We come to an end here and begin whatever 2016 is supposed to be from now on.

I didn’t expect this game to mean as much as it did when I first purchased it. I didn’t expect myself to enjoy it as much as I did, certainly, and I really didn’t know what to think at all coming into it.

There’s a lot that I didn’t expect out of this game. I did expect myself to purchase it because I’m a total sucker for FMV games. I own every game released for the Sega 32x/CD Combo, for instance, and I purchased the TV Movie that Digital Pictures released in 2003. For whatever reason, I really like the use of video in gaming, and I’ll always be interested in any game that makes good use of it (I bought Press X To Not Die this year as well).

Also, before I played this (and before I played Technobabylon), I didn’t think I was into detective games. I completely understand the appeal now, and it was the morning that I played through Her Story that made me figure that out.

It was just one morning, about 2 hours, when I played Her Story. I don’t think I can ever go back and have the experience I had with it again, but I’m glad that I had the experience I did, and like yesterday’s game, I want everyone else to have the same sort of feeling.

At one point during the game, I had to go find a notepad to keep my thoughts straight, to make sure I had key phrases and clues written out for later. That might seem minor but it did significantly put me in the role of the game’s silent protagonist, and the atmosphere helps cement the game’s story so well.

So much of my enjoyment of the game’s story just came from the way that it surprised me. That probably speaks more to the game’s mechanics than the story, but neither would be as effective on its own.

There are a lot of other small aspects of this game that I loved – The acting, the way that you really have to put in effort to enjoy it, the subtlety of the proprietary operating system, and so many other little aspects that stood out so far on that one morning in December.

It’s an experience that – if you really put yourself into it – you will never forget. At least, I haven’t, and that’s what made it worthy of the title of my favorite game of 2015.