Though we are well into the thick that is the year Two-Thousand and Sixteen, it doesn't mean we can't reflect and look back at the last year of gaming. Last year was the year that finally started making use of the current generation's hardware. Though among these beautiful scoped out and large AAA gaming experiences, for me again it was some of the smaller titles that made up the majority of my list. Proving that the landscape for games for all people is more vibrant than ever. Let's talk about why these games made my list.

10. Lego Dimensions

Lego Dimensions succeeds where Disney Infinity falls short for me. It takes characters from unique licenses like Back to the Future, Dr. Who, and Portal, and has them interact with each other in all of their unique worlds. It’s not uncommon to see Gandalf quipping with GLaDOS while a Dalek faces off against a sentry turret.

Sadly, the toys-to-life approach means you are required to buy many extra character packs if you want to find many of the hidden collectibles and have access to the different themed open worlds. Plus, physically moving the Minifigures on the base to interact with the many in-game puzzles, is more annoying than immersive. Though even with the base set, there is enough content and mashing up of franchises that kept me coming back. Since the game can be played co-op, my wife was there for the ride too. It’s an ambitious move for Warner Brothers and I want to see more, hopefully without such a hefty price tag attached.

9. The Room 3

The Room is one of those series that really highlights the strength of tablet gaming. Manipulating and poking at puzzles boxes, levers and knobs feels so satisfying and natural in your hand. The third entry into the series excels where The Room 2 tripped up, which tried to go larger but felt really empty. You can play the game going from one puzzle room to another just like the previous two, however this time there is main hub to explore as well. Filled with its own puzzles and secrets, it makes the larger world feel realized while at the same time gives you the feeling of being trapped in a prison.

The overall story has always been a little nonsensical, but with lots of hidden secrets to find and multiple endings, The Room 3 was once again able to pull me in and keep me there until I solved every puzzle and explored every nook and cranny.

8. Her StoryHer Story is the equivalent of being surprised with a weekend getaway and having it be so good you end up talking about it the whole next week at work. Her Story has a simple enough premise, keyword search through a series of broken up interrogations of a woman who is charged with murder to piece together the story. However, because of how limited each video is, you have to be very specific with your words to narrow down your search. I ended up taking lots of physical notes along the way which really immersed me into feeling like I really was at that computer searching and researching this case going into rabbit hole after rabbit hole.

In a world where a podcast like Serial has everybody playing armchair detective and crafting theories, Her Story is the interactive version of this. By nature of the game, you can be “satisfied” before viewing 100% of the interrogation, I myself ended up viewing around 70%. But the experience continued afterwards as I wanted to discuss every theory I had with other people who had played. As someone who loves new ways of presenting story to players, Her Story was an innovative new take.

7. Soma

As a fan of what Amnesia: The Dark Descent did for the horror game genre, I’ve been looking forward to Soma ever since Frictional Games announced it. What I got was a game that felt more than just Amnesia in space. They improved on the areas that made Amnesia cumbersome. Doing away with the incredibly dark areas and the arcane light mechanic, meant I could see where I was going and appreciate the beautiful derelict station. Having multiple types of enemies, such as a monster that would only chase you when you looked at it, made the game feel more dynamic than just hide and seek and hope for the best.

There was more to interact with and it made good use of puzzles without any feeling like they were simply go to here and pull this lever. One of the better ones involved creating the perfect computer simulation for an artificial intelligence to make them think it was the real world. Most importantly, the stories and characters of Soma are far more engrossing as well. There was a grotesqueness and fasciation with each character that made me really think about my own humanity. It’s definitely lighter on the scares this time around than Amnesia, so even if you’re not a fan of horror games, but you like sci-fi thrillers, definitely check it out!

6. Undertale

Talk about a surprise out of nowhere. Undertale wasn’t even on my radar, until the legions of fans for this game came out of the woodwork to spread the good word about it. I’m glad that the hype didn’t drive me away as there was so much that I liked about this game It has an amazing cast of characters that all feel unique and have a purpose. The bullet hell style of fighting battles is a fun way to keep battles engaging and even this gets subverted by a few boss fights. The music is charming as hell and fits each moment and sequence perfectly. The humor hits perfectly for me, striking that delicate balance between clever and random for random’s sake. (Honestly, why would a shopkeeper buy back old twigs and rocks from you?)

