Top Ten Games of 2015

2015 was a pretty stellar year for video games while somehow delivering some of the most flaccid entries in several beloved series. Despite that, even the most disappointing games of the year were a step above many titles in recent years, and somehow in the same year as a 4-hour indie game and a level editor we also saw a dozen large-scale open world titles full of hundreds of hours of content apiece. So without further ado, here's a list that will please absolutely nobody.

Honorable Mentions

I'd love to have put these games on my top list, but each one has some big nitpick that I would feel very guilty about snubbing a game that deserves to be on the list for one of these.

Yoshi's Woolly World

Oh, how I wish I could make a place for Yoshi's Woolly World. The game is beautiful, with an aesthetic that completely destroys Nintendo's previous yarn-based title with Kirby's Epic Yarn. The game is incredibly cozy and well-made, but the game is simply too easy in some parts while being unbelievably frustrating with its hidden collectibles. I'll be playing this for a while, but there's not enough to set it apart from the amazing spectacle that is Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Most of the game feels like a yarn-based redux of the previous entry without enough teeth. Unless you count jumping around looking for hidden clouds, but that's hardly difficult as much as it is frustrating.

Shadow Complex

I only had an Xbox 360 for a little while, but in that time I never managed to pick up Shadow Complex. What a fantastic Metroidvania--I completely understand why it was spoken of so highly after its release. That said, my PC is a toaster and could barely run the new Remastered version at a decent framerate so I feel this isn't the best way of playing the game. Also, Shadow Complex is several years old and I don't feel very comfortable putting it on the top ten when taking that into consideration, especially since I didn't play it in an ideal setting. I even had it on my top ten at one point, but I can't in good conscience put it over this year's new games. Shadow Complex Remastered will very likely be one of my favorite games when it releases next year on current-gen consoles, but I can't help but feel I missed the boat on this one.

Mortal Kombat X

Of all the games I wished could be on my top ten, Mortal Kombat X hurts the most. In-depth mechanics, different styles that change characters in very subtle ways, a complex story mode that utilizes every single character meaningfully while developing both the old and new--for a fighting game, there's way more here than in most. For everything positive there's something negative right away. The new characters feel very much like rehashes of some old ones, the roster is disappointingly small, the story mode doesn't feel nearly as expansive in both tone and scale as the previous entry in the series, and in the same vein there are so many fewer gameplay modes in favor of shallow multiplayer faction silliness. Why is there no challenge tower? Where are my character trial modes? Why does the character select screen try to shake me down for money? The inclusions of micro-transactions are sleazy at best and the DLC characters were absolutely not worth the money. Mortal Kombat X is a great game with a lot of baggage and most of the impressive features were done better in the Mortal Kombat reboot from a few years ago.

The Top Ten Games of 2015

I'm very picky about the games I funnel time into, and aside from that I have neither a decent PC nor do I own either Xbox console. These are the games I loved putting time into and will likely continue playing, especially since half of them are hundreds of hours long and I actually couldn't finish some of them this year.

Number Ten - Undertale

I heavily considered replacing Undertale with Shadow Complex. The Earthbound inspirations do nothing for me but want to play that game--even more given that I finally finished Earthbound earlier this year. The character design is forgettable at best, and don't give me your stupid "but they're skeletons!" bit. I don't care. I actually turned off the game at one point to just play Cave Story because Toriel and Asgore look disturbingly similar to the Mimiga race, and that game actually had a color palette. The EPIC FEELS moments made me feel absolutely nothing--even more than usual for me. I've heard the word "twee" thrown around in describing Undertale and I can't agree more. Every single moment of Undertale is the cutest and sweetest and most precious special adorable thing you've ever seen in your life and I was annoyed by it in the first hour. This might be a complaint many people won't share, but the run time is far too thin. I never felt a real connection with these characters I was supposed to have some sort of emotions toward; they just start being silly and then we're all best friends. This hurts the unique boss fights even more: in one boss you're expected to run away after spending the entire game talking down and sparing every encounter, while in another you're supposed to attack the boss despite the fact that you're told rather explicitly you'll never have to fight anybody. With a longer runtime I feel these encounters could be introduced better, because as it is I'd even call them counter-intuitive in the way they reverse the way the player is taught. Undertale's five hours feel like fanmade tourism of Earthbound full of dad jokes, which makes its ravenous fanbase all the more confusing. Seriously, some of the fans of this game are actually crazy and act like this game is their gospel. The fanart is legitimately terrifying and I couldn't open a single website for over a month after the game's release without seeing the protagonist hugging every character in the most over-indulgent fan drawing I haven't seen since Sonic or My Little Pony hooked...those people.

