With the PS4 and Xbox One having just been born, last year was unexceptional in terms of great video game releases as the two consoles tried to find their feet. There were few truly classic games that made their way to market, and as such this led to a dearth of releases that took us by surprise.
However, in 2015 there have been a variety of games that have either exceeded our expectations, or have came from out of nowhere and left a lasting impression upon us. The following games are ones that we didn’t think we’d still be talking about as we near the end of the year, and that have lingered far longer in our memory than we had anticipated.
Here are the top 10 most surprising games of 2015:
The Top 10 Most Surprising Games of 2015
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10. Rise of the Tomb Raider
Though we weren't expecting Rise of the Tomb Raider to be a bad game considering the quality of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, we weren't quite anticipating it to be an Xbox One system seller. Even though the game is only available on the console as a timed exclusive, it's still its greatest exclusive of 2015, trumping even the mighty Halo 5. Lara Croft's latest adventure managed to ascend beyond our expectations, refining every aspect of its predecessor and giving Uncharted 4 an awful lot to compete with.
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9. The Beginner's Guide
The Stanley Parable co-creator Davey Wreden's first fully-fledged solo release The Beginner's Guide was released with little fanfare. Being placed on the Steam Store with no warning, everyone was excited to see Wreden's next creative output given the success of his previous work, and while The Beginner's Guide garnered a similar (if not as overwhelmingly positive) level of critical acclaim, it proved to be more divisive than its predecessor thanks to its tackling of themes that had never been explored in a video game prior to its release.
Devoted to detailing the anxieties and troubles faced by a creator when trying to do the very thing they feel they were born to do, The Beginner's Guide was surprising in how forthcoming it was in its approach to its subject matter, confronting Wreden's own fears with an unflinching and often discomfiting level of honesty. The end result was a game that you wanted to talk about as soon as its credits had finished rolling.
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8. Super Mario Maker
A game which allowed us to assume Nintendo's role in creating Mario levels was never going to be terrible, but the real surprise of Super Mario Maker was not its high quality, but the impact it had online.
Considering that, unlike its peers, the Wii U offers no direct streaming to Twitch, it's a pretty remarkable feat that Super Mario Maker managed to remain within the streaming site's top 10 most-watched games months after its release. Even at the tail-end of 2015, with a variety of online multiplayer games having been released, Super Mario Maker still remains a a stalwart of the top 20. It's attracted a significant following on YouTube, too, with a number of the site's top content creators producing video series of it, despite Nintendo's strict policies regarding Let's Plays.
While it was expected that Nintendo fans would appreciate being given the opportunity to finally create their own Mario levels, it was less expected that this game would develop such a large online following.
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7. Life Is Strange
Telltale Games has held the monopoly on point 'n' click games ever since its release of The Walking Dead episodic series, but Dontnod Entertainment's Life Is Strange came from out of nowhere in order to prove that they're not the only ones who can deliver an emotional experience through little more than nominal interactions with its game world.
Unlike Telltale, who have based their games upon various existing properties, Life Is Strange was a brand new tale in which players assumed the role of an awkward, nerdy high school student as she navigated her way through various social conundrums typically presented to teenagers, whilst also dealing with the dark secrets of her hometown and her newfound ability to control time (as you do).
Over five episodes Life Is Strange takes players on a compelling journey filled with authentic performances, excelling beyond its status as an interactive drama into a major talking point among those who played it, thanks to its deft handling of its dark subject matter and its riveting conclusion. All of this combined to make Life Is Strange one of the most widely adored sleeper hits of the year.
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6. Splatoon
"You're a kid now! You're a squid now! You're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid, you're a squid, you're a kid..."
While Splatoon's first TV commercial may have indicated to many that Nintendo's latest new IP may have finally see them overlooking their adult demographic altogether, and the idea of an 0nline multiplayer-focused Ninty game seemed thoroughly preposterous considering how frequently they've overlooked that particular facet of their games, Splatoon caught us off guard by actually being one of the most unique and enjoyable multiplayer games of the entire year.
