Top 10, and then 5 runners up and 8 games I wish I'd had time for in 2015

Hey all, I thought I'd make a GOTY list for the first time ever this year. I've always loved listening to the GB list and reading user blogs on the subject so... here goes!

First off, I'd just like to observe that it's been a damn great year for games. I started compiling my list and was surprised at how many legitimately awesome games were released this year. I'm excited to clean up my 2015 list and move on to what 2016 will bring.

Top 10

10. BOXBOY!

When I think of a handheld game, I really want something that's engaging and fun without requiring hours of investment each sitting. BOXBOY! is a game that manages to shepherd the player through its challenges both swiftly and smoothly. The speed with which worlds in this game fly by continues to astound me. Each world has its own gimmick that is taken from zero to sixty in space of four to seven stages, all while feeling fresh and not too devious. It's a near perfect difficulty ramp, until you beat the game and unlock the bonus worlds which may make you tear your hair out. I always felt like I was some kind of super genius when I derived a solution that used less boxes than the par on a level, and the art packs a lot of punch into a minimalist style. This game is fantastic fun.

9. Stretchmo

I'm kind of surprised at how many fantastic puzzle games have come out in the last few years, but none of them have grabbed me like the 'mo series. Pushmo and Pushmo World are both incredible games which have sapped hours of my life, but Crashmo felt like a bit of a misstep. Something about the ability to completely deform the levels was too much power; Crashmo allowed a sort of chaos that doesn't belong in a puzzle game. That said, Stretchmo feels like Nintendo has once again found its stride for this series. This game gives you even more control over the levels than Pushmo and still manages to be challenging, due to the quality design of each stage. There's also a wealth of content, with over 200 levels available.

8. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

The time was right. I'd never played Monster Hunter before, but always poked at the periphery of the series via forums and articles about this impenetrable game. There was a Souls-esque veil of mystery surrounding Capcom's gigantic hit franchise that many people were unable to see through, myself included. I expected to boot up this game and run into a Tigrex shaped brick wall, cowering in fear of embarking on a hunt which would surely see my ass thoroughly kicked. Imagine my surprise when I entered an incredibly weird and whimsical world full of Felynes, something called a Guildmarm, lots of delicious meals, and the most intense gameplay on a handheld system I've ever experienced. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a world you inhabit through your character, more so maybe than any other game I've ever played. The feeling of eating the right meal based on your opponent, carefully collecting bugs, ore, and monster bits to craft powerful new equipment, and spending half an hour tracking, trapping, and subduing a giant animal is so immersive, I feel I could recommend the game to anyone. The systems are numerous but well explained, although the online mode intimidates to this day

7. Xenoblade Chronicles X

Speaking of systems, Xenoblade Chronicles X takes a complex series and ratchets up the craziness. This is a game that I feel suffers under the weight of itself. I'm now 30 hours in and about to take a test to become licensed to pilot a Skell (giant mech), so the systems will be piled even higher for me in a few hours. And yet, even though I haven't beaten it, even though I'm maybe only a third of the way through the game, the game poking its head from under those systems is one that I'm in love with. There are warts: the writing waffles between middling JRPG to unbearable, some of the characters feel one-dimensional, and Ma-non voices make me want to burst my eardrums with an icepick. However, this game is gorgeous, earnest, and the combat is addictive. I didn't think I'd enjoy the MMO style combat, but between soul voices, secondary and tertiary cooldowns, and positioning, the combat in Xenoblade is more engaging and active than any JRPG I've played. The art is beautiful in this game, with expansive zones that don't feel large for the sake of it, but large because this is a large planet. There is also a tremendous sense of struggle in Xenoblade; humanity is on an alien world struggling for survival, and it feels that way. I'm excited to continue my adventures in the world of Mira.

6. Splatoon

I'll spare you the squid puns, and just flat out say that this is the best online shooter of all time. Splatoon has incredible music that now lives in my iTunes library, a cohesive visual style that supports the narrative of a world of fashion obsessed sea-life, and is generally a low-impact but deep and rewarding multiplayer experience. My girlfriend doesn't play games that aren't Mario Kart, but seeing me play Splatoon made her want to give it a shot, and she had a wonderful time despite it being the first shooter she'd ever played. By downplaying the K/D ratio, Nintendo has created an experience that always feels fun. I never feel like an untalented schmuck while playing Splatoon, because even if I get quickscoped by some lunatic squidkid in a gasmask from across the map, I'll be right back inking the dirt with my trusty .56 Gal Deco in a few seconds. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Nintendo's top-notch post-release support, adding many varied levels, gear, weapons, and modes to a game that desperately needed it. I wish I could pick what map to play, and that there was a better local multiplayer mode, but these are minor quibbles. As an aside, I'm colorblind and hell and I appreciate the intelligent choices for team parings. I never have a hard time differentiating between my team's and the opponents' colors, so good on ya' Nintendo.

5. Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Wow. If you told me at the beginning of the year that I'd enjoy an Assassin's Creed game that came out after Brotherhood, I'd have laughed in your face. I didn't play Black Flag because I'd played every other Assassin's Creed game up to that point, and I felt so burned by Revelations and 3 that I had sworn the series off entirely. So when I saw the Quick Look and emotion stirred within me, I was surprised to say the least. When I got home with the game and put it into my PS4, I asked myself what the hell I was doing. And when I hit the 100% completion rate on the game, with only a few grindy trophies to mop up, I really was confused. What did this game do so right that felt so fresh? Well, the assassination missions are incredible. Really, just fantastic. These missions feel like playable Hitman (sorry Hitman fans). The characters are interesting and well-written, and I actually cared about the historical story for the first time. I'm one of the weird ones who is in it for the metanarrative stuff, which was kind of fumbled in this game, but the Juno moment makes up for it so I'm okay. The collectables are all on the map which is great, and the zipline makes the traversal feel like less of a chore as in past games. The fighting animations are incredibly well done, and there are precious few irritating mission types, i.e. tail this guy/escort this person/eavesdrop on these people. The combat feels less reactive than in past series as well, and I feel like this is the first time the stealth element of being an assassin shines through. Big ups on the developers for creating a great Assassin's Creed boss fight, as well.

4. Life is Strange

Okay, now we're getting into the big leagues. This game is great. This game is Teenage Angst Simulator 2015. Contrary to some, I adore the writing in this game, if only because lines like "Go fuck your selfie", "Kate twerks for God", and Chloe's incessant use of the word "hella" sneer out at the world just as we sneer at those lines. Life is Strange is a game about feeling like the world is a shitty place, so it makes sense that as the player we should feel a certain dislike for the social environment Max Caulfield tries to navigate through. Max is generally a likable character, who has believable reactions to situations and tends to behave like a person would as opposed to a video game character. This makes it very easy to care about her and the world she inhabits, which makes it all the harder to deal with when you begin to realize that there isn’t a happy end in sight for her. At the end of the day, Life is Strange is a game where you make the best of a series of very shitty situations, which isn’t all that far removed from most teenage experiences. The adventure gaminess sometimes thrusts itself in the way (One “fuck collecting bottles” in the last episode does not begin to make up for how shitty that sequence is) but at the end of the day the game is just engrossing. Being able to rewind and see how suggestions land is a super power I wish I’d had in High School, so the satisfaction of getting to say “Actually, let’s try a different approach” is extreme.

3. Super Mario Maker

I’ve never created a level in a video game before December 2015. Every time I booted up a level editor, I almost immediately closed it due to not wanting to deal with learning a whole new type of Calculus just to get proficient. Mario Maker is sublime in its simplicity. It feels like a cop-out to say that it all just feels natural but… it does. Shaking to modify things, using mushrooms to make stuff big, dragging tiles on the gamepad screen to create terrain; these are natural actions that speak to people in a simple way. The language of Mario is one that everyone knows, so Nintendo has an advantage in the creation of this engine. I’m not so sure a Zelda or Metroid maker would have the same magic, because not everyone is as acutely aware of how things interact in those games as in Mario. This, of course, has nothing to do with the quality of the game, but it is an undeniable fact that Mario is the closest thing to a universal language in video games, so creating Mario levels for your friends and the world to play is a very fun and rewarding novelty. As long as they keep the tools coming, I’ll keep creating.

2. Bloodborne

It’s hard to put into words just what I love about Bloodborne. The story and atmosphere is so rich and wholly enveloping that I continue to be shocked at just how many questions there are to pose. The environments are so detailed and rich with secret passages and hidden items that matter that I felt compelled to explore every nook and cranny. Discovering the arcane weapons that allow your character to cast forbidden magics was a fantastic feeling, and finding a trick weapon that I loved was rewarding as hell. In Bloodborne, your class is more flexible than ever, as everything about your approach changes based on the equipment you choose. I mainly used the Holy Blade, but when I got Logarius’ Wheel and equipped it, I felt a much more vicious fighting style emerge in my play. I mostly used the Holy Blade in its two-handed mode, dancing around my enemies at a distance and carving them up with the tip of the blade, so as not to put myself in harms way. But the ability to greatly stagger and crush my enemies with the Wheel incentivized me to get in the face of that werewolf or celestial terror and literally pound them into the ground before they could rebuff my assault. The DLC is also the best I’ve ever played, adding many varied and interesting weapon types to experiment with, and expanding the game’s lore and boss repertoire with some of the best content the Souls series has ever seen. On top of all this, the game controls like a dream and has a more finely tuned difficulty curve than other Souls games, if it still retains some issues like camera woes and some framerate jittering. There is also a regression in the form of blood vials, which is a linearly worse solution than the Estus Flask in every way imaginable. At first I struggled with some of the very tough bosses in Bloodborne. From’s design has evolved, and as a result the tactic of sticking to the ass of the giant boss has disappeared. Many bosses sweep around and punish you for trying to exploit them in that way. At first this frustrated me, but I adapted and came out a better player for it. The three hunter boss fights are also fantastic, pitting you against powerful foes that feel insurmountable, until you’ve slain them. Bloodborne is a great game.

