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[boskee]

1.The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; One of the best RPGs ever made. It has raised a bar for other games in the genre and is my favourite game of all time along with some classic Blizzard RTS games.
2. Rocket League ; Pure fun
3. Helldivers ; Great coop
4. Cities: Skylines ;
5. Dying Light ;
6. Super Mario Maker ;

 

[Benzychenz]

I always feel so unprepared for this.

I'm like halfway through Xenoblade, and I haven't touched Super Mario Maker, or Axiom Verge, or Star Wars Battlefront, or Dark Souls 2 SotFS, and I still need to buy SteinsGate and Yo-Kai Watch @____@

At least I'll have played 10 titles for a full ballot though.
I'll probably vote at the last minute like I did last year

 

[spekkeh]

This was a pretty fantastic year. Normally I don't even finish my top 10, because I don't think games that are just okay deserve to be on the list. This year, it was an embarrassment of riches and some pretty dear games such as Her Story didn't even fit on the list. Here's hoping next year will be even better. Without further ado...

Fuck yes, I am exactly the person that I want to be...

1. Life is Strange ; After The Walking Dead Season 1 paved the way for episodic story adventures, this was the first time that I found a developer both significantly leapfrogging Telltale in writing as well as ameliorating a number of the genre's problems, and subsequently like TWD made it to the top of my list. For one, the time travel mechanic added a sense of control over what is essentially linear progression, but also cleverly made it possible to try out different options without having to replay the entire game, creating a more lusory attitude. But above all it (almost) overcame the long waits in between episodes by lodging itself inside your brain. Episodic games are great because they force developers to get to the point (no endless collectathon quests... except for those bottles), wrap up quickly and have a major plotpoint and cliffhanger every two hours. However, unlike television, games take a lot longer to make, to the point where you kind of forget what the previous one was about (or completely like Kentucky Route Zero, is that game about anything really, anyway). LiS mostly circumvented this and it did this in at least two ways that you practically never hear talked about when people are discussing videogames.

One, true to the game's topic, Life is Strange has one of the best photography and cinematography of the industry. Overexposed, soft focused, vignetted and with warm autumnal colors, Life is Strange looks like a slightly faded polaroid picture of your childhood. Now, I'm a boy and my high school was located in a rundown ethnic part of a big glass and concrete city with no nature in sight and the cool kids dressed as skinheads and listened to techno. It's about as far from the problems of indie rock hipster grrrls in uptown Arcadia Bay as you could possible imagine. Yet I still managed to feel nostalgic for this childhood I never had, and DONTNOD managed to do that by focusing very well on the mundane and the serene, and then making it only so slightly offkilter, creating mystery and inviting you to explore.

Two, I don't even like indie rock, but boy is this soundtrack something special. Adolescent girls live and breathe music and DONTNOD capitalized on that well by including a lot of nice gems from relatively unknown bands. As much as wanting to know what would happen next, I also couldn't wait to find out which songs were in the next episode. The soundtrack quickly found its way onto my smartphone, and due to the music more so than anything, I found myself back in Arcadia Bay every commute to work, until the next episode would arrive.

Of course while I was fine with the ending itself, the last episode and a few others were not as good. The wooden lipsyncing in combination with the voice actors sometimes hamming it up a bit too much also took you out of the experience every now and then. It's by no means perfect, but all the more endearing for it.

2. Splatoon ; The beauty of Splatoon doesn't immediately reveal itself as you have to unlearn everything you thought you knew about shooters, or many games in general. Splatoon is a celebration of negative space. Where modern shooters revolve around trying to target a small reticule on another tiny moving player in a sea of cognitive void, Splatoon opens up the playing field, making it a game about all the space surrounding the other player. And boy does it make zipping around in this space a joy! But above all, it makes this game available for people of all proficiencies. It's no longer about having quick twitch reactions, though it is about that too, but in all its breezy gamefeel-infused playfulness, it rewards a more brainy approach. Oftentimes the winner is not the squid that jumped into the fray and splat the most opponents, but the one that stealthily worked itself around the scrimmage and covered the most ground. Too bad Nintendo ostensibly released the game a bit too early or too bareboned, compounded with some frustrations in the UI made this game a slower burn than it should have been.

3. Until Dawn ; I've tried a lot of horror games over the years, but outside of Resident Evil had a hard time finishing any of them. Not being very masochistically inclined, most horror games have a tendency to bludgeon you to death with shock and gore from the first minute, which over time I find exhausting more than exhilirating, so much sooner than most I just zone out and stop playing. Until Dawn remembers that most crucial thing about schlocky horror, that it's supposed to be a lot of fun too. Teen slasher stereotypes get introduced and inverted, and character deaths are both hilarious and terrifying. It shows that the writers know their stuff, without stuffing it in your face. Above all, because death is permanent, the QTEs that normally blight these kind of interactive storybooks are incredibly tense and heighten the atmosphere, even if they are ultimately a bit overused.

4. The Beginner's Guide ; Is it a new genre? It might very well be. Essentially a series of game poems (cf. A Slow Year by Ian Bogost), this is a lovely way to do a character study, making you not only see but also play around inside a person's mind. Genuine, heartfelt and slightly pretentious, but mostly in a good way, this game might not always have been exciting, but was continuously fascinating. I think I liked it more than The Stanley Parable. As a researcher in game design, I find the conflict between art and design intriguing (and ever so slightly maddening if you're trying to quantify and model it), and this proved both enlightening and cathartic.

5. Undertale ; The problem I have with RPGs (or most games really, but doubly so when it comes to roleplaying) is that the overwhelming majority of them have fighting and killing as the only real modes of interaction with the world. Sure there are characters you can talk to, but these are more PEZ dispensers of more fighting and killing (case in point, the next two games on the list). Isn't the idea of a roleplaying game that you can play something else than the warrior whose only modus operandi is to kill everything in sight? Well on comes Undertale, a JRPG even, where conflict can be resolved by befriending people. No looting corpses, no becoming a better killer everytime you do so. Just a lot of heart and incredibly fun characters. And it turns the JRPG genre doubly on its head because, through this, there is also no grind. Enemy difficulty only differs in gameplay, but not in stats. Well, all the way until the final boss(es), when suddenly you get punished for not having leveled up. That was a major bummer and the reason this game dropped a few places.

6. The Witcher 3 ; Playing The Witcher 3 you can't help but be in awe for most of the time. Enormous work has gone into the world and in coming up with uncountable stories for the side quests, and it shows. Sadly, I also couldn't help but feel slightly bored with it all that time. High fantasy worlds are already bordering on the tired cliche, and it doesn't help that Velen looks...just like outside the window from where I live. More problematic the gameplay, though a definite step up from 2, becomes repetitive quickly. There really seems no point to the open worldness of this game other than to make traversal longer, as it's not possible to approach missions from different angles and the war is only portrayed with static encampments. Even more problematic than all this, the story almost comically strings you along for 50 hours or so as you try to find Ciri (and subsequently retrace your steps to gather allies), making even DA:I's glacial pace seem like a rollercoaster. But then, suddenly, the story picks up pace, adds intrigue, becomes otherworldy and.. abruptly ends. If this game's main story quest was only one fourth its current size, it would have been a definite contender. Now all the hard work just felt like they overstuffed the turkey.

7. Fallout 4 ; Placing Fallout on my list is a bit of a gamble, because until now I've only played it for about 8-10 hours. However at the same time I'm quite confident putting it here, because it plays almost exactly like the previous Fallouts. While on the one hand this is great because nobody quite does exploration RPGs like Bethesda, it's also kind of a problem, because how much fun is an exploration game if most of the game is pretty predictable. The gameplay at least is a step up, as is the much better framerate. However at this point I find that Bethesda has been resting too much on its laurels, and my excitement is gradually waning with every installment. Fallout 4 feels like the Twilight Princess of Zelda, an improved rehash of Ocarina of Time, but a bit of a rehash nonetheless. Much like Zelda, I feel that Fallout would benefit from losing a single timeframe, and creating a new and different postapocalyptic world every time. Do something else than the Brotherhood of Steel for a change. Because war, war never changes, but the setting should.

8. Super Mario Maker ; Super Mario Maker I find both the most exciting prospect as well as the biggest disappointment of the year. Nintendo did a lot of things right with this package. What could have been a sterile level editor for one off levels, was infused with tonnes of little animations and gamefeel enhancing interactions, which makes the editor a lot of fun to use. Standard levels get generated automatically, and playing a ten level Mario challenge where you get random user created maps from the internet is never not surprising and fun to do with friends. However, I feel like Nintendo dropped the ball a bit in terms of user scaffolding. Gating the elements you can use is one thing, but Mario is a project of love from the greatest game designer in the world. Why not have level design teaching courses on basic, intermediate and advanced levels, where Miyamoto guides the player into the intricacies of good level design? Something akin to Art Academy: Game Academy. As the internet libraries quickly became inundated with Kaizo and autoplay fireworks levels, I was left scratching my head that this wasn't really what a good Mario game was about. And trying to do it better myself also proved laborious and a bit unfulfilling as the levels got lost in the sea of garbage tier (but maybe even as an assistant professor in game design, I should be self-conscious enough to see that my own designs are garbage tier as well). Maybe this was Miyamoto's plan all along: to remind us that game design is hard yo, better leave it to the professionals. Still, it was great fun introducing Mario Maker into my classes, and I'm sure I will occasionally go back to this game for months to come.

