Sorry folks. A late Game of the Year list.

Another anonymous persons' Top Ten Games "played" in 2015 though, a bit late due to an internet outage for a month. Amateurish, possibly, it's a first. Does it matter? Not one bit in the grand scheme of things. So, who's to say they all had to be made in 2015 then? If anything, that's just more incentive for people to claim I've no clue what I'm talking about for more pivotal games. And with that, let's dive.

10. Fallout 4 2015

Now, I understand people enjoy wandering around the post apocalyptic wastelands of Boston(?) but nothing ever really popped out to me or intrigued me in this wasteland. Yeah, I suppose it's suiting for a wasteland to have that effect but, it may have been bad timing for Fall Out 4 on my end when it came to checking out similar games this year. I just never really cared for my character, my characters' plight, or the characters surrounding her. I'll admit I came in slightly jaded because of the ending of Fallout 3 but in Fallout 4, instead of the ending being poorly written it seemed they upped themselves by writing all the factions poorly. Why can't I get all the factions to join together when I'm seemingly in control or have heavy sway in all factions? Not too mention the numerous times the scripting broke in which I had to fix with a console command. Sure the frame-rate may be hit or miss depending on what people play this on but, that is just a small issue in a larger scheme of things. I think I may be done with Bethesda after this..

09. Mortal Kombat X 2015

This would've been so much higher but, anyone remember the updating fiasco that was MK X(really WB games in general this year)? If you're like me, with a limited bandwidth of 50 GB a month than you remember... If not, a reminder. The game itself is roughly 30 Gb split absurdly into 30 some portions. Easy right? Well, the first patch was roughly 15 Gb, followed by another 10 Gb, then another couple Gb, then a final 15 Gb patch... Which, was so poorly implemented that an Immediate 15 Gb patch was issued because the following patches deleted everything players had achieved. So, being the battered partner in this relationship and being slightly jilted after having my game and progress erased for the 5(?) time. I gave up for a few months till it was finally fixed but, hey, at least this WB game was fixed for the most part. All of that aside, I did truly enjoy this entry. It was a tighter and faster fighting game than the previous entry and even the Kombat kids were enjoyable new roster of characters than we've seen in other installments. It's too bad the community is nearly dead... Guess, my Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash fanfic will have to wait till another game.

08. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 2015

Absolutely everything in this game seem needlessly truncated to tie in to Metal Gear. Naturally that would sound perfect, if the second half didn't seem so ripped out of one ass. Best playing Metal Gear game since Revengeance, yes, but the story falls so unbelievably short that the "Second Chapter" is nearly just replaying old mission except more Hardcore and Naked than before. Really? Make me play some of the worst mission as well? Wait, I'm supposed to feel sorry for the squad that asks me to kill them after I've literally kidnapped every one of them? Miller with a kill crazy revenge erection was supposedly likable at (Yes, I know about MGS1 Miller) one time and Ocelot is the levelheaded one who insanely backs a punk kid because of... reasons. No resolution about Psycho Mantis and Eli... Enough has been said about Quiet. Otacon! You're the only character I care for, let me join you on that dingy and take me to a better story! It's lead to people in a forums lately asking if people would play another MGS if Kojima wasn't present. I'd say yes but, it's because this screams like George Lucas prequel in terms of story. If only it didn't play so damn well..

07. Evoland 2 2015

Now Evoland was a cute and short rpg. Evoland 2 takes what the first game did well and expands it by another 15 or so hours. For the most part it's an enjoyable, lighthearted trip back and forth through time with Kuro and his friends until they finally stumble upon a Villain. Mostly a top down action rpg, you'll see it divulge into a beat 'em up, side scroller, vertical shooter, strategy rpg, fighter, and every possible fun niche the developer could think of. Never taking itself too seriously, you'll see references at a feverish clip through out you're adventure as you carelessly alter time on a whim. Only a few frustrations later on in some of the dungeons but all in all, I'd highly recommend it.

