I played too many games this year: Here are some opinions on them

This has been a seminal year for gaming to say the least. I barely had time to even touch my back catalog of games with how much came out this year. I probably ended up playing somewhere upward of 40-50 games, which might be the most I ever played in a single year. Even then, there are still a handful of games I didn't get to that I really want to. I decided to write an blog covering the games I played this year for whatever it is worth.

2015's Old Game of the Year

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin

Runners-up: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Destiny: The Taken King

While Scholar of the First Sin is technically a 2015 release, it is mostly just a remix of the original Dark Souls 2 with one new boss and a little more story filled in. Playing Souls 2 a year removed from the high expectations put upon it along with the remixed levels and all of the DLC packed in certainly helped. Don't get me wrong; this is still the weakest entry in the Souls series. But at least now there are days I might tell you I like it as much as Demon's Souls.

Meanwhile, I finally got around to finishing Danganronpa this year. It's a shame its gameplay is so mediocre, as that's the closest game I've ever played to recreating Phoenix Wright. Meanwhile, Destiny got a lot of much needed love and attention this year and has finally started to become the game it was supposed to be in the first place.

Best Looking Game

Ori and the Blind Forest

Runners-Up: The Witcher 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider

Ori is a damn work of art. Every single last frame of that game has so much craft and beauty that it's mind boggling. Never has the comparison to "playing an animated movie" been so apt. I'd go so far as to say Ori is the single most beautiful looking video game I've ever played.

Best Story (no spoilers)

Life is Strange

Runners-up: Her Story, Tales from the Borderlands

I'm not going to dive into the stories of these games as the last thing you ever want to do is spoil a good story for someone, but I'm rather going to just comment on the fact that 2015 has been a breakthrough for storytelling in video games. From the three titles mentioned to Soma to Undertale to Cradle and beyond, this has been the first year I can ever recall that we were given more than two or three games with stories above the level of say a Hollywood popcorn flick.

Best New Character

Chloe Price

Runners-up: Fiona (Tales from the Borderlands), Inspector Jenks (Contradiction: Spot the Liar)

The strength of Life is Strange's story hinges on its two lead protagonists. This is even more the case for angst-ridden, teenage screwup Chloe Price. Chloe represents a very difficult type of character to write. It's not just about hitting a grey area with the character, but hitting a sweet spot in writing such a broken human being who can act stupid and irrational, and yet possesses enough positive qualities that you want to do anything in your power to help them. Vital to it all is the phenomenal performance of Ashly Burch, who is asked to hit about every point on the emotional spectrum throughout the story.

Best Music

Ori and the Blind Forest

Runners-up: Metal Gear Solid V, Crypt of the Necrodancer

Based on the day of the week, I could take either MGS V or Ori as my pick for this category. These are two completely different soundtracks to be sure. Ori’s beautiful orchestrated soundtrack is sweeping in nature. Whether a scene portrays a sense of dread, a feeling of calm, or a sense of loss, Gareth Coker’s score is able to evoke any emotion the game asks of it. What puts the score on another level though is how music is used far more than spoken dialogue to convey . Metal Gear meanwhile features such a wide breadth of music that it could compete almost twice over based on its original score as well as its licensed music.

Best Surprise

Until Dawn

Runners-up: Life is Strange, Splatoon

The fact that Until Dawn even finally came out is kind of a surprise in and of itself. The best surprise of all though is that it’s one of the strongest titles of 2015. The game realizes the promise of the many attempts of David Cage to make QTE-driven adventure game where choices and actions have consequences.

Most Disappointing Game

Just Cause 3

Runners-up: Evolve, Halo 5

I wrote a lengthy review covering my feelings on Just Cause 3. It is the singular game I played this year that felt on the level of say one of 2014’s biggest disappointments. While many of us were anticipating a Saints Row the Third style leap in quality, we were instead given an entry that seemed to learn little from Just Cause 2’s flaws. Meanwhile, the console versions suffered from possibly the worst load time issues of the current generation.

Evolve ultimately was a game too reliant on having a group of people playing their classes exactly right to have any fun with it. Meanwhile, it was rotten with microtransactions. Halo 5 feels the most egregious letdown of a disappointing Fall season for AAA shooters, especially after the mess that was the Master Chief Collection. Halo 5’s campaign was mediocre at best. Meanwhile, numerous game modes were missing on launch, while the Req system severely impacted Warzone mode. 343 Studios dropped the ball on this one after the mostly quality Halo 4.

