Dark Schala said:

For real, lol

I'm 95% sure that I'm not posting a list this year. I just wanted to read through JC's and laugh with Riposte for a bit.

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Just post a sincere jokelist like I did. I figure if someone new is informed about Pokemon Puzzle Challenge my job is complete, I'm sure plenty would find some use out of anything you decide to post regardless of how you felt about the year.

1. Divinity: Original Sin ;
2. Dragon Age: Inquisition ;
3. Dark Souls 2 ;
4. Sunset Overdrive ;
5. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor ;
6. Far Cry 4 ;
7. Transistor ;
8. Bravely Default ;
9. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor ;
10. Super Time Force Ultra ;

1. The Last of Us: Remastered - never played this on the PS3, but this game is just utterly brilliant. I have never had such an emotional connection to a video game before.
2. Alien: Isolation - the years biggest surprise for me. Played it at EGX on a whim, both myself and my girlfriend screamed in horror 3 mins into playing their test demo. I have not played anything as scary as this game - the sense of being stalked rattles your senses. Unique, terrifying and a true homage to the original film.
3. Dragon Age: Inquisition - my opinions on this game change constantly - on one hand its Bioware at their best, creating an intriguing and fun story driven RPG, but on the other I can't help but think other developers have caught up and overtaken them with their own digital actors. Some of the voice acting is still atrocious, the writing goes through peaks and troughs in quality (the romance conversation choices are the very definition of cringe) but it still is a fun and engaging game with massive scope. I do expect better next time, but after DA2 I'm very happy the series is back on form.
4. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Nothing else I have played deserves points. In particular you Watch Dogs.

ViewtifulJC said:

Bayonetta 2
Platinum Games, Nintendo

Bayonetta 2 feels like it came from an alternate dimension where the Sega Dreamcast and its bright blue skies arcade style won the console war. A world in which immediate fun AND an abundance of depth lived in harmony, and were awarded with millions of adoring fans. A place where games were expected to be polished affairs filled with bonus unlockable content and actually worked day one without day one patches or retailer exclusive DLC. A masterpiece that almost didn't actually get made in our world, but we're all a little lucky that it did.

Bayonetta 2 is like playing with all of DMC4 Dante's Styles as the same time and married it to God of War's bombast. It has the slick aggressive defense of Ninja Gaiden Black that will occasionally explode into a DMC Devil Trigger. It has Battletoad's satisfying combo enders of enlarged limbs and Streets of Rage 3's weapon pick-ups with a limited bar for special move usage.

Bayonetta 2 has a dodge, a completely invincible, free-wheeling dodge on the right trigger that for a brief moment allows you to dodge everything from laser swords to kung-fu strikes by cosmic deities. A dodge that encourages the player to learn their opponents tells both visual and audio, to stylishly avoid a hit and continue the relentless offensive. A dodge that, when pressed twice in quick succession turns you into a panther that controls like sex, so smooth in its movements and so right in its weight.

Bayonetta 2 was not satisfied with the many heights its predecessor reached. The first game's piss filter is gone, replaced with an HD sheen and vibrant colors. Weapons have been expanded from their default movesets, with all new animations and effects to make them more differentiated and viable. The arcadey variety segments have been shortened, their camera angles improved for proper visibility, tuned to maximum efficiency. Bosses have been improved, with a larger focus on one-on-one fights and less giant platforming challenges. Level design has been streamlined, almost every chapter a string of memorable, replayable encounters, with almost twice as many enemy types as before.

Bayonetta 2 is hardly satisfied with just delivering bang for your buck. It wants to overdeliver. It must grant the player a stupid amount of delectable distractions, ooddles of collectibles and secret fights and a dozen costumes and cheats and modes in the vein that modern AAA games just don't do very much of anymore. It even throws in the best version of Bayonetta 1 entirely for free, out of the kindness of its heart. There's even a fuckin' Star Fox 64 section, complete with original visual designs and sound effects.

Bayonetta 2 is like the feeling you get when you play Virtua Cop with both hands. Its like dodging a tight bullet pattern in DoDonPachi. Its like taking on Nemesis with just the knife. Its like following up a Hadouken and going in for a tic throw in Street Fighter 2. Its the sound of time of distorting when you come in and out of slow-mo in F.E.A.R. Its like running up a wall in Sonic and jumping off, using the momentum to reach heights you couldn't at walking speed. Its like discovering how to wall jump in Super Metroid. Its like completing Contra without the Konami Code. Its like discovering a secret chest in Zelda. Its like getting the high score in Time Crisis 2 in the arcade, a small following of on-lookers gazing at awe at the grace in which you dispatch its color-coded criminals. Its like main-lining PURE FUCKIN' VIDEO GAME for close to a dozen hours straight. And then you do it again in a blue Chinese dress with whips on your feet and chainsaw gauntlets.

Its the greatest video game of 2014.

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Lucius86 said:

Nothing else I have played deserves points. In particular you Watch Dogs.

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For some 2014 might not be the best year in videogaming, but for me 2014 will be special. I fell in love with Nintendo again. The games that were released on WiiU made me realise why I started to play videogames in the first place: fun. Videogames have moved on, I know, guess I'm still stuck in the past somewhere, because my love for gaming on 'old' consoles such as Dreamcast and Gamecube is stronger than ever.


1. Bayonetta 2 ; What else is there to say? Can't give this game enough praise. I'm just waiting for the SEGA logo to pop on my screen.
2. Shovel Knight ; This brings back so many memories. Great games and the 3D on 3DS is pretty sweet.
3. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze ; The OST alone makes this game a must buy. Eye popping colors.
4. SouthPark The Stick of Truth ; Normally humour and videogames don't mix. This games was hilarious though. Awesome job Obsidian.
5. Wolfenstein The New Order ; OldSkool shooter somehow managed to feel fresh. Amazing weapons that made you feel very powerfull.
6. Captain Toad Treasure Tracker ; been playing it with my youngest son. Just makes me smile and relax.
7. Mario Kart 8 ; Fantastic mp fun. DLC and price were incredible too
8. Forza Horizon 2 ; Enjoyed Forza Horizon quite a bit, but this is even better. Storm Island is a must buy.
9. Super Smash Bros WiiU ; I admit, I spend more time looking at my Amiibo's and my skill suck but it's great fun, especially playing with friends.
10.Driveclub ; It's great that Evolution was able to fix this. The racing is very intense and the weather effects transformed this in a superb looking game.

Holy shit ViewtifulJC's post. I finished Bayonetta months ago but now I'm all

I played few 2014 games (and still need to play Bayonetta 2 and Shovel Knight) but I'll make a top 5 at least.

1. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; The only bad thing about it is the fuc*** hitbox of the final boss, everything else is almost perfect: Best Hard Mode of 2014. Best soundtrack of 2014. Best gameplay of 2014. Best 2D platformer ¿ever?. GOTY.
2. Mario Kart 8 ; The only thing DK can't beat is the multiplayer of MK8. First MK Online I played and it was a blast (thanks in part to the NeoGAF league). Best MK ever and that's a lot being the 8th entry.
3. Bayonetta ; It was my favourite game last gen (along the Galaxy games) and it's still as good as ever. Best action game and I'll see if the sequel can surpass it.
4. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; After skipping Brawl I needed Smash in my life. I've only scratched the surface of all the content the game offers but I've already played tons of hours with my friends in local multipayer. Absolutely huge and most important: fun.
5. The Swapper ; Wasn't on my "need to play this" list but thanks to a giveaway (thanks Max!) I got this game and what a beautiful surprise! Nice atmosphere and even better puzzles. Totally recommended.

The Xtortionist said:

Being legit shook by JC's post, I've been putting a lot of thought into why Bayo 2 didn't hit quite as hard with me as with many others. Clearly, the problems must be completely divorced from the gameplay, which I greatly enjoy. Considering some of the games that make up my top 10 or top 15 or whatever, it's stuff like Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime, Super Metroid, the Souls series, DKC2, Tropical Freeze, God of War 2, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, and some others. In trying to decipher what all of these games have in common that maybe Bayonetta 2 doesn't, the recurring element I'm seeing isn't that these games are comprised of varying ratios of peaks and valleys, but that the valleys are generally just as enjoyable as the peaks - exploring RE4's more vacant areas for items to scavenge and waiting for the next enemy to appear, solving a puzzle in God of War 2, performing some lighter platforming between DKC2/TF's more explosive moments, exploring a town in Earthbound, etc... I find all of these moments, while not as blood-pumping as as the peaks of those games, to be exceedingly enjoyable and meaningful to the games; they ground the peaks of those titles and help give a sense of weight to the overall experience.

That brings us to Bayonetta 2. Obviously, the game's peak/valley ratio is skewed in favor of the former, and there's nothing wrong with that. I believe the issue for me surfaces as a result of the valleys being throwaway in nearly all cases. Sure, I can muck around Noatun in Chapter 1, though there are few engaging activities to partake in that exclude combat, and I wouldn't be making progress anyway. Plenty of areas between fights are non-hostile, though there's generally no meaningful interaction to be had, minus the occasional chest to bust open. But with that in mind, it's still a bit difficult for me to pull together why it's an issue. I think it may have something to do with the greater experience feeling a bit hollow to me, as I'm just blazing through from fight to fight with no meaningful breathing room in between. As a result of 95%+ of my experience consisting of pure hype-as-fuck fighting, the game becomes concentrated intensity with no factors to ground and perhaps contextualize how insane the action really is. At some level, the game just becomes noise to me. The gameplay always holds up, sure, I mean I can dodge, activate witch time, and go to town on some guys with a chainsaw for hours, though the persistent level of adrenaline lessens the overall effect and impact I think. The game is a roller coaster with one giant drop and almost none of those hills that give sweet sweet airtime.

All that said, I don't have any objective issues with Bayonetta 2 as a game, nor am I suggesting that Platinum should have added in arbitrary bullshit or anything. It's still my number two game of the year and clearly an incredible achievement. But that post by JC is so good, and my lack of disagreement with anything he said really spurred me to take a closer look at this. Hopefully this post makes some semblance of sense.

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Makes sense to me, if say I were to point out what I might change in a hypothetical Bayonetta 3 to round out the whole game coming off 2 the main angle I'd be be driving at would be to make the gaps between battle verses not be quite as linear stretches of just panther within-ing to the next throwdown.
It's something of a tricky balance because some people do just want continuous combat with little else interfering and the few ways the original game tried to mix things up (stepping outside of the widely and understandably loathed bike and missile sections) didn't always pan out but I appreciated the attempts at mixing things up. You know you've got your light platforming, your witch time "puzzles" and so on. 2 has elements of these things but they rapidly drop off as the game progresses leaving those chests where you need to nab the collectables within the time limit as some of the most notable pace changer moments that occur later on.
In the end I still think Bayonetta 2 is stronger than the first for having trimmed out a lot of what didn't work as well as it could've, it's just that in some respects you could say I found it went and perhaps trimmed just a bit too much which leads to your point of it not having much meaningful going on between fights leading to it occasionally feeling like it's just switched on all the time which is (awesomely) exhausting in some respects.

Legit shook at JC? pfft, dunno what you mean, going on after the 5 star match of the year candidate just means I have to be a boundary breaking 6 STAR match which I can totally do.

