Best of 2015

Well, friends, the time has come once again to decide what in the gaming world was the best in 2015. Now, 2015 was NOT a 2014 kind of year. There were many, many, many fantastic releases this year. There were so many, in fact, that I had to change many of the lists to top 10 instead of top 5. Before I begin, I should take a moment to say, as I do every year, that this is my personal list. These lists could not be more subjective if they tried. With this in mind, needless to say, games I have not played (or witnessed being played) will not be on any of these lists. For example, I haven't played Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Battlefield: Hardline, The Order: 1886, Pillars of Eternity, Halo 5, Mortal Kombat X, or Rise of the Tomb Raider. I also continue to refuse to fund the soulless Nintendo machine, so Super Mario Maker, Splatoon, and the like will never make it on any of these lists. I also would rather shoot myself than play high school douchebag, mountain dew drinking, tiny dinosaur brain Multiplayer games. Therefore, games like Rainbow Six: Siege, Splatoon (again), and Rocket League will not be on these lists. Lets get right to it.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Artwork/Graphics
We'll start off with the things that are less important. Graphics are not the most important thing in the world, but when graphics are good, it is never a negative. To create a phenomenal visual backdrop is not an incredibly easy feat, so when games do it well, it is worth mentioning. These are the five games with the best graphics or art style in 2015.



#5): Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight's graphics subscribe to the "flashy" school of graphics. They aren't particularly realistic, but in a comic book game, do they really need to be? What matters is that the graphics are pretty to look at, and that they are.



#4): Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, on the other hand, subscribes to the "realistic" school of graphics. The english village and countryside are rendered with loving, realistic detail, and it works wonders for the immersion factor.



#3): Until Dawn

With the exception of some wonky facial animations, Until Dawn's face-scanning is phenomenal. Environmental graphics are a little too flashy to be realistic, but it is the faces and character models that place Until Dawn in this spot on the list.



#2): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

In my review of The Witcher 3, I said that it was the best looking game I'd ever played. That hasn't changed at all. So, why is it in the number two spot, you ask? Well, there is one other game that runs impressive graphics more consistently. The Witcher 3, despite some occasional drops in frame rate, is the best looking game I've ever played.



Artwork/Graphics of the Year: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

MGS wins this award for a number of reasons. The fox engine provides the game with stellar graphics, to be sure, but what really puts it in this spot is how well it runs. Over the course of the entire game, I never experienced a single framerate drop. This is not a short game, so the fact that this gigantic game maintained a constant, smooth frame rate throughout is impressive beyond belief. Not only that, but there were never any unrendered textures. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's graphics are great, but they are also more functional than any game in recent memory, and that is an amazing feat. Props to Hideo Kojima for taking the necessary time to make this possible.





---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Weapons
Not all in-game weapons are created equal. The fact of the matter is that there are some weapons that are more fun to use than others. These are the weapons that were the most fun to use this year.



#5): Frying Pan (Undertale)

Ideally, you don't even need to use a weapon in Undertale. That is kind of the point. However, should you choose to fight in this game, you should at least use the most fun one. Most weapons have different fighting styles, and it is hard to describe them, but just take me at my word here: the frying pan is the most fun weapon to use in Undertale.



#4): Your fists (Batman: Arkham Knight)

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Batman is a master of hundreds of kinds of martial arts, so it should come as no surprise that just punching everything feels powerful.



#3): The combat rifle (Fallout 4)

Whenever I play a game with guns that do varying degrees of damage, I tend to stick to medium-damage weapons, as I tend to come across a more steady supply of ammo, and it doesn't feel cheap when I win. For Fallout 4, the battle rifle is that weapon. There tends to be a steady supply of ammo, and it does a reasonable amount of damage. I ended up using it for all 50 hours of my play through. 

#2): Tranquilizer Gun (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

In a stealth game, weapons that can take out enemies silently are golden. The tranquilizer gun in MGSV not only removes enemies from the picture silently, but it also grants you the opportunity to extract enemies and recruit them into your military corporation. It has an incredibly fair range, and it encourages you to fire with caution, as anything other than a head shot will not put the enemy to sleep immediately.

Weapon of the Year: The Tether (Just Cause 3)

Just Cause 3 is, of course, a game that is just supposed to be a lot of dumb action fun. With this in mind, it follows naturally that such a game should come with a handful of interesting weapons to make this dumb action fun actually fun. Just Cause 3 delivers on this idea with flying colors. The best weapon at your disposal is the tether function that comes with your grappling hook. Essentially, you can tether two or more things together and then pull whatever you've tethered together. There are no limits to the things you can tether. Do you want to bring down a giant tower by tethering an explosive barrel to each of the legs of the tower? Your wish is Just Cause 3's command! Do you want to destroy a helicopter by tethering it to the ground? Bingo! Do you want to just tether a whole crap ton of explosive barrels together and see what the ensuing explosion looks like? You've got it! The tether allows you to dispose of enemies and objects however you see fit to do so, and this is why it is the weapon of the year. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Overarching Locations
The folks who made the original Borderlands will tell you that if your location isn't interesting, then it doesn't matter what you get right, you're going to lose points. This year, there were so many interesting locations that I decided to break them up into two different categories. These are the overarching settings that were the most memorable in 2015.



#5): Pandora (Tales from the Borderlands)

Borderlands is a boring, boring franchise. But Telltale Games' excellent series that takes place in this universe manages to make its boring desert planet setting, Pandora, into a charming personality of its own.



#4): Gotham City (Batman: Arkham Knight)

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Even though Gotham is deserted during the events of Arkham Knight, it still manages to have infinitely more personality than the small section of the city that was given to us in Arkham City.



#3): Medici (Just Cause 3)

Now, I am a sucker for tropical paradise settings since Far Cry 3, so perhaps I'm more biased than usual, but the fictional island nation of Medici is absolutely stunning. Filled with italian-style architecture and towns, it is a pleasure to explore Medici, and given the size of the map, explore, you shall.



#2): The Northern Realms (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

The Witcher has never had an interesting setting before, which is what makes the northern realms so compelling. You get to experience land torn between two military superpowers as a neutral party. You get a feel for the pain that the common folk feel. That is a feat that is a first for this series, so props to CD Projekt Red.

Overarching Location of the Year: The village (Everybody's Gone to the Rapture)

My favorite kind of music is folk music. There are times when I long to be an impoverished fisherman in old England...before immediately coming to my senses. Point being, the village in which Everybody's Gone to the Rapture takes place allows me to live the small English town experience vicariously.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Individual Locations
Like I said, there were so many interesting locations this year that I had to split the location category up into two separate categories. For this category, I'll be focusing on locations within the overarching locations. For example, I'll focus on specific towns in open world maps and things like that. These are the 5 most interesting individual locations of 2015.



#5) Sanctuary (Fallout 4)

The starting settlement in Fallout 4 is one that holds sentimental value. It is the town where you and your spouse raised your family, and now it is a town that you have established and are responsible for growing. There are more materials to scavenge, more ways to customize the town, and more sentimental value to Santuary than any other settlement you can set up.



#4) Home (Undertale)

You are only in Home for a small sliver of time, but it is a memorable place. This is the area towards the beginning of the game where Toriel, one of the first characters you meet, resides. It is just a kind, warm location that starts the process of hitting you right in the feels.



#3) Africa (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Now that we are a few years removed from the period of time where every game had to take place in Africa and where every white college girl had to get tattoos of Africa on their wrists, I can appreciate MGSV's use of the continent. This is primarily because Kojima refuses to romanticize Africa the way that white college girls tend to do. It doesn't make a statement about the continent, but it does portray it realistically. Africa is a troubled, troubled place, and Kojima shows this through the kinds of evil you encounter in the Africa missions.  Like I said, Kojima doesn't say, "Africa is bad," but he refuses to romanticize it, which is quite remarkable. You go up against warlords who employ child soldiers and the like. But beyond the realistic depiction, the missions in Africa tend to be the best ones.



#2) Goodneighbor (Fallout 4)

I first realized that I really liked Fallout 4 on the night that I stumbled across Goodneighbor. It takes the jazzy, 40's vibe that Fallout is now known for and takes it a step further. It is a truly Libertarian society in which there is a bar with a low-voiced female jazz singer. Most of Fallout 4's atmosphere is due to the existence of Goodneighbor.