All the complaints I have are basically meaningless by saying Undertale is actually very fun to play. The jokes--while being groaners most of the time--are actually pretty fresh, the gameplay is an interesting take on 16-bit era turn-based games, and the many ways the game checks your choices to use them later is very interesting, especially in an era when "your choices matter!" never seems to pan out. And the soundtrack! If I had to give the best soundtrack to a game it would be Undertale without a second guess. To have such an incredible soundtrack accompanying every unique encounter and every track feeling so full of life and energy would be difficult in any game, especially considering it was done entirely by the developer, but this one pulls it off so well that I've had it on repeat several times after finishing the game. I'd love to have played Undertale in an aesthetic and story that wasn't actually Undertale: the gameplay mechanics and soundtrack are subversive and interesting, the jokes have a tendency to be clever, and it's nice to see a game promising multiple endings actually deliver on that. Divorce yourself from the fanbase and any knowledge of the game and go in blind, and you will likely enjoy yourself. But as it is now, I feel Undertale has been dried up by the people who love it the most.

Number Nine - Resident Evil Revelations 2

It's been very difficult as a Resident Evil fan in the last few years, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to call myself a massive fan of the series. In middle school I did nothing but play Resident Evil 2 and in high school, that title was replaced by the absolute masterpiece that is Resident Evil Remake. When I said "did nothing," I mean that very close to literally. I invited a friend to hang out one day and neglected to offer him food, and after an hour into my Resident Evil 2 run I had completely forgotten I invited him to my house at all. I don't care if he ate that night or not, because I cleared ClaireA/LeonB in an hour and a half. I love Resident Evil and you should too, but if you weren't aware of the series until after the wet splat of Resident Evil 5 then I don't blame you for being weary. This innocent take on B-horror movies did not deserve the likes of Operation Raccoon City, Mercenaries 3D, Outbreak, Resident Evil 6, and the light-gun Wii games, and now the series has a near-decade of utter trash weighing down the same legacy as titles like Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil Remake, and the game responsible for revolutionizing 3D aiming: the masterpiece action-horror Resident Evil 4.

The Revelations series is the exact breath of fresh air Resident Evil needs, but the first game had a few missteps. Some of the character swapping was annoying and I really wish I could never see Chris Redfield again in my life. That said, for a 3DS game the original Revelations was pretty nice, and the later HD versions complimented the title's action very well with more intuitive controls. Resident Evil Revelations 2 fixes many of the issues of the first game and brings new additions that finally feel like the newer action style of the series has found a great middle ground with tense horror. The same game that can give one of the most exhilarating bosses in the series can also have some of the most desolate, creepy locales. This is helped by the return of objectively the best characters in the series: Barry Burton and Claire Redfield. Aside from that, Capcom seems to have finally realized the tone for these games works better as cheesy horror; I laughed out loud several times from many of the corny quips, including a certain one in the opening cutscene that involves every character onscreen turning to the camera and winking. The new crafting system feels right at home here, and for the first time in years I'm actually excited to see where Resident Evil is headed.

Number Eight - Until Dawn

I was not excited about Until Dawn. A Playstation Move-exclusive horror game from a largely untested studio? No thanks. I appreciated the premise--a video game of every single cheesy '80s slasher movie cliches with horny teens willing to sacrifice safety to get laid. I can't think of many video games that have attempted that kind of story, unless you want to count the NES Friday the 13th game. So when Sony revealed that Until Dawn had been bumped up to a fully-fledged Playstation 4 title with controller support my ears pricked up right away. And boy, am I glad that this change was made. Until Dawn was one of my surprise hits of the year, flawless in execution and absolutely gorgeous to look at. Sure, it's no beefy PC game, but for what it is Until Dawn is beautiful. Whether you're playing by yourself or hosting this game for your friends, Until Dawn works on every level. Having a game in the style of Quantic Dream's games, like Heavy Rain or Indigo Prophecy, actually fulfill the promise of branching paths and choices with real consequences is a joy to behold, especially when people are arguing over which choice will ensure you don't get killed. For a game that I had absolutely no feelings toward before, I'm now completely onboard the hype train to see what Supermassive Games has in store next.

Number Seven - Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

I've never gotten my Hunter Rank up in the four Monster Hunter titles I've played. I'm so sorry. You can have my "hardcore" card if you want, I don't care really. Despite that, I've spent hours upon hours just going through the single player Village quests in all of the games I played, and the new Caravan quest line is the best single player content the series has ever offered. Fun new weapons, changes to existing weapons, and a great mixture of revamped old monsters and brand new ones alongside much-needed mobility options make this both the most accessible and the most fun Monster Hunter entry. Sure, I won't be G rank any time soon--and probably not even after Monster Hunter X finds a stateside release--but even if it's just for a few minutes or long playing sessions there's always something to enjoy about this game. Now, where's our Monster Hunter 4G HD Ver., Capcom?

