Game Informer Editors Name Their Most Anticipated Games Of 2015

We already posted a feature highlighting our top ten most anticipated games that we decided on by a staff vote. Now we're letting you know each editor's personal pick. As you'll see, some editors have similar tastes, while others chose titles that might not make 2015. Find out below what each staff member has the highest hopes for.

Bloodborne 

Bloodborne is poised to capitalize on From Software's continual iteration on the same theme of their challenging franchises. From Shadow Tower to King's Field to the Souls series, I'm of the mind that this is the game they've been working toward creating the entire time, something that allows them to take advantage of the dark dreamscapes and nightmares that we're only treated to flashes of in prior iterations of the atmospheric action/RPG. Throw in procedurally generated dungeons to add even more longevity to what is almost assuredly a brilliant single-player experience and this recipe looks like a terrifying all-encompassing adventure that could put even the Souls titles to shame. With a horror backdrop and the removal of many a Soul's player's only solace - the shield - players will be thrust into the darkest of worlds with no way to sit back and analyze combat safely, with the reclaim system forcing players to take constant risks, potentially making every encounter as tense as the most gripping Souls' battles. — Dan Tack

No Man's Sky

The sheer size of No Man’s Sky is certainly appealing, but my context in the physical size of the game is what’s appealing to me. While most open world games understandably have to solve the seeming contradiction between being large enough and yet still filled with interesting things to do, I can’t wait to disappear into No Man’s Sky and subsequently be awed by the same feelings of wonder and insignificance that pondering – and even sometimes understanding – the magnitude of the real-life universe brings. And yet as much as the game’s universe dwarves my senses, I do not expect to be bored at all. Hopefully crafting, exploring, surviving, and even rare human interaction will take on their own exaggerated importance; giving desperate meaning to a sense of loneliness that is both profound and intense. That’s my hope anyway, which is why I’m so looking forward to this game. — Matthew Kato

Persona 5

The Persona series has never disappointed me. The games have often defined my RPG experiences. While last generation only brought us Persona 4: Golden on the Vita and a couple of fighting games, it still scratched the itch I needed. That being said, I'm ready for something fresh - a brand new cast with intriguing struggles. I just love how Persona touches on such relatable issues, whether it's standing up for what you believe in or coming to terms with the death of a loved one. The writing is fantastic, the characters are so damn likeable, and I love watching them bond and learn from one another. I'm interested in how the franchise will evolve for this new entry. Persona 4 definitely polished its mechanics and had more creative dungeons, and Atlus will no doubt raise the bar for Persona 5. Persona 5 has remained a big mystery, and I can't wait to meet a new cast and go on another exciting adventure. After all, the Persona series features some of the best writing to hit the JRPG genre and I always get addicted to fusing persona. — Kim Wallace

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The Metal Gear series is one of my favorites, so I'm looking forward to The Phantom Pain for all of the reasons that any fan would (including the increasingly bizarre story). However, there's an extra layer this time around: I already have hands-on time with the basic mechanics thanks to Ground Zeroes. While I thought that prologue entry was disappointing as a standalone product, it actually made me more excited for the fully featured release of The Phantom Pain. The approach to open-world stealth is interesting and exciting; I can't wait to see those concepts explored and expanded within the context of larger maps, more objectives, and other gameplay elements (like the buddy system). Beyond that, Kojima Productions has a long history of surprising twists in this series, so I'm also looking forward to all of the inevitable crazy stuff that I can't even begin to predict at this point. — Joe Juba

Batman: Arkham Knight

Just having Rocksteady back in the driver's seat of a new Batman experience is reason enough for Arkham Knight to be my most anticipated game, but as a life-long reader of Batman comics, I'm also drawn in by the prospect of a new villain. The mystery surrounding Arkham Knight's identity has been one of my favorite talking points over the last year, and looks to be a fun rivalry that doesn't retread old comic book stories. And by no means am I trying to shortchange the Batmobile or the expanded scope of Gotham. I can't wait to roar down Gotham's streets, and soar across its expanded skyline, but I am a little nervous about the Batmobile playing too much of a role in the game. The Riddler races are a strange idea, and using the Batmobile in puzzles (as we've seen in demos) could be worrisome if tapped too often. Regardless of my concerns, I can't wait to get my hands on a new gen-only Batman experience. My guess as to who Arkham Knight is? Jason Todd. The suit design is similar to Red Hood's. — Andrew Reiner

See more editors' picks on page two....

