If people are handing out awards for the laziest post titles, i'd put "A Few Things I Liked In 2015" up for nomination. I wanted to make it "Things I Just Couldn't Even In 2015" but you know, I couldn’t even.
This post is a wrap up of a few things I enjoyed in 2015. It's not an exhaustive list but I am sure I am saying that so you don't judge me for only putting popular stuff on this list. You know, so if someone is all like "hey man why is this list Star Wars The Force Awakens" 20 times I can say "it's not meant to be exhaustive.”
The following lists aren't in any sorted order unless otherwise noted. This list is of things I experienced in 2015 not just stuff that was launched in 2015.
Hearthstone is the game of the year hands down no exception, no tag backs and no reverses. For me right now it's the perfect game. Every day I get a new quest where I can grind for gold. The dailies vary enough to be interesting and if I save 700 gold I can unlock a new Adventure tier. With each adventure tier you get new and interesting cards that can change your decks and how you play the game. When you unlock all the adventures you can open packs that also add and change how you play the game. Hearthstone has a few classes and each class combined with deck builds make for a wide arena to play in. Tavern Brawls mix the core game mechanics up in interesting ways and since it's such a popular game there is always someone to play with and I win enough to make the game fun and enjoyable.
I have acquired enough cards to make some interesting decks and as mentioned before my win ratio is high enough that the game is still lots of fun. I am not the greatest Hearthstone player and don't care to be but it's nice to improve my game over time. Hearthstone fits well in a world where you have little time because each match is only a few minutes long. I am not sure how long I will keep playing it but hands down in 2015 Hearthstone was my game of the year. I hope Blizzard keeps bringing the awesome because it's a great game and keeps getting better.
To date I've spend $0 in game. It's a nice achievement and I wonder how far I can climb ladder this way?
Terraria
The 1.3 update was great and my only real complaint was I didn't get to play it more. It seems they have finally "finished" Terraria in the we have a proper endgame but even with that they released the Mac and Linux ports and I’ve heard about future updates as well. It's a game I plan on playing in bursts every year and that’s pretty incredible considering I purchased it in a sale for $3.
Fallout 4
It's what everyone says it is unless someone says it's a bad game. I've recently stopped playing it for nearly no reason but each time I come back it's a solid experience. Bethesda did a great job here and the massive sales show that people are still interested in this franchise. I didn't get the DLC pack and don't plan to until I am completed with enough of the main game to warrant it. If you have the PC or console horsepower it's well worth a shot.
Broken Age
I bought Broken Age+Double Fine Adventure doc series in a slacker backer bundle and decided to play Broken Age when the whole game was released. Even though I looked how to complete most of the endgame puzzles(they are really hard in ways I don't want to spend time on) the games journey and story were very rewarding. The Double Fine Adventure doc series was similarly great and to a point was more enjoyable than the game itself. Double Fine has garnered some displeasure from the gaming crowd and whereas I understand the criticism I'm not sure I find the immense negativity to be warranted. Not a mega fan by any stretch but I enjoyed this game and the doc series that came from it.
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void
This was a great ending to the Starcraft II trilogy. Not sure much more needs to be said here, if you love those games check it out.
Movies:
The Babadook is a really unique film about grief and things that we can’t seem to shake. What they accomplished with such a small budget is remarkable and considering this the first film of Jennifer Kent even more so.
Faults is a strangely compelling film about cults. The first few minutes are a mixture of hypnotizing and cringeworthy mixed in such a way I couldn’t stop watching. It’s got a fun twist and showcases well how creative independent movies can be.
Beasts of No Nation is a Netflix original movie that is one of the most beautifully shot films i’ve seen all year. Beats is a movie about child soldiers and as such is a very emotional journey. Super happy to see such a high quality movie be released by Netflix after The Ridiculous Six left such a bad taste in my mouth.
Blue Ruin is a movie I’ve heard described as No Country for Old Men featuring very stupid people. It's a revenge movie with a great ending that harkens back to the bleak style of 70’s films.
