Top 10 Games Bran Played in 2015

by Brandon Sultana

January 3rd, 2016

 

I played a lot of games from 2015, so I figured “what better way to cap off the year than to talk about our favorites I played this year". Keep in mind this isn’t a “Game of the Year” list. It doesn’t matter when the game released, so long as I played a substantial amount of it within the past 12 months, it can go on the list. Also, I have reviewed quite a few of these games, so clicking on games that have reviews will take you to that review.

 

10) Fire Emblem: Awakening

I bought this game well over a year ago, but upon first playing it I just couldn’t really get into it. I was playing other games at the time, so it just fell down my backlog. Earlier this year, I finally decided to give the game another chance and was heavily rewarded for doing so. Whatever wasn’t clicking with me at first finally made sense, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience with a tactical RPG. I really liked the deep weapons mechanics, as well as the constant dread of losing characters that I am fond of. I am definitely excited to try more of the series, as well as other games in the genre, in the near future.

 

9) Splatoon

I didn’t fall in love with this game quite as much as most people did. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still super fun, but I’ve only gotten myself to around Level 15 which tells a lot. The game’s mechanics are some of the best and most unique I have ever seen in any game. The single player adventure was an absolute blast that I beat within two days of buying the game. However the multiplayer killed a lot of enjoyment for me. I think the idea behind multiplayer is great, but several key factors made me lose interest. Since I bought the game at launch, the lack of variety in the game left me with a pretty poor first impression. While this was eventually fixed, the awful stage rotation made any subsequent attempts to get back into the game moot. There were numerous times when I tried to get back into the game, only to play the same stage five times in a row and immediately lose interest again. I absolutely enjoyed my time with the game, but I feel I would have sunk way more time into it if some things were executed better.

 

8) Super Metroid

I got Super Metroid way back when the Wii U virtual console had just launched, but I never got very far because I got stuck pretty early. This summer I finally gave the game another shot, and I’m glad I did. The floaty controls definitely took some getting used to, but once I did, I found myself having a blast through the adventure. While I’ll say I prefer the Prime games, I can totally respect what this game did for the series. The sense of progression is excellent and the world design is simply amazing. And who could forget that iconic finale? It’s an absolute classic that really gave birth to a genre, that shouldn’t be missed.

 

7) Kirby’s Epic Yarn

I missed out on this game in the Wii era, but I finally got around to playing this one a few months ago. I’m a HUGE fan of platformers, and Kirby’s Epic Yarn didn’t disappoint. The artstyle is fantastic and seeing how Kirby interacts with these environments was incredibly entertaining. The game is definitely on the easy side, but it was never a deal breaker. It really is the perfect “feel good” game (hence the developers name being “Good Feel”) that you can play when you just want to relax. However, if you want to complete the game like I ended up doing, the game will definitely give you the challenge you want. I’ve been a big fan of the experiemental Kirby games, and this one is no exception.

 

6) Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Oddly enough, the first game in this franchise was the last one that I played. I loved playing this game, so much so that I beat it in around a week. It’s much more basic than the other games in the franchise, which plays to its benefit because there aren’t a million tutorials and several hours of padding added to the game. It has all of the features that I love about the series such as the trademark humor and excellent battle mechanics. I will NEVER get tired of Mario & Luigi’s brilliant battle system. Learning the tells and habits of enemies is one of the most rewarding things in all of gaming in my opinion. This game kicked off an amazing series, and still holds up incredibly well.

 

5) Yoshi’s Woolly World

When Woolly World was announced, I was very skeptical. Other than the original Yoshi’s Island, the series had been pretty mediocre up to that point. Additionally, Woolly World seemed to be going through a pretty rough development cycle. However when it emerged, I was greeted by one of my favorite platformers on Wii U. Woolly World is an incredibly satisfying platformer that hits all the right notes. The difficulty is very fair, the art style is gorgeous, and the game is simply full of charm. Unlike Kirby’s Epic Yarn (another game I played this year), this game actually feels like a game for that source material. The changes it made to the formula greatly enhanced the experience, and all the traits of what made the original Yoshi’s Island so good are here too. The fact that this game exists gives me so much hope for the future of Yoshi games.

 

4) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

My experience with Zelda is fairly limited. I only just started playing these games a few years ago with A Link Between Worlds on 3DS. Since then, I’ve gone back and played a bunch of other titles in the series and Twilight Princess definitely stands out as one of my favorites. While I do prefer Wind Waker, Twilight Princess was still an awesome ride. The items were very unique and original (although definitely situational) and the dungeon design is some of the best the series has to offer. Wolf Link was really enjoyable to use, bringing a new style of gameplay that was simultaneously different and familiar. I also found the world itself to be pretty interesting and fun to explore. The game does definitely have flaws, but on the whole, I was very impressed with the game.

 

3) Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon

I was definitely skeptical about picking this one up after how poorly Gates to Infinity was received by fans. After an impulse buy, I was greeted to what is, in my opinion, the definitive Pokemon Mystery Dungeon experience. While by no means perfect, this game builds upon its predecessors, fixing what people disliked about Gates and making brand new changes that I personally thought dramatically improved the series. The amount of content is staggering, and no matter how many times I re-enter the same dungeon, the experience is different every time. This game reinvigorated my love for the Pokemon franchise, which has been disappointing me as of late. It also finally got me to play my 3DS again which had been collecting dust for the majority of the year.

 

2) Kid Icarus Uprising

Thanks to Club Nintendo (Rest in Peace buddy), I finally had the chance to play Kid Icarus Uprising. While I didn’t sink a HUGE amount of time with the game, I can safely say that the time that I did spend with it is easily the most fun I’ve ever had on my 3DS. Both styles of gameplay are super fun, the dialogue and voice acting are perfect, and the game is stuffed with content. I was driven to keep replaying missions after beating the game simply because i was having so much fun playing the game. I know a lot of people complain about the controls, but I personally found the controls to work VERY well, although they did cause cramps if I played for too long. I REALLY hope that we get another Kid Icarus game in the near future, hopefully on a home console. Uprising is simply too good to be a one-off

 

1) Mother 3

Mother 3 was an experience like no other. It was not only my favorite game I played last year, but is also among my favorites of all time. I definitely enjoyed Earthbound when I played it for the first time in 2014, but I believe that Mother 3 blows it out of the water in almost every way. It tells an incredible story, has great RPG mechanics, and amazing writing. I’m trying not to gush, because I already did that in a review, but seriously, this game is so good. No game has ever gotten me so invested in the entire package like Mother 3 has. I can’t recommend this game enough. It is an absolute masterpiece that everyone should play.