What's your 2015 Game of the Year?

[ejamer]

I play a lot of Nintendo games, and feel confident in saying that 2015 was a pretty horrible year for gaming for their systems. (Even by Nintendo standards, which aren't always high.) There were one or two highlights though, and I've got a huge backlog of games so never lacked for something to play.

Best 2015 releases I played:
* Xenoblade Chronicles X - Waited for this game for a long time, and (so far) it hasn't disappointed. Expect I'll be playing this game well into 2016.
* Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - Really enjoy the series since PSP days, and this is another great entry. Haven't played much, but will probably since 100+ hours into eventually, just like all the other games in this series.
* Runbow - Is this out on other platforms yet? It should be. Very enjoyable party game with a bunch of different modes to mess around with. Simple, colorful, and fun. Biggest downside is that my brother-in-law is color blind...

Best non-2015 releases I played:
* The Pinball Arcade - Love pinball, so dropped a ton of hours into this after this site had a Together Retro event. Still playing tables from the first two seasons. This gets my vote for gaming experience of the year, without question.

[ConservativeArgonian]

I'd pick Bloodborne definitely.

[Sarge]

I think The Last Story is better than Xenoblade and probably the finest JRPG of its era...good pick!

Yes. Very much agreed on this one. I enjoyed both, but the tightly-designed, no-fluff experience of The Last Story really did the trick for me. I was feeling twinges of the same sense of grandeur I had with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III/VI at times.

[dsheinem]

Half way through January, I am going to have to admit to myself that there are going to be a few 2015 games that I wanted to play before making my annual list that I just didn't have time to get to. So, without further adieu, here are my top 5 games of the year (out of the 20 or so games that I beat or sunk serious time into).

1. GOTY - Rocket League - I think that this game's success took pretty much everyone by surprise, as the basic premise of "cars playing soccer" sounds like little more than a fun novelty experiment: something you'd play for an hour or so and then hang up. That the game has had such staying power for me this year is a testament to its brilliant design, its pick-up-and-play nature, and its accessibility to a wide variety of people. I played this game on a couch with no less than ten different people over the course of this year, including folks like my mom and dad who rarely if ever play any games. Over the summer I played it for almost an hour or two a day on many days with my son, who also played the game with me online several times and who also played the game with his cousins online from time to time. So while Rocket League is my GOTY for many of the "traditional" reasons that I give a game that annual designation (great looking graphics, spot-on mechanics, depth of play, lasting impression, etc.), this one also scores a lot of points for its ability to replicate a lot of what I liked about the public enthusiasm for the best arcade games from bygone eras.

2. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture - Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is a different game from its predecessor, the excellent Dear Esther, in many ways, though at its heart it is still a slow walk through beautiful landscapes with minimal player input. That said, there is a fair bit more to interact with in Rapture than there was in Dear Esther, and there's a more involved and straightforward story that is uncovered along the way. The game is split up into "chapters" that each focus on the story of an individual character, and they are all woven together very nicely by the end. Without giving too much away, I can say that I felt compelled to finish the game in two sittings. If Dear Esther made me alternately awestruck and overcome, Everyone's Gone to the Rapture made me feel alternately engrossed and depressed. Those emotions fit better for this longer game (Rapture is closer to 5-6 hours compared to Dear Esther's 1.5-2 hours), but what both games have in common is creating an intense sense of solitude and corresponding despair, mitigated with moments of sheer beauty and wonder. I love that the medium has reached a place where these kinds of experience are possible, profitable, and on the rise - I strongly recommend the game to anyone looking for something different from standard genre titles.

3. Destiny: The Taken King - As was the case in 2014, Destiny is probably the game that I sunk more hours into than any other this past year. The same things that drew me to the game originally are all still here, but The Taken King expansion added a much clearer and more considered layer of polish to the Destiny story, made leveling and upgrading a lot more compelling than it was in its first year, and introduced enough new frameworks for missions and new mechanics for gameplay so as to genuinely make the game feel fresh almost every time I booted it up. There was no lack of things to do in The Taken King and no shortage of modes that seemed accessible and worth spending time on, which is key for a game in this genre. So while I am happy to have finally moved on from hours of Destiny-playing for the time being, I can't wait to see what happens with the game in 2016.

