Since my time writing at onPause, 2015 has been one of the hardest years to choose only 10 games to praise. The top two games were rather easy, but filling out the final eight was a huge challenge. So, let’s get into it. These were my 10 favorite games of 2015.
#10 – Batman: Arkham Knight
While the legacy of Arkham Knight will be focused on the awful PC version of the game, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Arkham Knight was a fun Batman game. The game relied on the Batmobile too much at times, and the story seemed a bit weak towards the end, but Rocksteady added some new mechanics that made the actual Batman segments of the game incredibly enjoyable. Pair that with it being one of the best looking games I’ve ever played, and it is easy to put Batman: Arkham Knight in my list.
#9 – Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
As someone who skipped Assassin’s Creed Unity, this is my first foray into the Assassin’s Creed world post Black Flag, and it was a nice return to form for the Assassin’s Creed series. The twin protagonists have personality and charm, something that has been missing from the series since the Ezio story line. Victorian London is a blast to run around, especially with the new grappling hook, and the visuals are incredible (this is a common trend in 2015). Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is a game that I had a lot of fun playing in 2015, and I will continue to boot it up every now and then to run around London.
#8 – Grow Home
The 3D platformer is a genre that has been lacking in recent years, and Grow Home filled that void perfectly. What started as a tech demo for a small Ubisoft team turned into a two hour climb of a giant plant. You control BUD, a robot who must climb up a giant plant to reach your space ship. The animation of BUD is procedurally generated, making each climb unique. There isn’t much else to say about this little gem. Just go play it!
#7 – Cities: Skylines
After the disappointing Sim City reboot, PC gamers were yearning for a new city building game that met their expectations. While it isn’t perfect, Cities: Skylines filled that yearn perfectly. It featured massive cities, logical algorithms to simulate your city, and so many different buildings and transportation options that made your city feel alive. Plus the game has a very active modding community, and the developers continue to patch and release new content. This is a city building game that will be around for a while.
#6 – Dying Light
As someone who isn’t big into the zombie genre, I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed Dying Light. But it isn’t your typical zombie game. It features a massive open world with the ability to parkour over the world. This makes zombie encounters optional, and was a mechanic I thoroughly enjoyed. While there are situations in which you are forced to fight, a majority of the time you can run from objective to objective, trying to save the city of Harran. When you do engage in combat, it feels great slicing off zombies heads, or bashing them in with a baseball bat, or..you get the idea.
#5 – Life is Strange
The last few years have included an influx of modern point-and-click adventure games, which was made popular be Telltale Games. Dontnod Entertainment has taken the formula and made it even more interesting with Life is Strange. You follow the story of Max, and her ability to rewind time. What follows is a story about teenage angst, drugs, sex, and crazy stuff that Max causes from rewinding time. More importantly, the characters feel real and alive in Life is Strange, something that can be lacking in other games in the genre.
#4 – Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
It may be weird putting MGS V: The Phantom Pain on my top 10 list because I never actually finished the game. I actually became really frustrated with the game after 30 or so hours once the game requires you to start replaying missions you already beat. But the reason the game is so high on my list is because it is one of the best playing games ever released. Each mission requires precision, but if you mess something up, you do not feel like all hope is lost. I had so much fun sneaking around compounds, messing with the AI, and playing incredibly stealthy. But it can also be a lot of fun to load up on firepower and take on an entire base by yourself. The story may not be as crazy and convoluted like previous Metal Gear Solid games, but it makes up for that with its fantastic gameplay.
#3 – Fallout 4
I’ll be perfectly honest: the story of Fallout 4 is so bad that it took away from my enjoyment of the game. Not enough to bump it off my list, but enough to not make it my game of the year. As I was going through the Boston wasteland, it was all I thought about all day, every day. I enjoyed a lot of the changes to the game, especially the gunplay and power armor. I was pretty disappointed in the dialogue system, but overall I really enjoyed my time in Fallout 4. I’ll play through the game again once there is some more content and modding starts to take off. Fallout 4 was one of my favorite games of 2015, but it was lacking some polish and better writing (especially towards the end) to push it down a few spots.
#2 – Rocket League
Rocket League was the game I played most in 2015. It was the perfect game to load up and play for a few minutes, or a few hours. The simplicity of the controls makes it easy to pick up, but it is a hard game to master. Even if you are not great at Rocket League, it is hard to play that game and not smile ear-to-ear while you’re flipping around the pitch. I’ll continue to play Rocket League quite a bit, and I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of the game.
#1 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
No video game is perfect, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt gets pretty damn close. Everything about the game is incredible: the writing, the story, the graphics, the combat, the sound design, the original score, the sense of wonderment, the size of the world. I could go on and on about The Witcher 3, but I truly believe that it is one of the best games ever made. One of the best aspects of The Witcher 3 was the world in which you rode around. It was incredible to just ride in a direction and see all the random stuff that you would encounter. The story and writing was fantastic. I wanted to see what happened next, and the story took you on an incredible journey that introduced you great characters and fantastic monsters. The Witcher 3 is a modern classic, and should be played by everybody.
