Welcome, everyone, to my personal Game of the Year awards. 2015 was a phenomenal year for games of all kinds. From the many massive open world games, to the fantastic small titles that came seemingly out of nowhere, this year has been one of the better years in recent memory. Over the next five days, I will give out many awards to a variety of different games. Most will be good, a few will be bad, but every award will be well deserved. In order to properly explain some of my choices, I will need to spoil everything. Nothing will be off limits, so if you are interested in any of these games and don’t want to have them spoiled, I highly recommend playing them first. On with the show, Day 1 brings us an adventure through the past years of gaming, my crash course in all things Metal Gear, and some small, overlooked parts of many games that may have been missed. Again it is worth reminding you that there will be spoilers tossed around with no regard for whether or not you've played the games. With that said, let’s get started.

(All videos in this list were recorded by me directly from my PS4 or laptop. All in-game screenshots except the one of Ocelot were also taken by me directly from the PS4/laptop.)

2015's Non-2015 Game of the Year:

This category is for games that I played for the first time this year.

• The Crew (2014)

• Demon's Souls (2009)

• Frog Fractions (2012)

• Journey (2012)

• Shovel Knight (2014)

• Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)

• Super Mario 3D World (2014)

• Telltale's The Walking Dead: Season 1 (2012)

• Uncharted 3 (2011)

• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2010)

Honorable Mentions:

The Crew (2014): I know what you’re probably thinking. “Really? The Ubisoft game about cars that fucking still has towers in it?” Well yes, actually. The Crew is an incredibly relaxing experience and just driving around the world they created is one of the simplest pleasures in any open world game I’ve played in a while. If you ignore the awful story stuff, the less than stellar vehicle handling, and the way the whole game got turned into an ad for DLC, The Crew is actually kind of cool.

Frog Fractions (2012): When I heard about this game, I thought people were just being ridiculous. I was wrong. Frog Fractions is a game that at first seems like a fraction based educational game, but as you continue unlocking upgrades this game goes to some insane places. Unlike every other category over the next few days I refuse to spoil Frog Fractions. If for some reason you haven’t played it, go check it out here and get lost in its majesty.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2011): For years, I heard how Uncharted 2 was one of the best and most groundbreaking games on the PS3. While I certainly enjoyed my time with Among Thieves last year, I found it to be wildly overrated. With Uncharted 3 however, the vast majority of my complaints with the second game were addressed. Tightened controls, a better story, more self awareness of the nonsense in said story, and some small features that made the game more enjoyable overall were just some of the things that improved in the third installment. On top of that, I enjoyed the jaw dropping set-piece moments of this game far more than those in the second. I recognize that 2 did it first, but 3 did it better.

Runners up:

Shovel Knight (2014): I am not a big fan of this type of game. In fact I actively hate 2D platformers. Which is why Shovel Knight makes this list. From the outset, this game controlled incredibly well and had a great style that had me hooked. As I continued, fighting my way through the game’s unique set of bosses, I lost myself in this game. This was one of the few games that I played this year that left me craving more as the credits were rolling.

Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004): Sid Meier’s name has been on some of the best games ever made. None of them are better than the 2004 version of Pirates. This game takes you on a journey to find the main character’s family, but allows for complete freedom to live the pirate lifestyle in a still gorgeous Caribbean setting. The mobile version is fantastic, but the PC version is without a doubt the version you should play. This version has the incredible naval combat that 9 years later would inspire Assassin’s Creed 4, but it also features many segments that go into entirely different genres. There are stealth segments, there are rhythm segments, there are even turn based strategy elements with which Sid Meier’s name is synonymous and all of them are still a joy to play even 11 years later. This game still looks great and plays even better, but there is one game that I played this year that truly blew me away.

Winner:

Journey (2012): Much like the aforementioned Uncharted 2, I had heard more about Journey than I could stand, but with the recent PS4 remaster I finally got my hands on it. At first I wandered around, gathering my bearings, but soon I stumbled upon what makes Journey an incredible experience. I ran into another player and as we progressed through the game, we formed a mutual understanding using little more than a series of chirping sounds. Each level had its own unique aesthetic and every set-piece drew me ever closer to my newfound companion. A few hours later, after we both struggled our way through a frozen wasteland, we collapsed. I had heard that this is how the game handled the other player leaving. I felt a wide range of emotions as I ascended through the following section, taking in its sundrenched, drop-dead gorgeous glory, I noticed a small speck off in the distance. As I approached, I noticed it had a familiar form. Upon reuniting with my unspoken friend, I was flooded with sheer joy and as we reached the mountaintop I couldn’t shake the smile that had grown on my face. The way this game can connect two people beyond the superficial level of most multiplayer games is a truly impressive feat and all of the other elements of this game made it one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent memory. Journey is a beautiful game in more ways than one, and is without a doubt the best game that I played this year, that didn’t come out this year.

