Shawn, also known as Popcans or ILikePopcans in some circles is our resident knowledge man on the Is It Moe? podcast as well as occasional guest on the ROMscast. Odds are he is playing video games or deciding which animes you should be watching and which you should avoid, all while stuck behind a train. Catch him on the social medias @ILikePopcans or through his vine series here. Here is what he wrote for his favourite video games in 2015…
2015 was a disappointing year in all as I continue to have less interest in playing video games and have fewer games I’m anticipated for. The game I was looking forward to this year also turned out to be pretty disappointing. However there were enough games that I enjoyed to make this an average gaming year for me.
First lets start with…
A GAME I DID NOT LIKE FROM 2015
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a terrible game with terrible controls, infuriating combat and bad checkpoints with uninspired stealth to boot. It has a distinct look but otherwise I hated everything else associated with this game. Stick to Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery for your 2D AC needs.
And Now On to my list!
10. Costume Quest 2
While Costume Quest 2 did not technically come out this year and I played it a few weeks after Halloween (whoops) I am adding it to the list so try and stop me. Costume Quest 2 continues the cute adventure/turn-based strategy with the twins from the first game needing to save Halloween from an evil dentist with time travel. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds and while the combat is still never challenging, the game charm and cuteness shines bright and keeps the smile on my face while playing throughout.
9. Bladestorm: Nightmare
Bladestorm: Nightmare is a quasi sequel/remake to a game from last gen and is pretty much Dynasty Warriors set in Japanese viewed Europe. The game does right by having strategy to the button mashing by allowing you to decide how to split up your squads and deciding who should attack or defend and where. Also the game adds a fantasy campaign that allows you to ride dragons and trolls and Joan of Arc is possessed by a demon and wears a revealing outfit and it’s all silly fun.
8. Galak-Z
Galak-Z is my most disappointing game of the year. Yet it still gets enough right to be on my list (and also cause I barely played 10 games from this year.) Galak-Z is a space shooter roguelike. First off, the game doesn’t have a good roguelike structure because it does a poor job encouraging the player to play anymore after beating the last season. I also found the game to be way too easy personally, with me dying around once in season 3 and 4, and 1/5 of the game that was promised a few months after release is still not out which makes me feel cheated. Also the story is nonexistent, characters are 1 dimensional, and the script is terrible; the style and look of the game makes up for that fortunately. I really, really wanted to like the game more with it being compared to the likes of the first Halo AI, but sadly it just did not do it.
7. Omega Quintet
Omega Quintet is an anime game that I played. It has idols that need to idol it up to keep the people safe from monsters. The combat is turn-based strategy and is generally bland.
There is not enough visual novel moments of the idols talking and being great. It takes way to much effort to get the good ending. Yet the idols do a concert and it’s the best. Also there are a few twists in the story that makes it surprisingly decent. I hope there is more cause I really do not want to venture into the dark path aka the Hyperdimension Neptunia games.
6. Hero’s of the Storm
Hero’s of the Storm is the latest* game in the hottest** genre around, mobas. HOTS won’t be taking down the two juggernauts in the field anytime ever, but it does do things differently by keeping the matches short and the barriers to entry much much lower compared to Defense of the Ancients 2. However this does tends to mean you will know who is going to win within 5 minutes of a match, with very few upsets happening in all the matches I have played. Yet any reason to play a game with the internet friends is a good one.
*That Witcher moba or the SNK one is probably newer.
**Wait this just in, those FPS MOBAs are the new hotness around, just today 3 new games in that genre were announced.
5. Box Boy
I probably would not have played Box Boy, let alone it being on this list if it wasn’t for how cool it looks. Puzzle games are never my forte and it’s much harder for me to enjoy one, but if a game keeps me smiling with amazing idle animations and costumes and great music then I do not mind playing you, game. Also the puzzle part is good too I guess.
4. Life Is Strange
Life Is Strange is a unique one. Probably the most budgeted “walking simulator” (with all the quotes around that phrase) it tries to tell the story of two childhood friends getting back together after being apart for 4 years to solve a missing person mystery with the help of time powers. While the game has a metric ton of rough edges and trouble child Chloe is a walking annoyance and just sucks, Max is a pretty cool character and I still enjoy seeing the big twist and how the game ends.
3. Destiny: The Taken King
The Taken King, the first big expansion to Destiny came and improved the game in many ways. Even though their efforts to improve the story and characters don’t do much in my mind in making it anywhere near good, TTK adds a good amount of content to the game and makes the content unpredictable with more coming out weeks after the game came out. Also like HOTS, any reason that allows me to play with my internet friends is a good one.
2. Fallout 4
Fallout 4 needs no explanation of course, the long awaited hyped sequel from Bethesda. What Fallout 3 does well, Fallout 4 does just as well. The world is big, there’s a lot to do, and you can do it however you want. Thankfully since I have been playing FO4 while not working at the time, I can lose myself in the world, build my settlements with crazy metal bases where I store all my comics and games and such. However if I did not have as much time on my hands as I do then I would find the lack of focus these games have as a major complaint. Even after playing over a hundred hours I’m still only halfway in the main quest. Finding my son should be something I prioritize, but sadly I view the main quests as any other quest.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrdEeSBMU9I&w=560&h=315]1. Dying Light
Dying Light, the newest game from Techland, and I’m happy to report the game is coming from good Techland. Probably the best game from Techland at that too, Gunslinger being close, but that’s besides the point. Dying Light is the spiritual successor to the Dead Island (with Dead Island 2 still slated to come out, probably [maybe]) and has everything Dead Island has, but does it all just better, way better. The combat is still the same, using melee weapons to hit the zombies in the face, but by having improved crafting mechanics and constantly getting better weapons makes the combat refreshing each time. Now fighting humans with melee is where the combat is more rewarding than completing most quests. Sadly after guns are introduced and there is a plethora of ammo, the combat gets samey because the guns actually do their job in this game and kill when shooting something in the head. The one thing this game does that Dead Island did not is the parkour. When moving to and from quests is just as, if not more fun as well as the combat and climbing the Ubisoft®-esque towers is terrifying yet exhilarating, you know something is done right. Moving around gets even more fun and silly when halfway in you get a grappling hook that works probably too well. One more thing is the superb voice acting, where the main character feels like a character instead of the thing you control, mostly due to how well the voice acting is.
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