Comme ci comme ca: 2015's most disappointing games

I was initially planning to write a top 5 of my favourite games for 2015, but I quickly realized that it wouldn't work out. 2015 has been an amazing gaming year for me, each game being as excellent as the one that preceeded it, and picking up only five entries was purely and simply impossible. On the other hand, I've played a couple of tepid games that somehow soiled my perfect gaming resume for the year, and I thought that it would be more interesting to mention them—all the more so as I didn't cover them all here. Assume thus that I adored every single game I played this year, bar these ones!

—Steins;Gate (Vita): I've written more than enough about my experience with that game, so I won't elaborate excessively. Suffice it to say that as far as I'm concerned, this acclaimed visual novel didn't live up to its potential and ditched a perfectly good story to indulge in mostly nonsensical romantic meanderings.

—Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (3ds): Once again, I won't babble inordinately about this one since I already wrote a post about it. The little I've played was dull, tedious and utterly forgettable. Definitely a waste of good money.

 —Kirby Triple Deluxe (3ds): I played it this summer, but the review was unfortunately lost in my schedule issues of August. Although that game was incredibly pleasant to play, offering excellent gimmicks and a lot of giddy fun, it was also painfully shallow and forgettable. I like to compare it to cotton candy: fluffy, sugary and heart-warming, yet leaving no taste on the palate and forgotten as soon as swallowed. I was also not too fond of the recycling of gameplay elements, which seems to have become Nintendo's trademark of late: some gimmicks and bosses in Kirby Triple Deluxe were already present in 1992's Kirby's Dream Land for the Gameboy—which, en passant, is the only other entry of the series I've played. Frankly, I expected more evolution and novelty from 23 years of Kirby games; but maybe I'm just being too exigeant. Oh, well.

—Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3ds): My short-lived playthrough of this game actually started auspiciously. I was totally fond of the colourful aesthetics and gorgeous vistas and I lapped up the amazing physics so much that I went out of my way to kill extra monsters during the tutorial missions; and, last but not least, I was totally delighted by the presence of all these adorable anthropomorphic cats. Unfortunately, all crumbled down as I cleared the tutorial missions and was thrown into the game per se. The overwhelming number of weapons to choose from paralysed me, and my first weapon tutorial was such a clunky, unsatisfying mess that I gave up on the spot and beat a hasty retreat. Maybe I'll try my hand at it later, if I manage to steel myself enough to stomach the overabundance of equipment.

—Fantasy Life (3ds): On paper, this game had everything to delight me: colourful and stylized art style, gentle and welcoming atmosphere and quests by the truckload. However, once I started playing it, I found it curiously vapid and empty. It was not horrible by any means, just uneventful and not exactly compelling. I gave up after a couple of hours because I simply didn't care anymore. In my opinion, this game lacks a backbone, a driving force that could motivate players to play. It's nearly more of a "concept" game, an attempt at creating the ultimate blend of RPG and life sim; however, the result feels artificial, contrived and ultimately shallow. I'll give it another try later, though; maybe I was simply not in the right mood when I played it.

That's four 3ds games, and let's be honest: they played their part in my recent disaffection with the handheld. They are not the only culprits, of course; but four so-so games for one single system in one year weigh heavily, especially when played in rapid succession. I'm pretty confident that I will soon get some quality material to help me recover from this 3ds trauma, though: early 2016 is packed with mouth-watering 3ds releases—which will soon be featured in my next list of coveted games. Overall, 2015 was a stellar gaming year, and I fervently hope that 2016 will be just as excellent. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!