Whew.
It was so hard to narrow my list down from 15 to 10, since many of the games might change places depending on the day, that I cheated and made a top 15 instead. Also, separately including 5 honorable mentions, that are in my mind a clear notch below the 15, and 5 games I'm hoping to play (more of) at some point.
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1. Rocket League
Still keep playing this for at least a few matches a week, though no longer daily as of this year. It is in my opinion both the best sports and driving video game ever made merging those two genres together beautifully. Only wish is that people would stop dropping out mid-match, which to this day occasionally happens. Still, representin' for the best games all across the world. Still, hittin' them corners with the aerial swirl.
2. Rainbow Six Siege
Strategically and tactically rich multiplayer gameplay that facilitates non-verbal cooperation within a team of strangers, which is awesome. Controlling vision and sound is the key to success, though a solid entry or defense strategy and steady aim also helps plenty, which feels good. The variety of the operators makes the game [hyperbole] endlessly replayable, which is cool. The tensest game I have ever played, which is terrifying.
3. Grand Theft Auto V (PC)
A beautiful yet ugly world that allows for an escape to a place that mirrors our own in many ways. I realize that much of my affection for the GTA series is my deep passionate love for music; the list of great music that I have discovered through the games is longer than an overextended longboard without l'at(t)itude. If this [V] did not have probably my least favorite video game protagonist of all time (Trevor), it might surpass San Andreas for me, maybe. Sunrises and sunsets.
4. Hollow Knight
I sometimes internally describe a part of my personality as being a hopeful melancholic. This game scratched or rather clawed that side of me without letting me go, but without letting me dwell on it for too long at a time, either. Emotionally captivating with its atmosphere courtesy of the audiovisual design and the cutesy characters inhabiting the soil, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is equally solid: so much so that chewing on it is not encouraged if one is not Jaws [the henchman, that is. The measly shark’s teeth would get effed up.].
5. Her Story
One of the most magical series of back-to-back-to-back-to -moments that I have had with a game. Piecing together a murder mystery by doing word searches in a database before and after watching police interview videos? Simply brilliant. I would love to be able to experience those four hours again, but even as a memory I'll cherish them dearly.
6. NBA 2K15
At a point in time Dwight Howard did, in fact, play for the Houston Rockets alongside James Harden and, of course, me - the second-year, 6’3” [with shoes] point guard sensation. And they even managed to win a championship that year (undoubtedly foretelling of the success they have had this year with an almost as great PG in CP3 beside Harden, albeit sans Howard). After that I signed with the Knicks for some reason, and... I haven't finished the regular season of 2016-17 yet. Occasional passing weirdness, friendly AI malfunctions and slight but somewhat realistic late-game rubberbanding aside, this is an excellent and gravity-out-of-the-building-sucking simulation of basketball. Maybe not better than real basketball, but what is? [Music, love and sex.] Ok, well, thanks. [And sleeping and dreaming. And maybe even good food and exercising in general.] Alright, I get it.
7. Into the Breach
Design-wise superb. Pondering between good moves, better moves and the eventual optimal moves is very much like the joy of discovery at its best - though kind of cold and calculated, here. The game might eventually become a tad too easy once you figure it out [16 victories in a row before a defeat on normal], but I'd honestly rather it be this way than the other way around, since the game is now more accessible to more people, and that's a positive. As a final note, I have no fondness for mechs, but I may have grown some respect for what they represent in some vision of a future - in this instance, hope for the people against the seemingly unwinnable.
8. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
A game that heavily relies on its near-perfect soundtrack, which sets the mood both in the action-oriented gameplay segments as well as the calm and in some scenes even touching story elements. At times, the game gets frustratingly difficult, but it never managed to make me tap out. I did not anticipate the sequel to top the original for me, but it did do just that. Oh, and unless a player-critic has been either stuck to a door too many a time or playing with a controller, I’ll take their [subjectively valid] opinion on the imprecision of the controls and gameplay with more than a grain of salt mixed with loads of sugar and a pinch of pepper.
