Alex's Top 10 Games of 2015

This website, as you may have noticed, is quite partial to rating individual games out of 10. This year, I have decided to flip this concept on its head, and rate ten games, against each other. I call this radical idea, this list-based article, a "Top 10".

Before we get down to business, some ground rules. This will include games released prior to 2015 - in some cases, a fair few years earlier than that. I am not a full-time games writer who plays every game as they come out - if I only included games released this year this would be a rather dull list, and not every title would be one I felt passionately about. These are simply my favourite games that I have played this year.

It should be noted that my opinions do reflect those of BFVG.com, and that organisation is fully responsible for what I say. If the below makes you froth with internet rage, you may direct it at my colleagues. Especially Yoglaiiiii.

10. NaissanceE

We begin with an interesting game you may not have heard of. NaissanceE is a first person platformer set in a world largely devoid of colour. It is also rather light on story, simply identifying you as Lucy, and that Lucy is running from a monster. With your motive securely fastened, the rest of the game is focussed on pressing forward and exploring. There's a distinct M.C. Escher feel to the environment, with a lot of the space you explore feeling overly complex and yet somehow barren at the same time. You never meet an NPC, you never learn anything concrete about the world, but you explore a lot of it and there are some nice serene moments as you admire the scenery. This game actually made fall damage an engaging element of gameplay, especially during one section involving climbing down a deep pit towards a subterranean city. NaissanceE is a brief and surreal game that has stayed vivid in my memory.

9. Bayonetta 2

From this point forth on this list, assume I wrote this at the beginning of each entry: "damn, this deserves to be closer to number one."

Bayonetta 2 is an outrageous, over the top, unapologetic orgasm of a game. I would hate to spoil too much of the game, so let's just talk about the opening: fighting misshapen demons on top of a fighter jet spinning out of control above New York city. The combat flows brilliantly, even for a rather unimaginative button basher such as myself, but with depth for those with better reflexes. It looks simply gorgeous, and has some of the most bizarre and disturbing enemy designs I've seen since Catherine. There's a great deal to love about this game, but let's face the elephant in the room here: the camera loves Bayonetta's butt/crotch/boobs. We could have the old argument about whether this is creepy fetishisation or Bayonetta owning her sexiness, but personally I found the "leering" moments more amusing than titillating, and they didn't detract from the experience. Bayonetta 2 is a superb game that never lets you catch your breath as it moves from one gloriously ridiculous set-piece to another.

8. Life Is Strange

Three years ago Telltale reworked the adventure genre with The Walking Dead. This year the guys at Dontnod showed them that their formula can be improved even further. They did this with the simple addition of the ability to rewind time; whenever a big choice presents itself, you can observe the immediate consequences of both actions. As with the Telltale model, your choices still have an impact beyond that individual scene, but whereas in The Walking Dead my choices were (by design) made hastily and in a panic, in Life Is Strange my decisions were painstaking moments as I rewound repeatedly, wringing my hands over each option. Of course, this revelation in gameplay would be nothing without an engaging story, and boy did they deliver on that. Max and Chloe are characters that will stay with me for a long time, and there's a reason I examined every little detail in Arcadia Bay and rewound entire, multi-branched conversations so many times: I didn't want to leave.

Let's just forget about most of that final episode, though.

7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

That's right, one of my favourite games in 2015 was released in 1991. The fact that it is on this list is a testament to the timeless quality of this SNES title, because it remains so accessible and enjoyable after so many years. Make no mistake: many games that were fun when 16-bit was the leading edge are now mere relics of an interesting era of gaming. I loved Zool and James Pond when I was younger, but I cannot defend them today with a straight face. I have no such problems with Link to the Past. The game-world is small by today's standards, but every corner of it hides something interesting. The combat is simple, but executed brilliantly. The puzzles found in the game's many dungeons are often ingenious, and almost without exception culminate in a stunning boss fight. The music is simply wonderful - on several occasions I have rewatched the ending, just to listen to that music. The story is what you'd expect from a Zelda game, but is nonetheless filled with very funny moments, and the odd touching one as well. Most of all I remember the revelation of the Dark World making my jaw drop - Link turned into a pink bunny, transported to a twisted mirror image of his world, and when I looked at the map... this game stimulated that desire to explore I value so much in a video game. I didn't grow up with Link to the Past; it's not mere nostalgia. It holds up astonishingly well.

6. The Talos Principle

The Talos Principle is one of those games that I knew I would fall in love with from the first moments of the first trailer I saw. The puzzles are clever enough to rival Portal (admittedly, without the portals themselves). Whether you are redirecting lasers, triggering switches to open doors, or messing around with whichever new tool the game has presented, throughout there is a feeling of elation at every puzzle solution. And then there's the story - I'm not sure it's an exaggeration to call this one of the most ambitious stories I've seen in a video game. It includes, just to start: a thoughtful examination of the nature of intelligence, artificial or otherwise; the paradox of proving one's own consciousness; the profound and yet absurd nature of the relationship between a creator and his/her creation. And that's without getting into the context of the world, which I would hate to spoil for anyone - I will just say, hunt down each and every computer terminal, because both story and backstory are fascinating. Add to all this some incredible sound design - especially the booming voice of Elohim, the aforementioned creator - and some truly beautiful environments, and you've got a game I would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in gaming.

