Here's What I Missed: My 2015 Backlog
It almost feels like the list of games I missed in 2015 is just as strong as the list of my favorite games of the year. I played a lot, but I also missed a lot. I think that this was the year that the PS4 and Xbox One needed; we finally have games to play. In my case, there were simply too many games to play. There’s a good chance that a lot of these games could have topped my game of the year list, and most of these games I will likely play sometime in 2016. Here’s my 2015 backlog:
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Yes, I missed Metal Gear Solid V. I know, I’m sorry. This is probably the biggest title on the list so I feel like it’s a great place to start.
I’ll preface this with something even more surprising: I’ve never played a Metal Gear game. Ever. Weird, I know. Growing up I was into games a little more than most, but they definitely didn’t consume my life like they do now. I just never got around to playing a single game in the Metal Gear series. When I was younger my taste in gaming was curated mostly by my brother’s choices, because he was older and chose what games we would get. So, it’s my brother that had poor taste, not me. Yeah, that’s how I’m going to spin this!
At this point, going back and playing the previous Metal Gear games is something that is probably not going to happen for me. But, I do want to play MGS V. I’ll watch a YouTube video to catch myself up on the story, and I will eventually dive into what was for many people the best game of 2015.
Hey, Crystal Dynamics, did anyone in your marketing department fill you in on the fact that you released your game the same day as Fallout 4? Because you totally released your game the same day as Fallout 4.
This is probably the first game in my 2015 backlog that I’ll get to. I have it sitting on my shelf, still in the shrink wrap. I’m hoping to bust this one open and resume my life as Lara Croft in the coming days/weeks. I really loved the first Tomb Raider game since the Crystal Dynamic reboot, and I know I’m going to love this. Rise of The Tomb Raider has gotten nothing but praise and I’m excited to get this one started.
Dying Light was one of the first big titles to come out in 2015 and it surprised a lot of people. I’m not sure what else I was playing, but I never got around to this one.
I’ve never played any of Techland’s games but I know their Dead Island franchise was polarizing in its reception. People loved it, people hated it. Personally, I’ve achieved what I like to call zombie fatigue, so the Dead Island games were never something that interested me. With Dying Light I thought, really? Techland is making another zombie game? I think most people shared that sentiment, actually. Until they played the game that is. Dying Light’s open world free running zombie adventure looks like a blast, and I can’t wait to pick this one up on the cheap and jump in.
As I’m writing this I’m noticing a theme. I didn’t play the developer’s previous games, so I wasn’t super excited about their new game. Bloodborne falls into that exact category. The Souls games developed by FromSoftware have never seen a minute of playtime by me, but Bloodborne might be the exception.
Bloodborne is a lot of people’s game of the year, and is seen as a candidate for PlayStation 4’s best exclusive title to date. It looks absolutely gorgeous from everything I’ve seen. I love the Gothic/Victorian art style. It almost looks like a 3D Castelvania game. I’ll source Kinda Funny’s Colin Moriarty with that comparison, because he’s dead on.
Bloodborne looks great and I feel like I really have to play it, so I’m hoping I get around to this one.
Man, Mad Max just looks like a blast. I’d say I missed this one because I was entrenched in Metal Gear Solid V, but, uhh.. Yeah, I have no excuse.
I can tell that Mad Max is going to fill a gap for me when I’m looking for something to play in 2016. It’s a bazaar fast paced open world sandbox game. It looks chaotic and unique, I know I’m going to crave something like this throughout the year. Actually, maybe I should watch the movie first… Man, I sucked at keeping up with pop culture in 2015.
Here’s another one I already own. I picked up Ori and the Blind Forest last week for $10 during Xbox’s Holiday sale.
Ori is a game that has had my attention ever since I saw it at E3 2014. It looks beautiful and I’m a huge fan of platformers. This game reminds me a lot of the newer Rayman games, and I’ve been dying for another one since I finished up Rayman Legends. The art style is gorgeous, and I can’t wait to launch this one on my Xbox.
Have you seen what you can do in Just Cause 3? I think I want this game just so I can attach a cow to a windmill with a grappling hook. Thanks for the idea, random person on Reddit.
Just Cause 3 is another game that I’ll probably pick up when I can find it on sale and I’m feeling in the mood for an open world sandbox game. I’ve watched a lot of content on this game, and I’m hoping it will be as fun to play as it has been to watch.
This is one that I debated whether or not I’d be putting on my backlog list. But, every time I scroll through my Xbox dashboard and see an ad for this game, I’m intrigued. I like narrative driven games. I loved Gone Home, Emily is Away, etc. I’m really glad that we’re seeing narrative games like this get a lot of love, and I feel like Life is Strange is a game that is adding to that movement. I haven’t really read many reviews or seen much from this game, so I’m excited to eventually head into this one blindly and see what kind of story Dontdon Entertainment can tell me.
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I’ve missed a lot of important games in 2015. Of course this list is incomplete, and reflects the games that I feel I really want to go back to. I think the fact that list is so large and has so many awesome games on it really speaks to the number of quality games released this year. 2015 was a great year for games, I’m excited to get back to a lot of these titles. I’ll be posting the top 10 games I DID play shortly, so stay tuned for that!
What does your 2015 backlog look like?
 Here’s What I Missed: My 2015 Backlog was originally published on Late Nite Arcade
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