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[Kinan]

I just realized how few games I played this year, so my list will be quite short.

1. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; It is rare that a game can hold me for 100+ hours, (if it is not football , but DA managed it with style. Awesome ride, especially after dissapointing DA2.
2. Divinity: Original Sin ; Surprise RPG gem with best ever battle system. Want more of this!
3. Hearthstone ; I'm not into card games at all, but Blizzard did it again, taking a trivial idea and polishing it almost to perfection.
4. Civilization: Beyond Earth ; Finally Civ where you are confronted with cardinally new rules and ideas. With time and few expansions the depth will also be there, I'm sure of it.
5. Driveclub ; This game almost made me buy a steering wheel, almost. I feel the game would be higher in the lists if I had one. It managed to find that elusive spot between casual and harcore racing that many of us are comfortable with.
6. Don't Starve: Console Edition ; My most played indie game this year, so I guess it should be mentioned. Great concept and solid execution.

 

[Miburou]

1. Far Cry 4 ; it might be similar to part 3, and it might still follow the Ubisoft formula a bit too closely, but this is one instance where it actually works. The best example of a sandbox game, and the main missions actually add to the game rather than detract from it, as is usually my experience with open world games.
2. Sunset Overdrive ; one of the best open world games I've played, and a fun and unique game overall.
3. Bayonetta 2 ; aside from the soundtrack, everything about the sequel is simply better.
4. The Evil Within ; if it weren't for the end of chapter 11 and beyond, I would've scored the game higher. An amazingly designed game with just some tonal shift to mar it.
5. BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 2 ; While I didn't enjoy Infinite as much as the first two games, the DLC redeemed the game for me, with more of a focus on exploration, and the stealth wasn't bad, either.
6. South Park The Stick of Truth ; I might score this higher since I plan to replay it soon. The best adaptation I've ever played, it feels just like experiencing a season of the show.
7. Valiant Hearts ; 2nd best Ubisoft game this year. While it's a simple game, it never outstays its welcome, and the score and somber atmosphere were great.
8. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; it's not a demo, I spent more time on this than on full games I've played. I'm actually glad we got an entry with sparse content, because it shifted the focused to replayability and constantly trying to improve your score.
9. InFamous: Second Son ; it's been a while since I played this, and I wasn't a fan of the previous entries, but I found this entry enjoyable, with amazing graphics and awesome powers.
10. Drakengard 3 ; despite its myriad flaws and its low production values, I still had lots of fun with it and played for close to 40 hours.

 

[Bittercup]

I hope my post is ok like this and doesn't violate the rules. Please let me know otherwise.
I like the tradition of yearly game of the year threads, looking back of which games one has played and talking about which very enjoyable, but I have always the problem with ranking games.
Personally I would rather go with a two tier model. Games that stood out as special and games that were 'only' good.
For my goty-list I decided to list just the games that were special to me. If I would list all games that I enjoyed it would be over 10 and had no idea in which order I would rank them. And then there are games like Dark Souls 2, where I enjoyed it but compared to Demon's Souls it was a disappointment. Same problem with Infamous Second Son. Fine game but the weakest in the series for me.
Both would totally be on my longer goty-list but when there are so many (older games) that I really loved this year it doesn't feel appropriate to nominate them as lower ranked goty games when they are not even close to being the best games I played this year.
And there are some games that I would probably rank very high that I haven't played yet. I'm especially looking forward to Divinity. So the list will most likely be incomplete either way.

1. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc ; This year the first two places were easy picks. No other game came even close for me compared to Danganronpa. Both games are absolutely fantastic.
For anyone who hasn't played them yet: Danganronpa is a mix of visual novel and murder mystery. The game starts with a group of teenager being trapped in a school with the only way out being by killing someone. During the visual novel parts the story advances, you spent time with your class mates and get to know them better until a murder happens and the game switches to collecting clues and a trial afterwards where you have to figure out the murderer.
The strength of Danganronpa is the writing, with the interesting overarching story and especially the amazing cast of characters in both games. Gameplay-wise the 'puzzles' during the trials are enjoyable as well. In this regard both games are equally strong. A amazing first game and a amazing sequel.
Since I have to rank them I give Trigger Happy Havoc the slight edge because I played this game blind. Only bought it thanks to VitaGAFs hype without knowing anything, not even the genre so it had a bigger impact and 'wtf am I playing?!?'.
The other reason is, while the mini games are already the weakest part in the first game the second one features 'improved' versions of those mini games that made them unfortunately worse and the new ones that were introduced aren't good either.
It's a very slight edge. Both games have easily a place on my all time favourites.
And a warning, in case you haven't played them yet and want to: Don't read anything about them. Everything is a spoiler or at least the internet is full of them and it's extremely easy to read something you probably wouldn't have wanted to read.

2. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair ; See above

3. Far Cry 4 ; I don't really like shooters and rarely play them. Far Cry 4 has it's moments where it's fun to play. The silenced sniper rifle and the bow are again, like in FC3 completely overpowered, which makes it amusing conquering the bases without getting detected. The same during normal missions. At least for a while. Besides that it's probably a normal shooter. You run around and shoot.
But the thing that I did enjoy the most was actually the story. Especially the fact that the game doesn't treat its gameplay as something outside of the story, that's just there so that the player has something to do but is not really part of the actual story like many modern third person shooters do but instead embraces it by telling a story about horrible people. This was so refreshing and well done and unfortunately very rare. For me one of the best shooters I have played.

4. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition ; With the console release last year Diablo 3 was already vastly improved compared to it's mediocre initial launch. Now with it's first first expansion Blizzard goes even even further especially with adventure mode and the rifts to improve not only the end game but leveling new characters as well.
Diablo 3 is now so much more enjoyable and one of the game I spend the most time with this year.

I know there is no LTTP category but these were some of my favourite games I played this year for the first time so I'm just listing them without any ranking. I hope that's ok.

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward

I didn't expect to have a DS game on my goty list but the two Zero Escape games were some of the best gaming experiences I had this year.
The series is a mix of visual novel and puzzle games. The game is about a group of people being kidnapped and forced to play the 'nonary' game. The game works like this: You have multiple rooms to choose from where you want to advance and the rooms are classic puzzle rooms where you have to unlock the exit by figuring out codes, solving combination puzzles, pretty much those where it's best to play with a pen and paper next to you for taking notes and making calculations.
Once a room is unlocked the game switches back to the visual novel mode that advances the story but is almost non-interactive. Sometimes you can give different answers but most is automatic. Until you have to choose the next room with the next puzzles.
What's really cool though is, that the games are designed around multiple endings. Most combinations of different choices where you want to advance leads to a different ending and even the path during the rooms can differ since you can only enter a room with a limited number of people so you will get different dialogues and learn new things about the people around you and the story behind the game and why you were kidnapped in the first place.
This knowledge is required to unlock more and more different endings until you get to the true ending where finally everything falls in place. I love this concept and it works really well in the games. And the writing is so good.
The only downside is, that you have to replay certain parts of the game multiple times. At least the game provides a fast-forward feature for the novel parts and in Virtue's Last Reward you can skip already solved puzzle rooms as well.
Same warning as for Danganronpa: If you haven't played them yet but want to, don't read anything about them

Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden

I played Persona 4 Golden earlier this year and loved it and wanted more, so I played Persona 3 Portable right after it and loved it even more. Especially the darker and more serious tone and the female protagonist.
But both games are great. Not so much the dungeons, that can get boring after a while and the simple battle system but the highlight is the other part of the games, where you go to school, meet with your friends and advance the story and in addition the social links to get to know the people around you better. Very nice every day life games. Especially Persona 4 puts a strong focus on the 'friendship-feeling'. A wonderful series and I'm excited for Persona 5.

Dragon's Crown

Such a beautiful game. The backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous, character designs as well. Unfortunately except for the heroes. That's the reason why I'm late to the party. The elf looks fine but I don't like the look of any of the other playable characters which made me very hesitant to buy the game. Until it was finally on sale in Europe and I'm so glad I did buy it.
The gameplay is great with chaotic fun combat and addictive like Diablo. Just one dungeon more... Especially a perfect fit on the Vita with suspend/resume to just play a few rounds in-between.

 

[Lostconfused]

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.

Dragone Age, Destiny, Shadow of Mordor. All fine games but deeply flawed and with issues while offering very little originality. Mordor's nemesis system probably being the only stand out.

Sorry I kind of dodge nintendo titles, so mainly I was referring to what you would see on sony and microsoft platforms.

 

[Bazooka137]

1. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; I don't even know if I need to explain this one, but I will. This game is a BLAST! From a casual and a competitive standpoint. The online fixed all of the problems that Brawl had, like actually being playable. Now I can kick back in For Glory and play a bunch of 1v1s to test my steel and feel like I'm learning something. Or I can go play a 4-8 player match with friends and have just as much fun. The game just feels great all around with all the polish you can expect from the Smash Bros. game. It seems like a near perfect merge of Melee and Brawl and I for one cannot be more happy that this game came out the time it did.

2. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor ; Blizzard please. I thought I was all done with this whole World of Warcraft thing, but here you are again like a weekly dealer, and this time, you brought the GOOD stuff. Talk about feeling like a hero, you feel like the most heroing hero of all time this expansion around. Leaving your mark on this new land with a garrison to do as you please, integrating a Facebook game-like missions to keep me coming back every day to play, and some of the best story telling done in WoW in years. Congratulations Blizzard, you brought me back and you've made sure I'll stay.

3. Shovel Knight ; What is there to say about this game that hasn't been said already? It's an amazing callback to the NES classics of yesteryear with one of the best OSTs of the year to boot. It's got the tightest of tight controls, that makes me understand every little thing that I did wrong, not the game. Meanwhile it throws in the best part of Ducktales with the pogo-shovel setting up for an endless possibility of fun bouncing around.

4. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft ; Blizzard did it again. They stole all of my money without a single drop of remorse. It's an addicting card game to say the least. It brings me back to the good ol' days with playing Magic the Gathering with a bunch of friends in middle school.

5. Insurgency ; What a great game. I've never really been into the tactical squad-based FPS's before, but WOW! This game makes me wonder what I've been missing all these years. Some of the most fun I've had this year is getting a group of friends together and hopping online and just being a squad together. Just about two or three shots and your dead, and don't get cocky because respawns are limited to waves.

6. Momodora III ; My dark horse of the list. Momodora III is comparable to a toned down Cave Story. It isn't as story-driven, it isn't as memorable, but it doesn't need to be. What it IS is a fun adventure romp through beautifully pixelated areas and bosses. It's unfortunate that this game flew under the radar for most people back in July when it released on Steam.

7. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd ; Oh hohoho, I am so glad that this made it over for a US release. I enjoyed the first Project Diva F so much, and I'm just a huge sucker for rhythm games. It has a pretty decent selection of vocaloid songs with still one of the best implementations of a gamepad/UI for rhythm games I've seen.

8. Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire ; Pokemon. Just Pokemon. I don't know what it is about these games, but they are just too addicting. These remakes of the third generation of Pokemon games easily one-up'd the originals in almost every single way. Adding so many more cool little visuals, or the addition of WiFi Secret Bases.

9. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call ; In a year of stacked competition, Curtain Call still manages to take my breath away. I was looking forward to this game from the minute the trailer was released, and it did not disappoint. So many great songs were chosen for this game that it brings back fuzzy and teary-eyed memories of the original games.

10. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ; If you were to tell me at the beginning of the year I'd be putting a Call of Duty game on my top 10 of the year list, I would've laughed in your face. But lo' and behold, here it is. The game isn't revolutionary, but it's a damn fine example of a fun game that changed just enough from the previous iterations to feel different and enjoyable. Good job Sledgehammer.


Honorable Mentions:
x. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; Just narrowly missing the top 10 was Ground Zeroes. This game makes me so hyped for the Phantom Pain. Even though the main story mission is short, it does have a ton of replayability to it. Not to mention, it looks absolutely stunning on the PC.
x. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ; THIS is how you remake a game. Tight controls, great atmosphere, and bigger... everything! While I wasn't addicted to the original game, I do love what has been done with the remake of Isaac.
x. Freedom Wars ; The essential PS Vita title. The only reason it gets an honorable mention is due to me not playing it enough yet. It's an amazing game and really shows off what the Vita can do.
x. The Golf Club ; As far as sport sims go, The Golf Club is at the top of the list. I'm not a huge sports game player, but even I could appreciate what The Golf Club did in terms of it's customization, course editor, and online integration.

Games in my backlog that I haven't gotten to yet, but I undoubtably know they would've made my top 10:
Bayonetta 2
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Divinity: Original Sin
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

 

[Kodaman]

1. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; This game man, up there with the best of the genre. So much care put into it. Best OST ever with Chrono Cross OST. A joy to play.
2. Mario Kart 8 ; The best Mario Kart. Looks gorgeous and track design is fantastic. Also best DLC ever.
3. Bayonetta ; First time playing it. Mind blown. Best action game ever.
4. Threes! ; Clever little game. So many hour of fun. Really addictive.
5. Child of Light ; This is a beautiful RPG with breathtaking art and a nice battle system.


Didn't have time to play Bayo 2 yet :/

 

[MoosiferX]

1. Kentucky Route Zero – Act III ; Each "Act" that Carboard Computer releases has me loving my bizarre trip down the Zero more and more. It has a beautiful ascetic, incredible music, and great writing. There is no game I anticipate more in 2015 than Act IV.