9. Rocket League ; This game is incredible stupid fun for a few hours, as you try to do very simple things that seem impossible with your unresponsive toy car. After that however, playing online proves frustrating because the game has an incredibly steep learning curve, with little to make it exciting along the way. First bots and later other players repeatedly hand it to you as you drive around semi-aimlessly across the football pitch. This is a moment where some decide to git gud, and I decide to git out because I have more games waiting.

10. Land's End ; This game technically doesn't belong here because it wasn't as good as some of the honorable mention games, but after being late with playing Monument Valley, I think ustwo games deserve at least some mention for not only being the first to make an actually good mobile game, but also being the first for making an actually good VR game. With Land's End they created an abstract but intriguing alien world, where you just want to get lost in and uncover what all the alien markings and structures are about. Like Monument Valley, that never really reveals itself, but that only adds to the mystery.



Honorable mentions

x. Journey - Da real MVP of this year, when it was done I wanted to stand up and clap. However, I don't think it belongs to this year, so I didn't include it.
x. Her Story - A very neat and engaging little crime adventure, I sadly found the main twist some ten minutes in, meaning that the remaining one hour twenty minutes I was just digging for the details.
x. Yoshi's Woolly World - Eminently affable and a beauty to play, this game has too much collecting and Nintendo's recent levelgating based on currency, even if it is not as egregious here as in 3D World, should die in a fire.
x. Affordable Space Adventures - Cute little game that uses the gamepad in surprising and unique ways, couldn't really sustain my interest until the end though.


Games that might have made the list but I didn't play

Xenoblade Chronicles X, because I couldn't even finish the first one and that was before the deluge of open world games, and Metal Gear Solid V, because Fuckonami.

My GOTY list of 2014

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

This thread is really making me want to give Bloodborne a chance.

You should. There is nothing like it in the gaming world, from its gameplay to setting.

 

[jesu]

1. Fallout 4 ; I wish the dialogue system was better but the exploration and atmosphere was second to none.
2. Dying Light ; I love all kinds of zombie media but there isn't enough good zombie games imo.Dying Light is the best one ever though.
3. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ;
4. Rise of the Tomb Raider ;
5. Halo 5: Guardians ; Purely for it's multiplayer.Haven't touched the campaign yet.
6. Star Wars Battlefront ; Too hard for me to choose between Battlefront and Halo 5 but the way the voting works they'll get the same points anyway.
7. Chaos Reborn ; My favourite game as a kid updated for the 21st century and it didn't let me down.
8. Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition ;
9. Need For Speed ; Would have been higher if this pointlessly always online game had at least a half decent multiplayer mode.Love the single player side though.
10. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ; A pleasant surprise to me and a first person shooter that requires more thought than I'm used to in my FPS's

 

[Man]

1. Bloodborne ; Camoflagued with a victorian theme one discovers towards the middle that this is actually pure cosmic horror. The best H.P Lovecraft game ever made. Gameplay focus on a faster 'deadly rally of blows' and combined with it's unique atmosphere it's a perfect branch out from Souls while retaining the most important aspects of its DNA.

2. Metal Gear Solid V ; Best gameplay in the whole franchise. It awes me how complex and refined its many, many, many sub-systems are.

3. Dead Secret ; This is the best Gear VR launch game and a great start to Virtual Reality. While Land's End is probably slightly more polished & user-friendly, Dead Secret has much more meat with a cool little story and spooky atmosphere (the right amount). It's very cool in VR to see contextual-text integrated into the environment and feeling chills from small events that would be considered background detail within a normal 2D monitor game. Atmoshphere is actually very reminiscent of Resident Evil 1.

4. Land's End ; This is a perfect introduction to Virtual Reality. It only lasts a couple of hours but it's expertly polished with it's gaze-only controls and beautiful visuals and atmosphere. Journey meets Myst, it fits everyone from 7 to 70.

5. TIS-100 ; What mysteries lies within the Tessellated Intelligence System... Really fun assembly-programming puzzler. It's super primitive *nix presentation is just how it should be. I could see this introducing many to the concepts of programming and maybe even hooking them.

6. Star Wars Battlefront ; The technology behind this game is incredible, the core gameplay is very refined and it's super impressive how well they have recreated the Star Wars assets (all the way down to the fizzling fireworks-like explosions thanks to 70's/80's movie effects). Matchmaking into 40 man-games also takes 1second on average. And unlike BF4 this game is very, very polished with no bugs in sight. An audiovisual tour-de-force.

7. SOMA

8. Until Dawn

9. Kerbal Space Program

10. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

x. Other games I have tried and or completed this year include The Order 1886, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Fallout 4 among several others.

 

[Ultimadrago]

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; An excellent conclusion to a trilogy of grand characters and interesting beasts (man and monster alike). All of the delays were apparently worth the effort in presenting one of the greatest RPGs of all-time. On top of its overall excellence, the title also manages to have one of the greatest open worlds to ever be realized.

The major character voice acting is excellent as usual (with a few exceptions, such as Triss). The environmental designs absolutely blew me away with gorgeous landscapes and scenery. I find the artstyle will succumb to aging in the years, but as of now (December 2015) it's one of the most attractive games I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The sidequests are meaty, the monsters are mean and the Northern Kingdoms are vast. The pure amount of entertaining, voiced content in this game is outright staggering and has set a new standard in open-world games. This truly is a modern masterpiece and I cannot thank CDProjektRed enough for their pure work of love with this series.

Combat in this game has evolved from the previous titles and, while nothing extraordinary, successfully makes me feel every heavy swing and lopped head in the hands of a witcher. Sign particle effects have been improved, making magic easy on the eyes as well. Preparing potions ahead of time for questing is relatively simple, allowing for different approaches to combat in tandem with a respective players' skill trees. On the melee side of combat, switching between silver and steel sword depending on man, monster or "Monsters among men" is still swift and ever present throughout the game's engaging plots.

Quests like "Ghosts of the Past" and "Skellige's Most Wanted" are only two sidequests of the multitude I remember vividly from my time with the game. It is so very rare and delightful for a title to have a great number of quests that I find worth recalling and breathing into memory. It's all thanks to the presentation skills, quest branching throughout and Doug Cockle's downright amazing voice performance as Geralt of Rivia. It's a collection of elements like these that keeps me playing video games with a smile of my face and a head bursting with imagination.

Even while tripping up over some narrative beats (such as a slightly underwhelming final encounter and a mishandling in dealing with of one of the title's more intelligent, interesting human antagonists), Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is by far and away the best game of the year and one of the greatest of all-time.

2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky ; Out of the abundant JRPGs I've completed, this PSP title now ported to Steam, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (First Chapter) is one of the best role-playing titles I've ever witnessed. To get it out of the way, this title isn't winning any awards for combat. I love turn-based and Trails in the Sky takes a very simplistic approach and progression that doesn't make my strategic juices flow much. Though, that is not where all of its laurels lie...

The character writing and the world introduction are very much unlike what I play yearly in multiple average JRPGS. It has the archetypes and silly "anime" moments, but something is different this time. The pacing and tone of the game deliberately and properly introduces character personas and motives while taking the player along for the long journey. Estelle, now one of my favorite protagonists in a JRPG, faces a coming-of-age story that takes time to understand itself before tossing you into a boiling pot of well-spoken demons and vicious battles.

This buildup makes the payoff all the more enjoyable and gave me time to truly appreciate what each character brought to the table besides their weapon. They also offer more dialogue than the horrifying ad nauseam one-off jokes so commonly found in mainline RPGs in the past decade. The interactions in the game, even with faceless NPCs are full of life and are at times absolutely powerful. The game swings from nonchalant Slice-of-Life to painfully grim drama and back again akin to a piano gracefully having its keys plucked from one end to another. This is all done while creating a beautiful, yet haunting melody.

This gem has rightfully earned its very prestigious ranking on this list. It's a niche role-playing game in the best ways while relentlessly surging wave after wave of innocent pleasure up my spine. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a classic I'm honored to have had boomerang back to me through PC and all of the visual upgrades with it.

3. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter ; I have turned into a Trails in the Sky fan simply from playing First Chapter. It hosts one of the best JRPG casts I've ever had the pleasure of questing with. Estelle's developments alone are worth the trek as she has quickly torn through the ranks as one of my favorite JRPG protagonists for relatively subtle steady character progression without resorting to disgraceful "flip-switch" tactics.

The series still has its tropes and archetypes that you find in standard fare, but it's how they are handled and how the world is introduced that makes the games as special as they are. Unfortunately, Second Chapter takes the basic JRPG building blocks for exposition and drama building too close to heart, unlike First Chapter (the previous title in the series). There are events throughout the latter portion of the game that handle dramatic backstories and revelations clumsily and heavy-handed in motions the previous title deliberately swayed from. It makes less of certain characters that were better left with their stories unspoken and undermines the efforts given to introduce antagonists from the earlier portions of the game.

While Second Chapter remains steadfast in handling dialogue better than the vast majority of JRPGs, it weakened under the easy typical scenarios used to create tension while First Chapter largely remained true to its excellent casual pacing. Due to this, Second Chapter is, relatively speaking, a lesser experience to First Chapter. This title does add extra Orbments and combat mechanics (like Team Attacks), but they do not revolutionize the battle system in any meaningful way, especially compared to the loss of narrative quality from that which was present in the prior title. Nonetheless, the excellent cast is all here and make the journey still a memorable and exciting adventure!

Regardless of my experiences with the all-too-stale genre, Trails in the Sky First Chapter and Second Chapter make for a role-playing combo that I will ultimately not forget for all of the right reasons. This has earned both games back-to-back very high honors on the 2015 Game of the Year list.

