2015 Game of the Year

So, this list isn’t a list of my favorite games that released in 2015… this is a list of my favorite games I played this year. Some are old games that I just finally got around to, some are new games.

Want to know who won in other years? Here’s the 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, and 2013 list.

2015 is THE YEAR OF TOOLS AND TOYS!

This past year in gaming has been about giving players fun tools and toys, both in the physical sense and as in in-game items. Batman got a Batmobile. Mario got a level creator. Fallout got buildable settlements. Nintendo made a million amiibos.

So, without further ado, my 2015 list of favorite plays (in no particular order):

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 was my first Witcher game (although I attempted to play 2, but it wouldn’t run on my Mac). I got it for PS4 because I had a gut feeling it would be amazing (and it was). I completed EVERY mission in the game (that I could find, I suppose I might have missed one). It was the perfect time suck I needed during some months of hard work I’ve had over this past year at my job. The storytelling was phenomenal and the first DLC expansion was fantastic. MORE THOUGHTS BY ME ON THIS GAME HERE!

Super Mario Maker

SMM was great. I made so many custom level, it’s not even funny (check some out here!). I even made a Hogwarts recreation. I loved playing my friends levels and getting feedback on Miiverse. Truly, this is a Mario fan’s dream come true. I hope that there is more DLC soon! Check out a showcase of level I've made here!

Batman: Arkham Knight

I have a half-finished Batman review, I plan to release in 2016! I LOVED this game. The Joker has never been better than he is inside Batman’s head. I loved the new tools, the tank, and the story. The moment where you enter the Clocktower to find Oracle is one of the best moments I’ve ever seen in all of gaming. The programmers did something that blew my mind. MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS GAME HERE!

Splatoon

Here’s another game I have a half-finished review of. I loved this quirky little game, although I wish it weren’t so withholding of levels. It drives me a little nuts to only be able to play 2 levels at a time. But the game is fresh, as Nintendo claimed, and it’s a welcome new IP. 

Amiibo

This isn’t a game, per say. Honestly, I’ve barely used the figures I’ve collected in the games. I just love Smash Brothers so much, that these small statues are wonderful to own and set on my desk. Hunting down these things began in November of 2014, but the real hunt began the next year, as these figures became so scarce that people were lining up in front of stores at early times in the morning just to get them. The “game” of hunting amiibos became a hobby of mine, and I’ll admit that going after these was almost as fun as owning them. Check out my Ice Climbers amiibo here!

Honorable mentions: (still just games I played in 2015, not necessarily released)

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature – On my final stretch before Fallout 4’s release, I needed a semi-RPG with building-elements to tide me over, and this game did wonders for me.

Donkey Kong 64 – The people who made Banjo-Kazooie began a crazy kickstarter to fund a spiritual successer. It made me want to play a Rare game, and being that I don’t own an Xbox, I settled for this. I didn’t beat it, but it was fun for what it was worth.

Telltale’s Game of Thrones – I beat the first season, because I love A Song of Ice and Fire so much. It was fun, but the choices I made didn’t seem to matter and I don’t think I’ll be playing season 2.

Mewtwo DLC in Smash Bros. – Revisiting Smash was fun mostly because Mewtwo returned. As a displaced Ice Climbers player, I just couldn’t find a new main until Mewtwo. Now, whenever I play online 1v1 for glory, I tend to play Mewtwo, ROB, and Ludwig Koopa.
Batman: Arkham Asylum – After beating Arkham Knight, I went back and played this one for the first time. It actually held up really well! Great game!

Fallout Shelter – I played this until it crashed my phone. Haha, my phone just couldn’t handle my Vault when it got too big. I loved what I played though, so maybe I’ll play more if I get a new device.
Gwent – This side-game in Witcher 3 deserves its own recognition. I oftentimes only got on to play Witcher 3 just so I could find people to play Gwent with. This card game is fantastic, and I wish they’d made an online-enabled version of it with new cards.