06. Life Is Strange 2015

Despite the fact I never wanna be a teenager again because I'm a curmudgeon 29 year old, I did find a lot to enjoy in this. I didn't really "call" the ending per-say but it ended with the choices I predicted? If that makes sense. Anyway, I liked what they were going for and it had some memorable, if not, a bit one note for minor characters. Kate's' story line broke my heart and cemented the fact that I'm glad I never went to school with social media of today. I've never been a huge fan of games with episodic content because months after a episode gets released things get hazy but, this was one of the few games I would remember what happened before. But, Chloe though, I haven't seen a character so predestined to die since Eike Kusch in Shadow of Destiny. However you enjoy Life is Strange, I just hope all versions leave Warren sexless and unloved. Let's think about the fact that he's going to suggest Cannibal Holocaust to a girl that always wear a baby deer shirt? You're a fucking idiot Warren..

05. Matt Rories' Alpha Protocol 2010

This is a game that seems to get brought up and usually fondly too. Now, when the game came out I tried it, played the opening, got bored, and never touched it again. So, seeing it on a cheap sale I finally decide to give the game another chance. Where I then played the opening, got bored, quit the game, and did that 2 more times till I got laid off and played the game in 2 sittings. Not to say it's a short game but after I got out there in the games 3 main hubs, time just seemed to slip away on me. Not a perfect game but I really enjoyed the dialogue designs and the characters through out. They'd mention things I've done, people I've pissed off, and react to even subtle things. The check-pointing is a bit busted sometimes and I'm not sure if it was ever a graphical powerhouse but with this and other Obsideon games I've played within the last year or two. Gotta say, I prefer Obsideon more the Bethesda.

04. Cities: Sky Lines 2015

A few years ago I heard that Sim City was going to come back in a big way and being a huge fan of the old ones, this had me stoked. Then it came out to some.. less than stellar reviews and from what I saw, I skipped it. 2 years later, Cities came with pretty much everything I wanted in a city building game and more thanks to the Steam Workshop. Not too say it's a perfect game by any means. Traffic can be a nightmare and emptying cemeteries/garbage dumps isn't what I'd call fun. Thanks to the modding community, that stuff is easily fixed and you can build any number of ridiculous cities.

03. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat 2010

So, this is probably what killed Fall Out 4 for me and it came out 5 years earlier! I Went into the game rather blind after hearing so much praise for this game and was very glad I did. It did a far better job keeping me on edge and wanting to learn more about what was going on. Super creepy atmosphere made for a far more intense play through then any modern horror game I've played in a while. Not for everyone but this just entranced me. Definitely worth checking out!

02. Dirt Rally 2015

I've driven everything from a mini dirt-bike to drifting a 40 ton truck. I love driving. Dirt has always been a series about some of the whitest knuckle driving in gaming and correctly focuses on point to point racing in this installment. No, "Hooning" or gymkhana ego-stroking, just racing. That's what I came for and this game doesn't disappoint. What are you waiting for? Pick this up.

01. Rocksmith 2014 (2013)

Yeah, it's not a game. It really, really isn't. What this is though, is a great way to get better at a guitar. Not the best teaching guide but does enough things right that I'd recommend this for anyone interested in picking up a guitar or bass. I started learning how to play in High school because being fat, nerdy, and social awkward was not helping me impress the fairer sex. So, I learned to play a couple songs but never really anything to brag about. So, considering what this game has taught me in roughly the same amount of time and actually learning how to play a dozen or so songs and continues to be enjoyable is a feat my high school teacher lacked. The song selection is hit and miss but like Rock Band the post release support is impressive. For every terrible Areosmith song that came on disc the game has made up for in the dozens of DLC options for people with discerning taste.

And, if that's not enough. Let's quickly list Honourable Mentions.

