I'll be honest and say that I'd be hard pressed to even come up with a list of 10 games that I've actually played this year. A combination of multiple electronic failures, and being a cash-strapped student resulted in a more than a few reasons as to why this list is so much smaller than usual.

I'd try categorizing games into their genres to make choices easier for me, but the list this year is probably small enough to fit into a nice Top 5. Here's the TL;DR list based on enjoyment. I enjoy games, but I wouldn't trust myself in arguing over which game is better made or whatnot.

1. Dark Souls 2
2. Fantasy Life
3. Bravely Default
4. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
5. Shovel Knight

Strap in for the real list, grab some popcorn and a drink, 'cuz this one's going long. Also, spoilers abound, so don't say I didn't warn you.