Non-2015 Games of 2015:
7) Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken
One of the biggest surprises on this list for me. It was a freebie off PS+ and a game I’d been curious about for a while. Think Flashback and Abe’s Oddysee but with chickens, albatrosses, jetpacks and a tyrannical penguin regime led by dictator ‘Putzki’. It’s got a very slick look about it that’s made even cooler by the music video-like cutscenes punctuating the solid shooting, puzzling and platforming. It’s a surprisingly great mix that I managed to finish in only a few sittings. Recommended.
6) Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath
Oddworld is very close to my heart after Abe’s Oddysee so it saddens me to think that the IP nearly croaked after Stranger’s Wrath, an Xbox exclusive when I didn’t have an Xbox. That was back in 2005. Fast forward to 2012 and an HD version exists on most platforms. In 2015 I finally got round to playing it on PC.
Stranger’s Wrath doesn’t feel like an Oddworld game but has the heart of one, and tells a fine tale to boot. Some of the voice work is a little annoying at times and there are a few frustrating action sequences that I was glad to see the back of, but for a game that’s getting on 10 years, it holds up well. Thanks to some good pacing, careful roll out of ammo types and abilities, some great set pieces and plenty of personality and humour it doesn’t outstay its welcome either (weighing in at a good 15-20 hours).
5) David.
This is one of Meho’s recommendations from fairly early on in the year and it was cheap enough to purchase from the hip.
David is a challenging, abstract and minimalist action platformer. You control the titular David who has a time-slowing ability and a tricky projectile burst. You can almost jump indefinitely but you can’t exactly fly so… it’s a strange thing okay? The game revolves around a series of unique challenges behind a number of doors, most of them involving acrobatic boss fights that play out like Crouching Triangle, Hidden Rhombus. I found it irresistible because it was exciting to see what sort of challenge the game was going to throw at me next. Yes, I died a lot but the restarts are almost instant which makes it a lot easier to have just one more go…
4) Little Inferno
Like Brothers and Gone Home, Little Inferno belongs in that category of games that don’t fritter away your time. It’s a game that couldn’t really exist as anything else but a game because its message is in its mechanics as much as it is in its story. Some see it as a cynical snipe at F2P treadmills or a riff on global warming, and that’s fine, but at its heart it embodies a much simpler, warmer and personal sentiment (spoilers!): don’t waste your time– make the most of it. Which couldn’t be more perfect given how I started this paragraph.
3) Abyss Odyssey
If Rocketbirds was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, then Abyss Odyssey was the biggest.
Featuring gorgeous visuals with Mucha-esque Art Nouveau stylings, lots of fascinating mythological creatures from Chilean folklore, a deep Smash Bros.-like combat system, the action-platformer feel of a Castlevania, a peppering of roguelike and procedural elements, a light loot and gear system, a fantastic soul capture mechanic that allows you to play as any enemy in the game (each with their own attributes and movesets), local and online co-op and PvP up to four players… it’s such an unlikely but effective mix. Typical Ace Team then, who brought us Zeno Clash and Rock of Ages.
I’ve sunk 23 hours into this just playing as one of the three main characters on normal. There are numerous creatures I haven’t played as yet, lots of gear I haven’t been able to afford, various chambers and secrets of the abyss I’m sure I’ve yet to encounter and I still need to attack the merchant one of these days. I’m keen to capture his soul as well and see what his moveset is like…
Abyss Odyssey is one I foresee myself going back to a lot and, surprisingly, it’s conducive to shorter play sessions too.
2) The Ship: Murder Party
Wow. Well. I’d played The Ship with a small group of friends before 2015 and it was stupidly good fun, but the big thing last year was that we managed to get 13 people together (from a possible 18 who were interested) for a good three or four hours of murder partying. It’s such a wonderfully chaotic, slapstick and sly take on player versus player thanks to a number of overlapping systems and dynamics that make for all sorts of funny scenarios. It’s so damn exciting it makes me giddy just thinking about it. The Ship: Remasted (that’s not a typo, it’s a pun), is due out on Early Access next month and I really hope it manages to achieve the success it deserves.
