This is a tad bit late, but I needed to catch up thanks to Christmas being the end of the year and my Birthday at the beginning. I am not doing a top X list. This is just games that stood out to me for various reason and why. A few of the smaller titles may have been out on PC the year before, but I am going by the version I first played. Please enjoy.

Old School, New Clothes: Wolfenstein the New Order

• This game embraced the old while feeling largely new. It kept the old school things like explorable levels with actual secrets to find, and letting carry a small armory, rather than just 2 guns. It didn't stay married to the old though, with modern mechanics, graphics and storytelling. It also featured the first game sex scene that felt like it had a reason for being and that there was passion of some sort to it.

Just One More: Rogue Legacy

• The game that made me keep coming back. I put more time in more session in this game than I did anything else all year. Few games have ever made me want to pick up just a little bit more gold to buy an upgrade quite like this. It features spot on controls and mechanics. The game is fair, when something goes wrong, it is usually your fault. Play more and get better.

Prettiest Night Rain: Infamous Second Son

• I love rain, I love nights and Second Son looked its very best when both of those things were going on. Add the neon blur effects and you have a game that is a sight to behold.

Toybox: Far Cry 4

• This is a game that you play with as much as you play it. So many fun ways to mess around by yourself and with a friend, stranger, or tool. Do you have a terrible co-op partner? Throw bait at his feet and watch the fun. Still annoying you? Flaming arrows at his feet. Not done yet? C4 your truck, go for a co-op drive, then bail out and blow it up, bonus points if you do it off a cliff and wingsuit away. By yourself, and you hear the eagle's cry? Be afraid. Rhino rams you off the road because you are looking for the eagle? Check. Your truck ends up in the lake because of the rhino, only to escape the wreckage and have your face eaten by a crocodile... Yeah that happened to me.

Absurd Joy Maker: Octodad Dadliest Catch

• This game was exactly what I expected. It is insane, weird, funny, and fun. And the name pretty much tells you all you need to know.

I Can't Believe It's Not Dark Souls: Lords of the Fallen

• I love the Souls games but struggle with them. Lords of the Fallen is basically a Dark Souls set of training wheels, except it still doesn't explain itself. Fun to play, great to look at, and if you build your character correctly you get a wonderful power trip.

Someone Actually Wrote This? : Bound by Flames (also most hilarious voice acting)

• I love this game. It isn't all that well put together (it is janky, not broken though, so it is playable), but my lord, the writing and the voice acting... I cannot describe how glorious it is. Whoever scripted this deserve a prize for going off the rails and not caring about tone or consistency. Characters constantly say things that are unbelievable and often vulgar in nonsensical ways. The voice actors embrace the script rather than the tone and just go to town sounding like jerks or people who do not care. If you don't watch to play it, watch someone else for a while and embrace the insanity.

The "Four Years Later I got the Platinum" award: Dark Void

• Somehow after I put this on the shelf the year it came out I managed to pick it exactly four years from the date my save files was last updated. I then went on a tear, played it like crazy and got the Platinum trophy on it. Despite being ugly as sin and feeling loose and sloppy, the game has its charms, most of that comes from the jetpack and hijacking UFOs.

Earworm Jim: Shovel Knight

• I just could not shake those wonderful tunes.

I Feel Like a Wee Laddy again: Shovel Knight

• All the greatness of the old school with none of the drawbacks. Nothing in this game faltered, a wonderful experience top to bottom.

A Return to Form: Mario Kart 8

• After loathing Mario Kart Wii and being ok with Mario Kart 7, this game sucked me back in. Koopa kids, great course design, some re-balancing of the items, this game was a joy to play. It also has had the best downloadable content ever, both pricing and what they give you is pretty incredible. When Nintendo does do the right thing, they do it better than anyone. Also, the blue shell still sucks. Yeah, yeah, the guy in first gets jacked around, but more so if I am in the back of the pack and get one, it doesn't help me at all. If you want it to work make it hit everyone along the way, help the dude is last out a bit.

Not Final Fantasy: Bravely Default

• Exactly what it says. It is an old school Final Fantasy game in a different wrapper. Even the Japanese name alludes to this with its subtitle being Flying Fairy (FF HAR HAR!). Great game that reminded me of the old days.

Protect Me from Myself: Assassin's Creed Unity

• Never have I played a game that is so fundamentally broken, yet so addictive (even after patches it was a joke for me). I finally had to give my copy to someone and ask them to hide it after 4 times in 4 locations my character got stuck on pole/chimney/whatever and refused to get off, instead just spinning to the right no matter what I pressed. After the fourth restart I just deleted the game install and handed it off. I do not need that much frustration.

The Future is Bright, the Present, Not so Much: Destiny

• A game that came out with so much potential but felt like it lacked the ability to hook me despite being gorgeous, having great music and impeccable game play. It all just felt lifeless and hollow. If they stick with the long time plan it could become something great, I am just not sure I am going to care.

In the Future We'll Have Jetpacks: Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

• A series that while still fun from its great mechanics, had been lacking in design and pushing things forward. Who knew jump jets could fix all that? Now that you can battle in a wider spectrum of the world, the entire thing felt fresh, fun and fast. Other games have done similar things, but there is just something special about Call of Duty. It has one of the best campaigns in the series and also features one of the best stealth missions ever made.

It Is A Teaser, Not A Demo: P.T.