4. Grand Theft Auto V ; Grand Theft Auto V returns with more graphical fidelity than ever with its PC release. While the unfocused mess of a story is still not its strong suit, this adventure still has entertaining character interactions and a realized world. Its interactivity options could use some work, but the activities available along with the structure of Los Santos make for an environment that grabs me every time.

The Online, while not my favorite aspect, is also a feature that makes sense for those that appreciate the urban madness the GTA world may entail. I still find times to return to Los Santos just to revel in the destructive or peaceful freedom within. In absence of extra single player content, I can only hope Rockstar's next major project is nearly as great.

5. Undertale ; Open this book to unveil secrets, secrets and more secrets. There are a multitude of endings, flagged portions of dialogue and silly bits of humor at every corner in the journey of Undertale. This is supported by a largely pleasant cast of monsters that fight and/or befriend the player character as your decided path is made known. That doesn't even include the game's interesting bullet-hell inspired defense system. This pleasing collection of interesting elements is why Undertale has earned a spot on my list for Game of the Year 2015.

Unfortunately, it's not all rainbows (putting the dramatic portions of the narrative aside). There is a certain chapter with a certain annoying scientist character that killed effective pacing of the game while adding a very unwanted, constant whispering in my ear. It was easily the worst part of my route and one of the most unnecessary additions to the game. The game also references things such as "tsundere" and "anime" with a feel of Internet-related humor far too much. A couple of references would have been fine, but the game is littered with them. They go beyond adding to the experience and instead damped the potentially interesting world Toby Fox created in the Undergrounds. It's a really horrible fashion to lose points due to how easy it is to avoid this type of travesty.

Even still, the main characters are mostly written well and bring a chuckling joy when interacted with. Despite its occasional tone deaf nature, it has been one of the more intriguing experiences from 2015 and I'd be glad to place it side-by-side with the other excellent titles on the list. In fact, I have now completed the game twice to find even more secrets and pleasant dialogue that is hidden between the nooks of this title. No other linear story game this year has managed to have me reach back to obtain endings, shortcuts and interactions I discovered online (after already completing the game) like Undertale. I actually created a checklist to handpick the unveiled treats I wanted my character to witness on my save file. Many of these come in the form of small Easter Eggs and witty lines of dialogue that add up. By the time the game is over, I have allocated a basket of smiles and head nods that have put this story above many others for the year. For this reason, I am more than glad to award Undertale with this ranking for the 2015 Game of the Year list.

And if I didn't mention that the soundtrack is really good: The soundtrack is really good.

*Not actually art from the game*

6. Life is Strange ; Developer DontNod surprised me with this adventure of a teenage girl learning what it means to gain the courage to face some of life's greatest fears from her perspective and otherwise. Or not! The journey rests on the player's choices. Yes, the choices are binary and it leads to a rather restricted set of endings. Yet, this experience is presented well enough where it didn't get in the way of my enjoyment at all. In fact, the cast and overtly modern hipster presentation cleared all of my immediate judgements towards any pretentious flags or less-than-stellar animations. The game was a ride I appreciated more than I ever could from casually reading about it from others or watching the trailers.

It was almost as if the game deliberately offered more than its cover let on. Or perhaps it was simply my expectations that were flipped slightly sideways. In any case, despite the pacing hiccups the game faces (notably when nearing the end), it was a pleasure observing Max and Chloe's times together in the face of the dark mysteries surrounding Arcadia Bay.

7. Until Dawn ; I praise Until Dawn for what it surprisingly does well. This has been one of the better B-movie type sit-downs I've ever had, much moreso in gaming. I don't take the inspiration route lightly when approaching characterization, setting, plot, etc. It is used too many times to excuse poorly executed games and giving them a "way out".

Until Dawn clearly displays its marking of teenage slasher origins and puts it in a well-presented, while not particularly strong, visual story. The voice casting was also exceptional and added authenticity to this tribute of hammy thrill-and-kills from older days. I look forward to more work from this team along the lines of choice adventure.

8. The Witcher III: Hearts of Stone ; The only thing better than creating a spectacular base game with plenty of free DLC trinkets to help line the customization options is to add a single-player DLC story that directly adds value to the overall narrative. Hearts of Stone is hours of content that help make Witcher 3 stand out from other open-world games and role-playing adventures.

Without spoiling it, you are introduced to interesting antagonists that are well realized and voice acted while engaging with more beasts referenced from fantastical lore. This is all topped with dialogue that expertly stitches together personalities, motivations and foils in a manner that a player can fall in love with. The only reason it is lower on my list is because, as a DLC episode, it is largely supplementary and does not alone replace a full, amazing head-on start to finish undertaking. This entry should be accepted more as an addition to Witcher III, which heads the list, than as a standalone offer. In any case, it is hands down an essential chapter from the year.

9. Tales from the Borderlands ; What was I to expect from Telltale Games and the writing from the horrifically corny world of Borderlands? Not what I got. This is a funny, entertaining title that had me smiling from start to finish. Yes, it still uses Telltale's subpar engine. It means the animations are less smooth than a child's stick figure flipbook with the textures not being much better. The game sports a choice system, but it really doesn't mean much and I'm...alright with that. The ride itself and the humorous company that came with it was more than I had bargained for and it's the real reason Tales of the Borderlands is on the list.

I don't know how the writers managed it, as I believe some Gearbox employees did handle the episodic writing, but (having completed Borderlands 1, Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: Pre-Sequel personally) they made the best Borderlands game with a point-and-click spinoff. I can't make this stuff up. I congratulate TellTale Games and Gearbox for making a script that exceeded expectations! Ideally and hopefully, they can keep up the quality in a potential sequel.

10. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood ; Much like The New Order, this DLC came as an impressively exciting "run-and-gun" through the fortresses of the Nazi regime. Many of the same mechanics remain, with a few new options made available to BJ. There is an overarching narrative, but as with the game before, it's not a strength (and it doesn't require it to be). The standalone shooting gallery was a much appreciated return to double wielding ridiculously hulking firearms following the The New Order and it was a joy as always!

Honorable Mentions:

x. Curses N' Chaos ; A fun round-by-round arcade style brawler that comes with three separate endings. It stars a gladiator-helm wearing beast named Leo and his ass-kicking young partner named Lea. I completed the game 100% with Lea a month or so ago after seeing her awesome cameo design for Lab Zero's upcoming title, Indivisible. As usual with Tribute Games, the pixel art and animation is well-approached. This makes for lively backdrops and solid enemy animations. The title's largest flaw is that it grows extremely repetitive when you're stuck with 4 fighting moves (Sticking true to arcade roots) and fighting through well over 150 rounds of enemies. It tires. Quickly. I suppose that was my same issue with Wizorb as well. Still, I had a good time killing off the dark Wizard with Lea in Curses N Chaos and look forward to her appearance in Indivisible!

x. Broken Age: The Complete Adventure ; Having been a Kickstarter Backer for this game, I wished the best for it. Short in shorter, the first portion introduced quirky characters presented in a light art tone as is one of Double Fine's signature. The second portion cranks up the difficulty on the puzzles while largely ignoring or sacrificing the charm points it rolled out on the red carpet initially. The result is a slightly disjointed play that's nice, but doesn't quite reach any stars at all. I'm glad I was able to get the game in my hands and complete it, but I simultaneously don't feel much at all.

 

[dimbismp]

1.The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; Great story,immersive world,exceptional side missions,varied gear,addicting gameplay,interesting characters...Among the top 3 favorite games of mine.

2.The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone ; One of the best gaming stories i have ever experienced.Plus,it has better bosses than the base game.Can't wait for Blood and Wine

3. Batman Arkham Knight ; Arkham City is maybe my favourite game of all time,but Arkham Knight is relatively close.I think the game was the ultimate Batman experience though.I liked the story,although it was not perfect.The batmobile was maybe overused,but what really saddened me was the complete lack of proper bosses...Anyway,BAK is a fitting goodbye to the best comic book game series ever.

4.Grand Theft Auto 5 ; Although i am playing the PS4 version,the PC version was released this year,so technically i am following the rules.Haven't finished it yet,but i am having lot's of fun.

5. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain ; Gameplay wise the game is really good,but the story was really underwhelming.I had never played a MGS before,so i did an extensive research,expecting for an epic story-driven experience.But,sadly,the story was heavily cut and what was left was all over the place.

6.Assassin's Creed Syndicate ; I used to be a DIE-HARD AC fan,but the yearly releases have really fatigued me.Anyway,ACS is a good game,slightly better than ACU,which is not nearly as bad as people make it to be.There are many problems,like extremely easy combat or dumb AI,but you get the chance to explore another beautiful period of time.The story is "ok",but too light-hearted, and the main villain is quite good.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

1. Bloodborne ; Bloodborne was my first Souls type experience. I was wary of getting into it because of how difficult it seemed but I decided to take the plunge and experience what had been received so well with the previous Souls titles and now this title getting incredible critical acclaim. I have to say taking that plunge turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made since I have started gaming.

Bloodborne is a phenomenal game with an outstanding mix of gameplay, level design and atmosphere unlike any title in this generation and in general. The game forced me to master the stellar mechanics and steadily improve throughout my adventure in order to succeed. I was no longer having my hand held and the reward from accomplishing a feat that seemed nigh impossible was incredibly rewarding. I have never felt such pure jubilation and adrenaline from overcoming a tough boss that seemed insurmountable before.

The game has some of the best level design I have experienced in gaming and it was great searching an area and finding shortcuts and having the map click for you afterward. While going on the adventure, you see some amazing sights and hear sounds that all add to the atmosphere that oozes from the game on several levels.