My Eleven Through Twenty in Rough Order

• Special mention: The Beginner’s Guide – I am not going to even start on a “is this a game” discussion, but the game is so subjective it’s hard for me to rank it.
• Arkham Knight – This is a case of a game that would have been actively better by just removing content.
• Mortal Kombat X – The best fighting game of the year, but then again it was a relatively weak year for fighting games.
• Axiom Verge – Midway through the game, I thought this would be in my top ten for sure, but the last third of the game fell flat for me.
• Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate – One of the best entries in the series, but it doesn’t do enough new to rank higher.
• Cities: Skylines – Now we’re getting into the contenders. Cities was the Sim City game people have been craving for the past decade.
• Kerbal Space Program– If I played more of it, it might be in my top ten.
• Her Story – My 7-14 games are honestly not far apart, so it got brutal starting here. While Her Story didn’t end up higher on my list, it remains one of the most important games of the year and something I think everyone should play.
• Tales from the Borderlands – While I adore Tales and think it might be my favorite Telltale game to date, that game engine is starting to impact these games so negatively that it’s hard to look past.
• Witcher 3 - Let me get it out of the way right now: I like the game. My not putting it in my top ten is not to be contrarian or to get a reaction. It was really tough trying to decide between it and several other picks for the final few spots on my list. It just missing my top ten is more about how strong this year has been than anything else. This is my way of asking you to keep reading and not hate me for excluding it.
• Until Dawn – I so badly wanted to find a spot for it in my top ten, as I’ve not only played it and enjoyed it, but have watched three LPs of the game from start to finish. Even now I want to swap something out of my top ten for it. #TeamEmily

My Personal Top Ten Games of the Year

10. Rise of the Tomb Raider – I was not a big fan of the 2013 reboot, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that Rise of the Tomb Raider addressed most every major issue I had with the first game. Rise is one damn good looking game that benefits from a greater focus on exploring and raiding tombs.

9. Rocket League – In a year dominated by forced eSports, this was a case of eSports done right. Rocket League is one of those great “easy to pick up, but hard to master” examples. Matches are short and exciting, thus even when you’re getting your butt kicked, the pain doesn’t last that long.

8. Splatoon – Nintendo of all companies managed to produce what is easily 2015’s best multiplayer shooter. Splatoon has been a breath of fresh air. The game oozes style. It is approachable for players of all ages.

7. Undertale – Gamefaqs’ Greatest Game of All-Time. It may not actually be my personal favorite game of all time. It’s both charming and witty, and it manages to do things I didn’t think GameMaker Studio could do. I suggest going into it while ignoring the insane hype surrounding it.

6. Fallout 4 – I am an unapologetic Fallout fanboy, and so it’s no surprise I have enjoyed this game. While the new settlement building system didn’t really come together and there is still too much jank, the shooting now actually feels really good.

5. Ori and the Blind Forest - Any one of my top five games feels like a Game of the Year in most years. Ori is the closest a game has ever come to a high-quality animated movie being realized in video game form. The game evokes about every emotion on the spectrum through its brief six to eight hour length. Most importantly, the game isn’t afraid to actually be challenging, yet still includes ample enough checkpoints that you rarely get stuck.

4. Bloodborne - After the disappointing effort that was Dark Souls 2, Miyazaki put together what is in my opinion FromSoft’s best game to date. While Bloodborne sacrificed some amount of character customization and world building versus the Souls series, the faster paced, more skill-based combat more than made up for it.

3. Metal Gear Solid V – Whew boy. I thought MGS V would easily be my Game of the Year after finishing it. Sadly, Konami’s meddling with the game post-launch means that the amazing first month I spent with the game is difficult to ever replicate. Story issues aside, Metal Gear’s gameplay is among the best the genre has ever seen.

2. Mario Maker – Infinite Mario levels is a very good thing. Mario Maker represents Nintendo‘s ugly stepchild console finally realizing its potential. The game’s level building tools are so simple and intuitive that they put every other game of this type to shame.

1. Life is Strange – Long ago, I grew comfortable with the fact that storytelling in video games is, at best, simply about being entertaining. While there has been the occasional Last of Us or Silent Hill 2, these games come along so rarely that you expect to see maybe a handful of them a decade. Life is Strange just goes for it in a way video games just don’t.

I grew up on adventure games. It is a genre that represents me maybe more than any other. Life is Strange ultimately takes the promise of 2012’s excellent The Wakling Dead and fully realizes that potential. DontNod utilizes the episodic format here to its utmost advantage in a way Telltale has never quite fully figured out how to.