• Who would have thought that something that amounts to marketing material could be one of the most intriguing gaming experiences all year? With incredible audio(headphones are a must) and some of the best graphics I have ever seen, P.T. was enticing based solely on what it was, but then when you finish it and find out its real secret, well, then you have something else entirely. It was also one of the most derisive experiences all year with people either loving the fact that it told you nothing and you had to figure it out, or to people calling it awful because of poor game design (for something that wasn't a game technically).

Bring It On: Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare

• I have largely grown to hate competitive shooters as I have gotten older. This game rekindled it to some extent. It features fun, colorful, class based warfare that feels great and fresh. Gardens and Graveyards is one of my favorite multiplayer modes ever.

I Want To Pet the Rabbits: Shadow Warrior

• Talk about a game that does not take itself seriously. A goofy demon rides shotgun as you katana your way through the hordes. But the real fun is the random crazy. Rabbits making babies are all over the game, behind a water fall is a 2-D sprite taking a bath. This is the game for you if you want fast action and to take the time to chortle at silly things.

So Nice, I Had To Buy It Twice: Awesomenauts Assemble

• A 2-D shooter MOBA, yeah, ok, I love 2-D, not a fan of MOBAs, whatever. I said before I purchased the PS3 and then PS4 version. On PS4 they added more characters and maps and it just feels a little better. Plus you can customize private game sessions to do all kinds of crazy fun. Playing 2 player with my friend versus the AI is a blast and I have lost a lot of time to it.

Thank God for Sharing: Far Cry 4

• This game is why Sony thought a "Share" button on the PS4 controller was needed. I have taken videos and screenshots galore. Between being a great looking game and a ridiculous one there are many, many reasons to want to capture the moment.

Please Be Excite: Axiom Verge

• Every time I see this game I want it more. I cannot wait for the release. 2-D Metroid-style game play made by one guy over around 5 years? I am supporting this guy, I want more of this stuff, and luckily it looks like Kickstarter is helping to provide it.

July has brought with it a desire to clear out some of the backlog of video games I currently have (being sick and injured is a large motivation). I am not going crazy, just looking to knock out 4-6 games this month. I have 3 down.

First was Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. It was OK, I have my issues with it. Being a huge Transformers fan I want to use my favorite characters, not preassigned characters. Using Grimlock was a joy, as was Bruticus, but the sections go on too long and could be broken up a bit. Which brings about the worst part of the game, the pacing. One or two levels of each character that drag on, then on to a new character never to use the previous ones again. If it was broken up so I switched more often, or better yet, had a choice, the entire thing would have flowed better. I would take a fun Transformers game at the expense of the narrative.

The second game down was James Bond 007: Blood Stone. A decent enough game, it has great driving (except for the handbrake, which seems to randomly decide how it will react), above average shooting, fantastic voice acting (and awful lip synching), and OK graphics that are kind of bland, sans a pretty great Bond model. It is a game that is less than the sum of its parts. It should be a better game than the final product. It never makes me feel like a badass spy; Bond is too vulnerable. 007 is not the game series to have you feel like a delicate flower.

And lastly we have Dark Void. I picked it up in 2010, a few months after it came out for under $10 at Target. I played it a bit for a few days. Stopping on July 8th. Four years later on the 5th of July I picked it up, finally beat it. I stopped on an awful escort mission, not the best thing to come back to. I slogged on, and by the time I beat it, I decided I wanted to try it on hard and maybe aim for the Platinum trophy. Outside of some cheap deaths, the second run was really pretty easy. I did get the Platinum on the 8th, exactly 4 years ot the day I had given it up. It is a game worth playing for the ideas, not the execution. The shooing is OK, and the graphics are bland in a way that only poor use of the Unreal Engine 3 can manage. My sound was glitched for most of the game, so I can't say much for the music our sound. The one thing it had going for it was the Jet Pack, it is a little unruly at first, but once you hit the groove, it is a ton of fun. The entire game would be more fun if it felt like it was paced better. UFO hijacking takes so long that it breaks the flow of the game. Overall the game just kind of slogs through the motions.

I am not currently sure what other games will make the project. I have been playing some Dead Space 3 in co-op with my friend JackAaron. I have been enjoying it greatly. I know it isn't his cup of tea, but we take turns playing games the other isn't always enthralled in. I am not sure if we will beat it this month though.

In non gaming news; I watched Seth McFarlane's "Ted", It came off a bit undirected. Great concept, with some decent moments. The sequel has potential. I am also listening to and watching past Giant Bomb content. I think it was very subconscious, as I started very close to the anniversary of Ryan Davis's passing. Watching in hindsight does really show how much he was loved by friends and the influence he had on them. We are all fortunate that he giggling glee is archived for us. With so many of the people I cared about who are gone, there is very little evidence they were here. If you haven't, check out any of the montage videos of Ryan, seeing someone so gleeful over some of the most inane and insane things is healthy for all of us.

The song stuck in my head is a medley of NOFX songs sung A capella, as seen above. I would pay for an entire covers album done this way. Also on the playlist this week was The Aggrolites, and very good funky, dirty, reggae band. Definitely check out the album "IV", key tracks "Brother Jacob" and "Firecracker". I am going to close out with another song, this by a now defunct ska band called The Scholars, it was Aaron and Scotty from Reel Big Fish's band before RBF. Such great stuff. And I'm done.