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GAF Games of the Year 2015 - Voting Thread [LAST DAY FOR VOTING]

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C

Cheesemeister

Member
B

bombshell

Member
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Best realized open world ever and some truly amazing quest design in both main story and side quests make this the best RPG that I've played. #TeamYennefer

2. Until Dawn ;
3. Just Cause 3 ;
4. Bloodborne ;
5. Star Wars Battlefront ;
6. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ;
7. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ;
8. Rocket League ;
9. Batman: Arkham Knight ;
10. The Order: 1886 ;

x. Fallout 4 ; Only just started on this.
 
S

StrawberryJam

Member
1. Bloodborne ; Before I played Bloodborne I was terrified of Souls games. Five playthroughs later I'm a God damn war veteran.
2. Rocket League ; So much fun. So. Much. Fun.
3. The Witcher 3 ; One of the few games to have a world so large and yet so interesting.
4. Until Dawn ; The best B movie I've ever played.
5. Volume ; A great retelling of Robin Hood through classic stealth gameplay.
 
Y

Yosei

Member
1. Bloodborne ; The lack of build variety on launch was a problem but the game is still an amazing experience. Awesome gameplay, enemy design, level design and soundtrack. Really looking foward to DaS 3.
2. Rocket League ; My surprise of the year. Fun gameplay that is easy to learn but hard to master combined with amazing split screen. Can't really ask for more.
3. Ori and the Blind Forest ; Beautiful levels and soundtrack with good controls and a simplistic yet powerful story. I don't like platformers but Ori is truly a special game.
4. Saint Seiya: Soldier's Soul ; More of the same. A game for fans that I still love to play and probably always will.
5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Good gameplay but terrible plot overall. Still a fantastic experience.
 
T

Tuck

Member
1.Bloodborne ; Not just my GOTY, but quite possibly the best game I've ever played. The combat was amazing and satisfying. The bosses were tough and creative. And the level design, filled with short cuts and secrets was nothing short of masterful.
2. Splatoon ; Amazing take on 3rd person shooters.
3. Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain ; Wish it wasn't open world.
4. Rocket League ; Surprise of the year - love playing this with my friend.
5. Life is Strange ; Did Heavy Rain better than Heavy Rain.

Guess I didn't play that many new games this year. I did play Arkham Knight but that one doesn't deserve to be on my list.
 
N

ninjablade

Banned
G

Gecoma

Member
1. Rocket League ; The game of all years, genuinely now one of my favourite games ever made.

2. Until Dawn ; I actively dislike any horror media, that this game is this high up on my list should be pretty telling towards its quality.

3. Life Is Strange ; It didn't stick the landing but I enjoyed the journey.

4. Grow Home ; The 2nd game on my top 10 that I got free from PS+ this year. Screw the people that shit talk this amazing game.

5. Hotline Miami 2 ; Insert the 2nd sentence from number 4's write-up here

6. The Talos Principle ; Better than Portal. There I said it.

7. Persona 4 Dancing All Night ; The story's trash, I sure suck at the rhythm gameplay, some of the remixes suck & I wish it just had all the normal P4 soundtrack on there.... but dat Heartbeat remix though...

8. Undertale ; Can I put on a game that I haven't beat yet? Yeah, Undertale is great even in LP form.

9. Volume ; Look I haven't played that many new games this year okay, I have to reach a little here! Volume is alright I guess.

10. Dead or Alive 5 Last Round ; I'm not gonna say how much of that DLC I bought. The fighting game part is good too.

Honorable mentions, aka old games that I played either more off, for the first time or a lot off in 2015:

x. Mass Effect 1
x. Hearthstone
x. Fifa 15
x. Grim Fandango Remastered
x. Diablo 3
x. Broken Age
x. Shadow Warrior
x. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
x. The Wolf Among Us
x. Gravity Rush Remastered

Tried to follow the rules/formatting as best I could, let me know If I F'ed it up somewhere.
 
S

SpideySenses

Member
1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; My experience of the Witcher world going into this installment was limited, I'd played the second game for only a few hours and it didn't grab me like I thought it would, so I went into Witcher 3 with a little trepidation. Thankfully its storytelling grabbed me from the outset, White Orchard is a wonderful starting ground full of character in a way that brought everyone to life immediately. This become doubly true when I entered Velen for the first time and met the likes of the Bloody Baron and Keira, these weren't just well written characters but a reflection of a greater realised world. As much as loved Geralt, Ciri, Yennifer and the main quest line, as much as I loved prepping for Witcher contracts followed by it's wonderful combat, as much as I loved the small missable sidequests that snowballed in scope I'd have never imagined... CD Projeckt Red's biggest accomplishment is that they tied all these things together in a massive cohesive world, one that I'm sure will stand the test of time.

2. Rise of the Tomb Raider ;
3. Tales from the Borderlands ;
4. Rocket League ;
5. Until Dawn ;
6. Fallout 4 ;
7. Forza Motorsport 6 ;
8. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ;
9. Ori and the Blind Forrest ;
10. Rock Band 4 ;
 
N

noshten

Member
1) Splatoon ; For me Splatoon is the definitive game taking up a large majority of my gaming time this year. I've not had as much fun playing a shooter since CS 1.6 originally got me pretty involved in the competitive environment. Nintendo have truly managed to create an unique and intuitive online shooter. The weapons, movement, traversal, mechanics, sub and super weapons, the utilization of the gamepad etc it all works together to make a game that's easy to get into but difficult to master.

2) The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; After W2 I had wondered how the capability of World Building can translate into an Open World game. I still prefer W2 due to the more focused narrative but no doubt CD Projekt have really outdone themselves into creating a living and breathing world filled with quests which actually make sense in the World they crafted and don't seem forced.

3) Pillars of Eternity ; It's truly a lovingly crafted RPG with definite nostalgia towards the bygone golden era of PC cRPG's. This is how party based RPGS should be handled, the actual writing and encounter design is some of the best in the business. A true triumph for Obsidian

4) Rocket League ; if there is another Multiplayer game to come out this year that really grabbed my attention it was Rocket League. Mainly due to the ease in which you can pick it up and the difficulty in mastering it truly shines when you manage to organize some friends and don't allow leavers to ruin your experience.

5) Cities: Skylines ; there is certainly a lot of improvements that could be made but no doubt Cities and the community surrounding the game have made it a massive success that finally addresses the hunger people have felt after the SimCity debacle.

There is more games that came out this year I'm interested in but haven't had a chance to play.
 
M

Mman235

Member
Still a bunch of games from this year to play, in fact I wasn't planning to pad the list with re-releases but looking back I realised I haven't finished ten notable original releases this year. Some of the descriptions will be recycled from my "52 games in a year" posts because I don't have much to add to them.

1. Bloodborne ; While it was still an easy GOTY for me I ranked the original release on the lower end of the series due to the comparative lack of replay with the limited options there were. Then the DLC came along and fixed that, and it's a contender for my favourite in the series now. It's the most consistent in quality and the way it embeds it's story into every aspect of the game and design is on a whole other level to the earlier Souls games. Post-DLC it's got the overall most challenging and memorable set of bosses in the series. The only real issues are the handling of the chalice dungeons and the awkward PvP solution, but they're pretty ignorable for the most part.

2. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ; This is the game I've played most this year, but MH games seem to go through a relatively linear progression of getting surpassed by their sequels, so I think Bloodborne will be more enduring in the end. There's such massive amounts of depth here that it's almost hard to talk about because there's important stuff you won't really get into until you're 100+ hours in, and it has one of the most obvious and rewarding learning curves of any game I've played; there are multiple monsters that destroyed me the first time that I can easily beat now.

3. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; I was a bit sceptical of Witcher 3 during development, as a lot of it's design seemed way beyond what the developers had managed in the past, along with "open-world" not having especially positive connotations to me. CD Project surpassed all my expectations. The thing is though that I love it because it feels like a "linear" RPG blown out into a open-world, rather a game that rests on being open-world in itself; the individual areas feel like they have the attention to detail of a linear game, and the world size is just for immersion and to sell that this is a whole world. That idea doesn't sound too appealing to me on the surface, but Witcher 3 pulls it off. Then the expansion came along and is even better, so there's no sign the upcoming expansion won't be the best part so far.

4. Undertale ; This is great and full of creative ideas, good humour, is pretty much the ultimate expression of whatever the Mother series and related games are. Also feels, feels everywhere. Like a lot of people mention though much of what makes it great is tied into stuff that works better unspoiled, it's not that long for one playthrough (and even less for follow-ups) and it's hard to say much beyond "just play it". The combat system is borderline genius in how it allows entire character arcs to play out purely through it, and it's probably one of the most reactive games ever made. While people talk about it's obvious Mother inspiration it's actually something else I feel it (likely inadvertently) has kinship with, which is "cinematic platformers" like Another World, not in terms of how you interact at all (hell the reactive nature is almost entirely contrary to the closed solutions most cinematic platformers are based on), but in terms of how it uses a short length to allow for almost every situation to be entirely unique and throws new mechanics and characters at you on almost every screen.

5. Pillars of Eternity ; A very successful attempt at reviving infinity engine type games. I agree with the consensus that it rests between Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 in quality, but between the release improvements and expansion content I think the sequel surpassing BG2 is a reasonable possibility. This has another expansion and major changes coming in the next months so I guess it's only going to get better.