The gameplay is brutal, exhilarating, taxing and freeing as you have complete control over how you want to handle situations throughout the game. The mechanics are tight and precise. You do not feel like you are just pressing buttons while the game essentially plays itself. The reactions to attacks are really well done and it makes you feel the power of the weapon you are wielding. The gameplay rewards players who observe the environment and the enemies and utilizes the mechanics to the best of their ability with those observations in mind.

I know it sounds like an exaggeration to most people but it is possible for a particular game to be so good that it ruins other games for you. The first game to do this for me was The Last of Us and now Bloodborne is added to that elite group as well. I can see the flaws in other systems more clearly now after having experienced how it is handled in Bloodborne.

Overall, Bloodborne is certainly a masterpiece. It is not without flaws or blemishes that mar what is otherwise a top notch game (storytelling being one of my main gripes) but the strengths blow the weaknesses out of the water. Bloodborne is by far my game of the year for 2015 and it is also now one of my favorite games of all time.

2. Rocket League ; Rocket League was the surprise hit of the year for me. I was not expecting a game I got on PS+ to be a GotY contender.

I had so much fun playing this and going for the platinum. I don't really need to get into the details (Bloodborne already got all that ) but it is just simply pure fun and nothing more really needs to be said about it. Psyonix deserves every bit of success they got (and will continue to get) from this game.

3. Tearaway Unfolded ; This was my first experience with the IP and despite some technical faults and pacing issues, it was a fairly good experience overall. Cuteness, joy and color galore!

 

[K.Sabot]

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC

Not much to say, I really like everything about these games. No flaws stand out.

2. FINAL FANTASY XIV: HEAVENSWARD

Ignoring the post launch and end game content, this expansion was a delight. The story is a cut above the already excellent vanilla story. The music is 3 cuts above the already incredible ARR OST. 3 new classes, 2 more than I expect from an average MMO expansion. Better art design, Better world design,

Spoiler

Papa Johns™

.

3. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Can't really say anything new about this other than I took a few multi-month breaks from this game which made it very difficult to come back to and finish. Not really sure how I lost momentum so many times, yet still came away from it so positive. I love The Witcher in general I guess.

4. Undertale

Would be higher on my list if I ignored the fanbase earlier. My brain remembers the game worse now thanks to them, which is weird when I think about it.

5. Bloodborne

An anemic (har har) Souls game, with lacking side content and horrible PvP. Would be lower on my list if The Old Hunters weren't there to save it at the end of the year. It features the best main game content of the series, but the worst side stories / side content, which is very important to me.

6. Tales of Zestiria

Great experience, most entertainment I've gotten from a Tales game since Vesperia, despite having my least favorite 3d combat since Legendia (WHERE IS THE AIR JUGGLING).

7. Splatoon

It's fun.

8. Xenoblade Chronicles X

Game doesn't treat me like an idiot, respect. Horrible OST consistency though.

9. Downwell

Falling With Style should have been the OT subtitle.

10. Yatagarasu: Attack on Cataclysm
Incredible fighting game with very poor technical edges and a small cast. Played this for a hundred hours and I'd love to play more.

 

[Ultimadrago]

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC & SC

Not much to say, I really like everything about these games. No flaws stand out.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Trails FC & SC were two separate releases, I believe you would have to separate them in order for the vote to count.

Also, please correct to formatting according to the OP. I would hate to see any Trails votes not get counted~.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Trails FC & SC were two separate releases, I believe you would have to separate them in order for the vote to count.

Right, you can only list individual titles at a single rank.

 

[K.Sabot]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Trails FC & SC were two separate releases, I believe you would have to separate them in order for the vote to count.

Also, please correct to formatting according to the OP. I would hate to see any Trails votes not get counted~.

Well I don't really care if it gets points or not, the list was more for myself than anything, but if Trails has a snowball's chance in hell of getting a decent spot on the list I'll be willing to edit.

 

[Chaos17]

1. Xenoblade Chronicle X ; It has everything that an rpg lover like : deep characters customisation, exploartion and gameplay. It has everything that a science fiction fan like : aliens npcs, monsters and MECHAS!!! This game was just made for me, hitting everything that Iike.

2. Yoshi's Woolly World ; So fluffly and so cute that all I can say while playing is : "awwwww"

3. First Love Diaries ; sometime, it's nice to just relax and play a heart warming story with an evolving relationship. Just like a book that I read before going to bed, I enjoy, playing it.

4. Captain toad ; had a really good time with it and I wish there were DLC to buy to get more new stages.

5. Splatoon ; [/B]same as Heroes of Storm, I suck too much at this game but still love it

6. Heroes of the Storm ; While I suck at MOBA; I do like a lot that game even after stoping playing because of bad matchmaking.

7. Dragon Blaze ; I've to mention it because I've played that game this year during 3+ months, lol It was a good mobile game until they forced the meta on players.

8. Life is Strange ; while I like the concept, I'm really dispointed how they handled the choices by always nulifying them at the end.

9. Tell of Game of Throne ; while I like the concept, I'm really dispointed how they handled the choices by always nulifying them at the end.

10. Tell of Borderland ; while I like the concept, I'm really dispointed how they handled the choices by always nulifying them at the end.


Overall : I guess in 2015, I was really into "visual" novels", lol

 

[Ultimadrago]

Well I don't really care if it gets points or not, the list was more for myself than anything, but if Trails has a snowball's chance in hell of getting a decent spot on the list I'll be willing to edit.

Well, this is the Voting thread, so I had assumed. Carry on, in any case.

I don't think it has a chance of getting a solid spot due to its niche nature, but voting doesn't hurt its exposure for sure.

 

[ohlawd]

1. Xenoblade Chronicle X

It has everything that an rpg lover like : deep characters customisation exploartion and gameplay.
It has everything that a science fiction fan like : aliens npcs, monsters and MECHAS!!!
This game was just made for me, hitting everything that Iike.

2. Yoshi's Woolly World

So fluffly and so cute that all I can say while playing is : "awwwww"

so close. game name and comment has to be on the same line and separated with a semicolon

 

[Stormus]

1. Witcher III ; One of the greatest role playing games ever made, PERIOD.
2. Rocket League ; The most fun I've had playing a video game in years.
3. Witcher III: Heart of Stone ; See number 1. Great expansion, lol @ the wedding section. Seriously might be the best expansion I've yet played.
4. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Fantastic set pieces. Laura > Nate
5. Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void ; Cookie cutter story, but still a great conclusion to an epic space opera franchise.
6. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ; Great value, a worthy remaster.
7. Assassin's Creed: Syndicate ; The best AC since BF, and a return to form for the series.
8. Heroes of the Storm ; A more causal alternative to LoL without all the BM.
9. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster ; Awesome game - first time with it.
10. DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition ; I wanted to make sure this game was on my list. It's a fantastic action game, and playing it on PS4 with the combat sped up +20% was a god damn blast.

Full disclosure: I haven't had a chance to play Fallout 4, MSG V, Bloodborne, Batman: Arkham Knight, Xenoblade, or Life is Strange.

 

[Chaos17]

so close. game name and comment has to be on the same line and separated with a semicolon

Thanks, gonna format that.

 

[ohlawd]

Thanks, gonna format that.

cool, glad to hear it.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Wait, you do not need 10 games listed for your list to count, right?

 

[Ultimadrago]

Wait, you do not need 10 games listed for your list to count, right?

Nope. It's up to 10.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Nope. It's up to 10.

Okay, something came up and I wanted to confirm.

Thanks!

 

[SpokkX]

1. Bloodborne ; Cthulu inspired souls with faster combat makes for the real sequel to Dark Souls 1. Amazing
2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Best side quests ever and a complete surprise for me. Totally spolied other wrpgs for me (looking at you bethesda)
3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Kojimas masterpiece, at least gameplay wise.
4. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the first sin ; Not Miyazaki level but still great
5. Halo 5: Guardians ; 60fps Halo plays great
6. Rare replay ; Nuts and bolts alone would make my list
7. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D ; Still original
8. Star wars battlefront ; great homage to ep 4 to 6. Would have prefered single player or at least real bots/campaign though
9. Rise of the tomb raider ; better than the last game but too much ubi soft design with map icons everywhere
10. Splatoon ; just fun. Would have liked a longer single player, felt like an afterthought

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

1. TIS-100 ; This is basically Spacechem (it's by the same people) but it's no longer pretending to be something other than Programming: The Game. You write pseudo- assembly code for a fictional computer to do things like multiply two numbers together or find the minimum and maximum values of a sequence. Like Spacechem it's one of the only puzzle games I've played where I feel like I've actually done something clever when I figure out a solution. A bunch of the mods got this over Thanksgiving and we had a lot of fun competing and comparing solutions.

1. TIS-100 ; (OT) It's a puzzle game that doesn't even try to hide that it's really about programming. In fact, it embraces it. You're an 80s computer user, trying to fix some corrupted assembly code in your inherited TIS-100, with just a manual to guide you. You've got a three-by-four grid of interconnected nodes, some simple commands (add, subtract, move to another node, a few other things), and then a set of inputs and expected outputs for each puzzle. The puzzles range from simple stuff like taking each input and doubling it to more complex stuff like finding the min and max of a given input sequence. (And it's surprisingly tricky to divide one number by another when you only have addition and subtraction!)

I should have known once your knighted as a mod your required to "play"(thats definitely not the right verb) TIS-100. Its the final step in your conditioning.