Individual Location of the Year: Skellige (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

Skellige is a nordic series of islands that are absolutely beautiful and teeming with intrigue. It manages to take influence from nordic vistas without trying to be Skyrim. I spent a great deal of time in The Witcher 3 just riding my horse around the Skellige isles, listening to the watery vocals of the background music. In the end, Skellige was the location that I spent the most time in and that I enjoyed the most.





---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Quests
This one is pretty self-explanatory, I feel. These quests were the most fun quests to take part in this year.



#5): Regicide (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

About a quarter of the way through the story, you are given the opportunity to take part in the assassination of one of the most hatable villains in the game. It just so happens that this villain is a king, and thus, extreme caution is required. This isn't one quest, rather, a series of them, but regardless, it was enjoyable.



#4): The Play's the Thing (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

In order to lure an ally out of hiding, Geralt sets up a theatrical performance with a hidden message for this ally. In this quest, you recruit security for the event, spread the word about the play, and then you are required to learn all of your lines before going on stage. If you were a theatre kid like I was, then this quest is intense.



#3): Inside Job (Fallout 4)

This quest takes you into the headquarters of the Institute, where you initially are trying to get intel on them. However, you are prevented from leaving, and as you descend further into the Institute, you are subjected to a truth that you are not prepared for.



#2): Code Talker (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

It seems that every stealth game has to have a mission where you infiltrate a country mansion. MSGV is no different, but its version of this quest is quite good. Deep in the jungles of Africa, there is a mansion in which a man who can rescue your men from an epidemic is being held hostage. I can't say much without spoiling the experience, but it is quite a compelling quest.

Quest of the Year: The Devil's House (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

After rescuing a team of child soldiers in Africa, they tell you that their leader was taken to a place of punishment called "The Devil's House". You then embark on a mission to rescue this child. This mission takes you into a mist-filled jungle, at the end of this jungle, you find the Devil's House, and it is truly terrifying. This quest wins this spot because it has the kind of intrigue and suspense that stealth games must have. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 10 Moments
In many games, there are high points or climaxes, points that really make the game. This is one of the categories that I had to change to top 10 instead of top 5. That is how many fantastic moments there were in gaming this year. So, here are the 10 most fascinating game moments in 2015.



#10): Finger Gun Fight (Tales from the Borderlands)

Disguised as one of the top corporate folks, Rhys is confronted by a series of angry accountants, and a gunfight ensues. This is no traditional gunfight, however. Rather, you and the accountants just start pointing your fingers like guns and making pew pew sounds, and when an accountant is "hit", they act like they've been shot. It is a sequence that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but it is a work of genius.



#9): Hospital Escape (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

This is the opening sequence in MGSV, and it sets up the universe perfectly. You awaken in the hospital to find that the hospital is under attack by an unknown army. Having been in a coma for 9 years, you are unable to fight, so you must remain undetected. Really, what this sequence is is an active shooter simulation. I was sweating profusely the entire time, as it is done so well. You watch hospital patients being gunned down right and left as you cling to the ground for dear life under a table.



#8): I will put you back together (Five Nights at Freddy's 4)

This moment is the ending of Five Nights at Freddy's 4, so there isn't a lot I can say about it, but it basically explains what caused one of the most important events in the lore, and it is actually really depressing.



#7): Your patience is rewarded (Fallout 4)

Again, not a lot I can say without spoiling the plot, but this is the moment that I mentioned in the quests section.



#6): Unless you pick up the gun and deny him (Batman: Arkham Knight)

This moment is on this list because of how well it is executed. In this moment, something pretty violent takes place, but it takes place tastefully. Not much I can say without spoiling anything.



#5): Iron from Ice (Game of Thrones)

This moment is the greatest moment in Telltale's Game of Thrones series. In it, you are tasked with quite unexpectedly making a choice. It seems to be an ongoing theme in this list, but it is still true, I can't say much more without spoiling the plot.



#4): We live and die by your order (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

This moment takes place in the second half of MGSV, and it totally caught me off guard. I mean, there were many great moments in this game, but none of them were particularly powerful, tearjerking moments. I was not prepared for such a moment, and it showed. In this moment, Snake is required to commit an atrocity in order to save the world from a virus.



#3): I'm not ready for you to go (Undertale)

This moment is at the end of Undertale, where you realize why the main villain is doing what they have been doing. It is a moment that is tearjerking and depressing beyond belief.



#2): I will bring back the world of my people, even if it means this one must die (Dragon Age Inquisition: Trespasser DLC)

The entire purpose of the Trespasser DLC for last year's Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Inquisition, is to set up the plot for Dragon Age 4. At this moment, you come into contact with the villain that the plot will revolve around in DA4, and he tells you his backstory and why he will be doing what he will be doing. It is the moment that makes the DLC as great as it is.

Moment of the Year: Stay Down! (Game of Thrones)

At this point in the plot, Ludd Whitehill has sent his spoiled brat son, Griff, to be in charge of the Forrester hold against your will. He is, as I said, a spoiled brat who loves to flaunt his new power around. At this point, Rodrik Forrester, who you play as, still relies on a cane in order to walk. In a show of power, Griff knocks you to the ground and tells you to stay down if you know whats best for you. You then have the choice to either stay down, or haul yourself back up to your feet with your cane by mashing a button over and over again. If you stand up, he knocks you down again and tells you to stay down more angrily. You go through this process a number of times, every time, the music grows and Griff screams louder. It is a moment that is as empowering as they come. In it, you get to be defiant of a little brat, and if you continue to stand up, you get to put him in his place.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Enemies
It doesn't matter what game you're in, you probably won't be fighting the main villain until the last 5% of the game. With this in mind, it is important that the preceding 95% be filled with enemies that are fun to take on. These are the enemies that were the most enjoyable to fight this year.



#5): Monsters (Undertale)

You can just straight up fight the monsters, but the real fun lies in trying to avoid fighting. Every monster has a different way that it can be beaten, and figuring out how to beat each monster is a true joy.



#4): Henchmen (Batman: Arkham Knight)

There are various types of henchmen: regular ones, big ones, medical ones, armed ones, etc. Different configurations of enemies force you to change how you fight, and it ensures that combat is always fresh.



#3): Monsters (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

This is a pretty vague category, considering that half the things you fight in The Witcher are monsters. But the fact of the matter is that every monster has a different series of weaknesses, and thus, different tactics are required in order to survive.



#2): Darkspawn (Dragon Age Inquisition: The Descent DLC)

It has been a long time since darkspawn have been a threat. In the original Dragon Age, darkspawn were numerous as insects, and that is what made them so huge a threat. In the "Descent" DLC for Inquisition, Bioware appears to have gone back to this formula. Darkspawn crawl out of the walls like bugs and there appears to be no end to them.

Enemy of the Year: Skulls (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

Though absolutely infuriating to fight, fighting skulls requires you to be constantly on the move, so when you stop to think about it, they are the most worthwhile enemies to fight.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Voice Performers
Unless you're like Nintendo and you refuse to do anything other than flounder blindly like a child throwing a tantrum and lying down in the middle of an aisle at the mall in the face of progress, you know that a good voice performance can make or break a game narrative. For proof of this point, you need look no further than 2013's "The Last of Us," which was really made by the performances of Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. These are the voice performers who gave the best performances this year.



#5): Hayden Panetierre as Sam (Until Dawn)

Even though Sam was mainly just there to be a cameo for Hayden Panetierre, she did quite a good job in the role. If Sam had been better utilized as a character, without a doubt, Hayden Panetierre would have been higher on this list.



#4): Joan Van Ark as Phyllis Daily (Fallout 4)

Phyllis Daily is not a major character in Fallout 4. In fact, you might not even come across her. She only has a few lines of dialogue, but Joan Van Ark delivers them more convincingly than any other actor in Fallout 4.



#3): Troy Baker as Rhys (Tales from the Borderlands) and Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

It wouldn't be a game award thing without Troy Baker being given an award, now would it? As usual, Troy Baker takes what is given to him and runs with it with ease.



#2): Russ Bain as Rodrik Forrester (Game of Thrones)

Few characters have had to endure as much as Rodrik Forrester has, and Russ Bain brings all the necessary anger and sadness to the mix. Anyone can sound angry, but few people can growl the words, "I'll have your head on a spike, Whitehill!" and have it sound as convincingly vengeful as Russ Bain.

