I enjoy video games. Go figure. This list is a list of every single game I've played this year for at least an hour or more. I would love to beat every game I play, but that's not a feasible goal in the least bit. So let's at least keep track of my thoughts and feelings along the way as I merrily march towards owning a ton of games!
Not many of these games will have come out in 2015, mind.
One of the best mobile games I've ever played. A constant companion when I want to play something for a few minutes here and there. Currently at the "Unbeatable Hole" #2866.
I have a love affair with Dynasty Warriors games, but mainly the spinoff ones (like Dynasty Warriors Gundam or Warriors Orochi). This one is no exception.
The game I bought a Wii U for last year. Still have played an awful lot of Mario Kart 8, especially the 200cc mode. Online is surprisingly fun.
Haven't played much, but did enjoy the DLC characters (Ryu, especially).
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy was such a great game that I put far, far too much time into. When I finally fell off, I had at least ten characters at 99.
Curtain Call was more of the same with more songs and a better quest system. Sold.
I don't remember playing Fire Emblem Awakening much in 2015, but apparently I did according to my 3DS. I love FE:A! There is a bit of an unfortunate eugenics metagame, but Galeforce made me feel better about that.
Where the fuck is Style Savvy 3, Nintendo. Where is it.
PSP games in 2015? XSEED, I love you something awful. Brandish scratches an itch for tactical dungeon exploring that I didn't know I had. Brandish is probably best described as a turn-based dungeon-crawler with limited inventory and weapon breakage. Sounds tedious, is tedious, still a lot of fun.
Watching the Quick Look inspired me to hunt down a copy of this fantastically silly Wii game. It's sort of like a Katamari Rabbids game. There's a dedicated button to throwing a random Rabbid at the screen.
Great gameplay, "eh" story. I like the idea of the story Transistor tells, but am definitely not a fan of how it unfolds or the way it is told.
It's Trauma Center. But with more doctors! And co-op?
Back when I played this in 1994, I was absolutely amazed. These days, it's still a great game. I think it cemented in my mind just how acrobatic Mario is.
More Shantae. Run around, hair-whip things, question exactly how Scuttle Town manages to even exist, wonder why Wayforward launched a Kickstarter for a fourth Shantae game before the third one even launched.
The best Final Fantasy game since whichever one offended you least. In my case, this would be FFX. Haven't yet made it to the much-maligned endgame, but it's coming.
While I love the concept and story behind Hyperdimension Neptunia, the combat has yet to grab me. Hoping to go back to it, but maybe not anytime soon.
S ranked all the courses. I'm terrible at Ghost Combo.
I've enjoyed what I played (maybe about three hours) because the combat in 13 never bothered me. I always had an issue with the story and linearity, but it seems like Square-Enix fixed one of those.
Having never owned a PS3, I was ecstatic when this came to PC. Just as great as I imagined, though it seems almost too easy to grind.
The best non-TellTale TellTale game. Now that all of the episodes have come out, I don't really have an excuse for waiting around, so this will be next on my "to-play" list.
I didn't really appreciate SMG2 back when it first came out, but I think I've mellowed in the past few years. SMG2 is gimmicky and revels in it, trying to never repeat itself and showing off the level designing skills of the developers. Loved it.
The cyberpunk aesthetic and combat is excellent. The writing and skill system is anemic.
As you may or may not be able to tell, I enjoy JRPGs. Tales of Hearts R is one of the better Tales games that strips out a lot of the nonsense that plagues the genre and just dives into a decent story. No English dub is an odd decision, but understandable.
More like Suda is Dead, amirite (i am not right). Fun, but forgettable.
Who the fuck is this, it is not Sam Fisher. Much more enjoyable than the previous Splinter Cell game, however. Rather long load times, though.
One of the games Nintendo published during its Dark World fetish, Metroid Prime 2 is a slightly more difficult game than its predecessor. The Boost Ball guardian makes me cry.
The best Sonic game since Sonic 3.
I am not good at M.U.S.H.A.
What a weird and wonderful game. Crazy right up until the end. Some of the murders seem awfully convenient, however. Every character seems to take a turn acting like a complete jackass.
Danganronpa 2 is almost as good as the first, though I was a bit bummed to find out it was a side story and not a sequel. I don't think I've even gotten to the first murder though.
Yoshi's New Island is a fun, if a bit derivative, Yoshi game. I wasn't fond of the art style.
What a weird and wonderful game.
Man what a fucking brutal game this is. Wings of Vi plays like a game made out of the entire The Kid section of Super Meat Boy.
Once upon a time, I could remember exactly where all 96 exits are. That time is not now.
I've spent about 30 hours in Monster Hunter to determine that I just am not a fan of Monster Hunter. I'm glad it exists for the people who love it, but I don't have the time to properly invest in it.