The Oxyborb Blog Game Of The Year for 2015

Fallout 4 Bethesda Games Studios is the best developer in the world, in my humble opinion. Yes, their games crash, but no other developer even attempts to do what Bethesda does. The Witcher was a close second, but I prefer Fallout's gameplay. Fallout 4 is my favorite game of all-time, just as Skyrim was before it. I can’t explain what great feeling Bethesda RPGs give me. I cannot wait for the newly announced DLC.

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So, I guess that’s it for 2014. Thanks for a great year on my blog! Let me know what you think in the comments, in fact, tell me what your personal GOTY was!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!
UNRAVELSPACE UNRAVELTIME

10 Questions

So, this was one of those Liebster Awards, but I already did one, so I’m just going to answer the ten questions that my nominator, Emily June Street (Twitter), wrote for her victims:

1) What was your dream career when you were a kid?

I wanted to build robots. Short Circuit was my favorite movie. I used to build little Johnny 5s out of Legos. Even when I grew older, I still loved to consume media like I, Robot and Battle Bots (which was a TV show pitting real robots people built in a fighting arena). I went for an English degree, but if an engineer came over and asked if I’d like to spend a day in his robotics lab, I would go without question.

2) What is one physical activity you want to do before you die?

I want to go skiing. I have never been. I almost went this month, but then everyone backed out on me.

3) What is your favorite trip or vacation you’ve ever done, and why?

When I was 10, my mother took me to Disney World in Florida. I know that isn’t as grand as some of the places I’ve gone, but I was ten and I ate Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles every morning and swam in the water-park every night. That might have been one of the best weeks of my life. 

4) Do you dance?

Yes. I was a part of a show choir in HS, so I danced them. I like dancing, except at weddings. I guess that’s my one pet peeve. I think weddings are stupid and predictable, and the music is always awful. Maybe I’m just jaded for some odd reason…

5) Editing or drafting?

It’s all good to me.

6) Your favorite myth or fairy-tale and why?

Fairy tales and myths kind of bore me, so instead I’ll answer Jules Verne. Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days were my favorite childhood stories, and they were the closest things I had to myths growing up.

7) Where (and when) did you grow up and how do you think it shaped you?

Belleville, IL. My shape came from two places: a theatre group and the local band scene. I used to perform as a singer/guitarist for a few bands (check it out). I wrote almost every song that I played during that time, and that is how I became interesting in writing/composition. One revelation I had was that I’m great at composing, and not just music, but art. I can see how small aspects form together to create big ones, which is why I’m trying to become a novelist. I think most people say that they have a great attention to detail, but I consider myself a big picture guy. I see a scope of details that will become a finished product.

My theatre background is what shaped my personality. I think I learned more social skills backstage than anywhere else. I did a group that wrote, practiced, and performed plays in a 24 hour period in a big festival of sorts. I might be getting back into that soon, actually. When I do that, I always direct.

8) You have $100 that you must spend on yourself by the end of the day. What do you buy?

A drawing pad and a set of Faber-Castell art pens, any remainder on coffee beans.

9) Pick any three objects or people to be stranded with you in a lost space ship.

Michael Phelps
A saddle
a gold medal strung to the end of a stick

OK, so that’s actually what to bring when stranded on an island… (but I love repeating that joke (I did not write it)).

Assuming I cannot pick objects that can send me home (teleporter, a satellite beacon for messages, etc.) and that I am not in immediate need of life support (such as food or air), I would pick… a loaded Kindle, a computer with Skyrim, Minecraft, and Microsoft Word installed (to get my mind off the ship), and a piano.

10) What’s your favorite piece of music and why?

Incubus is so much more than the few songs that have been on the radio. The song I picked is just like me… mellow, forward thinking, and weird. Also, I sometimes accidentally make it rain frogs.

11) Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Both, equally. I write a rough plot, and then allow my characters to do whatever they want. I don’t stick to my plotting. I often rewrite the plotting to accommodate for characters that decided to invent themselves along the way or spots where my leads took a wrong turn. The plotting is a mental activity, not a roadmap.   

Thanks again to Emily June Street! She’s awesome, so go check out her blog!

pic unrelated; I just drew this recently