Platinum: No

This is hopefully the last of the Kingdom Hearts 1 story retconning, but it definitely ties everything together in a nice and meaningful way. The characters are likeable, the Disney worlds are great, the combat is okay… It was developed for PSP originally so its a lot more simpler, very clunky. But overall, a decent game. Can’t bother with an 80 hour platinum though!

Platinum: No

Mobile app based on collectibe Disney plushes, apparently is all the rage in Japan that appeared in NA recently. The game is severely addicting, if not for the cute Disney character icons but for the interesting super power each character has that manipulates the game board. So much Tsum, much love.

I was very disappointed with this game. Shinji Mikami, one of the minds behind Resident Evil, came up with this game and I just couldn’t get into it. The camera is in your face. The controls are all over. Enemy and level design are boring, cheap OHKOs, mixed story.

Saving grace was Anson Mount as lead voice actor, love this guy. Any chance to hear his voice on the off season of Hell on Wheels is worth it.

Jason Wishnov is a friend of mine who has his own startup studio called Iridium Games. He made a game called Sequence awhile back that was quite excellent. His second smash Kickstarter – There Came An Echo – finally released. Its very awesome! Its entirely voice command strategy gameplay, akin to games like RUSE but much tighter and responsive. It has a fantastic narrative too. As well as art and music. I highly recommend this game to anyone, especially fans of Sequence despite the drastic difference in gameplay (its not at all the same)

Interesting 4v1 game play with several characters per type to choose from. Interesting variation but not enough in my opinion. The game doesn’t feel varied enough and is predictable after a dozen or so matches leaving me wanting so much more. The balance is great though.

Classic game but I don’t remember it being this easy. They made changes, but I’m not sure if those changes were all too smart. Also, time restricted gameplay while unique is still frustrating to deal with. It always feels like I’m against the clock before I have to redo an entire portion of the game for story sake. Mask collecting quests are still a hoot though.

Interesting 2.5D hybrid game that does a pretty good job of being unique while not being…. distracting while doing so I guess. It reminds me of Stryder but with spys and shooting. The idea of having omniscient count downs to game over which are changed based on your failure or lack of attention to either “side” of the war is ingenious in my opinion. It adds an extra bit of variation to the player, and makes constant failure in missions more important.

Pretty fun indie game from the minds behind Bastion. Its got a signature art and music style along with unique game mechanics that make it stand out. However, I didn’t find it gripping or involved enough to finish it through. Maybe I’ll return to this one another time.

Another unique game but this time from Ubisoft. It’s kind of an indie game in that I believe only a small number of people worked on this, and it was a very low key title. It’s a short side scrolling game with a touching story about war. It’s got some really fun elements to it, but also not gripping enough for me to finish it all the way through like Transistor. If I find the time, I’ll go back to this.

This I have mixed feelings about. It’s got fun combat mechanics and story, but because this was a portal PSP game turned HD, its got serious pacing and loading problems. Lots of running around with nothing going on and loading screens. Its gorgeous though! This is one of the craziest HD remasters done. It’s not a remake, nothing gets changed but visuals. And some of the lighting and models are serious eye candy. There are some difficulty problems too, and there is zero hope for me getting the Platinum here.

Originally played on launch in 2013 on the PS3, I got the PS4 version when I started at Rockstar San Diego in 2015 to finish it. Sadly had to restart from the beginning, and simply don’t have the time to get the platinum, but I did finish this. And it was a lot of fun. The characters in this GTA are some of the best in the franchise. I really enjoyed Michael’s development and banter. Visuals are awesome, missions were fulfilling, but the abrupt ending kind of let me down. I suck at driving in this compared to other GTAs too.

Dammit Capcom. These weird attempts at making Resident Evil ‘modern’ is so frustrating. Playing Resident Evil 1 HD was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had in years and then I turn to this to be completely disappointed. It’s just weird and not very fun. The game has little to offer here in story or gameplay. There are the episodic chapters that don’t make much sense because the 1st revelations game was a mobile one. Presumably, this had mobile origins too but they canned it. The co-op is unnecessary, the story is hogwash, visuals are lacking, the gameplay is silly. Zero atmosphere too.

Maybe my own fault but I skipped Blackops 2, had zero interest in 3, but I got it due to the internet pressure that made it seem like this was the game to have when it came out.