1. Bayonetta 2 ; Nothing else comes close to putting me into a zen like trance through combat where I'm playing better than I ever thought I could play. The game gets its hooks into you like that at every opportunity.
2. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc ; (Disclaimer: I have not played the 2nd one yet) I loved every minute of this game. The cast of characters was fantastic and I dreaded finding out what the next trial was. Some real fuckin heartbreakers in this one.
3. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare ; Turning plants vs zombies into a 3rd person shooter is the very last thing I was wanting from the franchise. I think making it good was the last thing I expected. Making it so god damn good that no other shooter comes close this year has changed my life(okay not really). Nothing about this should work but it does anyway.
4. Dungeon of the Endless ; Endless Legend and Endless Space are both completely incredible, and do interesting things in their respective genres, but nothing comes close to Dungeon. It's a Rogue-Like, Tower Defense, turn based dungeon crawler and none of that should work but it's beautiful. Fantastic Art style and music as well.
5. Wolfenstein ; Great weapons, great gunplay, great story(in a wolfenstein game??) great everything. If you told me that I would appreciate bj blazkowicz as a character ever in my life, I would have thought you were an insane person.
6. Theatrythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call ; Making improvements over the first release(which I loved) and adding a shitton of characters and tracks was going to make this one a shoo-in for one of my favorites. The fact that they added so many good things makes it even better .
7. Nidhogg ; Nothing else this year got me as hype for victory as this shit. its 1v1 but its a spectator sport where theres 8 of us yelling at eachother in a room for every single match. Only sports friends was close, but Nidhogg is more pure.
8. Banished ; City Building sim that was ridiculously polished and the first one in a while that understood how to teach you by punishing you. You learn when you need to expand your reach and when you need to calm down and just stabilize. It also liked to sometimes attack you with tornadoes, where the best way to recover was to just start over. The game is so strong at it's core that it's never a terrible thing to begin again .
9. Demon Gaze ; Super well done first person dungeon crawler that I couldn't put down. Dont have a lot on this one other than I just really really liked everything about it mechanically.
10. Sunset Overdrive ; I hated the combat. I hated the sense of humor and the speed at which everything moved and the weapons. Then I actually played it. The female main character was 1000x better than the male, and the sense of speed was no longer a problem because it made sense for the way the game handled. traversal was fun, the weapons were all unique and interesting(though most became some sort of rocket launcher, there's a god damn water sprinkler that sprays acid!), and the story was surprisingly good.

Honorable Mentions
Mordor ; Really liked the Nemesis System and enjoyed getting into fights with 20+ people and being able to handle it.
South Park ; It looked like a god damn episode of the show, and all of the "chapters" made it possible where it was like watching a bunch of episodes back to back instead of an episode that was just too damn long.
Divinity ; didn't play it enough to include it but played it enough to really enjoy what I did play.

I love the pacing of Bayonetta 2, it reminds me of arcade games of old (including that surfing scene). As much as I like downtime in some of my games, I don't feel a game like Bayonetta needs it.

Is Dragon Age still winning? Because dat shit is whack.

-tetsuo- said:

Is Dragon Age still winning? Because dat shit is whack.

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No, looks like Bayonetta will take it.

Well that game isn't whack at all.

1. Monument Valley; Utterly fantastic tablet game. Artistically, mechanically, and even the business model/pricing.

2. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare; Completely overlooked this year in discussions of GOTY. A fresh and fun take on online multiplayer shooters. Has all the hooks and progression systems of a Call of Duty game, but with all the fun and whimsy of Plants vs Zombies.

3. Wolfenstein: The New Order; Enough has been said about this that I don't need to add too much. Great romp through a 90s throwback with current gen aesthetics.

4. Walking Dead Season 2; Not quite as great as Season 1, but I suspect it's more because the New Shiny™ has worn off a bit. Still, a great alternative to all of the typical games and other franchises out there.

5. MGS: Ground Zeroes; I know a lot of folks didn't play this game on principle because of the violence (sexual and otherwise), but I hadn't played a MGS game since 2, so this was a fun experience for me to dip back into this franchise. Lots of replayability.

6. Hitman Go; Great puzzler for your mobile device.

(EDIT: as per Cheesemeister, Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage is eligible for ANDROID ONLY)

1. Wasteland 2 ; So many options and consequences you can never control what happens 100% no matter how many saves you reload.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; Everything better and more awesome even the trees were paralyzed by how awesome it was.
3. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition ; the way it was meant to play from the start, just ignore Blizzards lies.
4. Minecraft ; As important to gaming as Mickey Mouse was to animated movies. Needs to be on more platforms. Will be free with Windows 10.
5. XCOM: Enemy Within ; Great game despite the lack of tactical freedom. (I need to try Xenonauts)
x. 6-n. Games I bought but have not even touched ; I'm to embarrassed to say.

Games I played but that does not deserve any consideration.
Destiny: fuck Activision and their marketing lies.

-tetsuo- said:

Well that game isn't whack at all.

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Bayonetta 2 is a masterpiece. ViewtifulJC did a wonderful job of describing why.

Magic Mushroom said:

I love the pacing of Bayonetta 2, it reminds me of arcade games of old (including that surfing scene). As much as I like downtime in some of my games, I don't feel a game like Bayonetta needs it.

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Agreed. It shows what it needs to show and doesn't overstay it's welcome.

1. Continue?9876543210 ; A sombre exploration of mortality and meaning tied into an interesting meta narrative regarding a game character struggling against deletion after death. It's an art game that does more than act as an installation for narrative but develops meaning through mechanics.
2. Hexcells Infinite ;
3. Ether One ;
4. The Wolf Among Us ;
5. Lyne ;
6. Consortium ;
7. Mind: Path to Thalamus ;
8. ibb and obb ;
9. T.E.C. 3001 ;
10. Strata ;

1. Alien Isolation ; Finally a true stealth game again that keeps things relentless and surprising. I wasn't bored with a minute of it and can't wait for more. Also by far the best looking game this year from a tech perspective and the art design. Best looking corridors since Dead Space.
2. Dark Souls 2 ; A lot of negative stuff could be said about this game especially compared to the earlier Souls games but it's just a fact that this game kept me going back just as much as they did. Not in my top spot though because of he flaws that have already been talked to death so I'm not going to repeat them.
3. Halo: Master Chief Collection ; Going to include this since MCC includes the Halo 1 campaign which is the only thing I spent a lot of time on in this collection. Not only did it finally click with me why people enjoy Halo so much it also was one of the best gaming experiences I had this year. The scale of the levels, precise shooting mechanics it just all felt great. And this is a 14 year old game.
4. COD AW ; Having not played a CoD game since Black Ops this was the perfect game to get back in. Amazing visuals for a 60fps game, perfect CoD-style gameplay.
5. Sunset Overdrive ; The only open world collectin/traversin game this year that kept me wanting to play more. Drags in parts but I didn't want to stop until I was done.
6. Diablo 3 ; It's Diablo. Console port made me put way too much time into it having already played it on PC for way too long. The changes made to this were exactly right to keep people playing.
7. Evil Within ; I probably haven't yelled "this game fuckin sucks" so often at a game this year but in the case of Evil Within doing that was the intention of the developers. What Tango did was create a variant of a survival horror game that doesn't let up ever and only gets worse. Once you're through it you can't deny there was something there.
8. Wolfenstein ; Great shooter, the only reason it isn't higher on the list is the fact that I expected there to be way more and crazier guns. Hope they can solve that aspect if Wolfenstein 2 ever comes out.
9. Titanfall ; Plays just as well as CoD:AW yet lacks content and stuff to keep you going. The 10 or so hours I played it were great though.
10. Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - Would have ranked higher if I didn't already play it on PC. Good additions, change to not-Flash was needed.

1. Bayonetta 2; had too much fun with this game the bat shit crazy was good and the combat and the crazy shit going on around me.
2. Forza Horizon 2; I really love this game I still play this game and put in the most hours into this game then any other game this year..
3. South Park Stick of Truth; loved this game was the biggest fan services love the show.
4. Shadow of Mordor; as a lotr fan this game hit all the right buttons and that nemesis system of lord
5. Dragon Age Inquisition; Bioware back at there best not as great as origins but worthy as a dragon age game
6. Super Smash Brothers; all my favourite Nintendo characters in a beat them up yes please
7. Mario Kart 8; cause Mario Kart.
8. Bravely Default; great jrpg was nod to the jrpg's of old
9. Driveclub; It was a good driving game alot better then what reviewers would lead you to believe.
10. World of Warcraft; Warlords of Draenor, The MMO king is back baby....

1. Sunset Overdrive ; It's incredible how much is right with this game, considering how much is new. Insomniac Games' first open world game is also the first open world game where traversal is an actual gameplay (not just A for Automatic), and it's a total blast, only that is already crazy in itself. Then, on top of that, it really is a game built around the concept of fighting while moving. If you're not doing that, your style meter doesn't move, and your precious amps don't activate, and you die fast. Not only is it incredibly fun to do in itself, but combat-traversal is really a necessity that brings huge gameplay benefits and even more craziness, not simply a better end of mission rating that you don't care about (like in Devil May Cry for example, since we're talking style meters ). That plus, it's vibrant colorful, but not just "stylized like the others", it really has a mind of its own, and you can tell by browsing the clothes selection. Yes you can put a skirt on a guy, but this isn't simply Saints Row where every existing clothes known to man can be thrown together in any color to make a character that is "funny because it's ugly", no matter how your character is dressed (and it can really vary wiiiiiiiiillldly) it will always feel part of this world. It's simply a universe I'm glad exists, a space I love being in. This game is simply bound to become one of my favorites ever. This is something entirely new, and very very well done. Never since the original Crackdown had I played a game where the core moment to moment gameplay is so enjoyable that it basically fuels itself. I think I'm 38 hours in by now, and I still have "content" to explore. Not because there's a lot of it, but because I can play for hours without needing any "content". I start the game, the main character punches back the camera, there's a few seconds of silence before I bounce off a car, and bam, the music kicks in in the background, slowly becoming more upbeat and present as my style meter goes up, which happens steadily due to my neverending traversal chain, and that's it, off I go, just roaming around and fighting around (both at the same time, this is Sunset Overdrive), playing for the sake of playing. And once I've done this for about a hour and a half, then maybe, maybe, I actually start a secondary mission or a challenge. Maybe. But I can't promise, the gameplay is simply too good on its own.


2. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor ; Like Sunset, this is not "just" a very good game, it brings something completely new. Some will say "there's nothing new here except the nemesis system", and it's both very true and completely stupid to say. "the nemesis system" isn't just "the system", it's all the care and detail and hard work that went into its execution, all the breadth of it, all the small things that it represents in the whole experience, how far Monolith actually went in the realization of something that no one had done before. It's game design, but also graphics, sound, writing, it's countless combinations of character models, scars, bruises, personalities, voices, dialogues, some of it procedurally generated, some of it in reaction to the player's actions (that huge bandage all over the head of that orc you facestabbed twice already), some of it instant (direct contextual line from the orc as you fight), some of it delayed ("ha, you don't have your savage beast to save you this time !", he says, on the next encounter), all of it added to actual gameplay possibilities (strategies that open up once you can brand orcs), etc. But that's not all, all of this actually has some lasting meaning. Events happen in the hierarchy, again, some of them you trigger, some of them just as a result of the game's systems (anyone saw their nemesis brought down by a pack of caragors just as they were strolling around the map going somewhere else ?). It's like all those little anecdotes that happen while moving around in any good open world, all those cop chase stories in GTA or all those outpost attacks gone wonderfully wrong/right in Far Cry 3, except here they all chain together, and create a story, that impacts your world, and that is acknowledged and mentionned by the involved characters (who themselves only exist in your savefile too). Just like you can't sum up all of this as "the nemesis system yeah i get it orcs get powerful on the orcs power screen ok", you can't considerate it a separate, detachable part of the game either. It's everywhere. It only stops during the handful of scripted story missions, anywhere else it's active (moving around in the world you'll meet captains, and they'll meet you no matter if you want to, same during any kind of Power mission or Slave Liberation mission etc). Try to forget or ignore it for a while, and the next time you die, you'll be quickly reminded that it's the law of the land. This stupid no-name NPC, the lowest level of threat in the game, that just so happens to give you an opportunistic final blow as you were running away from the actual threat (a fight with a mistakenly enraged powerful captain that took out 95% of your health), well this stupid no-name grunt still takes the kill. He's now taunting you, promoted to captain for killing the gravewalker, gaining power, and gaining a name. He's now part of the story, whether you want it or not, like a living testimony of that stupid shameful death you had just a few minutes ago. For once, you start being very careful not to die, not to avoid being set back in time by a punitive "game over", but precisely because you won't be set back if you die. Instead, the game will taunt you, the world will change a bit, and this stupid orc will remember you died, and you will remember you died.On top of very well made (if common) systems (batman combat, AC traversal, runes random loot & weapon customization, etc), this is really a game that gave me a novel experience, and played on entirely new strings. And most importantly, I had an insane amount of fun.


3. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 2 ; Last minute edit for this as I just finished it last week. It was simply incredible. Gameplay-wise it makes real changes to the Infinite formula, all while keeping the cool bits (grapple hooks + stealth gameplay = good). The level design is back to being great, with exploration not only possible but rewarded in spades. To me this is Irrational Games saying goodbye by reminding us they're fucking kings at what they do. Incredible animation/cutscenes and overall production values, incredible art direction and lighting, incredible audio (music, songs, ambiances, everything), incredible-dible environment design that includes breathtaking views/lights/ambiances and storytelling/world development with an unrivaled attention to detail. Incredible story concepts too. And now with a true return to form from a gameplay standpoint, simply delicious. Even just the intro for this episode suffices to sell the unmatched talent these people had together, I marveled at the first part of this intro for probably 20 minutes, just soaking in the place, with a genuine smile upon my face at the discovery of every single square inch of it, only to be even more amazed when it all starts twisting into the beginning of the game. And the places you see, dammit. If you're a fan of Rapture and the first Bioshock, you see things and take part in scenes that simply can't fail to amaze and delight. Thank you so much, guys.


(Good lord that's heavy to read. I can't really tell from the OP and other posts, but is it okay to separate my comments in several paragraphs with some breathing space in between ?)



There are other games I enjoyed this year, but to me those two are waaayy over everything else, than nothing else comes close, so I'll mention those other games but not add them to my list.
Clearly, if Sunset is worth 4 points and Mordor is worth 3 points, then none of the other games I enjoyed is worth more than 1, so there's no way to fit them on the list.

Titanfall : Had a lot of fun with that. It was a genuine surprise too, I was never "supposed" to enjoy that. It just seemed like CoD with mechs to me, and I don't play CoD and don't care about mechs (who would want to pilot a big heavy thing that's so slow and all, it's beyond me). But then I got to try the beta at a friend's, and got a good price for it on PC, so I bought it and loved it. I think within the confines of what was expected of them, Respawn did an awesome job of making something different. The core gameplay is like small little bricks of stuff that seamlessly flow from one to another. It's a game so fluid and fast that you just can't help but have fun even if you're losing. I'm running up walls then through a window then jump kick a guy then auto pistol 4 grunts then BOOM up in the Titan, dash around and repel rockets, blow up a bunch of stuff, get low on health, eject (awesome), titan explodes and kill stuff (awesome), aaaannd back to wallrunning, rinse and repeat, could do this all day.

Layton Vs Ace Attorney : Big fan of both, very well executed, A's everywhere, music, story, graphics, etc, etc, Shu Takumi forever, what can I say. I was bound to enjoy this and I did, it's no surprise, but still awesome. Can't wait for whatever's next for Ace Attorney.

Watchdogs : Really enjoyed that too. Though in some respect it does feel like something you've played before, it does have its own tricks, and the story missions had a few cool concepts, + some of them were actually sort of open-ended, which is way more than can be said about anything Rockstar has designed in the last two GTAs.

Far Cry 4 : played 10 hours of it, had a lot of fun. Basically Far Cry 3 on steroids and I enjoyed that too so okay. Story missions are still the worst part, sadly. And roaming around doing towers and outposts is still the best.


These were not the only games I enjoyed. I probably forgot lots of them, so maybe I'll add more.

Magic Mushroom said:

Bayonetta 2 is a masterpiece. ViewtifulJC did a wonderful job of describing why.

Click to expand...

ViewtifulJC's write-up of Bayonetta 2 makes me want to go out and buy it right now so I can play it and make sure it's on my list before the voting period is up.

Hell, his write-up makes me want to put it on my list without playing it.

Man, I don't know if I should vote. I one hand I want to give a shout out to Banner Saga, Divinity and others. But I did not play any of the big AAA titles except for wolfenstein, nothing from Bayonetta 2 to Dragon Age.

edit: yeah, I still have to play south park, and that's very much up my alley. So for this title I will abstain for now.

Vulcano's assistant said:

Man, I don't know if I should vote. I one hand I want to give a shout out to Banner Saga, Divinity and others. But I did not play any of the big AAA titles, noting from Bayonetta 2 to Dragon Age.

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Nobody played everything, so there is no reason why you shouldn't vote.

Especially when you have such a great taste .

The Xtortionist said:

All that said, I don't have any objective issues with Bayonetta 2 as a game, nor am I suggesting that Platinum should have added in arbitrary bullshit or anything. It's still my number two game of the year and clearly an incredible achievement. But that post by JC is so good, and my lack of disagreement with anything he said really spurred me to take a closer look at this. Hopefully this post makes some semblance of sense.

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Dude I completely agree and you nailed why it didn't quite hit me as much as it did others. And that's fine. I thought it was a really good game. My problem was that it never stopped to breathe, and the story was just so weird and convoluted that I couldn't follow it, making all the cutscenes (and there were a LOT) feel so pointless. I also hated Loki with a passion. Fortunately the gameplay was phenomenal, as was the art and music, but when there's nothing but combat scenarios with little to no downtime, I dunno, that's when a game can fail to leave a lasting impression on me. When you look at stuff like Devil May Cry, Okami, even the original Bayonetta... you know, they seemed and felt more interesting because they were more fleshed out I think. Devil May Cry and especially Okami had tons of exploration and therefore, atmosphere. I felt that Bayonetta 2 largely lacked atmosphere because of this. I was always running forward and fighting stuff.

Also, who actually wants to stop the flow of the game to read those notes? Most of them were really uninteresting and felt there as a crutch for the lack of world-building otherwise. I'm not saying that Bayonetta 2 should have been an exploration game, but to me they're just so much better and memorable when there is a balance between action and downtime. That downtime is not a negative thing; in fact, it's the opposite. Bayonetta 2 was a game of setpieces and non-stop action and they were great, but then when the game stops you (frequently) to try to tell its ridiculous story, you don't care, you don't know what's going on, it doesn't really make sense, and beyond one central plot motivation you don't really feel connected to the journey she's going on. I also thought they dropped the ball with the journey to the mountain. You're on your way there and you get close and then it deviates for the longest time before going back to it right at the very end. I thought that dampened the mystique of the mountain and thought that the game should have just kept going to and through it.

I dunno. The game is really good, but highly disappointing in those regards.

1. Alien Isolation ; Being a massive Alien fan, I really couldn't wait for this game. The debacle that was Colonial Marines made me really want this to be fantastic, and thankfully it did not disappoint. Stunning atmospheric visuals and sound and tense gameplay kept me gripped from start to finish. Creative Assembly nailed it. Fingers crossed for a sequel.
2. The Last Of Us Remastered; As a game, this was already fantastic on PS3. However Naughty Dog nailed the remaster, beautiful 1080p visuals at 60fps just made a fantastic game even better and I loved going through the game again from start to finish. Phenomenal.
3. Mario Kart 8; Nintendo really nailed it with this one, beautiful visuals and yet another 60fps game from them. They really know how to make their hardware sing, and the gameplay as always is top notch. Probably my favourite game on Wii U and had a cracking time with it this year.
4. Sunset Overdrive ; got this as a pack in with my new Xbone and talk about a big surprise. Fantastic colourful visuals and fun gameplay, with that usual wacky Insomniac style. A great surprise, but very fun and a great exclusive for Microsoft.
5. Far Cry 4; really just a slight update of the Far Cry 3 formula, but that was a cracking game so it doesn't really matter. Cracking visuals and a massive play area to explore, dozens of hours of things to do and you can ride Elephants. Who could ask for more!?
6. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze ; I think I was with a lot of other people in being slightly disappointed when Retro were confirmed to be working on another Donkey Kong instead of Metroid or something else but this game is fantastic and another example of a developer making the hardware sing. Fantastic visuals and brilliant gameplay, it's a cracking sequel and I thoroughly enjoyed playing through it.
7. Destiny ; I am a massive Halo fan and so was really looking forward to seeing what Bungie had made next. I know there has been a lot of criticism over various aspects of the game, some of which are valid but there is no doubt in my mind that Bungie absolutely nailed the combat and the soundtrack is fantastic.
8. Titanfall ; I'm not usually a fan of multiplayer first person shooting, but Respawn really made a cracking game here. Maybe a little light on content at launch but brilliant fun to play and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with the inevitable sequel. Hopefully that will include a campaign too.
9. Middle Earth Shadows Of Mordor ; another game that sort of came out of nowhere for me. Loved the mix of Assassins Creed style traversal and the Arkham inspired combat. Lovely visuals and the fantastic Nemesis system just rounded off the package. Great stuff.
10. Halo The Master Chief Collection ; despite all the well known issues, some of which I'm still having (give me my achievements!), I'm such a massive Halo fan that being able to play all these campaigns at 60fps just made this a fantastic experience for me. Can't wait until they add ODST next year.

Honourable Mentions
1. Minecraft Xbox One Edition
2. P.T

1. The Last Of Us Remastered
2. Wolfenstein The New Order
3. Revengeance [PC version]
4. Alien: Isolation
5. Infamous Second Son
6. MGS: Ground Zeroes
7. DriveClub
8. Resogun


Honorable mention, PT. Scared me shitless.

Vulcano's assistant said:

Man, I don't know if I should vote. I one hand I want to give a shout out to Banner Saga, Divinity and others. But I did not play any of the big AAA titles except for wolfenstein, nothing from Bayonetta 2 to Dragon Age.

edit: yeah, I still have to play south park, and that's very much up my alley. So for this title I will abstain for now.

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The AAA games have been rather mediocre this year. Bringing up overlooked and niche games is more worthwhile than wasting your time on some bland game that already got a few hundred votes.

The Xtortionist said:

snip

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I've found most Platinum games feel relentlessly "on" with not enough "off" in between. It's a potential core pacing issue, imo, yet a tough thing to complain about. Honestly though, I did not feel this way about Bayonetta 2, it felt like it had perfectly placed spaces in between encounters.

Lingitiz said:

4. Divinity Original Sin ; There was no better reminder to tell me how much I adored what Divinity: Original Sin accomplished than playing Dragon Age Inquisition. Don’t get me wrong, DA:I is a great game in its own right, but Divinity is all about faith in the player. It trusts us to explore and think for ourselves, and melds that in every aspect of its design. With brilliant tactical turn-based combat, and vibrant world filled with interesting things to do and threads to follow, Divinity is a refreshing throwback that we don’t get too often. Even in the first section alone there’s just so much to see and do, and none of it feels like pointless filler. The turn-based combat offers so much variety, too. How about laying down rain puddles to electrocute enemies? Or igniting gobs of poison with fireballs to incinerate your enemies? Divinity’s steep death penalty and challenging enemies requires much thought to every encounter. The game’s quest design is also a great throwback. Most games now generally just have you mindlessly follow waypoints from one place to another. Divinity says “go figure it out for yourself,” and often that requires paying close attention to dialogue, reading your journal, and putting the facts together on your own. Divinity: Original Sin is a brilliant return to the type of RPG that often expects a lot of the player, but gives back so much more in return.

6. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth ; Essentially Persona 4.5, Persona Q is no simple spinoff. It feels lovingly crafted, with the same production values and attention to detail that you'd expect out of Atlus and P Studio. Although I own a few EO games, I've never played them. PQ has been a great introduction to these types of games, and although I haven't quite made it to the end of this gargantuan game, I've been totally hooked from the moment I pressed start. It's great the see the casts from P3 and P4 interacting together, and i love both the combat system and traversing the labyrinths. The game's challenge is definitely no joke either. And how about that soundtrack from Shoji Meguro? Absolutely stellar stuff.

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Your writeup reminds me how terrible I feel not playing these this year

Ok here's my (preemptive?) list, as I have played few 2014 games, and I'm going through some of them still (i'm like 20 minutes into Wasteland 2, for instance. haven't started TALOS principle, South Park, The Swapper, or Child of Light).

1. Divinity: Original Sin ; possibly the best new co-op experience
2. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; silly fun premises desn't mean silly narratives anymore
3. Banner Saga ; I was actually quite mad at some events in this game, making it feel like your mistakes matter is how you make a story get to your player.
4. Broken age ; half a game was enough to see one of the best writers in the medium does it.
5. Kentucky Route Zero: Act III ; never seen anything like it, screenwriters should play this game, you'll have a lot of fun picking what everyone says.
6. MGR: Revengeance [PC version] (Actually may be my GOTY so far, but not a proper 2014 game)
7. The Fall
8.
9.
10.

I'm not even omitting games, that's all the 2014 games I played for more than an hour this whole year as far as I recall.

1. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; Like last year, this was a close pick between the number 2 game for me, but I ultimate chose this game just for how much time I sunk into this game (150+ hours and counting!)

I'll be honest; I was one of the many people disappointed with Brawl. Even ignoring the competitive side of things, Brawl always felt really slow and off to me, the overall balance was just poor (Metaknight...), and I shouldn't have to mention stuff like random tripping. Thankfully, Super Smash Bros for Wii U fixes most of the problems I had with Brawl. Now the speed being an inbetween version of Melee and Brawl, Smash 4 also manages to be it's own game, thanks to it's interesting mechanics, from the dynamic ledges, and to actually being able to award the offensive player!

Super Smash Bros for Wii U rekindled my love for Smash Bros. as both a competitive and casual player. Smash 4 is just super fun to play, whether I'm playing super intense 1v1 matches on For Glory, or just simply kicking back with a couple friends in crazy 8 player smash fights! The amazing variety in the soundtrack, to the beautiful looking visuals (after the grittier, and more realistic looking Brawl artstyle, this is a VERY nice change of pace), to the amazing 48+ character roster (cry moar Ridley/K.Rool fans) in both the variety (from Shulk's Monado Art changes to Rosalina controlling Luma) and surprisingly, great balance.

Is the game super technical like Melee was?...Nah, not really, no, but you know what? It doesn't need to be. Like I said before, Smash 4 manages to be it's own game that awards the both offensive and defensive gameplay, and is just an absolute blast to play. I won't deny that I have a few problems with the game (single player isn't as strong as previous Smash games), but it doesn't bother me that much. I think the main thing about this game was no matter how much I was struggling against certain characters/players, I always wanted to keep trying. Keep trying until I overcame those obstacles and overall, improve my skills as a player. I'm just so happy that I can finally call a Smash Bros. game my game of the year again

I'm really feeling it! (You could probably guess who I main )


2. Bayonetta 2 ; Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style some day~
Ahem, anyway, oddly enough, like my number 1 game on this list, I also didn't like the previous game in the series -that- much. Bayonetta 1 had a lot of problems from QTEs, a lot of gimmicky gameplay minigames, and er, Angel Attack is kind of bad. Thankfully, Bayonetta 2 fixes all of the game's first problems, and then some. I don't give this praise that often, but it manages to rival Devil May Cry 3 as one of my favorite action games of all time.

Bayonetta 2 is just a cuhrayzee fast paced action game with the return of one of the most awesome protagonists in gaming. Playing through the game was just off the rail for me, as I found myself constantly replaying missions to experience the game again. The boss fights are all really fun and memorable, the story itself is a fun ride, and the weapons in the game? From the twin dual blades, to the huge scythe weapon to...holy crap, is that a double CHAINSAW weapon?! It's really easy to tell that Platinum Games put in a lot of work with this game and learned from their past game's mistakes to fix all of them in the sequel.

I don't have too much to say other than Bayonetta 2 was a blast to play from start to finish. If you're a fan of action games, you owe it to yourself to play this game. You may want to look into other Wii U games you may be interested in, but Bayonetta 2 is definitely worth getting. It was a game that almost didn't get made, but I'm truly happy and grateful that it did.


3. Mario Kart 8 ; I'm gonna admit it, it's gonna hard for me to say how they're gonna top this game with the next Mario Kart.

Mario Kart 8 is just a blast to play. It looks absolutely beautiful in HD, with every track, even the classic ones, are simply a joy to see and at the beginning, I was getting distracted from the actual racing just to see some the nice visual touches of the game. That's not to say the actual racing is lacking, because it most certainly is not. Mario Kart 8 is very much refined and polished to the point the only really disappointing about the game is that the Battle Mode, well, pretty much sucks.

Thankfully it makes up with it with mostly everything else. The anti-gravity mechanic in the game is nicely done, the overall track design is nice and tight (Rainbow Road aside, but that track is always awful ), it's just a blast to throw well aimed shells to take the lead from the competition (and rage a bit when it happens to you...), customizing your Kart to fit your personal needs, and FINALLY being able to give the middle finger to the Blue Shells with the new Super Horn power up.

Overall, the game's a blast to play with friends, and even if you don't have some, you can always play the game online with the game's super smooth netcode. Mario Kart 8 is Mario Kart at it's best, and is just super fun to play.

4. Dark Souls 2 ; Prepare to die all over again...

Alright, let's just get this out of the way. Is Dark Souls 2 as strong as the previous game? In my honest opinion, no, it's not. Aside from questionable balance decisions (like seriously, what's up with the hitboxes in this game...?), it's just plain not as a memorable as the previous game. However, considering Dark Souls 1 is one of my favorite games of all time, being a lackluster sequel is not necessarily a bad thing, as Dark Souls 2 is still a very much fun and great game.

Dark Souls 2 is still very much a competent game, with you still having to very careful about how you play, lest you get reckless and die a miserable death and having to start from your last bonfire. It's a lot of fun and very satisfying to finally being able to overcome an obstacle that you previously had a lot of trouble with. There's still a lot of depth in the weapons/armor, and there's a whole bunch of cool and hidden details in the game's lore.

I'm really only so critical of this game is because I love the previous game so much, that it feels weird that this game takes a step back. Hopefully, the Souls team is doing a much better job with Bloodborne, but again, Dark Souls 2 is still a very much good game. If you're still looking for the Souls itch, this is the game for you.

5. Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- ; Heaven or Hell! Duel one, let's rock!

Guilty Gear is back with a brand new game that isn't just a new version of XX, and goddamn, it looks absolutely beautiful. Using 3D models to make them look like 2D sprites was handled really well here, and makes me wish other future fighting games were handled like this. Aside from the great looking visuals, the gameplay is as tight as ever. Granted, I myself am still pretty garbage of the game, but hey, with the easy to understand tutorials, and challenge mode combos, I'm slowly learning!

Don't have a lot to say other than...well, it's Guilty Gear. The story mode is handled really well, without any tedious inbetween battles occuring, the music is freaking awesome, one of the best soundtracks this year, and the game's just really fun to play and learn. I'm still waiting on certain characters to return already whether it's through DLC or...I'll probably have to wait until the next version of the game (Dizzy and Jam please), I'm more than a little eagered to see what the future lies in store for the game.


6. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; Goddamn, I suck so hard at this game, but I keep wanting to come back...

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is definitely one of the best Wii U games to come out so far! The platforming is as tight as ever, with almost every single level having this unique stage design and introducing something new. The music is also excellent, and many people have said that this is one of the best soundtracks to come out this year and I'm inclined to agree! The various different characters that you can play as from Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong makes the gameplay all the more fun and unique (though I believe I mostly stuck with Cranky).

This game would probably be higher on my list if, well, I didn't completely suck at it and spent more time on it. That's not to say the game isn't challenging though, because it most certainly is (or like I said, maybe I just suck, I dunno). No matter how difficult things get though, you just want to keep trying and overcoming those obstacles. I admittedly wanted Retro Studios to make something a little...bigger, but I'm still really happy they made this game when they had the chance.

7. Under Night in Birth ; The last fighting game on this list (sorry, Persona...), Under Night in-Birth certainly surprised me.

The game's mostly on this list because it taught me and has improved a lot things I needed working on in fighting games. From being patient, keeping the pressure on, and just in general being a smarter player. That's not to say the game itself is lacking though. Under Night In-Birth is a great fighting game with very interesting and creative gameplay mechanics without having to resort to a simple comeback mechanic. The roster is also varied despite the smallish cast and while it certainly has it's low and high tiers, it's one of the most balanced fighting games out there.

I'm most certainly glad I imported this game while I had the chance. The game has great looking 2D sprite visuals, a great soundtrack and is a lot of fun to play. I mostly use Orie (mostly because Seth kinda sucks...) and she's a lot of fun to play as. I'm happy to see that this game has a competitive future (considering a lot of people are STILL entering this game despite after all this time) and when the game releases in North America next year, I'll be more than happy to show my support and double dip.


8. Kirby Triple Deluxe ; Oddly enough, my favorite 3DS game of the year!

Kirby isn't a game that's meant to be challenging. It's all about just having fun with the game while you're smiling the entire time. Triple Deluxe is one of the very few 3DS games that surprisingly makes really smart use of the 3D, and is a whole lot of fun. The mainline Kirby games I always enjoy playing, and this one is no exception with the number of different levels and variety in the game. The new Hypernova ability is so much fun; being able to suck almost anything (...that sounded wronger than I wanted to make it) and just lay waste to everything in Kirby's path, devouring all enemies and even bosses' health bars...man, Kirby is a freaking psychopath isn't he?

There's not a lot to say about this game. There's a lot to like about this game whether it's the amount of content/collection you can get in the game (the Sun stones and Keychains, the latter being especially nice to see the fanservice in past Kirby games), the nice 3D visuals, the great soundtrack (no seriously, why is this so good?!), the super fun (if admittedly very easy) gameplay...Triple Deluxe is a very good game, and as a Kirby fan, I'm glad to have played it. Kirby's gonna come right back at ya with this game!


9. Hyrule Warriors ; Man, I have no idea how the developers came up with this game, but holy shit, it's awesome.

Hyrule Warriors features your favorite Zelda characters from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, and features them in a "Musou" style game where you hack and slash and destroy every enemy in your path. While admittedly the game can get repetitive if you play it too much, there's something really satisfying using your favorite Zelda character in this fanservice of a game. Whether it's good ol' Link with his over the top sword skills, Zelda herself with rapier and light arrows, Agitha from Twilight Princess (?!) using her various bugs to stomp over every enemy or freaking Ganondorf with his most awesome incarnation yet.

Like I said, the main drawback of this game is that it CAN get repetitive, but so long as you take a break every now and then, it's still really satisfying to play through. There's a lot of content in this game from the story mode, and the adventure mode, with lots of stuff to unlock. This is one cuhrayzee Zelda fanservice game, and makes me look at Musou games from a different point of view now.


10. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth ; I'll admit, I wasn't really that hype for this game, but...