Grandia 2 HD Remaster er... Wait, Grandia 2 Anniversary Edition (DC 2000/Steam 2015)

One of the best Jrpg to ever come out. Forget Final fantasy 7 or whichever people claim is the best(it's 9). This game has it all from the story, game play, music, and even voice acting in an era of games where laughable was the best you could get. Launched on steam with a laundry list of issues but was quickly resolved by Gung Ho games which, is a lot better then what could be said for much larger companies. A great adventure surrounding Ryudo and his friends, this is a Jrpg that no one should miss.

Wolfenstein: The New Order 2014

Considering, I've no love for the Wolfenstein franchise and I played through this game twice. That says a lot to me about how well this game is. Worthy of being on so many peoples list last year.

Driver: San Francisco 2011

I haven't wanted a games soundtrack this badly in a long, long time. That and coma induced psychic car battles are awesome. Plenty has been said about this before game before.

Way of the Samurai 4 (Ps3 2012/Steam 2015)

Way of the Samurai is a strange, strange game.

Thanks for the read and hope you enjoy. If not, enjoy the new year regardless and maybe I'll try this again some time.

Apologies for this looking a bit wonky..

Had to comment just to say: Alpha Protocol is great. Not the part where you actually ~play~ it, but all the trimmings are so good (the dialogue/choices-consequences/equipment/perks/etc)

Just to be clear, calling Huey "Otacon" was an intended joke, right?

I've been thinking about getting Evoland 2, it seems like it has an interesting gimmick.

I feel more drawn to the STALKER series than Fallout, mostly because it's supposedly based on an area I have a novice (yet still above average) level of knowledge about.

No Witcher 3? Otherwise, nice list. I've been meaning to play dirty rally.

If I really don't like horror/scary games, do you think STALKER is still worth checking out? If a scary game is *really* good I can force myself through it (ie Deadspace 1 & 2). During the day. On Easy.

@ethanielrain: STALKER isn't a horror game, it has mutants and a dark setting but it is completely void of jump scares and scripted scare events. It rather chooses builds all it's tension through fantastic atmosphere. It's also very much a shooter you've always got a means to defend yourself. Also if you do play STALKER I wouldn't recommended to play it on any difficulty lower than Master. Their system scales damage equally for both enemies and the player. If you go anything below Master both you and the enemies end up being bullet sponges if you stick to Master then bullets are lethal but on both fronts.

Sounds good, thanks :)

@cronstintein: You are precisely right. Though, I did still enjoy it for the most part, basically ran around shooting people up close with a shotgun till I got to the end. I agree, it's what the trimmings in this game which make it shine.

@kasaioni: Er, yes, I mean, absolutely it was intended, not me screwing up. But, that kinda get back to just how little I cared about the characters and plot. Granted there is a video on youtube showing what the end was supposed to be including a final showdown with Eli and Sahalanthropus(?) so that answers some things...

STALKER is on a sale fairly regularly from what I've seen and has a great modding community, if you're looking for that. Evoland 2 really just goes for it. It was too bad that it got lost in shuffle of a year with terrific titles.

@ptshooter619: I'd love to have put The Witcher 3 on it but I never played it. Loved the previous one but due to bandwidth constraints, it came down to this or Metal Gear. Oh, hindsight ha ha..

@mason20: Honestly that mission 51 stuff changes just about nothing. I remember reading about how the Phantom Pain is supposed to be about loss (hence Phantom Pain) from a Japanese author who had correspondence with Kojima. So all the Metal-Gear-ness is taken away from the player (Eli, Sahelanthropus, Quiet) to drive home the idea that the player is Big Boss; and that's all that matters. And that Venom Snake's plain unremarkable-ness just reflects the average player's plain un-remarkable features. Given that, I wonder if Kojima would have included that stuff even if he was given more time. And given mission 46, I never got why anyone would be happier even if mission 51 was included, it really doesn't solve all that much.

I'm thinking I'll get Evoland 2 eventually if I ever feel the need to play a smaller indie title. Or if the next Steam sale provides.