The style of the game was great too, calling back to the glory days of the SNES with it’s sprite based designs and menu driven gameplay. The game is a perfect length, easily beatable in one or two sittings and the true nature of the story actually compelled me to play through the game a second time. Undertale is pretty decisive at this point, with most people falling on one side of the fence or the other. Do yourself a favor and don’t dismiss this game because of its super passionate fan base. Give it a chance and you might find yourself smiling at its charm.

5. Super Mario Maker

It’s something that so many people wanted to do since playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES. How many of us have thought we could make great Mario levels if we were given the chance? And while the fact that I can play a never ending supply of Mario levels is impressive in its own right, it’s the the way it is implemented by Nintendo that impresses me the most.

Games that have had user created content in the past have always been difficult to use, even games like LittleBigPlanet that featured it as its main selling point. Nintendo found a way to use the Wii U gamepad to make the easiest and intuitive method to create levels. Adding elements to a level by dragging and dropping takes seconds and being able to jump in and test things on the fly makes it quick to QA. More surprising, is a functional, if slightly flawed online sharing that surprised me coming from a company like Nintendo. Not to mention improvements and updates they have made along the way to show they want to support this as long as people play.

Look, it doesn’t take much to sell me on infinite Mario levels, but Nintendo proved that it can do more than just hand crafted gameplay experiences. And, though I am not much of the creative type, as long as other people keep making levels and finding new ways to use the tools, it cements this title as something I will be playing well into 2016 and beyond.

4. Rocket League

The Summer months are typically a wasteland when it comes to hot new releases, so it was nice of Psyonix to fill the void with Rocket League and even nicer of the folks at PlayStation to offer it free to PlayStation Plus users. The game doesn’t have a lot to it, but it nails those few things perfectly. Let me say that everything in this game is in service of scoring those goals, which,no joke, is one of the most satisfying experiences all year. Driving down the field at full speed with your teammate besides you, as they break off to knock the ball in the center of the lane, which you boost into and drive into the opponent’s goal, creating a literal explosion of joy and watching it all again in replay, just fills you with all the right endorphins to make you pump your fist and shout “fuck yeah!”

And the accessibility of the gameplay just helps the cause. Driving feels tight and rewards you with constant practicing of trick jumps and boosts. Strategy becomes deeper as you learn to stop driving at the ball full speed like a bunch of kids playing pee-wee soccer. And matches are short enough with a constantly trickle of unlockables that will always have you saying “just one more game”. On top of this, Psyonix has supported the game post release with DLC both paid and free, so you’re getting even more value out of it. You should probably go play Rocket League right now, in fact why am I not playing it? Let’s go play Rocket League!

3. Life is Strange

After feeling a bit burnt out on the adventure game genre, Life is Strange comes along to bring a new evolution to the genre. It plays with the “what if” idea of adventure game dialogue, by letting you rewind and redo the choices you make in the game. And because you retain all the information when you go back in time it affects the situations you replay. Yet, given the ability to rewind time, there are multiple points in the story where your decision matters and can change the entire story of the game.

Aside from this new way to present an adventure game story, Life is Strange introduces a cast of likable and relatable characters this side of My So-Called Life. Though a bit stiff and forced at time, the writing and performances really made each character relatable to people I’ve known in my life. And because of this, it made all the gut punches in the game feel that more real and hard to deal with. Without spoiling the story, the end of Chapter 2 and 3 had some of the most soul wrenching moments I've experienced in a game. By the end of it all, you could really feel that Max and Chloe had been to hell and back over the course of just a week or so.

It is fitting that this story is told through the eyes of teenagers. As their world is literally facing ultimate destruction, their own narrow view of the world is facing destruction as well. To them, the idea of losing your social status and being mocked by your peers, is just as world ending as a literal tornado. It’s easy to put video game characters against far out threats like aliens and dragons, but when the monster are bullying and social acceptance? That may be a tougher mirror to look into.