Coming off of my Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate attempt, I tried putting some time into Ragnarok Odyssey ACE to see if the issue was the gameplay - maybe a faster paced game would be more to my liking?
Nope.
Kirby games have never been tremendously difficult, but I love them so. Triple Deluxe continues this trend, however it's a great ride all through. I'm a sucker for the little pixel keychain collectibles.
I finished Ys I last year and have moved onto Ys II. Both have an odd combat system of running into enemies to defeat them, which is bizzare, but does work. More Ys is rarely bad Ys. I'm postponing playing the later games in the series until I finally beat Ys II, but I think that might be more of a hassle than I realize. I just know that if I move on for good, I may never go back.
Being able to switch characters mid-mission should be amazing, but there are some major gameplay sins that I just can't look past, especially in 2015. Dying as one character should not take you out of the whole mission, the opening mission is far too confusing, and the menus in general are a mess. Pass.
Holy fuck this game is fun. I'm terrible at it, but it's a lot of fun to play single player.
Online I just get juggled until murderfucked.
Hooo boy. This game might be my favorite game I've played this year. Having picked it up at least four years ago, I hadn't even touched it until early June.
DQIX is fantastic and everything I love about the Dragon Quest series. The minor stories told in each town are interesting and I love each and every minor character. The job system is nothing short of incredible - letting you take the game to task and break it at your leisure. Grottos are a wonderful addition and the ultimate evil of the game is a complete dick whose face I really want to smash in with my Gladiator. DQIX is great.
Shame I missed out on the Wifi connectivity, though.
Captain Toad is absolutely fucking adorable.
About once a year I try to play the original Witcher, only to stop playing as I slowly get frustrated about the way the combat works. This time I lasted about three hours.
While not a challenge, SteamWorld Dig managed to not overstay its welcome, giving just enough of an incentive to keep digging and digging. And dig it, I did.
STRETCHMO.
STRETCHMO!
stretchmo.
Quite possibly one of my favorite multiplayer shooters ever, Splatoon is a constant in my Wii U. Spraying ink all over the place is just satisfying in a way many other multiplayer shooters haven't been.
Hot dog arms aside, the swinging was fun. Not much else was enjoyable, thought he story was equal parts overly serious and ridiculous.
Basically, it made me really want to go play Spider-Man 2 again.
I backed Broken Age. I hate the second act of Broken Age. It made me question just about I liked about adventures games, even making me wonder if I liked adventures games at all.
I do. Broken Age is just bad.
The adventure game that reminded me of just how much fun a good adventure game could be. The metahumor is a bit too on-the-nose in parts, but I loved it.
The two fantasy characters playing a MMORPG is a really clever set-up.
Big Boss Is a Monster Hunter!
No, but seriously this is a fun game. Playing on Vita makes the camera more manageable. The Fulton Recovery system just doesn't get old.
One of the games I bought a Vita for (the other being Persona 4 Golden). Haven't come close to beating it, however like I've said: More Ys is never bad Ys.
I haven't played enough to form an opinion beyond how much more I enjoy Runner 2 over Runner 1.
Also known as, "Oh fuck oh fuck I don't see a match what do i do": The Game
Beautiful and breathtaking.
God created man. Man created robots. Robots created God. Hilarity ensues.
"Take me down, To the paradise city, Where the grass is green, And the girls are pretty" ad infinitum.
Smashing billboards and gates are the best parts of Burnout Paradise. The actual events I could take or leave.
http://i.imgur.com/GbXytzg.gif
It's basically that.
Fantastic use of a dystopian cyberpunk aesthetic, especially in use of the hacking powers. Not a huge fan of the gunplay or headache inducing wobbling camera.
Holy fuck this game is amazing. Fairly simple battle system that is easy to take advantage of, but I haven't seen a game take advantage of its license like South Park in some time. The Al Gore quest line is fabulous and a highlight of the game in my opinion.
Like trying to control a blindfolded, drunken toddler, Grow Home's BUD doesn't really go where you want him, you just suggest a direction and he will eventually stumble there. That's part of the charm and a main reason why I loved Grow Home. I never found that last fucking crystal.
Her Story is everything an FMV game should be. Sam Barlow has crafted an incredible experience staring Viva Seifert in a stunning performance, one that I will use to judge all future game stories. While it's not perfect, and the symbolism can be especially thick, Her Story is among my favorite games this year.
I confess to not paying much attention throughout Analogue, which is a shame. The game is short and lends itself well to multiple playthroughs, so I'm going to have to go back soon.
Power fantasies made flesh. Rage personified. Amazing from beginning to end.
What I originally thought was just going to be a simple puzzle game turned out to be a simple puzzle game. However, the way Box Boy uses and expands upon its mechanics is rather charming and definitely worth five bucks.
