personal top 5 games of 2015

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I said I was gonna do it, so I did. This is my first time actually reviewing games, though, so it's probably bad. You have been warned.

In my opinion, 2015 was a really good year for video games, and below are a bunch of reasons why. You should probably go there instead because I'm not gonna spend any more time trying to make a better intro. 

I'll just get out of the way a bunch of games people might expect to be on here but aren't, not because they're bad, but either because I haven't played them or because I have opinions that might not be the same as everyone else's. In better circumstances they probably could have made it on here (... or not) but, at least for now, I'll have to set these aside as honorable mentions at best.

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
MGSV: The Phantom Pain
Fallout 4
Bloodborne
nearly all big-budget/AAA releases this year, really
GTAV for PC doesn't count as being from 2015
any Wii U game, because I got a Wii U only recently and haven't had nearly enough time with it (Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon could have been here, though)

Also, the games on this list aren't based on any objective criteria. The list is primarily based on my highly subjective thoughts, my experiences with the game and how strongly I feel about each one, and said objective stuff affects that, but doesn't determine what's on the list alone.

And, finally, a short note about what sort of games to expect: I'm a PC guy. Also, I'm kind of an introvert, both in real life and in gaming, so expect mostly singleplayer games here. (I still multiplayer a lot though)


WARNING: WALLS OF TEXT IMMINENT


5. Crypt of the NecroDancer (PC)
Hours: 9 + offline + maybe like 4 or 5, idk

I've always been a fan of dungeon crawlers, roguelikes/roguelites, and rhythm games. Crypt of the NecroDancer is an amalgamation of all three, so it already gets points there. It also earns my respect for being a game that pretty much requires only four buttons to play - I mean, you could play this on a DDR pad if you wanted to, so being playable with four buttons is pretty much a given. The idea of a turn-based rhythm dungeon crawler might sound gimmicky, but here it's executed flawlessly. The best way to describe the gameplay is like chess, except you only control one piece on a randomly generated board, and have only a fraction of a second to make your move every turn. Turns are timed to the beat of whatever track from the game's awesome OST is playing, and failing to keep up with the beat - including "passing" your turn by not doing anything - resets your coin multiplier, giving you less gold to purchase items that might prove helpful or even necessary to surpass the game's difficulty. This forces players to think and act to the rhythm of the music, and when later levels increase not only the number and strength of monsters, but also the complexity of their movements and even the tempo, the game can become hectic and fast-paced. And difficult. Very. But investing more and more time means adjusting to the game's unique style of play, and becoming familiar with the different items and monsters' attack patterns. And once you've gotten used to all of these, the feeling of being able to pull off flawless chains of attacking, moving and dodging is incredibly satisfying.


4. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth+Afterbirth (PC)
Hours: 200+ 

Okay, so technically Rebirth was released in 2014, but this entry is for Rebirth WITH the Afterbirth DLC, which was released this year. Also, this is my list, and I wanted this game on here somewhere.

Binding of Isaac basically takes the original Legend of Zelda and sets it in a basement filled with monsters, and replaces Link with a small naked child who kills enemies, including his mother, himself as a fetus inside his mother's womb, himself, his dead self, and lots of different varieties of poop, with his tears and whatever items he happens to stumble upon in the basement/cellar/basement on fire/caves/underwater caves/mother's womb/hell/heaven/a locked chest/I don't even know/etc. That was one sentence.

