2) Final Fantasy XV
When it comes to turning a series on its head, few games have gone as far as Final Fantasy XV. Not only has the turn-based action been swapped for real-time, Kingdom Hearts-style hack-and-slash, but the overall style feels more akin to a Western open world game than a traditional JRPG. That might feel a bit strange to some, but Final Fantasy has always been a franchise that excites specifically by offering new ways to experience the familiar.
And boy, are these some new ways of seeing things — including a latter half that goes to far darker places than Square Enix has ever taken us before. I’m not sure the company will ever be able to avoid its latter-day entries being as divisive as they are, but I for one am glad to see this series willing to shake itself up time and time again.
Final Fantasy XV offered me some of the most fun I’ve had playing a video game in a year I (and so many others!) desperately needed escapism, and its central characters — though contained in a story that’s undeniably messy — are among the strongest in RPG history.
Oh, and Sephiroth can suck it — this game’s deliciously nasty villain is the franchise’s best, as far as I’m concerned.
