My Top Ten Games of 2015

2015 was a good year for video games. Unfortunately, I’m way behind in the current gen consoles, and I only got a Wii U a few weeks ago, so I’ve missed a lot that I’m sure would end up on this list had I the opportunity to play them. For me, this year had a lot of playing older games. It was the year of Metal Gear. I had never played the games, and I finally delved deep into it. Real deep. Now I love Metal Gear, and I would consider it one of my favorite game series of all time. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on the stuff from 2015 that I missed, and that it doesn’t get in the way of the games in 2016 I’m excited about. One day I’ll have played all the games.

10. Downwell-        Downwell is fun, dammit. It’s probably out-of-place among the rest of these games but man I can’t ignore it. It’s a simple game with beautiful design that’s actually surprisingly difficult. I haven’t actually beaten it yet, but I’ve gotten close. I played it on my phone, and I found it the perfect game to play on commutes.

9. Until Dawn-        Okay, I’ll admit, I haven’t actually played that much of Until Dawn, but honestly that’s the only reason it’s not higher on my list. The 2 hours I played with a large group of friends was one of the best gaming experiences I had. It was in huge part to the way I convinced everyone to play it. We each picked a character and were solely responsible for controlling and making choices for that character. I really want to go back to this game when I have the chance to get a PS4 and gather my friends together again to play it through that same way. It’s also something I can’t wait to play through on my own, trying to get every possible outcome. The Teen Slasher genre fits perfectly into this kind of game, and I think it was extremely well done and perfectly cheesy.

8. Majora’s Mask 3D-        Alright, not technically a 2015 game, but I think it counts. If there was one game I wanted- no, needed, to be updated for current gen, it was this. I can’t count how many years I’ve been saying I really wanted Majora’s Mask to be brought back, especially for hand-held. It’s on my list of top games of all time. The updates to the game they’ve made are great, it looks so much better, they’ve added a lot to the dungeons and boss fights to really fill it in, without making it feel like it’s not the game it was back on N64. I love this game, and I love Nintendo for what they’ve done to one of my favorite games from my childhood.

7. Shovel Knight-        I don’t have a lot in the way of nostalgia for the games Shovel Knight is inspired by, I was born right on the cusp of 3D games becoming the norm- but wow, Shovel Knight is good. Beautiful, fun, incredibly challenging, and filled with bright, well-designed characters, this game hits all the right buttons for me. I’m still salty Shovel Knight didn’t make it into Smash. Speaking of which...

6. Super Smash Brothers-        Yes, technically this came out in 2014, but it was November 2014, and with all the DLC characters, stages, costumes and more that have come out since then, I think it qualifies. I freaking love Smash Brothers. It’s a weirdly divisive series. I know a lot of people just can’t get into it, and I will never understand them. Smash was made for me, and this game is the best one so far. It took the good ideas Brawl had and improved them, and got rid of the nonsense that game had. It just feels good, even on the 3DS, which I was worried about. A lot of the characters I play as the most are new to this game, and every new DLC character has been really cool, unexpected, and has brand new mechanics. No Snake, and Shovel Knight got shafted, but damn I still really love this game.

5. Her Story-        So we’ve crossed a threshold into the second half of my top games list. My top 5 games for 2015. It’s kind of crazy that we’re starting the top 5 with such a controversial game. I understand the criticisms of the game, and I understand why people aren’t so hot on it, but for me, it was one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time. I know it doesn’t have the most groundbreaking mystery, and it’s far from perfect, but there was something about my single sitting playthrough of the game that really grabbed me. I’m always a sucker for a game that makes me take notes, and sitting down with a little notepad writing things the character says down to search later was honestly so much fun for me. I felt like a detective in a movie, sitting in the dark, researching a case, so much so that I wished the game came with a pack of cigarettes and a glass of whiskey. I hope to play more games in this vain in the future, and hopefully this game sparks even better iterations of this idea.

4. Splatoon-        I only got a Wii U a few weeks ago, so I haven’t had a lot of time with the game, but honestly I knew this game was for me as soon as it was announced. The wild and fun gameplay, the aesthetic, the fashion- UGH. This game is absolutely awesome, and Nintendo’s continued support of it is so encouraging. I can’t imagine getting bored of this game, it’s simple conceit is so easy to slide into quickly; after only a few hours of playing I already felt like I was competing well with other people, many of which I assume have been playing since its release. I can only hope Nintendo continues to add to this game in new ways, I’d love to see what else this game could do.