 

[SunBroDave]

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Not since I played Twilight Princess at age 13 have I felt such a feeling of adventure. Releasing right after Game of Thrones season 5, Witcher 3 perfectly captured that R rated fantasy tone that I was craving at the time, and delivered ultimately an original and exciting fantasy story about a family. Top to bottom, The Witcher 3 delivered in every way, and I consider the 65 hours I spent with it the first week it released to be some of the best gaming time I've ever had.
2. Life is Strange ;
3. Bloodborne ;
4. Tales from the Borderlands ;
5. Ori and the Blind Forest ;
6. Rocket League ;
7. Destiny: The Taken King ;
8. Until Dawn ;
9. Fallout 4 ;
10. Dying Light ;

 

[orborborb]

1. N++ ; I tried this game many years ago when it was just a flash game and wasn't too impressed, but they have now fully explored the possibilities of their basic idea and created a perfect game. Do not miss the couch multiplayer!

2. Super Mario Maker ; Frustrating to me because there is no way to properly reward players for how WELL they complete a level (needs a world map or collectibles or something) but otherwise absolutely perfect execution of an idea that can ONLY work on the Wii U Gamepad.

3. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide ; The best melee combat ever, differentiated characters and playstyles, great level design, and a decent loot system elevates this game above Left 4 Dead, Payday, Evolve, or Chivalry: Medieval Warfare into something closer to Destiny. But it still captures that feel of dungeon crawling in a pen and paper or board game around a table with friends.

4. Bloodborne ; Not as great as Dark Souls II, but it excels in many areas where Dark Souls II was disappointing (story, animation, and sound design).

5. Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviors ; I was not too impressed with the original Dariusburst, but like N++ this shows many years of polish and perfection. Perfect to play both on my Vita and on a giant widescreen monitor for short bursts or long sessions. One of the most interesting things about these games is the synergy between the soundtrack and the enemy patterns.

6. Grow Home ; I enjoyed this on a PC with a mouse and keyboard, I was not as impressed by the PS4 port. Mastering the movement and climbing mechanics made collecting a bunch of stuff around an unusual 3d environment fun completely for its own sake, though the art style, music, and light story certainly added to the enjoyment.

7. Halo 5 ; The single player and warzone stuff is fine, but this is on the list for the Arena multiplayer which is best of its kind since Quake 3. Capture the Flag in particular is more fun than it's ever been.

8. Life is Strange ; I probably wouldn't have the patience to play a game like this myself, but the story it tells is good enough that I always enjoyed watching other people play. The twists are memorable and best of all the player's choices serve a more meaningful purpose than just picking which bits of narrative to follow like a choose your own adventure story.

9. Refunct ; Perhaps the best first person platforming mechanics I've ever enjoyed. Only 30 minutes of an experience but it's a perfect 30 minutes.

10. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; It barely holds together, but I just had too much fun for me to leave off this list. I cared about using all of my abilities and therefore collecting all the stuff to power them. I couldn't quite care about the story, and the puzzles were just barely interesting, but the atmosphere kept the whole thing going.

Honorable Mentions

x. Splatoon ; I have no complaints about this game except that it never quite hooked me. Great music and art style though.
x. Evolve ; a great game to play with friends that has quite a bit of depth, but it's difficult to get into and easy to feel like you are failing through no fault of your own
x. Destiny: The Taken King ; I don't like the new dumbed-down Crucible maps, the plot is only getting worse, and it's idiotic to just see a meaningless "level 40" next to everyone, but the new areas and challenges are fun to play. And I did enjoy Sparrow Racing.
x. Downwell ; it's an endless faller/roguelite, but somehow for me this is still a better Metroid game than Axiom Verge or Ori and the Blind Forest.
x. Besiege ; The best "build a contraption" game I've ever played
x. Cities: Skylines ; The best city-builder game I've ever played
x. Rocket League ; The best e-sports game I've ever played
x. Undertale ; The best soundtrack of the year, some very clever integration of gameplay mechanics and storytelling, and it's genuinely funny, but it is a narrative game and it just doesn't hold together overall as well as Life is Strange.
x. Broforce ; When it comes to having fun blowing stuff up, Just Cause 3 has nothing on Broforce.
x. Star Wars Battlefront ; A few of the maps and modes are really good actually, and the look and sound of it is just perfect.

And nope I didn't care for The Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid V, or Fallout 4. They are just spread too thin.

Nothing this year impressed me like Destiny, NaissanceE, Dark Souls II, The Talos Principle, Thief, or Escape Goat 2 did last year, but it was still a very good year for games of many genres.

The only game I missed last year that might have made my list had I played it was Advanced Warfare which really is remarkably better in its multiplayer than all the other Call of Duty games. Even better than Titanfall really, though not by much. Black Ops III is back to the same old stuff, though with a very pretty coat of paint.

 

[KorrZ]

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; What can really be said about this game? It's a masterpiece through and through. The writing and characters are sharp, which is no surprise since they've been doing this perfectly since the first game. What is surprising though, is how they managed to take that level of quality and bring it into an open-world setting without losing anything. They completely kept up their promise when they said that the world would be dense with meaningful side content. The world is stunningly beautiful, and the soundtrack is my favorite of the year easily. I knew this was my GOTY back in June when I finished it for the first time after 100 hours. If that wasn't enough, the Hearts of Stone DLC would have sealed the deal on it's own. Best DLC for a game this gen by far.

2. Pillars Of Eternity ; I haven't finished Pillars yet, in fact I'm not very far into it at all. Yet, I can already tell that it's one of the best games I've played this year. The writing is engaging and really engrosses you into the world in a way that I never expected a 2D isometric game could. As someone who completely missed the 90s CRPG era it's impressive to me just how much I enjoy the combat and text based descriptions for everything. It's like a really good book that you can play and impact.

3. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; I enjoyed the first game a lot when it came out, more than I think most people did. This game is an improvement in almost every single way. The more open areas and slight metroid style progression is really addicting. It encourages you to continually revisit areas as you get new equipment to uncover new relics and weapon schematics which you can then modify to your liking with the crafting system. The story is kind of disappointing but the setpieces are still bombastic and really fun to play and the moment to moment gameplay is generally thrilling.

4. Dying Light ; Surprise sleeper hit for me. I didn't really like Dead Island very much and never got around to finishing it after the first area. Dying Light though was surprisingly engaging. As bad as the story was it was charming in that B movie kind of way. The side quests were surprisingly well done and the core gameplay was solid. I loved the TES style experience system where you get XP for actually utilizing the different skills. The night time gameplay added a great risk-reward aspect by doubling XP generation. In general it was just a surprisingly well put together game.

5. Fallout 4 ; If you had told me in January that Fallout 4 would release this year and it wouldn't shoot right to the top of my GOTY list I would have called bullshit. Yet here we are. Fallout 4 is a very incremental sequel from what they produced for Fallout 3. While it's still a really fun game that I spent 80 hours trekking around in, it's just inherently less impressive against an RPG genre that's seen something like TW3 come out and blow away expectations. I really hope Bethesda takes a really hard look at the competition for TES6.

6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; 2015 was the year that I actually got into the MGS series. I played all of the mainline games (1-4) in Feb-March of this year and absolutely fell in love with the insane story and characters. As you can imagine, I was beyond hyped for 5 and even took the day off work to play it. When it released, I was totally hooked. The gameplay is perfect. Exactly what I've always wanted MGS to be, and what you can easily see they were going for with 3. The more you get into the game though, the more disappointing it becomes. The trailers got you so hyped for this epic and amazing conclusion to the series and then the story was basically non-existent. This is another game that should easily have been my GOTY but the story just left me feeling so disappointed that it soured me on the game in general.

7. Until Dawn ; Another great B movie story. It was a David Cage style game done right. With interesting characters and a good sense of divergence in the story based on the different actions that you take.

8. Bloodborne ; A thoroughly solid game in the Souls series. It was a real treat in the beginning of the year and a great get for PS4 owners. Combat and boss design is excellent as usual and the setting and art direction are top notch. Ultimately though, I'm beginning to feel the Souls fatigue at this point. I've played every game day 1 since Demon's Souls and the gameplay (while excellent) is starting to get a little too familiar for me, the challenge and sense of wonder just isn't there anymore 4 very similar games later.

9. Batman: Arkham Knight ; My favourite Batman game since Asylum. There was a bit too much of the Batmobile, granted. Otherwise though, this was the most tight Batman game yet. Loved the big open city and all of the side quests and it was an absolutely gorgeous game to look at on PS4.

10. Mortal Kombat X ; I'm not much of a fighting game fan (not at all really) but MK has always held a special place for me. I loved the story mode even if it was a bit too short, and the Crypt being a little adventure game of it's own was genius. It's great, casual fighting game fun. I had tons of fun playing online for a few weeks after launch.

 

[VARIA]

1. Metal Gear Solid 5 ; My most played game of the year with over 120 hours invested (didn't do any online stuff), it is just one of the most fun games I have ever played period. I also liked the story and all the characters, considering this game was released unfinished it is a pretty damn polished and addicting experience.
2. Xenoblade 3DS ; Never got around to playing this on the Wii and having it on the go made it more accessible. I really love how this game streamlines all the annoying bits of JRPGs and just lets you focus on exploration and story.
3. TIS-100 ; One hell of a pleasant surprise. I'm no programmer but this game sure makes me pretend that I am one. It's a refreshing change of pace from everything out there.
4. Bloodborne ; A slight change of pace (literally) for the Souls formula.
5. Final Fantasy Record Keeper ; Didn't think I would be including a mobile game in my top games of the year but this game is wonderfully crafted to appeal to our FF nostalgia. The attention to detail to the FF series is meticulous. From music, to characters & lore, it's all there in one tiny free package.
6. Homeworld Remastered Collection ; Bringing a classic up to date without sacrificing its essence.
7. Super Mario Maker ; Simple, yet deep. This will be fun for a VERY long time.
8. Hotline Miami 2 ; More of the same, but the established formula is still as addicting as ever, and the soundtrack? To die for.
9. Final Fantasy Type 0 HD ; What I always imagined realtime FF fights to be like, story is a mess but the world and fighting system are so well done that it is a joy to play.
10. Majora's Mask 3D ; A nicely done remake to a classic game.