Since most people are probably already familiar with TBoI, and the gameplay itself is pretty simple and straightforward, I'll mostly focus on what, for me, makes it truly special: the items. There are so many of them that, even after 200 hours, I still haven't unlocked all of them, and anyone that manages to do so is considered a "Nerd x 1000000" by the game itself. With so many items combined with the game's random selection, it's probably impossible to have identical sets of items in different runs (unless you use seeds). Not only that, each item can have a huge impact on the entirety of your runs, whether it be by giving you something incredibly powerful or by giving you something almost useless and wasting a chance to become stronger. This means that separate runs are not just different from each other; they're often wildly so. You could be a monster-slaughtering demon that vomits blood lasers in multiple directions at once, or you could shoot bombs that explode into several smaller bombs that leave fires in their wake, or you could be so unlucky and shoot pitifully weak tears at half the usual fire rate, even late into the game. In fact, that last one has to do with my main complaint with this game (besides Curse of Darkness being stupid). Since the items basically dictate how you'll be playing the game, the game giving you useless or "bad" items too often takes away a lot of the fun, at times making fights overly lengthy, tedious, and frustrating, and potentially even boring. Though, you could always just quit and start a new run again. Maybe you'll find Bob's Brain in a Treasure Room for the fifth time in a row, or maybe the RNG gods will favor you this time and give you Sacred Heart on the second floor. Maybe.

... Oh, what does Afterbirth have to do with any of this? It adds even more items, adds more synergies between existing and new items, and introduces two new characters and a new mode, and probably some other stuff I forgot. The 3DS version doesn't have Afterbirth and feels incomplete now as a result. Justified.


3. Nuclear Throne (PC)
Hours : 200+

Hey, look, it's the third 2D top-down pixel graphics roguelike/roguelite indie in a row. Maybe that says something about my tastes....

Welcome to the world post-apocalypse, where ex-police fish, melting men and sentient crystals gather around a campfire and sing campfire songs. Our C-A-M-P...

Starting in 2013 as the prototype Wasteland Kings, 96 updates later and Nuclear Throne officially left Early Access on December 6 this year. Kinda surprised that it wasn't released on the 100th update, because it seems more fitting that way, but if it did it probably wouldn't have been released this year and I wouldn't be able to put it on this list, so... 96 is fine, yeah.

Nuclear Throne is probably the simplest game on this list gameplay wise, being a 2D top-down twin-stick shooter. Move around with WASD, aim with the mouse and click LMB to shoot enemies around the map, occasionally use your chosen character's active ability with RMB, find ammo and weapons, dodge enemies and projectiles that come your way. Simple, but the game is way, way more difficult and involved than its simplicity would suggest. As expected, challenge comes in the form of swarms of enemies that become more and more plentiful as you progress, and in having to weave through increasingly complex and often unpredictable bullet patterns while simultaneously dodging enemies that charge at you. However, the game requires careful, yet spontaneous decision making, including everything from wise weapon and mutation (read: perk) choice to deciding whether or not to run into the heat of battle to pick up that nigh-disappearing health pack that could save your life later on, but risk dying. 

On that note of dying, doing so is incredibly easy in Nuclear Throne. Most of the characters start off with 8 HP, with the exception of Crystal, who starts off with 10 HP and is a more defensive character, and Melting, who starts off with 2 HP in exchange for increased radiation drops (read: XP gain) and generally being a Master Exploder. To put that into perspective, there are probably only three things in the entire game that damage you for less than 2 HP, meaning that, in most scenarios, you die in very few hits. Compunding that is near-total lack of invincibility frames after getting hit, which may actually be the underlying reason for nearly all deaths that happen in the game. And this combined with what I said earlier is what makes Nuclear Throne one of the hardest games I've ever played (or maybe I just haven't played any truly difficult games, yet), and why you'll probably be sent back to the campfire hundreds of times on your journey to the Nuclear Throne. But once you finally reach it, you're on top of the world... and soon, on top of the Throne. 

That is, before the Throne activates and reveals itself to be the final boss of the game. And then...

"You almost reached the Nuclear Throne"

*clicks Restart*


2. Undertale (PC)
Hours: 30+

Oh hey, it's that game the internet has been obsessed with recently, the game that's still being talked about over three months after its release to Toby Fox's surprise, the game that won GameFAQS' Best. Game. Ever. award and pissed off a huge chunk of its community. I'll be trying to steer clear of that stuff for this review, mmkay? 