Number Six - Super Mario Maker

I can basically sum up my enjoyment of this entire game with a suggestion from a friend while making a throwaway level: "You can probably fit more Hammer Bros. over in the corner there." Super Mario Maker isn't the first level editor and it certainly isn't the most affordable at a whopping full $60, but it's just so accessible while full of tricks to create levels so challenging I doubt Nintendo's playtesters could penetrate them. This game could have been ruined in so many ways: if it didn't ship with online sharing, if it had just a few less options, if it only had one or two tilesets--really, it could have been screwed up on so many levels and it's just such a perfect package. Add in curated levels, new event modes, and constant updates with new features and you have one of the best Mario games of all time.

Number Five - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

I wish I could show you, beloved reader, some of the speculative conversations I've had about this title. I envisioned a dark tale of self-destruction, one of the first Metal Gear games grounded in relative reality without nanomachines or singing AI robots. Everything to be seen of The Phantom Pain in pre-release videos and content shown to the press made it look like the best title in the series and one of the greatest games of all time. For reference, much like Resident Evil I played Metal Gear Solid for the first time when I was very young. Playing a demo disc of Solid Snake sneaking into Shadow Moses is one of my most breathless game memories, and seeing so much of that game (much of which went over my head, I mean I was like nine so can you blame me?) after being an outspoken Nintendo fanboy for my entire life up to that point completely shifted my perspective. I played every single title in the series as they came out, stood in line for Guns of the Patriots, and replayed all the games in the series--including the MSX and PSP games--in the year leading up to this game's predecessor, Ground Zeroes.

Much like Mass Effect 3 and L O S T, The Phantom Pain wagged its finger at me while reminding me that hype is a very dangerous thing. The troubled development time, absolute bonkers story, a twist that went nowhere, a completely lifeless main character, the ending just happening with no real lead-in, micro-transactions (especially some introduced after the game's release) really, really marred my enjoyment of this game, and as far as Metal Gear games go this is one of the worst. The story is worse than even Portable Ops and I will fist-fight you in the street if you say it's better than the masterpiece that is Sons of Liberty or MGS1. Or Snake Eater, even. That's a good game, and we all remember the teardrop at the end. What do we remember about The Phantom Pain? Nanoma--er, parasites? A cute half-hour of hamburger discussion? I want to forget the story of this game even happened, and now it's forever canon and I cannot escape wolbachia talk.

But you know what? This is one of the most fun games I've ever played. Not a single part of my 130-hour playtime was wasted, and I still haven't finished all the Extreme levels. That 74% is going to be chipped away at with glee, but if this was a different series or even a different part of the Metal Gear timeline I wouldn't be so upset--yet, like Undertale, I'd be lying if I said actually playing the game wasn't one of my best experiences of the year.

Number Four - Xenoblade Chronicles X

I can tell you every last detail about the Xenogears Perfect Works story without batting an eye. I played it for the first time three years ago and it has actually kept me up at night thinking about some of the outstanding moments that game presents. Go play it right now. Don't go play Xenosaga, Tetsuya Takahashi's re-imagining of Xenogears Perfect Works with his new studio, unless you're willing to dig through some actual bad games to reach the shining beacon that is Xenosaga Episode III. Even the best parts of that game are callbacks to Xenogears. To say the least, the Xeno- series had some problems. As much as I love the game, even Xenogears is a bit of a mess--the second disc is largely unfinished, and the rumors surrounding it are horrifying at best.

Then, something beautiful happened. Something incredible and unbelievable occurred: Takahashi's Monolith Software was bought by Nintendo. Their new title, Xenoblade, finally showed off what Takahashi could dish out without budget or time constraints. And with the Wii U, Monolith's new game Xenoblade Chronicles X steps up the scale and world of the previous game while creating a grand science fiction story of intergalactic war, of mankind being stranded without a home. X is one of the most breathtaking open worlds ever made, and to think it's coming from a console as underpowered as the Wii U without breaking a sweat is even more impressive. The story beats sound gleefully similar to Xenogears Perfect Works and the new mythology surrounding events of the series is engrossing; I cannot wait to see where the series goes from here, but for now I just want to jump back in my giant mech and fly over the beautiful world of Mira.