 

[Gbraga]

1. Bloodborne ; A master class in game design and it's a Souls game made for someone like me (aggressive, violent and dark).

You should check out this band, they'll be right up your alley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4

Spoiler

I'm sorry

 

[Irnbru]

1. Bloodborne ; git gud
2. Rocket league ; git gud v2
3. Galak-Z ; I'll leave a comment on this one. Galak-Z was an maxing throwback to robotech. Loved the controls and and general feel of the game. Really just a superb product and amazes more people didn't like it. I miss the old robotech games

Everything else was varying levels of shit or I haven't played it yet.

 

[opticalmace]

1. Bloodborne ; This is the first souls game I've played. I was hesitant to buy this, worried about the difficulty of the games. I'm only 10 hours in but it is easily my game of the year, and maybe the best game I've played in 5 years. It is somewhat punishing but no other game is as satisfying when you break through.
2. Super Mario Maker ; This was one of my favourite games of the year even before I played it. Watched Patrick Klepek fight against Mario Maker was hilarious. It didn't disappoint once I actually got a chance to play it.
3. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker ; Cute and stress-free. I just wish there was more of it.
4. Contradiction ; If I did this, would it mean anything to you?
5. Agar.io ; I was surprised by how fun and engaging this game is. It's hard to not play for hours.
6. Kerbal Space Program ; Finally!

 

[MrS]

1. n++ ; The most fun I've had with a game in 2015. Always challenging and really annoying at times, but I fell in love with it.

1. N++ ; I tried this game many years ago when it was just a flash game and wasn't too impressed, but they have now fully explored the possibilities of their basic idea and created a perfect game. Do not miss the couch multiplayer!

There are dozens of us. DOZENS

 

[Haunted]

A good year for gaming. Plenty of good games (the final list of candidates numbered 17!), albeit with few truly great ones. From and Nintendo continue to be the strongest representatives from Japan while the EU and NA indie scene continues to forge ahead, providing both the most inventive and brilliant game design experiments while also encroaching on the AAA space in terms of production value and polish. Good times ahead, surely.


1. Ori and the Blind Forest ; What a unique developer: without a centralised HQ and a very unusual online-only collaborative structure, the handful of people from all over Europe that make up Moon Studios around founders Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol have created one of the best Metroidvanias... well, ever. A game that truly excels in every single area without any glaring weaknesses. Tight controls, challenging level design, satisfying combat, beautiful animations, breathtaking art, a sweeping and powerful soundtrack and the whole package pretty much polished to a degree that's unheard of outside of Nintendo EAD, Valve or the Blizzard games of old. Incredible work and a game that would be deserving of almost every other adjective that follow in this minimalist GOTY list.


2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; The most complete.

3. Rocket League ; The most exhiliarating.

4. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; The tightest.

5. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes ; The smartest.

6. Bloodborne ; The most atmospheric.

7. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; The biggest.

8. Super Mario Maker ; The most nostalgic.

9. Rebel Galaxy ; The most impressive.

10. Hand of Fate ; The most unique.

 

[Freeglader]

1. Bloodborne ; This game never ceases to amaze me. At times I end up hating it so much I love it. It's ridiculous. The gameplay is perfect to me and I absolutely love the style of the game's storytelling. So many people ignore it's story and lore (might be my favorite part!) but don't realize just how incredibly rewarding diving headlong into it can be.

2. Rocket League ; This game is pure fun and really addicting. I can't say how much I enjoyed some classic couch co-op of this game with my friends.

3. Star Wars Battlefront ; Perfectly captures the battles of the original trilogy that we know and love.

4. Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin ; Fantastic remaster. Awesome gameplay with excellent variation in potential character builds.

5. Final Fantasy XIV Heavensward ; wonderful setting and story

 

[Gnome Scat]

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Although it's story may have been disappointing if not absent at times, it's gameplay is some of the best I have experienced in a long, long time.

2. Fallout 4 ; Although it feels more like an Open World Shooter than an RPG, Fallout 4 still stands as a testament to Bethesda's world building skills and advances many aspects of Fallout's gunplay in very positive way. It's more causual, but still just as fun to play as the last two.

3. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; While swords and fantasy might not be up my ally, it's hard to not appreciate how well-crafted of a game The Witcher III is.

4. Dying Light ; The sleeper hit of the year, Dying Light stands alone as the only full-fledged Zombie shooter game I have ever enjoyed. Also, it's post-launch support continually sweetens the deal.

5. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; While the last reboot turned me off with it's overly dark, gritty, whiny, and QTE infested gameplay, the brighter level design and refined gameplay of this installment has won me over.

6. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood ; Smaller and less narratively impressive, The Old Blood was still one hell of a fun ride. I'll take as much Wolfenstein I can get from MachineGames.

7. Halo 5: Guardians ; Definitely a step above Halo 4, Halo 5 proves to have been a solid Halo game by 343i Industries. However, it seems that with every step forward they take with the franchise, they take another step backwards somewhere else. In this case, it was the removal of essential features like splitscreen and a variety of gametypes that holds Halo 5 back from being any higher on the list.

8. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege ; A great concept executed well in the game creates for a thrilling, fresh multiplayer experience. Unfortunately its lack of content and iffy serves prevent it from reaching its true potential.

9. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die ; A very strange game, but great nonetheless. It's hilarious antics are something that I still haven't forgotten.

10. #iDARB ; I initially forgot about this game, but it's just simply stupid fun. A great time with friends.

 

[BlueLegs]

1. Life Is Strange ; Game brought me to tears at a couple of points, of everything i played this year it left the biggest impact. Loved the music and the atmosphere.
2. Undertale ; Funniest game I have played in ages.
3. Axiom Verge ; Scratched my itch for wanting a new retro-metroid game.
4. Ori and the Blind Forrest ; Beautiful game.
5. Dying Light ; friend gifted this to me, played 100+ hours of it and am still playing. my biggest surprise game in ages.
6. Rocket League ; another gifted game, so much fun to be had with such a silly idea.
7. The Talos Principle ; Great design and puzzles.
8. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Did not expect to enjoy this as much as i did, got it more to stress test my rig, ended up logging a good 100+ hours into it.
9. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; I expected more, I honestly enjoyed the attention to detail that I felt ground zeros had, still a great game though.
10. Until Dawn ; Fun ride while it lasted.

 

[spekkeh]

Outside of the rather boring Witcher 3 and Bloodborne one-two passing, the rest of the field seems more diverse than ever. I kind of wish Undertale's lobby was stronger here. Not that it was my number one, but just so that the winners were less safe.

 

[Sidzed2]

1. The Witcher 3 ; Quite simply the biggest, best-written monster of a game released this year. The Witcher 3 is astounding on nearly every level. If CD Projekt Red can fine-time the combat next time around, they will have a nigh-on perfect game on their hands. For now, this will do just fine.

2. Batman: Arkham Knight ;

3. Bloodborne ;

4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ;

5. Rise of the Tomb Raider ;

6. Ori and the Blind Forest ;

7. Axiom Verge ;

8. Assassin's Creed Syndicate ;

9. Until Dawn ;

10. Broken Age ;

 

[Lakitu]

1. Fallout 4 ; I'm probably around 100 hours in and I'm still loving it. Still have to explore large portions of the map but I love discovering side-quests, mini-stories, all the unique dungeons (

Spoiler

for instance I just discovered a Chinese submarine in the coast with a Chinese ghoul captain...

) and witnessing hilarious AI battles around the wasteland. It's the most fun I've had exploring in any game I've ever played. Plus with the much improved combat, looting system, amazing art direction, atmosphere -- it ticks all the right boxes for me. Not to mention the customisation system and settlement system where I have built a huge base on Spectacle Island. Unfortunately there is a major point where Bethesda have regressed and that's the VA/dialogue system. Not to mention skills being nerfed and technical issues. Saying that, it's the most fun I've had in a game all year and I can't wait for any DLC.

2. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt ; As an overall package it's definitely one of the best games of the year. Graphics, art direction, music, writing,locations, quests, characters are some of the best I've ever experienced in an RPG. It only makes me even more excited for Cyberpunk 2077. But there were some issues that hindered my experience and that was controls and some technical issues. But it's a masterpiece, that's it really. I can see it being GAF's universal GOTY.

3. Bloodborne ; I've never played a Dark Souls game before but I've loved my time with this. The only thing I really didn't enjoy was the Chalice Dungeons. But the main game itself is brimming with amazing content and no filler whatsoever. Which makes a nice change of pace. The game is challenging, tactical and that's one of the reasons I love it so much. Environments and mood are perfect for the game it tries to be. So many memorable moments.

4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; The gameplay is pretty much perfect. As far as stealth mechanics, tools at your disposal, movement, animation, infiltration gameplay goes it definitely is the best stealth game ever made. The first chapter in terms of story was pretty interesting too. But what brings it down? Everybody knows. The story eventually becomes poor but that's not really what bothers me. It's completing the hundredth same side-op or the static boring open world or reusing the same locations in the game multiple times. But as far as gameplay goes it more than deserves 4th on my list.