2. Until Dawn

Talk about the surprise of the year. It’s hard to believe that at one point Until Dawn was going to be a first person PS3 game designed around the PlayStation Move. Instead what we get is a game that really delivers on the idea of an interactive horror movie. Now on paper, the story presents every teen slasher horror trope you can think of. Straight out of the 80’s, the story is about a group of teenage friends in a secluded cabin in the mountains being chased by a deranged killer, made up of such original personalities such as a jock, a spoiled girl, the hot girl, a goofball, and of course the final girl.

But, like any great horror movie, it takes these tropes and plays with them. Take Jessica the stereotypical hot girl. She is setup as a very confident, take no shit girl, proud and flautning the fact that she has a great body. Yet in one scene she reveals that most of her confidence is actually a mask for her insecurity. It’s these types of message I didn’t expect and really helps make the characters live up to more than just their sterotypes.

It also features some great performances from well known celebrities like Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek, and Peter Stormare (who plays a psychiatrist in some of the most confusing and best scenes of the entire game). The horror itself is set up and paced really well, with just enough jump scares to keep you from ever feeling truly sale. And though it stumbles in the last act a bit, I feel the deaths in the game are a result of you screwing up, rather than bad game design.

It had one of the best moments of the year, where, I as a self-proclaimed horror fan, broke one of the cardinal rules and split one character up from the group. When it lead to this character dying, I couldn’t do anything but laugh and know that I 100% deserved it. Like other story based games this year, I don’t know if lightning can strike twice with a sequel, but like any good horror movie, I think this one will be added to my yearly October viewings.

1. Metal Gear Solid V

I seriously had my doubt about Metal Gear Solid V the closer it came to releasing. The idea of an open world Metal Gear game that had only the briefest semblance of a story and broken out into multiple missions rather than a linear progression sounded like all the things I didn’t want. But 80 hours later, I realized this was the perfect evolution of the gameplay for a new generation of consoles.

I am meticulous when it comes to my stealth games. Past games in the series, if I had been detected, I would either restart or have to wait forever for the alert status to go back to normal. Now with reflex mode, not only do I get a second chance when I get discovered, but because of the mission aspect of the game, there have been many times I’ve said fuck it to the stealthy approach and went guns blazing to finish it.

I became really addicted to the operating base gameplay. Choosing what equipment to research, waiting for bars to fill up, use the fulton recovery system on every soldier, vehicle and resource that wasn’t glued to the ground, assigning them to tasks around my base, trying to figure out if I wanted to spend money on microtransactions. Wait, is this a mobile game? Well, in the confines of this game it worked. (Note, please don’t spend any money on MTXs)

And all the little things that you discover over time. A Million Dollar Man sound effect when you punch with the bionic arm? Great. Fultoning a resource container and using it as a quick escape to exit the level? Awesome. Having an open world sequence get interrupted with the introduction of a new character? Unexpected. Being able to change your helicopter’s landing music to a number of curated great songs from the 70’s and 80’s? Inspired. An entire cutscene that triggers when the system clock knows it’s your birthday? Delightful. There are so many awesome little things to discover that make you go “aww man if only I had known about that” and makes you admire the work that went into crafting and designing it all.

And where I thought there would be no story, this game definitely had the Metal Gear weirdness and convoluted storyline I come to expect from a Hideo Kojima game and introduced some really great new characters. Quiet in particular became one of my favorite new characters of this year. Weird fanservice aside, she was a fucking badass, super useful from a gameplay perspective, and a really tragic story once you find the motives behind her actions.

MGSV is by no means a perfect game. It presents the story with some really weird pacing with the first ending of the game feeling rushed and unresolved. Then it obfuscates how to trigger the remaining story of the game. Some mission designs are terrible, with one of the final missions being one of the most infuriating examples of bad game design I’ve seen in recent years. And a storyline twist, that some people say is complete and utter bullshit, (but I thought was super cool so it worked for me!) These issues aside, I feel like MGSV was a super well rounded game with satisfying moments from beginning to end. Seeing as how Konami is not in the business of making games again, if this is Snake’s last hurrah, it was a hell of a bang to go out on.