The Legend of Zelda Wii U

You'd be hard pressed to find a gamer without fond memories of a Zelda game. I, like many others, was first swept up in the 1998 classic Ocarina of Time. But for all the hallmarks the series has been known for, last year's E3 demo with Eiji Aonuma revealed something that has me really excited: a truly open-world, 3D experience. If you're like me and thought that Skyward Sword was too linear, then this game should be just what the doctor ordered. The brief snippets we've seen so far indicate an enormous living Hyrule, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. — Wade Wojcik

Silent Hills

By the time I got around to playing P.T., it was already widespread knowledge that it was a Silent Hills teaser. It might have been nice to discover that for myself, but it ultimately didn't detract from the experience of playing it. A lot of people won't shut up about not getting scared by games and movies, but I'm not one of them. I'm all about giving it up for the things I play and watch; otherwise, what's the point? When I watch a comedy, I'm hoping to laugh. The same goes for horror -- make me uneasy, and I'm more than happy to play along. The Silent Hill games have resonated with me on that front since the first PlayStation release. The quality of the games has arguably diminished over the years, which was a shame. The P.T. demo reinvigorated my interest in the series, with its nightmarish, looping hallways and masterful use of audio scares.

Silent Hills is easily one of my most-anticipated games of 2015, mostly because I don't know much about what to expect from the actual game. I've been able to play Batman: Arkham Knight and Evolve and spent a ton of time watching demos from No Man's Sky - all games that I'm tremendously excited for. With Silent Hills, all I know is that Darrel from The Walking Dead is in it (OK, Norman Reedus, if you want to get technical). I don't know if the game will retain P.T.'s first-person perspective (here's hoping), and if it will be as light on the action with an emphasis on exploration (here's hoping, again). Either way, I can't wait to learn more this year. Konami may not have technically announced that it's coming out this year, but I'm going to hope this slides under the list's radar. After all, I can anticipate it this year, even if it doesn't hit in that timeframe. Right? — Jeff Cork

No Man's Sky

I'm a huge sucker for open-world games, sci-fi, and procedurally generated content. Oh, and Minecraft. So it shouldn't be too surprising that my most anticipated game for 2015 is No Man's Sky. I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up too much, the videos that Hello Games has released so far have been nothing short of breathtaking. I'm still not sure how the shooting elements or leveling mechanics will factor into the overall experience, but the draw of landing on the next unknown planet - that even the developer's haven't seen before - is irresistible to the sci-fi geek in me. I wrote an impossibly ambitious sci-fi game wish list a long time ago, and No Man's Sky appears to be tackling most of the dream features. Here's hoping Hello Games can deliver. — Jeff Marchiafava

Quantum Break

I'm an unabashed Remedy fan, and Alan Wake was one of my favorite games of last generation. Quantum Break is as different from Alan Wake as that title is from Max Payne, but there is a style that underpins all three that feels consistent and fresh. I'll admit that I'm a bit skeptical about the live-action portions of the Quantum Break experience, but the gameplay I saw in Germany last August outweighs that trepidation. The time powers at play in the action are balanced well (so far) with the platforming segments. I enjoy the way the team is depicting the disintegration of time. Remedy's made some big promises, and I'm eager to see how they deliver on them later this year. — Mike Futter

