Your games of the year 2015

What were you favorite games that you played this year? They don't have to be games released this year (though they certainly can be!), just games you played for the first time this year. Here are my 3 picks...and I'm not going to count The Last of Us Remastered for the purposes of this thread.

1. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - As I just started playing this on PS4 for my thesis, I was quickly reminded how much FUN this game is and how well designed it is on basically all aspects. It definitely takes inspiration from Assassin's Creed and the Arkham games, but the combat and stealthing work well. Add in the original Nemesis system, and it stays interesting throughout. I originally played it on Steam, but given how my thesis is designed, I will have to revisit it there - which is fine, as I have DLC still untouched. Even if you're not into Middle-Earth and all its lore, it's fairly approachable. And just plain fun. This is one I can actually see myself revisiting every once in a while as with the Nemesis system, there is nothing out there quite like it.

2. Spec Ops: The Line - I like and respect this one for a wholly different set of reasons than Shadow of Mordor. Mainly, what it is trying to do to the player and at least in my case, succeeded. One that all I can really say is "just play it," and work through the seeming mundanity to really understand what it is trying to do.

3. Far Cry 3 - this was a solid contender for number 1 up until I played Specs Ops and Shadow of Mordor. Still, though, this game was also an incredibly fun romp. Plus one of the absolute best villains in my recent memory with Vaas. All the mechanics worked well, and it wears its literature influences on its sleeve.

I'm sure I can think of others given time, but those are definitely my top 3 picks.

anything and everything batman related

Okay, so here is the dealie.



Trails in the Sky+Trails SC:

While it does follow on from Falcom's habit of being so over-ambitious with their game design that they have to split games into two parts to get it done, the combined game is entirely worth the time invested, which isn't something that can be said of most 100+ hour games. While Falcom is usually the king of the standard RPG plot, there is a large number of unusual things in the details of the game, plus there's the fact that Falcom is the master of strategic restraint in creating a unique experience. The action is limited to one country, the villain has a different goal in mind than conquering or destroying the world, and a fair amount of the combined game- about 15-20 hours- is spent actually building up the game's setting before actually putting it in any sort of real crisis. And while many games have a vital member of the party be killed, Falcom has one leave for an extended period by their own will, which ends up being a far more effective device than merely slaying the character outright would have been. Combined with endgame bosses that are actually as difficult as the story builds them up to be, and you get what's probably the best of the Japanese mega-RPGs.



Undertale:

Billed as "The friendly RPG where no one has to die", this game is much shorter- the best ending can be easily obtained in 8-10 hours- but it's also exactly as long as it needs to be to do what it wants. Buoyed by Earthbound's approach to humor, in that the game is full of ridiculous characters, places, and situations accepted and played completely straight, the game is one of the few to not only allow complete pacifism, but also acknowledge and change the way the game environment and story reacts to it. The less you play the game like a standard RPG, the more the story differs from the standard RPG plot, the game remembers things you did in your playthroughs even if you reload or restart the game entirely, and won't hesitate to remind you of it. By offering hilarious and interesting characters combined with a killer soundtrack and the allowance of unique approaches to resolving the story, there is no reason to not give it a go.



Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

First off, Revengeance is an actual word.

Secondly, Metal Gear Revengeance is the perfect continuation of Raiden's story from Metal Gear Solid 2. In MGS2, the entire point of Raiden's story was that even though he was trying to be Solid Snake, he was not Snake, and should be his own person instead. So, the game where Raiden is once again the primary protagonist plays completely unlike any other Metal Gear game out there. While the game is already pretty well known for its gameplay and incredible boss fights, the game's underlying technical design is incredibly solid, and is able to run in a very playable state on machines that are below its pessimistic system requirements. On top of that, Raiden himself is a character that is a unique combination of monstrous, goofy, and self-aware- an unrepentant glee-killer with a very narrow skill set who is looking to create world where no one else ends up becoming a monster like him.

Really, my only disappointment with the game is that Sundowner doesn't sing the line "All we are saying, is give war a chance!"

I just got Westerado: Double-Barreled today, but it's like playing through seventy years of westerns. The soundtrack's top-notch. You play a man who's out to avenge the destruction of your homestead and the deaths of your mother and brother. At whose hands? That's for you to discover!

Eh, my list of choices for 2015 is:

1. Moe Chronicle
2. Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal
3. Criminal Girls: Invite Only

Nothing related to fanservice, though.