9. Wolfenstein: The New Order
For me, this is in a sense a darkhearted and brutal cousin of No One Lives Forever 2; a game that I had hoped to be reinvigorated at some point. I didn’t expect the Wolfenstein franchise to be the one to carry on the tradition of sneaky-shooty ish with a story frame that goes places outside of the frame, but it turned out to be just that. The tone fluctuates at times, which I enjoy, though it mostly walks on the somber side of the tracks. Thrilling and harrowing yet hopeful from start to finish.
10. Tales from the Borderlands
Video games rarely succeed in surprising me or making me laugh. This gem of a game managed to do both of those things multiple times with great effect during its five episodes. It even had genuinely sad moments that were executed well. Right after finishing the story (over two years ago), I thought about going back to play it for a second time to see how the possible choices would change some of the story elements, but at this point I may have already forgotten most of the choices I made the first time. Even though I highly enjoyed both Borderlands 1 and 2, this is my favorite game set in that universe. Two thumbs way up.
11. Cuphead
Visually the most gorgeous game I have ever played. The original soundtrack that accompanies the game is toe-tappingly jazztastic in its joyful compositions, free-flowingly imperfect playing and (close to) era-truthful mixing. After doing some recalibrating of the controls by making use of the shoulder buttons, the gameplay started to truly sink its teeth in me as well [hopefully not another Jaws reference]. The world and story is endearingly dumb fun, the intro song is the g.o.a.t (as is the end boss in one of its forms), and that green dragon and its spinning background with a tower can suck a fat one. An exceptional piece of art.
12. Darkest Dungeon
Oh, how I could not stop playing this game for a three-day period. I was so fixated on the turn-based, row-switching gameplay elements; the grave, dejected style and ambiance; the (at least comparatively) respectful use of both physical and mental ailments and quirks as character traits – yes, mental stress as its own real, separate damage. Only until hour 35 hit and I set my foot in Champion-level dungeons did the spell break and I could start seeing more clearly the increasingly unfavorable percentages that seemed out of proportion on the rocky road to Grindom – especially as sudden fatigue kicked in at the beginning of that third run through the same four main dungeons I had fully explored twice already. Nevertheless, a haunting experience worthy of much praise.
13. Dark Souls III
There is no question that this is the best-looking game of the Dark Souls series from the perspective of the fidelity of the textures, lighting, effects etc. I could also mildly argue that it has the best boss battles of the series in terms of consistency. The game, however, does not reinvent the wheel that spun and still spins to this day on a pin in the first Dark Souls [for others, in Demon’s Souls, which I have played some of], but rather retreads, while shining new light and injecting unfamiliar darkness, on previous paths. And there is not much wrong with not going balls out innovating since more of that true and tested, high quality Dark Souls is something that I will gladly play and pay for – though I did patiently wait for a price drop before doing so for this third volume. I have yet to play the DLC, so these thoughts are all based on the base game.
14. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Three years ago, this would have probably been my number one on this list. Two years ago, still solidly in the hunt for top 5. A year ago? Fluctuating here and there. But as of this day, I only play this every now and then; typically, when a new set is released and then monthly for a dozen or so matches to reach rank 19 or 20 in a day or two. After that I’m pretty much good. But I cannot discount the amount of time and effort I have put into this game, especially early on, leaving many more joyful memories in its wake than sullen ones.
15. Dark Souls II
Right on the heels of finishing the first Dark Souls in 2014 I jumped right into Dark Souls II, right? Right. While my unforgettable experience with the first Dark Souls was at times aided by the magic of the internet past a certain point, with the second game there was not as much of that magic handy as a safety net from the start, which was sort of liberating and exciting. While the game is lacking in some regards, particularly the 3d-model-of-the-world-spinning interconnectedness of the first game, I was constantly enjoying my journey through the land of ‘Oh, wait, I could probably now go there.’ Great game despite being held in rather low regard by many. Like with Dark Souls III, I have not yet played the DLC for this either.
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Honorable mentions (in order): The Stanley Parable, Shovel Knight, Jazzpunk, Enter the Gungeon, Total War: Warhammer
Some day: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Undertale, Subnautica, Hitman, Kentucky Route Zero (once the final episode drops)
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