3. Mario Maker-        This is a game that was barely on my radar. I just wasn’t that interested in making Mario levels. That was until I saw how this game works, and what is possible. Now it’s the game I pick up and play the most. I’ve definitely stuck to making levels more than playing them, and that’s mostly because the level search function is not great. It’s really hard to look for levels, there’s not really any way to filter, and finding and following users is not easy enough. Nintendo seems to be continuing to support the game though, and have already added a lot of content to the game since launch completely for free. Despite the flaws, the game is just so fun. Even just sitting in the level creator and messing around is tons of fun, and there’s so many weird and silly things you can do that you would never think about. The game encourages experimentation, and there are so many small touches that just add to the whimsical feeling of the game. I can’t wait to see what things Nintendo adds to this in the coming months, and possibly years (I hope).

2. Life is Strange-        In recent years, I’ve realized I love games that just set out to tell me a story. I don’t mind lighter gameplay in service of a really engaging story. Games like Her Story and Gone Home are super enjoyable to me. Life is Strange is not quite as light on gameplay as those, it offers quite a lot of fun and surprisingly challenging puzzles, and plenty of opportunities to make choices. I found this game so much more engaging than the Telltale games that many people seem to love. Life is strange offers so much more than those games, between the time-rewind ability, a well-developed world, and great character relationships. It would be dumb not to mention that the beautiful but complex friendship between the main character Max and her best friend Chloe is a huge reason the game is so impactful. It’s amazing that the relationship between the two young women was written so believably and so layered. The drama and emotion is definitely cranked to the Max (pun intended), but not in a way that feels disingenuous. I can’t praise this game enough for really going for it and following through completely.

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain-        Now for the opposite end of the spectrum: All gameplay and almost no story. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but I was a little let down by the lack of the usual insanity of Metal Gear stories. Despite that, this game is amazing. There’s not much to say that hasn’t been said already: there’s a million ways to handle any situation; the controls are spot-on; the progression of items and weapons is perfectly balanced and adds to the way you choose to play. This is the only game I’ve ever played where I would come up with crazy ways to complete and objective and not just write it off as impossible. Not every wild idea works, but damn is it fun even when they fail spectacularly. I’ve never felt more like a badass action hero. I kind of love that the game takes the complete opposite approach to the gameplay than the other games in the series. In every other Metal Gear game, you are sent into a situation with basically nothing, and you have to scrounge and improvise in order to get by. In this game, you have an entire army, money, and tons of resources, yet you never really feel like you can get through anything easily. Even at the end of the game when you have the best equipment, experimenting with new ideas in the earlier, easier missions is a ton of fun. One thing I really loved was looking at the items and weapons I wanted, and going out and getting the things I need to make them. I would choose side-ops where they had the specialist I needed to develop a certain item and spend the time looking for them. I love the agency this gives you. Instead of giving you better weapons that you find on the ground one by one, you’re looking at a huge list and going out and putting in effort to make the things you want. This hugely affects the way you play the game. I, personally, went almost entirely non- lethal. I spent resources on better tranquilizer guns, tranq grenades and mines, rubber bullets, and more. This also applied to my companions. Quiet had a tranq sniper, and D-Dog had a knife that electrocuted guys. Yes, the dog has a knife. It’s a thing. There’s so much more I could say, but I’ll just say this is one of the most fun times I’ve ever had with a video game. Whether or not you have any affinity towards Metal Gear, this is a game you should play. I truly hope this game influences the video game industry in the future, and if it is the end of the Metal Gear legacy, it’s a damn good send-off.

I can't believe white people are offended by Obama saying the n-word. Where were those people when a white terrorist murdered 9 black people in their church? They weren't offended then

*starts singing*

“~My neck,

~my back

please give me a massage,

I am in pain“

I want to be left alone and taken care of at the same time :T

There were signs...

Steven Universe - Episode 4 “Together Breakfast”

sorry

i’m sorry

CAN WE TALK ABOUT STEVEN UNIVERSE THO?????