I could blab on and on about how much I adore this game. Sure, it has its warts. But there is such genuine honesty on display here. No gaming experience this year invoked the emotional responses this game got from me. When I finally set the controller down upon finishing it, I knew I had just finished my Game of the Year.

What issues were you seeing in Telltale's engine that impacted your enjoyment of Tales from the Borderlands?

Not saying you are wrong, just curious as I didn't notice anything. And am wondering what I might have missed.

Nice list!

@slag: Thanks! I wrote a longer review on it here. The hitching is what really drove me crazy. In particular, and I'll try my best to avoid spoiling anything by being vague, when things were getting hectic in episode 5, it was hitching every few seconds. Also, that's when the constant loading of additional content really started to get noticeable. I hit a few bugs as well (that one in episode 3 was the strangest where I failed a prompt, but it seemed like only half the sequence sort of reset. It was super weird.

I played the XBox One version for reference, but I just noticed I marked the review for the PC version. Whoops.

It's didn't ruin the game for me or anything, but I had 14 games I wanted to fit into a top ten and it irked me a bit. I have five number tens in my heart.

Interesting, Tomb Raider 2013 was high on my 2013 list but Rise of felt unfocused and flat to me. I still thought it was fun, but I wound up with a mountain of complaints.

I'm fully with you on Life is Strange. Such a moving, heartfelt experience that explores themes few other games have ever broached, and does so with an honesty and earnestness that conquers all its flaws. It hit me the same way Journey seemed to for many people (not me, sadly), engaging my empathy and sympathy unlike any game has done before. So many notes resonated with my personal experiences; I'm glad my episode 2 ended the way it did, because if it had gone the other way, I would have found continuing on pretty rough.

@believer258: I can see what you're saying, as yeah it does things quite a bit differently than that 2013 game even though the core gameplay didn't overly change a great deal. So by making it more open (I wouldn't exactly call it an open-world game though as it lacks a bit of that scope), I can see how it would feel less tight and focused.

If anything, I probably want it to go even further in the direction it went. I got this vision while playing it of a Tomb Raider game with less of a linear story focus and more like a Dark Souls game. I'm just saying if they made this game I'd be very, very happy!

@cav829 - Would you recommend Dark Souls 2 to someone who's only played Bloodborne? I know it's a bit different in terms of feel and speed, from what I've read. I've only played Bloodborne (in terms of "souls" games) and absolutely loved it. Also gave Lords of the Fallen a shot last year and enjoyed it, which from what everyone says is "Dark Souls-Lite."

Also curious about Until Dawn. I bought it for my wife for Christmas because she's a huge horror movie fan. She's not much of a gamer (loved watching me play Outlast) so I picked up Until Dawn.

@mightyduck: I think Dark Souls 2 is a fantastic game, and if you enjoyed Bloodborne and don't mind fantasy kingdom/dragon type worlds, you should have no trouble enjoying Dark Souls 2, it's much more accessible then the first Dark Souls. While I agree Dark Souls 1 is better, I don't think, DS2 is nearly as bad as some people complain, and I probably enjoyed the "playing" aspect of DS2 more then DS1. DS1's world is fantastic though.

@cav829: ah ok. I played on PC and encountered none of those issues you describe. Maybe I just got lucky, dunno.

I would also love to see the next Tomb Raider take a lot of cues from Dark Souls/Metroid in terms of structure! Rise of the Tomb Raider felt like they really wanted to step in that direction, but also wanted the tight scripting, pacing, and direction of an Uncharted game. In my opinion, they didn't mix the two things very well, resulting in a game where the open-world puzzle-solving collectible-gathering stuff isn't very fulfilling and the cinematic gun-slinging adventurer angle, while much better, gets dragged way down with it. I also feel like the gunplay falls far shy of the original's, at least in part because it never feels like it gets a chance to shine. I actually have a lot of thoughts about Rise of the Tomb Raider and should probably get those put into a review.

I can see why it might be on a GOTY list or why someone might really like it, but I think that Crystal Dynamics can do way better if they focus on Uncharted-esque adventuring OR psuedo open-world exploring.

I know you asked him, but I just want to note that I've been playing through Scholar of the First Sin and I don't think I'd recommend that version to someone who hasn't played through vanilla DS2 at least once. I thought vanilla DS2 wasn't that hard, but SotFS has been kicking my ass over and over again.

