5. Her Story
Her Story provided a poignant and heartbreaking story in such a small form. Coming from Silent Hill: Shatted Memories director, Sam Barlow, it really hit me hard. I highly recommend this game along with Shattered Memories as they are both similar and both great games.
4. Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Maker is an incredibly fun game that really brought a nostalgia trip onto me. I loved playing Super Mario World with my dad growing up and to experience that classic 16 bit experience with a new level each time really brings me back. If you have a WiiU, this is a must play game. It's nintendo finally bringing Mario back to it's roots.
3. Hellboy 3 Pinball
With Hellboy 3 never happening, Guillermo Del Toro opted for a new medium to show his grand story. And what better medium to present the long awaited Hellboy 3 than in Pinball! Hellboy 3:Pinball marked one of the best moments of the Hellboy series as you knocked that pinball around using Hellboy's horns as paddles. Not only did Hellboy 3 deliver as a game, it delivered as a worthy finale to the film series.
2. Fallout 4
Haha just kidding. Once again after Skyrim, Bethesda refuses to adapt any modern technology to their games. Using their garbage engine from 1997, they refuse to innovate in graphical fidelity, immersion, or basic character models. It's honestly appalling a billion dollar company like Bethesda can't produce a great looking game with basic lighting effects when smaller companies like CD Projekt Red produce much more detailed worlds.
It's honestly disappointing that Bethesda doesn't innovate their games as they clearly have the assets to. Continuing the bad streak of immersionless, last-gen graphics, innovationless games, Bethesda fails to deliver yet again.
Not to say I didn't like the game, but I feel not enough people are speaking of the negatives of the game. It's still a solid 6/10 game.
1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid V is a masterpiece in stealth gameplay and one of the best installments of the Metal Gear series. I like to equate it to something like Final Crisis - A good story but you need an encyclopedic knowledge of the universe to enjoy. The game grabbed me like no other game has with some missions like "Shining Knights" which I consider one of the best gameplay moments of any game of the past 5 years.
Many people like to bash the cassette tapes but I feel as if it was a successor to the codec system, allowing you to actually play the game while listening to the exposition. The tape of Zero visiting Jack in the hospital was a great moment completely changing the meaning of the war.
The soundtrack for this game is also absolutely phenomenal. It's original songs such as 'Behind the Drapery' or 'A Phantom Pain' capture the 80's tone really well. The soundtrack has seemingly been overlooked for the most part but it has some really standout tunes in it.
One thing the game relied upon was it's central themes, such as War or Revenge. I really enjoyed how V stook close to it's themes to the end. For example, even after Diamond Dogs gets "revenge" on Skullface it leaves a hollow feeling inside, showing the flipside of what revenge is.
One of my favorite things of the game is how small it seems but how large it really is. Skullface was always the "Shadow without a past" but at the same time he shaped the Metal Gear Universe in a way. Through his last acts, he caused what would become the future war economy and the Patriots AI.
I feel as if this game was less about making a bang in the end than it was creating some great moments in the end. The performances by Robin Atkin Downes and Kiefer Sutherland are truly incredible and really tie the game together. Even Time Winters as Zero who never shows up in person in the game gives a phenomenal performance. Even smaller performances like Tara Strong as Paz leave a lasting mark on you.
And that's really the point of V. It was never meant to be the groundbreaking grand finale. It's instead a smaller character's tragic story inside the Metal Gear universe. And that's why I love it so much.