The most exciting video games of 2015... that aren't sequels, reboots or remakes

Sequels, reboots and remakes are everywhere in the entertainment industry. Often seen as the life blood of it, they're the safer, more dependable ideas easily sold to nervous executives.

Some believe them to be the scourge of the entertainment world, slowly sapping away any and all creativity - but that's hyperbolic. Look a little harder there are dozens of films, games or whatever you fancy daring to offer something fresh.

Next year is in no short supply of them, so here's a look at our most anticipated video games of 2015 that aren't sequels, reboots, or remakes.

Evolve (PS4, X1, PC)

Turtle Rock Studios are the team responsible for one of the defining multiplayer games of recent times: Left 4 Dead. The co-op zombie shooter was a huge success in 2008, spawning a sequel soon after, handled by another studio.

In the interim Turtle Rock have developed some DLC for the shooter, but have been focusing most of their work on Evolve, a new sci-fi IP taking the basic co-op shooter premise and well... evolving it. Players control one of a four-person team of human Hunters, each with different abilities and tools, or they can control an enormous, destructive monster - then the hunters and monster duke it out in large open areas.

Release date: 10 February

Bloodborne (PS4)

From Software haven't wasted any time in delivering "the next Dark Souls". It isn't technically Dark Souls 3, but Bloodborne bears many similarities, essentially making it the new-gen follow-up fans have been waiting for on new-gen technology.

Bloodborne focuses more on offense than Dark Souls, and the player is more agile as they move through the gothic city of Yharnam and fight the horrifying beasts that have overrun it. From Software recently showed off new co-op gameplay at The Game Awards.

Release date: 25 March

Rime (PS4)

One of the most beautiful games on the horizon, Rime is a puzzle-based adventure game heading exclusively to PlayStation 4 that has been drawing comparisons to the likes of Zelda and Journey in terms of art-style, and Ico in terms of gameplay.

Those are some fine games to be likened to, but those kind comments only build expectations for developers Tequila Works to meet. Should they do so, Rime could be something special.

Release date: TBA

Splatoon (Wii U)

Nintendo releasing a new IP in the busy shooter market is like finding a unicorn in Slough: you can't quite believe it's there but you're happy because it brightens things up a bit. Splatoon is a third person shooter with a delightful Nintendo twist – you shoot ink and the objective isn't to shoot one another, but to cover the floor with more ink than the other team.

It's a fun game but one that still requires some balance before it eventually hits sale and there are doubts over whether it can sustain an online community. It has plenty of potential however, and delivers the visual pizazz expected from all Nintendo titles, especially those on Wii U.

Release date: Spring

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (PS4)

Not many video games next year will take place in a Shropshire village, and fewer still during the apocalypse. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is a first-person, story-driven PS4 exclusive telling the stories of six characters experiencing the end of days.

Little has been shown of the game – just two similar trailers showing gorgeous landscapes and mysterious orbs floating through it – but the potential is clear to anyone who played The Chinese Room's previous title – the conceptually similar Dear Esther.

Release date: TBA

Tom Clancy's The Division (PS4, X1, PC)

Ubisoft have had a rough year following the tepid critical reaction to Watch Dogs and the controversy stirred up when they released Assassin's Creed Unity in a broken, unfinished state. The ill-feeling levelled at them was deserved, but their other major release, Far Cry 4, proved very popular and was one of our games of the year.

The Division is Ubi's biggest release of next year other than Assassin's Creed: Victory, and we can only hope it's closer to the quality of Far Cry 4 than Watch Dogs. Taking place in New York following the collapse of the United States, this massively multiplayer online game will see players team with and fight against each other as well as face AI enemies across wintery environments.

Release date: TBA

Adrift (PS4, X1, PC)

Adrift (or Adr1ft - but numerical titles like that can do one) is a recent addition to the list having only shown off gameplay for the first time at The Game Awards last week. Simply put it's the video game version of hit movie Gravity – and that alone sounds like reason enough to be excited.

Described as a first person experience (or FPX) the game is combat-free, instead focusing on puzzle solving and its stunning visuals as players attempt to survive a rapidly deteriorating space ship orbiting Earth.

Release date: Summer

Below (X1, PC)

Capybara Games' Below is a top-down minimalist approach to the punishing roguelike formula and randomly-generated levels of games like Sperlunky and tough combat of Dark Souls. An Xbox One exclusive, the game first debuted at E3 2013 and will include a multiplayer component yet to be fully divulged.

Release date: TBA

Volume (PS4, PS Vita, PC)

Game designer Mike Bithell won acclaim in 2010 with the release of simple platformer Thomas Was Alone, which focused on the use of shapes to traverse environments. Volume is Bithell's follow-up, a game more complicated than Thomas but still simplistic in essence.

Essentially it's a stealth game reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid's VR missions, which tells a futuristic version of the Robin Hood legend as the protagonist finds a device that allows him to act out heists in a virtual environment and broadcast them online. The villain – Guy Gisborne – will be played by Andy Serkis.

Release date: TBA

No Man's Sky (PS4, PC)

There's every chance that No Man's Sky won't make a 2015 release, but let's opt to be hopeful when talking about a game which has the entire industry in the palm of its hand. A space exploration sim that will randomly generate entire galaxies, the game has struck a chord because it harks back to forgotten classics like Elite.

Everyone in the industry has one curious eye on the game – being developed by small UK studio Hello Games – and are eager to find out quite what it is and how it plays. It lives up to its promise of an "infinite procedurally-generated universe" then we can't wait to discover it for ourselves.

Release date: TBA