2. Mario Kart 8 ; The first Mario Kart game I've truly loved. I think the track design and music is top notch.

3. Hyrule Warriors ; I'm a sucker for unlockables and this game is pretty much "Unlock Stuff: The Game". The combat is a lot of fun, and the wide variety of characters/weapons/combos keeps it fun and interesting. Played a lot of Co-Op with the wife as well, which was great.

4. Bayonetta ; I had never played Bayonetta when it originally released but was thrilled to get the opportunity to play it on Wii U this year. What a fun game! It's incredibly over the top, and the art direction is superb. I can't wait to get around to Bayonetta 2!

5. Tomodachi Life ; This game kind of came out of left field for me. It's pretty darned charming, and it got me to care about Miis. For a game that's supposed to be played in short bursts, I'm pretty sure I spent entire days off playing.

6. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; Just like Mario Kart 8 before it, this is the first in it's respective franchise that I've truly loved. There's a huge amount of content packed into this game, more than any fighting game I've ever played before, and I still haven't run out of things to do.

7. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker ; Great puzzles, ultra charming, looks fantastic. A game I play to wind down.

8. Shovel Knight ; Lots of games do retro graphics, but few actually feel like a legitimate retro game. Shovel Knight looks and plays like a game released during the NES's prime. It has one of if not the best soundtrack of the year as well.

9. Pokemon Omega Ruby ; My first Pokemon game, believe it or not! When the original Pokemon games came out for Game Boy I was 16 years old, had a job and thought they looked dumb. Well, naive young version of me: The jokes on you! Pokemon is great. I guess that's why it's super popular.

10. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS ; While I ultimately shelved this game when the Wii U version hit, I put a ton of time into it. I actually prefer some of the stages in this version to the Wii U. Also Smash Run is a lot more fun than people gave it credit for. I prefer it over Smash Tour.

x. Final Fantasy XI ; Practically every month there is new playable content in FFXI. I still play and love this game and am thrilled Squeenix still supports it after all of these years.

x. Art of Balance ; A really fun puzzle game on Wii U that's made even more fun with a few friends/drinks.

 

[JehutyRunner]

Right, fleshed out my list and also actually rejigged my top three. If you seen it before, Forza Horizon 2 is no longer top. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=143573038&postcount=73

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Right, fleshed out my list and also actually rejigged my top three. If you seen it before, Forza Horizon 2 is no longer top. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=143573038&postcount=73

I approve.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

1. Shovel Knight ; Retro Revivals were a huge thing this year, and no game did it better then Shovel Knight. Not only that, the game was made with so much love and care, that it oozed out of every possible place. From the soundtrack, the 8-bit graphics, the pin-point platforming, charming characters and world, and a genuinely touching story, told brilliantly through very simple gameplay no less. No game left me feeling so warm and happy, or left such a lasting impression on me as Shovel Knight did. Its why i gave it my GOTY.

2. Freedom Planet ; It really sucks for Freedom Planet, a game cut from the same cloth as Shovel Knight, but more towards the Sega Genesis platformers of the 16-bit era, the game is just as gorgeous as Shovel Knight, features great boss battles, a superb soundtrack, and fun levels. Well the story may be hit or miss, i enjoyed it for what it was, and thought the voice acting was actually pretty good. Great game, only out shined by Shovel Knight

3. Bayonetta 2 ; Arguably the best action game ever. However, platformers have always been my favorite genre. So i'll be fair and say objectively, Bayonetta 2 was a better game then the other 2, but they left more of an impression on me.

4. Sunset Overdrive ; Insomniac looked all but out of steam after Fuse, but clearly they just needed a spark. Sunset Overdrive just had really great combat, and awesome visual style, and plenty of 90's tude that reminded me of a time gone by. It had some hiccups, but i forgave them for trying something fresh and new.

5. Theatrhythm: Curtain Call ; Most may think Bravely Default was Square Enix's best work of the year, but Theatrhythm has so much content in its cart, its insane. The game being still supported is awesome, and expanding to other series like Chrono Trigger and the aforementioned Bravely Default is even more awesome. More then anything though, this game proves that their is still plenty of juice left in the rhythm game tank.

6. Professeor Layton X Phoenix Wright ; No game had a story that gripped me as much as this one. Well it may not have been the best game of either series, it still did a great job putting the two worlds together in a way that wasn't insane, and never really tried to force the two together, more letting each series do its own thing, with a little extra something from the other game, and continued the excellent pedigree of both series.

7 .Mario Kart 8 ; For the first time since Double Dash, i'm truly in love with a game in the series. From the awesome jazz soundtrack, the excellent new track design, phenomenal multiplayer, it somehow made Mario Kart feel fresh to me for the first time in years.

