Tordah

Did Jeff forget about No Man's Sky already? At first it seemed like this article would shed light mostly on some of the less obvious upcoming games (hence why there's no Batman, Uncharted, etc), but then Mortal Kombat X turned up, so I don't know? Anyway, 2015 has the potential to be amazing.

I finally started playing The Witcher 1 for the first time ever. It's been sitting in my Steam library for ages. 12 hours in now and I'm really enjoying it. Great world, story and characters.

Been playing some Contagion as well, both with friends and random people. It might be the most "realistic" zombie game out there right now as far as atmosphere and "getting overwhelmed by slow ass zombie crowds" moments go. Ammo and weapons are scarce, and you're always in need of something you don't have. Ironically, people seem to dislike it mostly because it's not Left 4 Dead.

That's a really solid list. I need to check out some of the albums I haven't heard yet.

Usually I keep up pretty well with the newest releases, but at the end of the year I always find myself needing an extra month or two to catch up with all the stuff I might have missed before I can make a list that I feel good about.

Anyway, here's my top 10 as it stands right now (in no particular order):

Bloodbath - Grand Morbid Funeral
Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
Hannes Grossmann - The Radial Covenant
Morbus Chron - Sweven
Persuader - The Fiction Maze
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution
Revocation - Deathless
Sanctuary - The Year The Sun Died

Damn, worst news since Ryan's passing. Patrick was the perfect antidote to Jeff's jaded and narrow taste in games. I hope this doesn't mean the coverage of the more niche and weird indie projects will go away.

Also, Patrick's willingness to try to get into games in genres he doesn't usually play was both commendable and interesting to hear/read about. I wish the other staff members would do this from time to time as well.

You'll be missed, Scoops!

I think the magic of the Steam Christmas sale has finally disappeared for me. Maybe it's because I already own half of the games that are on sale, but it feels like the deals are not as good as they used to be. Oh well, I still have to get around to playing the stuff I bought 3 years ago.

I remain optimistic. This looks pretty great.

I usually do, but then again I seem to have a much higher tolerance for bad/average games than most people do. If it's short enough, I'll probably beat it sooner or later.

I admit I'm pretty bad about finishing any longer RPGs or RTS games, even if I'm enjoying them.

@sinusoidal: I totally agree with you on La-Mulana. I've put about 10 hours into it (using a guide/map) and it still was incredibly dense and hard to get into. Going back to it now feels almost hopeless since I've forgotten all the details of what I've already accomplished.

I also have a very soft spot for these types of games. I recently finished Aquaria which was great.

X-Files by Remedy Entertainment.

Absolutely worth it. The numbered Humble Bundles never cease to impress me.