Axelay led me into a deep research hole about why the SNES doesn't have many shoot 'em ups (or shmup, as I prefer). It's a fascinating story to uncover, with most developers at the time pointing to the mediocre port of Gradius III on the SNES as proof that the console couldn't handle "modern shmups". Axelay proves that not only can the Super Nintendo handle modern shmups, it can provide a shmup better than nearly any competitor. Taking the best parts of Konami's Gradius and Twinbee, Axelay is an exciting romp that ends with a promise of Axelay 2. Oh Konami, what happened to you.
Played on the Vita, so my experience was a bit dampened as the controls on the Vita made little sense. I also missed the thermal goggles. Fighting The End without thermal goggles on a five inch screen is not a fun experience.
The Fall is a great adventure game with some frustrating control issues, especially on PC. Still, I'm excited to see the conclusion of the story, if the second part ever sees the light of day.
Matt Rorie's magnum opus is wonderful and terrible, all at the same time. The world building is top-notch and the story actually changes in response to nearly every little action the player takes. This isn't always a good thing. Characters are prone to enter and leave the story almost at random, which can make the story unreasonably difficult to follow. The players skills are also completely unbalanced - make sure to max something besides stealth (like maybe pistols - not many things can survive six simultaneous shots in the face)!
The helicopter at the end of the game is the real final boss.
I had some problems with Rogue Legacy, especially how the randomization aspect usually just led to suicide runs if I wasn't particularly good with a class. Still, this at least let me try out other classes, however after a certain point, I just wanted to beat the fucking game.
Metroid Prime is still one of the finest games ever made. I missed one missile expansion and it is killing me. I even made a checklist, but it didn't help! I have no idea where it is.
A similar problem faced me with Far Cry 3 that also plagued Burnout Paradise - the external activities are so much more fun than the main ones. Taking over bases and the various sidequests were such a blast that actually having to spend time taking on Vaas was just boring by comparison. Also what the hell was up with those boss fights?
Cute, but quickly wears thin.
I really enjoy SMT games and Soul Hackers was no exception, despite definitely showing its age.
Look, we all know why we're here.
This is not a good game. This is the best game.
I have a big problem with games that have steady power curves mixed with enemies that get strong at the same rate. I get more powerful, but the enemies do too, so what's the point? I'm going to get better gear in about thirty minutes, so why bother going after rare gear? Diablo 3 is all tooled around the endgame, but actually arriving there is such a chore.
What the fuck is a footsie.
NieR is one of those games that I like to enjoy from a distance, either reading about it online or watching other people run through it. Playing the game myself, I found it overwhelmingly tedious. I am so glad this game exists and would love to see more of it, but I reached one ending and simply read/watched the others.
Picross 3D is the best goddamn puzzle game ever. Every puzzle game is judged against Picross 3D, and they have all been found wanting.
Having no real connection to the original Lufia games on the SNES (and not wanting to shell out $100+ for both games or emulate them), I opted to grab the DS re-imagining of Rise of the Sinistrals. Gone is the JRPG turn based combat, instead replaced with faster paced Ys/Terranigma style action. It's interesting, but very hard to play on a DS. I remember my hands being incredibly sore after all the time I spent playing the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, so I decided to play this on a 3DS.
From what I've played, Curse of the Sinistrals isn't a bad game, just an unnecessary one. Fans of the original did not respond positively at all and I can't imagine many new players picking this up.
Basically, it's fun, but uneventful. I got frustrated with the checkpoint system and had to do an entire section about three times. Blah.
Fantasy Life appears to be a pretty chill life sim, but I've only put the bare minimum of time into it. I would love to sit down and just relax with it for a long weekend.
I have a love/hate relationship with Final Fantasy VIII. Part of that reason is the ridiculous nature of the love story between Squall and Rinoa, which I feel is juvenile and completely overwrought. That said, the main characters are basically children, so it can be mostly forgiven. The rest of the plot is just confusing and far too subtle. Subtlety is great when used appropriately, but not when every single aspect of someone's character is obfuscated. Squall's character arc should have been a great one, but it is instead completely squandered in sudden shifts in characterization.
However, I love the battle system, junctioning, and the card game. FF8 gives the player all the tools they need to break the game balance in two and I think the game completely revels in it. Triple Triad is an absolute blast and when all of the confusing menu systems finally work, they WORK. Such a blast, even if it's a mess about 90 percent of the time.
A neat prologue to MGSV: The Phantom Pain.
One of the games that inspired my wife to buy a PS4 for me as I won it in a contest!
