2015 was a difficult year for me from a game playing perspective. In fact there never should have been a single moment for me to play anything because school was very difficult and if I were to add playing video games to the mix, then surely I would fail some classes.

Hilariously I’ve managed to put together a list of things that are probably good enough to been on a list for MOST people, or maybe just some. Perhaps it’s just as likely that every single game on this list is exactly up someone’s alley (and you should know exactly which game I’m especially referring to).

Heroes of the Storm is League of Legends for babies and what DOTA 2 secretly wishes it could be if only because this is a game made by Blizzard. So in my head I’m thinking this should be the industry standard for MOBAs because It’s a garbage game for babies, but it’s MY garbage game for babies. I’m a garbage baby and if I’m going to play a goddamn MOBA it’s going to be one that I understand. Something where I don’t feel like I’m the only person letting the team down because we’re all in this together and we’re all screwing up.

I’m not even emotionally attached to the roster but I can identify with winning, and I win the most with Kerrigan (in my heart). I bought her a dress and she looks really good in it. Don’t take this away from me.

---

Star Wars: BattleFront is great because I spent $100 on this game. The Canadian economy is mostly to blame for that aside from my financial ineptitude. In fact when I walked into the EBgames and told the guy I was looking to purchase a copy, he gave me a look that was trying to hold back a shit eating grin as he said, “You can get the special edition for $10 more.”

In the back of my head I’m still thinking games are $60 dollars because I still manage to live in a year where games are that price and I say, “Sure okay whatever.”

“That’ll be $100,” he said without skipping a beat.

I bought the game because I went that far to be bad with money.

That being said, as someone that has exclusively played Battlefield games for many years, I really enjoy the fast pace of the games and their shorter time frame. There’s an enjoyment with it that I managed to leak out of the purchased price, and I would even go as far to recommend it.

Just don’t buy it in Canada.

---

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is great because it was the one that finally turned me around on the series. Granted, I only really played the very first one that came out on the Playstation 2, and I really wanted to enjoy it, but the entire experience was enough to sour me for years to come.

The funny thing is I don’t think I can really explain why. Fundamentally I don’t think anything about it has really changed. Perhaps this is a case of it finally being the right time for me to get into the franchise. I really dig it. It’s got style, it’s methodical nature is very well implemented. And I look like a doofus in all that armour. That’s not even a good talking point but whatever!

God… I really should play some more of that game.

---

Rocket League is great. easily hands down. But you know what had a better theme song?

---

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is the best one of these yet. In fact, if I had to call it anything I would have to say that it is easily the best season of a show you would find on the SyFy network (Showcase, in Canada) When you compare it to the first Revelations game, the writing is much better and there’s actually personality to it. There is an air of Campy-ness that just works.

Top it all off they throw in a reveal that you’d be more likely to expect in what would have been RE 7, but the fact that they did that to this game gave me the one moment of the year where I jumped out of my seat as if to say “Oh my gawd, no way!”

There’s a part of me that still can’t get over that, and I wish Jake could have been involved in some way (I’m really invested in the story of Resident Evil by the way, so there’s that).

---

Let me tell you guys about an amazing game I’d like to call Regency Solitaire. I wouldn’t have known this game existed if it wasn’t for Alex ‘Wolfcub’ Navarro. It’s got the joy of Solitaire-like elements and it breaks the rules in the strangest way. Not only does it introduce crazy, it crams in a Pride and Prejudice inspired storyline that will make you wonder if you should call up your mother and actually recommend her a game.

Normally this is actually the part where I’d tell you that this entire list is a ruse and it’s all just a front to keep recommending Picross games, but I’d have to tell you. Pokemon Picross is just not as good as it should be, so needless to say the Picross game of the year goes to Regency Solitaire for being something I invested so much time into when I first purchased it, and then almost immediately sucked me in again as I was coming up with a list of games for this stupid blog post.

Augh, this game. Maybe I should put it higher on the list.

---

Metal Gear Solid kind of feels like a bit of an unfair choice, because there’s a lot of us out there that all think so highly of this series. Because it’s crazy, and there’s a cult of personality situation with Hideo Kojima where you can say “Fuck this guy, he’s alright.” and everything is fine.

I mean, if Geoff Keighly wanted him on that award show so badly he would have pushed back the date by like what? a week? I mean he dedicated a segment to not understanding how that one clause in Kojima’s contract worked.

Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Menace is a lot of fun. To play. It’s as open world as an afghan desert would allow. The different ways you can tackle a scenario makes it the best game that it’s been in a long time, companions are interesting and the story definitely gets places.

I kind of wish it was more of a Swan Song than it was an extension of Peace Walker, but it doesn’t deter the fact that you can just jump in a mess around in the world and not have to think about doing anything.

I did a lot of that.

I did it so much that it kinda got old actually.

If the game really just turns into you going into a base and then fultoning everyone, then that’s actually a serious flaw.

It also gets extra points for bringing MGO back. I really enjoy me some MGO.

---

I already talked about Fallout 4 in my last blog post. Read that.

---

Splatoon does it for me in all the right ways. It’s got the style, the 90s attitude, an amazing soundtrack. It packs all that into a shooter that I actually didn’t think I’d enjoy as much as I do. I mean, I knew I was going to pick it up. I think what tipped me over to the side of it continuing to interest me, is the frequency of incredibly good Japanese players that play this game.

It was a feeling I haven’t had since Tetris DS many a moon ago.

And you know… sure, you can play this game like a maniac and just seek people out and shoot them, or you can try and play it smart, since it’s a game about claiming territory over everyone else, there’s a lot of strategy in just doing that ALONE, that make it a compelling experience for me. Something that I’m happy it gets explored so well that other games about shooting doods just doesn’t.

It also gets my award for “most videogame of the year.”

---

Super Mario Maker is my number one game, and so much of it has already been said by so many people, so I’ll just leave it at that.

---

Thing I wish I had time for this year

Multiplayer games. Aside from spending so much time at school in 2015, and the living room television really just a ruse as it spent more time as a personal computer, a lot of the games I really wanted to play the most this year involved other people. So because of these obstacles that I’ve constantly had to face in the day-to-day, nothing could ever be properly planned to do with friends, and so many experiences were just lost to the wind with the only likely options being very early in the morning, or incredibly late at night.

No thank you, I would really like to have my sleep.

Maybe this year could be different, and I’ll be better at planning.

What have I done?

To no fault of my own (or every fault whatever), I fell into the amiibo trap a little bit. But here’s the thing... Those Smash Bros amiibos are pretty great, because at least they look like cool figurines. BUT I CERTAINLY HAVE A LOT OF ANIMAL CROSSING AMIIBOS HUH? I mean, it just sort of happened. We’re not even talking just the figurines here, I bought a bunch of card packs too.

What the hell?

While we’re at it, Let’s talk about How Nintendo’s Badge Arcade thing just came out of nowhere and started taking my money without even having to ask. I’m such a stickler for customizing my themes the tiniest bit that I would happily fork over money to get the badges I think would LOOK SO GOOD on my theme.

And I mean, this way I can continue to show love to Swapnote by buying those swapnote themed badges because damnit, Nikki’s pretty cool.

What have I done?!

Best new way to play a video game:

Playing the PC version of Resident Evil 6 on it’s lowest settings came to me in a dream, the moment I seen it for sale on steam. So I grabbed one of my favourite people and set out to co-op our way through what can only be described as “a really good looking PS2 game”.

That game really operates on a whole other level when you dumb down the graphics, and I think I’m feeling inspired once again to grab Dolph and take on another scenario. Should we just get Chris and Piers out of the way?

Game that is much better as a stage play:

I think I’m better at coping with these kinds of games then previous years, the kind where all you have to do is walk around and explore the story that happens around you. Even through my tolerance is growing, they really dropped the ball on what Everyone's gone to the Rapture could have been. The pacing is far too slow, and the design choice of everyone being a ball of light does absolutely nothing for me, in any semblance of identifying. I kept hoping for the end.

It’s only saving grace is that the VO is actually quite nice. Though it’s not exactly an impressive story by any means, the performances are well enough, that I feel it would have been better executed as some kind of sunday afternoon radio drama.

Aside from that, I really don’t think I care for games like this.

---

There. That was easy, my game of the year blog is done. Now we can all move on with our lives and look forward to what’s coming out. I have a feeling I’m probably going to by a lot of 3DS games, because that’s exactly what happened last year.

but only time and good games will tell for sure.

With love,

Bon