6. Dying Light ; The biggest pleasant surprise this year; it takes a lot of things I dislike in open-world games and makes them work. Things like chasing waypoints aren't such an issue when just navigating the world in itself is a lot of fun. This is yet another game with a big update on the horizon to potentially make it even better, though I am a little sceptical of vehicles being a thing (which seems to be moving away from what I liked), but the developers have earned my trust so I guess we'll see.

7. Destiny: The Taken King ; Note that this is my first time playing Destiny so this is partially a vote for the game as a whole (the new stuff is so rooted in the base design that I think that's reasonable). The reports of the original story being a joke weren't exaggerated at all, and playing it continuously it's kind of funny what a massive upshoot in quest and writing quality there is as you move onto the newer content. With Taken King there's a legit good mini-FPS compaign here (albeit with emphasis on "mini" as the main story part is pretty short). On top of that it feels really good to play with Bungie bringing together every FPS design aspect they've learned to make every kill feel great. Now I'm at the end-game grind that relies on a lot of teamwork stuff I'm not sure how much more I'll do, but this has provided more playtime than most games have this year as it is.

8. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood ; Mostly a good expansion to the original. The lower budget/ambition shows relative to the original, but it's still lightyears beyond most modern FPS. The new weapons are awesome but, as the major new feature,
it's unfortunate there's no variety to the supernatural beyond Zombies, as it feels like the push for pseudo-realism is holding back more creative designs in that regard
, due to that I felt it was at it's strongest in chapter 3/4 where you were fighting a variety of Nazi types, but it's still enjoyable enough, 3-way fights could have been played up a lot more though. It does a great job preserving the mood from New Order as well. I like it a lot but I'm sad that expansions of games from last year is the best new FPS content this year, but they are so...

9. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin ; As a game in itself GOTY 2014 would be much higher on the list, but as I didn't want re-releases on here in the first place I'm putting it low as a result. I'm a bit mixed on what they've done in the first half of the game, but the second half is a nice improvement, and easily justifies the upgrade in itself.

10. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ; Still haven't finished this yet, but the later Uncharteds aren't going to be any worse with 60FPS and a myriad of other improvements, so I'm comfortable putting it here.
 
D

Drastic

Member
1. Mad Max ; The movie series has been a favorite since I was a kid. Not only did they not fuck it up, but I had the most fun playing a game in the last couple of years.

2. Project Cars ; Needed something to replace Forza since T10 have just about fully focused on cars instead of racing. I think the games are named exactly the opposite of what they represent. They should be more aptly called Project Motorsport and Forza Cars.

3. Need for Speed ; Not perfect but really scratched my NFS Underground itch.

4. Fallout 4 ; This game i...shit, I've got to run. Another settlement needs me...

5. Elite: Dangerous ; Just gotten into this game, but love this type of offering on consoles.
 
K

KefkaPalazzo

Member
1. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain ; After only moderately enjoying 4, I would be lying if I said I was initially overly hyped for the next entry in the series, but after the amazing trailers I was beyond stoked and the game more than delivered, just not in the way I assumed it would. Kojima took a wildly different approach to how he chose to tell the story and for the most part, despite it's inconsistencies after the first chapter, I was a fan. However, it's the gameplay that shines here. This was the funnest stealth game I ever played by a wide margin, and the astute attention to detail allowed for it to accomplish something that far too few games do, letting the player come up with an idea on how to approach a mission, wonder if it will actually work, and feel a sense of accomplishment after seeing that it in fact did. This is a marvel of game design.

2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; The attention to detail given to the world and it's inhabitants is uncanny. I haven't been this deeply engrossed in a WRPG since Morrowind.

3. Fallout 4 ; Say all you want about how similar it is to Fallout 3, but few games offer the freedom and sense of discovery that Fallout 4 does. Add a truly fun and engaging combat system and some of the best side quests and companions of the year and you got a great game, be it a familiar one.

4. Bloodborne ; Some of the best atmosphere you will ever experience in a game, great boss fights, and razor tight combat that pushes the pace while constantly challenging you to improve you game.

5. Life is Strange ; We have an abundance of adventure games on the market right now, and this may be the best of them all. The fact that the developers wear able to to create a fairly accurate display of teenage life goes a long way in allowing the player to emphasize with the characters.

6. Ori and The Blind Forrest ; Beautiful and whimsical, the tight and demanding platforming keep you focused while the light narrative tugs at your heartstrings.

7. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; A marked improvement over the first in the gameplay and story pacing departments, while few games this year looked this good or had as good of an antagonist.

8. Her Story ; A truly unique experience. FMV done right.

9. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime ; The best couch co-op experience of the year, bar none.

10. Batman: Arkham Knight ; It certainly has it's flaws, but the combat was as good as ever, and the it's overall highs outweigh it's lows.
 
K

King Gilga

Member
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Sequel to one of my favorite rpgs of all time, while it's a downgrade in someways from 2, it's an amazing game worth all the praise it gets.

2. Heroes of the Storm ; I've tried, no friends have forced me to try to get into mobas, I've put 20 hours into Dota 2, and twice that into HoN, but I barely enjoyed any off it, I could never get into any of the characters, I hated always being mana starved, having to go to the shop all the time, remembering what items to get, last hitting, hated it all, well I did enjoy denying. But HoTS fixes all that, and I've and amazing time with the game, I like multiple characters, I don't have to worry about any of the annoying stuff, it's all the exciting parts of other mobas with any of the junk that kept me from enjoying them.

3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Fuck the story, it has the best stealth action gameplay of any series ever, I put 10 hours into GZ just because of how it placed, and TPP improves on it in almost every way, amazingly fun to play and fool around with, enough said.

4. Yakuza 5 ; Yakuza is quite probably my favorite game series of all time, I've played all the ones that come over barring one and completed them all, and I don't finish games, it's running joke among my friends how little I finish games. Yakuza 5 has all the series staples, amazing combat, amazing characters, ridiculous quests/stories, it's just great. If it wasn't 3 years late it probably would've been my #1.

5. Super Mario Maker ; Just fun, perfect game to fool around with around any company. The search/user stuff is held behind by nintendoisms but still, fun is fun.

6. Under Night In-Birth ; Super fun to play, and super accessible, I've played this with random friends, my preteen cousins, my sister, everyone enjoys it, the characters are ridiculous, it's so fucking smooth it's a dream to play. The 'stories' are completely stupid in the prefect way. Totally unexpected but love it.

7. BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Extend ; Still as fun to play as ever, but more importantly still had the ridiculous story mode, great characters, stupid story, amazing dub, love it just like I loved the first 2.

8. Bloodborne ; I loved Dark Souls 1 and really liked 2, I played Demons before both but the performance issues really stopped me from getting into it much. Thankfully bloodborne doesn't have Demons level issues, it's fun to play, but I prefer the slower more methodical souls games, borne is faster and as someone who didn't use shields much, easier, and I don't like the setting as much as the other 3. But still a great game with great combat and great enemy design. But I'm not into Gothic Lolita stuff.

9. SteinsGate ; I'd feel bad with only one vita game on here, it's a cool VN, with cool art, and a cool story. Not much to say here.

10. Shadow Complex Remastered ; Never played the original, really like this remaster, great take on a metrovania.

x Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin ; I didn't want to lose my character because I cba playing the rest of the game so I got key for the DLC for the base game instead, the DLC areas are fun.

x Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition ; I haven't played it but virgil is good and the gifs/webms alone are worth an honorable mention imo.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
Tain said:
For the tally:

1. Bloodborne ; Every bit as overwhelmingly huge and mysterious and dark and oppressive as Souls, if not moreso, with aggressive combat and wonderfully disgusting and hostile bosses.
2. DariusBurst: Chronicle Saviours ; A beautiful, challenging arcade STG with all the focus of the classics, excellent layered mechanics, and new modes that don’t drag it down.
3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Despite what could have been, this game has a ton of satisfying mechanical variety to carry it through its massive playtime.
4. Mushihimesama ;
5. Assault Suit Leynos ;
6. Yakuza 5 ;
7. Halo 5: Guardians ;
8. Transformers: Devastation ;
9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ;
10. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection ;
x. Devil’s Third ;
x. Resident Evil Revelations 2 ;
x. Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim ;
x. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ;
x. Splatoon ;
x. Eschatos ;
x. The Evil Within: The Assignment ;
x. Rocket League ;
x. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Click to expand...

Excellent stuff as always.

Always look forward to your, Riposte and ViewtifulJC's lists every year.

You guys have such varied taste.

It's refreshing to see and shows that gaming is getting better with each passing year.
 