Best past Metal Gear Solid that I played

• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)

• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

• Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeros (2014)

• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013)

Runners up:

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeros: Before I picked this up off of Playstation Plus earlier this year, I had never played a Metal Gear game. What a way to start. I enjoyed my time with this playable teaser so much, that I got invested in the series and proceeded to rush through the listed games in about two and a half months. Even though it can be beaten in roughly ten minutes on an average run, that didn’t stop me from coming back to it time and time again.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: The thing that stands out the most about this series is the insane story that is told throughout every game. This one starts all the way at the beginning and tells the rise of Big Boss from highly-skilled soldier to living legend. The gameplay doesn’t hold up all that well and navigating the menus to complete even the simplest of tasks is a slog that destroys the flow of the game. But on the other hand it features one of my favorite characters of all time and epitomizes what the Metal Gear series is all about so I can’t be too mad at the dated aspects of this game.

Winner:

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: As the other bookend of the main story, MGS4 ties up the series in some truly insane ways. It was also the best playing game until Ground Zeroes. This borderline perfect combination of the strange Metal Gear story, fantastic gameplay, and bizarre easter eggs that define the series puts Guns of the Patriots at the top of not only one of the most revered franchises in gaming, but one of my new favorites.

Best "little” thing:

(Non-essential things that add to a game, that if taken out wouldn't change it.)

• The Couch- Battlefield Hardline

• Shield- Bloodborne

• Detective Jenks's Eyebrows- Contradiction: Spot the Liar

• Music level- Duck Game

• Changing the color of the green monster- Fallout 4

• Home run achievement- Fallout 4

• Old school games on the computer terminals- Fallout 4

• Teddy Bears- Fallout 4

• Helium gun- Just Cause 3

• Lisa- Life is Strange

• Taking a photo in reverse- Life is Strange

• Chicken Hat- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• The Hamburgers of Kazuhira Miller cassette tapes- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Zoo- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Cassie Cage selfie fatality- Mortal Kombat X

• Sackboy- The Order 1886

• Car Hats- Rocket League

• Wrong number song- Undertale

• Gwent- Witcher 3

• Real time beard growth- Witcher 3

Honorable Mentions:

The Hamburgers of Kazuhira Miller cassette tapes- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: In a game that approaches such topics as controlling language to control information, soldiers being used as pawns in meaningless wars, nuclear proliferation, and the "ability" to suffocate when wearing clothing, these tapes personify the other side of Metal Gear. The completely nonsensical, goofy, and lovable side. In these aptly named tapes, Kaz Miller cooks a series of hamburgers for Code Talker in an effort to find the perfect burger. Each tape gets progressively sillier, yet they somehow manage to touch topics such as processed foods and even American imperialism. If these tapes aren’t a microcosm of the series as a whole, I don’t know what is.

Zoo- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: I could have made a list of small things in MGSV alone, but one of the best little touches is the Animal Conservation Platform on Mother Base. When out in the field, any animal that is fultoned is put on this platform and it is a soothing experience to walk around looking at all the bears you’ve rescued during you time away from Mother Base. Or you can totally throw flashbangs at them. You know, whatever you feel like.

Runners up:

Chicken Hat- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: The chicken hat is one of the more useful items in MGSV. If you fail a mission three times in a row, the game will ask if you want to equip the aptly titled object. It is a literal chicken hat that allows Big Boss to be caught 3 times before the surrounding enemies go on full alert. On top of that it shows up in cutscenes, making even the most serious moments absurdly silly. It can even be "upgraded" into the Lil' Chicken Hat that makes it impossible to alert enemies. This item truly encapsulates the entire Metal Gear series. Even when the series tries to tackle serious topics, it does so in its own stupidly lovable way.

Helium gun- Just Cause 3: After liberating the small town of Vico Platessa in southwest Medici, you can find a gun on a platform in the town. You’ll notice right away that the gun has unlimited ammo, and also Rico now has a massive head. Once you start shooting, anyone hit will also have a similarly large head. After tethering or melee attacking them they will start floating away. This weapon adds quite a few new elements to an already absurd sandbox.

