MANILA, Philippines – Ah, 2015. What a great year to be a gamer.

There were a lot of creative new titles this year, as well as new instalments for classic franchises, that gamers had waited for so long to arrive.

As this amazing year comes to an end, let’s look back at some of the best games 2015 had to offer. Here are our most noteworthy picks, in no particular order:

Bloodborne

Hidetaka Miyazaki did it again. Much like his Souls series, From Software’s new action role-playing video game, Bloodborne, proved difficult to overcome – a trait which is touted as both its biggest appeal and snag. Nonetheless, Bloodborne fails not in keeping your blood boiling and adrenaline pumping throughout the game. 

Rappler Gaming League contributor Michaela Nadine Pacis in her review of Bloodborne wrote, ‘Your progress may be excruciatingly slow, but almost every aspect of Bloodborne – the deadly rapid action, the dreaded atmosphere, the disturbing boss designs, and even the haunting soundtrack – brings together an experience that makes it well worth the struggle.’

Her Story 

Her Story is a video game from Sam Barlow, the creator of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Aisle, and performed by Viva Seifert. Rappler’s Tech Editor Victor Barreiro Jr. called it a piece of interactive storytelling.

In the game, you have to solve the case of a missing man by sifting through troves of video clips taken from the year 1994 from a single case: real-life interviews of her wife. These clips are not sorted and you need specific keywords to get them. You start with one keyword: MURDER, and it will pull in a number of videos. From her interviews, you need to find the next keyword for even more videos and mysteries.

“It was weird. It was irresistible. It was also willing to shake you down to your core and leave you unsettled, unless you uncover everything,” wrote Victor in his review.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 

It goes without saying that this would make the list of top 2015 games. Hideo Kojima’s widely popular Metal Gear series reached a whole new level of greatness in its fifth and final instalment, the first in the series to use an open world gameplay.

The Phantom Pain had to go through a lengthy and bumpy ride before finally getting released – after a widely publicized dispute between Kojima and the Konami, the game’s publisher.

Nonetheless, the game exceeded expectations and gave the epic franchise a strange, if worthwhile close.

Splatoon

At first glance, you’d know that Splatoon is not the kind of shooter game that we’re all accustomed to, an unconventional take on a popular genre – but then again, with Nintendo, we have to expect the unexpected.

In the game, you use characters called ‘Inklings’ that transform between a humanoid and a squid. In human form, the player can shoot ink to fight opponents. In squid form, they can swim on the ink splatters all over place.

There’s no ‘killing’ in this shooting game! ‘Splattering’ your opponents is so much more fun!  

Cities: Skylines

Before, SimCity stood tall and proud amongst all city-building games. Until Colossal Order, known for games like Cities in Motion and Paradox Interactive, responsible for grand strategy games like Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron, teamed up to build an awesome video game that got SimCity a run for its money – Cities: Skylines.

The gameplay is fairly easy to learn but the game itself is very tough to master. The amazing graphics and mod support gets you deeply immersed into the game. Not to mention, it’s way cheaper than competitors.

“Cities: Skylines is a great game. The game does not focus on the political aspects of being in-charge of a city but rather on managing a living, breathing city with its own systems and clever machinations,” wrote our contributor Jaemi de Guzman.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

Hands down, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt has one of the best and biggest open world setting there is.

Not only is it so massive, it’s even much more interactive compared to other games. The game franchise has already been popular with its past iterations, but Witcher 3 is a giant overhaul.

The awesome graphics and well-written story deeply immerses the player into the game, and Gerald of Rivia’s personality will surely get you hooked into his dark fantasy world.

Fallout 4

Now, open world has always been Bethesda’s turf. And they showed it yet again on the latest title in the Fallout series.

Fallout 4 brings in a fresh set of tweaks and updates that enhance the overall gameplay. This time, Fallout 4 takes place in post-apocalyptic Boston, and it’s a massive, massive world. It’s vastness is not it’s only strength, as it is also extremely interactive and gives the players a lot of freedom in choosing how to go about the story. Go fight with companions, construct buildings, explore the world or build settlements, it’s all up to you.

“Fallout 4 is a pretty heavy game that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, peppered with light moments and dark humor. It’s a long journey to the finish line, so better be prepared for hours and hours of gameplay,” wrote Michaela Nadine Pacis in her review.

Super Mario Maker

Die hard Mario Brothers fans have waited for this for a long time – a tool to create their own Mario adventures.

But then how can a mere map-making tool put it up on the top game list? Well, surprisingly, Nintendo was able to make the whole map creating process extremely fun. Before you know it, you’ve already spent way too much time making maps, playing with it, and doing it all over again. Not to mention being able to share your custom maps with your friends. No wonder this game was an instant hit!

Did we miss anything? What’s your top 2015 video game? Write about it on X! – Rappler.com