2013 was a year in where I seemingly fell in love with narrative in games. Made more evident by my write-ups below. Though, not to say it was all story and no gameplay as, hell, I still like to have fun playing games too. So I present to you my list of games for you to all judge and ask why I didn’t include such and such game!

10. DmC: Devil May Cry

The reboot of the Devil May Cry franchise had a lot of things going for it. There was a fluidity to combat that I haven’t really experienced since the original Devil May Cry. Each weapon felt uniquely different and being able to switch on the fly made me actually use them all. The levels were amazing set pieces (night club, I’m looking at you) and made you active participants in its cinematic sequences rather than relegate them to QTEs. Maybe Dante didn’t have the hair style everyone wanted, but the attitude and tight gameplay that made the series a hit was all there.

9. Gunpoint

It’s not the addictive cross between stealth action and puzzle platformer. Nor is it the fun of figuring out how to dissect a level. Or even the way it streamlines failure by letting you rewind time a few seconds rather than restart the whole level. It’s on my list because I never expected a noir narrative with a funny, snarky, sometimes an asshole main character. The dialogue choices you make really feel like you affected the story and by the end I had weaved my own personal tale of what happened. It doesn’t hurt that it also has thebest achievement I’ve seen in a game in a long time either.

8. Outlast

I couldn’t play this game in longer than 30-40 minute increments because of how freaked the shit out I would get while playing. This game had a ton of good scares exacerbated by the creepy setting, sound design, and the fact that you can’t attack. I’ll never forget how heart pounding it was being in that first chase sequence. It’s a bummer that by the end some of these sequences became easy to game, thus killing some tension. Not to mention the story took a real bullshit turn too. Still, as a fan of horror games, it was great to see Outlast revitalize the genre.

7. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

It would be an insult to the Year of Luigi to exclude one of his games on my list. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team has all the charm and addicting gameplay as the previous games in the franchise. The writing, story and characters were quirky and fun (Zeekeeper being a bro!). The in-game achievement system made me want to perfect every battle I was in. The combination of badges, equipment and character ranks made it possible to really customize to the way you play. And giant Luigi battles were, well, fun as shit. Just one thing Nintendo, can we please cut down on the number of tutorials?

6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Sure the gameplay is one of the reasons why I love this Platinum Games work. Combat is both mechanically and visually satisfying. But, let’s be real, the reason it’s on this list is the larger than life, crazy and sometimes dumb characters that Metal Gear is known to have. From the deeply philosophical cyborg wolf (!), to a spaghetti western style showdown, to “Nanomachines son!“, Revengeance kept ratcheting up the crazy and every time I strapped in for the ride.

5. Gone Home

Some might argue that this doesn’t belong on this list for the sheer notion that it isn’t even a “game”, but I think it’s one of the most important games this year. Gone Home really played with my idea of what a “game” should be with its use of tropes. It is important as it puts the word out to other developers that a good story, detailed world building, and fully realized characters can make a successful game even despite minimal gameplay. It’s a game that manages to be surprising by not being surprising at the same time.

4. The Last of Us

Naughty Dog did a great job of crafting both a believable and beautiful post-apocalyptic world. It set the stage for Joel and Ellie’s emotional journey of survival. Everything felt real, from the passing of the seasons to the scarcity of resources and brutality of combat. And great voice acting and performance capture really brought the whole package together. The Last of Us always gave you just enough pause to breathe before it took it away again.

3. Bioshock Infinite

Ken Levine knows how to craft a hell of a story. From the original teaser trailer, they had me hooked. I had to know everything about Columbia, Elizabeth and whatever weird time travel plot they were teasing. I loved seeing this world of jingoism and nationalists gone wrong. And it’s ending made me rethink every event in the game, as multiple “ah-ha!” moments were had. If only the gameplay lived up to theambition trailer. While not being bad or offensive, the gameplay only felt like a minor upgrade to Bioshock‘s gunplay. Still, in the end Ken Levine still knows how to blow minds and the ending sequence will be one I will never forget.

