14. Her Story (PC)



This is one of those games that the less you know about it the better but it's only a couple hours long and well worth it. The core of it is you are an investigator sitting in front of an old computer watching police interview clips trying to figure out some answers. You can't just pull up all of the clips at once. The only way to watch a clip is to use a searchword and then it will pull up up to 5 clips for you to watch. In the original clip you hear some names and locations and that starts your search (recommended you play with a notebook to write on).

The acting performance by Viva Seifert who is in the clips is really well done and if her performance wasn't great the whole thing would have fell apart. This game sucked me in and I was engrossed for the couple hours it took to play through it. There were a couple times I got stuck and couldn't figure out a word to find something new but that was less the games fault and more my poor detective work. Highly recommended.

13. The Fall (PS4)



The Fall is a puzzler with some metroidvania and Limbo mixed in. It's got a great look and an interesting sci-fi plot. The voice acting is strong and it has a good mix of platforming, exploring and action sequences. It's only a couple hours long (it was made by one person) but well worth it.

12. Soma (PS4)



Soma is a first person sci-fi/horror game made by Frictional Games (the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent). The atmosphere in this game is amazing and the writing is top notch with a plot about AI and what makes someone human that actually had me pondering some of its questions after the game was over. If I had to describe it to someone it's like a more exploration focused underwater Dead Space. There are monsters in the game but no combat requiring stealth instead to avoid them. I'm generally not a stealth fan and those parts were my least favorite parts of the game but they weren't too difficult. I was just more into the exploring and enjoying the story. It's actually quite long also. I was expecting a 5-6 hour game and I think it took me around 12 or so hours to complete.

Great job so far. Enjoying this thread.

You've got a long way to go!

I wanted to check out Her Story, heard a lot about it.

Which Monday?

Sorry work got in the way. I'll put up some more tonight once I get home.

On another forum, Questyen had a thread where he reviewed all of the Wu Tang Clan albums. So when I saw this thread I wasn't surprised, and I also knew it would be worth having around, since homie is pretty good at these kinds of things.

I want to play Soma, but I feel like that game would really show how much of a chicken I am.

11. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4)



These type of games (first person exploration) are not for everyone but I fucking love them. Especially one's as well done as this. You play as a paranormal investigator who goes to a small town to help a young fan who sent him a letter requesting assistance. The main crux of the gameplay is exploring and solving various crimes by using your paranormal abilities. The game looks beautiful and the story sucked me in. It's a tight 4-5 hour experience and it doesn't overstay its welcome.

10. Grow Home (PS4)



Grow Home is a 3D platformer where you control a robot who is trying to grow "beanstalks" up to the sky to "grow home". The controls are the part that most people seem to get hung up on but after about 10 minutes or so I got used to the use of the triggers to control each of his arms which you use to climb the stalks. Early on you are fighting the controls but once you start getting farther in you start seeing how necessary they are and you're moving B.U.D. like a pro. It's got your usual platformer mainstays like collectibles, side areas and powerups and once you start unlocking items like gliders and parachutes I had a ton of fun just flying around looking for hidden stuff. The plot and B.U.D. are adorable and the minimalist art style works well with the game and its mechanics but if you're a grinch like Decker you might want to steer clear.

I hate that game so fucking much!

Grow Home. Trailer looked promising. I voted for it. I played it. I'm sorry.

I tried so hard to like Grow Home..but it made me sick when I played it.

Same here. I get how some could like it but it definitely wasn't my cup of tea.

Grow Home is a game I actually enjoyed playing, but had no desire to finish.

9. Contradiction: Spot the Liar! (PC)



I was not a PC gamer growing up so I don't have any nostalgia for FMV games. Contradiction is a fully full motion video game where you play a kooky "Doctor" like detective trying to solve a murder while also dealing with a cult group as you go. The core gameplay is you interrogating people and trying to find "contradictions" and catch them lying. Like Her Story if the acting didn't work then this would be a failure but it's over the top enough in just the right way especially with the lead character that it helps keep you engaged throughout. It's got some problems: I got stuck quite a few times and had to use the hint system, sometimes you have to just travel to all the different locations to get a scene to pop that the game doesn't explain or make clear why you need to go there but the good far outweighed the bad. If you like games like Phoenix Wright then this might be up your alley.

8. Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4)



I'm a big fan of Rocksteady's Arkham series. I've really enjoyed all of them with Asylum still being my favorite. If you've played other games in the series especially Arkham City then you know what you're getting here. The combat makes you feel like a badass when you're pulling off crazy combos and soaring around the city feels and looks great. The big addition is the Batmobile which I know a lot of people had trouble with, I don't play racing games but I quickly got a handle on its controls and never had any issues with getting it to do what I wanted it to. The main storyline isn't anything special but some of the side villain stuff was interesting and well worth searching out. I love collectibles so this series hooks me in that regard and I'm one of the few people who love getting all the Riddler trophies.

7. Undertale (PC)



Undertale has become a sort of phenomenon but please don't let that stop you from playing it because it's a fantastic game. It's most obvious influence is Earthbound but it makes some neat changes to the JRPG format. The big one which is the most talked about is that you can play through the whole game without fighting any enemies. Basically when you "battle" a monster you are given options for "attack" or other choices where you can try to help the monster or understand him. When you try to "befriend" a monster instead of combat you control a heart in this little "bullet hell" box that changes depending on the monster you are fighting. It's hard to explain but really fun to play and challenging the farther you get in the game. The characters and look of the game are amazing and you get really invested in the characters as the game goes on. It has one of the most engaging RPG storylines I've experienced in a long time with a lot of sadness and humor. The game is only around 8 or so hours long but to experience the whole thing you need to play through it a second time (you get new stuff that happens along the way and hours of new important story stuff). On your second playthrough is where you decide to do a "pacifist" or "genocide" run (the first run requires you to fight a couple enemies) and I started it immediately after I finished the first run I was so hooked.

This is another of those games where the less you know about it the better but I highly recommend the experience.

6. Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)



I'm a big fan of Nintendo platformers (2D especially) and this is one of the best ones they've released in years. Its got that great Nintendo combination of being easy if you just want to run through the levels and being really challenging if you want to get 100% on everything. I got 100% completion on all the regular levels but those special levels were too tough for me. The game looks as good as a Nintendo game has ever looked with a great art style and perfect controls. It's not a big thing since they all control the same but I liked how on every single level you can unlock a different Yoshi (Painty Yoshi being my favorite) if you get all the wool bundles. I feel sad that **spoiler alert** this is the only Nintendo game on my list but it's a great one.

We have been saving that one for Christmas (along with mega yarn Yoshi), so I'm glad to hear it's good.

Wow Batman: AC is too high!

But great list. A lot of variety too.

Hey, it's two spots higher than Grow Home, which seems like an appropriate ranking for any 2015 game not named "Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5".

I'm really interested in Undertale, keep hearing great things about it.

The Fall which is #13 on my list is on sale for like $4 on PSN right now if anyone is interested.

It really is excellent. Well worth $7.99 IMHO.