Jo from GamersFTW writes: "A great year of gaming is coming to a close and we here at GamersFTW are having a good old think about what games we have really enjoyed playing this year. There are so many titles to choose from and here we look back at those RPGs that blew our minds and too over our lives. With a load of new RPGs to look forward to next year, including Horizon Zero Dawn, Final Fantasy 7 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, here is our rundown of the best of 2015."
Though nearly a decade old, Bloodborne's spectacular level design seems the flip side of the same coin as Elden Ring's own stunning visuals.
A new Fallout 4 expansion mod, StoryWealth, adds a tonne of new quests and features to Bethesda's aging RPG on PC.
Had this collection installed for a while, easy to use via vortex from nexusmods, but recommended to get a month premium for installing the list. After this one's done I'll be checking Fallout London.
Chris Barnardo from The Wand Company gives IGN a live demonstration of the brand new working Fallout Pip-Boy prop, going through all the incredible details inspired by Lucy's Pip-Boy in the Fallout TV show.
Bloodborne easily my 2015 goty. I'm still putting massive hours into it and the dlc was awesome. Tons of replayability.
Witcher 3 for the win.
Best game of 2015 by a large margin.
There was little chance that Xenoblade Chronicles X would topple some of this big boys, but it's a stunning game. So vibrant that it's just a joy to explore.
Bloodborne is also my game of the year as well. I'm still playing it daily. It is one of the only open world games that I actually wanted to go back and do it all over again. I have The Witcher 3 as well. Which is a good game, I just didn't like its combat system what so ever. I've never felt so distant from a fight.
The map is good size, but way too much dialog in the game itself for my liking. Too many collectables. Out of the 1,569,154 items/consumables you can collect in the game, I use maybe four of them. The added storage bin update was nice, probably my favorite patch note of 2015 for any game. I was always in a "constant walk" from always being weighed down. It fixed that for sure.
But I'm not the only one who feels like this. Most players that have both Bloodborne and TW3, they prefer Bloodbornes combat system over TW3 dialog/map size. But to each his own if you don't feel like that. From Softwars level design is miles ahead of other developers. Not in size. In detail and how they make there map connect in ways other game developers can't even fathom. Example: In Bloodborne you will progress 75% of the game and then all of a sudden you open one shortcut gate and your right back at the very beginning of the games location. This isn't the only example for the game, but a very good one and cool at that. Another example of there level design is how detailed the map itself is and how there level design/map connects with lore from the game and characters. Very detailed to say the least. They pay attention to little details to where you wont even notice it because players are so used to how undetailed open world games can be.
That combat system though, best I've ever seen in a game. You can call it whatever you want, I call it pure fun and much more pleasing than I'm used to. Dark Souls 3 will be a blast I'm sure to get used to. Shield vs dodging, yeah this should be interesting. But I've talked to guys that played DS3 demo's at events this year. They only got ten minutes to play, they said that the Dark Souls series learned alot from Bloodbornes combat system and how the game in general is laid out. I've already got my copy reserved and paid in full already. Now just waiting on the Hardcover guide to show up online so I can pre order that as well. Future Press has the best guides. Bloodbornes and The Old Hunters was very nice.
Xenoblade X has my pick hands down.
Never has a world on a console game been this vast yet still felt so full of things to discover and do.
Skells only add to the magic once you've got one that can fly; a random cave in a cliff top that I had been wanting to explore turned out to play host to a level 90 Tyrant of a creature that I can't even accurately describe the looks of.
Take Falcore from The Neverending Story, then twist him into a nightmarish version with the gaping tooth-filled maw of a hammerhead shark, way more legs, and a body that looks like twisted up silver tree roots made of flesh.
That's the closest I can get to describing it, and that's not even the most fantastical of the creatures I've seen in my journey across Mira.
The combat is deep and compelling; positioning and the gear and arts you and your partners all use truly matter, even more so than the levels you've got.
There's a character level cap of 60, meaning once you've reached that point and enemies are still above you, you've got to think smart with gear in order to prevail against the extra challenges of the game.
It's not a system where you dodge, strike, dodge, strike, rinse and repeat to victory; while it's possible to dodge some AoE's and other attacks by jumping or moving out of range, it's the tactical use of abilities and your gear set-ups that truly make everything link up well together.
The story is compelling, and it's made in a way that allows the player to decide how much, or how little, of it they want to experience, through linking much of it up to the back-stories of the characters themselves.
Outside of a few specific tracks, the music is phenomenal, and the sheer number of incredible vistas to take in on every continent is enough to fill ten photo albums.
It's honestly shocking to see a game like this on the Wii U; it's the kind you'd think Square Enix or another big name would create.
It transcends its niche labeling and truly deserves far more sales than it's getting.
If you're a lover of massive open world RPG's that don't hand-hold, XCX is a must-have.