5. Batman: Arkham Knight ; Top notch production values, insanely detailed open world and atmosphere and probably the best ending I've experienced in a game this year. Gameplay is still as fun and addictive ever even with the addition of the Batmobile which was pretty fun to blast around in. It just overstays it's welcome with the vehicular battles towards the end. It's the best Arkham game I've played personally but it lets itself down in the riddler challenges and most of the side-quests. The

Spoiler

Joker hallucination

stuff is probably the best part of the game.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

1. Bloodborne ; Awesome gameplay, and a setting to die for. This, as Demons Souls before it, will be stuck im my memory for a long time. (One memory in particular will always stay with me. And that was playing Bloodborne on a Multiplex Cinema screen and fighting a boss for the first time, with friends watching and cheering/screaming around. I beat the boss with only a handful of health left. I jumped out of my seat in joy of victory... what a moment.)
I liked the absents of shields, the faster gameplay and the fact that there are only a handful of unique weapons. The c. dungeons on the other hand can go and fuck themselves. DeSo was my GOTG, as it stands, Bloodborne is a easy GOTY for me. Nothing came close.

2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; When i started playing the game, I was more or less on media black out, i was pumped and ready to dive in. I loved the gameplay, the 60fps and the story seemed to be going somewhere. But damn, it was so sad to witness what started to happen in front of my eyes. Repetitive Missions, Online crap shoved into my face, and it all started to crumble and fall apart. What a genre defining game this could have been.... still, for the 20h or so i played it i had a lot of fun thanks to the fantastic gameplay. For that i have to pay my respect.

 

[rdytoroll]

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Best game of the year and my favorite RPG of all time. CD Project created a beautiful, big world which is home to interesting beasts and man alike. Every single character in this game breathes live into a world the likes of which we've never seen before. Great graphics and a wonderful soundtrack make this one into the perfect package.

2. The Beginner's Guide ; After finishing this I felt emotionally exhausted. I felt sadness. I felt like I wanna create something. I felt alone and at the same time I felt blessed. I felt anger, I felt some sort of happiness. And I'm not ashamed to say that I cried a few times. Most emotional gaming experience of the year.

3. Life Is Strange ; Contrary to my GOTY, I went into Life Is Strange with zero expectations. Sure, I've read some good things about it, but I never whould have thought that we'd get such a great and emotional story. As someone who's been going to university for a few years now, I could still relate to the characters and their struggles. Also features the best soundtrack this year. Must-play.

4. Bloodborne ; What a game. This will get your heart pumping, your palms sweaty and can lead to abuse of your controller. Features the best combat this year with a beautiful and horrifying world to explore. Killing a boss for the first time is just as good as ever and I can't wait for what Dark Souls 3 brings to the table.

5. Soma ; I'm a big wuss when it comes to Horror games and movies. But I still wanted to play it for the story and I am glad I did. I'm pretty sure I'll never play this game again because of the constant fear it emits. It was all worth it though for the story, for the environments and for the two main characters. The ending absolutely destroyed me and made me feel some kind of hope at the same time. And I'm glad it did both of those things.

6. Fallout 4 ; When this game was announced I've already had a mental debate between this one and Witcher 3 for the GOTY spot. Well, it didn't quite meet all of my expectations so it's a little further down the list. It's a great game, but it really doesn't bring anything new to the table. Still, it's Fallout and I had a lot of fun so far with it. Also an honorable mention to the Soundtrack which is as good as ever.

7. Until Dawn ; I love story-driven games so this one was right up my alley. It's not quite as scary as Soma, but it still makes you jump a fair bit. Graphics are top notch and I love the possibility of losing your favorite chracter by making a wrong decision. I think that the second half of the game went a little bit too crazy for my taste, but overall this game was awesome.

8. Batman: Arkham Knight ; Played it on the PS4 which was a smooth experience. Great story and a great gameworld, which could now be traversed with the Batmobile. Some of the Batmobile fights could get a little annoying, but the amazing hand to hand combat and stealth sections made up for it. I thought this was one was a fitting ending to the Batman saga.

9. The Order: 1886 ; Best graphics I have ever seen in a video game. I also think that it played perfectly as a TPS. I also am a big fan of the whole world they created and the look of London.

10. Journey ; I didn't get a chance to play this when it first came out on the PS3. I'm really glad that it got released for the PS4 this year. It's a short, beautiful and emotional experience and it deserves a spot on my GOTY list.


Honorable Mentions
x. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ; This one almost made the list, but I've decided against it, because the 3rd game did sour me a bit on the whole series. The 2nd one was a perfect adventure which made me even more disappointed in the last one.
x. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; One of the best soundtracks this year. The game can get a bit frustrating with the overuse of windows. It still was an exciting ride.
x. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 ; Features the best multiplayer in a COD since Black Ops 2. The singleplayer was one of the worst in the series though.
x. Total War: Attila ; RTS games have always been my favorite games since I started gaming. The last few years haven't been too kind to the genre, so I was glad when the next Total War released. I love the time period, the factions and overall feel of the game.

 

[Nipo]

This thread is really making me want to give Bloodborne a chance.

I picked it up after seeing all the comments. Played for 4-5 hours and stopped. Definitely not my type of game. While I can see why some people like it, don't go in with high expectations and expect to love it like I did or you'll be disappointed.

 

[Greddleok]

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; It was night. I was slinking between a recently cleared out guard post, and the objective, when I was caught in the headlights of a truck. The CFA soldiers got out looking for me after I dove into a nearby bush. Satisfied that they must have imagined something, one of the soldiers got back in the truck, and took this rare opportunity to run down his partner in a jealous fury over the recent promotion he was passed up on. He then calls into base to alert them to an enemy who is active in the area and killed his CO.
The way the systems interact is what made me fall in love with MSGV. It’s why it’s my most played game this year because, while there aren’t many different types of mission, you’re given an almost infinite ways to interact with them. I’m not just talking stealth or all-guns-blazing, there’s just so much more to it than that, and you’re encouraged to go back and test out new approaches to each mission by the tasks that come along with them, as well as aiming for S-ranks.
The story, while probably its weakest point, was still enough to keep me involved. Missions 43 and 45 were the high points in terms of narrative for me. They were affecting in different ways, but extremely efficient at it. No open world game comes close to it. The world felt real. It wasn’t filled with little pieces of crap, it was empty, like a war zone is in real life.

MGSV isn’t the game MGS fans wanted, so I understand a lot of the distaste. It is however, an almost perfect game in its own right, you just have to forget the baggage.

Oh and Kiefer is miles better than Hayter.

2. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ; I bought this on a whim, while I was waiting for Bloodborne to come out. It turned out to be one of the best purchases I made this year. It's an incredibly deep game with so much to give the player, as long as the player is willing to give in return. This would be number 1 if it wasn't for the fact that I started to lose interest after making it to the infamous G-rank. The difficulty becomes a little too much, to the point that I was stressed out while playing it. Absolutely fantastic game, and I'm now a MonHun convert.

3. Splatoon ; I didn't think a multiplayer shooter could do it for me any more after Destiny. I thought that was the end, that was as good as shooters would ever be. I was wrong. Splatoon combines Nintendo's flare for art design and glee with an extremely fun the play, competitive shooter.

4. Bloodborne ; Bloodborne got robbed. It's a great game, it just doesn't compete with Dark Souls. It's on the same playing field, but falls short. I really love Bloodborne, but I feel like it could have been more.

5. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; The best fantasy RPG I've played in a long, long time. It has a lot going for it. It's pretty, it's got some of the best writing I've seen in any video game, it just has the worst combat system around. For a game which, including DLC is easily 100+ hours, of which a lot of that is spent fighting things, the combat needed to be at least fun. It's a shame, it could have been my favourite game of all time.

6. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse ; A beautiful little game from Wayforward. It's mechanics and exploration are tight and well defined. I enjoyed every minute of this game.

7. Nuclear Throne ; Finally. It came out!

8. Mario Maker ; This is what Mario games had to evolve into eventually. Almost perfect execution.

9. Apotheon ; I know a lot of people didn't like this due to the clunky controls, and it being described as a metroidvania, when it's clearly not. I just found smashing people on the head extremely satisfying, and found the aesthetic charming.

10. Emily is Away ; I played this today. It's emotionally resonant and has an incredibly charming interface.

 

[MegaSackman]

My list, I'll update it with comments later today.

1. Bloodborne ; This is what Castlevania should have turned into, the best gameplay I've played in terms of action/adventure, with incredible soundtrack that makes boss fights shine, brilliant combat encounters and a superb art direction. The first 20 hours of this game and the DLC are what I consider the true jump from PS3 to a new generation of gaming.

2. The Witcher III Wild Hunt ; Same as Bloodborne, this is what I expect from PS4 and not only that, this is what I expect from open world games. I really loved galloping through Velen and Skellige, I loved most of the stories and the treatment of the dialogues. This is the most ambitious game I've played so far this gen and it shows. More points to CDP for the incredible support.

3. Batman Arkham Knight ; Ahhh this game... in terms of cinematic presentation, wow factor, and surprises, this is all I've been expecting from a Batman game, gameplay is also awesome but there's a point in which the Tank mobile turns into an annoyance. Also the actual Arkham Knight plot is really lame but again, there are lots of story moments that are incredibly amazing.

4. Tales From The Borderlands ; Well, here's a thing from I expected nothing about and caught me by surprise. I knew nothing about Borderlands but this is Telltale at their best, the story is charming and really fun but the characters are everything here. I really hope there's a second season to this. High note to intros in each episodes!