Persona Q is a good ol' dungeon crawling game that features your favorite Persona characters. It's really fun to see all the fanservice and all the hard work went into this game. The music is awesome and the battle system is something I wouldn't mind seeing in future Persona games. And unlike the randomly generated dungeons in Persona 3 and 4, the dungeons in these games are all nicely designed and challenging enough. The main reason it's not higher on my list? I, uh, kind of have yet to finish the game because of how long the game is and while I wouldn't say it's "slow-paced," just trying to complete one floor of the dungeon takes a very long time. Still, the fact that this game makes it on my list is still a plus and while I'm still awaiting Persona 5, Persona Q should be a nice distraction for those waiting for it.

1. Super Smash Bros. Wii U
2. Mario Kart 8
3. Metal Gear Rising Revengence (pc)
4. Alien Isolation
5. Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes
6: Gta 5 (ps4)
7: Last of us remastered
8: Kentucky Route Zero
9: Fract OSC

I'm finally sitting down to write this after having come to grips with Dragon Age. I was skeptical of the game going in, I was bummed by the first few hours, I really started to dig it for a while, and now it has very much worn out its welcome and I don't know that I'll finish. I can't decide whether the more appropriate name for it would be Fetch Quest Simulator or Inventory Management Simulator, but I'm blown away by how positive the response has been. Maybe I've just played it too long and I should have wrapped it up ten hours ago.

But whatever. I'm here to talk about my favorite games of the year, of which there are not many. It's fitting that Dragon Age is capping a pretty weak year for games. I had the most fun playing games that did not come out this year (Dark Souls, Persona 4, Ico). There are a few good games I played that came out this year, and more that I should have played, but we can't get to them all. I was tempted to only do a top five, but then I'd have trouble deciding which five to include, because although I don't feel particularly strongly about many of these games, I did enjoy them, and want to jot down some thoughts about each.

1. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; I had initially put Left Behind (The Last of Us DLC) in the number one spot, but as much as I enjoyed it, I felt sort of weird putting a piece of DLC as my number one game when the base game was my number one last year. I thought it was sort of a statement about the year in games, because I thought it was a pretty mediocre year (granted, there are games I haven't played, such as Divinity, and I haven't played enough of Bayonetta 2 to render an opinion).

But I started playing The Stick of Truth at the end of the year, and now I have to edit my list, because holy crap, this was one of the most enjoyable games I have played in a very, very long time. I don't know that I've ever played a game that made me laugh as loudly or as often as this game. And it's all because the game is basically an extended episode of South Park with some gameplay included. If you are not a fan of the show, avoid this game. It's meant for people that appreciate the show's sense of humor, because the game emulates that humor in every regard.

I don't know what else I can say. The gameplay is pretty decent - it isn't the deepest RPG by a long shot, but the game has so much charm and humor that I can't not have it at number one.

2. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor ; Nothing about this game is especially remarkable (the nemesis system is pretty cool, though), but it's all done so well and the game is so fun to play that I can't help but enjoy it. People like to compare it to Assassin's Creed, which isn't unfair, but it is sort of unfair to Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed is so married to the idea of its setting that it forgets to try to evolve the gameplay to make it more fun. Shadow of Mordor, meanwhile, is all about the gameplay. As some other entries on this list demonstrate (Destiny, cough cough), I'm willing to overlook a lot if the gameplay is fun.

3. Super Time Force ; Looking over this list, I realize I really enjoy 2D platformers. Something about Super Time Force's time manipulation really hooked and impressed me. Having multiple ghosts firing at a boss was really cool, as was trying to finish a level fast enough for some of the unlocks. The humor was pretty hit and miss, but it had heart. The game is almost more of a puzzle game than a platformer, which makes it even better.

4. BattleBlock Theater ; I'm not sure why I'm putting this game so high in my list - I suspect it's partially the music, partially the announcer, and partially the color/animation. The gameplay is fine for what it is, but the music really made me smile. I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack and a lot of color and character.

5. 1001 Spikes ; Fuck this game.

6. Threes! ; I played Persona 4 for about 200 hours this year - I suspect I've played Threes! nearly as long. It's such an easy time-waster, because it's so simple and fun.

7. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; I don't quite know why some people are so adamant that this is the greatest 2D platformer of all time. It was fun and stylish and the music was good, but there have been a LOT of 2D platformers, and to me this is just a good one of those. I don't mean to use this blurb to diminish the game, though - it was a lot of fun, and games like this (and Nintendo's games in general) are refreshingly cheerful and colorful. We could use more games like this that aren't just about shooting people.

8. Transistor ; The game had a lot to live up to, because people seem to think very highly of Bastion. I sort of feel like it lived up to it, because I thought Bastion was merely pretty good. This game's story is hidden a little too deep, but the combat was fun (even though I was pretty bad at it), and the music and visuals were superb.

9. Destiny ; I could ramble about this game for a very long time. At the end of the day, I think you have to know what to expect going in, and also cut your losses when the game starts becoming something you don't want it to be. For me, I came to that realization after two discoveries. The first was when I started thinking about how much wandering/collecting I was going to have to do on the moon to level up my gear. The second was after doing a heroic mission that was very difficult to solo, given my level at the time, and I didn't get any of the materials required to level up my gear. I questioned why the game would want me to do something so incredibly boring and reward me for it (gathering materials), but wouldn't reward me for doing something I genuinely enjoyed and would be willing to engage in further.

At that point, I said goodbye to Destiny. I don't hate it, because I enjoyed everything up to that point. But to progress further would require doing things I didn't want to do. I don't agree with their decision to pad out the length of the game with awful, awful grinds, but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment I got from it leading up to that. So it sits here near the bottom of my list, a deeply-flawed and enjoyable game.

10. Mario Kart 8 ; In all honesty, any of the games from three to ten could be switched around and I'd still be happy with the list. Nothing stuck out to me this year other than South Park and Shadow of Mordor. I say this because I sort of want to move Mario Kart higher, but then I'd question the game I had at ten. So don't read into Mario Kart being at ten - it could just as easily be at three. It was a year of so-so games that I thoroughly enjoyed, but don't feel strongly about, so I'm not going to fret about their placement.

That being said, I enjoyed my time with the game. As frustrating as it is to be about to claim victory, only to have it snatched away by a blue shell...that's Mario Kart. I hate it and love it at the same time. The number of tracks in this game, once you throw in the DLC, is staggering.

x. Shovel Knight ; I want to put this on the list, but I don't want to remove anything. I think I'm most willing to leave this off of the list because of how some people think the game is so incredible....which is completely unfair to the game, and pretty petty of me. I liked it a lot. I just don't want to bump anything else.

What stood out most to me about Shovel Knight was the music. I really enjoyed the music. Everything else was pretty good. It does a fantastic job of emulating a game you'd expect to play on an NES or SNES, except made slightly more modern. I'm glad the game was successful (I think I read that it was, at least), and part of me hopes the developers tackle another genre from those days and modernize it, such as the JRPG.

Lostconfused said:

The AAA games have been rather mediocre this year. Bringing up overlooked and niche games is more worthwhile than wasting your time on some bland game that already got a few hundred votes.

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Depends on which games you mean by AAA, but games like MK8 and Bayonetta 2 are anything but bland. Neither is Tropical Freeze.

But yes, it's nice to read about niche titles.

1. Bayonetta 2 ; Bayonetta 2 is a lesser achievement than its predecessor, but it’s also a better game. Frankly, it cuts out all the bullshit from the first game, and the end result is a nearly perfect action game. If there’s one complaint I have about Bayo 2, it’s that it lacks some of the cooler weapons in the first game. And Kafka is one of the coolest weapons in any game, but is woefully underpowered and limited in its combos.
2. Hearthstone ; Although I haven’t touched the game in months, I remember just how much I used to play in open beta, and I knew Hearthstone belonged high up on this list. It’s slick, accessible, and addictive, although it leans too much on RNG at times.
3. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; A fantastic core game with insane amounts of content and surprisingly functional online multiplayer. The only reason this isn’t higher is because Smash is a known quantity at this point.
4. Mario Kart 8 ; Very polished package that combines almost all the good things from previous games. Excellent track design and selection, and better balanced as well. The best comfort food any Nintendo fan could ask for.
5. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ; The stupidest plot twist of 2014, by far. But still really fun for fans of both series, and with few, if any “lol that’s bullshit” puzzles.
6. Transistor ; A great combat system married to amazing presentation, but burdened by a story that wrote checks it couldn't cash.
7. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; I waited ages for this game to hit PC, and it was worth it. All killer, no filler, with some of the greatest boss fights ever committed to code. The only reason this isn’t higher is because it’s a late port.
8. Resident Evil 4: Ultimate HD Edition ; It’s Resident Evil 4. It belongs in a Top 10 list in any year it’s released on a new platform.

Reading trough all the lists, apparently I need to play Danganronpa I & II, I'll get right on that as soon as I'm finished with P4G

1. The Last of Us Remastered ; If I nominate a remaster instead of original content, you know it's been a bleak year. Nevertheless, TLoU itself is that good that even its remaster easily becomes my favorite game of the year.
2. The Last of Us: Left Behind ; A great piece that fits perfectly into the story timeline, offers up a few very interesting (and sometimes challenging) gameplay advancements and, above all, tugs at your heartstrings more often than not. The best piece of DLC since The Ballard of Gay Tony for GTA IV.
3. Driveclub ; It's the most fun I've had with a racing game in a long while, and one that will continue to glue me to the controller for the next couple of months, thanks to Evo's steady DLC support.
4. Threes ; 2014's best mobile game by far. It still haunts me in my sleep. Make it stop. Please. I beg you.
5. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; Easily the best shooter of 2014. It was surprisingly refreshing to go back to a WW2-esque scenario and had some great shootouts.
6. The Walking Dead: Season Two ; Telltale's formula still works with me.
7. inFamous Second Son ; After the awesome inFamous 1 & 2, I was a little bit disappointed in how shallow Delsin as a character was and how little the gameplay evolved. Still, it was a good and fun entry that looked visually stunning.
8. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls ; While the RoS expansion offered up some nice new story piece, probably more important was the release of the accompanying patch 2.0 that made a lot of changes for the better and revitalized my interest in the game (hello, Legendaries).
9. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments ; Frogwares' best entry in the Sherlock Holmes series so far, with a refined, much more streamlined gameplay and some very cool cases you have to solve.
10. Assassin's Creed Unity ; If it wasn't for all its technical issues, it would have ranked much higher. The French Revolution is the time period I always wanted to see and play in an AC game that was otherwise a very solid, par for the course entry of the series.

Honorable Mentions
x. Sunset Overdrive ; While I haven't played it and thus can't put it on my list, I know I'd definitely enjoy it. The first game that brought me dangerously close to buying an Xbox One but I'll hold out until a slim XBO revision and/or more games I'm interested in are released.

1. Bayonetta 2 ; I had very high expectations after Rising and Wonderful 101 and Platinum surpassed my expectations by a long shot. The graphics, animations, background music, sound effects are all superb and yet serve only one purpose. To make the combat as exhilarating as possible. And man did they succeeded on that one. The just in time evades to trigger witch time coupled with the the incredibly fast and diverse combos and diverse weaponry and the insane finishers and all the crazy enemies with incredibly creative designs all those elements blend into a beatiful combat musical that really is unique.

2. Smash Bros. 3DS/ WiiU ; My experience with this game was that I got the 3DS version first, was impressed by the technical achievement but disappointed by the game at first, got hooked and played classic with all characters (I think I barely did that with Brawl) and then got the WiiU Version to get blown away. By that point I knew the game quite well and could appreciate all the additions to the formula (in particular the 8 player mayhem). And yes the WiiU Version is the one that pushes this one above the other games with its incredible graphics, soundtrack and 8 Player multiplayer.