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

While 2015 promises to be a great year for gaming, no other title has me as intrigued as Geralt's next adventure. The Witcher 2 was an excellent game, and made huge strides forward from the good, but not great, first installment. Everything I've seen of CD Projekt RED's third entry indicates a similar quantum jump ahead in gameplay, storytelling, and scope. I fully expect Wild Hunt to be the game that moves The Witcher into the very top tier of role-playing franchises, where it can sit alongside fan favorites like The Elder Scrolls or Mass Effect. Any game with such an ambitious size that is trying to do so many things well has the potential to fall apart, but I have a sneaking suspicion that The Witcher 3 is going to nail the landing, and end up on a lot of "game of the year" lists at the end of 2015. — Matt Miller

We're aren't done yet. See the last of our picks on the next page...

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The original Metal Gear Solid changed me when it released in 1998. On the surface level it made me an instant fan of the series’ trademark stealth gameplay, larger-than-life characters, and insane storyline. On a deeper level, I became infatuated with creator Hideo Kojima’s ability to constantly wow the player and add new complexity and detail to video games as a medium. Say what you will about the bonkers narrative, but the MGS series has continually pushed the limits of the hardware it’s released on. MGS V: Ground Zeroes wasn’t the deepest, most satisfying premiere for the series on current systems, but the gameplay foundation it’s laying for MGS V: The Phantom Pain feels solid. Being able to roam the lush jungles and sprawling arid deserts of MGS V’s open world is one of the gameplay experiences I’m most looking forward to this year. Layer on the promise of new details in the story of Big Boss and capturing soldiers and goats via the Fulton Recovery System, and I’m completely sold. — Tim Turi

Inside

Despite all the big exciting announcements that came out of E3 2014, the only one that made me want to stand up and yell, "Everyone, shut up!" in our busy E3 news coverage center was when Microsoft started showing the trailer for Inside. It comes from PlayDead, the developer behind Limbo, a game I write about every excuse I get and recently listed on my personal list of the top five games of last generation. The trailer didn't offer much in terms of what the game's story will be, but it did offer a glimpse at its themes, showing some kind of totalitarian government presence that makes movement through a dark city difficult. From this early peek, the game appears to retain Limbo's dark emotion and platforming mechanics, but has the potential to stand on its own merits. It looks different from Limbo, but you can tell it's a PlayDead game, which is a difficult feat to pull off. This is all conjecture of course, but I can't wait to experience the dark adventure the studio has in store. —  Kyle Hilliard

The Legend of Zelda Wii U

Having grown up playing the Legend of Zelda series, each time a new entry is being readied for release, it captures my attention. This time, however, I might be more excited than ever. I recently completed my replay of Ocarina of Time, which confirmed it as my favorite game of all time, but it did something else for me as well. Thanks to my recent playthroughs of Ocarina of Time 3D, Wind Waker HD, and A Link Between Worlds, I have become a believer of the second screen experience Nintendo has implemented in its hardware during recent years. We've seen glimpses of how the map will be controlled in Zelda using the Wii U GamePad, but I'm assuming there will be some interesting uses for the GamePad with regards to inventory and other gameplay mechanics since this will be the first Zelda game developed from the ground-up with the Wii U GamePad in mind. We will learn a lot more about Zelda for Wii U in the next few months, but everything I've seen so far, combined with what we have come to expect from the franchise, makes this my most anticipated for 2015. — Brian Shea

No Man's Sky 

As much as I can't wait for Batman: Arkham Knight and Just Cause 3, Hello Games' ambitious galaxy-spanning adventure has me the most intrigued. I was already super excited about it, but when we visited the studio and met with the team for our recent cover it pushed things over the edge for me. The team's refusal to deal in common video game tropes and it's complete focus on making the exact game they want has earned my respect. I'm not expecting it to be the perfect game. I'm sure that some elements won't live up to my wildest dreams, but I'm just as certain that other elements will surpass them. — Bryan Vore