The Young Folks team has come together to list the very best in entertainment and pop culture for the year 2015!
No matter the console, it seems that video games were fun and exciting all across the board this past year. Old games were given fresher looks and designs and played on our nostalgia, and others were simply action-packed. Check out our team’s picks for best video games of the year, and comment to let us know what made your list!
Justin Carreiro’s Top 10 Video Games of 2015
1. “Until Dawn”
“Until Dawn” is the perfect game for any horror and plot-heavy video game fan. Set in the snowy mountain,“Until Dawn” is the story of eight friends trying to survive the night against a masked killer. The PS4 exclusive showcases “The Butterfly Effect” — a game feature which changes the story, dialogue and interactions based on the moves made by the player. All characters could survive or they could die! It’s the chance to live through the eyes of these teens in a cheesy teen horror movie.
2. “Batman: Arkham Knight”
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Rocksteady ends off their marvelous story in Gotham City with “Batman: Arkham Knight.” Batman returns to finish his adventure and faces against the nightmare-inducing Scarecrow. The gadgets are fun, the story is thrilling and the Batmobile is an interesting addition to the final game in the series.
3. “Fallout 4”
Who says you can’t have fun in a post-apocalyptic world? “Fallout 4” features a new location and more extras for players to get hooked.
4. “Mortal Kombat X”
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After the last “Mortal Kombat” reboot in 2011, “Mortal Kombat X” explores new territory. The story takes place in the future with the children of the main cast and includes a variety of new settings, characters and fatalities. Flawless Victory, indeed!
5. “Halo 5: Guardians”
The Master Chief is a champ, but you gotta love the online mode. It’s more than enough of a reason to enjoy endless hours of gameplay.
6. “Bloodborne”
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“Bloodborne” is a tough game to beat set in a beautifully designed world. A great challenge can draw you in, and even the best gamers can appreciate that.
7. “Evolve”
If you love a good multiplayer, “Evolve” has the settings for you. There are plenty of characters to choose from, each with their own personality, weapons and quality. The monsters are menacing and particularly tough to beat. And the arenas are each unique and different.
8. “Rise of the Tomb Raider”
There are more treasures to uncover and more adventures to face. Ever since the reboot of the series, Lara Croft’s newest explorations continue to get better and better.
9. “Super Mario Maker”
Super Mario + creative mind + a joy of challenging levels = endless hours of fun. Now that’s a math equation I can get behind!
10. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 3”
Two “FNAF” games were released in 2015, but it’s the third installment that truly shines. Set in another creepy location with even more terrifying puppets, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 3” will still leave you with nightmares.
Evan Griffin’s Top 10 Video Games of 2015
- “Super Mario Maker”
Shigeru Miyamoto shares his 30 year toolbox with the world to see what they come up with, and the result is an ever-expanding and improving network of levels that are anywhere from absurdly impossible to creatively simple, and now with the event course additions, Nintendo, and any professional game enthusiast, can challenge fans across the globe with new designs. Super Mario Maker is a game that makes even the most casual player appreciate quality game design as they boggle their brain to come up with cool ideas to share with their friends at home and online.
- “Undertale”
More than any game I’ve played before, “Undertale” fantastically connects players to the characters on the screen through unique design, memorable moments and some of the highest quality music in a game all year. This is a game that sticks with you more as time goes on, and by the time you’ve realized just how much you loved it, the time you’ve spent with it will have been far in the past.
Read Evan’s full review of the game here.
- “Axiom Verge”
This game is a clone of “Super Metroid,” which is one of my favorite games of all time. Because of this, the game’s familiar shooting mechanics and map platforming are as solid as you would expect from the “Metroidvania” genre, however this 16-Bit throwback has its own unique energy and atmosphere sporting a cyberpunk digital world, off-beat suspense and tone setting music alongside some fantastic art direction. People will be speed-running
“Axiom Verge” for a very long time.