5. Everybody's Gone To The Rapture ; I was really eager to play Rapture when it was close to release and it didn't dissapoint me one bit, the town is incredibly beautiful, the score is even more and the voice acting is superb too. The stories are very emotional and you really connect with what happened in there. It's a little too slow but still an amazing experience.

6. Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain ; Ok... this is a similar case like Arkham Knight, a ton of love/hate with these two games but the hate was bigger in this one. Gameplaywise this is the perfect Metal Gear game and I would say game in general. Boss fights, story, characters, world design, all of that is horrible, the story carrying the most dissapointing side of it. I expected much more from this, and even if there are moments of brilliance (being mission 43 my favourite piece of storytelling) in general it's a letdown. That said, I've played 100hs of it and most missions are expertly designed.

7. Until Dawn ; Another great surprise, I thought this was going to be awfull but in the end it was great fun. Characters are hilarious in a good way and I loved them all, even Emily. The story was even more interesting that I'd have hoped for even if it was all over around. Hope for a sequel or "spiritual" sequel, there's so much more that can be done with this style.

Nothing else worth of mention from what I've played.

 

[tav7623]

This year I played a ton of games (but unfortunately not enough to complete this year's 52 game challenge) and out of the games that were released this year my top 10 would have to be.


1. Resident Evil: Revelations 2; Coming into this game I was a little conflicted as I enjoyed the first game but I was not a fan of the idea that it would be episodic ala The Walking Dead game or that they weren't releasing it on the 3DS. After playing it all my worries went away cause this game is not only a F***ing fantastic Resident Evil game, it's a F***ing fantastic game with an addicting new version of Raid Mode. Now is the game perfect no (I wish there were more maps available for Raid Mode and that they had more differentiating objectives) but for an RE game it's pretty awesome.

2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Given Konami's handling of this game and their general "F*** the fans" attitude (which I hope bites them in the ass so hard they go under) the past couple of years I was a bit conflicted as to whether or not to buy this game let alone place it on my top 10 games of the year list. Well as you can tell I've put it on the list (but just not at #1 even though I enjoyed this game even more than Revelations 2) cause it's a fantastic game even though it was technically incomplete (missing 2 whole chapters and "ends" abruptly) and was in essence a fitting end to Hideo Kojima's tenure at Konami.

3. Rise of the Tomb Raider; I've been a long time fan of the Tomb Raider series and while some people did not care for the 2013 reboot I really enjoyed it. So I was really excited to play the sequel when it came out in November and the game imo didn't disappoint, it imo was everything you come to expect from a sequel....bigger, badder, more improved. My only knock against the game was that I personally didn't care for the game's story as much as I did with the 2013 reboot which I really enjoyed.

4. Mortal Kombat X; Like a number of games on my list I was a fan of the series prior to playing this latest entry and like those other games I had enjoyed the previous game in the series. Coming into this game my only gripes were the lack of certain classic characters, the (imo dumb) decision to split the move sets for every character between three character "variations", and the pricey season pass. Other than these gripes I really really enjoyed this game, so much so that over the course of the year (starting in June) I entered into 4 local MKX tournaments where I managed to go 2 - 2 and have sunk over 30 hours into the game.

5. Splatoon; When I first saw the trailer for this game I wasn't really impressed and didn't really have any intentions on picking it up what so ever. What ultimately got me to pick it up was actually the lengthy delay of the (eventually cancelled) last gen versions of Mortal Kombat X (at the time I didn't own a "current gen" system or a good enough PC so the last gen versions were gonna be the only way I'd have been able to play the game) which I had a fully paid pre-order for. After talking to a few people in the know about the last gen versions of MKX I decided to switch my pre-order to the nearest upcoming game for a system I owned which happened to be Splatoon for the Wii U. After playing the game at length I'm kinda glad I picked it up as the online multiplayer mode for the game was surprisingly fun (and occasionally frustrating) despite not having a traditional chat function and limiting player's map selection to just 2 maps every 6 hours.

6. Ori and the Blind Forest; Like with Splatoon I didn't originally intend to pick up this game, but after getting an Xbox One I began looking for games to play for the system and I had heard that if you liked 2D platformers that this game would be worth checking out. They were right, this game was a fun, but touching platformer (the bit at the beginning was so sad that it gave me "Fox and the Hound" vibes) with a dash of Metroidvania to it

7. Assassin's Creed Syndicate; I got this game in late 2015 as a Christmas present so I didn't get to play it too much before the year ended. Fortunately due to how late this year's best of 2015 thread has been running I've been able to finish this game and I gotta say this game has to be my favorite Assassin's Creed game yet.

8. Batman: Arkham Knight; While this game was imo one of the weakest games in the series it was still a pretty good game overall and one of the better ones I played this year.

9. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water; When it comes to the Fatal Frame series I'm a relative newcomer (I played my first Fatal Frame game just last year) so I was excited to hear that the latest game in the series was coming West and it imo didn't disappoint. The only thing that sucks is that Nintendo decided to relegate this game to the confines of the eShop instead of Devil's Third which got a limited physical release despite being (from what I've heard) one of the worst games to come out this year.

10. Rare Replay; I picked this game up based on the nostalgia for the NES game Battletoads and I'm glad I did cause this game has a nice selection of games some of which I never would have checked out if they weren't included in this compilation.

X. Stretchmo; I picked this game up mainly because I had enjoyed the first game in the series (Pushmo) and figured the new game mechanics would be interesting. All in all this was a pretty good but challenging puzzle game.

X. Transformers: Devastation; I grew up a fan of the G1 Transformers so I was thrilled to hear that Platinum Games (the makers of Bayonetta) were making a hack n slash based on the G1 Transformers complete with some of the original voice actors. Overall the game is pretty fun and even though it was a bit light on the number of playable characters (you can only play as one of 5 Autobots), still it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the G1 Transformers.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

Normally, I can expect to make multiple revisions to my game of the year list after I post it. This year, though, I made sure to take a good look at most of my contenders before I posted. There might be one more game added to this list later on, but this is more or less what this list will be when the deadline hits.

1. Undertale ; I'm not sure where to start with this one. It's just so damn good, I have next to no qualms with it. The gameplay is a really clever twist on conventional RPG combat. The writing is fantastic and often hilarious. The characters are endearing and are even characterized directly through gameplay. The music, well, it's Toby Fox, dude knows his music. Just all around an excellent game. It might not have deserved to win GameFAQs' GOAT contest so soon, but it's a clear choice for GOTY, and I expect the game to remain highly lauded in years to come.

2. Pillars of Eternity ; A late addition to my list, didn't start playing this game until the last few days of the year, but good god, I haven't gotten this into a WRPG since my LTTP playthrough of Alpha Protocol. Pillars of Eternity is simply an excellent game, full of interesting quests and dilemmas. I'm glad that Magran's fire has finally shown me the light.

3. Life is Strange ; Arcadia Bay is home to a wonderfully-written cast of characters, not the least of which being Chloe, and while the ending may undermine it, you can still see the consequences of your actions throughout the game. Some pacing issues aside, a very excellent Telltale-style adventure, and one that surpasses even this year's Telltale game of choice.

4. Rock Band 4 ; This is just pure bias. I love me some Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and Rock Band 4 was practically guaranteed a spot on this list by its mere existence. Not much to say, except that I'm very glad this series is back.

5. Rocket League ; Part of me feels like I'm putting this game too high, since I've only put five hours into this game, but what a five hours. I'm not much of a multiplayer kinda guy, but Rocket League is pure gameplay bliss. Everything about this game is so damn satisfying. Just, yes.

6. Cities: Skylines ; I love me some sim games, but SimCity eluded me for some reason. Cities: Skylines, on the other hand, hooked me as hard as Zoo Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon, or The Movies. The emphasis on garbage and corpse management is odd, but this is a very addictive city builder nonetheless.

7. Transformers: Devastation ; I haven't actually beaten this game yet, but it's honestly some of Platinum's best so far. Only problem is that I got my ass whooped by Starscream of all people.

8. The Beginner's Guide ; The Stanley Parable was good, but I felt it was somewhat overrated, even in comparison to more controversial walking sims like Gone Home. the Beginner's Guide, however, is a very fascinating plunge into someone's mind. I don't want to spoil anything, so just play it, it's like an hour and a half long.

9. Tales From the Borderlands ; Telltale does Borderlands so well, even people who hate Borderlands love this game. I like the Borderlands games' writing perfectly fine, but there's no denying that this game's writing blows it out of the water. I'd say it's up there as one of Telltale's best.

10. Splatoon ; Just Cause 3 couldn't run well on my computer, so I guess this is my token shooter of the year. That's not to say that this game isn't here on its own merits. The gameplay is, as they say, "fresh" and addictive. My time with Splatoon is done, but it was great while it lasted.

Honorable mentions

x. Super Mario Maker ;

x. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ;

 

[Tizoc]

Wait Mushihimesama doesn't count?
It wasn't released on PC before and I don't see it in the spreadsheet.

 

[CREMSteve]

1. Until Dawn ;
2. King's Quest ;
3. Destiny: The Taken King ;

Just got Bloodborne for Christmas, so it may factor in as well.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Wait Mushihimesama doesn't count?
It wasn't released on PC before and I don't see it in the spreadsheet.

Sure it does, as a re-release. It's listed right there.

 

[Tizoc]

Sure it does, as a re-release. It's listed right there.

Oh my bad, I did a search in the doc but it didn't show up. I scrolled to M and there it was heh.