P

pete_townshend

Banned
1. Rocket League ; What a great game. Perfect combination of simplicity and skill, while just being fun at whatever level you are at. Got it on PS+ and scored a hat trick in my first game and was hooked. I thought I was hot shit, when really it was just because everyone was new to the game. Then, as people started figuring the game out, I realized I was most definitely not hot shit. Then came the phase where I started improving and understanding defensive rotation and built an OK arial game. Then you reach a ceiling where you see the awesome skill some of the top players have and know you will never reach it. But like I said, it is fun at every level. Got in on PS+, double-dipped on PC, and will triple-dip when it is out on XB1.
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider ;
3. Pillars of Eternity ;
4. Ori and the Blind Forest ;
5. Her Story ;
6. Halo 5: Guardians ;
7. Cities: Skylines ;
8. Dying Light ;
9. Fifa 16 ;
10. Batman: Arkham Knight ;
 
O

opticalmace

Member
Las7 said:
1) Splatoon - For me Splatoon is the definitive game taking up a large majority of my gaming time this year. I've not had as much fun playing a shooter since CS 1.6 originally got me pretty involved in the competitive environment. Nintendo have truly managed to create an unique and intuitive online shooter. The weapons, movement, traversal, mechanics, sub and super weapons, the utilization of the gamepad etc it all works together to make a game that's easy to get into but difficult to master.

2) The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - After W2 I had wondered how the capability of World Building can translate into an Open World game. I still prefer W2 due to the more focused narrative but no doubt CD Projekt have really outdone themselves into creating a living and breathing world filled with quests which actually make sense in the World they crafted and don't seem forced.

3) Pillars of Eternity - It's truly a lovingly crafted RPG with definite nostalgia towards the bygone golden era of PC cRPG's. This is how party based RPGS should be handled, the actual writing and encounter design is some of the best in the business. A true triumph for Obsidian

4) Rocket League - if there is another Multiplayer game to come out this year that really grabbed my attention it was Rocket League. Mainly due to the ease in which you can pick it up and the difficulty in mastering it truly shines when you manage to organize some friends and don't allow leavers to ruin your experience.

5) Cities: Skylines - there is certainly a lot of improvements that could be made but no doubt Cities and the community surrounding the game have made it a massive success that finally addresses the hunger people have felt after the SimCity debacle.

There is more games that came out this year I'm interested in but haven't had a chance to play.
Click to expand...

Wrong format, my friend.
 
I

immortal-joe

Member
1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Ingenious game design characterized by beautiful controls, inventive level design, amazing weapon feel, and my favorite implementation of AI in any stealth / action game. Side missions never got boring due to the frightening number of possibilities ahead of me, and the base building became quite addictive. I liked what the story did at the end, even if it was inconsistent in its execution.

2. Bloodborne ; The quintessential souls experience. Amazing combat, inventive weaponry, inspiring art direction and fantastic pacing. Polished to a mirror-like sheen.

3. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; There be jank, glorious Euro jank, but this is well and truly the coupe de grace not just for CDPR, but for the modern WRPG genre as a whole. Amazing world building, great writing and characters, and some honest effort put into the quests to avoid the feeling of grinding that so many other WRPGs go for. Oh, and Gwent!

4. Rocket League ; Not much to say. Take a simple formula, polish polish polish, and there you have it. Brilliant execution.
 
K

kitzkozan

Member
Ok, let's get this done before I forget about it as I've got numerous things on my mind.

1. Bloodborne ; I didn't play enough of Dark Souls 1 & 2, but this was an awesome game experience. It's probably lacking from an rpg perspective as you don't really have magic spells and a lack of weapon build unless you bought the DLC. Still, incredibly atmosphere which set it apart from the Souls (Lovecraft inspiration and the Cthulu monsters) and the combat is second to none imo. Just a game which excel at several things, the combat mechanics being the main one.

2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; I think an open world game rpg is more difficult to get right than a focused experience like Bloodborne, but they did an admirable job here. Of course, the combat mechanics aren't anywhere near flawless and the same is true of area layout. Still, they were able to make the typical open world convention and quest design interesting ("borrowing" the detective mode of the Batman Arkham games is really helpful to make the mmo style sidequests interesting imo) and of course you have the CD Projekt trademark of this being a mainstream oriented wrpg with solid writing, characters, art design, etc. The gaming world is simply better if you have CD Projekt gaining mainstream exposure since they are more talented than Bethesda and Bioware.

3. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition ; Didn't play the original version last year, but what I played of this is great so far. The main appeal of the game are the turn based combat mechanics and the options at your disposal, which are great. It's not an whole package kind of wrpg, but an uneven one with great strength and obvious weaknesses (Larian don't have the best writers and the story sure isn't anything worth of note given the numerous great wrpg / crpg out there).

4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; An unfinished game which is disappointing after the numerous delay and lengthy development process. Still, I never took the MGS story seriously and this one is the weakest delivery in the solid series so I don't give a fuck lol. The gameplay is fantastic, in fact I think it's the best execution of a stealth based game so far. I just don't think the open world brought anything of note to Metal Gear. I say this as someone who's a fan of how a game is designed for open world versus a constrained one. It's better suited for rpgs or games like AC or GTA imo. I think Metal Gear really shine when you are infiltrating military bases or facilities, not wandering a dessert (and it's been the case since the inception of the franchise).

5. Splatoon ; I really appreciate the Nintendo approach to a shooter game. It's unique and different from the norm, which is what you would expect from them. They even managed to make the boss battles interesting with the single player portion, which is a struggle for most developers working on shooters. It's greatest strength is just how fun it is for a multiplayer focused game (which is often tied to winning or losing). It's got very interesting mechanics and it's supported well post launch.

6. Ori and the Blind Forest ; At this point, a "Metroidvania" game is nothing new as it's experienced a certain revival in recent years. Still, this one is excellent the 2D rendered graphics are superb. In fact, the artstyle (the characters do have a Ghibli touch to them for sure) and the soundtrack are A+ and the gameplay is pretty damn solid which is impressive given that the developer is relatively new. It is also challenging, much more so than numerous games in the genre as you can easily die. Just a great mix of puzzle solving and challenging platforming imo.

7. Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late ; I bought this recently during a PSN sale, but felt I had to include at least one fighting game in my list. :] Numerous people in the Gaf fgc recommended this title despite it's complete lack of exposure in tournaments or in general. It's a pretty damn good "anime fighter" on a smaller budget obviously. It shine in the most important aspect: the mechanics are very good if not great, but it's rough around the edge as well and the smaller budget they had to work with is obvious. The lack of a tutorial is unacceptable in 2015 and some system simply aren't explained despite being mentioned in the digital manual, so you need a community or use the internet to learn how to play it properly. Still, it's making me look forward to 2016's offering such as Street Fighter V, Xrd Revelator and Tekken 7 (and it might be time to buy MK X with the XL edition).
 
D

Dance Inferno

Unconfirmed Member
If I have semicolons in my write up, will that mess up the parser?

I.e., semicolons in the regular paragraphs where I discuss the game, in addition to separating the number and the comments.
 
Terra_Ex

Terra_Ex

Member
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; In many ways my dream game made real. I'm up to 180 hours including the expansion and I could still easily go back for more. Incredibly realised world, realistic characters with believable motivations and relations all held together with stellar writing and a gripping core narrative. Redefines and sets a new standard for what open world AAA rpgs can and should be about. Also the only AAA rpg sequel that both met and exceeded my (sky-high) expectations, no small feat given I had 2 games worth of investment already. This is the game that I ardently wish other AAA efforts would aspire to - CDPR's progress since their first game has just been astounding. I also found the sections utilising Ciri's POV to be noteworthy in lending a second perspective on the world and events to Geralt's own.

2. Tales from the Borderlands ; People weren't kidding when they talked this game up. To me this is Telltale's best game to date- a likeable cast, terrific acting from the principle characters, snappy writing and some interesting choices and set pieces intertwine to get me interested in a franchise I had only a passing affinity toward. Great use of the setting and a gorgeous aesthetic, I'd love to see more in the future.

3. Yakuza 5 ; It's been great seeing some of these characters evolve over 5 games and equally great to defy the odds and return to Kamurocho for the fifth time in english after a ridiculously long wait. Criminally underrated series of games and more people should give it a try. Simply put it's another great outing in the Yakuza universe - great combat, crazy side stories and the multi-protagonist approach has reinvigorated and shook up the formula post-Y3 so you get to see the story come together from multiple perspectives over the course of the game.

4. Pillars of Eternity ; Ultimately it was more Baldurs Gate 1.5 than BG2 for me. The game does a great job of setting out an interesting world and characters yet it falls short of its forebears in some intangible way I can't quite put my finger on. It's a great effort but simply lacks a certain je ne sais quoi for me that would let it stand alongside other genre greats. If a theoretical sequel can demonstrate BG1>BG2 progression we'll be in for a treat.

5. Shadowrun: Hong Kong ; It wasn't as tight of a game as Dragonfall, the pacing was off and there were some inexplicably monolithic walls of irrelevant backstory with minor NPCs at times but on the whole Hong Kong was another fantastic romp in the Shadowrun universe. Companions were great once again and the refinements to some of the systems were noticeable and appreciated. Looking forward to what they do with the upcoming mini-campaign.

6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; From a gameplay perspective, it's probably my favourite MGS game and while the ending and efforts toward tying things back into the earlier titles certainly leaves something to be desired it does a good enough job of capping off MGS as a series for me.

7. Until Dawn ; Haven't quite finished this one but I definitely respect what it's trying to do with its branching and the story and dialogue is enjoyable enough. Reminds me a lot of Quantic Dream's efforts.

