2014 games I played a ton of and really liked in 2015: Bayonetta 2, Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker, Far Cry 4, Forza Horizon 2, and Titanfall.
2015 games I didn't play but still want to: Rise of the Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Tales from the Borderlands.
I played the other two Witcher games around the time they were released and liked them quite a bit. The Witcher 3 to me really is just a greatly expanded version of The Witcher 2 and I am completely okay with that. This game looks and plays great and although the combat does get stale well before the game ends, the story and world kept me interested long enough to see it through to the end. I'm very excited to check out the currently released DLC as well as the expansion when it drops in 2016. Fantastic game that did not disappoint.
At the time of writing this I've put in 120 hours to Fallout 4 and have not yet seen the ending. I've spent my time with this game doing a lot of different things, and have determined that it's just a more refined version of Fallout 3. Again, I'm completely okay with this. I had a very negative experience with Fallout: New Vegas in terms of bugs which unfortunately permanently tainted that game for me. Thankfully, I've had an immensely smooth experience overall during my time with this game. I am not at all into the settlement aspect of this game and I do get annoyed having to jog on over to a defend mission from time to time, but I generally feel like that stuff is balanced decently. It could be better, but it also could be far worse. I have a lot more of this game to play and I am not expecting the main plot to pan out from the various opinions about it I've run across, but I still love this style of game and can't wait to see what it evolves into over time with mods and story DLC.
I have played and beaten every Souls-style game From Software has made since Demon's Souls. I was decently hyped for this one, after all it was the game I bought a PlayStation 4 for. This game, for the most part lived up to expectations for me. It's the best looking/playing and easiest one to get into as far as I'm concerned. It has been brought up that maybe this game isn't as deep or open when it comes to multiple playthroughs but I have only played any of these style of games one time through up to this point. The reason this game stands out so much to me is that my first playthrough was extremely tense and memorable but also the most easy-going of any of my play-through with these games. I wish there was more environmental variety and more places similar to the last couple, but I enjoy the level and boss design so much my opinion of the game is barely affected. Fantastic game and I can't wait to dive back in at some point with The Old Hunters.
I love the way this game feels and plays. I've been a fan of the Metroidvania genre since Super Metroid came out in 1994. This game is way more challenging than you think it'd be at first glance, and although I died dozens of times during some of the more cinematic "chase" moments, I still love that this game asks so much from the player. To me the presentation, aurally and visually is the best of the year. I liked this game enough to play it through multiple times back to back which I pretty much never do. Without a doubt I will come back to this game at some point for a "challenge" playthrough and with any luck that will be sooner rather than later.
People wouldn't shut up about this game so I did my best to ignore the specifics everyone continued to blab on about. I heard of lot of mentions of Earthbound and it so happened that Earthbound happens to be placed somewhere in my top 5 RPGs of the SNES-era. The writing is fun and funny, the graphics are simple and distinct. The soundtrack is really what stands out for me, so much so that I had no choice but to put it on my ethereal "Christmas list." I really liked the game and although I beat it I apparently still have a lot to see of it. For unconventional reasons certain parts near the end frustrated me, but overall I had a lovely and memorable experience with the game.
At the time of writing I've only completed three of the five episodes of Life Is Strange. I played those three episodes back-to-back over the span of three days. At this point my expectations aren't particularly high about the rest of the series, despite the insane way in which the third episode ends. I like the modern Telltale Games adventure games, but I feel that their formula is starting to wear thin for me. Life is Strange is in a similar style, but doesn't feel nearly as formulaic for me. It does interesting things with its defining mechanic and evokes a mood and tone that not many other games strive for. Though the writing can be awkward at times, I forgive it because so many of the character moments work really well for me. I will definitely see it through sometime in the new year and even if it doesn't play out in the awesome way I think it might, I still likely will have a high opinion of this game because of the cool things it did along the way.
I don't play real time strategy games: I'm awful at them and always have been. That said, I have played both the previous incarnations of StarCraft II and liked them both a decent amount. Yes, its story is bombastic and full of the creamiest blend of cheese. That said, I still think it's a wonderful ride and for me is more or less the only chance I get to dip my toes into an RTS. I liked my time with it so much it convinced me to go back and replay the previous expansion, Heart of the Swarm all the way through again on hard difficulty. It is sad to see this series go back maybe Blizzard will do something pleasantly crazy in a few years like go build a new WarCraft or something. I'd play it.
Rocket League is probably my favorite 'sports game' since the last NBA Jam I got into (it was NBA Street 2, I think.) It has a similar sort of feel to me in how easily accessible it is. No, I didn't group up with a set of friends and play for 4 hours a night for months on end. I was actually intimidated to go online with it for a quite a while but when I did I realized there are so many people playing it the skill spread is huge. Scoring goals and eventually lucking into being the MVP of a game is an incredibly awesome feeling. I loved this game as a free PlayStation+ download and at some point if I feel I want to get deep into it I'll buy the PC version to help support these awesome developers.
I expected more from Axiom Verge than I got and was a little disappointed by it. I wasn't in love with its story and despite being good, a couple of the audio tracks in the game started to make me go crazy after so many hours. The gameplay is solid and it is incredibly impressive considering it comes from a single developer, but it didn't quite have the lasting appeal as Ori and the Blind Forest did for me, which Axiom verge is very similar to. I enjoyed chasing after the secrets and seeing the weird things this game had tucked deep in its sleeves, but can't see myself going back to it. Regardless, it was still a fun romp that I had a lot of fun with.
I assumed this game was going to be forgettable trash, remembering that it was once a PlayStation Move game. I also actively dislike the horror genre of film (The Thing doesn't count.) That said, I picked this game up for under $20 after seeing Giant Bomb East's and Dave Lang's playthroughs of it and had a lovely week-long spree with it. Although the framerate is inconsistent, the performance capture is very impressive and the game does a wonderful job at building tension. I managed (with a slight amount of same-scumming) to save everyone on my sort-of first playthrough and I will definitely be back at some point to see what happens when everyone dies instead.