1) Gone Home
So this is my Non-2015 Game of 2015 and it impressed me in a number of ways. Firstly, it’s suspenseful and creepy as hell, but not in a cheap way. It’s very subtle, and the one cat scare in it is well earned (and holy shit is it effective). Secondly, it’s hugely intriguing so you’ll want to know what’s going on. I was hooked almost instantly. Thirdly, it rewards careful exploration and examination; there’s a lot to discover at the Greenbriar’s. Fourthly, I cared about the characters in a way I haven’t felt for years in a videogame, which is quite an achievement. And I’m not just talking about the main characters either.
If you haven’t played Gone Home I highly recommend it, even if you’re the sort who uses the phrase ‘walking simulator’.
Random Awards
The ‘Best Soundtrack I Heard’ award: Machinarium
A charming if at times seemingly aimless and nonsensical adventure game with a sublime soundtrack.
The ‘Biggest Disappointment’ award: Hero Generations
I helped kickstart this and was so excited about it after playing the Facebook prototype that was released and shelved several years ago. The end result however was an unsatisfying and repetitive grind that failed to live up its promise of an involving and deep legacy system.
The ‘Game That Most Outstayed Its Welcome’ award: Alien Isolation
Seriously, just stop. No more. Please. I don’t want to power anything else up. Or power it down. I don’t want to have to hide in a locker or under a desk any more. I don’t want to die instantly again and have to repeat entire sections again. I don’t want to have to backtrack for another keycard or terminal to hack. Just stop, please…
The ‘I Can’t Believe I Finished It’ award: The Witcher
Kept me interested for far longer than I ever expected it to. Granted, I dropped it for a few months after hitting the penultimate chapter, but eventually came back and beat the sucker. And enjoyed it. Bravo.
The ‘Magic’s Gone’ award: Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall
I loved Dishonored so was really excited to finally get round to the Knife of Dunwall, but I just never fell under its spell like I did the main game. I felt like I was treading the same ground all over again, only this time I got to hear the voice of Daud (Michael Madsen) instead of Corvo (Gordon Freeman). I wonder whether this will affect my interest in Dishonored 2?
The ‘Game I Wish I Had An iOS Device For’ award: Kindo
Played this at the EGX in March last year and asked a developer whether it was coming to Android. He said they had no plans. Sob. Take a look at it here.
The ‘Most Obnoxious Collectibles’ and ‘Oh Wow, This Really Is Boring’ award: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
It should have been a film because the game punctuating — or should that be puncturing? — the otherwise entertaining story bits was a total let down. And: collectible orbs. Collectible orbs everywhere.
The ‘This Is Impossible!’ award: Snakebird
Do not be deceived by its cutesy visuals: this game will break your brain. That’s why I stopped. This review about sums it up.
Right, thanks for reading, that’s me done. Over and out!
To contact the author of this mind dump, email greggb@tap-repeatedly.com
A two-pager! This might be a first in the history of Tap-Repeatedly Games of Mostly Last Year But Not Always articles.
Gregg, you always find a few smaller indie gems that I’d missed completely and you always remind me of a few games that deserve more recognition than they got. Your tireless support of Rocket League led me to play the PS4 version a few months ago, and everything you’ve said about it is right on. It’s delightful and deep and perfectly balanced.
Kudos also for mentioning War for the Overworld. The team did a great job and deserves recognition. It may not be perfect, but not much is, and they certainly did the best possible job of emulating Dungeon Keeper — which was what we were all looking for in the first place.
Great list!
He put Evolve on there just to annoy me.
I played it for 130 hours just to annoy you.
War for the Overworld is probably worth returning to now Steerpike as they fixed the buggy possession, replaced all the placeholder tooltip bollocks with useful info, added imp levelling(!!), added a speed slider, I think they added props and room efficiency as well (a glaring omission to me), hotkey options(!!), and it’s also got Steam Workshop support now with a level editor so there’s almost a limitless supply of levels for offline and online play. Aaand there’s some campaign DLC on the way too so things are looking good for Subterranean.