Number Three - Yakuza 5

I can't believe this game came out. Up until now it really seemed like Sega had given up on Yakuza--or as it's known in its home country Like a Dragon (a much better name for the series)--in the West. The last entry released here, Yakuza Dead Souls, was an absolutely dreadful experiment in third-person horror shooters. Yakuza 4 is a great game, but that game came out in 2011 here and it really seemed like that was the last of this amazing franchise we would ever see. There are walkthroughs for the entire game to translate the script, and now that I've gotten my hands on it I can see why.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, here's a rundown: take a third-person beat-'em-up, drop it into a roleplaying game system complete with character inventories and random encounters, and throw in a ton of side activities like arcades, restaurant hopping, karaoke, hostess clubs, and basically all the stuff that made Shenmue fun without the baggage of sailors or places they hang out. Yakuza 5 expands the series even more with rhythm games, great new characters, and even more side content including the new Another Drama system, a complete sidestory for every single character alongside their main story and sub quests. This isn't the best Yakuza released in the West--that honor belongs to the ungodly rare Yakuza 2--but it's very high in the running and I can't wait to get the full completion for it. Now that Yakuza 0 is coming out here I don't have to urge people to drop into the series with 4 or 5, but I'd still recommend you try any of the games you can.

Number Two - The Witcher 3

While this is the first game in the Witcher series to go open world, the attention to detail alongside the sheer scope of the world absolutely humiliates other developers with higher budgets. There's really not much to say about this that others haven't: the writing is sublime, the acting is on-point, and even on PS4 the graphical quality is second-to-none. No, I haven't finished it yet. Sorry. My in-game time counter says I've spent a total of ten actual days exploring the world and I really desperately hope that's wrong, but even if it's half that I wouldn't be surprised. There is so much content and the developer just throw out free DLC for months to show appreciation for their fans, much in the same way they did for the second game which is also excellent. This is one of the best open world games of all time thanks in part to having the detail of a much smaller game, and it revels in that intimacy while showering the enormous landscape in points of interest. I'm still up in the air over whether or not this game trumps Red Dead Redemption as my favorite open world game, especially given that game's heart-wrenching ending, but the game's RPG roots with character building and customization might just push it over the edge by the time I see the game's ending in 2018.

Number One - Bloodborne

I've spent three hundred hours on the first Dark Souls and I'm completely okay with that. FromSoftware knows how to create a world seeped in history that is just beyond your reach, begging  you to dig up the world's dirty secrets. I loved that game so much I finally finished Demon's Souls after being completely destroyed in my original run, and even though I spent less time on that game there are very serious arguments about which of those games is better. Bloodborne, while not bursting with content like Dark Souls or even Demon's Souls, instead focuses on complex systems, a horrifying world, and a story that belongs right alongside the creepiest works of H.P. Lovecraft. Bloodborne hooked me in its first trailer and I'm still playing through New Game+ on several characters. Its mechanically complex history is reflected in its mechanics, with some of the most rewarding fast-paced combat seen in years. Go buy a PS4 for this game. Succumb to the nightmare of having no other exclusives and hunt...whatever, this metaphor sucks. Game of the year.

Review: Krampus

Seeing trailers for Krampus, the new film by the director of the 2007 cult classic Trick 'r Treat, I immediately thought it would be a forgettable horror movie cashing in on the holiday season. What I wasn't expecting was one of the most enjoyable films I've seen this year, and one of the most surprisingly heartfelt Christmas movies in a while--easily a top contender for "best Christmas films featuring Hell."

THE PREMISE

It's Christmas and, naturally, everyone is miserable and crabby. The lead character, Tom, is forced to deal with his in-laws whose children torment his own and whine about his wife's meticulous cooking. Tom's son Max and his elderly mother are the only people who seem to be hyped for Christmas and a visit from Santa, but after a fight with his bratty cousins Max becomes downtrodden and tears up his heartfelt letter to Santa Claus. This somehow causes the town to turn into Silent Hill and the family tries to survive through Christmas while a terrifying demon haunts their town.

THE GOOD

Nearly everything about this movie is oozing with detail and spirit, and before getting into specifics you should know that this movie is worth every penny. Go see it immediately, you will not regret it. That being said, I can't sing Krampus's praise enough. The dialogue is charming and gives every character a well-rounded feeling; despite its running time of less than two hours, I felt every last member of the cast had an important part to play and there's a great balance of character development, tense moments, actual horror, and genuinely funny moments. The pacing is just where it needs to be, and more than just enjoying the movie itself I was stunned by how well it blended all of its elements without it feeling drawn out.

