Top Ten Games I Played in 2015

So how's 2016 treating ya. Me, decent so far. Not enough of that crap let's have a countdown! 2015 was great year for me terms of gaming, I got a bunch of games, as well as getting a new PSN account for my PS3, a 2DS, and WII U! Around this time of year countdown makers on Youtube make lists of the best games they played in the previous year so I wanna take a chance at it. As with the case of these type of lists there's one important rule: The games I played didn't have to come out on 2015 just that I had to play it for the first time. With that said let the games begin!

10 - Persona 3
In the 2014 Persona 4 was one of my favorite games I played that year so much so that after beating it I got the spin-off/sequel Persona 4 Arena which introduced me to some of the Persona 3 cast getting me interested in their game. And thanks to the PSN having it for a good price I was able to get it. In the game you play the new kid at Gekkoukan High School and not long after the semester starts you find out that the school at midnight turns into a labyrinth tower called Tartraus that produces the Dark Hour which brings out monsters called shadows and people turn into coffins. Your character is one of few people who isn't turned into a coffin and has the power to wield a Persona to fight the shadows, joins a group called S.E.E.S work to bring an end to Tartarus and the Dark Hour. Admittedly it's one game on the list I haven't beat yet mainly because Persona games are a bit a time sink, between exploring the massive dungeon that is Tartarus, level grinding, attending school in game, and working on social links, not to mention playing other games and having a job in real life. Gameplay it's JRPG where you can encounter enemies in the dungeon with no random encounters, being ale to strike them and get an advantage in battle and you can use elemental weakness on enemies to knock them out and get more turns in battle, however enemies can the all those things you as well. One thing I like over Persona 4 is that Dark Hours takes places at night meaning to you can do more in a day than just exploring Tartarus a oppose to the TV World in P4 that you had to do during the afternoon and couldn't do anything at night after exploring. On the other hand, there some design choices really hold this game back for me: First of all your teammates are controlled by AI, while some like Rabbidluigi says that this makes it feel like your more part of a real team there were some occasions in important encounters where my teammates think that they can't do anything when there's plenty they could do if I had complete control of them. Second all characters have health status where too much time fighting get them exhausted and potentially sick so you will have to stop what you're doing and leave the dungeon so they can rest and they'll wouldn't be able to go back to Tartarus the following night. And finally while exploring you could run into Death who can instanta-kill you and undo any progress you made, no helping that there are ways to forcefully ensure you run into Death. Both these problems feel like the game punishes you for level grinding to make you characters stronger, and level grinding in turn-based rpgs isn't exactly popular amongst gamers. But I can look past a lot of these problems for the characters, so far I enjoy my teammates, as well as the people you interact with to build social links to improve you ability to make strong Personas, they not just a means of make your character stronger but feel like real people with their own goals and problems and talking with them to help them out feels rewarding. I am looking forward to beating this game and seeing the rest it has to offer, hopefully before Persona 5 comes out later this year.

9 - Child of Light
The second and last RPG on this list. Child of Light is about Princess Aurora, who feels into a deep sleep after her father remarries waking to the land of Lemuria and is soon tasked with reclaiming the stars, moon, and sun from the queen of the Umbra. Battles are an active time systems where combatants go across a bar to perform an action, being able speed up themselves, and slow down or interrupt enemies. And despite only having two party members in every battle you can switch freely and doesn't take up your turn like most other rpgs. If I say just say this game is freaking beautiful, the art style truly feels like your playing a fairy tale and music does a great job enhancing that feeling. However, the fairy tale style the fairy tale style the game goes for leads to the plot being a bit predictable in the big reveal, and it's kinda bare for a rpg because there isn't a lot of characters to interact with out of recruitable party members, one of which I managed to miss getting. And that also means it's not too long, the only reason I didn't beat it until a few weeks ago was again I was playing a bunch of other games so play sessions with this were short and infrequent. However if you are looking for an enjoyable and short rpg that won't take a good while to beat this a great choice.

