I'll be honest, I only really played about 4 games this year. I mean I played more than that, but a cursory run through and an actual play through are two different things. I technically played Bloodborne, but I didn't play enough of it to know if it's really great or whatever. I wasn't a Souls vet so the game didn't have a pedigree with me personally. I like it. I liked the look of it and I enjoyed the small amount of time I spent there, but I couldn't adequately gauge it's worthiness in a year end wrap-up. I bought and played Forza 6, technically. But I didn't take the deep dive that I did with Horizon 2 or Forza 5 so while I can assume it's more of the solid racing goodness I actually don't really know.

So instead of a Top 10 list, I'm just going to point to the 4 games that I actually spent enough time playing to say that I liked them (or didn't).

FALLOUT 4

This was kind of the big one for me this year. I know many of you will likley have enjoyed Witcher or Metal Gear more, but I never got around to those games (yet). I'm a huge nerd for Fallout though and from the announcement to the release, speculation and hope were pretty much all consuming activities. Happily, I can say that I enjoyed it greatly. Or rather, I AM enjoying it greatly as I have played nothing else since Novermber 10th.

I know the game has been criticized for being too similar to Fallout 3, but for me that is pretty much exactly what I wanted it to be. More of that thing I loved so much 6 or 7 years ago. And darn it all, it works for me. I'm not the biggest fan of Elder Scrolls, I've never played a Witcher game, but Fallout is the open-world game that just gets me. I like the dark sense of humor, I like the setting, I like the alternate version of history they've built over the years. I. Like. Fallout.

So this one is my best of the year easily and hands down. I've put over 200 hours into it already and I am not even near finished with my first playthrough. Heck, the first week it was out one could have been forgiven for assuming I played it just as a base-management sim. Settlements have occupied way too much of my time over the past month but it's all been a joy.

Batman: Arkham Knight

I bought Arkham Knight and played it for a good amount of time. I finished its story (97%, never did get those last 120 Riddler trophies) and I guess I enjoyed it. But it wasn't a lot of fun. It certainly wasn't the end of an era game I was hoping it would be.

ROCKSTEADY has made two games that I adored (Asylum and City), but Knight did not grab me. I still love Batman in comics, films, whatever. But the game constantly forcing me into that Batmobile over and over to keep blasting away at endless Drone tanks just didn't sit well with me. I wrote a review you can read if you really want to know more. LINK

Bottom line; Liked it, didn't love it. Good, not great. And since Asylum and City were great, it felt like more of a misstep than a finale. Too bad. I hope whatever ROCKSTEADY works on next is fun both for fans and for them. Eager to see what they do next.

Mortal Kombat X

In my younger days, I was a fighting game enthusiast in every way. Big fan of Street Fighter 2 in the arcade scene of the day, big fan of MK, of SNK, KI, even Tekken and Virtua Fighter to a degree. Though the 2D fighter will always be my favorite.

MKX felt great to play, it was fun and it had an entertaining story. I can't say it had a good story but it was bad in that way that all MK stories have been "bad". Like a bad B movie that you just love to watch over and over. I loved it.

This one ended up being fun for me on mutliple levels as well. Not only was it fun to play both as a single player game and a mutliplayer game, but I ended up using it as fodder for silly YouTube music videos. They're dumb, but I enjoyed making them anyway. I doubt anyone would want to see them, but if you do, here is a link to the playlist: LINK

And MKX gave me something I've wanted since I was 11 years old, I got to play as Jason Voorhees in a video game. Game, set, match. This one was a winner.

Fallout Shelter

It feels strange putting a phone/tablet game on my list. I normally wouldn't have done that. But I did play a lot of Fallout Shelter this year. More than a lot of other games that I could have. As I said up above, I love Fallout. And this game was fun enough. It isn't great even for a mobile game. But it's simple comforting busy work kinda engagement and I kept wanting to see my vault grow.

But the main reason I kept playing this one was that my girlfriend started playing it with me. She's not a gamer. She's a nurse and her career is her main focus. But it's also a stressful job and I've suggested that a fun game to relieve the stress and take her mind off of things for a bit, might be beneficial. And Fallout Shelter ended up being that game. I still help her with it more often than not. But we both check in on our vaults and dwellers together and have a good time with it. Surprisingly, it ended up being one of the games I played the most this year.

Honorable Mentions

Mario Maker and Splatoon. Both good games that I enjoyed, but didn't play enough to really give them a spot on the list. I actually had more fun watching Mario Maker stuff than actually playing it. From Dan and Patricks throw-down challenge to watching my daughter get consumed by Splatooning, it was a good year for Nintendo even if the controller wasn't technically in my hands for much of it.

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And here's a few games that I plan to get around to playing if I can ever stop playing Fallout 4

• I definitely want to give the Witcher games a try. I'm thinking I'll probably start with 3 rather than starting at the beginning. It looked great and all my friends have played it so I'll definitely give this one a whirl. Probably when I can grab a copy on Steam somewhere in the new year.
• I know many people have been praising Rocket League. I never played it but it looked fun. I am normally not much for multiplayer games, but I may give this one a spin just to see what all the hype is about. The Quick Look made it seem fun so I need to get around to trying this one.
• Until Dawn looks great. I borrowed a copy from my daughter's girlfriend and I'm going to try it out soon. Love horror games so this should be a no brainer.
• Bloodborne. I did play a bit of this, but I want to go back and give it the attention it deserves. I was distracted when I played it and couldn't really commit to it and it seems like a game that needs you to commit. I'll revisit this one in 2016.

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Post Christmas UPDATE

Well I guess I'll get to Witcher 3 sooner rather than later. I received Witcher 3, Just Cause 3, Mad Max as well as the next gen version of GTA V as Christmas gifts from my family.

Geez, 4 open world games at once. It's an embarrassment of riches! Although now I have the difficult albeit fun task of deciding which to tackle first. It's a good problem to have!