2. Device 6

Device 6, which I can only describe as an interactive 60′s mod style mystery novel, only works on an iPad (ok well I guess it works on any tablet). Text scrolls left, right, up and down, serving both as story-telling and providing the sensation of physical exploration. And the puzzles. I had not taken so many notes and drawing since my days with Fez. There may have even been a mirror involved at one point. I loved how at no point did it hold your hand. It throws you right into the game with little explanation and forces you to figure how to play and how to solve puzzles. And without going into spoilerific territories, you’ll find that all of this design is 100% intentional and shows that Simogo Games really knows how to craft a game that blurs the lines of reality. I guarantee no other game this year comes close to matching this experience.

1. Grand Theft Auto V

I admit, I was a bit skeptical going into Grand Theft Auto V. Having never really been a huge fan of the PS2 era games and having my issues with Grand Theft Auto IV, I didn’t know what to expect. After finishing the game, I knew it would be the top of my list. Rockstar’s strength is creating fully realized worlds and characters and it shows. Every character from main to side made the world feel alive. I loved how the fake social networks shows the impact of Franklin, Michael and Trevor actions and it was great to see them not exist in a bubble. Both Rockstar’s writing and some excellent voice acting shine through here. I’d always listen to all of the dialogue, even if I had got to my mission destination. All of the heist scenarios were awesome too. If anything, I wish there were more of them as I wanted more Heat and Ocean’s Eleven type moments. Up there with the heists were the Strangers and Freaks missions. It introduced a ton of weird characters and scenarios, like kidnapping a celebrity for a weird British couple. Yeah. And just when I felt tired of doing one thing, I’d switch to another character and do a whole other set of missions. I can’t think of any better sendoff to the last generation than this game.

I've been thinking for a few days, "Man I hope the Giantbomb guys go to California Extreme this year, I'd really love the chance to meet them in person. Especially Ryan, I'd love to take a picture with him doing his famous hover-hands pose." Now I am coming to grips with the reality that I'll never hear Ryan's boisterous voice on the Bombcast ever again.

It's a testament to Ryan's larger than life personality that so many people, myself included, felt like they lost a close friend today. It's hit me like a punch in the gut that I just can't recover from. All of this, it's so surreal. To feel this way as someone who never knew him, I can't even imagine what his friends, family and wife must be going through.

To say that Ryan will be missed is a huge understatement. Yet all of us Giant Bomb fans know better. Ryan would never want us all sobbing over his accord. If anything, he'd want us to celebrate all the stupid dumb things he's done all in the name of making us laugh and keeping us entertained. So my final thoughts will be one of my favorite videos. I can only hope, that wherever Ryan is right now, he's looking down and giving that copy of Dante's Inferno a huge middle finger.

So this new GB quest system is pretty cool yeah?

What: Fight Night Fundraising Tournament
Where: Play N Trade, 206 S B Street, San Mateo, CA 94401
When: May 17th, Check-In@11am, Start@Noon, Estimated end time@6PM
Why: To fundraise for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
What else? Raffles all day, $1 a ticket, 6 for $5. Impromptu Roseball tournaments!

Team in Training and Play N Trade are proud to be hosting a Fight Night Fundraiser Tournament on May 17th! Come on down and compete in one or more of these great fighting games: Street Fighter IV, Super Smash Brothers Brawl (1 v1) and Melee (2 v 2), and Mortal Kombat VS DC.

Best of all whether you win or lose, know that in the end it's all going towards a good cause. A portion of the registration fee will go towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training and the fight against blood cancers.

In addition we will be raffling off prizes all day, so even if you're not a hardcore gamer, you can come and check out the action and still walk away with a great prize donated by the ever generous merchants of the downtown San Mateo area.

It only costs $10 if you pre-register before May 17th ($15 day of registration), so call 650.343.1155 or email TnTFightNight@gmail.com to pre-register. With your help we can knock out blood cancers in our lifetime!

Prizes include store credit to top finishers as well as various Street Fighter and Nintendo swag, t-shirts, and posters. Participation prize for everyone who competes! Raffle prizes include gift cards to local merchants, prize baskets, video games, and more!