Hmm, what platforms do you have access to? The reason I ask is I'd probably recommend it, but I'm not sure it's what I would tackle next if I had the option of playing the original Dark Souls first. Besides the fact the original Dark Souls is better, as @believer258 said, Scholar of the First Sin is pretty unforgiving at the start of the game. I think it actually starts off harder than any game in the series, gets to be easier than any game, then smacks you over the head with some insidious DLC areas.

If you liked Lords of the Fallen though, you should definitely like it. As you mentioned, the main thing you have to get used to is the Souls games have slower, more deliberate combat versus Bloodborne's almost character action game speed. If you can, play the first Dark Souls before Scholar. But if not, I think you'll be fine.

If your wife loves horror movies, she should love Until Dawn. It's a glorious celebration of the slasher genre that is simultaneously a damn entertaining horror "movie" experience in and of itself. The gameplay is simple enough as well for someone not super into gaming.

I enjoyed reading that.

Totally agree with you on Dark Souls II. Like a lot of people, I liked it more while I was playing it than I did after I had stepped away and gained some objectivity (replaying Dark Souls 1 also didn't help my opinion of it), but a lot of people act like it's a bad game now which is just not the case. It may be the most disappointing Souls game, but still way better than the vast majority of games out there. If Dark Souls is a perfect 10 (and it is), then Dark Souls II is like an 8.5.

Also my most disappointing games of the year are easily Fallout 4 and MGSV. People are so different, am I right?

What I think is interesting is for years we have had Qunatic Dream fumbling about with their concept of an adventure game type. And, for years we have had Telltale fumbling about with their game type. Then -shazzam- this year Supermassive Games put out Until Dawn and Dontnod putting out Life Is Strange.

Oh, not saying that was their start; both SupermassiveGames or Dontnod, put out other games than didn't quite swat it out of the park. Moreover, it is not like Quantic Dream or Telltale put out junk. It is just this year Until Dawn and Life Is Strange demonstrated the possibilities of adventure game mechanics in the best possible way. And, they didn't rely solely on game play, because I think at least half their success was on really solid story telling. Tell a story and tell it well; and the burden of the marrying game play with narrative just looks easy.

Tales from the Borderlands had just awful performance but I enjoyed the story so much that I'm glossing over it as a negative in my personal list. I can't bring myself to hold it against it when other TellTale games have the exact same jank.

Interesting to see Life is Strange as your GOTY, that's one I missed this year due to time priority and I'll definitely play it next year.

@monkeyking1969: I find the evolutionary path of video games and genres super interesting as well. I know one of the most famous examples of what you're talking about is kill.switch, which basically invented the cover shooter genre, but was a mediocre game most people have forgotten by this point. Instead, Gears of War is the game the masses remember for defining the cover shooter genre.

Her Story might be this year's game that will be remembered for that. While it is debatable how good that game is (I obviously like it), what I think is more interesting is the possibilities that game represents. The adventure game genre is often a harbinger of possible game mechanics and story-telling mechanics that later get woven into other genres. And boy has it been a great year for the genre (I didn't even bring up the likes of King's Quest or Dreamfall Chapters which are still ongoing).

@davidh219:I know, right?

Yeah, MGS is great for all kinds of reasons which in no way are like previous MGS games, whereas the story is kind of a mess. So I can get entirely why a lot of people didn't dig it. I was also in the MGS 3 camp for previous best entry in the series. I'm certainly not blind to Fallout's issues either. I'd be disappointed if the next entry doesn't evolve the game further than this one did. As I said, it's always been one of my favorite series, so I'm a little on the forgiving side when it comes to its flaws.

I'm sorry, I have to disagree - Chloe was probably one of my most hated characters of the year.

"...beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”

@nickhead:Yeah, it kind of irked me a little more this time because it was like, why is this still happening after 3-4 years of this and on a new generation of consoles, y'know? But at the same time it's such a damn fun game it didn't severely impact my enjoyment of it. I thought for sure it'd get into my top 10 at one point. Tomb Raider really screwed me over in that regard as I had no expectations whatsoever of that being a factor.

I had the benefit of catching Life is Strange from the start before buzz really picked up surrounding it. I don't think it has been hurt as much as say Undertale has now that new players experiencing it have been given insanely high expectations by the fanbase, but the slow build of events in the game is one of the best aspects of it. But yeah, definitely give it a go, especially since it his $10 during the last Steam sale and probably will again in a week.

Also, I found out this morning that my top 20 features every one of Jeff Bakalar's top 15 games of the year. So that's pretty cool.

I took this list seriously until I saw #teamemily.

It was just a prank, HAN