Top 10 games of 2015
I haven't been playing too many video games lately, and this must be one of the first times in my life in which I actually decided not to play video games because of whatever reason. I either feel more like reading, writing or drawing rather than playing video games. Specially writing. Still, even with so much going on with my life, I managed to finish a total of 13 games. Nothing very impressive, but enough for me to make a top 10 list with my favorite games. As usual, the games I'm listing have not been necessarily released this year.
Before I start listing all the games that I enjoyed, allow me to talk about the game I disliked the most:
Worst game of the year: The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (PC)
I was once a big fan of The House of the Dead on the arcades. Overall, I enjoy rail shooters, and The House of the Dead was pretty cool in terms of story when it took itself seriously. The Typing of the Dead: Overkill embraced the idea of a story based in trash horror movies and, in spite of having a pretty solid gameplay, the plot was awful to the cringing point. The story was so messed up that even as a trash movie parody, it was bad. I still don't know why I bothered watching the cutscenes. This is how bad it was.
Okay, now for the goodies:
10. Octodad: Dadliest Catch (PC)
While the gameplay is more annoying than not, the game is kinda funny. I really like the sound effects and the cartoony design of the characters. Plus the OST is actually fun to listen. I did have a problem with the game's cameras. The FOV seemed to be set to a low value, so I got horrible motion sickness as I was playing the game.
9. Scribblenauts Unlimited (PC)
I had this game for a while, I have no idea why I had never finished it. Scribblenauts overall is an interesting series with an interesting concept and an enormous amount of ways for you to solve the puzzles.
8. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (PC)
I like the idea of a LEGO game with open world. I would have played more of this game if I had the time to spend in it. Plus, there are so many missions and super heroes in this game! Never a dull moment!
7. LEGO Harry Potter Years 5~7 (PC)
I really enjoy LEGO games, and LEGO Harry Potter 2 was as fun as the first game. There are also tons of things to do in this game and I just love the portrayal of the Harry Potter series with the dialogues replaced by the characters humming. It makes the game so charming!
6. Child of Light (PC)
This game was always walking the line of extremely interesting and extremely frustrating. Although it is more repetitive than I'd like it to be, the narrative is endearing, the artwork as beautiful and the OST is one of the best ones I've heard in a game (only losing to Journey). Not the best RPG that I've ever played, but it was fun.
5. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC)
Not the best in the series and it runs like crap on my PC if I don't remove ambient occlusion and reduce several other configs, but the game overall is not bad. It added some interesting features and, for the very first time, there was a woman in the squad! Too bad you can only play as a single character during the entire campaign, but the progression of the story was a bit more solid than the Modern Warfare games. In terms of story, I think I'd put it somewhere between Black Ops 2 and Modern Warfare 2. I liked the variety of changes in the gameplay itself, but I wished they could have been used more frequently. The Overdrive feature was pretty cool. Same goes for double jump and dash and all the different types of grenade you can use. Thank goodness Sledgehammer did not finish this one with a cliffhanger like they did with Ghosts.
4. Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (PC)
I see so much hate against this game because it is considered a bad copy of Mark of the Ninja, but I actually really liked this game! It worked pretty well within whatever the team wanted to do with it, the artwork was gorgeous and it was the first game starred by my favorite girl assassin from the Assassin's Creed series, the marvelous Shao Jun. I'm actually looking forward to play Chronicles: India and Chronicles: Russia!
3. Dragon Age: Inquisition (PC)
I was still addicted to Dragon Age when I finished this game. Personally, I didn't find it as good as Dragon Age 2, but I did spend almost 160 hours in the game. Finished it twice with two different Inquisitors and was about to start my third gameplay when I suddenly grew very tired of the game. Still, one of the best games I played this year.
2. Mark of the Ninja (PC)
I had this game for a while, don't know why it took me so long to finish it. The game is so good! The story was good enough to keep me playing it, but the gameplay was definitely the star feature of Mark of the Ninja. The game is challenging without being frustrating and there are way too many things to do in this game. Loved it to pieces!