4. Undertale - This unassuming retro-inspired RPG has very quickly become quite the critical darling, and for good reasons. Its sharp and witty writing, its refreshing implementation and merger of uncommon gameplay ideas, and its use of careful world building to create strong attachment and investment in characters and consequences...these are all hallmarks of an RPG that earns it place amongst the best in the genre. The game offers a lot of memorable scenes, it makes you feel like your choices matter throughout, and while the goal of a game is to ostensibly escape a place, it does an excellent job making you feel conflicted about almost everything you do along the way. This game also hit the sweet spot for me in terms of time investment (about 10 hours), which makes it short for an RPG but perfect for what this one seeks to accomplish. To say much more about the game is to give away more than I'd want for someone to know when approaching the game fresh, but suffice to say if you have ever enjoyed the unusual setting of something like Earthbound or some of the humor in classic LucasArts point-n-click games, you should give this one a look.

5. Gunman Clive 2 - I was surprised this one didn't end up on more GOTY lists around the web, but it may be a victim to its release last January, far away from when people typically consider these lists. The first Gunman Clive game very much provided a Mega Man-type experience set in the old west, but this one upped the ante on that idea in pretty much every way and, in the process, became one the most interesting run-n-gun platformers of the past decade or so. First, and most importantly, the game offers a perfect marriage of control and level design. There are parts that seem tough, but nothing ever seems unfair. There are Space Harrier-reminiscent stages that offer 3D variations on the standard 2D gameplay, there are stages that offer memorable boss showdowns, and there are stages that are offer puzzle-game like challenges to advance. There are stages where you ride dinosaurs and pandas. This is all wrapped up in an even better looking sepia-toned aesthetic than was offered in the first game, and the introduction of more absurdity and more sci-fi elements just adds to the game's personality and playability. Ultimately, this sequel makes a good argument that Gunman Clive is easily the best Nintendo-developed IP of at least the past decade, if not longer.


Honorable Mention - The Order: 1886 - This was a solid game in the fine tradition of stuff like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space, but set in a steampunk late 19th Century London against a Jack the Ripper, Arthurian, and Lycan mythos. Oh, and Nikola Tesla is basically Q to your 007, so that's cool. I don't get the disdain that this game has engendered. It was a well-paced game with interesting characters, a memorable world, solid writing reminiscent of its pulpy influences, and top-notch voice acting and sound. It is also the best looking console game I've played. The combat is fast, fun, and has a lot of various weapons that are each unique. Yes, it is only 6-8 hours long. In my book, that's a sweet spot for a game like this and it is perfect for a weekend romp.

There are lots of games I didn't get to play, but among the ones that I had hoped to spend more time with before finishing this list are: Until Dawn, Metal Gear Solid V, Life is Strange, Halo 5, and Soma. I wouldn't be shocked to find any of them replacing one of these up here, but alas, there's never enough time!

[ElkinFencer10]

I know I'm late to the game here, but I think my 2015 Game of the Year is probably either Fallout 4 (I played on PC, but I also have it on PS4) or Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U, obviously)

[BoringSupreez]

Well, it will be years before I get around to playing every game this year commonly thrown around as being GOTY contenders (Fallout 4, Witcher 3, MGSV, Undertale, Bloodborne, Rocket League, Xenoblade Chronicles X), so my pick may end up changing down the road.

The game I had the most fun with that came out in 2015 is MGSV. Yes, the story was an extreme disappointment, since it cuts off Halo 2 style and everyone knows Halo 3 will never be made. Yes, the side ops get repetitive. Yes, the microtransactions are stupid.

But the remainder was amazing. During daylight scenes, the Fox Engine produces one of the best looking games I've ever seen, and I wasn't even playing on PC. The music, both the OST and the licensed stuff, fit the game and time period perfectly. Both settings are ones that have barely been touched by previous games. And the gameplay was oh-so-smooth - they nailed down the perfect MGS formula just as they pulled the rug out on the series.

I have no doubt that, given more time in development, MGSV would have been the best MGS game ever made. As it is, I still think it's worthy of my GOTY.

[wclem]

Thanks for the tip on Gunman Clive on my way to grabbing it.