8 - Super Mario Maker
I know this is a bit controversial choice putting this game so low, truthfully I've haven't played many Mario games since last year, and even then I'm more into the 3D games than the 2D ones since I had more fun with 3D Land and 3D World than SMB 3 and SM Land 2. However, I have to give credit to this game from what it means, this games will people years of fun with all the levels being made to this day, from crazy hard, auto, music, and even some unusual quizzes, and everything in between. I've have some good fun with the levels I've play and the ones I made, which I sure try posting a journal on for the codes so any of can enjoy them. Plus, it's just fun to see people like Markiplier and the Game Grumps go nuts playing the crazy hard levels. I can consider myself a true Mario fan now, and I'm looking forward to playing the likes of the Galaxy games and the RPGs.

7 - Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Shantae has in two years become one of my favorite franchises. I love the upbeat and humorous tone the world has alongside some great 2D platforming gameplay as the belly-dancing, hair whipping half-genie Shantae herself. In the third game of this series Shantae has to work with her nemesis Risky Boots to try and stop her former boss the Pirate Master from resurrecting, taking them across different islands with their own theme and methods of getting to the dungeons in them. While Shantae doesn't have her animal transformations like she did in the previous games because spoilers she now uses Risky's pirate gear to give different attacks and ways of getting around. This game gives us a bunch of fun character interactions and boss battles, two things the previous felt a bit lacking in. But one thing that's been a constant in this game like the previous ones is the soundtrack, seriously if you've never heard any of Jake Kaufman's music, give the music in this game listen, it's atmospheric and head-boppingly catchy. If I have any complaints is that this game added knock-back, something that wasn't in the previous games and the knock-back can send Shantae flying back far, making platforming a pain at time. Also some of the levels gimmicks of some islands can be pain, particularly the final level. But, with the next game Half-Genie Hero coming out this year, I'm looking forward to more adventures with this cute and badass heroine.

6 - Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Here's a series I gained an interest in after hearing youtubers The Son of Sparda and ExoParadigmGamer talk about how much they love this series, particularly this game and one of their favorite games ever. I got this one when a used game store I frequent had a buy two get one free and I got this one as the freebie, and while one of the other store locations had the other PS2 R&C games so I could play they all in order the one I got mine from had Pokemon Platinum and Metroid Prime (Which I still need to play.) Anyway this game is quite a blast, both figuratively and literally. Going around different worlds blasting enemies all over with all kinds of guns is so much fun to do. And while the game does have it's challenge the RPG elements giving you health boosts and gun upgrades kept me going. What else kept me going was the characters and humor, most of the cutscenes bring a lot of laughs and the characters are really well written. All except Captain Qwaurk, I know the two I mentioned said that this game made them enjoy this character but I couldn't behind this guy. On the other hand I agree with any praise for Dr. Nefarious, this is one of the greatest villains in gaming with his over the top attitude, butler Lawerence, being a genuine threat, and his moments of slipping up. I'm gonna some fun when I get the other games in the series, especially since I got Tools of Destruction on standby. Man, I keep ending entries talking about games I wanna play this year.

5 - Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
So I tried the beat'em-up genre I bit last year, I couldn't get into Final Fight, Devil May Cry 4 was pretty good (well namely the Nero half), but it was the musou-stlye games I had the most fun, first being Dynasty Warriors with it's over-the-top anime-like take Chinese history, fast-paced and enpowering combat, and that sweet rock and roll soundtrack and then I got Capcom's take on Dynasty Warriors. Yeah, Sengoku Basara is Dynasty Warriors with slightly different combo commands and Japanese history to make like an anime, heck it even has it's own anime. SB manages to outdo DW in over-the-top with the character designs like a psychotic monk, a pirate swing a huge-ass anchor, and freaking mech suit! You take control of different warriors with multiple campaigns going through different stages. Admittedly I've only played with 5 characters, three of them I've twice. And while the game can be repetitive with it's button-mashing and going through a lot of the same stages over and over again but man it's fun just hacking through hordes of soldiers and racking up high scores in the hundreds and possible thousands. And since I've got other characters I still to play as there's plenty for me to come back to.

