Game of the Year Deliberation

So, I, uh, have been thinking about my game of the year all December, and I just can't decide on one, so, I am just gonna put words down and see if this helps me. So, welcome to my thought process, this won't follow my standard guidelines for usual post, its just gonna be a flow of words, so if you want cool pictures and bolded/italicized words, leave now, because you're not getting it now, maybe for an official post, but I don't know if that is coming (it probably will very early 2016, like in the 10's of January). I will also probably work on this for a few days, so it is going to be scattered as hell, so just be prepared. 

So when I think Game of the Year for 2015 nothing really comes to mind, though this year was a fantastic year for gaming; we got the long awaited sequels MGSV: TPP, The Witcher 3, and Fallout 4. 2 of which are way too dense, the other is just a lackluster sequel. All 3, though, are really great games, they just aren't games that are truly exceptional. The Witcher 3's world and story building are great, and MGSV's stealth and emergent gameplay are probably the best ever, but still, I have trouble staying immersed in their worlds. Something about playing for 12 hours and only making a small amount of progress makes me say, "meh, I'll go do something else".

Bloodborne is really something else. Not quite as good as Dark Souls, but it is really not terrible. I played through and beat it with a few characters and I really do love this game. But I love all soulsborne games and to me, this one just isn't as good as From can do. Don't get me wrong, from a design standpoint, this game is about as good as it gets; boss designs are great, the story is cool as hell and has a fantastic twist, and the environment design is great. The thing about this game is the simplified stat system, it leads to less build diversity (along with a smaller selection of weapons, though that isn't as big of a deal) and the fact that blood vials and bullets aren't unlimited (I sound like spoiled brat haha, but this is a legit issue) takes away from the exploration, like in Dark Souls I could be like "I'm gonna run here and see what it's like, if I die before a bonfire oh well, I'll just make sure I don't have any souls so I have nothing to lose" in Bloodborne, if you want to do that same thing, you have to be mindful of your bullets and blood vials, as if you want to get those back you'll have to grind in one way or another, and come on, I don't want to have to grind so much in such a punishing game (a little is fine, but I don't want excessive grinding).

Which brings me to Dying Light. Do You like zombies and parkour? This is your game... Maybe. Probably not, though. It is fun, but quests are meaningless and it is a damn grind fest. Add the weapon durability on to that and you got yourself a pretty okay game. It's just fine.

Speaking of mediocre, how about that Batman Arkham Knight. God damn was it mediocre. Would've maybe been good had it not been shit on the PC.

But what about the games I haven't played? Undertale, Xenoblade, and Rise of the Tomb Raider among others, (like Splatoon, which I hear is fantastic) I mean, I guess they'll just have to be left behind. As sad as I am to say that, they just didn't take precedence in what I play (I have the ability to play all of them except for RotTR, but that is coming to PC soon, so I suppose it can take a spot in my next year nominations).

Why isn't Destiny here? Well, it did release last year though I did put a load of hours into it this year, it still doesn't belong and doesn't make my Best Old Game so it is just being left out.

Speaking of Best Old Game, that absolutely goes to Super Smash Bros. Wii U, it is the most fun I have had in a game this year, and if it would've been released this year it would be my game of the year, easily.

But we are not in last year! We are in this year, and after a while of thinking, I'm sure Bloodborne is my game of the year. It is the game that I played and enjoyed the most, it is also the game with the least amount of bad, to me. There are a few gripes I have that I will talk about in my in-depth decision piece, but there are, by far, more upsides to it; and I haven't even begun the DLC.

Super Mario Maker is a very very close second place, though. So much enjoyment can be taken from that, and now, a couple months after release, most of the bad maps (my only gripe with the game) have stopped, or, at least, I have gotten used to them. Anyways, making Mario levels is something I'm sure every gamer has wanted to do at some point, and the creation tools in this game are unrivaled by any other game of the like that is out right now. Also, you can actually play levels, which is awesome, so it's not just Super Mario Maker, it is also Super Mario Player, I suppose.