(Pictured Above: Six Honorable Mentions)
15-GTA V
Yes, GTA V was good. No, GTA V is not amazing. Don’t get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto V had plenty of amazing characters and unique missions, but I wasn’t blown away by it. I won’t forget it, but I doubt I’ll ever look back on GTA V and think “What a great game this was.” Is it worth playing? Yeah. Is it anywhere near as good as people say it is? No.
14-Starbound
Like Project Zomboid, Starbound is still an early access game. Despite this, Starbound already feels like a full-fledged game. Featuring plenty of unique locations to explore, aliens to fight, and a spaceship to customize. While it obviously is very buggy at this state, this game has nowhere to go but up. And if Terraria is any indication, it will be better than any of us could’ve ever believed.
13-Sly Cooper Thieves in Time
Sly Cooper has been a dormant franchise for a very long time, but Sanzaru Games revived it this year with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The mission-based gameplay of Sly 2 is back, and while the new art style did take a bit of getting used to, the overall gameplay is just as good as Sly 2. It’s fun, it’s witty, and it’ a worthy entry in the Sly Cooper franchise.
12-Rogue Legacy
Rogue Legacy is another game in the ‘roguelike-like’ genre, consisting of games that call themselves roguelikes just because your character gets wiped on death. Never the less, Rogue Legacy manages to stand out in the indie crowd with a creative character generator, tight platforming, and a satisfying difficulty curve.
11-Don’t Starve
At first glance, Don’t Starve was just another Minecraft knockoff. Yet as I progressed through the game, I realized this is a completely different experience from Notch’s building game. Don’t Starve is a game based more on exploration than survival. The great fun of this game is exploring the world and seeing what crazy monsters or items you will encounter. Seeing this game all come together was truly a magical moment for me.