8. Smash for Wii U ; Even though the game left less of an impact on me then i expected, nothing can deny how fun 8-player Smash, the new characters, and the resurrected Event mode are.

9. Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare ; Absolutely the sleeper hit of the year, this game has basically been getting updates monthly all year, with plenty of new customization options, characters, maps, and more, and at the low price of FREE. On top of the game already being a budget title, no game gave more value, and well it certainly wasn't the most original game of the year, it was well-built, entertaining, and had plenty of reasons to keep playing "One More Match"

10. South Park: Stick Of Truth ; Well the game may not have been as big or as long as a normal RPG, the game was always funny, always fun, and never outstayed its welcome. After all the crap, this was a game worthy of the South Park name.

 

[The Illiterati]

1. The Evil Within ; I absolutely love the game balance here. The game is very flawed but all the same, I was hooked from start to finish, and the incredible variety of levels and enemies kept me constantly excited.

2. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; This game proved to me that I don't hate FPSes, I just hate the current COD/Halo franchises. Wonderful single player experience with actual downtime levels. When this game was announced I scoffed at it, such a wonderful surprise.

3. Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ; Addiction thy name is Isaac. Wonderful game design loop.

4. Divinity: Original Sin ; This game reinvigorated my love for PC Rpgs I had forgotten since Baldur's Gate 2. Only reason its not higher is it became a bit of a slog towards the end.

5. NaissanceE ; Very late breaking entry, only played this yesterday...but the feeling of loneliness and the exploration enraptured me. This sort of game is something I am always looking for, and I found this incredible.

6. Wasteland 2 ; I really enjoyed the second half of this game, and found the questlines quite satisfying.

7. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor ; A fun amalgamation of all types of games I love, with great orcs. Won't stick with me long though.

8. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter ; The feelings the graphics and atmosphere evoked in me in a few short hours are why this game made the list. Truthfully I wanted it to be much more and much higher, but the puzzles let it down. More please!

9. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; I really enjoyed my time with this, but ultimately feel it was an incredibly shallow experience within its core gameplay. Still loved the world and characters.

10. Hexcells Infinite ; This series is fantastic, consider this a standin for all the PIcross games I also played this year. The addition of a random generator makes me afraid for its future however.

 

[Muzy72]

Starting Bayonetta 2 today, hopefully I can beat it in time to see whether it deserves a spot on my list or not! Though with how much I loved the first Bayonetta, I'm sure this one will be pretty high up there

 

[Smether]

1) Destiny: Yes, the game has no story, is repetitive, has merciless loot system, and all the other knocks against this game are true. But fundamentally speaking it is masterful game making. The core gameplay is satisfying and there is always a reason to play it a while longer.

I got it on day one and by the time I had opened up the last planet I was sick of it. But I always kept coming back, even when I was ashamed of it, and I'm now over 40 hours into.
To me is the most "next gen" experience yet.

The best looking game of this year for me was Infamous second son though.

 

[dk_]

1. Hearthstone ; Highly addictive game I play every day at least for the daily quests. One of the most played games this year besides DOTA 2.

2. GTA V (PS4) ; A masterpiece got even better. Loved it on 360 and bought it again for PS4. Bow Rockstar!

3. Diablo 3 RotS ; Another addictive game I played almost nonstop for several week. The new loot system and rifts and the extra campaign resparked my love to Diablo.

4. Alien Isolation ; The sleeper hit for me this year. Didn't expect this game to be that good and totally hit me by suprise with its graphics, tension and atmosphere.

5. Binding of Issac Rebirth ; Even better than the flash original with new items and levels. Endless variations and never gets old.

6. Infamous ; Graphically one of the most impressive PS4 titles this year. Eye-candy deluxe.

7. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor ; Another sleeper hit. The highly entertaining captains system made it the better AC this year.

8. Banner Saga ; What a lovely little game. Finished it in 2-3 days and it was absolutely worth it.

9. FIFA 15 ; I'm a FIFA fanboy and this year's game is still excellent for any footy fan.

10. South Park Stick of Truth ; Love the show, love the game. Like a giant SP episode.

 

[Salih]

1. Bayonetta 2 ; Bayonetta 2 sets the new standard for the action-adventure genre - a genre only the folks from PlatinumGames managed to master. It's a beautifully crafted masterpiece, which perfects the gameplay mechanics from the first installment. The insane action is a sight to behold, the fighting choreography is silky smooth, the swift pacing dares you not to blink - but what is a character-focused action game without a memorable character? Bayonetta is feisty, fashionable and sassy - a rare female protagonist in the videogame landscape. Just like the game, she always suprises you with more insanity and demands complete attention - a rollercoaster ride noone should ever miss.

