1. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; This game represented the final game from the previous generation I was pretty excited about, and even that excitement was tempered with a lingering worry regarding the quality of previous South Park games. The development hell the game seemed to get stuck in added to my worries, and by the time we were a few a couple months from release I was preparing myself for the worse, and yet still inexplicably hyped. Thankfully the actual game turned out to be a true highlight, and indeed the game I enjoyed the most this year. While many people rightly praise the game for just how much like an episode of the show it truly is, I think a big reason for that is the pacing, which is fantastic, and a lesson for other games in the genre. If you have 12-15 hours of brilliant content, please dont dilute it by adding a further 15-20 hours of filler. The Stick of Truth is 12-15 hours of brilliance, tightly packed, always pushing you forward into new areas to face new (and hilarious) enemies. As others have said, the games humour and general content is brilliant, acting like both a new South Park story arc that might play out over 3 episodes on tv, and a love letter from the shows past. All the characters get their moment in the sun, none outstay their welcome, and the core cast are consistently funny throughout.
This is easily the best South Park game of all time, and is up their with Arkham Asylum/City and Butcher Bay as one of the best uses of a licensed property in a game, and is my favourite game of 2014.
2. Mario Kart 8 ; The last Mario Kart game I was really into was Double Dash, and before that the N64 one, I thought my Mario Kart days were done and picked this up purely to have something new to play on my Wii U. I was blown away, if you asked 12 year old me to described their fantasy Mario Kart game it would probably be something like Mario Kart 8. Mario Karts core mechanics are in place and free of gimmicks, the new tracks are brilliant, and the old ones brilliantly re-mastered, aesthetically I think its one of the best looking games of the year. Nintendo really nailed the online, and the DLC is great both in terms on content and value. If they never released another Mario Kart and instead just kept releasing new tracks and characters for this one I think Id be more than happy..
3. Sunset Overdrive ; Brilliant fun, like Saints Row and Tony Hawk had some crazy night of passion and 9 months later birthed Sunset Overdrive (there was probably drinking during the pregnancy.)
4. Far Cry 4 ; Not much to say other than its more of Far Cry 3, maybe too much in terms of side activities but same great mechanics and a brilliant setting. Eagles can do one mind.
5. Mario Golf: World Tour ; If this were a list ordered by the games I have put the most hours into this year this would be number 1. The core golf aspect of the game is strong, and is backed up by some well implemented online tournaments. Every other Thursday you get your results/trophies for the past fortnights set of tournaments, and they set a whole bunch of new ones for you to compete in. Once youre hooked on the gameplay you will always have a reason to come back to the game.
6. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; This list was originally jotted down in a notebook about a week ago, at that point, around 20 hours in, this game was actually sitting in the number 3 spot. Unfortunately fatigue set in hard around the 30 hour mark and it has subsequently become a bit of a slog to get through. Its a shame as the world and its politics are fascinating, however it starts to spread itself a little thin in my own opinion, it does make me excited for what Bioware does next (Mass Effect) in this gen.
7. The Wolf Among Us ; Stronger that Walking Dead Season 2, no where near Walking Dead Season 1, I enjoyed it.
8. Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zero's ; Say what you will about the games length, the gameplay itself is outstanding, by far the best playing Metal Gear game. Makes me very excited for Phantom Pain, please don't fuck it up now Hideo.
9. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker ; This game just squeezed onto this list (thanks to Game releasing early in the UK). I never would have thought I would enjoy this sort of game as much as I ended up enjoying it, very charming, great game to play over the holidays. Hopefully Nintendo release some more chapters as DLC.
10. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor ; I really enjoyed my time with this game, maybe not quite as much as everyone else, partly because I am not really big into Lord of the Rings lore, and partly as I just found the first part of the game really dull to look at landscape wise. Started liking it a lot more once I opened up the greener part of the world. Its weird to say something like this, but I really hope other games steal the nemesis system and it becomes one of the mechanics that define this generation.
Honorable Mentions
x. Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 ; Haven't put enough into this game to include it in my top ten for 2014 having only purchased it on a whim the day before new years eve. Already really loving more than any football game in the last few years.
x. Infamous: Second Son ; The game that got bumped for Captain Toad, great early generation 'wow' type game. Not sure we will really remember it in 3 years time.
This is easily the best South Park game of all time, and is up their with Arkham Asylum/City and Butcher Bay as one of the best uses of a licensed property in a game, and is my favourite game of 2014.
2. Mario Kart 8 ; The last Mario Kart game I was really into was Double Dash, and before that the N64 one, I thought my Mario Kart days were done and picked this up purely to have something new to play on my Wii U. I was blown away, if you asked 12 year old me to described their fantasy Mario Kart game it would probably be something like Mario Kart 8. Mario Karts core mechanics are in place and free of gimmicks, the new tracks are brilliant, and the old ones brilliantly re-mastered, aesthetically I think its one of the best looking games of the year. Nintendo really nailed the online, and the DLC is great both in terms on content and value. If they never released another Mario Kart and instead just kept releasing new tracks and characters for this one I think Id be more than happy..
3. Sunset Overdrive ; Brilliant fun, like Saints Row and Tony Hawk had some crazy night of passion and 9 months later birthed Sunset Overdrive (there was probably drinking during the pregnancy.)
4. Far Cry 4 ; Not much to say other than its more of Far Cry 3, maybe too much in terms of side activities but same great mechanics and a brilliant setting. Eagles can do one mind.
5. Mario Golf: World Tour ; If this were a list ordered by the games I have put the most hours into this year this would be number 1. The core golf aspect of the game is strong, and is backed up by some well implemented online tournaments. Every other Thursday you get your results/trophies for the past fortnights set of tournaments, and they set a whole bunch of new ones for you to compete in. Once youre hooked on the gameplay you will always have a reason to come back to the game.
6. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; This list was originally jotted down in a notebook about a week ago, at that point, around 20 hours in, this game was actually sitting in the number 3 spot. Unfortunately fatigue set in hard around the 30 hour mark and it has subsequently become a bit of a slog to get through. Its a shame as the world and its politics are fascinating, however it starts to spread itself a little thin in my own opinion, it does make me excited for what Bioware does next (Mass Effect) in this gen.
7. The Wolf Among Us ; Stronger that Walking Dead Season 2, no where near Walking Dead Season 1, I enjoyed it.
8. Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zero's ; Say what you will about the games length, the gameplay itself is outstanding, by far the best playing Metal Gear game. Makes me very excited for Phantom Pain, please don't fuck it up now Hideo.
9. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker ; This game just squeezed onto this list (thanks to Game releasing early in the UK). I never would have thought I would enjoy this sort of game as much as I ended up enjoying it, very charming, great game to play over the holidays. Hopefully Nintendo release some more chapters as DLC.
10. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor ; I really enjoyed my time with this game, maybe not quite as much as everyone else, partly because I am not really big into Lord of the Rings lore, and partly as I just found the first part of the game really dull to look at landscape wise. Started liking it a lot more once I opened up the greener part of the world. Its weird to say something like this, but I really hope other games steal the nemesis system and it becomes one of the mechanics that define this generation.
Honorable Mentions
x. Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 ; Haven't put enough into this game to include it in my top ten for 2014 having only purchased it on a whim the day before new years eve. Already really loving more than any football game in the last few years.
x. Infamous: Second Son ; The game that got bumped for Captain Toad, great early generation 'wow' type game. Not sure we will really remember it in 3 years time.