Splatoon's simple twist on the multiplayer shooter - having players focus shooting at its environment rather than their rivals - ensured that players of varying skill levels could immediately jump in and have fun without worrying about being stuck in an endless cycle of death and respawns. Whilst coating an arena with paint may not sound like the most compelling of concepts, Nintendo somehow transformed it into one of the more enjoyable multiplayer games of the entire year. Splatoon ended up being an essential purchase for Wii U owners... even if it was for babies.
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5. Her Story
It's impossible to explain Her Story in any form of detail without letting slip a few spoilers, but this case of whodunnit from indie developer Sam Barlow capitalized on the overwhelming success of the podcast Serial by allowing players to assume the role of detective in a murder mystery.
With gameplay focusing upon viewing FMV videos containing interview footage featuring one sole actress, Her Story manages to excel beyond its limited concept thanks to an engrossing central performance, and a story that keeps players on their toes with the various twists and turns its plot takes. No one expected a fantastic FMV game to be released in 2015, but this is what we got.
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4. Tales from the Borderlands
As mentioned earlier in this list, Telltale have been churning out point 'n' click adventure games based upon existing properties with great consistency in recent years. They've handled The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Back to the Future and even Game of Thrones, but one series that people were less enthused about was their take on the Borderlands universe.
Tales from the Borderlands had no right to be as good as it was. With Gearbox Software's series not exactly known for its story, a game produced by a third-party developer centered around its cast of characters didn't exactly top many wish lists when it was first announced. However, Telltale used Borderlands' lack of an engaging world to their advantage, telling its own unique story without the restrictions and limitations they inevitably faced in their previous series. By the concluding chapter of Tales from the Borderlands, Telltale had successfully created a world and characters whom we cared about more than the ones featured in the actual Borderlands games.
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3. Rocket League
From the Rocket League beta it was clear that the game was going to take off on PSN, and when its final release rolled around, the game proved to be so popular that it took developers Psyonix over a week to get its servers running satisfactorily given its huge early player base.
Rocket League was one of the big success stories of 2015, with this simplistic game of car soccer becoming one of the most popular games of the year. Its ascension to one of the most heavily played games on PSN was confounding for some, who were baffled that a game about cars playing sports could strike a chord with so many. However, with its frequent updates and its popularity on the likes of Twitch and YouTube, Rocket League proved to be an accessible and exciting distraction from the variety of competitive online games on the market.
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2. Until Dawn
Those who enjoyed Heavy Rain have been anticipating a true successor to it for quite some time. However, after creators Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls failed to live up to expectations, no other developer attempted to follow in its footsteps.
Until Dawn was billed as a major player by Sony, and looked to be the likely spiritual successor to Quantic's murder mystery game. It featured quick-time events, player-made decisions that impacted upon the direction of its story and, most notably, the ability to effectively choose which of its cast of characters would survive until the credits. However, with its release date placed just a few days prior to the launch of both Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Mad Max, to many it seemed like Sony was choosing to bury the game, and that it therefore may not have lived up to expectations.
It was surprising, then, when it turned out that the game was actually a wonderful homage to the horror genre, and that in many respects it bettered Heavy Rain thanks to a better range of performances, some of the best visuals yet seen on PS4 and a complete lack of hesitation when it came to embracing its own ridiculousness.
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1. Undertale
There are no games in 2015 that have been more surprising than Undertale. Developed by one man, creator Toby Fox's singular vision wound up being one of the very best games of the entire year, cultivating an entire community (along with inordinate amounts of fan art) around his pixelated world.
Undertale is the product of genius on many levels, from its perfect writing through to its dynamic story, with its world and the characters within it altering depending upon the actions you make in-game. However, unlike the majority of games which feature branching narrative paths, your choices in Undertale leave a much greater impact than simply causing a few characters to dislike you.
With it granting the player the ability to choose to be a pacifist by way of evading confrontations by simply talking to perceived enemies or running away from them, indulging in violent behavior will make its world treat you with a greater degree of hostility, leading to vastly different experiences between players that dramatically alter depending upon their actions. This level of input the player could have in Undertale's world, not to mention the wonderful script that carried it along until its final moments, led to it being one of the most fascinating games of the year.