The Guest
If you mixed Halloween, The Terminator and Scream you’d get The Guest. Whereas it’s not particularly scary it’s a lot of fun and contains a ton of style worthy of it’s sourced material.
Mad Max: Fury Road
I think of Mad Max: Fury Road as “car chase the movie” except that I generally dislike car chases and I love Fury Road. It’s a solid entry into the Mad Max franchise and entertains each time I watch it.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It’s a new Star Wars movie fitting of the original trilogy. Not sure I can give it any more accolades than that.
TV / Shows / Podcasts:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the greatest show of all time. I’ve been watching each episode and am currently mid season six. It’s a show I loved watching in the 90’s as a kid and holds up very well now. Lots of memes we use on the Internet either started on MST3K or were used on it. It’s a pretty impressive feat considering Internet/meme culture wasn’t a thing back in the 90’s. MST3K was recently Kickstarted for a new season and after backing it I can’t wait to watch the new episodes. Rewatching the old show a bit of a time is like experiencing an important part of history and can’t wait till I watch them all.
Anything Red Letter Media
Like many I started watching Red Letter Media after I watched The Phantom Menace reviews. I binged on the rest of the Plinkett Reviews then started watching Half in the Bag and most recently the video game review show Previously Recorded. I watch pretty much whatever they release and love nearly all of it. If you are looking for a hilariously unfiltered look at pop culture, I recommend anything Red Letter Media.
The Slashfilm Podcast
I love movies and the Slashfilm podcast is a good way to know what’s great. I heard about Faults, Blue Ruin and The Babadook through Slashfilm and found their reviews on The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and other popular films essential to the film-joyment process. I don’t watch all the films they review but really respect their opinions and find the banter to be very entertaining.
This post is a wrap up of a few things I enjoyed in 2015. It's not an exhaustive list but I am sure I am saying that so you don't judge me for only putting popular stuff on this list. You know, so if someone is all like "hey man why is this list Star Wars The Force Awakens" 20 times I can say "it's not meant to be exhaustive.”
The following lists aren't in any sorted order unless otherwise noted. This list is of things I experienced in 2015 not just stuff that was launched in 2015.
Hearthstone is the game of the year hands down no exception, no tag backs and no reverses. For me right now it's the perfect game. Every day I get a new quest where I can grind for gold. The dailies vary enough to be interesting and if I save 700 gold I can unlock a new Adventure tier. With each adventure tier you get new and interesting cards that can change your decks and how you play the game. When you unlock all the adventures you can open packs that also add and change how you play the game. Hearthstone has a few classes and each class combined with deck builds make for a wide arena to play in. Tavern Brawls mix the core game mechanics up in interesting ways and since it's such a popular game there is always someone to play with and I win enough to make the game fun and enjoyable.
I have acquired enough cards to make some interesting decks and as mentioned before my win ratio is high enough that the game is still lots of fun. I am not the greatest Hearthstone player and don't care to be but it's nice to improve my game over time. Hearthstone fits well in a world where you have little time because each match is only a few minutes long. I am not sure how long I will keep playing it but hands down in 2015 Hearthstone was my game of the year. I hope Blizzard keeps bringing the awesome because it's a great game and keeps getting better.
To date I've spend $0 in game. It's a nice achievement and I wonder how far I can climb ladder this way?
Terraria
The 1.3 update was great and my only real complaint was I didn't get to play it more. It seems they have finally "finished" Terraria in the we have a proper endgame but even with that they released the Mac and Linux ports and I’ve heard about future updates as well. It's a game I plan on playing in bursts every year and that’s pretty incredible considering I purchased it in a sale for $3.
Fallout 4
It's what everyone says it is unless someone says it's a bad game. I've recently stopped playing it for nearly no reason but each time I come back it's a solid experience. Bethesda did a great job here and the massive sales show that people are still interested in this franchise. I didn't get the DLC pack and don't plan to until I am completed with enough of the main game to warrant it. If you have the PC or console horsepower it's well worth a shot.