Winner:

Gwent- Witcher 3: The Witcher 3 is an expansive game that has a massive amount of side events going on in it. The thing that took up most of my time was this card collecting battle game. The gameplay loop of playing, finding better cards, playing, finding better cards, playing is one of the most engrossing systems in any game this year. I made it a mission that whenever I discovered a new area, my first order of business was to play every person I could and buy any card I could. Eventually I began mainlining the story quests, but I would still go out of my way to partake in anything Gwent related. The Witcher 3 has many things to like, but Gwent is an insanely addictive and enjoyable side activity.

Best Emergent Moment(s)

With the trend of massive open world games seemingly just beginning, I see games of the next few years becoming more focused on player driven moments. Here are some of the best that I experienced this year.

• Using hallucinogenic darts to complete a major assassination-Assassin's Creed Syndicate

• Making the AI fight- Bloodborne

• Drop kicking Zombies- Dying Light.

• Blowing yourself up with a nuke launcher- Fallout 4

• Walking through a 3-way firefight unscathed- Fallout 4

• Killing an enemy with a random object shot from the junk jet- Fallout 4

• Human fireworks- Just cause 3

• D-Horse wrecking a donkey- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Beating Quiet with a supply drop- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Cardboard Box Experimentation- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Punching yourself in the face with the rocket arm- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Honorable Mentions:

Making the AI fight- Bloodborne: The area that leads to Mergo’s Wet Nurse is one of my favorite areas in the game. Not only can you gain ~180,000 echos each time though the loop, you can also clear the area with a little help from the enemy AI.

D-Horse wrecking a donkey- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: When first setting foot in Africa, I decided to take D-Horse for a ride. A few minutes later he showed a donkey what happens when you charge the most badass horse in gaming.

Runners up:

Walking through a 3-way firefight unscathed- Fallout 4: Late in Fallout 4 there is a mission where the Institute and the Brotherhood of Steel clash on bunker hill. On top of this, you can warn the other factions leading to a scenario that allows you to stroll right through the middle of an intense battle. If I had done any Minute Men missions this probably could have turned into a 4-way fight, making it even more amazing.

Using hallucinogenic darts to complete a major assassination-Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate allows for every major assassination to be carried out in a variety of different ways. Getting an enemy to take care of the dirty work is always one of my favorite things that games do, and the fact that this one allows this tactic for major assassinations is fantasitic.

Winner:

Cardboard Box Experimentation- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: The cardboard box is one of the iconic symbols of the Metal Gear franchise. The Phantom Pain expands upon it on that and makes the box useful in a variety of ways, such as a portable hiding place, a lure, and most importantly a sled.

Best Moment/sequence

• Joker song/bomb defusal- Batman Arkham Knight

• Playing as the Joker- Batman Arkham Knight

• The Tower- The Beginner's Guide

• The Mog Chathra "Reveal"- Broken Age

• Doll burning ritual- Contradiction Spot the Liar.

• Ending- Contradiction Spot the Liar

• Ending- Her Story

• Kate Marsh on the rooftop- Life is Strange

• Messing with Frank in the diner- Life is Strange

• Mercy killing mother base soldiers mission- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Quiet boss fight- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Quiet's "exit"- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Sahelanthropus rampage- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Space whale/Flaming Unicorn- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Finger gun battle- Tales from the Borderlands

• Getting "Monked"- Until Dawn

• Wendigos Fighting each other- Until Dawn

• Fist fighting a bear- Witcher 3

• Drunk Witchers scene- Witcher 3

• Bloody Baron's Quest- Witcher 3

Won this category last year but still worth mentioning:

The Mog Chathra reveal- Broken Age: This is a weird technicality because this moment happened last year in a game that fully came out this year. This moment is the pinnacle of Broken Age. The way it takes the two stories and masterfully intertwines them is a moment that deserves recognition. What follows may be my biggest disappointment of the year, but this moment is one of the best cliffhangers in a year that has seen many episodic games employ the technique.

Not on this list because I don’t remember it:

Bloody Baron's Quest- Witcher 3: This quest has gotten a ton of acclaim and for good reason. The ending moments feature some great ways in which this game ties together some of its plot threads. I just don’t remember most of it.

