GOTY 2015
The best this year. No remakes.
The top five here could not be more different, so don't read too much into the order.
List items
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With a beautifully disturbed style, unique combat, and masterful level design, Bloodborne refines the best parts the Souls series.
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Wild Hunt has smooth quest design, immersive world building, genuinely terrific writing, and uncomfortable ethical dilemmas. It's the best western RPG in years.
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The Phantom Pain performs a great balancing act, with missions giving countless potential approaches while still feeling tightly designed, and modernizing key features of the Metal Gear series without losing any of the spirit.
The game shows the scars of it's troubled development with a clearly incomplete and unresolved campaign, but the core of the game is so incredible that it still stands out as one of the best games we've seen in years.
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SOMA doesn't bring the scares one would expect from Frictional, but more than makes up for it with its mysterious premise, a better developed cast, a relentless atmosphere, stronger level design, and above all, the questions it leaves you asking yourself.
It may not be the game I had the most fun with, but the way it presents its narrative is revolutionary, taking full advantage of the medium by using game mechanics to force the player to consider what the game has to ask.
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Super Mario Maker benefits from its series' long history, allowing players to break rules that the Mario games have been following for decades without anyone noticing.
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Fallout 4 follows the formula of past Bethesda games, but has a greater respect for the player's time, leading the player to the best content without sacrificing the series' feeling of scale and exploration.
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Splatoon is one of the most original multiplayer shooters since Team Fortress 2, introducing fresh new mechanics in addition to an endearing style and world.
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Invisible, Inc. employs a plethora of interesting mechanics to make every mission feel fresh, with a short runtime that encourages experimentation and risk-taking even with the spectre of permadeath always lurking over the experience.
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