Voice Performer of the Year: The ensemble of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is made up of a charming little town of people, and I legitimately don't know if it is acted by actors or by actual townsfolk. Every single character is acted convincingly, and not only that, but the relationships between characters are convincing as well simply because the entire ensemble is strong. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Lamest Characters

As the folks who made Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will tell you, if your characters aren't interesting, you're in for a bad time. Unfortunately, many game developers haven't quite wrapped their heads around this concept yet. Thankfully, there were many fewer lame characters this year than in years past, but still. These are the lamest characters in gaming this year.



#5): Alexander Graham Bell (Assassin's Creed: Syndicate)

Seriously. What a freaking loser. I was under the impression that the inventor of the telephone, ecstatic as he may have been, was not a bumbling idiot.



#4): Emily (Until Dawn)

The characters in Until Dawn are pretty well-developed through showing, not telling. Emily is the only one poorly-developed enough for the game to have to actually come out and tell us what is going on inside of her.



#3): Strong (Fallout 4)

Strong is the super mutant companion in Fallout 4, and that is pretty much it. He is shoehorned into this game in order to have a super mutant companion option, but unlike previous super mutant companions, there isn't much to Strong. That by itself would be ok, I suppose, but another lame aspect of Strong is that he is basically just a single joke repeated until it hurts. You recruit him after a quest in which a man is trying to bring the magic of Shakespeare's Macbeth to the mutants, and he is obsessed with finding the "milk of human kindness," thinking that it is an ancient concoction of some kind. That joke is repeated so many times, and it becomes something of a wink to the audience. It is exhausting.



#2): Preston Garvey (Fallout 4)

Preston Garvey is a prime example of mistaking kindness for character development. The dude is a walking altar boy, but that is all that he is. If you remember last year's lamest character list, you'll remember that I ranted about the mistakes people make in writing women. Well, Preston Garvey is an example of a whole other kind of mistake developers make. When game developers make characters who are 1) nice and 2) black, they have a tendency to only give them two traits: 1) nice and 2) black (and the second one isn't even a character trait!) I don't know why developers seem to have this problem with only black characters, but it is a problem that exists. If you played the Mass Effect trilogy, then think of Jacob. Jacob is another example of this problem. Preston Garvey looked like he was going to be the solution to this problem, but that is not the case. 

Lamest Character of the Year: Max (Life is Strange)

There are many games that place you in the shoes of a voiced protagonist and give you dialogue options. You know what the difference between them and Life is Strange is? The voiced protagonists of other games typically have...you know...an arc of some kind, or at least a few character traits. In these games, the dialogue options can be varied in tone, but they are always consistent with the character. This cannot be said of Max, one of the lamest and worst written protagonists in recent memory. She can't seem to decide how to speak. At times she speaks in proper english, and other times she utters the words "Are you for cereal?" with a straight face. Really, the only consistency that can be found in her character is in the fact that she just seems to exist. She very consistently exists, but that is about it. While I'm writing this blurb, I'm having trouble consolidating my thoughts on Max. I suppose an easy way to summarize would be to say that Max is the product of someone who has never interacted with a teenager before, or perhaps someone who has never seen people react to unusual circumstances. The person behind this character has never interacted with a teenager before in that he or she can't quite figure out how the youngsters talk nowadays. The person behind this character has never seen people react to unusual circumstances in that it takes Max exactly two times using her powers to totally come to the terms with the fact that she has powers. There is a brief "what?" kind of moment, but it is short-lived, and it isn't convincing. In conclusion, Max is the proud owner of this year's Lamest Character of the Year award because, like so many other characters in Life is Strange, it was as if she was written entirely by looking at the way a girl whose description on social media is "Umm...I'm not like the other girls. I'm pretty crazy" would describe herself. She is quirky, but in an unbelievably forced, disconnected, MySpace sort of way. Not only that, but she doesn't really have a character arc (hey, I guess thats another bit of consistency). Every other character has one, but she doesn't. She is just all around the indisputably lamest character. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Love Interests
As I do every time I do this list, I'm going to say this once and only once: This is not a "Hottest girls" list. I've never heard anything to suggest that people interpret this list in that way, but having gone to a liberal arts college, I've learned that people will take any chance they can to be oppressed, so here you go in advance. This list examines how a character fills the role of love interest, how they strengthen the protagonist, etc. These are the most noteworthy love interests in gaming this year.



#5): Chloe (Life is Strange)

I greatly disliked Chloe. Quite odd that she makes this list, then, isn't it? Well, despite the fact that she, too, was created by having a look at a high schooler's tumblr account, she is kind of an important fixture. Like I said, I disliked Chloe for the whole game, but whether or not that is because of her character or because of the pukemaking writing in this game, who can say? But here's the thing: If you read my lists from last year, then you may remember that my lamest characters list was pretty much exclusively filled with female characters, and at the end, I ranted about how poorly game developers handle women. Well, Chloe represents a very important shift. What I mean is that, for the first time in a long time, a game developer gave us a character with blue hair, tattoos, a flipping beanie, and an attitude, and also allowed this character to be vulnerable. I personally would not have chosen Chloe, but there is a higher calling here than my personal preference. Look, the fact of the matter is, love her or hate her, Chloe's existence bodes well not just for love interests in games, but for women in games, period. Were it not for the existence of another character in another game, Chloe would be receiving the specialized "strongest female character" award that'll be going down later on.



#4): Sasha (Tales from the Borderlands)

It was important to have a character like Sasha in the mix in Tales from the Borderlands. Why, you ask? Well, let me put it this way. There are two protagonists: a man and a woman. What would be the blindingly obvious way to handle a romantic subplot? That's right. Put the two together, even if it makes no sense. The folks over at Telltale Games must have known that and thought, ah, but what if the female protagonist has a sister? Now, many folks from the college I went to would probably argue that the game would be better off with no romantic subplot. Maybe that's true. But the fact of the matter is that we got one, and the existence of Sasha protects the phenomenal plot from a corny male and female lead fall in love scenario.



#3): Triss Merigold (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

Triss Merigold is a fantastic character, and this would be true even if she weren't a love interest. She is by no means one of these namby pamby rpg love interests who are just in love with you no matter what (*cough* Bioware *cough*). If you want to be with her, you're going to have to show that you stand for the same things she stands for. That kind of thing is rare nowadays.



#2): Curie (Fallout 4)

Curie was my love interest of choice, my personal favorite one, so why is she not #1? Because there is one other love interest who fills that particular role better. However, Curie is still a fantastic love interest. She is an adorable robot with a french accent and a love of science and learning. As she learns more about the world, she begins to learn more about feelings, and she becomes attached to you if you do things that she enjoys. Like Triss Merigold, this makes her a rare find.

Love Interest of the Year: Piper Wright (Fallout 4)

Piper is the best love interest of this year because she fulfills that role better than any other character. She fawns over you, but that isn't the entirety of what she does. She still is dedicated to exposing corruption in authority, but now she just has something more to hang on to. Whats more, she gives you a pet name and talks to you more endearingly when you enter into a relationship with her. She was my second favorite overall, but I can't deny that she fulfills the role of love interest better than any other character. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 10 Supporting Characters
We once again come to a list that I had to increase to 10 instead of 5. Protagonists are seldom able to accomplish their tasks by themselves. Typically they need somebody by their side to help them out from time to time. These supporting characters tend to be more interesting than the protagonist, so they are pretty important. There were many strong supporting characters this year, and these are the best of the best.



#10): Sans (Undertale)

Sans is a pun-loving skeleton who has a love for doing absolutely nothing. He is one of the comedic reliefs in Undertale, and in this regard, he succeeds with flying colors.



#9): D-Horse (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

D-Horse is the first companion that you get in MGSV, and he is as useful as he is cute. Not only does he allow you to move around the vast, open terrains much faster, but he also serves as a mobile hiding spot. You can hide on either side of D-Horse, and enemies will simply think that a horse is walking through their camp. I made use of this aspect of D-Horse multiple times, and in many cases, it is a life saver.



#8): Ciri (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

Ciri, while not in the game for very long, is one of the most powerful characters in the Witcher universe. She was born with the Elder Blood in her veins...and I don't know what that means, actually, but it essentially means that she can travel between universes on a whim.



