe realize that that generation of video games had their time and place, and that time has since passed. Try going back to Clanker's Cavern in Banjo Kazooie...and tell me that you think that's a good level. I dare you.

Also it has Viva Pinata...and Nuts and Bolts. That's worth the price of entry alone. Are there more games that maybe should have been included in this package? You could potentially plead that case. Are some games like Jet Force Gemini clunky to play on an Xbox One controller? I sure think so! These nitpicks aside, I just honestly felt good when playing Rare Replay. It's a game that honestly brought joy to my cold, dead heart.

Now I have to be honest with you, I enjoyed the non-game bells and whistles in Rare Replay as much as the games in this package. The interviews and behind the scenes documentary features are really well done, and interesting to view. From learning about how Conker was originally supposed to be a family friendly platformer, to footage of various cancelled Rare projects that never panned out; Rare Replay is an important historical contribution to the video game industry. I would love if other video game developers put in the same amount of time and care into their past as Rare and Microsoft did with Rare Replay.

Game That I Purchased as a Result of Giant Bomb Content and Enjoyed the Most in 2015 Award - Contradiction

I enjoyed every minute of Giant Bomb East playing Contradiction. I was enthralled when the cast members of Contradiction began appearing on Giant Bomb and making call outs to the site in approval of their coverage of the game. I was INCREDIBLY concerned about buying this game and it NOT feeling like an original experience. Well I'm happy to report that it was, and this game really is everything that the East Coast Team have cracked it up to be. Each of the characters in the story have their own mannerisms and character quirks. The fact that the game is in live-action simply adds to the experience rather than detract from it. Plus, there are still plenty of dialogue options for you experience on your own.

Then there's the fact that Contradiction is an actually fun adventure game. The UI could be more intuitive, but it doesn't entirely handicap the game, or your ability to play it. When you finally locate a contradiction and confront a character about it...you feel awesome! There's a real sense of satisfaction when you watch the actors become apprehensive, or defensive about Jenks's line of questioning. You honestly feel like you have caused that to happen. Plus, it sometimes can lead to hilarious results, as those who have watched Giant BomB east's coverage of the game can attest to.

Then there's the fact that I wanted to support the men and women behind this game out of pure altruism. I want to see what the future holds for Detective Jenks. I WANT to know more about the nefarious hi-jinx that the cult is up to. The people behind this game knew exactly what they were making, and bless them for doing so. They made a game filled with heart and enthusiasm.

Best Board Game "Experience" of 2015 Award - Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

I treated Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes as if it were a board game. I referred to the player in control of the "Bomb Defusal Manual" as the "Dungeon Master." Then I played it with a number of friends and family members that almost never play video games...and they LOVED Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. From there we all discovered our "specialties" when it came to the game. I had a friend that had no issue with decoding symbols. My sister could solve "complicated wires" like it was her job. My mother could remain calm while reading the manual as if she's done this before, and me...I watched in the background as everyone scrambled to deal with their first "needy module." Humorously enough, the one thing that I could get all of my friends and family to agree on was that Morse Code is the hardest module in the game.

Just from playing the game with my sister and myself, my step-brother decided to buy a copy of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes so is that he could play it with his wife. The fact that they are still married after having played this game is a testament of how much they love each other. However, they NEVER play video games, and this game was somehow able to blow away their prejudice against the entire medium, and that's worth something.

*But let's all at least agree that Cosmic Encounter is, and always has been, the greatest board game ever created.

Worst Moment of 2015 Award - Being Gifted NINE Final Fantasy Games

I mean...FUCK! What am I going to do with all of these games?

I mean...at least I wasn't gifted one of the MMOs...OH FUCK ME!

Speaking of Final Fantasy games...................

Best Video Game Experience of 2015 Award - Final Fantasy VIII

If I had selected any other game, I would have been lying to you and myself. Final Fantasy VIII practically DEFINED half of 2015 for me. For SIX MONTHS I toiled away at Final Fantasy VIII. For every day that I played it...I felt that a part of my sanity was melting away. It motivated me to write nine blogs, each of which contained over 10,000 words spanning over fifteen pages each. I recorded a podcast for the first time in five years, where I discussed my thoughts on the game. However, most important of all is how Final Fantasy VIII stuck with me throughout the year. On multiple occasions I honestly considered walking away from the game, but something about it drew me in and motivated me to see it through until the very end. From the horrible UI to a handful of BS bosses and even technical issues on my end...I honestly came close to just stopping. Certainly my Sherpa, @thatpinguino, is partially to blame for this, but the game itself shares most of the responsibility for keeping me going.

It's a weird fucking game. I loved playing this game; except when I hated playing this game. I hated the story; except when I loved the story. Final Fantasy VIII is a roller-coaster that leaves you with a horrible feeling of whiplash once you have finished riding it, but you can't stop thinking and talking about it nonetheless. I mean for goodness sake I still have the lyrics to "Eyes on Me" stuck in my head! However, all of this joking aside I did begin to warm up to the entire JRPG genre, a genre that I have avoided until now, as I played more of Final Fantasy VIII. I can honestly say that I see the appeal of the Final Fantasy franchise. While I still feel that I need to play more games in the franchise in order to understand its significance, I feel like the franchise is starting to click with me. Which is great, because if the previous award is any indicator...I'm going to be playing a ton more Final Fantasy games in 2016.

It's memorable for all of the wrong reasons...or maybe, just maybe Final Fantasy VIII is memorable for all of the right reasons? I don't know...you should just play this game and decide for yourself.