4 - Mega Man X
Do I really need to say why this game is on here it's Mega Man Freaking X, one of the most talked about game on the internet. My play sessions with this have been a a lot fun in short bursts of jumping a shooting. 2D Mega man have any been a love/hate thing for me because of the difficulty, I haven't had the most fun with MM ( and 10 recently, but this along with MM 2 are probably the the better balanced. As such I can't think of many problem most other games I've played in the series, well except that God forsaken jump in Flame Mammoth's stage to get the arm parts, seriously I have never made that jump no matter how many times I've played, I even have to get the arm parts from Zero or use a cheat code. But yeah, aside from that it's fun game and if you all probably know that.

3 - Okami
While I don't show it a lot I enjoy Japanese mythology and Okami brings that with an awesome art style and Legend of Zelda like gameplay. You play as Amaterastu, the wolf goddess of the sun who is revived after darkness returns to terrorize the world of ancient Japan. Paired up with bite-sized artist Issun Ammy goes out to defeat the forces of darkness and reclaim her brushstroke techniques. Like Child of Light part of this game's appeal is the superb presentation, the painting style presentation combined with cel-shading gives this game a style all it's own along with a wonderful soundtrack, honestly Sunrise is one of my favorite tracks in all gaming. While the platforming can be frustrating at times, namely Nine Tails's castle, using Ammy's brushstrokes techniques in and out of battle makes up for it. I mean you control the elements, slow down time and bring the Sun and Moon out and bunch of other things, it makes Ammy and very fun character to play as you go through the world. Granted in has it's problems in the mentioned platforming, brush strokes performing the power I didn't want, and it's well-known recycling of levels and bosses. It may not be a masterpiece, but it's still a great work of act.

2 - Super Smash Bros Wii U
Took me long enough to get into this series. As someone who isn't big on fighting games Smash Bros is heck of a time. It's easy to get into and and the fighting delivers crazy Nintendo violence with many of it's all stars and even those of other companies, with the likes of Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, and of all characters Cloud from Final Fantasy 7, and of course Nintendo themselves brought some great new faces with likes of Rosalina, Greninja, and Shulk. So many of these bring their own kinds of hurt and the items just add, and the final smashes are the cherry on top. If I have any complaints I hate most of the stage hazards as they can screw me over and cost a me a match or a run in classic/all-star mode and it's infuriating to lose to the stage and not an opponent. I also hate the smash ball, I swear I can hit the thing a dozen times and get nothing but an opponent can hit it once and get it to work. But Smash Bros is still a great game for the Wii U alone or with friends. If fact with you follow RVT's youtube channel I've been in almost every Smash Bros Game Night since I got the game, so I can see me fighting then and in future game nights.

Before get to number 1 let's see some honorable mentions: Hyperdimension Neptunia, Mega Man x4 & ZX, Super Mario 3D Land & World, Ducktales Remastered, Adventures of Pip, Freedom Planet, Dynasty Warriors 7, and Beyond Good & Evil.

1 - Splatoon
Leaving to Nintendo to take the worn out shooter genre and freshen it up. (Realizes the pun) Dang it. But only a couple of hours playing Splatoon on Christmas I was hooked, so many times I thougth just one more game but I'd keep going. The use of ink mixes things up with matches being about stuff like covering areas up instead of just shooting people and swimming around as squid as well unique weapons go with it. The world of Splatoon is a unique one that adds to Nintendo's roster pretty and hey even has fun story mode. Nintendo pushed this new IP and it paid off giving the Wii U another solid title for people to enjoy. It's gonna game I'll be enjoying for a long time, at least until a new one comes out which will be hopefully be on the NX, and it's my number game of 2015.

I'm HyperForceGo and here's another new year of gaming.