8. Divinity: Original Sin: Enhanced Edition ; It gets turn based combat so right I'm wondering where this game has been all my life. Battles are just deeply satisfying, methodical and nicely balanced. There's so much freedom in determining how to build your characters, what skills to increase and what weaponry to use, battle preparation is like a mini-game in and of itself. Combat aside, I loved the exploration and quests, especially that this was the first game in years that didn't treat the player like an idiot - so no giant arrows and quest markers guiding you to the target - the game actually expected you to think about what you needed to do next - a rarity in modern gaming, sadly. I've only put a bit of time into the new Enhanced Edition but after sinking over 100hrs into the original version, D:OS has definitely cemented its place in my list.

9. Contradiction ; Never really been a fan of FMV games but this game with Jenks' quintessential quirky British humour and delivery propels this game to unexpected heights. Definitely worth a playthrough even if the ending is somewhat abrupt and blatantly suffered from cuts.

10. Underrail ; I still have so much left to do in in this game but I'm really enjoying the character progression. There are so many ways to build your character and it all comes together in an brilliantly executed turn based combat system. Gives off a strong vibe of the classic Fallout games blended with the setting of Metro.

Honorable Mentions
x. Age of Decadence ; Simply need to put more time into this one. It features great choice and consequence and oft brutal combat.
x. Dying Light ; Dead Island done right, finally. Wasn't expecting much going in but I had a lot of fun playing this.
x. Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin ; Didn't play much of the vanilla version but after a rocky start I ended up quite enjoying Scholar.
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
1. Bloodborne ; The only game this year that delivered on all its hype. Amazing atmosphere and aesthetics, fascinating lore, FROM's finely-tuned balance and difficulty, and some of the best combat you'll ever play in an action RPG.

2. Life Is Strange ; One of the biggest surprises of the year. Compelling time travel story and another example of episodic gaming done right. Dialog left something to be desired, though, but that didn't take anything away from the amazing and touching experience.

3. Rocket League ; Probably the biggest surprise of the year and the best multiplayer game of the year. Soccer with cars. Who knew?!

4. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; A solid and intense sequel with a soundtrack that rivals the first games'. A more layered and interesting story along with some gameplay twists kept me just as hooked as the first one.

5. Super Time Force ; Another surprise. Didn't expect to be as hooked as I was with this one but the wide variety of unique playable characters, Super Hardcode Mode, and that addictive rewinding mechanic kept me coming back until I made this my fourth Platinum.

6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; The best gameplay you'll find in a Metal Gear game, and maybe even the best gameplay you'll find in all of 2015, but that wasn't enough. Huge problems with the story, pacing, boss battles, mission structure, and extreme repetitiveness kept this from climbing higher. Hideo Kojima's last Metal Gear deserved far better.

7. Fallout 4 ; Mirroring MGSV, the best combat you'll find in a Bethesda game to date wasn't enough. Significant downgrades to character building and dialog along with the near-total absence of player choice and incredibly lazy endings make Fallout 4 barely qualify as an RPG. On top of that, the significant technical and performance issues made for a horrible playing experience in many areas. There are enough of the classic Bethesda open-world hooks to keep you interested and engaged for tens of hours all the way to end, but what you end up with is one of the biggest disappointments and wasted opportunities of 2015.

8. The Order: 1886 ; The best looking game of the year didn't have enough content to match. I loved the setting and enjoyed the story and the gameplay was ok but it was just ok. The conclusion wasn't satisfying and it just left you wanting more from all aspects of the game except those gorgeous visuals. If I had payed $70 instead of $9 this game would be nowhere near my list but at the price I paid it crossed whatever game/dollar ratio I have in my head. If you can get it cheaply, it's a good experience.

x. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; The combat completely turned me off on the game several hours in and this remains unfinished and barely played. I could see the potential and the hard work that was put into the characters and the world but just couldn't get around the unresponsiveness of the combat. It's a damn shame.
 
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay

Touch fuzZy. get BizZay

Member
I feel bad even doing this, what with the amount of important games I didn't get to play because of work, or being old, or everything being open world, or playing the games I should have played last year, or replaying games I do play that I like over and over instead of playing new games... you get the idea.

Anyways, here's what I got:

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1. Bloodborne ; [PS4] I'm what you might call a Soul man. So when Dark Souls 2 was really bad compared the Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, I was heart broken. I was inconsolable for a time. I'm all better now, and I wouldn't say that time heals all wounds so much as Bloodborne came out to make it all better. That's right, while Namco was busy giving Dark Souls 2 perfect torchlight mechanics, Hidetaka Miyazaki was hard at work on the mysterious Project Beast. And what a beast of a game it turned out to be. It takes the fluid, responsive combat mechanics of the first Dark Souls, takes away the shield, and adds a lock-on dash mechanic. If you didn't already realize that the coolest way to play Dark Souls was not to block and hold back but to master the timing required to dodge through your enemies attacks, guess what? Now you don't have a choice!

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Bloodborne oozes style. Against the backdrop of a horrific victorian city you fight awesome monsters and deranged madmen with an arsenal of kick-ass weaponry. Yes, The superb trick weapons are the star of the show. A mace that transforms into a medieval whipper-snipper? A Cane sword that becomes an awesome chain whip? How can you not love such cool weaponry? Each weapon has a surprisingly large and interesting moveset, and you might just discover that attacks you initially decided weren't that useful are excellent when used with the right timing or against a particular enemy. Boss fights are epic and enjoyable, worthy of the souls series.

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But I've got plenty of complaints about the game too. The Chalice dungeons are tedious. The best thing I can say about them is that as terrible randomly generated dungeons they, through contrast, emphasize even more clearly just how masterful the level design in the rest of the game is. The loot can be pointlessly weak. There's a lot of stuff that gives you +2% or +3% to something, pointless filler loot. And man, I really miss the build variety aspect of the game. If I'm playing Dark Souls, I can replay it as a sorceror or cleric or pyromancer and emphasize that skillset from the outset. In Bloodborne it feels like early on, the more I try and lean on arcane or bloodtinge, the less it pays off compared to a quality, skill or strength build...They seem supplementary at best until you are pretty damn far through the game when they finally become effective. But worst of all is something that has been a problem in all the Souls games. I've tolerated it in the past but as more games have come out it's gradually become unacceptable. I hate hate hate when my friend summons me, he dies, we go to the same place with the same settings to resummon, and it just won't work. Spending a good 45 minutes grinding your teeth waiting for a summon that just won't happen on a paid online service is inexcusable.

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Anyway, I'm afraid I don't like it quite as much as Demon's or Dark Souls. I don't see myself spending anywhere near the ridiculous amount of time I invested into those games (You don't want to know.) But it is masterpiece of a game that is absolutely worthy to stand in their company... A Souls game in all but name, Bloodborne lures you into a beautiful nightmare, and you wake half-screaming and half-laughing... Congratulations, you are now insane. And congratulations to From Software...Bloodborne is the greatest game of 2015. Praise the "L!"

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2. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition ; [PC version] Okay so I didn't actually play this game. Wait, wait I know that sounds unreasonable! And, to be honest...it's the beginning of a pattern of me rating games I haven't played or have barely played. Wait, please keep reading! At least in this case I think I can justify my actions pretty well. You see, last year when I gave game of the year (deservedly) to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze I hadn't played 2014's Divinity: Original Sin Classic version or first release. At the start of 2015 I DID play through D:OS Classic. Then I played it again. Then I played through it with a friend. Then I played through it with another friend. And I played through it again by myself. All in all I played through Divinity 5 times in 2015!

What can I say? That combat is just so magnificent, it keeps me coming back! The way elemental spells can work together with other elemental spells, or the environment, is just so fun and rewarding to see. Other classes have really fun abilities too, but I think all the cool, creative ways you can utilize spells are what make this one of the most fun rpg combat systems of all time. On a less positive note, I think the story is mostly disposable "end of the world, fate of the universe" tedium we've all heard a million times but it has some good humour in it and I think the murder mystery at the beginning was an enjoyable starting point at least. In any case I can't recommend Divinity: Original Sin (Classic) enough, based on the strength of its incredibly fun combat system alone, and I'm assuming that the Enhanced Edition is basically the same game, and therefore I award it my number 2 spot. Anyone who likes turn based battle systems, I recommend this game to you extremely highly.

3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; [PS4 version] This has got to be the most polished and most bursting with amazing content that a game that feels "incomplete" has ever been. It's ...spectacular. The stealth gameplay is better than it's ever been. The combat gameplay is better than it's ever been. There are awesome new characters like D-Dawg and Quiet. There are less of the awesome cutscenes, but what is there is still crazy awesome. I love the part where Ocelot pulls a knife out of Big Baws and says "ya know, these are bad for ya" as if they were talking about smoking cigarettes. It's just a shame that such a well put together and lavishly produced game might as well have a flashing neon sign pointing to where they ran out of time/money. In any case, this is still an amazing game. However, because of that lingering feeling of "incompleteness" I can't give it game of the year, nor can I consider it a superior Metal Gear to Snake Eater, a game that "accomplishes its mission" by feeling like it achieved everything that it set out to do and wrapping up perfectly.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D ; [3DS] If I had played it enough to finish it, this may have been my game of the year. I ended up dropping the wii version back in the day despite being impressed, but it managed to get its hooks into me this time around. I'm only just up to the Eryth Sea, so I have no idea if I'm halfway or quarterway or what, but I absolutely love these fun characters, and I love exploring their beautiful world just as much. It's like the game is made so that each new area is more captivating and impressive than the last. I'm still getting my head around the game's many complex mechanics, but I'm finding it a joy to do so.