I first found out about Undertale when browsing through Steam's highest rated games and finding it on the first page. Then I clicked on it, read through its store page, and did a double take when I saw its (then) Metacritic score of 97. Plus, it was also a 2D top-down pixel graphics indie game with a bunch of unique ideas, so why not?

OH MY GOD THIS GAME IS FUCKING AMAZING.

The mere gameplay concept of Undertale would have been enough to sell me on it. It basically takes the battle system of the Mario & Luigi games, adds some Touhou-esque bullet dodging to it, and gives players the option to either kill or spare monsters. However, it also has a properly done morality system, where nearly every action you do, including not only choices made at certain important plot points, but also your decision to kill or spare in every random encounter, has some sort of consequence in the storyline. The plot itself, while not too complex, is well-written, and is filled with humor, heartwarming, and sadness, at times all at once. And special mention has to go to the characters, because basically ALL OF THEM are interesting and memorable, from the narcissistic yet completely endearing Papyrus to the hotheaded, boulder-suplexing Undyne, to even the bartender Grillby, who is memorable despite NOT EVEN HAVING ANY ACTUAL LINES. And all of this, with the exception of some of the art, I think, was made by just one dude. Yep, even the balls-to-the-wall amazing soundtrack that costs as much as the game and is entirely worth it.

But wait, you've probably heard this stuff before, so I'll stop here and talk about Undertale's Genocide Route. After playing the game's Neutral and Pacifist routes, I  knew for sure that Undertale was going to be in this list. But after doing a Genocide run, Undertale became not only my second favorite game of 2015, but of all time as well.




(SPOILER WARNING)
probably play the game first




Now hold on. If you're someone who's played the game, chances are you're thinking "You monster, how could you possibly enjoy doing a Genocide run, killing everyone, including those characters you obviously love so much?" Well, yes, I loved going through the Genocide Route, but not because I enjoyed being a soulless murderer. I enjoyed the fact that the game properly made you FEEL like you were a soulless murderer. If played following a normal run, and especially after a True Pacifist run (basically don't kill anything and befriend a bunch of major characters), it can come as a real shock just how different the game becomes when you undergo the Genocide Route. The game's humor and cheeriness disappears and is replaced by a dark, haunting, and maybe even depressing tone. Music becomes eerily distorted. Towns that were originally filled with NPCs are now devoid of them, because they all evacuated in anticipation of your arrival. Save points, instead of giving quirky messages about determination, instead tell you how many monsters you need to kill before the area becomes completely cleared of them. All but two bosses go down in one hit, and the two bosses that don't die instantly are leagues above the game's other bosses in difficulty. The game makes your experience as unpleasant as possible in an attempt to get you to end your Genocide run, even giving you numerous chances to stop being a soulless murderer. And, should you persist, the game rewards you with a bad time, and eventually makes you exactly what you've been trying to become the whole time: If you see a Genocide run through to the end, the game basically becomes unplayable, and can only be played again if you sell your SOUL. And now, even if you try to make up for the terrible things you've done by going for the true happy ending, even that is ruined. Forever. (Unless you do some save editing stuff.) And you'll feel absolutely terrible for it. And I love it.

You really will feel your sins crawling down your back.




(END OF SPOILERS)





1. Neko Atsume

... just kidding

although, it's awesome and strangely therapeutic


1. Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon (3DS)
Hours: 90+ + jukebox

my heart goes out to all those in Europe and Australia

... And this is the part where the list being about my subjective tastes really comes into play.

I've already spoiled my opinion of Super Mystery Dungeon on one of my past deviations and also on my Steam account. Now, I get to talk about why this is my favorite game ever.

Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha. 

