Nic Rowen picks the best of 2015

I mean, you’ve seen the rest

It’s like the middle of January and you’ve read about five thousand GOTY lists at this point, so let’s get to brass tacks. There were some great games released last year, but which ones were the best?

I have no idea.

Sorry, there are no mathematical formulas or alchemical recipes to definitively tell us what the best game of the year was (even though I think our site’s democratically elected GOTY is a pretty strong contender). I can tell you what I personally enjoyed this most this year though. So here are what I consider the best parts of 2015.

Best game of the year: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is one of my favorite games of all time. As I’ve shared before, I’ve replayed it at least ten times over the years. I didn’t keep coming back to it just because it was fun, I kept coming back to it because it was surprising. Every time I played through it I’d find something new.

I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of The Phantom Pain‘s surprises.

Forget replaying the entire game, every time I replay one of  The Phantom Pain‘s missions I find something new. Every other week someone posts a YouTube video of some outrageous tactic or bizarre mechanic I never even considered before. The other day, I found a new cassette tape despite having plunged more than 70 hours into the game already. Let that sink in, I’ve played this game for 70 hours and I haven’t even uncovered all the easy to find stuff yet.

Of course, it’s also an amazing game to play. The Phantom Pain is a total leap for the series, a massively needed redesign of Tactical Espionage Action that finally, FINALLY, makes you feel like the super-spy Snake was always trumped up to be. Instead of the hurky-jerk movement of previous entries that saw Snake frequently kneeling in front of a a two-foot high obstacle and then somehow accidentally dropping a flashbang at his feet while searching for the right button, this Snake moves just like how you’d expect of the world’s greatest soldier. He effortlessly hurdles barriers, dives into cover, slides down hills, and climbs sheer walls, and you never find yourself reaching for the manual. Combat is fast, fluid, and accurate, the enemies smart and responsive. A never ending supply of gadgets, gear, partners, and chopper support options provide an answer to almost any situation you could get yourself into.

The Phantom Pain is one hell of a game. Despite Konami doing everything it can to ruin the game post-release, it still remains the best time I had playing video games this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up coming back to The Phantom Pain just as much as I did with Snake Eater.

Best spoooooky: Bloodborne

Dark Souls is still my favorite From Software game to date, but Bloodborne certainly gave it a run for its money. While some elements of Bloodborne‘s design disappointed me (the PvP never felt as well developed and I would have loved a few more sets of clothing and armor to choose from), I was absolutely enamored with the Victorian Gothic look of the world. Yharnam is a scary place, and the population of werewolves, fallen priests, and creepy eye monsters never let me drop my guard for a second. 

Best budget anatomy lesson: Mortal Kombat X

I like to learn. I’ve always considered myself an eternal student, but have you seen the cost of post-secondary education these days? One can’t afford to just take up a medical class as a hobby anymore! Which is why I was so delighted to see how detailed and painstakingly rendered the bloody viscera of Mortal Kombat X was. If anyone ever needs an emergency whole body bisection via a razor-bladed hat, I’m the man to call.

I feel like MKX didn’t make a lot of GOTY lists, and that’s a shame. For my money, it’s the best Mortal Kombat game ever made. Sure, it has balance issues and the PC launch was an absolute travesty, but the core gameplay is best the series has ever offered — fast, brutal, and mean, the way Mortal Kombat should be. The variation system that gives each character three distinct fighting styles with different strengths and weaknesses is something I’d love to see more fighting games adopt.

Best interior design options: Fallout 4: Happy Home Designer

I have no idea why I put so much time into the settlement system of Fallout 4, but I did and I loved it. Fallout 4 is a magnificent game (even if it is lacking the role-playing options of New Vegas and the quests work a little too hard to funnel you down certain paths) with an amazing sense of exploration and surprisingly fun gun-play. But it turns out if you put a half-baked doll-house simulator in a game, I’ll focus on it nearly exclusively to the abandonment of all else. Maybe I should just start playing The Sims and get it over with.

Best descent into nihilism: Nuclear Throne

Something about this game brings out the worst in me. It’s my “2:00am, I should go to bed but I’ve been drinking and feeling sad, so why not do another run (or twenty)” game. A blitzkrieg of furious action and pointless violence that I’m more than happy to wallow in at the end of a long frustrating day. If Fallout 4 was my chipper little game about optimism and rebuilding life after a disaster, Nuclear Throne was its dark shadow, a celebration of defeat and chaos.

Best dinosaurs: ARK: Survival Evolved

Yeah, this is technically a Steam Early Access game, but who cares? It has dinosaurs! Who would have thought watching a mutant caveman getting devoured by a Carnotaurus could be so much fun (even when you are the mutant caveman in question)? I didn’t play tons and tons of ARK, but my time wandering around the jungle jabbing my pointy little stick at anything that moved left an impression. I still think of heading back into the wilds every now and then.

Best “I should play more of this”: Galak-Z: The Dimensional

I love everything about Galak-Z; the way the ship moves, the rogue-lite structure of the missions and power-ups, the retro ’80s anime aesthetic, it’s all great. I just haven’t played a ton of it. I got into the second season of the game (when you get the big robot), died, and never quite got back to it. It isn’t that I haven’t wanted to, it just seems to keep getting buried under something more pressing (or convenient) to play. I have a feeling if I played a little more, Galak-Z could end up being my next Binding of Isaac.

Best argument to buy a Wii U: Super Mario Maker

Why the fuck didn’t I buy a Wii U!? I’m such a moron. Can I borrow yours? C’mon, just for a week or two? I’ve been watching all these videos and I have an idea for a level that uses P-switches in a really fucked up way and I’m just dying to try it and…

Best way to find out your friends are total monsters: Jack Box Party Pack 2

Everything is all fun and games until someone makes a punchline out of Boko Haram.

Best use of fingers: Fingered

The stubby digit of justice.