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Insomniac's James Stevenson Shares His Top 10 Games Of 2015
On the lead up to Game Informer's Game of the Year awards of 2015, we've invited a number of the video game industry's influential figures to share their favorite games of the year.
James Stevenson is a community manager at Insomniac Games, and has been involved in the development of Ratchet & Clank, Fuse, and the company's upcoming slate of games. He's also a huge gamer, and is a great follow on Twitter for people looking for thoughts on different titles.
Here's Stevenson with his Top 10 Games of 2015:
1. Super Mario Maker
An endless supply of Mario Bros. levels? Who needs another game ever again? But beyond the ability to play Mario levels to my heart’s content, I ended up even more impressed with the level editor and creation tools that Nintendo built. The design that went into the editor is brilliant, and the richness of it I hope introduces a whole new generation of gamers to the ideas of making games and game levels.
2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
I was taken by surprise by The Phantom Pain. I was skeptical of the open-world aspect, but the game world that Kojima Productions built offers so much player choice. Every situation in the game can be approached in so many different ways. I loved getting to play story missions as stealthily as possible, and then improvising in dramatic and cinematic ways when things went wrong. And then the side missions, where I can ignore stealth and use air strikes and missiles and blow up tanks. It’s one of the best sandbox games ever made, and the best gameplay in the Metal Gear franchise. I’m not sure I’ve savored any game more.
3. Downwell
This is my most played iOS game this year. It captures the perfect balance of replayability and crushing difficulty that made me such a fan of Spelunky. I also love how it balances the deadliness, and your desire to carefully move through the levels, with the swarming enemies forcing you to move faster. It’s almost hard for me to play anything else on my phone, because I just want to get another crack to go deeper into the well. It’s a great example of a well-executed pixel art/retro style with awesome music and even faux slowdown when things get intense.
4. Ori and the Blind Forest
I’m a sucker for all things Metroidvania, and Ori and the Blind Forest delivers, but does it with delightful atmosphere, art, and sound. I’m not sure a more beautiful game was released in this year. The quick save mechanic is one of my favorites, and gives the whole game a bit of tension when deciding to use your energy or not to create a save, given the difficulty that the game is known for. From gameplay to presentation, Ori still stands out as a favorite of 2015, even despite being released way back in March.
5. Fallout 4
Exploring the nuclear wasteland world of Fallout has long been one of my favorite things to do in gaming. Fallout’s mixture of the apocalypse, the weird, the dark humor and the loot keep me playing the game for dozens and dozens of hours. Fallout 4’s shooting is vastly improved. I think F4’s legacy will be interesting, some aspects divide longtime fans of the series. But regardless of how you feel about dialog option, role-playing a character or early access to power armor, Fallout 4 will be remembered. It’ll be remembered for some of Bethesda’s best characters of all-time, like Nick Valentine and Piper, for quests like the Last Voyage of the USS Constitution and The Silver Shroud, and locations like Diamond City, Vault 81 and The Glowing Sea.
6. Splatoon
If you had told me in January my highest ranked pure shooter would be a new IP from Nintendo that looked like it belonged on the Sega Dreamcast. There are so many things that make it great. I love objective play in shooters, and Splatoon constantly gives you an objective to fulfill by painting the environment. Painting the world is how your team wins, but it also gives you the ability to traverse in new ways too. It has that wonderful “Nintendo feel” of being so handcrafted and artisan, and it avoids many pitfalls that make modern shooters frustrating.
7. Axiom Verge
I’ve professed by love of Metroid in relation to Ori, and Axiom Verge scratches that itch that Nintendo has neglected for a very long time. This is a spiritual successor and love letter to Metroid, while also finding its own way and standing on its own. It’s a terrific example of an homage that manages to innovate its gameplay in many ways, while also being completely and totally polished. Everything from movement to weapons to boss fights feels thought through and perfected.
8. Pac-Man 256
An endless runner meets Pac-Man. Such an obvious combination that you sort of couldn’t believe it hadn’t be done before. What wasn’t obvious was the clever and ingenious power-up system that was added to Pac-Man. The variety and the need to level them up offered a monetization option that didn’t feel evil. Despite the power-ups, the glitch, and the chaining and score multipliers, Pac-Man 256’s greatest accomplishment is that it captures the feel and delight of the 1980s arcade games while simultaneously seeming fresh.
9. Batman: Arkham Knight
One of the things that kept me so invested and addicted to Arkham Knight was how so many of the sidequests were chains driven by villains. Each set of side quests felt important with a key villain behind it, and I always was torn by which quest to do next during my very long night in Gotham City. I actually even enjoyed the tank/driving parts of the game (though thanks to all the reviewers for the head’s up to invest level-up points into my Batmobile/tank early). While I always will long for the intricately constructed Arkham Asylum (and it’s delightful Metroid-esque qualities), Arkham Knight managed to bring the trilogy from Rocksteady to a satisfying conclusion and sets a high-watermark for superhero games.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
Majora’s Mask is one of my favorite Zelda games, but the original release was a little obtuse in places. It was a challenging game, and it never really got the love being a weird sequel to the epic Ocarina of Time. Majora’s Mask 3D looks and sounds amazing, but more importantly it made itself way more accessible to players, without sacrificing the Zelda meets Groundhog Day element. This is one of the best Zelda games ever made, maybe now finally discovering the audience it has always so richly deserved.