GOTY 2015: 04-01
The final few of my 2015 Game of the Year list. I’ll compile these into one big post later on but for now, here’s 4 to 1:
04) Life Is Strange
I have nothing but respect for DONTNOD. Their take on futuristic Paris in Remember Me was incredible. I thought the game was the perfect 7/10 and I would have loved a sequel but they moved onto other projects instead.
I’m also a huge fan of Adventure games, even though I haven’t played nearly enough of them in recent years. Adventure games are becoming much broader in what defines them, for example you have the classic style of adventure game: Broken Age, Monkey Island etc, then there’s the narrative driven Telltale style that relies heavily on character interaction, conversations and decisions. Life is Strange feels like a culmination of both styles.
I’ve played a few episodic games over the years, but mostly in a few sittings once the series is over. Life is Strange is the first series I played upon release of each episode making the wait till the next one rather excruciating. Cliff hangers galore and questions you just NEEDED answers too but weren't going to get them until the end were just some of the thing to get me hooked.
Reading Max’s journal and her notes on everything (and everyone) was an effective way to build the character and allowed her to express her feeling on what was happening each day. References to things like Dr Who and Scott Pilgrim were great little touches of teen culture too.
Puzzles mostly consist of Max using her time powers to manipulate objects and characters, they’re clever and never leave you feel like you’re doing the wrong thing since you can just rewind and try again. I can’t wait for season 2, which has already been confirmed and I hope it doesn't use the same characters as I feel that story has been told and closure has been given, but if we do return to Arcadia bay, I’ll be interested in seeing how the world has change.
03) Xenoblade Chronicles X
I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t finished Xenoblade Chronicles, I’ve started it about 3 or 4 times but I always get so far and end up stopping. The same issue has befallen it’s spiritual successor, Xenoblade Chronicles X. The difference with X is that I am definitely going to get back to it and I can’t wait too either.
X is the second game that I hadn't finished before putting it on my list, like Just Cause 3, I knew after a few hours that this was going to be on it, and after a few (dozen) more hours I knew it was going to be high up. I’ve realised that the more times a game makes me shout “OOOH THIS GAME!” the higher it’ll get on my top 10 and Xenoblade did it a whole bunch.
From spending hours in the vase open world to driving around (and over enemies) in your Skell (basically a Gundam) there’s no shortage of “stuff” to do in this game. It’s gigantic and I don’t just mean in length or content but the world is beyond anything I’ve experienced in a game before. I’m not surprised they give you a car, even if it takes 30 hours to get it (Although unlimited sprint helped for that time).
Combat is similar to it’s predecessor using auto attacks and special moves called Arts that are on a cool down much like any MMO abilities. Guns were introduced this time which makes the choice of long range or up close fights a bit more important. I also really like games that let you level up certain classes and X does it with over a dozen classes, letting you switch at any time.
Freedom and scope are 2 words that describe the world perfectly... but just because you can don’t walk up to the level 90 beast by the lake right after you leave the city, you will get destroyed in one hit.
Very few games have allowed me to listen to their soundtracks and have an emotional reaction to them, but every overworld theme, day and night, has been spectacular and because I’m wandering around those same areas for hours upon hours, makes me think of all the things that I’ve done and found there. It’s really something you need to experience for yourself.
It’s worth owning a Wii U for, It’s probably my favourite game on the system and I’d recommend it to anyone. It might not be FOR everyone, but I’m still having an incredible time so if we have the same interests do yourself a favour and jump in.
02) Ori and the Blind Forest
It was tough choosing my numbers 2 and 3 slots but ultimately decided on Ori and the Blind Forest having the slight step up.
From what I knew about Ori going in was that it was a real pretty looking side scrolling platformer with some Metroidvania elements to it. I wasn't wrong, but it’s so much more than that. The abilities you obtain are so, incredibly necessary for exploration it makes you feel great whilst doing rather complex looking manoeuvres.
People have said it’s Super Meat Boy level’s of hard, but I feel like that’s an exaggeration. There are challenging parts, sure, but the level of precision you have with Ori as you run up walls, jump over pits and use enemy projectiles to boost you places all feels pretty natural after a short while.
Apart from the great gameplay and beautiful soundtrack playing over each of the areas, the visuals kept me engaged with the world and kept leaving me with constant awe at what I was seeing. If you aren't interested in playing if because of how it plays, then at least try it to see some of the vistas is has in store.
01) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Of course it’s The Witcher 3. Anyone who follows me on Twitter might have noticed how much I enjoyed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt when I was playing through it a few months back. Not to mention I straight up said that the game was one of my favourite games of all time at one point too.
I’ll try and keep this brief and to the point. I started reading the books for The Witcher series, as well as try to play the first 2 games... I promptly gave up on the games because Wild Hunt came out and I didn’t really want to wait any longer. It didn't matter too much because most choices were made for me (On PS4) and I had some understanding of characters, areas and some lore.
Much like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, I started playing the game after a few patches and fixes were implemented so I didn’t have any of the day one issues most people complained about.
It took me a while to warm up to how combat worked with the whole preparation aspect of things, but once I “got it” I really enjoyed how being prepared and knowing a monsters weakness can help give you the upper hand in battle. Knowing which sword to use, which toxin to put on the sword or which spell to cast all impacted how the fight will turn out. I had no issue with combat, although I set it to the easiest difficulty so I can experience the story without any stress, I’m glad I did even though some monsters were still tough.
The Witcher 3 looks and sounds incredible despite the worlds scope. There’s a level of detail that you don’t expect to see in an open world of this magnitude. The detail in the characters and side quests also stands out as one of the games strengths. There are optional quests that have more detail to them than in most video game stories making you understand characters that would normally have just been generic NPC in most games.
From exploring the huge open world areas to visiting a few large cities dotted around, there’s no lack of activities to take part in. Whether it’s monster hunting or taking part in a Gwent tournament. That’s right, you can play a collectable card game and try to be the very best at it in a tournament held at the games capital city. The first expansion even came with 2 physical Gwent decks:
(I can only hope that the second expansion comes with the other 2).
I’m serious when I say The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt became one of my favourite games ever, in fact I think it’s one of the best games ever made. Disagree all you want I found it hard to stop playing once I started, it had the same effect that Oblivion had on me back in 2006.
I’m looking forward to the next DLC and I’ll be sure to play last years expansion soon too, but I’m happy the developers are done with it because I’m ready to hear more about Cyberpunk 2077 now.
I can’t say enough positive things about The Witcher 3 but I’ll have to stop there before making this any longer. Thanks for taking the time to read all this, 2015 was a great year for video games and 2016 is shaping up to be even more insane. I’ve got some things planned for 2016 and will try to get those up before anything happens making them irrelevant.