2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; RetroStudios are well known for their Metroid Prime series but noone could have expected that they are actually able to create such a well-designed 2D-plattformer with its tight level design overtrumping even the greatest 2D plattformers like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Donkey Kong Country 2. Every world is a vivid playground for jump'n'run enthusiast - offering the gamer always something new and innovative in each level with David Wise as the cherry on the cake.

3. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth ; Take the best parts from the Persona series (characters, settings, demon fusion) and the Etrian Odyssey series (dungeon design, party managment) and you get a perfectly fusioned JRPG that will hook you for more than 60hours of good old dungeon crawling. Being able to draw your own dungeon map and trying to avoid overpowered enemies called F.O.E.s while exploring the dungeon and solving puzzles is challenging but so rewarding. Your characters and their skills stets are completely dynamic because of the demon fusion mechanics letting you fusion demons/personas with different skills and therefore making the battle system more fun.

4. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare ; great and addicting multiplayer game with superb humor.

5. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ; a beautiful mixture of the two well-known series. Great story, endearing characters but it would have been better if the puzzles would have been better implemented into the story.

6. Mario Kart 8 ; Nintendo managed to perfect this series with its latest installment. It's great to play with the family and the online mode works flawlessly.

7. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; I hadn't had the chance to put much time into this game but from what i played I enjoyed the frantic action. It is also a technical masterpiece on the Wii U hardware.

8. Shovel Knight ; best indie game i played this year. Old school action plattformer mixed with great 8bit music.

9. Broken Age: Act 1 ; I nearly lost the hope but Tim Schafer still got it. Yeah, the puzzles were decent at best but the characters and the story are so adorable that you just want to know what is going to happen in Act 2.

10. Hyrule Warriors ; While the battle system is mindless fun and therefore nothing special, as a 'The Legend of Zelda'-fan this game is a love letter to longtime fans.

 

[krossj]

1. Ys: Memories of Celceta ; (EU) I just had a great time with this game. While not having a very complex battle system, slashing away at enemies while performing flash guards/ moves and with the variety of abilities and different characters it was a lot of fun. Running around the map/ dungeons and the boss fights are what I enjoyed most along with the soundtrack. Exploring the map and the dungeons just seemed to have a rhythm which complimented the combat and soundtrack very nicely throughout. Graphics and story are not great but the game has some great environments and interesting detail throughout. Some towns required you to talk to most of the inhabitants which could become rather tedious after a while but did not damper my overall impression of the game. Similar to last year my first place has went to something which is new to me. Having not played previous games in the Ys series this game stood out and I’m eager to try out older entries now.

2. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; (EU) Nothing offers turn based combat quite like this series. The customisation over your party always feels refreshing in comparison to many other RPGs. Creating a new demon and the choices of which demons to fuse and the skills you are going to give that demon always have an effect on how your enjoyment or frustration with the game play out. A number of factors such as the map, the lack of direction in required side quests and the general ease of the game make it lacking when compared to other entries in series. The game does not have the same barren world as Nocturne or Strange Journey but it offers something different yet is still able to keep a unique blend of mood and atmosphere which is unique to the series and does so well.

3. Dark Souls II ; Dark Souls is my favourite game from the last generation of consoles and while DSII lacked compared to its predecessor for me (with the main reasons being the more level like structure and the creature design) I still enjoyed the game a lot. The combat with the slight tweaks they made felt great and something few other titles offer in its risk/ reward nature. The game has some beautiful environments with Heide's, Pharros and Dragon Aerie all standing out. It just could have been more refined in certain areas but still fun in a lot of ways. Really looking forward to Bloodborne.

4. Final Fantasy X HD Remaster ; Having not replayed the game in many years returning to it was fantastic. The music and design of many aspects of the game such as environments, aeons, bosses etc are just incredible along with a battle system that is fast and fun. The game was a lot easier than I remember but I still had some difficulty with a couple of the bosses, that Evrae gave me quite a bit of bother. I feel it is difficult to rank remasters especially with this being a favourite but having enjoyed this as much as I did while replaying it I felt it was definitely worth a mention somewhere on my list.

5. Shovel Knight ; Regardless of not being very good at 2D platform games I still had a great time with this and finished it without to much difficulty. The game just controlled great and felt like a joy to play and a lot of nods it made to older games (especially the Zelda games) were very well implemented.