5. Persona 4: Dancing All Night ; [PS Vita] This is a superb fanservice game. The characters you love represented with gorgeous graphics, funny dialogue and amazing dances. The remixes of those wonderful Persona songs are just super duper fun and catchy. More importantly... You can dress Nanako in the detective outfit from that anime I was so excited about but never watched and have her dance together with Naoto in her Sherlock Holmes outfit! What a pair! "Wow Naoto, you're a detective, and you can dance too?! Ummm... 'You have the right to remain silent!'...I learned that from dad." If Teddie has the pleasure of dancing with Naoto, he'll say "I think my heart's in police custody!"

Unfortunately, Chie and Yukiko do not have a dance where they bump their butts together the way they do in the intro cutscene...But maybe they will in "Persona 4 Dancing all Night 2: Electric Boogaloo."

6. Batman Arkham Knight ; [PS4 Version] Remember how this game is terrible and broken and rocksteady completely screwed up and it's an embarrassment? Because I sure as hell don't! I remember being astounded at how utterly gorgeous it was and amazed by how smoothly it performed on a technical level compared to other high profile multiplatform releases. Is that the secret to getting your game to look and run on PS4 the way it should? You have to neglect the pc port? Ruh-oh! Waaaaaay better than City but nothing can top Asylum with its Metroid Prime like design.

7. Xenoblade Chronicles X ; [Wii U] I've barely scratched the surface of this game, having only played 13 hours, but I see it too has game of the year potential. Well I probably won't be able to tell you for sure until 2018 or so. But what I can tell you is that I already feel like I can see the ways it is better than Xenoblade - and the ways it's worse, too. This world could possibly be even more amazing than Xenoblade's world...It's this huge, untamed wilderness that just looks so damn cool...and if it gets better and better the way Xenoblade does as you continue to progress? Man, I can't wait to see that. Thinking of eventually flying a mech around Mirra just has me salivating! On the other hand, where Xenoblade Chronicles has an amazing cast of characters whose unique combat abilities are tailored perfectly to them and help define their identity, Xenoblade Chronicles X, perhaps in an attempt to entice more gaijins, errs towards character creation, customizability, and classes. So there are heavy guys who have a generic set of heavy abilities, and that's cool...but it's no Reyn time, baby! You know what I mean? When I look at the list of other player characters I'll get to use later besides Elma and Linn, they look like a fairly boring, generic bunch of Homs who presumably won't have any combat moves that I wouldn't be able to give my own character, or so it seems to me at this early stage. Looks like a missed opportunity... Surely piloting a gundam with a Nopon would have been the best thing ever?

One last thing I will say. I usually don't get into a game's setting and story all that much but, at least early on, I am really loving the mission of saving humanity. I know, I know, sounds boring right? Normally that's just some tedious cliche, but when it's sold to me as going to the far reaches of space and colonizing the hell out of some crazy planet filled with monsters to ensure the survival of our kind? I'm digging that...it's feels like I'm doing something holy, something important. It's like...yeah humans suck, but maybe when our very survival is on the line we can band together and achieve something great. I really hope the game doesn't drop the ball and continues to build that narrative because I'm....really feeling it. Hehehe.

8. Super Mario Maker ; [Wii U] When I was a kid, this was my dream game. The young me couldn't imagine anything more magical than the world's greatest platform game's mechanics and building blocks at your finger tips, with only the limits of your imagination to hold you back. And the old me can't imagine anything more intimidating. Even though what I've played is impressive, I've played embarrassingly little of this game just because it's so damn overwhelming, like being sucked into a whirlpool that spins you around forever with no end in sight. An eternal game...terrifying.

9. Yakuza 5 ; [PS3] Of course I didn't play this either, it came out in December! But I've played the other Yakuza games so I know what's up, it's only logical to assume this is among the top 10 of the year.

10: Until Dawn ; [PS4] Yes, yes, I've barely played this game as well. Sorry! But I've played just enough to "get monked" so I can tell it's a gem.

Well that's that. I feel bad I didn't get to play important titles like Splatoon or Witcher, and looking over my top 10, I see that I've only completed 5 of them so uhh, that's kind of embarrassing. Well, whatever. It was a pretty good year for games, all in all, although you could arguably sum it up like this too:

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D

DagnastyEp

Member
I don't think I've ever flip-flopped this much on a GOTY list ever before. Since this thread was started, and I was considering my votes, each of the games in my top 4 were at one point in time my overall 2015 GOTY. I think now, I'm at least confident in my top 5.

1. Fallout 4 ; For the most part, yes, this is Fallout 3 with a new coat of paint on it. But, that's not stopping me from loving it. I think overall there's been many improvements since 3 that make the game more enjoyable. I love the world that they created - I actually want to read all the data logs, and listen to what the people of the world have to say. It's also nice that the shooting finally feels serviceable.

2. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; This game took what was great in TR 2013, and improved on it in every way. I loved the different environments, and the mix of action set pieces with open, exportable areas. The game is also beautiful; best in game hair I've ever seen, and the facial capture is outstanding. The moment to moment gameplay is great, and the only real disappointment is that the story falls a bit flat.

3. Halo 5: Guardians ; The best multiplayer Halo I've ever played. And for me, the best MP this generation. The guns, gunplay, and movement are all top notch. The campaign had outstanding environments that made for some really fun gun fights. I was very disappointed with the story, I think 343i took a gamble and it didn't work.
Nothing against Locke, but to me Halo is Master Chief.
Overall though, it's still a great game, and I think I'll be playing the mp for years to come.

4. Mad Max ; The biggest surprise for me of the year. They did a great job creating a desolate world. The mix of car and hand to hand combat was great. In a lot of ways I was reminded of Sleep Dogs (another game I really enjoy). The moment to moment gameplay is just fun. Other then picking up landmines and racing, I enjoyed pretty much every quest and activity there was to do in the game. There are a few things I think need to be tightened up in a sequel (driving/handling mechanics to be specific), but they got a lot right here. #Colinwasright

5. IDARB ; What a fun and frenetic game. I'm not sure why it didn't catch on like Rocket League (which I have yet to play) did. Every time I was able to get friends together to play, we had an absolute blast.

6. Life is Strange ; It was interesting and different. Not often do you get to play as a teenage girl in high school. This is one that I play with my wife sitting next to me, and helping me make decisions

7. Ori and the Blind Forest ; Great mechanics in a beautiful package. I don't always care for "metroidvannia" style games, but this one is very well done.

8. Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious ; A stand alone addition to my favorite race this generation. Fast and Furious incorporated into Forza Horizon just felt right. I wouldn't be surprised to see the relationship between these to franchised continue, in fact I predict the next Horizon game will fully be a Fast and Furious game.

Honorable Mentions. I enjoyed the games listed below, but I name them among my favorites of the year.
x. Massive Chalice ; I wanted more XCOM, and in a way I got it with Massive Chalice. I liked it, but didn't love it.
x. Velocity 2X ; I enjoy picking this up and blasting through a couple of levels every now and then, but have never been compelled to have a long gaming session with it.

Notable absences from my list. Either because I didn't play them, or didn't feel like they deserved a spot on my list:
BloodBourne - Don't have a PS4, but probably wouldn't play it anyways. This style of game just isn't for me
MGSV - Did not play. Thought Ground Zeroes was fun, but I've lost touch with the series, and don't think I'll ever end up playing it
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - I put 25 hours into this game at launch, and experienced open world fatigue and general boredom. I haven't gone back since, and I don't really feel any pull to go back. I completed the Bloody Butcher quest, which was highly regarded, and in the end I felt indifferent about it. After playing this game, I don't think I'll be playing an open world fantasy rpg for a very long time.
Tales from the Borderlands - Own it, but haven't had time to play it yet, which is unfortunate, because there's a very good chance it could've made my list.
Batman: Arkham Knight - I didn't like the changes made from AA to AC, that mixed with the criticism of the batmobile and riddler challenges in this game have meant that I've stood out on this entry. I can definitely see myself picking this up over the summer though, if I've got my backlog cleared and need something to play.
 
M

myco666

Member
2015 was amazing year for games. There was bunch of fantastic games and lot of games I was interested in that I didn't even have time to play such as Steins;Gate, Oreshika, Xenoblade Chronicles and Splatoon. Had really hard time with the order of my top 10 and it changed multiple times aside from my number 1. Hopefully my comments don't have too many missing words and typos as I've been super tired while writing these and I've noticed bunch of that while checking what I've wrote down.

1. Bloodborne ; From Software out did themselves with Bloodborne. Fantastic art direction that takes lot of cues from gothic and cosmic horror is probably the biggest reason I fell in love with this title. Everything looks horrifying and yet so fascinating and I was really excited to see what was waiting me around the corner. Art isn’t the only thing that makes this the best game of the year for me as the combat is probably my favorite this year had to offer. It is simple, fast and aggressive and it adds so much to make Yharnam feel even more hostile place. Journey through Yharnam and unraveling its mysteries will be an experience I won’t forget.

2. OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood ; This game pretty improves pretty much everything from the original. Really addictive gameplay that makes you try over and over again to get all those challenges done.

