While the whole editorial staff contributed to our 2015 awards, we wanted to allow everybody the opportunity to publicly name their personal top 10 games of the year. While many did play the majority of releases in 2015, please remember that unlike our main awards, the editors are not naming the *best* games, but their personal favorites out of the selection they played.
10. Runbow
(Wii U / 13AM Games)
Compartmentalised level-by-level games don’t always pay off when it comes to longevity, regardless of their art-style or general aesthetic. But when they do, they pay off surprisingly well. 13AM Games’ Runbow might just be reason enough to still give these types of games leverage in future times as it proved how vibrancy, tight platforming, a cunning theme of constantly switching colors and an all-round sense of playful silliness can help weave together an experience from out such brief moments of play. And if the single-player romp wasn’t enough, Runbow’s chaotic online multiplayer had me grinning cheek to cheek numerous times over.
(Wii U / Shin'en Multimedia)
Everyone has been (and still is) screaming for a new F-Zero and while we were again denied for another year, Shin’en came along and gave us everything we wanted, minus the actual name, in Fast Racing Neo. Squeezing every last drop out of the Wii U’s capabilities, this blistering futuristic racer dazzled in its presentation as much its speed. Coupled with its challenging difficulty, slick design and compelling soundtrack, Fast Racing Neo proudly stands out as more than just a mere substitute and arguably sets new heights as to the sense of worth independent third-party releases can bring to a major platform.
8. Fallout 4
(PC / PS4 / XBO, Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios)
While the latest entry in Bethesda’s long-running post-apocalyptic series might have been more of the same, there was certainly nothing wrong with continuing on from where Fallout: New Vegas left off. Bethesda’s vision of a nuclear-ravaged Boston truly was a sight to behold. The sense of intrigue, curiosity and off-the-beaten-path appeal was seldom lost on the player’s journey. And with the addition of upgradeable weapons and modifying settlements, Fallout 4 had an abundance of content to cover and activities to keep many a former Vault dweller busy. The locals and natives alike may not have all been smiles and friendly handshakes, but that didn't stop us coming back for more.
7. Axiom Verge
(PC / PS4 / Vita, Thomas Happ Games / Tom Happ)
There’s nothing wrong with wearing your inspirations on your sleeve and making it clear what former greats you aspire to stand aside. But leaning towards nostalgia -- as many an indie game has learned -- can be as much a crutch and a hinderance, as it can an aid. But Tom Happ, thankfully, did not make that mistake with Axiom Verge, a Metroidvania-styled platformer clearly harkening back to the 8-bit days.
Axiom Verge was not only visually striking but carried through an all-round intriguing-if-unsettling atmosphere familiar to all those trekking through the depths of an alien planet. The unshakeable desire to acquire every last item tucked away in Happ’s 2D labyrinth only boosted Verge’s replay value, thus translating into some rewarding exploration and enjoyable use of upgrades.
6. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
(PC / PS3 / PS4 / 360 / XBO, Konami / Kojima Productions)
I won’t deny the closing proceedings dampened the experience preceding it (that is of course discarding the obvious background noise that was Konami themselves in 2015), but there’s no denying The Phantom Pain was a triumphant evolution in the Metal Gear Solid series. Arguably one of the best stealth games mechanically, Kojima’s attention to detail was hardly lost across the landscapes of Afghanistan and Africa alike. Yet for all the robust structures and rather darker tones taking hold in the plot, to still find that typical Kojima humour tucked away to find made this even more a remarkable feat.
Some may have found Metal Gear’s deviation in story-telling and progression a little hard to stomach, but The Phantom Pain’s enormous plus was its sense of scope and undeniable freedom in approaching a set objective. Stealth has never been as fun, as immersive, or even as tense as it was here. Swan song or not, The Phantom Pain set a new precedent for stealth as a genre.
5. Mushroom 11
(PC / Untame)
Of all the releases of the past twelve months, Untame’s spin on conventional indie plaformers in Mushroom 11, was the one I crossed off days over. And I was not disappointed; the often surreal setting was befitting of Untame’s decision to turn the sub-genre on its head. Placing the player in a puppeteer-like role as opposed to the player-character itself, Mushroom 11 garnered some of the tensest, exhilarating and often clever moments of puzzle-solving and boss battles I’ve seen (and thankfully battled through) in a video game in 2015.
Combining the post-apocalyptic environment with some ingenious use of props and level design, it was hard not to keep one’s attention glued to the computer screen, frustration and all. And in a vast landscape of side-scrolling platforms, Mushroom 11 -- despite its grizzly, desaturated aesthetic -- shone brightest of them all.