5. Fallout 4

Some of you may rise an eyebrow to see Fallout 4 so far down this list. I myself feel almost guilty for preferring other games to it, because the modern entries in the Fallout series are, to me, some of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have ever had. Let's focus on the positives: it is more Fallout, and that's pretty much all I ever asked for. It's a lot more, in fact - to date I have spent 85 hours immersed in it, and Bethesda have expertly refined the gameplay loop of: explore wasteland, find cool place/character(s), receive quest, continue exploring wasteland. As a result I have still not reached the end of the story, although what I have seen so far has been of an excellent standard. You know what? I doubt I have to sell anyone reading this on Fallout 4 - it's a great game, but surpassed in my humble opinion by the next four games.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3D)

This list is offically twenty per cent Zelda. So yes, I was more than a bit late to the Nintendo party, buying a 3DS at least in part so I could play a game released in 1998. Extolling its virtues would involve repeating a lot of words from number 7 in this list: great open world, great music, great gameplay. Some higher praise, perhaps: this game effectively invented (or at least popularised) the third person action/adventure genre, and yet is somehow superior to many of those that came after it. Most trend-setters get left behind, become dated. Despite having played many games like it, Ocarina got its hooks into me and wouldn't let go. Once again, this does not come from a position of nostalgia: this game is a class act.

...Perhaps my opinion might have been different had I played the original N64 version. I can only judge what I saw personally, and I can say that the 3DS version is superb.

3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Where do you start? This is an incredible entry in a series that has always surprised and delighted me, and it retains many of the idiosyncrasies that are so uniquely Metal Gear, largely thanks to the bizarre, crazy, unpredictable fever dream of a creator that is Hideo Kojima. And yet on the other hand, this differs strikingly from any other Metal Gear game, from its massive open world, to its approachable control scheme, to its lack of extremely long cutscenes or near endless exposition. An open world and stealth gameplay could have been a frustrating combination, but Snake's bottomless sack of weapons and gadgets make it a joy to explore. One tool in particular made the game work exceptionally well: the Fulton, a balloon that can be attached to any soldier/prisoner/vehicle/bloody shipping container, which after a few seconds whisks its cargo off to Snake's ever-growing Mother Base. I can't quite express in words how satisfying it is to take down an entire military base single-handed, and then proceed to make off with everything that is not tied down, and blow up whatever's left. I did this for over 70 hours, and loved practically every moment of it. Like many others, I have some gripes about certain plot threads left dangling, and I found the online elements to be utterly unnecessary, but that does not take away from the fact that I absolutely loved my time with The Phantom Pain.

2. Undertale (click below for music - you can thank me later)

Indie darling Undertale might, at first glance, not appear to be game-of-the-year material. Another retro-looking game with not so many pixels, it would be easy to pigeonhole it with the myriad other small, cute indie games you might find on the Steam store. Let me try to explain succinctly what sets this one apart. The core concept is a clever take on turn-based RPG combat. While you have the option to fight and kill random encounter enemies and bosses, there is another way: each enemy can be talked down, or in some way convinced to stop fighting you, at which point you can "spare" them. The game encourages you to pursue these non-violent options, which makes every fight a puzzle rather than a chore. So far so good - but this would not be worthy of such praise without the characters and world Undertale gradually introduces to you. I couldn't bear to spoil it for anyone, but to whet your appetite: there is a skeleton called Papyrus - whose dialogue is all written in the Papyrus font - who you can go on a date with. A date that takes place within the same"battle" mode as any other fight. This is an example of one of the things I like so much about Undertale: the way it works the non-violent battle system into the story, a tale that explores themes of love and friendship and somehow avoids being overly mushy or cliché. The (multiple) endings to the game rank among the best sequences I've seen in any game, a masterpiece of music, visuals and stupendous writing. Undertale is fantastic, and deserves the very highest of praise. Too bad it can't be number 1...

1. Elite: Dangerous

I'm sorry if you expected a surprise at the end of this. My favourite game this year is, no coincidence, the game I have spent the most time with, because it is awesome. There's no need to go into details here, given that I have written at some length about my time with Elite: Dangerous here and here. Navigating the lonely depths of space as I travelled to the centre of the galaxy and back was the highlight of gaming for me this year. Along the way I found a lot of cool space stuff - cool to me, at least! This game has tapped into one of my fantasies, namely exploring the cosmos without those silly Laws of Physics keeping me in the slow lane. It's not a perfect game, it is most certainly a work in progress - the recent addition of planetary landings threatens to suck me back into the void of space - but it is perfect for me. Elite: Dangerous, as far as I am concerned, is the Game of the Year.