Review of 2015

This year, I saw a radical change in the types of people who play games. It occurred to me, that pretty much everyone is playing games in some form. And of the people who are not - they should. The escapism created by games released this year, seemed to bridge a gap to so many facets of gaming; that there was something for everyone. It is truly astonishing that a game like the brilliant Her Story; could not only survive and be accepted to the gaming community but also receive several Game of the Year nominations from game outlets, including Polygon; in which it won. For the first time this year, I went to a Games Convention. And without pointing fingers or names, I realized that this in fact was not for me. Not because I wasn’t interested in anything that was on show but the excitement from the show came from discussing with other developers, as opposed to playing their games. When those developers seem few and far between; I felt a little out of place. The show itself changed my outlook on games; based on what types of games I would make in future and instead of thinking “oh this would be a cool idea”; design my games specifically for a target audience (Which I am in fact now doing on my next release). This in turn lead me to realize that I should never attend such an event without bringing a game of my own. On the topic of Target Audience and everyone playing games; this year, despite my mum having been playing games for literally years in some form (Solitare etc.); I finally noticed she was in fact addicted to games. She was always playing games throughout the year; often combining them with other tasks; such as watching TV or reading a book. And although she would disagree, I would argue she plays more games than me. And I played a lot of games this year. No, my mum did not play Bloodborne but she probably played hundreds of versions of Bust-A-Move.

In years gone by when I think of AAA Games that have come out; I tend to only think about Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty games which are out every year. This year it seemed like most of the releases in AAA hit an incredibly high standard of Gameplay and polish. Many of them either throwing out fresh ideas and others revamping their already existing franchises. By making most aspects of the Game Design process feeling iterated and refined to create the best experiences. Games like Dying Light, Bloodborne, The Phantom Pain, The Witcher and Fallout 4, all delivered exceptional experiences for the majority of their content. Slightly worrying is that all of these games seem to have a large open world to explore, and I would argue that only Bloodborne had exceptional crafted Level Design, but no matter; as in each of these games the core Gameplay was incomparable. Which leads me on to my list for my top 10 games, in no order:

• Bloodborne – Master crafted in every sense of the word. The only bad point was that despite three plays clocking at nearly 100 hours and achieving the platinum trophy; I wish there was more of it. Thankfully, the Old Hunters was released which I shall jump on just as soon as other games are cleared out the way.
• Downwell – I’d been following this game for a while, but I was quite surprised how effective the game it delivered its blend of rogue and shoot ‘em up Gameplay. I’ve only played it on PC but it is easily one of the most addictive games of the year and I shall be getting it for Android as soon as its released.  
• Fallout 4 – I feel like the excitement of Fallout quickly died out. I was a little thankful of this because I wanted Fallout to be of the more solitary experience that it tries to deliver. I was underwhelmed by the story but the moments I remember from Fallout 3 are just amplified in Fallout 4; raiding supermarkets and underground bunkers for loot. Fallout 4 also painted some incredible imagery for me personally which last long in my mind ahead of many other games this year.
• Her Story – I couldn’t believe how much this game sucked me in. The game only lasts around 2 – 3 hours but it had its hooks me in me from start to finish. Twice I stopped playing only to immediately return and keep going when I thought of a new keyword. The Non-Linear Narrative is truly something special that many games developers (and indeed people from any media related industry) should experience at least once.
• MGS V: The Phantom Pain – Despite my disappointment with the game; it’s hard to argue that the immediate Gameplay is not completely stellar. Two games this year for me had near perfect controls and technical game elements (camera etc.); one was Bloodborne, the other was The Phantom Pain.
• OlliOlli 2 – Addictive and fluid Gameplay, matched with catchy tunes makes for everything that Skateboarding game you didn’t know you wanted, excellent. This was one of the few games I played on my Vita, as well as on my PS4 and the experience didn’t diminish on the handheld. This was a game that I felt I was designing when I wasn’t playing it, as I tried to formulate combos and manoeuvres, whilst working etc.
• Rocket League – After having time to sit on it, 6 months later, I’m still playing Rocket League. Its arguably my game of the year, sitting equally on top with Bloodborne. My already endless love expanded when I began to learn how to anticipate the ball dropping and start creating lots of chances for my teammates, as opposed to simply trying to score. The fact it’s so simple; makes it easily one of the most remarkable games of 2015.
• Splatoon – I’m not much of an online shooter fan. I’m not much of a painter. I don’t know anything about squids. But Splatoon has all of that and it’s pretty great. I struggled with placing either Splatoon or Mario Maker on this list. But I think the fact that Splatoon feels so fresh and unique, whilst continuously fun; means it’s obviously very special. More of this Nintendo, please!
• The Talos Principle – 3d puzzle games always sound tedious and repetitive in my head. Maybe it’s the potential of having to design one. But Portal is one of (if not) my favourite games of all time; so I should love them. Turns out I do because The Talos Principle is as mind-bendingly iterative as a game can get; and it’s great. The fact that the only real base player interaction is to pick up and place an object, shows you how genius simplicity can be.
• Witcher 3 + DLC  - This game shows how narrative decisions need not be so black and white. To continuously create morally grey area questions, which ask the player to decide which is the lesser of two evils, is excellent and far more inviting than most "alignment" quests in other RPGs. Creating this world must have been so much fun, as it clearly has a lot of love poured into it. Hearts of Stone is one of the finest expansions I’ve played and actually enhanced the game for me.