1. Transistor
This game, people. This game. It was SO. FRIGGIN'. GOOD. I liked it even more than Bastion. Supergiant Games nailed it. The game is gorgeous, the story has several layers, the gameplay is very pleasant, challenging enough to be fun, it has a big replay value and the soundtrack is top-notch. Game of the year for me, 10/10, would play it again.
Before I start listing all the games that I enjoyed, allow me to talk about the game I disliked the most:
Worst game of the year: The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (PC)
Click to viewI was once a big fan of The House of the Dead on the arcades. Overall, I enjoy rail shooters, and The House of the Dead was pretty cool in terms of story when it took itself seriously. The Typing of the Dead: Overkill embraced the idea of a story based in trash horror movies and, in spite of having a pretty solid gameplay, the plot was awful to the cringing point. The story was so messed up that even as a trash movie parody, it was bad. I still don't know why I bothered watching the cutscenes. This is how bad it was.
Okay, now for the goodies:
10. Octodad: Dadliest Catch (PC)
While the gameplay is more annoying than not, the game is kinda funny. I really like the sound effects and the cartoony design of the characters. Plus the OST is actually fun to listen. I did have a problem with the game's cameras. The FOV seemed to be set to a low value, so I got horrible motion sickness as I was playing the game.
9. Scribblenauts Unlimited (PC)
I had this game for a while, I have no idea why I had never finished it. Scribblenauts overall is an interesting series with an interesting concept and an enormous amount of ways for you to solve the puzzles.
8. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (PC)
I like the idea of a LEGO game with open world. I would have played more of this game if I had the time to spend in it. Plus, there are so many missions and super heroes in this game! Never a dull moment!
7. LEGO Harry Potter Years 5~7 (PC)
I really enjoy LEGO games, and LEGO Harry Potter 2 was as fun as the first game. There are also tons of things to do in this game and I just love the portrayal of the Harry Potter series with the dialogues replaced by the characters humming. It makes the game so charming!
6. Child of Light (PC)
This game was always walking the line of extremely interesting and extremely frustrating. Although it is more repetitive than I'd like it to be, the narrative is endearing, the artwork as beautiful and the OST is one of the best ones I've heard in a game (only losing to Journey). Not the best RPG that I've ever played, but it was fun.
5. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC)
Not the best in the series and it runs like crap on my PC if I don't remove ambient occlusion and reduce several other configs, but the game overall is not bad. It added some interesting features and, for the very first time, there was a woman in the squad! Too bad you can only play as a single character during the entire campaign, but the progression of the story was a bit more solid than the Modern Warfare games. In terms of story, I think I'd put it somewhere between Black Ops 2 and Modern Warfare 2. I liked the variety of changes in the gameplay itself, but I wished they could have been used more frequently. The Overdrive feature was pretty cool. Same goes for double jump and dash and all the different types of grenade you can use. Thank goodness Sledgehammer did not finish this one with a cliffhanger like they did with Ghosts.
4. Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (PC)
I see so much hate against this game because it is considered a bad copy of Mark of the Ninja, but I actually really liked this game! It worked pretty well within whatever the team wanted to do with it, the artwork was gorgeous and it was the first game starred by my favorite girl assassin from the Assassin's Creed series, the marvelous Shao Jun. I'm actually looking forward to play Chronicles: India and Chronicles: Russia!
3. Dragon Age: Inquisition (PC)
I was still addicted to Dragon Age when I finished this game. Personally, I didn't find it as good as Dragon Age 2, but I did spend almost 160 hours in the game. Finished it twice with two different Inquisitors and was about to start my third gameplay when I suddenly grew very tired of the game. Still, one of the best games I played this year.
2. Mark of the Ninja (PC)
I had this game for a while, don't know why it took me so long to finish it. The game is so good! The story was good enough to keep me playing it, but the gameplay was definitely the star feature of Mark of the Ninja. The game is challenging without being frustrating and there are way too many things to do in this game. Loved it to pieces!
1. Transistor
This game, people. This game. It was SO. FRIGGIN'. GOOD. I liked it even more than Bastion. Supergiant Games nailed it. The game is gorgeous, the story has several layers, the gameplay is very pleasant, challenging enough to be fun, it has a big replay value and the soundtrack is top-notch. Game of the year for me, 10/10, would play it again.