The children are annoying, as children are. There's no good child, and I don't say that in the context of the movie but just as a fact of life. That being said, the five children (and one baby) in this movie don't clog up the plot like you might think. When I think child actors the first image that pops up is Anakin Skywalker trying out his spinning trick, but thankfully that's entirely absent here. David Koechner's bratty kids actually cause much of the tension in the plot, and the movie never shies away from treating children like cannon fodder. At no point did I think "this kid needs to please go away and never be in a movie again" like most of the movies I watch (even the ones without them at all) but instead felt a bit of remorse for the sheer terror they're thrown into.

Like I said earlier, there's some seriously unnerving horror in Krampus. You remember when horror films had build-up and tension? Much of the first half of the movie is pure build-up with some fairly terrifying imagery--not to give too much away, but I'll never feel the same way about snowmen again. The titular monster, a creature from an obscure European folktale, only shows up a few times and it's almost always as a way to escalate an already tense moment. This thing might be one of the best horror monsters in recent memory: imposing, threatening, and when he appears it really does feel like all hope is lost. You won't see his face until the very end, but at that point you probably won't want to see him on screen again.

I'll be frank, a major reason the movie is so frightening is because many of the monsters are practical effects and men in costumes, aside from the ones that are simply too small. I'd have like to see some of them as animatronics, but the way they're animated gives life to the monsters that would have been difficult with practical effects. CG is used sparingly and the rest looks absolutely phenomenal, with some of the overall best creature designs I've seen in years. There's one scene in particular I don't want to spoil, but it involves stop-motion cartoons that I simply fell in love with. The entire scene is done in CG, but you really need to be nitpicking to find a flaw in its presentation.

Sure it's scary enough, but this film is billed as "comedy horror" and it absolutely deserves that classification. David Koechner and Allison Tolman bring a great deal of life to the movie, but Conchata Ferrell completely steals the scene when she's featured--not a surprise really, but it needs to be reiterated. As the dysfunctional in-laws they should by all means be completely irritating, but paired up with the charming and down-to-earth Adam Scott and Toni Collette everyone bashes heads to a point where you really appreciate all of them coming together as family, despite being polar opposites. There aren't many cloying moments of family bonding, but by the end you really want to see all of these stressed-out weirdos make it out just to see if they can ever gel outside of a terrifying situation.

To only give the cast credit to the film's humor would be severely downplaying just how charming and terrifying the monsters can be. I really don't want to spoil much of the movie because you need to go see it right now before Christmas, so instead I'll try to compare it with another classic comedy-horror it takes many inspirations from: remember the scene in Gremlins when a monster is thrown into a microwave and explodes? Go see this movie.

The ending had me a bit worried in that I expected a little "everything was saved by the power of love," but you don't need to worry about that. Krampus knows its audience and plays with your expectations at every turn. It is a bit cliche, but it's pulled off in such a way that I can't think of a better way to tie up the story.

THE BAD

There aren't too many moments that stood out as being too terrible, but I do have some nitpicks. Of course, because I specifically mentioned this as a nitpick earlier, I really wish the CG stop-motion scene had tried being a little more faithful to the style. It's not much, but there are a few moments where the framerate is a bit too fast to keep up with the aesthetic and it's a bit weird. Much of the scene mimics the low-framerate element that gives stop motion its particular style, and when it breaks that it took me out of the moment just a bit. For a small movie that I found myself loving this much, it was heartbreaking that I had to find such a tiny complaint that anyone else would just hand wave as a concession. The film has a very small budget and it's very hard to tell, so having a complaint that there's too much budget here is something you shouldn't view as a negative, because it takes a cracked, morbid heart to find fault in something like this.

Also kids. I hate kids. As far as the movie is concerned though, I thought Max was a little too "smart" at times. Like he's just a bit too eloquent for his age and it took me out of some of his scenes, but the weird thing is that it's not perpetual. He's not always saying things that are too intelligent for a kid like him. It feels like this kid is reading a script, but he's a fine actor so maybe the problem is that kids are impossible to write well. And it's just him. It's just this one kid who feels like he's saying a line rather than being a human talking to other people. Maybe I'm just looking too close at something like this--possibly. Let me know if you found this kid to be overly eloquent, send me an AOL chat when I don't have my icon set to "busy." I have to look at my web pages and can't be distracted while writing my ultra-timely movie review blog.

THE VERDICT

I adore Krampus. I adore every last second of this weird little movie. Go see it as soon as you can, preferably before Christmas so you can get really in the mood. There's something for everybody, it's tight and well-made with a lot of love in every aspect. This is the first movie all year (outside of Mad Max, maybe) that I wanted to watch again.

Highly Recommended