I’m hoping to play it with Luke at some point because he’s been waiting patiently for all the fixing to settle. Multiplayer DKII was so much fun. Until it desynced and crashed.
We should play more Rocket League, Gregg. 🙂
If you see us playing Shaun be sure to give us a shout if you’re interested in joining! We usually play 2v2 or 3v3, but 4v4 is crazy!
Jesus Christ, Gregg. I thought Steerpike held the title of Wordy King around here. Guess you’re challenging for that? So many games you’ve covered! Here are my comments and questions.
First, I’m very sad that I didn’t know there was a game called The Ship: Murder Party. This sounds like my kind of game. Are you on a ship attending a murder party? OK. I’m guessing this is on Steam. I’ll be playing this ASAP. It reminds me of another game I heard of last year that has received surprisingly bad reviews: Party Hard. I’ve watched other people play the game and it looks like a lot of fun. It’s obviously silly and dumb, but it’s just a weird strategy game about how to kill dozens of people at house parties and get away with it. All I’ve seen is good.
Ok, Helldivers. Is it wrong of me to say that after the tutorial I had very close to zero interest in carrying on? I’d heard more good things than not but the tutorial was so overwhelming and complex I didn’t want to play the game. I was expecting something like Alien Swarm, which is so satisfyingly simple, and it was not like that at all. You remember I loved our time with Swarm. Should I keep trying at Helldivers?
If I had finished Life Is Strange when I made my list it probably would have made the cut. Enjoyed all my time with it. Personally I think the last half of Episode 3 and the first bit of Episode 4 are the high point of the game because they really fuck with you. I think it would have been a bold move to keep that up. In the end I don’t think it mattered much, except beyond influencing my personal knowledge in making a choice in the final episode. Still loved my time with the game, although I do think that Max got away too unscathed (yes, I’ve seen the endings) for all the ways she cheated life (and death).
I can’t believe you finished The Witcher 3. If only you didn’t bother with that game, which reddit nerds seem to like so I have to believe is a big ol’ bore snooze fest that appeals only to the young power fantasy internet boys who have the easily-hurt sensitive feelings, you could have played 15 other games! Take that you Witcher dorks who are like “just play it, it gets so good 130 hours in.” No. Faaack off. I love making fun of Witcher dorks. Sorry in advance, Steerpike, if the site gets hacked. Internet losers are pretty sensitive about their feelings being hurt so my comments will probably make us a target. Oops!
But seriously, take that ya damn Witcher nerds. Ha ha ha. I’m just going to type it down in words so it’s done: just in case a Witcher nerd does internet nerd stuff to track me down and then knocks on my door and stabs me, you didn’t win, ya dork. First of all, you’re going to Canadian prison for murder! Enjoy your 4 years behind bars! At least when you get out weed will be legal here. Second, killing me (which, I admit, would be sad for me since I like living) won’t un-dorkify you. So just accept your Witcher nerd status! Okay I’m done. Sorry!
Machinarium is great!
I know Max, I know. It was a long-ass list!
Firstly, I’ll be hosting another Murder Party soon, I’m sure, so I’ll include you in the next roll call.
Secondly, Helldivers definitely benefits from playing with your friends, allocating gear and different roles. The runners, the support, the snipers, the driver, the reconnaissance, the navigator etc. It’s frantic and often messy but once you get in the zone it’s fucking intense and thrilling. Stressful too but there it is.
Thirdly, I started a spoilery Life is Strange thread in the forum where I went into a bit more detail about my time with it: https://tap-repeatedly.com/forum/whats-the-frequency-kenneth/life-is-strange-spoilers/
And finally, it was The Witcher 1 I played, not The Witcher 3! I’m hoping to play The Witcher 2 at some point soon, see how I fare with that. The Witcher 3 is a long way off for me I’m sure! And funnily enough, I’ve only paid for The Witcher. 2 I got for free off GOG, and 3 came with my video card!