@kasaioni: You're not wrong on any point. I wish this game dealt more with loss(as you said and what seemed to be implied in the trailers) and not feel so much as a stop gap between the MGS series and MG series. Whenever the game did try, it seemed hamfisted and to me screamed like a writer trying to write themselves out of a corner. I'll agree about mission 46.. I nearly dropped the game after it asking me to do numerous missions again and if I knew the pay off was what I expected... I'd have dropped this game. A character I wanted to learn more about since the trailer was the younger looking Psycho-Mantis figure. Side tangent: What's the point of wearing a Domino Mask if you're as scarred up as Skullface?

Nice list. One flaw though: It's missing Witcher 3. (I'm joking.)

Also, I agree that Alpha Protocol is pretty good and that Grandia II is one of the best JRPGs ever. The best FF game is IV, by the way. But yeah, 9 is probably better than 7.

@mason20: I dunno, I'm sure Kojima had something in mind with making him wear a mask at times. Just as he put too much thought into the first cutscene of GZ, and intended it to convey many messages which almost nobody saw. I think the main problem with Kojima is actually that he watches more movies than any common person does, haha.

Regarding the 'writing himself out of a corner' point, I feel like Kojima has mastered the art of coming up with explanations for things that dissatisfy people. For example, there is an implication from Huey in one of the tapes that the reason why people referred to Dr. Clarke (aka Paramedic) as male, is because the doctor became so super secret within Cipher/The Patriots that people didn't even know what gender to assign her. Naturally, people default to referring to her as male. And so the Paramedic retcon is no longer a retcon. There are a lot of other explanations tucked away in codec calls and tapes in the Metal Gear series that "solve" what people tend to perceive as retcons. It's actually one of the things I like about the series.

I also like the twist or ending or whatever you want to call it. But I think the biggest problem people have with the story is not so much the story itself. I think it's actually quite a serviceable Metal Gear story, and a lot of the tapes (especially the truth tapes) are very well done. And at least the cutscenes that are there are well directed. The problem people have is the presentation, and pacing or structure; a lot more people would be pleased if it simply had better pacing and presentation. And a lot of the tapes should have been cutscenes.

But it seems clear that at this point that Kojima was just using the Metal Gear series as a name to convey what he believes to be more important messages. In this game, a message about the relationship between the game and the player. Although there is still an element of Metal Gear-ness that I think skewers together all the Metal Gear games he and his team has created.

Sorry, but I can't help myself sometimes when it comes to this game. It's born from a frustration that Kojima and his team can't even respond to the criticisms people are making about their game because Konami won't even let them talk about the damn thing.

@kasaioni: Again, you're not wrong. It just comes down to personal preferences and opinion. t's a great "playing" game but far from perfect and the fact that the team can't respond to the criticism is a shame but that doesn't negate said criticisms. I'm glad you like the twist end but it was the last deflating nail to a coffin for me.

The Story didn't hit me so much but I had already started to check out because, to me, a cardinal mistake in story telling is "Show, Don't Tell!". Being said, this is a series based of codecs that tell you the story but they at least prompt and show them contextual with things going on. The cassette tape system this time just didn't do it for me and fell into that rule. The Clarke thing being a prime example seeing as if you played MGS3 and MGS4 they Show and Tell you that.

No need for apologies, that's what being a fan is. The single shot scene is something I truly admire and is rarely done well. Kudos to Kojima for making some of the best single shot scenes since Goodfellas, Heat, and Hardboiled.

Also, thanks for the well thought replies, I just wish we could agree. Play on friend.

@sessh: Ah, here's where my FF knowledge starts to wane.. I grew up on Phantasy Star, Shining, and Sword of Vermilion. Helped my Snes friends beat those games but they all run together in my mind.

@mason20: Yeah, I know what you mean. If you do find the time though, you should really give FF IV a shot again. The DS port would be an easy and fine way to play it (even though, the original version and the GBA one are a lot better).