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The best action game ever has been made, and everyone else can pretty much pack up and go home. I had played bits and pieces of MGS2 and 3 back when they were released, but mostly found them difficult for my 11 year old mind to wrestle with. However, as a full-grown adult, I decided to play every main series Metal Gear game in 2014 in order to prepare myself for MGS5. And I did. And the result of that was being able to experience the purest hit of Metal Gear I’ll ever be able to experience, which was MGSV on release day. Before all the FOB insurance bullshit, before getting your GMP tied up in escrow because the servers went offline, and before losing a bunch of fuel resources because some dude took them all. The MGSV that existed for two months was a beautiful, beautiful thing. I might say perfect, if you caught me on a good day. The original and curated soundtrack is astounding, the mechanics and controls are exquisite. Every time I distracted a guard with a blow up doll monotoning “Kept you waiting, huh?” only to run up behind him and choke him out, or instructed my dog to stun knife an enemy so I could strap a balloon to him and let Revolver sort him out, or crawled through the mud as Quiet loaded soldiers full of tranquilizer darts, I had a smile from ear to ear. Sahelanthropus is an intimidating and awesome looking Metal Gear, and is probably the best boss fight against a Metal Gear in the series. I loved hating what a douchebag Huey had become, and was very glad to literally ship him out of Mother Base late in the game. I think the relegation of most of the story to cassettes was a brilliant idea, as instead of sitting while codecs played the player had the option of diving into that stuff while playing Side Ops or not at all. I personally just listened to them while idling in Mother Base to fully absorb their content, but more player choice is always the best option. I haven’t booted MGSV to clean up the Side Ops yet for fear of what Konami has wrought upon the game, but I’ve made my peace with these changes and will head back to Kojima’s insane world of espionage soon to finish everything. This game was apparently too beautiful and pure to live, which is a damn shame, but I’m glad I got what I needed while the getting was good.

Runners Up

5. Fallout 4

I was really excited to play this game, but it’s currently shelved in favor of more fresh experiences. I may come back to it, but after 20 or so hours of gameplay that felt just a bit stale, and some very inexcusable performance issues and bugs on the PS4 version, I’m not sure it will entice me back. Sorry, Nick.

4. Galak-Z

I love the aesthetic and I love the tight controls, but this game can feel punishing in an unfair way. I also wish that episode 5 was out.

3. Dying Light

Another game I rebounded off. I miss the characters and insanity of Dead Island, and the loss of the analog combat felt like a huge blow. I’ve played around 40 hours and may come back to it, but the boring open world and endless fetch quests may have destroyed my enjoyment of this game.

2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

I love the story of this game. I’d never played the Wii release, so getting to know the Monado boy and his band of weird ass friends has been a fun and eye-opening experience. I didn’t know I could enjoy a JRPG in 2015, but both this game and Chronicles X are great fun. The port has serious problems, however, from seaming issues on nearly every texture to audio loss bugs which necessitate a reboot of the game and a lack of the scale of the original. I wish this was a Wii U port.

1. Pokemon Picross/Pokemon Shuffle

Oh boy. If this was a list of which game consumed the largest amount of my time, these two would be on top. I’m a picross fiend, so when I found a game where you could play picross and enlist captured Pokemon to assist you in these puzzles through innovative power ups, I was hooked. Similarly, Pokemon Shuffle is an extremely fun and at times frenetic take on the match 3 format. I just wish these games weren’t marred by free to play mechanics, which really hamper progress through the levels and suck the fun out of the games by the time you near the end of them.

The 2016’s 2015 Games to Be Played List

1. The Witcher 3

2. Cibele

3. Undertale

4. Her Story

5. Grow Home

6. Yoshi’s Wooly World

7. Yo-Kai Watch

8. Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. Edition