In general, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a top-down roguelike (apparently) dungeon crawler that takes the moves, abilities, and Pokemon of the main series games and translates them into a more chess-esque turn-based battling system. In every game, you're a human that, for varying reasons, is transformed into a Pokemon in order to save the Pokemon world from some sort of crisis. Then you get involved in plots that can get surprisingly dark, especially considering the cheery and kid-friendly atmosphere the games generally have. While progressing through said plots you'll be adventuring through numerous mystery dungeons, which have a set amount of floors, but the floor layouts, enemies, and items are randomized every time you enter. You're able to bring items to help you survive in dungeons - in fact they're almost always absolutely necessary - but fainting causes you to lose all (or half) of the items you brought, as well as your money. This puts emphasis in careful planning and preparation before entering dungeons; in fact, at times preparation literally becomes half the battle. The other half is what you do once you enter a dungeon: how you manage the items you bring as well as the items found within the dungeon, how you strategize and fight without taking too much damage or wasting valuable PP, etc. The PMD formula is something I've become very familiar with, and I've loved it for the near-10 years that I've played the series - although that isn't to say that it doesn't have its flaws.

Which brings me to one of the reasons why I love Super Mystery Dungeon. I've learned to get past most of the faults of the previous games, but PSMD introduces changes and additions that fix so many of these faults that it seems as if the developers were either listening to the PMD community's feedback or have some sort of mind-reading powers. The difficulty of the first two games makes a return, in fact being even more challenging at times, while simultaneously improving AI and expanding tactical possibilities, making players more able to deal with the increased challenge. Escort missions make a return as well, except escorts are now much more competent, being capable of holding their own and not being incredibly stupid. the jobs system in general is much improved, no longer limiting you to taking only eight jobs at a time. Jobs are also tied to the Connection Orb, which is effectively PSMD's equivalent of the Pokedex, and completing requests for Pokemon connects you with them, recruiting them into your team and introducing more Pokemon that you can complete requests for and recruit. With the exception of a few repeats, all recruits are unique, and each of the 721 confirmed Pokemon are recruitable except one (Hoopa is a... unique case.) This serves as an excellent incentive to complete jobs, especially when potential recruits include not only powerful fully-evolved Pokemon and legendaries, but also characters from previous PMD games, such as shopkeepers from Pokemon Square and Treasure Town, Team Charm, the Voice of Life, and everyone's favorite Guildmaster.

Speaking of the previous PMD games, Super Mystery Dungeon is also a huge nostalgia trip through the series's past. The game confirms that all the games in the series (idk about the WiiWare turds though) exist in the same universe, which naturally leads to the return of old characters, as I said earlier, as well as music and dungeons from previous games. Sure, most of them have little to no actual relevance to the main plot, but to me that didn't matter. I literally laughed out loud in delight nearly every time I noticed strangely familiar connections in the Connection Orb, or heard (read: read) a character say something about his role in the past, or saw the names of old dungeons in the World Map. 

PRIMAL DIALGA'S THEME IS BACK IN ALL ITS UNTOUCHED GLORY AND IT'S GLORIOUSLY GLORIOUS

Yet, despite how often PSMD references previous games in the series, it doesn't rely on nostalgia to carry it. It manages to be an excellent game on its own, with sharpened-up gameplay, welcome additions and changes to the PMD structure, a solid plot and characters, more humor, and a soundtrack that's just as amazing as it's always been, if not better. It's just as much of a step forward for the PMD series as it is a love letter to its past. And, to quote myself, the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series is, has always been, and probably always will be my favorite video game series. 

Suck it.



also you can play as Fennekin

I'm so done




tl;dr

5. Crypt of the Necrodancer: addictive rhythm dungeoncrawling with a great soundtrack

4. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth + Afterbirth: items x 1000000, stfu that Rebirth isn't 2015 because Afterbirth is, and it probably wouldn't be on here without it

3. Nuclear Throne: adrenaline and euphoria

2. Undertale: just play it yourself if you haven't

1. Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon: favorite game ever, though I was always a huge PMD fan from the start

tl;dr part 2

I'm probably bad at reviewing games



I've told people that Undertale was my favorite game of all-time. That was before Super Mystery Dungeon came out.
© 2015 - 2024 Sharpfishy
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