3. Shadow of Mordor ; The game has a lot of downsides (bleak open world, extremely boring story, way too easy combat) but it was amazing my character was at a insanely low level and got killed like 8 times by a Warlord. At that point the Warlord and his two henchmen were maxed and would kill me with one or two blows. Everytime I went to him and all the orcs chanted his name it was an epic epic set up (and always a bitter defeat when you got killed by that guy). Beating that Warlord was probably my personal favorite moment this year. The ability to create such a scenario outside of the story missions (which are also very bleak) earns that game this spot.

4. Bravely Default Flying Fairy ; Incredibly diverse Job System, engaging and fresh story in a very "by the books" setting (at least initially), incredible plot twists and a great delivery by the (japanese, didnt play in english) voice actors. This game is the best thing Square Enix has put out since FF IX and this is why it earns this spot.

5. Yakuza Isshin ; Okay first things first. I am very interested in the historical period of the meiji isshin (bakumatsu-beginning of the meiji period) which was in the late 19th century of Japan. The Sakoku edicts of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the opening of the ports due to the landing of the Black Ships by Commodore Perry. This setting is just so incredibly interesting as it is a seed of a new era for Japan. Not only that but the game starts with a bang covering the assassination (also known as the Omiya Jiken) of Satsumoto Ryoma (one of the heroes of that era) by the Shinsen Gumi (a brigade that wants to preserve old values). To be able to be in that time and to experience the people in that age alone makes this game absolutely playworthy. Aside of that however the game also features an enhanced combat system and does run quite smooth on PS4 (graphically its just a very pretty PS3 game though). Yeah its just Yakuza but its the best in the series.

6. Mario Kart 8 ; Incredibly good graphics and smooth framerate, online that actually works well, great tracks and great DLC... Yeah the formula stays the same and the new Items really do not feel all that fresh (at least they are less annoying then those POW Blocks) but it sure is an incredible racing game.

7. Pokemon Omega Ruby ; Ruby and Sapphire with all the greatness of X, Y and also Luchadore Pikachu.. Do I need to say more?

8. Infamous Second Son ; Graphically the game looks stunning. The acting also is very good. However the game feels like it could have used some more content (in particular the last power you gather is pretty much just an end game bonus. Would have been incredible if you could have had some actual story content with that). Also the story was more on the boring side. Overall a good game but not worth buying a PS4 for (I actually bought PS4 right after second son shipped and yes it was because of this game).

9. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze ; Great Platformer with incredible music. I loved the diversity of the levels and the hidden exists (this aspect was kinda lacking in the last one) but overall I think it could have been higher if you had the possibility to play as Diddy, Dixie or Cranky only in Single Player. Also the Gamepad was not used at all, which was disappointing.

10. Evil Within ; I really loved the gun combat. However the game really did not click with me in terms of story and character design/ acting. But yeah the engaging battle really puts it to this spot.

Honorable Mentions
Final Fantasy X and X-2 HD ; A release that shows that how great Square Enix once was. Graphics, sound, battle system etc. are just so much better than most of the things released thereafter. But yeah its an old game
Diablo III Reaper of Souls ; Diablo III was overall a disappointment to me. The expansion unfortunately did not change it. I was hooked by some of the changes they made but overall I could only beat the story once and that was it.
Dragon Age Inquisition ; Couldnt beat it this year. Will do it in the next year.
Hyrule Warriors ; I liked the game a lot more than I expected mostly since its zelda. But yeah its Dynasty Warriors at the end of the day

1. The evil with in - this game is just brilliant. felt like i was playing resident evil 4 for the first time 10 years ago, that's how good it is
2. Metal gear solid rising - game is just tons of fun, awesome gameplay, characters and best boss fights ever in a action game.
3. Dragon Age: Inquisition -

1. Mario Kart 8 ; Why? It is a MK game in HD!!!. THe game is fun to play, the DLC content is also really great.^_^

2. Bayonetta 2 ; Bayonetta this time return with all the crazy action and none stopping action form one place to another place which keep pumping ur heart.^_^

3. Donkey Kong TF ; A highly difficult platformer which is rewarding if you can finish the stage or just relax for that David WISE music.

4. Bravely Default ; While this may be a highly controversial choice, it is still a great game with nice character. The great battle system + jobs makes the game had a huge freedom on making ur favorite team.

5.Kirby Triple Deluxe ; Probably one of the best Kirby game which sadly not many had played with. A great 3D usage, a fun new power up and of course all that great musicccccc.

6. Prof Layton vs Wright. ; While many would argue that this game is not good, i would argue as this game had bring me to Layton world as this game shows the way where both Wright and Layton world had interesting lore to follow and it worth it.

7. Tomodachi Life ; A fun game where i can make my own dream pairing happening. Who don't want to see Megaman X Samus lol.

8. Pokemon ORAS ; Back to Hoennn baby. Glorious nostalgiaaa.

9. Disney Magical World. ; A great Disney simulation game on 3DS which take a bit of Animal Crossing. Fun and relaxing too.^_^

10. One Piece Unlimited World Red ; with the lack of Mon Hun style game on 3DS, i move to the closest one which is OP and boy, the game unlike many other anime adaption games, it is great.^_^ The production value is great, the DLC is free and fun, and of course the gameplay while a bit repetitive is fun to play on short burst.^_^

That was a good read Cyan, nice to catch a drift of what's going on on me cell phone too, and happy new year brohanorino

1. Bayonetta 2

Without a doubt, this is my favorite game to come out of 2014 and IMO is the best character action game ever made. The game is brilliantly designed to elicit enjoyment and satisfaction from the player, and nearly everything about it is perfection. I've replayed it quite a lot now, and not much is really trying to pull me away from it. Platinum Games definitely surpassed my expectations by a long shot, and Hashimoto + Kuroda's team have created a game I'm going to remember for a very, very long time.

2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Best 2D platformer I've ever played. In most platformers the levels are just contraptions, and it feels extremely obvious that they are. However, DKC: TF's levels are so dynamic and well designed (both from a level design and aesthetic standpoint) that they feel organic and alive rather than some well-oiled machine. It was quite the experience to play an old-school platformer with such modern sensibilities. Amazing.

3. Mario Kart 8

One of the best local multiplayer experiences I've had all year. It was great to get a bunch of friends over and just play this for numerous hours. Tightest racing experience Mario Kart has ever had. Don't even care about the lack of a proper battle mode just because the racing is so much fun.

4. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Absolutely robust Smash experience, and probably the most balanced it's ever been. Not sure what else to say about it because it's Smash, it's great.

5. Shovel Knight

A game that not only stands with the great NES classics, but also stands out among them. Great level design and surprisingly charming story really elevated this one to prominence for me.

6. Pokemon ORAS

The remakes absolutely nailed it when it came to visuals, presentation, and music to create some of my favorite moments in the series ( ). There are some things I wish it had, but I do think that it's an overall improvement to the original RSE games, especially since breeding has continued to suck hours of my life away from me.


Didn't really play anything else that came out this year that warranted a spot on the list.

1. Bayonetta 2; After playing Bayonetta 1 back on the 360, I had high hopes for Bayonetta 2. Boy were those hopes well placed. Bayonetta 2 is a fever dream of not just a sequel, but of a character action game. It has managed to polish and refine the mechanics that made Bayonetta 1 incredible, all while cranking up the hype to get you hooked from start to finish.

2. Shovel Knight; Shovel Knight is a game that I enjoyed from start to finish. A retro experience for the modern era with an OST that never fails to get me pumped for more. I wasn't satisfied to just have it on my PC, so I had to get the 3DS version to play on the go.

3. Guilty Gear Xrd Sign; Guilty Gear has always been a fighting game series that defined Arc System Works, as it has influenced several mechanics in their other series. Guilty Gear Xrd is nothing short of a fantastic return to the series, with stunning visuals and an incredible soundtrack to keep on rockin'. I still find it incredible that it runs on Unreal 3 yet can still keep a stable 60 FPS even on PS3.

4. Dark Souls 2; The Souls series has always been a frustrating yet loving relationship. Games that are brutally honest in their difficulty with stunning settings, mechanics, and visuals. Dark Souls 2 was a fun sequel to the previous entry, and one of the first games I played on my new PC. PvP has been refined, and balance updates came fairly often (though katanas are still BS strong). And with all the new weapons and armor, building cosplay builds is a blast. My favorite is probably Shield Knight from Shovel Knight (Yes fighting with a shield has worked. Surprisingly well, I might add).

5. Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS; Smash has never really been considered a competitive series by Nintendo, so it came as a shock to many when they turned heel and made several refinements to Smash 4, such as a constant 60 FPS in both versions, and even balance patches. To me it comes as a healthy balance between Brawl and Melee. Not to incredibly fast paced and filled with impossible to replicate moves, but not filled with that DAMNED TRIPPING MECHANIC.

6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; Revengeance on the 360 was a game I found to be absolutely incredible, from the intricate combat system, to the satisfaction of pulling off some Zandatsus. The PC port was everything I hoped for and more. The boss selection mode was easily my favorite addition, as I like to just go back and enjoy a memorable boss over and over again.

7. Wolfenstein: The New Order; Wolfenstein took me by surprise with its diverse approaches to gameplay, as well as the depth in the story. It certainly didn't pull punches on telling us why the Nazis were evil, and I find it adds a great level of motivation to blowing them apart with their own weapons.

Dishonorable Mentions

Watchdogs; I got this game for free with my new videocard. I have yet to play more than twenty minutes straight, as it has sucked the fun right out of me every time.

Destiny; I love Bungie. I'm going to lay that out on the table right now. However, my love for them can't make me turn a blind eye to the disappointment that was Destiny. Gunplay is perfectly fine, but the loot system, repetitive dungeons and bosses, as well as the lackluster story all combine into a sandwich of mediocrity. This wouldn't be so bad in and of itself, but when your budget is $500 million? It sets expectations. BIG expectations.

The Last Of Us: Remastered; Never played the PS3 version, absolute standout game of the year for me. The SP was flawless but surprisingly the MP surpasses all other MP titles this year. I have put some serious game time into the MP and can't see myself stopping anytime soon. Just. Too. Good.

2014 was apparently a bad year for videogames. Yeah, plenty of the biggest budget releases were broken and/or just regular shitty disasters with little hope of much changing and Gamergate made the latter half of the year super shitty for outspoken people on the margins, embarrassed the entire community, and will probably continue to shit everything up for months or more. In terms of stuff I’m into though this year owned. 2014 gave us the new Best RPG Battle System, new Best Kamiyalike, Best FPS Campaign Since Bulletstorm, new Best Third Person Stealth, and new Best First Person Puzzler. I love this stuff which is crazy since 2015 looks even better. There’s never been a better time to play way too many vidcons...

1. Divinity: Original Sin ; The last time I felt this gleeful about the sheer freedom and breadth of possibilities of a game was playing Deus Ex for the first time. Divinity: Original Sin is maximalist game design philosophy at its absolute best in RPG form, even if the individual parts aren’t all top tier. I hadn’t played a proper party based CRPG since KOTOR and NWN back in the day and wasn’t particularly interested in the latest wave of Kickstarter revivals either, but curiosity and its promise of clever turn based tactics got the best of me after noticing D:OS had been the number one seller on Steam for WEEKS after its launch. I checked out a random gameplay vid on Youtube, which ended up being a whole encounter early on, which was enough by itself to immediately sell me on the game. Let’s be perfectly honest here, the battle system is the star here and is by far my favorite RPG combat ever. Seriously, nothing but the most complex SRPGs can even hold a candle to the veritable chemistry set of options available to players here. The encounters, at least in the first act, make excellent use of these systems resulting in around 30 hours of stiffly challenging tactical bliss. Just a few fight highlights just in the first map of the game:

• After realizing that fire ignites poison surfaces and hard landings cause impact damage, I teleport dropped my fire elemental summon close to enemies in a poison pool causing the entire pool to explode, in addition to the impact damage, killing everything in it instantly.
• Getting ambushed and surrounded on all sides by about 20 exploding barrel skeletons and having to cleverly manipulate chain reactions while not instakilling my party of 4 in the process.
• The final boss of Act 1 being some massive demon fucker flanked by the three other, also quite difficult, sub-bosses of the act. Took me a few tries but I eventually took him down with no casualties after 30+ minutes of grueling combat. My favorite boss fight in a turn based game by a mile.