#7): Quiet (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

Quiet has become something of a controversial topic. There are those who claim that she is vastly oversexualized and really quite a sexist depiction of a woman. Those who claim that are absolutely right. She is. You don't get to argue otherwise because it isn't actually something that is up for debate. Quiet is oversexualized. Her entire armor is a bra and some leggings. In the game, a reason is given for this, but come on, Kojima. This could not be more obviously fan service. But oversexualization aside, Quiet is actually pretty awesome. She is a sniper with pinpoint accuracy who can mark enemies from a distance. She is quite useful to have around on missions where enemy camps are overlooked by ledges. Beyond her usefulness, however, she also ends up being a pretty compelling character as the story progresses.



#6): Codsworth (Fallout 4)

Codsworth is the Mr. Handy robot that your family had before the bombs fell, and now, 200 years later, he is still tidying up the family home. He is a fantastic companion to have around in combat, as he comes equipped with a flamethrower and a buzz saw. But besides his usefulness, you will find that you want to be friends with him because he is such a joy to have around.



#5): Hancock (Fallout 4)

Hancock is essentially a Libertarian zombie warrior who is the mayor of Goodneighbor, the greatest town in Fallout 4. He is not held back by ideals, instead viewing things through a pretty black and white filter. A quote from him to sum this up is: "If someone needs help, we'll help them. If someone needs hurting, we'll hurt them. Its as simple as that." He isn't the goody two shoes boyscout that Preston Garvey is nor is he an evil jerk like MacCreedy. Rather, he is a man who wants to help those who are in need and remove evil people from the face of the earth. That kind of character complexity is rare nowadays.



#4): D-Dog (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

D-Dog is what we call a Doggy. He is a loyal dog who is by far the most useful companion to have around in MGSV. He marks enemies, prisoners, weapons, animals, and plants without being asked to. That is really all there is to say about D-Dog other than that he is as cute as puppy dogs come.



#3): Loader Bot (Tales from the Borderlands)

Loader Bot is, you guessed it, a loader bot. You call it down in the first episode, and he ends up being one of your constant companions from that point on. You'll just have to experience loader bot for yourself, because he is a little hard to explain.



#2): Toriel (Undertale)

Toriel is absolutely wonderful. She is one of the first characters that you encounter in Undertale. She is an anthropomorphic goat monster who is just the kindest character of any game this year. She has a backstory that is absolutely heartbreaking, and all in all, you just want to give her a big hug.

Supporting Character of the Year: Papyrus (Undertale)

Papyrus is a skeleton who works for the head of the royal guard. It is his job to watch for humans and to capture them if he meets one. He believes that if he does his job well, then he will become popular and have lots of friends. What makes this even sadder is just how confident he is in his own abilities and greatness despite how incompetent he actually is. What makes THAT even sadder is the fact that he never takes off a costume he made for a costume party, he owns a crap ton of action figures, sleeps in a race car bed, and needs a bedtime story to get to sleep. Papyrus makes those of us who empathize easily feel pretty sad, but then he helps folks realize that he leads a happy life. He has a job that he loves doing, even if he isn't good at it. He has friends that adore him, even if he isn't the most popular person in the underground. In short, Papyrus may not be the most helpful supporting character, but his presence is what makes the middle sections of Undertale as enjoyable as they are.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 10 Antagonists
A good villain can make a game, and a lame villain can break it. There were many fantastic villains this year, so this is another category where I needed to list the top 10 instead of the top 5 in order to do everybody justice. These are the ten best villains in games this year.



#10): General Di Ravello (Just Cause 3)

The self-proclaimed dictator of the island nation of medici, General Di Ravello is nothing but a mustache-twirler. That would normally be a problem, but having a cliche villain in a game like Just Cause 3 actually works to its benefit.



#9): Hugo Vasquez (Tales from the Borderlands)

Hugo Vasquez is a very particular kind of villain. By that, I mean that he subscribes to the corporate dirt bag who company lines you into oblivion school of villainy. He is just this smiling guy in a suit with a lot of money who tells you that your new position as janitor is a position truly fitting for you that allows for dynamic growth and quarterly return and infrastructure and other business terms that may or may not actually apply.



#8): King Radovid the Stern (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

Radovid first made his appearance in The Witcher 2 at the very end, but it is here where he truly shines as a villain. He is the classic mad king character, but CD Projekt Red handles him so much better. He is a hateful, spiteful man who hates mages because they hurt his fragile masculinity when he was a kid. As a result, he has an inquisition going on, and anyone who so much as shows a slight interest in magic is taken into prison and brutally tortured until they are finally burned at the stake. That alone makes him a terrifying, hatable villain. But there is also a section where you meet with him and he makes a confusing analogy about chess and asks you if you understand. When you say yes, he calls your bluff in a truly evil mad king way.



#7): Scarecrow (Batman: Arkham Knight)

Scarecrow is not so much a well developed villain as just a cool one. He talks to Batman over the loudspeakers of the city and does lots of cliche villainy things like that, but I must shamelessly admit that he was a pretty cool villain, and that alone is worth a spot on this list.



#6): Father (Fallout 4)

There isn't a lot I can say about Father, the leader of the Institute, without spoiling the greatest moment of Fallout 4. So, go and play it for yourself and see what I mean.



#5): Gaunter O'Dimm (The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone DLC)

Again, there isn't a lot that I can say about Gaunter O'Dimm without spoiling the plot of The Witcher 3's Hearts of Stone DLC. So, if you have the Witcher 3, go and play this DLC and see what I mean.



#4): The new villain (Dragon Age: Inquisition: Trespasser DLC)

After this, there is only one more villain that I can't say a lot about, I promise. But if there is anyone that I can't say much about, it is the new villain in the Trespasser DLC for Dragon Age Inquisition. It is a villain more powerful and legendary than any villain in Dragon Age, and in this DLC, he is introduced as the villain for whatever Dragon Age 4 is.



#3): Ludd Whitehill (Game of Thrones)

Ludd Whitehill is the head of the Whitehill family in Telltale's Game of Thrones series. He is absolutely despicable to the point that he makes a little boy put his own brother's head on a spike. Game of Thrones villains are always despicable, but Ludd Whitehill just takes that hatability to the next level. To put it in perspective, he had me screaming at my screen because I hated him so much.



#2): The True Villain (Undertale)

Ludd Whitehill was the kind of villain that succeeds because of how much you hate him, but the true villain of Undertale is the exact opposite. I can't say too much about the true villain of Undertale, but it is the kind of villain that succeeds because of how much you sympathize with them. When you realize just who you're up against and what they've had to go through, you can't help but feel sorry for them.

Antagonist of the Year: Gryff Whitehill (Game of Thrones)

Ohhhh boy. Gryff Whitehill is in the game far less than his father, Ludd Whitehill, but he is even more hatable. Why is this? Its because he is a spoiled little brat who rubs his noble birth in everyone's face. Not only that, but when he is the least bit angry with somebody, he has them killed. He is responsible for some of the most powerful, depressing moments in the game because of how much of a total piece of crap he is. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 10 Protagonists
A protagonist is an important fixture in a story. They are the eyes from which we see the universe that is being built. Our journey with a protagonist shapes our perception of the world we are given, and thus, a strong protagonist is instrumental in building a strong narrative. That is part of the reason why the Star Wars prequels sucked so much. There were so many strong protagonists this year that this category also required 10 spots instead of 5. So, these are the ten best protagonists of 2015.



#10): The Human (Undertale)

The fallen human in Undertale is what you make them. Are they a genocidal maniac or are they compassionate? That is really all there is to say about the human, but the story changes depending on what kind of character the human is, and that earns them a spot on this list.



#9): The Sole Survivor (Fallout 4)

Despite the fact that you will most likely get sidetracked instead of doing the main quests, the quest of the sole survivor definitely earns them a spot on this list. The sole survivor grew up in the world before the bombs fell and ended up being frozen in cryostasis for 200 years. Upon awakening, the sole survivor realizes that their son has been stolen, and from there, they embark on a journey to rescue him. Really, what keeps the sole survivor from being higher up on this list is the fact that, if you're like me, you'll get too absorbed in side stuff to focus on your son.



#8): Rico Rodriguez (Just Cause 3)

Rico Rodriguez is not so much a well-developed protagonist as he is just a cool one. Basically, Rico Rodriguez is just a mesh of all the masculine action hero qualities, and for some reason, it works in Just Cause 3.



#7): Fiona (Tales from the Borderlands)

Fiona is one of the two protagonists you play as in Tales from the Borderlands. Telltale Games is one of the few companies that manages to do female characters well every time, and it is a breath of fresh air. Fiona is as smug as con artists come, but there is depth to her character that we don't see in many female characters nowadays.



