Games of the Year 2015

Staff GOTY Lists

Dean

2015 definitely was one of the more diverse gaming years in awhile, which not only brought us some major followups to long running franchises, but also some newcomers that managed to stand out from the pack.

This extended to the announcements we got this year, donned by some as the Year of Dreams, with pipedream announcements like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Shenmue 3 being announced. However, this does not overshadow the actual 2015 releases, as they more than held their own with superb releases all through the year on basically every platform.

The sheer number of quality release after quality release even made it hard to play all the big games. As a result, I haven’t got the chance yet to play some big titles like Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, as well as only completing part of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to where I don’t know how to rank it yet. Regardless, the games I did get to play were mostly fantastic. PC will also be excluded from this list though due to not having a gaming PC, but each of the other platforms will be taken in account.

Taking all of that into account, here is my top 10 games that released in 2015.

Honorable Mentions: Madden 16, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D

10. Bloodborne
9. Halo 5: Guardians
8. Splatoon
7. Star Wars Battlefront
6. Mortal Kombat X
5. Xenoblade Chronicles X
4. Super Mario Maker
3. Batman: Arkham Knight
2. Life is Strange
1. Rise of the Tomb Raider

Kyle

There is no way that I would have thought a small, indie game about cars playing soccer would ever be my personal game of the year. Even seeing the trailers before release, I wrote the game off as something that would never pique my interest. However, the blissful simplicity of its game design, coupled with the amazing support of the developer has cemented Rocket League as my favorite game of the year.

Many more hours of work went into crafting the massive world of Fallout 4, and while that game is certainly excellent and will go on to be remembered as such for some time, there’s just something amazingly fun about Rocket League that still has me jumping on for a few matches nearly every day. The real joy comes when you begin to develop your skills, adding new tricks to your arsenal that would have made your former self stare in amazement. And with a budding eSports scene forming around the game, it looks like Rocket League will be here to stay.

However, while Rocket League is definitely my top pick, 2015 has been a an all around quality year for video games. Fallout 4 largely lived up to the extremely high expectations, delivering another amazing slice of post-apocalyptic gameplay. Tales from the Borderlands cemented Telltale’s place as one of gaming’s finest storytellers. GTA V hit the PC, delivering on a lot of the promise the original release struggled with. MGS V revolutionized the series, while missing the mark on the story front (which is why the game places so low on my list), and in Nintendo’s corner we had the amazingly fresh Splatoon, and the stunningly retro Super Mario Maker. Halo 5 brought back the glory of arena-style shooting, though the campaign left a lot to be desired.

After a hugely disappointing 2014, full of broken games and under performing releases, 2015 came back with a vengeance. Let’s hope that 2016 continues this trend.

10. Rare Replay
9. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
8. Halo 5: Guardians
7. Super Mario Maker
6. Splatoon
5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
4. GTA V PC
3. Tales from the Borderlands
2. Fallout 4
1. Rocket League

Damian

2015 was a far more enjoyable year of gaming compared to 2014. There were not as many re-releases flooding the market and a number of actual new games were released. Not to mention the games out this year were mostly working upon arrival. Halo 5: Guardians and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate weren’t as broken as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Assassin’s Creed Unity.

I also admired the diversity of the games that were available in 2015. It wasn’t just a year full of AAA first-person shooters as a number of games from different genres were out all year around. I would have liked to have seen more first-party exclusives from Sony on the PS4, but it looks like they’re saving all of their big guns for 2016.

Bear in mind, I’m a gamer that plays on PS4 and Xbox One mostly. Sadly, you won’t see any games from other platforms. I also missed out on some big games too.Without further ado, here is my top 10.

Honorable mentions: Rare Replay, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

10. Bloodborne
9. Helldivers
8. Halo 5: Guardians
7. Mortal Kombat X
6. Batman: Arkham Knight
5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
4. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
3. Until Dawn
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider
1. Fallout 4