Outside of combat, it’s still pretty damn good except for the overall plot and main story writing. I took a liking to the goofy tone (especially the talking animals, like my boy Unsinkable Sam and the murder victim’s dog, who surprising came into combat to help me fight some recently exhumed corpses), which some regard as out of place in a game like this but to me it makes perfect sense. When your various methods of interactivity are so playful and exuberant, why contradict yourself with the standard dreary dark fantasy self-seriousness? Speaking of playful interactions, there’s plenty of it outside of fighting. Pretty much everything in the world exists as a manipulable object with its own physics properties, health and such… Quests can be solved in a crazy amount of ways, which is necessary given the journal doesn’t give you exact information about the what and where. Investigations actually feel like investigations, not errands as they often do in quest marker oriented games. Anything that reminds me of Morrowind in that regard is a plus in my book.

The difficulty and quality of the encounters take a dive after the Act 1, and to be quite honest I didn’t even finish it. Act 1 is transcendent enough to where that barely matters to me, and could be my GOTY based on it alone. What keeps me excited is the continued attempts of director Swen Vincke and Larian Studios to understand where they went wrong and to make iterations on this engine and formula for D:OS and future games, building up towards what they call “the very big RPG that will dwarf them all”. They’ve immediately shot up into my pantheon of favorite developers along with FROM, Platinum, and EAD Tokyo and their future looks bright as hell.

Shoutouts to the Kickstarter backers and and their collective milli and early access players for helping to make this happen with the balance and volume of stuff it deserved.

2. Bayonetta 2 ; As awesome as Bayo 2 is I’m struggling to say that much about it, it’s just a better version of the first one. That in itself is enough for it to be the best Kamiyalike ever, for what its worth. If I hadn’t already played the first one a bunch this would def be my #1 this year... Best improvement: The parts where Bayonetta isn’t on foot aren’t totally terrible this time!

3. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; As a longtime fan of FPS campaigns, these last few years have made me thirsty as heck. Luckily for me, this TNO thing came with my DOOM beta pre-order and I decided to check it out. The previews seemed sketchy, making it look suspiciously like an “old school” shooter completely neutered by modern military shooter mechanics, but that turned out to be far from the truth. What TNO actually is is an immaculately paced action-adventure campaign in the vein of Half-Life 2 except miles better. The shooting itself owns, from the general feeling of the guns to the disgusting gore to being able to run and gun and nail headshots freely (on keyboard and mouse, obv). One of the things I like the most about first person games and especially shooters is simply being in the world and moving through well realized environments that have a story to tell. Wolfenstein nails this feeling, in part thanks to the “what if Nazi’s ran the world” premise. Aside from being a bunch of evil Hitlers, their architectural sense is perfect for the discerning FPS liker. Mammoth chiseled slabs of concrete and steel make up the majority of playspaces here, along with some brief but dope forays into 60s sci-fi and medieval castles, that make you feel tiny even as you tear them apart from the insides. I have no idea how it manages to pull off the simultaneously goofy and grim tones as well as it does, but it owned. Assorted little things I liked: BJ’s internal dialogue, the surprisingly sympathetic supporting cast, that fully upgraded Laserkraftwerk, dual wielding shotguns, the exploration heavy maps, sliding, and complete lack of Environmental Storytelling Via Graffiti (that I remember at least).

4. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; Mr. Sakurai kills himself for our enjoyment for the 4th and a halfth time folks! His suffering wasn’t in vain cause this is probably the best Smash yet overall (yes the physics aren’t as good as Melee but I’m not a pro idgaf). List of good things, some of them surprising: 5-8 player smashes, 1v1 for glory, online play in general, the glorious return of event mode, that stupid spectator mode, drawing wieners in stage creator, wrecking jerks online with Ike, wrecking jerks online with ZSS, wrecking your pals IRL 3v1… No Snake yet though. Pls samurai

5. The Talos Principle ; It’s my new favorite first person puzzler! Yes, it doesn’t have as many innovative mechanics as Portal (or hilarious memes for that matter) but it doesn’t matter, the level of challenge and cleverness of this game’s puzzles are far beyond anything Valve put together. It's not that impressive atmospherically during most of the game since you're basically just going into puzzle rooms in the middle of Serious Sam levels, but the entire Finale Puzzle makes up for that. There were also a few too many puzzles that had similar rote solutions, but I certainly prefer that to the entire game just feeling like a long well crafted tutorial (Portal, Portal 2). This game also made me give Serious Sam 3 another chance, turns out that game is a lot smarter than I gave it credit for before!

6. Towerfall Ascension ; The game I’ve played the most of out of anything on this list. Towerfall probably won’t do much for people who don’t have a regular rotation of couch multiplayer friends, but if you can get 4 decent players together it’s the most fun you can have this side of Smash. I have to promote one of the things it does better than Smash, its FFA 4 player with Headhunters mode. FFA in most games, including Smash, feels like a spammy shitshow devoid of strategy. But something about the near perfect balance of Towerfall, mostly in the stage sizing and player abilities, and the goal of Headhunters (victory depends on kill count and not survival, with no respawns) makes FFA matches feel like long term wars made up of little skirmishes where very short term alliances can be formed. If you think Samurai Gunn/Niddhogg/Lethal League is better than this I will fight you.

7. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; The best Metal Gear mechanics yet. I squeezed a good amount out of what was there, about 10 hours I’d say, but ultimately what GZ did was make me want to play the Phantom Pain more. Also That Thing at the left a really bad taste in my mouth. Hoping Kojima stops trying to be an edgemaster for TPP but I’m not holding my breath.

8. Legend of Grimrock 2 ; Another cool entry in “2014 CRPGs in sub-genres I don’t normally play”. My favorite thing about this sometimes dungeon crawler is how the world unfolds and connects, very impressive for a game whose map consists of squares inside of bigger squares. There are some really devious and satisfying puzzles in here, even the block pushing ones somehow! The combat is unpleasant and clunky, normally a deal breaker for me in a challenging RPG, but it was easy enough to get used to. I never finished this but plan to go back to it for sure!

9. Dark Souls II ; it was ok i guess

10. Heavy Bullets ; The only “Procedural Death Labyrinth” game I’ve been able to get into for more than a few runs outside of Spelunky. One thing this game really nails is tension and having to quickly assess and deal with what awaits you around the next corner, something procedural action games, especially FPS, are uniquely equipped to do well but rarely do. The central mechanic of having very limited ammo that can be picked back up is great but underused since early on enemy counts are very low and you’re rarely forced to move forward to where more ammo is. An idea that should be ripped off and used in different ways for sure.

Going to steal Giant Bomb’s fun bonus categories for laughs:

Old Game Of The Year: Serious Sam 3 BFE

Most Likely To Be Frog Fractions 2: Kero Blaster

Best Surprise: Divinity: Original Sin

Best-Looking Game: P.T.

Best Story: if there was a game this year that had a particularly noteworthy one i didn’t play it lol. Wolfenstein I guess.

Best Music: Shovel Knight

Most Disappointing Game: Dark Souls 2

Best Short-Time Game: Hoplite

Best New Character: Unsinkable Sam (Divinity: Original Sin)

Best Early Access Experience: eh

Best Console Exclusives: Wii U

Best Debut: The Talos Principle

Hottest Mess: Gamergate

Best Moment or Sequence: Braccus Rex fight (Divinity: Original Sin)

Best Local Multiplayer: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Best Styyyyyyyyyyle: Bayonetta 2

Best Horror Game: P.T.

PLEASE STOP: Loot and “RPG elements” in games that shouldn’t have them, like basically everything that isn’t an actual RPG. Bungie/Ubisoft/various indies/etc should be tried for war crimes.

Worst Game: Destiny. Gotta qualify this so it won’t sound like hyperbole but Destiny did something worse than an “actual bad game” does and actually make me truly resent the time I spent playing it. Yes, the shooting feels awesome for a console FPS and there’s some great fights and enemies in there, gotta give them some credit but that honestly makes the game worse to me as an overall work. Destiny isn’t really a game about hanging with ur m8s and getting into cool fights with alien pricks, that’s merely the gameplay skin for the endless loops upon loops of collecting 50 different stupid currencies to make your guns have like 4% less reticle bloom or whatever the heck. I suffered with some friends in the post-20 grind for far too long JUST to be able to play that raid, the one part of the game that seemed interesting after a cursory glance, and just gave up after realizing doing what amounted to raw labor with the hopes of being able to do something interesting many hours later. Quit after that and never touched it again. Seriously, playing total garbage like Sonic Boom or whatever would be preferable to the complete numbness that is Destiny after finishing the story stuff, at least I’d fucking feel something. If mainstream FPS is dead in 5 years it’ll probably be Destiny’s fault. Consolation: it still isn’t nearly as godawful as Diablo

Best Game: Divinity: Original Sin. It was good as hell. Appreciating all the other #1 Divinity votes in this thread!

1. Sunset Overdrive ; Nothing came close. From start to finish this game was an absolute blast to play. The traversal was great, the combat was fun, and I really enjoyed the fact that the game was aware of itself. The at the end was pretty cool too. I also want to praise the game's use of color and music. Sunset Overdrive is my first Insomniac game. That being said, I understand why they are considered one of the best developers around.

2. Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition ; I'd been wanting to play this game for a long time and lo and behold I got it for free on XB1. I adore the art style of Guacamelee. Beautiful. Magnificent. The pacing and difficulty of the levels rose at a good level and the game did a great job of forcing you to become good with all the power moves. I am now a fan of Metroidvanias because of Guacamelee.

3. Halo 2 Anniversary ; Ignoring everything else that happened, I had a great time going back and playing one of my all time favorite games. I lived overseas when Halo 2 came out and I didn't have access to Xbox LIVE. Because of that, when I did get Halo 2, I became very familiar with it's campaign. Loved it then and I still love it now. Being able to shoot Jackals in a courtyard at (whatever)p and 60fps was sublime. The Blur cutscenes, reworked audio, and updated graphics were, for the most part, perfect.

GOTY 2014

1. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; Donkey Kong is not a ground-breaking game (although I suppose being functional at launch could pass for ground-breaking this year). It is a very conservative refinement of the weighty, but precise, and impeccably scripted platforming bliss Retro introduced in DKCR. Having made such a great game in DKCR, Retro could have taken a more radical approach to TF in order to avoid the unenviable task of making an already great game better. Fortunately, they didn't shy away from tackling their DKC formula again and instead made a myriad of smaller changes that taken together equal more than the sum of the parts.

Mine cart and rocket barrel levels are back, though thankfully they're fewer and more forgiving for players not wanting to master the levels before moving on. Cranky and Dixie add some new ways for players to tackle obstacles--Dixie's extra air time being more suited for less skilled players, while Cranky's ability to pogo off spikes is a boon for speed runners. Items carried over from the 3DS port of DKCR also make the game more friendly to new players and, along with the figurine slot machine, give players something to spend all those damn banana coins on. The economy is still a little busted, but it doesn't detract in a meaningful way from the experience. Swimming is another big addition that feels natural and well-suited to the existing Retro DKC formula. Hard mode is a better post-game mode than mirror from the last game. I think it was a wise choice to require people to use DK and only have the others as assists in the main game, then unlock Cranky/Dixie/Diddy solo for hard mode. It adds some further incentive to play through the game again, and ensures players have some basic competency with the core mechanics of the game.