#6): Batman (Batman: Arkham Knight)

Batman is Batman. I mean, come on. He pretty much earns a spot on this list just by existing, and he makes it this high up the list because he actually struggles with some pretty compelling inner demons in this game.



#5): Punished "Venom" Snake (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

It is very easy to make macho army men cliche. Snake is a macho army man, but there is quite a bit of humanity within him, and this is something that you don't see in military characters. Sure, he is a growling, masculine guy, but you see him take on a different persona when talking with child soldiers rescued from Africa. Snake is an awesome character with depth to him, and that is what puts him on this list.



#4): Chris (Until Dawn)

All the characters in Until Dawn are plays off of stereotypical horror movie characters. Chris is a play off of the stuttering nerd character. So, what is it that 1) makes Chris make this list and 2) puts Chris so far up the list? Simply put, Chris may be the stuttering nerd character, but the poor guy is put through more trauma than any other character in the game. Despite being put through all this trauma, however, Chris always steps up to the plate when it matters. No matter how difficult the circumstances are, no matter how scared he is, he always does what needs to be done in order to help his friends.



#3): Rhys (Tales from the Borderlands)

Rhys is a company man at Hyperion, a corporate ladder climber looking to get to the top. But, when a promotion goes to his rival instead, he hatches a plot to get back at him. This tosses him into the events of Tales from the Borderlands, and what a journey it is! What puts Rhys so far up this list is the fact that he is far more complex a character than he needed to be. Borderlands, while always in need of a story, never necessarily needed complex characters for its steampunk-esque universe, but we got Rhys anyway.



#2): Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

Geralt of Rivia takes the idea of the morally gray character and, for the first time ever, makes it work. Witchers are devoid of all emotions, which doesn't sound like it should work for character development, but even without emotion, Geralt of Rivia is not without his own sense of honor. To put it simply, despite being a morally gray character, Geralt of Rivia is not a straightforward, simple character. The fact that CD Projekt Red was able to create such a character is what makes Geralt of Rivia worthy of the second best protagonist of the year position.

Protagonist of the Year: Rodrik Forrester (Game of Thrones)

Rodrik Forrester was thought dead at the Red Wedding, when in reality, he was violently crippled. He returned to his home to find that it was taken over by the despicable Whitehill family. As the new lord of the Forrester house after the death of his father, it was his responsibility to lead his household while barely able to walk and while his every action was being watched and critiqued by the Whitehills. It is safe to say that no protagonist on this list has had a worse time of it than Rodrik Forrester. But what makes Rodrik the best protagonist of this year is the fact that he not only perseveres, but manages to rise up in spite of all of the odds stacked against him. The man has to make some of the most difficult decisions a man can make, and the stakes for him could not be higher, but despite all this, he keeps moving forward because he knows that it is the only chance that his family has to be freed from Whitehill control. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Atmospheres
There are some games that do atmosphere better than others. Some games do a fantastic job of pulling you into the world and keeping you there. There are the five games that had the most compelling atmospheres this year.



#5): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The dark atmosphere of the Witcher is undeniable. From the moment you turn the game on, you are drawn into the world. This is mostly due to the incredible graphics, but the effect is still there.



#4): Bloodborne

Bloodborne was not a good game, but the fact of the matter is that, like everything From Software touches, it has incredible atmosphere. Even though the game doesn't do much to draw you in, the atmosphere does make the world come to life.



#3): Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Unlike the Witcher and Bloodborne, MGSV handles atmosphere through realism. You are thrown into realistically ugly Afghan and African landscapes, and in the more intense moments of the game, you are thrown into pure silence. When you are sneaking through a mist filled jungle in Africa, surrounded by enemies, the creepy silence really serves to set the stage.



#2): Until Dawn

It should come as no surprise that a good horror game gets a high up spot on this list. Until Dawn is captivating every second from an atmosphere perspective. Lighting is done perfectly, shadows make things tense, camera angles made it so that there was intrigue around every corner. From the moment you fire up the game, you feel claustrophobic and terrified every time you round a corner. Truly, nobody does atmosphere better than good horror game developers.

Atmosphere of the Year: Soma

The fact that Soma manages to create a compelling underwater environment without copying Bioshock is astounding. In case it slipped under your radar, Soma is a new horror game from the folks behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent that takes place in a research facility at the bottom of the sea. Few things make you feel more trapped than being at the bottom of the ocean, and Soma proves this. Some of the time, you are inside small corridors, and some of the time, you are walking across the ocean floor, and no matter where you are, you feel incredibly small. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Soundtracks
Soundtracks can make already powerful moments all the more powerful. Part of the reason that real life is boring is because there is no soundtrack to it. These are the games that had the best soundtracks this year.



#5): Undertale

Undertale's soundtrack is a throwback to the soundtracks of JRPGs of old. It explores many genre types and is altogether more memorable than any other JRPG soundtrack (save, perhaps, Pokemon).



#4): Tales from the Borderlands

Lets face it, Telltale games has never made totally captivating soundtracks, and Tales from the Borderlands doesn't have supremely emotional swells. However, the music they use behind the dialogue is by far the best mood setting music that Telltale has ever done. Not only that, but their song selection for the opening credits is always flawless.



#3): Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Most of Metal Gear Solid V takes place in total silence, but when Hideo Kojima does implement music, it is always an emotional experience. That is really all there is to say about MGSV's soundtrack.



#2): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

There is a kind of raw power to the Witcher 3's soundtrack. Most tracks have a series of female vocalists with raspy voices vocalizing along with an orchestra, and it really serves to cement the gritty atmosphere of the game. In other moments, though, the vocalists sing in smooth operatic vibrato. There is a different kind of feel to the soundtrack for every situation.

Soundtrack of the Year: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

My favorite kind of music is folk music, so perhaps I'm a little biased here, but still. The soundtrack of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is influenced by English folk music. As you traverse the little English village, you do so to the sound of watery violin swells. In addition, key moments of the story are scored with new renditions of existing folk songs. I tell you, there are few things quite as satisfying as emerging from a grove and finding yourself in a giant stretch of farmland and suddenly hearing a chorus of men singing the words, "A-rowing we went, my true love and I". 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Gameplay
What sets video games apart from movies or books is the idea of gameplay. Games are the only form of entertainment that actively test you as you go along. These are the five games with the most engaging gameplay this year.



#5): Batman: Arkham Knight

The Batman Arkham formula is a tried and tested formula at this point. You beat people up in supremely fast-paced combat, you sneak around when enemies have guns, it is a formula that we know works. This time around, though, they introduced vehicle combat...which is never a good thing. However, even though the vehicle combat is WAY over-utilized, it is well-done.



#4): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 is a much better realization of the combat of previous Witcher games. It is incredibly fast-paced and action-packed, but you will need to utilize different types of oils and spells in order to win. Basically, surviving in this game requires that you do research on your enemies, seeing what they are weak against. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the realization of combination strategy and action gameplay.



#3): Just Cause 3

Just Cause 3 is a game that does not apologize for having no story, and that is just fine. Just Cause 3 is basically just a dumb action game that is supposed to be nothing but fun. It makes no sense that I would like that, but I do. Just Cause 3 is pretty much your standard open world game, but it is far more explosive, far more action-packed, and far more bursting with testosterone than other games of its kind. My opinion on action games are the same as my opinions on action movies. If your product is going to have no story and sell itself as just action, then it had better be fantastic action. And Just Cause 3 delivers. Its gameplay brings out the dumb 12 year-old boy in me, and that is just fine in this case.



#2): Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

MGSV is of my favorite genre: stealth action, so perhaps I'm a little bit more biased than usual here, but still. You get a mission, you get dropped off in the general area, you go to a cliff or something like that, you mark every target you can through binoculars, and then you choose your approach. Do you accomplish your mission without being seen, or do you go in guns blazing? Unlike most stealth games, however, it doesn't punish you for being seen or for choosing the guns blazing approach. It is truly up to you, but there are more rewards for doing things stealthfully. All the various moving parts in the gameplay come together flawlessly.