3. Soma ; Frictional Games managed to create really interesting world here and offer probably best story of the year. Soma is really thought provoking title that asks very interesting questions. Even enemy encounters were interesting and enjoyable for me even though I hated those parts in Amnesia.

4. Transformers: Devastation ; Platinum Games delivers again the hypest game of the year. It isn’t the best title Platinum has to offer as it has very repetitive locations but the combat feels so good and is accompanied by great visuals and best OST of the year.

5. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ; Pretty much the same game as the first Hotline Miami but everything dialed up to eleven and is much better game because of it. I don’t know if I really got what the story was about but it was still very interesting and the ending was audiovisual amazing.

6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; MGSV isn’t as tight experience as I wanted it to be but the gameplay feel is superb and mission design is great with having so many different ways to tackle them using the wide variety of equipment. Story has some pacing issues but overall I think it is still pretty good.

7. Until Dawn ; As someone who loves movie series like Friday 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street this game is a must play. Really gripping story and likable cast. Also Peter Stormare is fantastic here and probably my favorite part of the entire game.

8. Astebreed ; I rarely play shmups but since we aren’t getting more ZOE I had to get this. Really good gameplay but story is little hard to follow as you are too busy dodging and shooting.

9. Rocket League ; I really don’t care for football or sports games in general but when it is this dumb and arcadey I just have to love it. Very good multiplayer game with emphasis on skillful play.

10. Downwell ; Never thought I would put iOS game on my top 10 but Downwell is just so good. It is very simple game with having just three buttons and main goal is to drop down the well but it is challenging enough to be satisfying and you will keep replaying it just trying to get to the end.

x. Bloodborne: The Old Hunters ; Base game was already fantastic and I didn’t really feel it needed an expansion. After getting the expansion though I realized I was wrong. This adds fantastic boss battles to the game and bunch of great new weapons to add even more replayability to the game that already had lot of replayability. Great expansion to a already great game.

x. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D ; First time experiencing this game and what a wonderful experience it was. Never was a big fan of Zelda games but this is so twisted and unique version of Zelda that I just have to love it. It actually feels like you are trapped in a nightmare that you can’t escape as you have to reset the cycle from time and time again. One of the best games I’ve played this year but since it is a remake I won’t be adding it to my top 10.

x. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition ; This game is still something I can’t make up my mind if it is the greatest thing or not. Campaign is really mediocre and there are some enemies I would just want to remove but on the other hand it has so good and deep combat mechanics that are still unrivaled. Adding three more characters is at the same time fantastic and not great as they are really varied and all fun to use but you still have to play the same missions that aren’t all that great.

x. Onechanbara Z2: Chaos ; This is a budget title and it shows as the visuals are pretty bad and there is a lot of jank. However once you unlock most of the combos it becomes very fun game. It is basically mixture of character action and musou games. Also was surprised to see that it doesn’t really have all that much tits and ass as you might think on the first glance.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
Mechazawa said:
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1. Heroes of the Storm ; I don't know if Heroes of the Storm is the most time I've ever put into a Moba, but as far as I'm concerned, it's easily the best adaptation of the genre. This is for a lot of reasons, but the biggest being that I fucking hate the shop systems in MOBAs. Heroes of the Storm fixes that for me by moving towards a more specialized approach like Awesomenauts where builds are more variations on the character rather than outright stat buffs. It also "casualizes" aspects in the genre by introducing shared XP across teams, giving players much more mana in the early game, giving every map it's own unique resource/territorial based gimmick and making matches blazingly fast relative to every other proper moba on the market. Incidentally, these are all aspects modern Awesomenauts share so what I'm really saying is that Awesomenauts is also 2015's game of the year, but I'm not allowed to do that, so Heroes will have to suffice. And damn if I don't love it for that. I've poured hundreds of hours into this game in 2015 and here's to the hundreds of hours I'll continue to pour into it.

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2. Rocket League ; Prettier 120fps SARPBC son, what I gotta say. What I gotta say.

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3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Metal Gear Solid is a series I've given multiple chances. Up until Peace Walker, I didn't like any game in the series. I didn't think MGS1/3/4 were fun to play and the execution of the writing in all three games border on terrible, even if there's something there to the quality of the stories. But Phantom Pain finally got, at the very least, the former right. Shooting dudes feels fun. Crawling away from dudes feels fun. Even crawly shooting dudes feels fun. And all Kojima and co. had to do was purge the fanfiction out of MGS4, pump the movement and shooting mechanics into a PSP and then become forced to grow not only as designers but also as storytellers because fuck you you're not putting hour long cutscenes on the PSP. And honestly, even though KojiPro clearly didnt have enough time to fully finish building the roof on MGSV given some of the issues with the the storytelling and the mission design, this is still not a game short of content. There is a lot of shit in MGSV and so much of it is born out of what was so refreshing about Peace Walker, not only in terms of mechanics but also narrative, that it makes wonder me if a fully completed MGSV would have had the narrative people were seeking. Snake talked less, there wasn't as much story and everything was slightly less theatrical and silly, but coming off of what was so great about Peace Walker, I'm not sure a "finished" MGSV would have placated the people who chose to ignore or didn't like Peace Walker. Given that so much of what I like about certain narrative elements in MGSV reflect what I liked about Peace Walker, I'm legitimately curious if the elements people dislike about MGSV are purely the result of unfinished threads or Kojima/Murata growing into more restrained and subdued writers. And the priority placed on the wealth of gameplay content versus the story content seems to reaffirm my suspicisions.

Regardless, everything in the story could have been nuked and this would still be one of the greatest stealth games ever made.

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4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 ; Treyarch are back and they...made the weirdest, most scatterbrained campaign I've ever seen in a Call of Duty. But wait, they also made the best movement system in a Call of Duty game and still know how to make great maps. Their netcode also isn't fucking terrible like Advance Warfare. Hooray!

I don't know what else to say here. It's great Call of Duty. I shoot the mans(and womans!) in Black Ops 3, except I now shoot them by sliding and double jump floating and occassionally wallrunning around. And while their parkour system is hilariously half baked and incredibly restrictive coming off of Titanfall(and therefore the map design is clearly nowhere near as good), I still feel like it adds more than it hurts the game. I can also be a Cool Robot with a transforming minigun hand. Yeah, this game's pretty alright.

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5. The Witcher 3 ; Witcher 3's combat is the most middling shit this side of Mediocreville, which I probably should've come in expecting after Witcher 1 and 2. And I've come to terms with that. But while CD Projekt may have combat ambitions completely at odds with their actual ability to make a game where you cut some motherfuckers, their quest system is still off the motherfucking chain, their writing is still on point(and in a lot of ways subversive), their environment/world design got RI-FUCKING-DICULOUS in W3, and the amount of content they generated for this game is absurd, to the point that I don't even know what the purpose of certain parts of Velen/Skellige were even for because I likely never stumbled into the quests that tied into those areas. For that I have to give major props to Witcher 3 because as whatever as their combat might've been, the talking to dudes and running through grassy plains part of their game is top fucking notch. It was probably 70% of the gameplay anyways.

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6. Bloodborne ; It's like them Souls game, but there's a piston weapon that explodes dudes when you fully charge it.

But all the armor looked the same. Sorry Bloodborne. You only get to number 6.


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7. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ; MH4U was the first time I sat down and put a significant amount of time into a Monster Hunter. It's also the first time a weapon that let me fling myself into the air and mid air wack the shit out of monsters was introduced. Coincidence? I think not.

But it's fantastic. The core loop of fighting tons of unique monsters of gradually increasing size and speed is immensely satisfying and acts not only as a smart way of signifying that you're growing as Hunter, but also as a tip off that once you're done beating up that asshole Monster who keeps treating you like a soccerball, you're going to get some hella sweet gear once you carve his stupid fucking face 3 or 4 times wait what.

There are things I don't like or outright hate about Monster Hunter, though, such as being unable to continue to use outdated, but cool looking gear through transmutations or more importantly the obscurity of it's crafting and gathering system. From what little I've played of MH3, it does seem like Capcom is getting progressively better about tutorializing more and more elements of the series. But fuck guys, just give me an easy way to find out where to find some Arachnid juice or whatever, I'm just going to go look at a wiki anyways.

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8. Transformers: Devastation ; Transformers is easily the most disappointing game on this list and perhaps the most disappointed I've been in a Platinum title in some time. For one, the crafting system in Devastation was just...poor. Poorly utilized, poorly implemented and a real pain in the ass to navigate(especially if weapons are equipped on Autobots you're not currently using). The camera system in Devastation was also preeeeeeetty terrible in some specific cases. Good cameras have never been Platinum's bread and butter, but holy fuck, without giving anything away, there are some specific bosses that are tag teaming with the camera's inability to zoom out to really make you eat shit.

But, even on top of the lack of enemy diversity or the limitations in place of what weapons and powers you have access to based on which character you choose to play, the biggest issue with Transformers was just the...lack of bombast. The basic combat system flows beautifully, is really kinetic and just looks crazy as hell. But man. Relative to other Platinum joints, this was a real dour and restrained game just in terms of theatrics pretty much all the way through if you give zero fucks about the G1 license. Even something like the last boss in Korra edges out practically everything in Transformers: Devastation in terms of a game having fun with itself.

That said, the game's still in my top 10 and not out of unbridled Platinum fanboyism.

