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BlueGartr Staff Picks - 2015

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What defines a "Game of the Year?" Is it the game you played the most? Is it the game you enjoyed the most? What about release date – does it need to be a game which came out this year? As 2015 comes to a close, it’s time for that time honored tradition. What? No, not getting crazy drunk and spending three days severely dehydrated and hungover! Although, who am I to criticize your traditions? To each his own, I guess. Where was I going with this? Oh right! It’s the end of the year, so I’ve asked the BlueGartr staff to look back at the games they played this year and pick the ones which made the biggest splash. Previously (read: last year), we only focused on new games, but for many, the games which distinguished themselves this year were not new releases in 2015, but old games which either rekindled fond memories or stood above their fresher counterparts.

BaneTheBrawler: Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, XB1)
While this is my first game in the series, it feels very familiar. Skyrim is for the Nords, but the Commonwealth is all yours, baby. I've actually barely progressed through the main story (Haven't even been to Diamond City yet); I'm focusing on building settlements and knocking out side-quests. Maybe when all my quest beacons are demanding I go to the Great Green Jewel I'll give in, but for now I've got junk to scavenge.

Zetanio: Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, XB1)
Immersive, amazing storytelling. Solid graphics, runs well for me. Truly enjoyed every moment of playing it so far and I haven't even scratched the surface of modding it yet. Far and away my favorite game this year.

Byrthnoth: Final Fantasy XI (PC, PS3, XB360)
A hit title you may have missed, this game offers a phenomenal amount of content and a complete storyline that crosses continents and generations. A must play. (Also, there is going to be a free login weekend at some point in the future before the Xbox and PS2 versions are shut down. Please look forward to it.)

Brill Weave: Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, XB1) / War Thunder (PC, PS4)
Before I beat Fallout 4 it was a no brainer. After beating it and seeing the ho hum ending and being supremely let down by it, I don't know. In terms of scope and game play I would have to say it's Fallout 4. The settlement building alone was highly entertaining. But if we're talking about a game that you keep going back to time and time again I'm going with War Thunder. Yeah, it's a niche title. But I'm a huge WWII aviation buff. I can say without a shadow of a doubt I've spent more time playing that than Inquisition and Fallout 4 combined.

Sonomaa: Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (Mobile)
Black Ops 3 had a pretty damn solid story, I enjoyed it from start to insane finish, much better than some of the previous entries, and I don't even play multiplayer.
Fallout 4 has been really good so far but the graphics are dated and its very obvious that Bethesda is going to try to take everything away to get peoples money with paid mods.
I haven't played Dragon Age: Inquisition yet but I've heard nothing but magical things about it.
StarCraft 2 Legacy of the Void was magical, from start to finish. I had to force myself not to binge through it as quick as I could. The characters were very likable, the voice acting was awesome, and the story was smooth. The gameplay was great, just hard enough and occasionally a little too hard, but still a ton of fun. A fantastic culmination to what has been a solid pack of expansions and Blizzard finding themselves and their storytelling ability once more.
Batman: Arkham Knight, after the PC patch, was a massive amount of fun and content I still havent had a chance to finish. I was lucky because my PC was able to brute force the problems with the game. That being said, it should never have been released in its pisspoor state.
Cities: Skylines, what Sim City SHOULD have been, fantastic from the start.
All of these games I have invested time and emotion into, on top of FFXIV, my involvement in that game is obvious.
All of them, time wise, pale in comparison to my time spent in Record Keeper.

Vandole: Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, XB1) / Metal Gear Solid V (PC, PS3, PS4, XB360, XB1)
If we're going by most played: Puzzle and Dragons & Dota 2.

Best game that came out THIS year? Fallout 4/Metal Gear Solid V (Modded the ever-loving shit out Fallout 4 though).

Ksandra: The Wolf Among Us (PC, PS3, PS4, XB360, XB1, Mobile)
It was on sale one day, so hubby bought it. I never really got into Telltale games, but this one really got me hooked. I know it's a couple of years old, but I'd recommend it to anyone that wants something to play and doesn't know what to do.