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on Metal Gear Solid V. At its heart, it is an excellent action/stealth game that nearly overwhelms the player with a variety of way to tackle objectives. The story can be surprisingly poignant, but I'm not sure if it ever reaches the storytelling heights of the Metal Gears before. Beautiful and majestic, it is nearly a perfect game in many ways. But man, in that second chapter, the pacing just grinds to a halt. And Mission 45? That might be the least fun I've had in a game in quite some time.
But there are things behind the scenes that really bother me, especially the Forward Operating Bases and Konami's handling of the launch and patching of MGSV. It feels like Konami is channeling all of their efforts into making players pay real money for more FOBs. That feels gross to me.
Super Meat Boy came out on PS+, so I took a few hours to run through and see if my SMB skills still hold up.
They do, but only just. Wonderful game.
I have not had as much time to put into Destiny as I might would have liked. So far the shooting feels sufficiently punchy, but I've only done about three missions.
I have a lot of feelings about Bloodborne - mostly positive. I love the fact that Bloodborne takes most of what players knew or liked about Dark Souls and chucked it out the window. Instead of a constant defense with occasional poking, Bloodborne is forcing me to adapt and be on the offensive much more. Instead of waiting for an opening, I'm now charging in and making my own openings, tearing apart fools left and right.
It's a great approach, but one that I worry will leave me vulnerable in the future. I'm also finding a lot of the game easier than I perhaps should. Bosses are falling left and right, but I'm sure my hubris will catch up with me.
As I've now beaten the game, I can say with some confidence that my hubris never fully caught up with me. Bosses continued to fall at the hands of Ludwig's Holy Blade and I never beat my head against a boss quite like I did in Dark Souls. Does this mean I'm a better player, or that Bloodborne is just easier? Maybe both.
I haven't spent nearly enough time with Teslagrad to form an opinion. Seems neat so far.
In one of my weirder gaps in Final Fantasy, I've beaten just about every single Final Fantasy except for the first one. Yeah, I've even beaten II. Working my way through I, currently with a Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage.
Masocore platformers are weird, yo. Prinny: CIRBtH is more fun than it is frustrating, at least.
Valvatorez is such a fun main character. Much more enjoyable than Adell or Mao.
I am terrible at Rocket League, but for some reason I find myself returning to it night after night. I'm endlessly fascinated with it.
Although I own IV and Untold 1, if I don't play through III before moving onto those then I know I'll never play it.
Etrian Odyssey III is an interesting proof of concept that I feel like I and II were hinting towards. Tons of quality of life improvements, better map making tools, more classes, subclassing, and overworld exploration via sailing. While the sailing is rudimentray in III, it's an enjoyable side activity that requires some strategy and preparation before venturing out into the blue.
Right now I'm running with a Hoplite/Gladiator/Arbalist//Princess/Zodiac and that seems to work well. I have one character of each class on standby gaining 50% EXP in case I want to try one out and a farming team on standby for whenever I need to earn money. I'm loving it so far.
I am not nearly qualified enough to talk about Monster Hunter, but I like this one a lot more than MH3U. I'm still messing around with a Hammer, because that golf swing just feels so good when it lands.
This was actually a pretty good puzzle game.
I'm sad to say that I don't really "get" Undertale. It's a fun game, but as I've finished two runs of the game, I'm still unsure of how I really fell about Undertale. Because of that, I decided to read some spoilers and whoa. Undertale goes some places. I just wish that would have been communicated a little better. It's a double edged sword where if I hadn't read the spoilers I might have stopped, but if I didn't, I'm not sure I would have continued.
Absolutely fantastic music, however.
Only an hour or so into Axiom Verge at the time of this writing, but so far it's a wonderful Metroidvania. One thing I really love is the way Axiom Verge plays with your expectations and the usual genre tropes.
I love XCOM. I love Steamworld Dig. 2-D XCOM in the Steamworld universe? Oh my goodness, yes please.
While I don't doubt Pokemon Picross is an okay game, there should NEVER be energy mechanics in a Picross game. Spend a few dollars and go grab an ePicross game in the eShop. Better yet, go hunt down a copy of Picross 3D.
A really good Batman game in a similar vein of Arkham City. Not my personal favorite, but still enjoyable. The UI is almost unreadable, though.
I just wish for another Arkham Asylum. That game was so tight and well-crafted that it makes me long for a non-open world Batman game.
I sort of love and hate this game. I absolutely adored Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier, especially the battle system. Juggling enemies, bouncing enemies around with giant swords and endless bullet streams, setting up giant combos; it was fantastic. Project X Zone has some of that, however the combo system has been both expanded upon but also made simpler. A lot of fun, but it's also extremely hard. The bosses always seem to have a full special meter and will not hesitate to unleash special attacks on your entire party. The crossover nature is silly, especially when you have Gemini Sunrise & Erica Fontaine attacking a Red Arremers being backed up by Heihachi and Ryu & Ken.
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