Finally, the game is an audio-visual treat. David Wise did a great job capturing the mood of each level in the soundtrack via the instrumentation, e.g. the wood instruments and drums in the savanna levels, the chimes for the icy snowflake levels, and echo-effect for underwater sequences. Visually, the game covers a variety of environments that all look great in HD, and is packed to the brim with little details.

In sum, there is no other game that I enjoyed more or think is more worthy of being my GOTY than Tropical Freeze. It's a definite classic, and one of the best platformers of all-time.

2. Mario Kart 8 ; Like DK, this is a very conservative sequel to a series with a very solid foundation. However, I think this series has to do more to fight off the specter of franchise fatigue. Luckily, I think MK8 does just enough to accomplish that. First, the visual and audio improvments over MK Wii are just huge. The gravity sections actually mix up the game enough to shake up some racing strategy and add some fair insanity to tight races. Blue shells have been toned down, which is nice, and online racing works great for me. I'm disappointed with the lack of progress on the single player component of the game and was going to place this lower, but I've just felt too compelled to keep playing this game throughout the year to let that be a factor. The DLC is fantastic as well and has added some further longevity to the game.

3. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; Fantastic writing, characters, voice acting, humor, and scenarios. It's everything I wanted from a South Park game, except the battle system wasn't great and I was way overpowered by about halfway through the game. On the other hand, that just meant I could see the next great "scene" of the game without any major roadblocks.

4. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; Just an unbelievable amount of generally great content. Looks and sounds great, lots of fun to play, and I love all the Nintendo history. I think the 3DS version is great as well, but I don't think there was enough different to justify putting that on my list too, even though I do think Smash Run > Smash Tour.

5. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; Great sandbox game. It's legitimately amazing how well Kojima continues to adapt MGS. Now I just need more.

6. Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire ; DexNav.

7. Ultra Street Fighter IV ; A tremendous value at this point, especially if you haven't played much SFIV. I love being able to switch between versions.

8. Raiden IV: Overkill ; Lots of fun, great deal at $10 during that sale that sneaked its way on here during December. I only wish the bullets were easier to see.

9. Bayonetta 2 ; Not my favorite genre, but a really fun romp than improves on Bayo 1.

10. Shovel Knight ; Great new character with lots of charm and most importantly some great gameplay.


Honorable Mentions

x. Darkstalkers Resurrection, D&D: Chronicles of Mystara, MvC: Origins, SFIII: Third Strike ; I love this arcade series of games Capcom has put out. Fantastic feature sets on all of them, lots of neat unlockables, no terrible DLC abuse, great values all of them, great old school vibes all around.
x. Pac-Man CE DX+ ; Awesome surprise I'm glad I got around to playing.
x. Ace Attorney series ; Great writing and music.
x. Final Fantasy VI ; I know now why it's a classic. Fast, engaging battles, great music, good looking art.

Still Shit

x. Skyrim PS3 ; Never forget.

Oh man the more I play of Divinity, the more I think it deserves a spot.

Changes to my list might be incoming.

1. Bayonetta 2 ; I see Bayonetta 2 as the Super Mario Galaxy 2 of the character action genre. The first Bayonetta was a brilliant game with the best and most refined combat mechanics out there. It’s a game that was close to the perfection of the art of action fighting, a genre that Platinum Games knows all too well. The game didn’t need a sequel, because if Bayonetta 2 didn’t exist, then the original game would still be the best going, just like Super Mario Galaxy. But we do have a sequel, and just like Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bayonetta 2 takes the concepts from the first game and refines them to get closer to perfection. The addition of Umbra Climax adds a bit of seasoning to the combat, enough to appreciate the inclusion, but not spoil what was already mechanically brilliant. The level design is better and much more colourful, and the plot takes Bayonetta through set-pieces that had me smiling in so much enjoyment that I had ice packs on my cheeks from the muscle strain, while at the same time in disbelief that this crazy shit on screen was actually happening on my Wii U. All these tweaks to the existing Bayonetta formula means Bayonetta 2 is the best character action game ever, my Game of the Year for 2014 and one of my favourite games of all time. I have to offer my thanks to Nintendo for allowing Platinum Games to prove again that they are the masters of action.

2. Mario Kart 8 ; I have heard people say that the first Mario Kart you play ends up your favourite. That was never the case for me. I have played each Mario Kart release before the next one, starting from the genre defining Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo. My favourite Mario Kart is actually Mario Kart 64, but now after the release of Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U, that is no longer the case. Mario Kart 8 is not only a beautiful game to look at that oozes Nintendo’s charming art direction with crisp, colourful graphics, but it’s the track design that really shows what the designers can do at Nintendo. The new zero gravity elements add a much needed refresher to the karting formula, used in ways to craft some of the best tracks in the series. The only bummer is that battle mode sucks, but with online working so well, you’ll be glued to racing on the clouds of Cloudtop Cruise or driving down a waterfall in Shy Guy Falls to care. It should be noted that I feel Mario Kart 8 received some of the best downloadable content of the year, touching upon non-Mario franchises, such as The Legend of Zelda and F-Zero to bring characters and courses based on other Nintendo games. With the DLC looking like it is leading to some sort of Mario Kart: All-Stars racing game for the next instalment. The future is looking even brighter for Mario Kart after this brilliant sequel.

3. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc ; Deserves to be in any top ten for delivering some exciting, thought-provoking and interesting storytelling – one of the best stories of the year – while throwing in fun court-room drama with speedier gameplay than the likes of the brilliant Ace Attorney games, along with a wonderful soundtrack to boot. Danganronpa wouldn’t let me put the Vita down; showcasing its strong hold on me while I tried to uncover what the hell was going on in this twisted murder mystery game.

4. Forza Horizon 2 ; Forza Horizon was my favourite racer of 2012, so I was stoked to see that the Xbox One would receive a sequel to what was probably the best arcade car racer since Project Gotham Racing 4. Forza Horizon 2 takes the open world concept of the first game and increases the location by three times the size, while also adding a more varied location than the brown deserts of Colorado by moving to Europe and using Southern France and Northern Italy as its locale, bringing lush green fields, forests, mountain roads and glowing cities for a more interesting open world and race course layouts. There is something exhilarating about driving an expensive car, speeding through a field of corn at 100mph and then smashing through a fence to the finish line. Forza Horizon 2 is full of these moments, and the inclusion of dynamic weather is a much needed feature that the main Forza series really needs to include. Weather makes racing in Horizon 2 more exciting, as you fight the ground for grip and fine tune your sight to look past the hammering rain for the next upcoming corner. With more events spread around different car types, a huge amount of content and the newly released add-on that takes the weather to the extreme on Storm Island, Forza Horizon 2 is the best car racer this year that will last weeks before anyone is finished with it.

5. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth ; Blending the dungeon-crawling and mapping elements of Atlus’ Etrian Odyssey games with the cast and story of Persona sounds like a strange combination, but in reality it’s built together exceptionally well, with the developers showing utmost respect to both franchises. It features the interesting story elements from the Persona universe; with the fantastic cast of characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4 that fans already know and love bringing their charm and humour. On top of this, you have the brilliant soundtrack and chibi art style that manages to capture the essence of the Persona cast and shrink them to adorable size. Most importantly of all is the gameplay, which requires the player to be on top of their game. Just because it has the Persona name tagged to it, it doesn’t mean that it has reduced its difficulty that the Etrian Odyssey series is known for. Blending in the magic moves from Persona, players need to know their Bufus from their Zios to beat foes using their weakness as an advantage, while overcoming the dreaded perils of the F.O.E.s to make it through this long journey. It’s hard, charming and addictive, and it features some of my favourite RPG characters. This is a spin-off worthy of the Persona name and then some.

6. Ultra Street Fighter IV ; I flipping love Street Fighter IV, so getting this latest and last iteration with new mechanics and Elena, a character I have been wanting in Street Fighter IV since Dudley and Makoto were added in Super, automatically makes it into my Top 10. Street Fighter IV is a game I have poured hours upon hours into across various formats, and I still do the same with Ultra Street Fighter IV, thanks to its core mechanics been some of the best in the genre. Remember, this game pretty much kick-started the fighting game genre again, and now the fighting game scene is thriving bigger and better than before. The game just recently gained Omega Mode, a funky twist on how characters play, adding new moves and changing properties of existing ones. Who would think Ken would shoot fireballs from his feet or that Guile can finally throw more than one Sonic Boom at a time? Ultra Street Fighter IV is a great closure to the best fighting game of the last generation. Now I’ll keep pouring hours into this until Street Fighter V hits.

7. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; MachineGames’ take on Wolfenstein was a nice breath of fresh air in the first-person shooter genre. It was a title that the developers had full confidence in, which is evident by the lack of any multiplayer components, a feature normally shoehorned into a game to give it a tick on the box, but not here. Instead, what you have is arcade shooting that feels great, responsive, but not in the autopilot snapping Call of Duty way, and features a neat leaning mechanic that helps players pop out of cover at various angles. Its level design is something that should be noted as being excellent, offering ways to play the game stealthy – you can actually finish some levels without killing anyone, but if you don’t want to do that, you don’t have to and can go all guns blazing, shooting up every Nazi that stands in your way.

It’s overly stupid in its premise, yet even though the story is some crazy alternative reality 1960s Nazi world, which has the rulers riding mechs and guard dogs replaced with robodogs, the story is actually interesting and the characters are well written. They even managed to give personality to BJ Blazkowicz, a guy who has been the joke of the class in the early 90s, comes alive here in the leading role, which is some accomplishment when you have a name that begins with BJ.

8. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls ; Reaper of Souls is the expansion Diablo III was crying out for. Not only did Diablo III gain the 2.0 patch, which brought better implemented loot mechanics that was experimented with on consoles, changing the focus on loot drops so that your character gained more gear, plus, all that awful catering to the now eradicated auction house has gone, making Diablo III a better game. Blizzard rebalanced and fine-tuned small and meaningful parts of the game, similar to a chef crafting their masterful gourmet meal, and released a product with nothing but positive changes to the core gameplay. This was for fans who grew tired of the end game, as the evolution of Diablo III moved in the right direction to bring the addictive adventure mode, an area that kept me playing for a few months after launch to beat the harder difficulties and gain better gear. Not many games this year had me playing for over 100 hours, but Reaper of Souls did just that, and is one of the most addictive games of 2014.

9. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd ; I’m a big fan of rhythm games, but it’s been a sad time for fans of the genre, as the past few years have been dead. The quirky magical rhythm games that used to brew on the PSX and PS2 are no longer alive, but Sega single handedly offered me a sweet reward with Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd this year. Featuring a more varied selection of tunes, Project Diva F 2nd is an addictive, charming rhythm game that challenges not only your fingers, but your taste in music, as the game’s soundtrack becomes more than just a guilty pleasure – I can listen to these tunes on a daily basis. Hatsune Miku’s second English release supplies more wonderful visuals, catchy tunes and addictive gameplay that was my go to game for some quick fun, and the only rhythm game worthy noting for the year.

10. Dark Souls II ; Dark Souls II is a fascinating game. While I don’t think this sequel is as good as Dark Souls or Demon’s Souls, it’s still a great game that contains the Souls’ well-known challenging gameplay, which kept me coming back for more after seeing the familiar words of “You Died” splashed all over my screen time and time again. The open world level design doesn’t feel as naturally connected as Dark Souls’ and the boss fights are too focused on humanoid knights and cheap difficulty by using the premise of “more is harder.” But even so, Dark Souls II still plays exceptionally well, with the methodical combat being superbly rewarding and conquering each area of the game came with a smiling accomplishment. You know how great this series is when a weaker entry in it still remains one of the best games of the year. That just shows how well these games are made, and other companies can’t quite capture the essence how deep and rewarding the Souls games are.