Best 2015 games

Release Date:  Mar. 31

Platforms: PS4, PC

EW Grade: A-

If Nintendo’s not going to make a proper 2D Metroid follow-up, I’m glad someone else is. Axiom Verge is an epic love letter to the series, and playing it is like taking a time machine back to the mid-’90s. The game features 16-bit style graphics, right down to the graphical glitches that occasionally popped up. But the brilliant twist of the game is that these glitches are all intentional and can be manipulated. Axiom Verge invites you to get lost in its strange, alien world and is full of secrets to discover. It’s 1994’s game of the year out 20 years later. – Aaron Morales

Release date: June 24

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC

EW Grade: A-

Though Batman: Arkham Knight has unfortunately saddled many PC players with a frustrating, broken experience, the console version of the game came as expected, delivering one of EW's favorite gaming experiences of the year. Bringing the Arkham series to a fitting conclusion – or so we assume – the latest adventure from Rocksteady delivers some of the best setpieces and narrative twists from the series. Players may be split on the Batmobile, but as we learned to accept it, and even enjoy it, Arkham Knight not only met our expectations, but kicked the living daylights out of them, much as Batman does to every villain in the game. – Jonathon Dornbush

Release date: June 14

Platforms: iOS (Android to come)

Not a day has passed since Fallout Shelter was released that I haven’t checked into my post-apocalyptic shelter and its many dwellers. Shelter isn’t unlike the Tiny Tower’s of the mobile world, but the adorable Fallout aesthetic and smart set-up makes it one of the strongest recent examples of its genre. Yes it does have some bizarre social issues – the best way to increase the population is to force vault dwellers to pair up, essentially allowing you to enact selective breeding on your populace. But I’ve found myself incapable of letting too many hours slip by before I check in to ensure maximum happiness in an otherwise unhappy world. – Jonathon Dornbush

Release date: June 24

Platforms: Windows PC, Mac OS X, iOS

EW Grade: B+

As I said in my original review, Her Story grabbed me within minutes of booting the game up, and I couldn’t believe it as the hours slid by in a flash. Her Story tasks you with uncovering the secrets of a woman’s missing husband by scavenging through an old PC’s database of clips. Combing your way through the archives by key terms, the story will unfold differently for everyone, depending on when you stumble upon certain clips. To discuss the story any further would be to ruin the meat of what Her Story is, but it’s an incredible journey of discovery that deserves to be experienced with as blank a slate of knowledge as possible. Her Story is gripping and exciting in its unique approach to storytelling, made all the better by Viva Seifert’s performance that anchors the entire experience.  – Jonathon Dornbush

Release Date: Mar. 31

Platforms: Xbox One, PC

EW Grade: A-

When Ori and the Blind Forest was revealed at Microsoft’s E3 press conference last year, people were wowed by the game’s lush, gorgeous visuals and adorable character designs. What they didn’t know was that behind all that cuteness lay the Dark Souls of platformers. Ori is a difficult, punishing game that will push your fingers and reflexes to their absolute limits, but it’s never unfair, and it proves to be incredibly rewarding. By the end of the game, you’ll be effortlessly completing platforming challenges that mere hours earlier seemed utterly impossible. – Aaron Morales

Release Date: 05/28/2015

Platforms: Wii U

Nintendo’s take on the online multiplayer shooter is about as far from Call of Duty as you can get. In the vibrant, colorful world of Splatoon, victory isn’t so much about fragging enemies as it is about painting the town red (and blue and green and yellow and pink), as you make a mess in order to color the most turf and win. It’s a fun, light-hearted take on the competitive genre, but it also contains a largely downplayed — but wildly creative — single-player mode that secretly might be the year’s best 3D platformer. – Aaron Morales

Release date: Ep. 1 on Nov. 25, 2014, Ep. 2 on March 17, 2015,  Episode 3 on June 23

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows PC, iOS, Mac OS X, Android

EW Grade: Ep. 2: B+, Ep. 3: A-

Telltale Games found its storytelling groove with The Walking Dead season 1 back in 2012. But Tales from the Borderlands may be the company at its peak thus far. The three episodes released are some of the studio’s best examples of storytelling, decision-making, and cinematic action. It’s also the funniest series the developer has produced in years. With a stellar voice cast at hand, Tales has crafted one of the year’s best gaming stories in a franchise never quite known for its narrative acumen. Borderlands fan or not, do not miss one of the year’s most engaging and hilarious rides. – Jonathon Dornbush