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9. Duck Game ; QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK.

QUACK.

QUACK QUACK.

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10. Dying Light ; Dropkick Simulator 2k15 you need the dropkicks I got the dropkicks you're looking for, you see that shack in the distance, you can dropkick it.

Shout outs to stuff I need to play more of that could've been on this list maybe?:
Xenoblade X
Stealth Inc 2(Stealth Bastard was mega good, wish I played this, especially since I got it for free)
Environmental Station Alpha
Soma
Revelations 2

Edit: Aw, I'm the last post on a page. :(
Click to expand...

Awesome job on the GIFs and Big O mention!
 
G

Glaurungr

Member
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; One of the best games I’ve ever played. Great combat, story, music.
2. Pillars of Eternity ;
3. Broken Age ;
 
F

Fine Ham Abounds

Member
Oh man, I didn't know Addams Family for Pinball Arcade was eligible

Oh well, too busy to mess with my list now. Would stick it in the middle somewheres. Good emulation of an incredible table.
 
D

Drencrom

Member
1. Bloodborne ; What is there to say that hasn't been said already? I love almost everything about this title.

2. Rocket League ; Best multiplayer game in a long time, still

3. Undertale ; It came out of nowhere and blew my mind in several ways. Definitely the most charming game of the game.

4. Broforce ; Just a really fun acadey sidescrolling shooter with lots of violence and explosions

5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Even though it was very disappointing to me in many ways, it's still a very great game at its core.

6. Duck Game ; You and your friends play as ducks and fight to the death in arenas. That should tell you everything there is about that game.

I'm missing some big games here like Splatoon, Witcher 3, Fallout 4 etc but these are the ones I wanted to highlight
 
M

mdf/markus

Neo Member
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; This game just knows how to tell stories. Characters I care about do things I consider important. As simple as that. And as good as it gets.

2. Bloodborne ; First I couldn’t get into that thing. Then I forced myself to figure it out. Things started to click. Eventually I started to think Bloodborne and it felt good.

3. Ori and the Blind Forest ; Platforming, 2D, colors, feelings, controls, characters, progression, … This charming gem does so many things right. Love it.

4. Tales from the Borderlands ; Just another one of those Telltale games, right? No, it's something special. Best humor in a game since Portal 2 and a really brilliant cast.

5. Pillars of Eternity ; Although I think the game has some pacing issues in later chapters I still appreciate what it wants to be. A love letter to a very important era of RPG gaming.



Hi GAF, btw. :)
 
F

Fhtagn

Member
I'm working on my list, but does Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC count as a separate entry on the list? I don't see it listed much, so I figure most are just grouping them together since they landed in the same year.
 
V

vermadas

Member
1. Rocket League ; No game was harder for me to put down this year than Rocket League. The mechanics are honed and distilled but the amount of depth that separates the rookie from the skilled veteran is vast. Everything about the gameplay feels just right; the way your vehicle handles, the way it surges through the air when you trigger your boost after a jump, the satisfying shockwave created when a goal is scored... Rocket League is an immense achievement in competitive multiplayer gaming and deserves to be an eSports darling in the years to come.
2. Bloodborne ;
3. Splatoon ;
4. Ori and the Blind Forest ;
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ;
6. N++ ;
7. Fallout 4 ;
8. Dirt Rally ;
9. Life is Strange ;
10. Super Mario Maker ;
 
derExperte

derExperte

Member
1. Westerado; It's like RDR only with pixel art and more fun.
2. Axiom Verge
3. Mad Max
4. Dying Light
5. SOMA
6. STASIS
7. NEON STRUCT
8. Absolute Drift
9. Hotline Miami 2
10. Tales from the Borderlands
 
M

myco666

Member
Fhtagn said:
I'm working on my list, but does Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC count as a separate entry on the list? I don't see it listed much, so I figure most are just grouping them together since they landed in the same year.
Click to expand...

It should count as separate entry but I assume lot of people don't want to give Bloodborne two spots in the top 10 list. At least I think that expansions don't deserve spot in my top 10 so I put them in honorable mentions.
 
L

Last Hearth

Member
1. Witcher 3 ; Might be one of my all time favorite games.

Not voting for anything else because I only really played this and FO4 in 2015 and FO4 is not worth a GOTY vote.
 
N

Nouzka

Member
1. Life Is Strange ; Loved it. Story and the characters were interesting, and music and the setting were great. Hope we see something similar from Dontnod soon.
2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Great game, especially gameplay wise. Story and how it was told had some problems, but overall game was good addition to Metal Gear series.
3. Bloodborne ; Brutal gameplay (in a good way of course) and fantastic art style and atmosphere.
4. Fallout 4 ; Not as good as some other Fallout games, but it's still so fun to just wander around the world and find stuff. Also gunplay is much improved, but I didn't like conversation changes and some other things.
5. Until Dawn ; Good game, felt like mix of Heavy Rain and Silent Hill. Hope we see sequel/same style game from Supermassive.
6. Rocket League ; Fun game.
7. Journey ; Didn't manage to play this on PS3, so bought it for PS4. Really great experience and surprisingly emotional.
8. Her Story ; Very interesting game and style.
9. OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood ; Very fun arcade style game.
10. NHL 16 ; It's NHL, fun but maybe some kind of change to gameplay would be good in the future.
 
S

Steve McQueen

Member
Just in time I hope.

1. Life is Strange ; The last game that I played this year, comes out on top. What a ride...
2. Until Dawn ; I was a fool to ignore this game. Spend hours keeping 'everyone' alive. Lovely graphics.
3. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Took a while to get into as it does not really do somethinh new, but in the end I think I liked this even more than Uncharted. And that bow...wow.
4. Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain: Awesome mechanics. You actually feel like directing a movie. Then again, did not feel like a Metal Gear game.
5. Transformers Devastation ; Transformers G1 in a decent game. Platinum delivered.
6. Splatoon ; Wonderful new IP. Game evolved over time, but map rotation still sucks.
7. Ori and The Blind Forest ; The opening made me think it was a sweet and simple game. Actually I had a hard time completing it...Super Meatboy difficulty levels :D
8. Tearaway Unfolded ; I loved Tearaway on PSVita, and loved playing this with my kids. Love to see the smile and enjoyment on their faces.
9. Her Story ; Storytelling is really something in this game. Game somehow still haunts me.
10.The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ; I'm not into RPG's and most of the time I don't even now what I'm doing, but it just makes me smile travelling around the awesome world.
 
P

peakish

Member
Finally got around to writing down my list. I'm not gonna bother making all aspect ratios correct for the headers (or get the missing images) :p Pretty good year!

1. Sunless Sea ; Comments below!

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One of the most enjoyable aspects of writing to me, is exploring new worlds. Although games often play with fantastic settings, they tend to explore it as just another stable of enemies to throw at you.

Sunless Sea does it differently. The writing and the Underzee itself are the stars of this show. As a captain of a sea vessel your main engagement with the game is walking through unknown streets of a port in which you can stay for one night only. Or searching throughout the world for a person dear to your shipmate. Maybe even hunting through jungles to catch an ape who stole your clothes. All presented in glorious, rich text adventure style that captures your imagination rather than spoiling it.

The framework of this is a rogue-like game which perfectly complements the desolate writing. As you explore the world you have to stay on the look-out for profitable trade routes, and depending on how you develop your skills, few replays will be the same as you gain or lose the abilities to follow up on story lines. Whether you end your story in a fight against weird zee critters or pirates, are lost at zee as your fuel runs out and make a desperate bid to any god to save you, or retire and leave your wealth to a born son, this game will amaze you with the amount of options and routes to play by.

2. Invisible, Inc. ;

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When Klei first presented this last year, I was skeptical about them trying to work with stealth in a turn based game. My worries were unfounded: the game is amazing and features some of the best stealth gaming has to offer. This is in part due to the procedurally generated levels, which I know some turn a very skeptical eye towards since stealth works well with a hand crafted challenge.

My reason for liking it is how it in practice turns this around. Levels don’t have a set solution that a designer put in there and which you have to look for. Rather, every challenge has a solution, but you will often have to think on your feet to figure it out. This includes knowing your team of agents, their abilities and their equipment. All of it will be useful and sometimes in ways you could not imagine. There will be situations that are tense as no other as you sneak your way out of situations that feel unwinnable.

That the game succeeds with this is an astonishing achievement by Klei, who continues to be one of the coolest developers working at the moment. It mostly makes me forgive the somewhat weak metagame that the game has, with you having 72 hours to fly around the globe on missions. The mission and opponents variety is the game weakest point and around 30 hours in the game sort of runs out of steam. If more missions were like the final mission of the campaign, which is one of the best I’ve ever played, the game would have easily topped this list.

But it remains one of the strongest recommendations I’ve given in years. The way the gameplay systems ramp up and challenge you is some of the most impressive balancing I’ve seen. Klei, I salute you Big Boss style.

3. Pillars of Eternity ;
It’s throwback time. I ordered a ’99-esque dungeon crawler and Obsidian delivered in spades, with a modern presentation and needed quality of life improvements. A weak second half (at least at the time of release) follows at least 25 hours of difficult combat and beautiful visuals. I’ll be returning to it with another class sometime this year and check out what improvements have been made as the game has since been patched to a 3.0 release and is still going.

