1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Well, you certainly kept us waiting, Snake (and Kojima). From the original reveal trailer at the 2012(!!) VGAs, we knew this wasn't going to be your typical game. Fiery dream whales, #teamcg, "Ground Zeroes is a paid demo", Chico is Quiet... I'm glad I was with you all through the literally insane discussion during the wait.
But it finally arrived, and by god is it the greatest stealth game ever made, and I'd go so far as to say best open-world game ever. Yes we expected more from the story, yes there were disappointing elements (
) and yes MGO was sent out to die. But no-one makes games like Kojima. And this is one of the most enjoyable, expansive, interactive experimental and granular sandboxes I've ever had the pleasure of sneaking around inside a cardboard box. Also the fulton sound effect = best sfx in gaming ever? Yes.
2. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward ; The hype surrounding this expansion was enough to drag me into this game in a way no MMO ever has. Having played 20 or so hours in the beta of ARR, and then not bothering to subscribe for time/money reasons, I caught the bug this summer, most likely due to the fact I was unemployed and had the time to be able to play as much as I wanted to. And oh boy, did I. But what I found was an incredibly charming and satisfying game full of rich lore, wonderful characters, incredibly entertaining content, and heartfelt little nods to the history of the franchise. Incredibly recommended to any RPG fan, even if you don't necessarily like MMOs.
3. Splatoon ; Why don't we have more game companies like Nintendo? Absolutely genius game design and the best original characters Nintendo has created since Chibi-Robo. This game is an absolute joy to play and I picked it up for £25 off Amazon, which makes the free DLC support that much sweeter. It's like Nintendo just made the purest online shooter they could, free from violence and microtransactions and bullshit corporate practice. It's fun, colourful, and absolutely fresh.
4. Undertale ; Just finished this last night (6th Jan) and had to edit it in. Really engaging and well-made indie title which combats a ton of the RPG battle fatigue by mixing up systems, including bullet hell, dialogue choice and mini-game variety. Plus plays with the systems of what 'games' are in a really interesting way. If you've played this you'll understand what I mean when I say I never want to play it ever again.
5. The Beginner's Guide ; I don't want to comment on this game. If you're at all interested, or you played The Stanley Parable, buy and play this. That's all I'll say.
6. Rocket League ; Rocket League feels like a cousin to Splatoon in a way, paring down all the unnecessary elements until you're left with something tight, infinitely replayable, and hella competitive without ever feeling unfair. Psyonix have done a great job with supporting this game
and releasing it through PS+ was a stroke of genius.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D ; Something I'd wanted ever since the Ocarina of Time 3D port finally packaged the game in a way that was available to me. I acquired my N64 very late in the game and never played through either of these titles, though I'd tried and given up with emulators in the past. This was a Day 1 buy for me, and although I'm not sure I enjoyed it *quite* as much as I would have liked, I adored the darker themes, mask personas, and overall feel of this game. It has a twist of Lynch about it, and I'd love to see another entry explore some of the weirder elements of this black sheep of the Zelda series.
8. Downwell ; I'd go so far as to say this is the best game I have ever played on my phone. The difficulty curve is perfect, the unlocks are spaced close enough together to keep you hooked and the palettes are an absolute joy to discover. It totally nails the 'just one more go' gameplay in this neat little package that feels completely trimmed of fat. At this price, I'd encourage every single one of you to buy it.
9. Guitar Hero Live ; This shouldn't really have worked, should it? FMV Guitar Hero with a Spotify-like TV channel where you don't get to choose the music you play could have gone
so, so wrong, but FreeStyle Games understood what made the franchise a great party game and they freakin' ran with it. A full reimagining which succeeds on almost every level (calibration needs a bit of work, imo). If only the existence of this game didn't make me sad to think what would have happened if Activision had given the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise to a competent developer with as much love for the series...
10. Fallout 4 ; Welp, it's definitely Fallout. Not so much a fan of the forced backstory for your character (what's with that male-only voiceover at the beginning??) but this wasteland is definitely incredible to lose yourself in. And the crafting/junk mechanics are the best addition the series could have asked for. I levelled up to 10 barely killing anything, just building my treehouse mega-fort. That was awesome.
Honorable Mentions
x. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture ; If only more games were set in locations we've never explored in games before. Shropshire is incredibly well realised in this haunting sci-fi tale, which misses a couple notes in my opinion, but tells an interesting story whilst incorporating new elements for The Chinese Room's experiments. Some of the best ever voice acting and music in these kind of narrative games too.
x. Bloodborne ; I know this is going to be lower on my list than a lot of people's, but I just haven't played enough of this game to rate it any higher. The only Souls game I've completed is Dark Souls, and honestly I just don't have the time or inclination to complete any of the others until DSIII rolls around, 'cause the beta was the tits and it looks like the definitive package. The Lovecraftian aesthetic of Bloodborne was rad though, and hopefully I can get back to the copy that's floating around my housemates at some point.
x. Action Henk ; More pure, fun gameplay. Completely fluid and a joy to play.
DISCLAIMER: I met the main devs for this title at a convention and we're friends/acquaintances now. But I honestly believe this title is well worth your time. And it's good to know the people behind it are lovely dudes too!
x. The Order: 1886 ; Suffers a bit from Bioshock Infinite syndrome in that it wants to tell a well-written and engaging narrative but stuffs itself full of gunplay. One step forward, two steps back. But it is UTTERLY gorgeous, and I can't say I didn't enjoy playing it as one of my first truly new-gen-feel experiences. Hope it gets a sequel to see where they take the franchise.