It wasn’t. I’ve found so little interest in the singleplayer, the multiplayer is weird compared to other Call of Duty games (its much slower and ‘heavier’, kind of like Killzone but worse?) and it simply wasn’t what I expected. It also doesn’t help that I suck horrendously. I can’t even see where Im being killed from half the time.

I may just need to give this game some more attention in 2016.

I don’t know where to begin or end. This was the most disappointing game of 2015 for me. Horrid story, incomplete game, meh visuals, I hated the gameplay. The praise makes zero sense for me. Maybe the best I can give it is that it gives you your money’s worth in time to see it through to the end, but boy, that was an unnecessary romp for me. I can safely pretend this doesn’t exist in the Metal Gear franchise and that I never played it.

Beautiful, fun multiplayer game that is hindered by lack of content and depth. Everyone has the same weapons, every game plays out the same. Heroes vs Villains mode is a really good time though. I also enjoyed Walker Assault quite a bit.

Really fun, well done PvP game. It can even be done couch co-op which makes for great get togethers. Something so simple done so right is amazing.

One of my most favorite games of 2015. Not only is this game adorable, fun, and done really well – its also educational. The supplemental videos about Alaska Native history and belief system was really fascinating. Great co-op.

Remastered game, but of a really under appreciated one. DMC4 was a really great game that also had really good visuals at the time. They still look good today and I love the gameplay and characters so much still. The new content they add is nothing crazy enough for me to call it a remake, but the price point of like $20 is too good to not pass up.

Pretty fun indie game from the minds behind Bastion. Its got a signature art and music style along with unique game mechanics that make it stand out. However, I didn’t find it gripping or involved enough to finish it through. Maybe I’ll return to this one another time.

Weird free to play PvP 3rd person shooter from Square Enix with vampires vs hunters. Its pretty fun, although kind of shallow in content and mechanics. Everything seems to turns into a ‘slam-all-buttons’ fest, but it has serious potential. Definitely one of the more interesting games I’ve played in 2014-2015. Can’t fight with free either.

Haven’t put a lot of time into this one, but most likely will in the near 2016 future. It’s just as fun as Killing Floor 2, kind of ‘more of the same’ feeling sadly. But, new content did just get released for free which I havent tried just yet. And I hope they’ve changed the difficulty. It was way harder.

I’m not a big Blizzard fan, so forewarning is that I don’t know 1/4 of these characters. It’s a pretty fun Moba that definitely stands out from others. The objectives/maps are interesting, but I have a lot of trouble getting behind the gameplay itself. There is zero ‘comeback’ mechanics, fights don’t pack the ‘punch’ and feedback that League does. After one or two games, it feels like going through the paces. League has 1 map, same objectives, but every game feels uniquely different. Yet this moba with multiple maps and objectives doesn’t.

I swore off this game only to return to it in my darkest hour. And have been addicted to it since again. It’s like a toxic drug I can’t get enough of. It has its absurd moments that make me hate the game and its developers, but when I’m with friends playing casually every day, its so fun and worth the struggles I’ve had with it. I can’t forgive some of the weird design and balance choices the company makes sometimes. Also, forever Silver. I’ve been in Silver->Gold promos about 5 times and I’m in Silver 3 again. Two years in a row. Ranked is awful.

This last game of 2015 may be my personal Game of the Year 2015, so its fitting its last in the list which has been in the order-of-which I’ve been playing kind of throughout the year.

I’ve been really looking forward to this since working at Ubisoft MTL and thankfully never had the chance to play it while I was there. This has been the most refreshing FPS experience in years. It’s so uniquely fun and is the most next-gen game yet. The destruction and multifloored maps, along with the really well designed operator/champion/hero/moba-style’d player abilities are so well done that I have to give this game a huge nod and tip of the hat.

I can’t get enough of it even despite some serious technical issues that kind of sullied the game’s launch, in a typical Ubisoft fashion sadly. But that hasn’t dettered me and a lot of people from really appreciating it. On PC at least, I’ve encountered some really friendly and cooperative people even in the game’s ‘casual’ mode just playing the game normally. It’s really a blast when you get a team of 5 people that you repeatedly play games with, and are bummed when even one of them have to leave. That’s when you know a game is really good. I’ll continue to play this into 2016 with open arms.