8. Her Story
Perhaps you played Silent Hill: Shattered Memories? It was written by script-maestro Sam Barlow, asked far more of you personally than any other game in the series (through an interactive psych-evaluation that shaped the game in various ways) and all-round became one of the best entries so far, albeit one of the most overlooked. Cut to 2015 and Barlow's gone his own way, funding a project called Her Story; a detective thriller that all takes place in front of one computer screen, seeing you attempt to unravel the mystery behind a murder - alongside learning the visual ticks and personality traits of the woman claiming her innocence before you. Being the base gameplay loop is searching through video footage and scouring it for clues, recording notes either in the game through designated text boxes or with a notepad in real life, it's not going to be for everyone. However, when it comes to thinking of yourself as a cigar-chomping detective, holed up in a library rather like that in David Fincher's Se7en, knuckling down into the early hours as you forever think "I've got to crack this case!" it's simply unbeatable. If you liked the itch L.A. Noire or Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments were scratching to various degrees, snatch up Her Story. The entire thing hangs on the satisfaction of what really happened and how that goes on to twist and contort your own theories - something Barlow and lead actress Viva Seifert deserve endless congratulations for pulling off.