Only major downside is there has been no announcement of a season 2, which makes season 1's ending suck massive balls.

Bregor: Final Fantasy V (Everywhere by now)
This year's Steam release of Final Fantasy V isn't technically my "favorite game of the year" but it does give me an opportunity to talk about the Four Job Fiesta. FF5FJF is an annual fundraising event where people play the game using only four jobs assigned to them by a random number generator. Players can donate to Child's Play Charity in any number of ways, such as paying to change their assigned jobs, donating a bit for each victory over the superbosses, or just giving because they feel like it. FF5 has, in my opinion, the best job system in the series, and using the FF5FJF to come up with challenging gameplay while also doing a bit for charity really hit home for me this year. I played the shit out of it all summer and it was great. Remember the sign up next June!

The Blackrose: Guilty Gear Xrd (PC, PS3, PS4, Arcade)
In retrospect, 2015 feels a little dry after what has happened at the game shows of 2015. Announcements of games like FF7 Remake, Ace Combat 7, Shenmue 3, The Last Guardian, Persona 5, etc have eclipsed a lot of what has dropped this past year.

There were a couple of gems strewn about, like Cities: Skylines, Toukiden Kiwami, Etrian Mystery Dungeon, Trails in the Sky Second Chapter, Just Cause 3, and Xenoblade Chronicles X. However, there were a lot more ports and remasters on the docket this year. Some were great, like Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition. Some are getting tired, like the umpteenth port of Terraria or Minecraft to yet another system. Some I haven't even touched because the last iteration pissed me off (Etrian Odyssey Untold 2, I'm looking at you).

If I go with my most played game, it would have to be Guilty Gear Xrd.

Ragns: Dragon Ball XenoVerse (PC, PS3, PS4, XB360, XB1)
Nothing is more fun than being made of jelly then abuse min-maxing the stats system to just one shot everything in your path, which is pretty faithful with the show. You then realize that if you want to progress further you gotta buy the Dragon Ball GT DLC... so yeah I'm never gonna finish that game.

6souls: Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, XB1)
Sitting at 100+ hours, lvl 92, and haven't completed storymode.

Serra: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
As I was trying to decide which game I enjoyed the most in 2015, I hit a bit of a snag -- I hadn’t actually played that many new games this year. That’s not to say I didn’t play a lot of games this year, just that most of my time was either spent in Destiny, on remakes (namely the Kingdom Hearts collections), or playing old games (Fire Emblem: Awakening.. so much Awakening... is Fates out yet??). This was compounded by the fact that two games which I have really enjoyed this year, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and Xenoblade Chronicles X, I only picked up within the last month and have come nowhere near completing. Both are massive open world games, possess different but well-polished and phenomenal gameplay, and have been immersive and incredibly satisfying to play. Once I’ve beaten both games, maybe my ranking of the two will change, but at this point, given that I started playing both games within about a week of each other, Xenoblade is my game of the year because, given the choice, it was the game I more often found myself wanting to playing.

Honorable Mention: The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

So, those are the games which stood out for us in 2015. But what about yourself -- which game made the biggest impact for you this year? Do you agree with our choices or did another game earn your praise and adulations this year? Let us know in the comments below or in the thread in the gaming section.

See you next year (or later today in the Bowl Mania thread..)~

Comments

  1. Draylo -
    Draylo's Avatar
    Just played FF5 for the first time to almost the end, really enjoyed it and loved the job system. FFRK is an amazing game and restored some hope in mobile games for me, but it might be mainly the nostalgia mixed with Final Fantasy that does it. Also wow @Bryth saying FFXI, I am shocked but that is my pick too!
  2. Charismatic -
    Charismatic's Avatar
    They're finally shutting down the PS2 and 360 versions of FFXI? Whoa.
  3. Kaslo -
    Kaslo's Avatar
    Haha Record Keeper continues to plague the Blue Gartrs!