4. Mushihimesama ;

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Weird TnA aside, I’ve had a ton of fun with this game after it released on Steam. The adrenaline rush you get while dodging a ridiculous amount of bullets is real, as is the frustration when you die to a stupid mistake and see the “CONTINUE?” screen pop up. The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, too. I’ve never been into top down shooters like this, and I’ve yet to 1cc this, but I will return a lot to it.

5. Her Story ;

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As a fan of good storytelling in games, one of my main interests is how the medium evolves the presentation of a story. Her Story is simple in concept but presents a, to me, completely new way of experiencing it. With a video archive that can only be accessed by a keyword search it gives you a couple of fascinating hours as you scour through video clips to by yourself piece together a story.

6. Splatoon ;
Nintendo nails the fun of shooting and gives us one of the best recent game universes. I can only hope that they don’t bloat it with stupid storylines or character arcs moving on, because it’s refreshing how simple it is.

7. TIS-100 ;

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Another game that I haven’t beaten, this time due to how difficult it gets at times. As puzzle games go this is a lot of fun and the presentation is genius. As an amateur programmer it’s a fun if simplified view into low-level algorithms.

8. Undertale ;
I haven’t beaten the pacifist run yet so this is an incomplete opinion, but this game has a very nice subversion of how enemies are presented and interacted with in RPG’s. At times it’s a bit too on wink, wink, nudge, nudge with its jokes, but particularly the opening hours are very fresh. It’s a lovely game.

9. Age of Decadence ;

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After a development time approaching Duke Nukem Forever levels this low-budget RPG finally released with promises of actions and consequences. It mostly succeeds with this and offers plenty of unique content for every character you create, ranging not only from different combat encounters, but tons of unique quests and solutions which you have no idea exist on your first playthrough. You can even start the game as a lore master and mostly avoid combat altogether. Role playing almost at its finest!

10. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ;
Oh shit, I almost forgot this came out this year :V I fucking love this game but I've written too much already (this pushed Human Resource Machine off the list).

Honorable mentions:

x. Dropsy ;
This game about a clown seems like a nice tale of getting back on your feet after a tragedy. Unfortunately, about half-way through the game locked me into a scene that I could not continue from and I haven’t had the motivation to restart it so it’s off the numbered GOTY list. It's still a sweet game which has my tentative recommendation.

x. Hearthstone: The League of Explorers ;
I have to give the credits due for the voice acting behind RAFAAAAAAM THE SUPREME ARCHEOLOGIST

x. Human Resource Machine ;
Similar to TIS-100, this game attempts to bring low-level programming to the wider masses. This one is presented in a friendlier format and is, also, a lot of fun to solve. It’s not quite as cool, though. But as an introduction to the same concepts, you really can’t go wrong with it.
 
Z

zdenko1

Member
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1.The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; This one is almost obvious. CD Projekt Red learned from developement of previous titles and developed the most finest RPG of all times. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt delivers uncompromised experience on all fronts – be it huge sprawling open-world filled with numerous activities, monsters and other content, which actually isn’t boring, from first to last moment captivating story filled with perfectly written characters, challenging and rewarding combat system which on higher difficulties really tests your abilites and force you to really learn the art of witcher‘s craft, breathtaking visuals and art direction created from polish myths, tales and stories, beautifully crafted soundtrack full of thematic music from band Percival.

It set bar for video-games so high, that it won’t be beaten for a very long time. This game has it all and you must play it, no excuses.

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2. Life Is Strange ; As Telltale Games are shoveling out one shit after another (mind the exceptions), DONTNOD came with their interactive experience Life is Strange and stole hearts of us all. Every aspect is much more polished and interesting than TT games – writing, music, graphics etc. It brings a whole new and fresh energy to this genre.

You are Max Caulfield, student of Blackwell Academy and one day you find out that you can rewind time and change everyone’s life. It starts a harmleslly with a high-school detective story of looking for lost local girl Rachel Amber. Slowly it will slowly get darker, more serious, even supernatural elements and you’ll be in for one big emotional ride. You’ll be crying. A lot. And you’ll be emotionally drained even few days after playing it. But it is SO much worth it.

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3. Undertale ; This wasn’t definitely a love at first sight. I heard a unbelievably positive comments, reviews coming from all sides – players and critics too. Glance on steam page though quickly discouraged me (mainly because of graphic style). Anyway, fast forward to steam winter sale and I just had to purchase it and see what it was all about.

Right from the first few minutes you’ll notice that this is something special. It differentiates itself so much from anything else I played so far, that it is hard to describe without spoiling your experience. Lovable characters, bullet hell-like „fight“ system, story filled with one twist after another, probably one of the greatest video-game soundtracks of all times and more and more.

You’ll just have to trust me on this one. Don’t be prejudicial, don’t think too much about it and take the leap. It’s almost guaranteed you’ll enjoy it.

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4. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ; Another MGS, this time with a lot of controversies during and even after its developement couldn’t stop it from being one of the best open-world experiences I had chance to play. With open-world and huge number of equipment, buddies, customizations, and other options, you are given unparalleled freedom to accomplish your mission. Will you be mad killer leaving trail of blood behind you or ghost which noone even knows about? Your pick.

Overcomplicated story with lengthy cutscenes, one strange character after another and its uncommon humor is what made MGS special. Unfortunately with transition to open-world, story and its presentation suffered a lot. It’s OK but at the same time it’s nothing special. Don’t let this one thing steer you away from purchase. In long run you won’t notice it because you’ll be having so much fun and enjoying the game that you can easily spend around 70-100 hours on it.

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5. Rocket League ; Beauty of Rocket League is in its two main aspects – its simplicity and at the same time very high skill ceiling. Doesn’t matter if you like or dislike sports, soccer with cars is fun for anyone and everyone. Rocket League will leave you playing matches long hours until it isn’t even worth to go to sleep. It is dangerously addictive and every match you’ll keep swearing for not catching that shot and not trying hard enough even if you think you are at 100%. That’s the thing – you are never at 100% because skill ceiling in Rocket League is practically non-existent and you’ll always find someone better than you. $#@%!

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6. The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth ; A must have for any rogue-like/lite but even for all the others. Binding of Isaac is totally creepy and it’s presentation can be outright repulsive for some people. Look past that and you’ll find special gem that was made with players in mind.
Steam description says it is action RPG shooter so let’s just go with that. You are spawned in a randomly generated maze of different floors as Isaac and you mom wants to kill you. You are shooting your tears on the enemies, pickup randomly generated items and descend lower and lower into this dungeon.

Afterbirth brings so much new stuff to the table that it’s almost impossible to play it without it. 100+ new rooms, challenges, items, ending etc. will consume all your free time. I got around 80 hours and still counting and counting.

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7. DiRT Rally ; Codemasters finally came to senses and after numerous arcade racers they are returning to their roots of simulation racing. DiRT Rally is hard and you’ll be angry every time you make a smallest mistake. Smallest mistake here means difference between life/death and you really won’t stop that car from rolling down mountains. Three modes – rally, rallycross and hillclimb, various locations with selectable weather and time of day conditions, nice selection of the iconic cars will ensure pushing yourself to the limits.

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8. Star Wars Battlefront ; 2015 was year of Star Wars and it obviously couldn’t be without proper Star Wars video-game. We got sort of a reboot of Star Wars Battlefront franchise from graphical wizards at DICE. Star wars is so far closest you’ll get to experience excitement of Star Wars shootouts and battles. Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, AT-ATs, X-Wings, blasters... Everything you seen in movies as a kid is here and will bring a huge smile to your face.

Not only theme will bring you to your precious childhood years but even gameplay. With all the powerups on the battlefield it feels lot like oldschool titles and separates itself from other FPSes. Not without its issues though. Character and weapon progression is much less present and game can become stereotypical at times. Give it a break and return to it another time. This is not title for long hour sessions, more like a relaxing title for 3-4 games a day.

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9. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ; After Evolve was dead even before it was released, hope for team-based competitive FPS was dying as well. Rainbow Six Siege looked like it could be next big thing. It sort of is.

After huge number of 4v4 versus matches in Left 4 Dead, I was impatiently waiting for at least something similar that could bring teamplay back. Teamplay is right where Siege shines. With 5v5 multiplayer, every player is critical and you’ll have to play as tactically as much as possible and keep the losses low. Both attacking and defending sides were balanced from the get go and provide totally different experiences and strategies. As a defender you’ll be in charge of protecting either hostage, capture zone or hostage using barricades, enforcements, trip wires etc. On the attacking side your goal is naturally reversed – rescue the hostage, defuse bomb, capture the zone, kill the bad guys breaching charges, stun drones, sledgehammers etc. Voice chat here is almost a necessity and you’ll be missing out on a tactical layer of Siege.

Big letdown is terrible technical side. Siege is riddled with freezes, crashes, lags and usual. This is in multiplayer-only title huge setback and is almost completely destroying the experiences. At times you’ll be furiously angry with it and just rage quit it. Siege would benefit from dedicated servers and modability. Maybe another time :(

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10. Dying Light ; Dead Island was OK game, but nothing exceptional. Dying Light revamps the zombie RPG formula with parkour and doesn't feel stale even after longer play sessions. Find 3 other friends and play this in coop, it will get immensely better.
 
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