Broken Age
I bought Broken Age+Double Fine Adventure doc series in a slacker backer bundle and decided to play Broken Age when the whole game was released. Even though I looked how to complete most of the endgame puzzles(they are really hard in ways I don't want to spend time on) the games journey and story were very rewarding. The Double Fine Adventure doc series was similarly great and to a point was more enjoyable than the game itself. Double Fine has garnered some displeasure from the gaming crowd and whereas I understand the criticism I'm not sure I find the immense negativity to be warranted. Not a mega fan by any stretch but I enjoyed this game and the doc series that came from it.
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void
This was a great ending to the Starcraft II trilogy. Not sure much more needs to be said here, if you love those games check it out.
Movies:
The Babadook is a really unique film about grief and things that we can’t seem to shake. What they accomplished with such a small budget is remarkable and considering this the first film of Jennifer Kent even more so.
Faults is a strangely compelling film about cults. The first few minutes are a mixture of hypnotizing and cringeworthy mixed in such a way I couldn’t stop watching. It’s got a fun twist and showcases well how creative independent movies can be.
Beasts of No Nation is a Netflix original movie that is one of the most beautifully shot films i’ve seen all year. Beats is a movie about child soldiers and as such is a very emotional journey. Super happy to see such a high quality movie be released by Netflix after The Ridiculous Six left such a bad taste in my mouth.
Blue Ruin is a movie I’ve heard described as No Country for Old Men featuring very stupid people. It's a revenge movie with a great ending that harkens back to the bleak style of 70’s films.
The Guest
If you mixed Halloween, The Terminator and Scream you’d get The Guest. Whereas it’s not particularly scary it’s a lot of fun and contains a ton of style worthy of it’s sourced material.
Mad Max: Fury Road
I think of Mad Max: Fury Road as “car chase the movie” except that I generally dislike car chases and I love Fury Road. It’s a solid entry into the Mad Max franchise and entertains each time I watch it.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
It’s a new Star Wars movie fitting of the original trilogy. Not sure I can give it any more accolades than that.
TV / Shows / Podcasts:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the greatest show of all time. I’ve been watching each episode and am currently mid season six. It’s a show I loved watching in the 90’s as a kid and holds up very well now. Lots of memes we use on the Internet either started on MST3K or were used on it. It’s a pretty impressive feat considering Internet/meme culture wasn’t a thing back in the 90’s. MST3K was recently Kickstarted for a new season and after backing it I can’t wait to watch the new episodes. Rewatching the old show a bit of a time is like experiencing an important part of history and can’t wait till I watch them all.
Anything Red Letter Media
Like many I started watching Red Letter Media after I watched The Phantom Menace reviews. I binged on the rest of the Plinkett Reviews then started watching Half in the Bag and most recently the video game review show Previously Recorded. I watch pretty much whatever they release and love nearly all of it. If you are looking for a hilariously unfiltered look at pop culture, I recommend anything Red Letter Media.
The Slashfilm Podcast
I love movies and the Slashfilm podcast is a good way to know what’s great. I heard about Faults, Blue Ruin and The Babadook through Slashfilm and found their reviews on The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and other popular films essential to the film-joyment process. I don’t watch all the films they review but really respect their opinions and find the banter to be very entertaining.
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Good post! I was thinking of doing something similar as well, so I went ahead and did it. The image you included is funny. I didn't mention Hearthstone, perhaps I'll go back and add it in the comments.
Is Hearthstone your Game of the Year?
> Is Hearthstone your Game of the Year?
Yep. Just finished unlocking the last League of Explorers tier today and had a blast. I only have the last tier of Blackrock Mountain to unlock then it's just figuring out which packs to grind gold for.
That's awesome! I haven't played in a long time. Like I mentioned in my post, that I edited to include the game, I wish it had a stronger single player aspect to it. I'd rather play AI than other people.
BTW, I just created my 100th post! =)