Gameplay of the Year: Undertale

No two fights in Undertale are exactly alike. Every kind of enemy has its own weaknesses for you to exploit in order to stop combat without actually having to fight. Boss fights are even more unique than regular fights, and are always more creative than any other bosses. The gameplay in Undertale is always fresh because it is never the same thing twice. It is fun all the way through, taking just enough inspiration from JRPGs to make things a little bit more varied. All in all, the name of the game in Undertale is learning from your mistakes. You can sometimes lose many times to a single boss, but you will learn a little something about their particular kind of attack styles every time. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Stories
Looking at games realistically, they aren't about the story, but for me personally, it is very hard to get into a game if it doesn't have a good story. Thankfully, many developers have taken this idea to heart, and as a result, we have received a number of games with stories that are touching and powerful. These five games had the best stories of this year.



#5): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Geralt of Rivia is recruited by the Emperor of Nilfgaard to find Ciri, the Emperor's daughter and Geralt's daughter-figure. Along the way, however, Geralt finds that Ciri is being pursued by the Wild Hunt: wraiths who are something of a feared fixture in the Witcher universe. Ultimately, an over-reliance on side tasks is what keeps the Witcher's story from being higher up on this list.



#4): Game of Thrones

In the wake of the infamous Red Wedding, House Forrester, sworn allies of House Stark, are in trouble. House Bolton is now in charge of the north, and their bannermen of House Whitehill are sworn enemies of House Forrester. The story follows a few protagonists: Gared Tuttle (squire to Lord Forrester), Rodrik Forrester (The new lord of House Forrester), Asher Forrester (the banished son of the Forrester house), and Mila Forrester (the daughter of the Forrester house). The plot that these characters follow is the kind of plot that we have come to expect of George R.R. Martin's universe.



#3): Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

In a small English village, a strange celestial phenomenon has occurred and everybody has disappeared. As you make your way through, you get to experience some of the fleeting final memories of the townsfolk. You get to learn about this phenomenon and the panic that it caused the simple countryfolk. In the end, you know for a fact that everybody is gone. Its in the title, for crying out loud, but it is from the journey that the power in this game's story arises.



#2): Soma

Simon Jarrett, a sales associate at a bookstore in 2015 Toronto and the recent survivor of a car crash that damaged his brain, goes in to see a medical student for a brain scan. The student is studying to be a doctor, and his research deals with regeneration of brain tissue. Simon goes in for the scan, closes his eyes, and when he opens his eyes, he finds himself in a research facility at the bottom of the ocean. As if that weren't enough of a puzzling situation, the facility seems to be inhabited by nothing but robots who genuinely believe that they are people. This story ponders the questions of what constitutes true life and what makes us human, and it all leads to a near perfect conclusion.

Story of the Year: Undertale

Long ago, Monsters and Humans lived in harmony. Then, the humans attacked without warning, driving the monsters underground. Now, a human has fallen into the underground, and the monsters need to capture this human's soul in order to return to the surface. That is all I can say about Undertale's story without spoiling anything, but let me say this one last thing. It ends up being an absolutely tearjerking experience and a statement about unconditional love and friendship.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Developers
Developers are, of course, quite important. Without people to develop video games, video games wouldn't exist. The best developers are the ones who make the most enjoyable games and who are the most dedicated to providing quality...which is why EA will probably never make this list. Anyway, these were the five best developers of this year.



#5): Bioware

Bioware didn't have a major release this year, but they did release quite a bit of content for Dragon Age: Inquisition this year, and lets be honest. Dragon Age DLC has never been very good. However, this year, Bioware came out and released not only the best Dragon Age DLC, but also some of the best Bioware DLC.



#4): Hideo Kojima

People go crazy over Hideo Kojima, the man behind the Metal Gear series. MGSV was my first foray into the world of Metal Gear, so I'm a little late to the party, but I still enjoyed it. What really puts Kojima on this list, though, is his perseverance in the face of the conflicts that he and Konami were having. Granted, that perseverance caused the second half of his game to be total crap, but it was still a nice thought.



#3): Toby Fox

I don't believe that Toby Fox has made any games other than Undertale, but that doesn't matter. This year, Toby Fox gave us one of the most creative, touching games of all time, and that is worth a high up spot on a list such as this.



#2): Telltale Games

Telltale has kind of bitten off quite a bit. They have so many projects going on now that it is hard to imagine that they can do them all justice. This statement is especially true after the disappointment that was Wolf Among Us and after the relatively lesser second season of the Walking Dead. This year, however, Telltale brought their A-game with Game of Thrones and the exceptional Tales from the Borderlands. This has without a doubt been the best year for Telltale since 2012.

Developer of the Year: CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red is the company that brought up The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. With every copy, they included a game manual, a set of stickers, a physical copy of the soundtrack, a map of the world, and free access to 16 different kinds of DLC that will be released in the future. These benefits were not given to specific pre-order packages, they were given to anyone who purchased the game. In an age of dumb DLC and content being cut from games to be sold as DLC, CD Projekt Red's "player first" attitude is definitely deserving of the Developer of the Year award.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Most Creative
In a day and age where every game has to have a rebounding health meter and a cover mechanic, games that are creative are pretty rare. Thankfully, there were a number of really creative titles this year, so these five games were the games that were the most creative.



#5): Dr. Langeskov, the Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: a Whirlwind Heist

While this game was pretty lame, it was an interesting, new kind of idea. Basically, the game places you behind the scenes of a video game. You run from room to room triggering the effects that happen in an offscreen video game.



#4): Home is where one starts

A tiny indie game that was free to play on steam, Home is where one starts is a powerful game about simplicity and childhood. It is basically just a walking simulator, but it is a walking simulator that puts you in the shoes of a little girl who is a victim of child abuse. There are not a lot of games out there that dare to touch this kind of subject.



#3): Emily is Away

Emily is Away takes form in an AOL chat window between two friends: you (a guy) and Emily (your crush). The entire game is just a series of dialogue choices as conversations happen between you and Emily through your college careers. It is a game that reminds those of us with social anxiety why we have it, and it is truly one of a kind.



#2): The Beginner's Guide

From the writer of the Stanley Parable, the Beginner's Guide is an extended character development. The creator of the game tells us about a friend of his who made a lot of games, and he then tells us that he has put together a compilations of the friend's games as a way to try to get him to make games again. From there, we go through and play a bunch of supremely artsy games, and all the while, the characters of both the developer and the friend are developed without anything but showing.

Most Creative Game of the Year: Undertale

Undertale takes the idea of the JRPG and makes it its own. Developer Toby Fox places us in an adventure where the goal is to not kill anything and to make friends with everybody, and the real challenge of the game lies in keeping from being killed and in finding ways to satisfy your enemies without violence. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Honorable Mention
Every year, there are games that are deserving of certain awards, but there won't be enough games out that year to make a full list. These are the honorable mention games. These are the games that deserved some kind of shout out based on good or bad aspects. As I did last year, I'd like to give a shoutout to my brother and his photoshop skills for making the custom medals that I give these games.



Home is where one starts

The Spec Ops: The Line award for most important game goes to Home is where one starts. This award is given to games that try to send a particular, important message. Last year, this award went to Depression Quest, and this year, it goes to this game. The game is essentially about a little girl with an alcoholic father. She misses the bus one day, and instead of going to school, she finds a way to break into the shed and ride her bike around for a while. That doesn't sound like much of a game, perhaps, but it is still a powerful statement. What is the statement, you might ask? Well, let me tell you. I worked at my local children's shelter for a few months and had been volunteering there for years beforehand. A stigma that people tend to have about children who have been abused is that they are nothing but attitude or sadness. People tend not to realize that, even when a child has gone through hell, they are capable of emotions out of that range. This game makes a statement about that. This little girl leads a sad life, but in things as small as riding her bike, she is able to find happiness.



Just Cause 3

The Gears of War award for most raw fun goes to Just Cause 3. This award is given to games that are the most fun to play, not necessarily the most well put together gameplay. Just Cause 3 is just a big dumb masculine action game where the entire objective is to liberate an island nation by blowing up everything. It is absolutely stupid fun, and that is what earns it this award.



Cait (Fallout 4)

The Samus Aran award for strongest female character goes to Cait, the Irish fighter from Fallout 4. Remember in the love interests section when I said that one character prevented Chloe (Life is Strange) from receiving this award? Cait is that character. Let me say this right here: Todd Howard, the man behind Fallout 4, is not good at making characters. He never has been, but Fallout 4 was a particularly high point. Throughout his career, he has been especially bad at writing women. There is a kind of character that I refer to as "the Todd Howard woman". The Todd Howard woman is a woman who is always angry, is totally cocky, and has no character because the developer thinks thats the only way to write strong women. Cait started off as a Todd Howard woman, but as you grow closer to her, she shows that she has had a horrible past and that the fact that she has grown closer to you at all is a sign of trust. Delve further into your friendship, and eventually, she opens up to you and asks you to help her kick her drug habit. That, my friends, is what we call a "character arc," and the fact that Cait is human enough a character to have an arc like that is befitting of this award.



Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

The Fable 3 award for franchise destroying game, the Borderlands award for most yawn-inducing game, and the Brink award for Worst Game goes to Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Whoa boy, that is a triple-whammy, but it is a well-deserving triple-whammy. Assassin's Creed is dead. Syndicate proved as much. At this point, Ubisoft is just wasting our time. They keep on making the exact same mistakes over and over again, and they never learn. They peaked with Black Flag and then took away everything that made it great, and since then, they've taken away what made Assassin's Creed as a whole great. Syndicate is absolutely dreadful, and Ubisoft should be ashamed of itself for this pandering, cliche, boring excuse for a game. It actually feels pointed, insulting. It is as if Ubisoft has heard complaints from fans and decided to show contempt for them. Meetings with historical figures are now the equivalent of the "Picaso? He's not going anywhere" joke from Titanic. It is all a bunch of pandering, forced mess. And in terms of characters, even Unity had at least two engaging characters. Syndicate has none. The protagonists feel exactly like the opening of Dragon Age II, where Varric is lying. "Shall I handle them, brother?" "Leave this to me!" Gameplay, while definitely a new direction, is just mindless button mashing. The story is a bunch of cliche nonsense that contradicts Assassin's Creed's own lore! Exploration is discouraged by large leaps in recommended levels, and even when you are good enough to survive, you don't want to because this rendering of Victorian London is ugly and boring as hell! Not only that, but the rope gun or whatever its called that people have been blabbering on about? Its junk. It is inconsistent, inefficient, boring to use, and its very existence is just insulting. What does it say about a company when they make a game centered around climbing things and then give you a way to just jump up to the top? It says that they are out of ideas and that they have contempt for their audience. The darned thing doesn't work at any kind of consistent rate! You aim for a surface just a few feet taller than you and you can't use it. You aim for a surface much taller than you, and you can sometimes use it. Aim for a surface much lower than you, and you can sometimes use it. Aim for the top of a building, and boy, you'd better be standing at the exact right spot. Nothing about this condescending contraption works! Enemies are exactly the kind of cliche british folks that you expect to see: a bunch of cockney people with tophats and fingerless gloves. Not only that, but the only enemy variety to be found is that some enemies are gigantic, muscular, bald men. This just serves to prove my point that Assassin's Creed: Syndicate doesn't have an original bone in its body. Seriously, Ubisoft, how insulting can you be?! Every. Single. Unoriginal game nowadays has an enemy type who is an inhumanely muscular bald man! In the end, Assassin's Creed Syndicate earned three negative Honorable Mentions, which means that I hated it more than Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Ubisoft! Just. Stop. It. You're done. You've placed the last nail in the coffin. This game has killed Assassin's Creed, but you just won't let it go! How long does it have to suffer before you take it out behind the barn and shoot it? Regardless, I will most likely never purchase another Assassin's Creed after this unless Ubisoft really, really delivers in the next one.



Life is Strange

The Kingdoms of Amalur award for worst writing goes to Life is Strange, and it is really a shame, because the game itself is quite good. The storytelling is pretty unique and makes use of its supernatural elements conservatively. However, the writing is just dreadful. Like, I'm actually going to be renaming this award "the Life is Strange award for worst writing" after this year, because the writing in this game is worse than in Kingdoms of Amalur. It is as if somebody briefly scanned Tumblr and used it as a reference to write dialogue for teenagers. It is just dreadful. It is just awful. It actually destroys a lot of the narrative tension because of how laughable it is. Don't get me wrong, the game itself, as I said, is quite good. But don't be surprised if you play it and find yourself laughing at the dreadful dialogue.

Dragon Age Inquisition: The Descent

The Shivering Isles award for best DLC goes to Dragon Age: Inquisition's DLC, "The Descent". This DLC has the Inquisitor traversing the deep roads like the gray warden in the original Dragon Age. The sense of claustrophobia and the sense of being surrounded make it feel as if you are playing the original again.

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 5 Disappointments
As long as there are good games, there will also be disappointments. Thankfully, 2015 was NOT a 2014 kind of year. There were not a whole lot of disappointments, but there were a few. So, these are the games or game aspects that were the most disappointing in 2015.



#5): Until Dawn's Psycho Twist

Until Dawn had quite a bit of narrative tension for up until the last quarter. Then, they pulled a plot twist that not only ruined all the tension of the moment, but also all of the tension for any play throughs afterwards.



#4): Bloodborne

Many people loved Bloodborne, but I was not one of them. Made by the same folks responsible for the Dark Souls saga, Bloodborne had none of the intrigue of the Souls games. It took out all semblance of strategy and timing and replaced it with absolutely juvenile hack and slash, jumping around anime fighting. Wonky camera angles and a lack of compelling lore also helped to make this a forgettable experience.



#3): The Batmobile

Let me put it this way: There were times in Batman: Arkham Knight when I sighed and said, "well, I guess I have to use the stupid Batmobile again". Think about that for a moment.



#2): The Ending of Fallout 4

Todd Howard spent time building up to the finale. He threw plot twists our way to ensure that the stakes were extra high for the final showdown. And then he deflated the balloon in the last moments. Any kind of emotional trauma that we might have expected to feel, given the circumstances, was nowhere to be found.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: The second half of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

I don't care how bad the disputes between Kojima and Konami were. There is no excuse for something as lazy as the second half of MGSV. None at all, and lazy is the last word I would use to describe the rest of the game! Basically, after a big boss battle, you enter the second half, and the only missions you get to progress the story are replays of previous missions with extra difficulty. It makes no sense, it adds nothing to the experience, and it was just plain lazy. Some of the story that happened in the second half was incredibly powerful, but outside of cutscenes, there really is no progression to be found in chapter 2. I legitimately felt let down by it, and it ensured that I wouldn't actually finish the game. To put it simply, the second half of MGSV was so bad that it knocked the game down a few spaces on the game of the year list. 

---------------------                                                           --------------------
Top 15 Games
At last, we come to the final step. You read that title right. There are fifteen games on this list this year, because it was just that good of a year. I spent a great deal of time consolidating my thoughts on this, making sure that the positions were accurate in my eyes. 2015 was an absolutely fantastic year, and these fifteen games were the best of the best.



#15): Five Nights at Freddy's 4

Yeah, kind of a cliche choice, considering that Five Nights at Freddy's has become something of an Assassin's Creed kind of series. However, the fourth installment was inarguably different from its predecessors, and it was, in many ways, scarier. In addition, it also added more touching, emotional story than any of the other games, so it is the first game on this list.



#14): Dragon Age: Inquisition: Trespasser DLC

While the Descent DLC was better, Trespasser deserves this spot because of what it is. Trespasser picks up where the plot twist at the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition (Right Trigger Game of the Year 2014) left off. It is now two years after the events of Inquisition, and Ferelden and Orlais are struggling to have the Inquisition regulated out of fear of its power. However, in the midst of the talks, a Qunari plot to take over Thedas unearths, and a being from elven legend appears as the villain for the next game in the series...yeah, I know its kind of lame to have a DLC take a spot on this list, but I needed one more item.



#13): The Beginner's Guide

The Beginner's Guide, if you remember from the most creative list, was a game with a brand new kind of premise. In The Beginner's Guide, we see character development done in a way that we have never seen before. The fact that the creator was able to develop a character through just the games that this character supposedly made is fascinating.



#12): Life is Strange

Life is Strange is a little bit hard to judge. As you saw in the lamest characters list and the honorable mentions, Life is Strange had some of the most laughably bad characters and had the worst writing of any english-language game in history. And yet, even with all of that, I couldn't help but feel absolutely engrossed by the story and the narrative world. I felt the stakes every time they were presented to me. I felt for the characters even though they weren't particularly well-made. Let me tell you, Life is Strange is a flawed experience, but the fact that I enjoyed it so much despite all of my gripes defies comprehension, and that alone makes it worthy to be on this list.