(PC / PS3 / PS4 / 360 / XBO, Square Enix / Dontnod Entertainment)
I was never a fan of story-led, decision-leaning games, up until I gave Dontnod’s Life Is Strange a shot — or rather, a second shot after feeling somewhat baffled and confused at early demo's. Thus, if you want an example of how to turn an initial opinion around all the way, Life Is Strange is a phenomenal return to form in a field of story-telling undergoing a just revival as of late. Like Until Dawn alongside, Dontnod’s understanding and reinstating of player choice, to think before you before acted, rarely faded and the game’s time manipulation mechanic helped diverge the genre into newer, intriguing paths.
But the greatest of all its accomplishments was its narrative and so too its characters. Coming from someone as nihilistic and as British as me, Max & Chloe’s relationship and evolution as characters was one of the finest examples of writing I’ve witnessed for some time. Through all the joy, the humour and indeed the heart-break, Life Is Strange was a memorable rollercoaster of emotions and warmed me to a style of gameplay I thought I’d never come to respect. Yet it turned out to be the second-biggest surprise of the year as far as warming to an established style went...
3. Bloodborne
(PS4, Sony Computer Entertainment / From Software)
Confession: I’ve never been a fan of Dark Souls; nor do I perceive it to be this flawless masterpiece many make it out to be. It’s rather boring if I’m being frank. So coming into Bloodborne — or 'Notdark Souls' as my snarky self originally proclaimed -- I was expecting From Software to put me through the motions once again. How wrong was I. Bloodborne stands out as everything I want in a Souls game: fast, engaging combat, intriguing environments, an engaging soundtrack, engrossing sound design, wonderful level design and an all-round sense that detail is coming out of every pore.
What’s more, the ‘show don’t tell’ approach to the World of Yharnam (in all its bleak, rotting appearance) devolving into something a lot worse than before, deserves top merits above all else and stood out as a locale that brought discomfort, but only attracted me evermore. Bloodborne succeeds because of its classic ‘greater than the sum of its parts’ attitude towards gameplay, with little of the padding and filler many big-budget titles fall ill to. Better still, it’s made me actually excited for Dark Souls III. Imagine that!
(Wii U, Nintendo / Monolith Soft)
Building a spiritual successor to arguably one of the most important games of last generation — and one of my all-time favourites — is a tall order and could easily have delivered more of the same with little connectivity to its new setting. But Xenoblade Chronicles X thankfully, majestically, built on everything that made Chronicles such an engaging and thrilling adventure to be a part of. Mira is by far one of the most immersive and fascinating open Worlds of any year and the decision to focus on exploration and player-choice rather than plot was a smart move that only grew more and more with every curious discovery made.
Better yet, the mind-boggling array of customizations at one’s eventual disposal only added lofty longevity to the emergent gameplay of X’s core combat and RPG mechanics. Some may have taken more to Bethesda’s own take on a vast World to explore, but Monolith Soft’s decision to focus on a completely alien World paid dividends on the concept of exploration and not knowing what to expect. It was a defining player-driven experience that rewarded as much as it punished in each decision. A must-have for any and all Wii U owners and rightly deserves to stand among the greats of open World RPG’s in 2015.
1. Undertale
(PC / tobyfox)
Such is the irony of the video game industry in 2015: we have enormous studios of hundreds of employees incorporating countless resources to make games feel real enough they will somehow draw out a greater degree of impact. And Toby Fox comes along, one man and his trustee GameMaker, and blows all attempts right out of the water. Undertale shouldn’t be as memorable or as eventful as it actually is, with its minimalistic art, its less-than-glitzy design and its simple controls, but that’s precisely why this particular RPG in 2015 stood out the most. Because it cut out all the fluff and the decoration and knew exactly where, when and how to tug at both our interest as much as our heart-strings.
With a host of memorable characters — both those you love, and those you love to hate — and a combat system that always tossed up new ideas and methods of execution, Undertale was role-playing redefined. What’s more, Fox’s knowledge, understanding and subtle winking to the player is on the Hideo Kojima level of brilliance — exemplified above all in the game’s final boss (both final bosses actually). There’s so much to say and so little time to express it in, but Undertale is a remarkable feat in video games and one the big studios should take considerable lesson from. Story-telling, characters, design, gameplay…and that shot-to-the-heart moment…Toby Fox is a man who understands what makes this medium so powerful and Undertale takes its rightful place among one of the finest accumulation of 1’s and 0’s I’ve ever played.