Honorable Mentions:

Sahelanthropus rampage- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: This scene shows the destructive bad-assery of Metal Gear Sahelanthropus right before Big Boss takes it down in the game’s most action packed boss fight.

Mission 43- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: This mission sees Big Boss stepping into a quarantine zone where soldiers of Mother Base who have come down with a case of vocal chord parasites are located. These parasites attack certain languages and anyone speaking any of those languages becomes fatally ill. During this mission, Big Boss is forced to kill every last person in quarantine for both mercy and to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of Mother Base. The events of this mission bring a few of the major themes around in a big way, and it is hard not to get a little emotional at moments such as this.

Runners up:

Finger gun battle- Tales from the Borderlands: In episode 4, Rhys must infiltrate Hyperion in order to find the last upgrade for GORTYS. While disguised as his archrival Vasquez, Rhys is stopped by a group of accountants. What happens next is what makes me happy video capture is now standard on most platforms.

The Tower- The Beginner's Guide: The entirety of The Beginner’s Guide is subtly laying the groundwork for this moment. At the end of the game, you come to a level simply called “The Tower”. This level is the unraveling of the story from an analysis of what games say about the creator, into a disturbing revelation that, if true, is an admission of theft of another's work and ideas for personal gain. Whether or not twists in this level are true is up to interpretation, but they re-contextualize the whole game and lead to one of the more thought provoking games of the year.

This was probably the hardest category of all five days. All three of these moments truly deserve to win but one of them stands out as one of the most effective and poignant things I’ve ever seen a game do.

Winner:

Kate Marsh on the rooftop- Life is Strange: Episode 2 of Life is Strange is where the game goes from cliche high school melodrama, into one of the most important games of the year. This episode centers around a viral video of Kate Marsh being spread around Blackwell Academy. As you progress through this episode, the game tackles topics such as bullying, sexual assault, victim blaming, and as a result of the whole saga, suicide. At the end of the episode, Max and the player must literally talk Kate down from the edge of the dorm roof. The thing that makes this moment stand out is that you can fail, causing her to kill herself by jumping off the roof. This moment brings in elements of choice, all the mature topics, and at this point the game even manipulates the time rewinding mechanic to create one of the most tense and powerful moments I’ve ever seen in a game. Saving Kate Marsh is one of the most satisfying moments I had all year and leads to another one of the best moments of the year where you get to reunite with her in a much happier state in episode 4. If I had failed to save her, I might not have been able to continue playing what became one of the best surprises of the year. No matter the result, this moment stands apart in a year filled with memorable moments.

Best use of a song

• "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins- GTA Online: Heists

• "Firestarter" by Torre Florim- Just Cause 3

• “Spanish Sahara” by Foals- Life is Strange

• "Mountains" by Message to Bears-Life is Strange

• "The Sense of Me" by Mud Flow- Life is Strange

• "The Man Who Sold the World" by Midge Ure- Metal Gear Solid V

• "Frère Jacques"- Until Dawn

• "O, Death"- Until Dawn

Runners up:

"Frère Jacques"- Until Dawn: This song is the only one on this list that was actually changed for the game. The way this old nursery rhyme is used is perfect as Josh’s hallucinates the disembodied voices of his sisters singing it to him in a fantastically creepy way.

"The Sense of Me" by Mud Flow- Life is Strange: The soundtrack of Life is Strange is one of the most fitting that a game has had in a long time. What makes this song in particular stand out is that it is a complete tonal shift from rest of soundtrack. Most of the songs range from upbeat to wistful, but this song takes the usual acoustic guitar melodies and replaces them with a dark electric guitar that fits perfectly with the events of the moment.

Winner:

"Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins- GTA Online: Heists: Because GTAV on the PS4 doesn’t record any of the radio tracks, I couldn’t capture it. So here’s how it happens. When setting up for the Humane Raid heist, there is a mission where the crew must get their hands on an EMP that is attached to a Hydra VTOL jet. After defending the jet during a dog fight, the crew is called to Sandy Shores airstrip. When they start flying in that direction, the game will automatically switch to Los Santos Rock Radio and the song begins playing. Using this song in the most obvious way possible does not detract from how damn cool of a moment it is.

That's the end of day 1. I hope you enjoyed reading through my first day of awards and you took a look at the accompanying videos with most of these categories. Tomorrow... Day 2's awards will recognize the best animals of the year, the best looking games of the year, and the best soundtracks of the year. Thank you for reading and if you have any thoughts on Day 1, feel free to leave some comments.