- “Tales From the Borderlands”
By the time I finished “Tales From the Borderlands,” it felt like I had just finished a five episode season of a really REALLY good science fiction series on par with Firefly, and it had a fantastic sense of humor from beginning to end. It’s arguable that Telltale’s library of interactive stories doesn’t evolve much in it’s mechanics; but as storytellers, I find that “Tales From the Borderlands” is an example of how good the company can be at writing, pacing and satisfying plot and character moments in a package that allows you to play as two very different characters throughout.
Read Evan’s full review of the game here.
- “Downwell”
The moment I first set eyes on this game at PAX East this year, I knew I would want to get my hands on it the second it released. Between the game’s simple controls, and its tricolor art direction, “Downwell” is deeply immersive, making you feel like you you’re playing on an old GameBoy pocket instead of an iPhone, and it’s crazy kinetic pace keeps you playing longer and longer when you start getting better at it.
- “Soma”
While “Amnesia” didn’t grab me in the way it did with other players, Frictional Games has enchanted and terrified me with “Soma.” You play a man transported to an abandoned underwater facility in the future. The gameplay to “Soma” is secondary here, as its strongest moments deter from the survival horror elements and instead build suspense as you make your way through corridors and discover the mystery as you make your escape, but more important is the game’s storytelling as it asks the unsettling question of where humans will draw the line when enslaving machinery once it is eventually capable of its own intelligence…
- “Destiny: The Taken King”
You would think we’re talking about a completely different game than the one that game out in 2014. “Destiny” is as addictive, and simple to play as “Candy Crush” (gross) with the quality controls you remember from “Halo” years ago. Leveling up in the Crucible, venturing out on Strikes with a few friends to make a 3-man Fireteam and picking up dropped items hoping for something to upgrade your Light keeps players logged in constantly. And for those who play the game daily, there are STILL new weapons being added and weekly Raids to take part in. “Destiny” is now packed with content with “The Taken King Edition,” and if you play it casually, you’ll have much to learn as you level up your Guardian over time.
- “Rocket League”
“Rocket League” is the most accessible game to be released all year, and it’s also the most difficult to master. So much so, that actual knowledge of playing soccer will probably help your strategic ability to play the game. Who wouldn’t want to partake in “Rocket League” with a premise as delightfully absurd as, “teams of rocket boosted cars and trucks are trying to launch a massive soccer ball into the opponent’s goal.”?
- “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain”
Carrying its style of control and User Interface from MGS: Peace Walker, Phantom Pain drops Snake into the open world to complete operations in the long and short form, and allows players to complete said missions any way in which they choose. Where an explosive entrance and manslaughter is an option here, the series continues to reward players for achieving their goals with no trace, or shot fired. While the Mother Base management looks overwhelming as a whole, it is dispersed through the game’s first act. When mastered on the player’s iDroid, it begins to feel less like grinding for upgrades, and more like making every action and objective in the open map an addictive goal to better your base and grow Diamond Dogs into something worthy of Big Boss’ legacy.
- “Lara Croft GO”
Winner for Mobile Game of the Year at 2015’s The Game Awards, this app on iPhone was far more rich and worthwhile than I would ever have expected it to be. Square Enix has produced a very immersive puzzle adventure that makes me want to go back through every level to make sure I’ve collected all the treasures I missed as I tried to solve my path through traps and evil creatures.
Honorable Mentions: “Yoshi’s Wooly World,” “Mad Max,” “Fast Racing NEO”
On Evan’s “To Be Played” List: “XenoBlade Chronicles X,” “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” “Fallout 4,” “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” “The Talos Principle”
Ryan Gibbs’ Top 10 Video Games of 2015
- “Cities: Skylines”
- “Undertale”
- “Downwell”
- “Her Story”
- “Crypt of the Necrodancer”
- “The Beginner’s Guide”
- “Gnomoria”
- “Mini Metro”
- “Action Henk”
- “Prison Architect”
Which games make your 2015 Top 10 list?
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