—

Rouge Legacy, Smash Bros and Hearthstone are some other games I got round to and enjoyed but I was just going for a top 5 with not finishing that many games.

Some games I just haven’t played enough but want to mention

Divinity Original Sin - Played around 8 hours or so and while the battle system seems great I just haven’t played enough. The first town drags on but perhaps that is my own fault for talking to everyone and doing side stuff. Hopefully get round to playing more at some point though.

Persona Q - Seems like another Etrian Odyssey game which i enjoy the gameplay of a lot.

Freedom Wars - Had a very good time with many games in the monster hunting genre before but just played the early tutorial missions so far.

 

[McHuj]

1. Shadow of Mordor
2. Dark souls 2
3. Wolfenstein

Played very few new games this, but put in about 500 hours into BF4.

 

[SolidusDave]

1. Alien: Isolation ; I vote this to be my GOTY because it managed to be so faithful to its source material (basically only beaten by South Park but that's done with the guys from the show) in terms of atmosphere and style, while at the same time it provides gameplay that hasn't been done like this before. A non-scripted, non-killable, instant-death single AI is patrolling&hunting you in a more or less freely explorable space station. Visuals were very satisfying on the PS4 and the integration of the motion tracker into the controller was a neat addition.
2. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition ;
3. South Park: The Stick of Truth ;
4. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ;
5. P.T. ;
6. Infamous: First Light ;
7. Metro Redux ;
8. Don't Starve: Console Edition ;
9. Surgeon Simulator: Anniversary Edition ;
10. Octodad: Dadliest Catch ;

Honorable Mentions
x. PixelJunk Shooter ;
x. Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition ;
x. Hotline Miami ;
x. Outlast ;

 

[marc^o^]

I'm so late.

1. Bayonetta 2
2. Smash Bros
3. Mario Kart 8
4. GTA5
5. Captain Toad
6. Monument Valley
7. Donkey Kong
8. Shovel Knight
9. Sunset Overdrive
10. Proton Pulse

 

[Magic Mushroom]

I'm so late.

1. Bayonetta 2
2. Smash Bros
3. Mario Kart 8
4. GTA5
5. Captain Toad
6. Monument Valley
7. Donkey Kong
8. Shovel Knight
9. Sunset Overdrive
10. Proton Pulse

Don't forget to follow the formating rules in the OP.

 

[Snuggles]

1. Desert Golfing ; at first I thought the atari-esque visuals and gameplay were too simple, but I kept playing now I'm 700 holes deep and can't stop. a great example of how a videogame can be stripped down to the very basics and still get under your skin.
2. Octodad: Dadliest Catch ; hilarious gameplay and unexpectedly poignant.
3. Goat Simulator ; hilarious gameplay but decidedly not poignant
4. Rogue Legacy ; rougelike perfection with it's tight controls and heir system giving u a sense of progess
5. Threes ; best puzzle game of the year, smart and endlessly replayable
6. Out There ; immersive space adventuring
7. 80 Days
8. Peggle 2
9. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
10. Outlast

might fill out the rest b4 the deadline....

 

[Square Triangle]

1. The Last of Us: Remastered ; I just cannot get over this game. Even a year later- I'm still blown away by its pacing, environments, cutscenes and flawless gameplay.
2. Transistor
3. Forza Horizon 2
4. Far Cry 4
5. Sunset Overdrive
6. DriveClub
7. Dragon Age: Inquisition
8. Infamous Second Son
9. LittleBigPanet 3
10. The Evil Within

 

[A Serious Man]

1. Dragon Age: Inquisition - The one trait I value more than any other in a game is its ability to immerse me in its world. DA:I actually made me interested in Thedas and that's something I can't say for 95% of the games I play these days. It's not perfect but it sucked me in 135 hours (I can't remember the last single player game to get that kind of time out of me) and I'm looking forward to diving in again.

2. Alien: Isolation - An incredible experience, front to back. Playing this at night with headphones over the course of a week was one of the highlights of the year for me. The original Alien is also one of my favorite films so that doesn't hurt.

3. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - I'm a Tolkien nerd and we don't get a lot of quality games so this was a great surprise. I wish it was bigger but that's something for the sequel to address, this first entry is a great foundation for a series.