#11): Until Dawn

My expectations for Until Dawn weren't incredibly high. I picked it up because I had heard good things about it, but I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. Until Dawn manages to take the idea of the awful 90's slasher movie about teenagers in a cabin and run with it. All the cliches are there, but there is also some real complexity to the characters, and the voice acting is of stellar quality as well. Until Dawn subscribes to the David Cage method of gaming. This means that gameplay is a series of quicktime events, and the true point of the game is the storytelling. Until Dawn tells a surprisingly good story given its horror movie context, and it was really just a positive surprise all around.



#10): Game of Thrones

Telltale Games signed off 2014 (yes, 2014) with the first episode of what would prove to be another great Telltale series, Game of Thrones. If you recall, several aspects of that first episode won awards in my lists last year. Well, throughout this year, Telltale games has put out a number of equally good episodes. As we've come to expect from Telltale, Game of Thrones offered us a series of memorable characters and an absolutely gripping story. Were it not for the fact that every episode carried on for a little too long and that the game didn't run very well, it would undoubtably be higher up on this list.



#9): Batman: Arkham Knight

I'm not a pc gamer. I'm always thankful for that, because who wants to play a game with the possibility of other things (such as updates) popping up? It always amazes me that people who are the most fervently pro-pc gaming also tend to be the most fervently anti-capitalist, considering that the very essence of what gives them their false sense of superiority is this idea of a better pc gets you a better playing experience. But I digress. I was never more thankful to not be a pc gamer than at the release of Batman: Arkham Knight. Everyone has heard about how horrible the pc launch for it was, but since I played on the ps4, I was perfectly fine. Batman: Arkham Knight has the tried and true Batman gameplay formula that we've come to love at this point, the story was, while your typical superhero story, passable. Basically, it was another Batman: Arkham game, which is a good thing. However, the addition of a vastly over-utilized Batmobile and a predictable plot twist keep it from being higher on this list.


#8): Tales from the Borderlands

Borderlands is a boring series. Borderlands 2 was quite good, but the lore and the setting are just yawn-inducing. That being said, it is absolutely amazing to me that Telltale Games managed to take this exceedingly boring universe and turn it into one of the best games of this year, and indeed, their best game since the Walking Dead. The gameplay runs more smoothly and is more action-packed than in previous Telltale games. The story, while not the touching kind of story, was engrossing and was littered with a slew of memorable characters.


#7): Just Cause 3

Now, I can't stand people who skip cutscenes and don't care about story in games. Are they wrong when they say that games are supposed to be fun? No. Games are supposed to be about the gameplay. But the people who make that kind of argument are usually the same people who play on the football team, drink mountain dew, smile out of the corner of their mouths, wear hats that pop up at the edge, and hang around parties to hit on drunk girls, so it drives me absolutely nuts. Be that as it may, it is a true statement: games are about gameplay. It is my opinion that if a game is going to subscribe to this and not have a good story, then the gameplay needs to be exceptional. This is true of Just Cause 3. Just Cause 3 is the kind of game that you play at the end of a long day when you need to therapeutically blow a bunch of things up, and it is absolutely glamorous. Just Cause 3 is in this spot because it is just an amazing time, it is as simple as that.


#6): Fallout 4

Fallout 4 was a shadow of what it could have been, and even though it was very good, it is the worst game that Todd Howard has ever developed, which is a pretty depressing thought. The fact of the matter, though, is that it is a fantastic time despite its many flaws. Gameplay, while severely lacking in traditional rpg elements, still managed to be enjoyable (if a little frustrating at times). Story was at an all time high for Todd Howard, despite having an absolute deflated balloon ending. The characters in Fallout 4, however, were absolutely Howard's peak and indeed were the aspect of this game that put it so high on this list.


#5): Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture comes from the studio responsible for Dear Esther, the founding walking simulator game. It places us in a small english village in the wake of a supernatural phenomenon and has us explore the village and live the final memories of the townsfolk. The gameplay is essentially just walking around, but it is a masterpiece of exploration. The characters are believable, the story is fascinating, and the aesthetic is just beautiful. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, despite the slow walking speed, is exactly what a walking simulator should be: something that beckons you to look in every nook and cranny.


#4): Soma

Because of a fatal error, I haven't been able to finish Soma myself (because there are millions of errors that can happen on pc for every error that can occur on a console. Boooy is pc gaming superior). I decided that this wasn't going to stop me from experiencing the game one way or another, so, as lame as it is, I watched a play through of it. Even though I didn't get to experience the entirety of the game for myself, let me tell you, it is quite a game. There are very few games that can discuss themes of what makes us human and what constitutes true life so deeply while not going off on too much of a tangent. That alone makes Soma worthy of this list, but what puts it so high up on this list is how well it executes every else alongside it. Truly, Frictional Games, the masters of horror behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent, have done it again. While Soma is not a very scary game, it nails the kind of atmosphere that Frictional is known for perfectly. The gameplay is tense, and it is where most of the atmosphere comes from. The story is morally complex and intriguing, and the characters are well-developed even with only one or two models for people. If you are looking for an engrossing experience that will cause you to think of philosophy for days on end, then Soma is the game for you. I can guarantee that if I had been able to experience Soma in its entirety for myself, then it would be even higher up on this list than it already is.


#3): Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Were it not for the absolutely horrendous second act of this game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain would be the second best, or perhaps even the best game of this year. Be that as it may, the rest of the game is phenomenal. Hideo Kojima has taken my favorite genre of game, stealth action, and taken it to new heights. Your rewards for making it through missions entirely unseen and without killing anyone are much greater than they are if you are detected or kill enemies. However, you are never punished for messing up. Rather, the game encourages you to adapt to your situations. If you're caught, then you have to deal with it however you can. The story is, for the most part, average. However, there are a few moments that are absolutely tearjerking, and those moments make this relatively average story stand out.



#2): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

For the longest time, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was going to be my game of the year. It is the absolute height of production values and passion, a match made in heaven. The world of Wild Hunt is huge and beautiful and filled to the brim with stuff to do. The gameplay is a flawless combination of tactics and hack and slash. The story is emotional and alternates between gritty mature content and lighthearted, fun content. The characters are memorable and varied and complex. From the moment you turn Wild Hunt on, you belong to it for however long you decide to play.

Game of the Year: Undertale

Undertale was hands down the best game of this year for me. Let's review, shall we? Undertale had the most engaging gameplay of this year. Undertale had the most touching story of this year. Undertale had the most creative premise of any game this year. Undertale had some of the most compelling characters of any game this year. Undertale also had less funding than any popular game this year. You name it, and Undertale has managed to do it better than anybody else. It doesn't hurt that my expectations for Undertale were pretty low. I looked at the screenshots and thought, "oh boy, its another stupid JRPG clone that only Reddit worshippers and despicable neckbeards play." Be warned, Reddit worshippers and despicable neckbeards. You don't get to sit in your caves of self-righteousness and pretend to be gamers anymore. Undertale is handing you your eviction notice, and you don't have enough money to pay because you bought a $50,000 gaming pc just so you could play pixelated indie sidescrollers. Undertale has destroyed your world by making the kind of thing you like actually good. Taking a moment to stop talking about the scum of the gaming earth, though, Undertale has done what no game has done in a long time: It has made the jrpg formula fresh and good again. Is it the largest game? No. Is it the longest game? No. But that is just it: It doesn't need to be any bigger or more expansive than it is. Not only does Undertale do everything it does flawlessly, but it also does not overstep its bounds. It does what it needs to do to be brilliant and nothing more. It is absolutely flawless in that regard. Undertale will make you laugh your lungs out, it will make your eyes red and puffy, it will make you smile and go "aww".  It is one of the few games I've played with an ending that I consider perfect, and it is the only game out of those few with an ending so wonderful that it brought me to tears. I have played many, many gigantic, explosive, emotional games this year. In fact, such games make up most of this list. And yet, despite the amazing production values and big money behind the other games on this list, Undertale was the one that stuck with me the longest. Why? Because everything that it does, it does better than most triple-A titles do. Every year I have felt that the game I awarded Game of the Year deserved it, but never before have I felt that a title deserves the distinction of Game of the Year more than Undertale.





---------------------                                                           --------------------
And with that, friends, this year's best lists come to an end. 2015 was a fantastic year, especially after a year as disappointing as 2014. With any luck, 2016 will have many more phenomenal releases for us. If you disagreed with me on any of these points or have top lists of your own, then by all means, share them with me! Reading game of the year lists is legitimately the highlight of my year every year.
Thank you so much for reading!