4. Far Cry 4
5. Metro Redux
6. Forza Horizon 2
7. Wolfenstein: The New Order
8. Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls
9. Driveclub
10. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor

 

[Laieon]

1. Valiant Hearts: The Great War; Valiant Hearts is an incredibly unique game not only because of it's a game set in World War 1, but also because it isn't an FPS like we've come to expect with war games (instead, it's a point and click adventure game). This is a game that's biggest strong suit is it's characters. You play as people on both sides of the war, and the game doesn't paint any of them as villains. As the game goes on, you really start to feel that sense of nationalism diminish. In one scene in particular, soldiers who are eager to join the fight sing and cheer on the drive to the battlefield, only to quickly realize what they got themselves into when the battlefield they arrive at is full of dead soldiers. It reminded me of the scene in Mulan when all the soldiers are marching off to battle and singing about their ideal woman, only for that jubilance to come to a stop when they arrive at a town that had been burned and sacked, with their fellow soldiers nowhere to be found. While the beginning of the game sets the tone of soldiers who are ready to fight, by the end, the game becomes more about soldiers just wanting to go home. The characters themselves each have unique backstories and personalities (and their game play elements are slightly different) to, one character may play a ddr-esque game while healing people every now and then, while another has a pair of pliers and can break downbarbed wire). In Valiant Hearts, the puzzles themselves aren't very difficult and may even be a bit repetitive at times, but the game is still more than worth playing for the characters alone. Another interesting thing about Valiant Hearts is that it really isn't a terrible introduction to the war itself. As the game progresses, you unlock actual pictures that were taken during the war, along with descriptions of events and weapons. I'd actuallygo as far as to say that it would fit in perfectly with any elementary or middle school curriculum, at times it really did feel like edutainment. .

2. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor ; WoW has been one of my favorite games since I started playing it in 2007, but I wasn't too hyped for Warlords going into it. I'm one of the few who didn't really like BC and wasn't really looking forward to returning to Outlands, even if it was an updated version. The trailer we got at Blizzcon didn't excite me at all, I didn't really follow the development in the months after that, and I was really just expecting it to come nowhere close to being as awesome as Pandaria was. Since it's WoW, I still wanted to try it. While I still feel like the environments and zones in Draenor are largely forgettable, the quality of life changes that it introduces are just awesome. Things like having a chance to get "upgraded" items while questing, things like bonus objectives in zones (even if they really just amount to "kill X"). More than anything though, I'm a pretty big fan of the garrisons. It might just be a Facebook-esque game inside of WoW, but it gives me a reason to log in everyday (I hate WoW's PvP and I don't raid outside of raid finder, so those reasons can come few and far between). I really like how I can see the Garrison physically change because of my choices. There's been a few times where I really couldn't decide if I wanted Building X or Building Y, because they both sound great and I only have the space for 1 of them. I also thought the leveling experience was pretty nice, and how the story is much more focused and in your face than it has been in the past (although, that's also a bad thing. It's fairly linear, which means leveling ults is going to get pretty tiring). In general, I feel like WoD is still WoW. If you liked it before, you'll like it now. If you didn't like it, this expansion isn't going to change that. I don't think it's my favorite expansion (That would be Wrath of the Lich King, followed by Mists of Pandaria), but it's much
better than I was expecting it to be.

3. The Walking Dead: Season 2 ; The Walking Dead Season 1 was my favorite game of 2012, the writing was great and the characters were all pretty engaging. It's a game that someone can beat in under 10 hours, and I easily put a good 40-50 into it, playing it multiple times on both the PC and Xbox. Needless to say, Season 2 definitely had a lot to liveup to. After playing it, I have to say - it's not as good as season 1, but it's still incredible and definitely worth playing. It plays similar to season 1 (although I do think it manages to have even less puzzles, which I'm fine with. This is a series about characters and people, and I think puzzles just feel out of place. If you've never played the series, it's about the adventures of a young girl named Clementine who attempts to survive in the undead apocalypse. As you would expect, she meets a variety of people in her travels, some good, some bad, and some are in a bit of a grey area. I felt like the characters were better written in Season 1, they had more defined personalities and were a bit more interesting. In Season 2, most of the characters are only in the game for an episode or two, so you barely have time to get to know them before they meet their grisley fates. I found a lot of them generally unlikeable, not because they were bad, but because they were just a bit bland. That being said, their were some pretty good characters. I felt like Jane (a new character who is a bit of a loner) was pretty well written and Carver (The bad guy this season) was fairly interesting as well.One of my friends was a pretty big fan of Luke (someone who I felt was attempting to be an older brother figure for Clementine), but he personally didn't interest me too much.Since this is a story based game, I don't want to spoil too much. I do want to say that while the ending of season 1 was more emotional for me, I thought the end of season 2 was more difficult. I actually had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do, and I'm definitely looking forward to the recently announced Season 3. I'll definitely be there day 1, Telltale continuous to impress me.

4. The Banner Saga ; This was a game that came out pretty early in the year and wasn't really on my radar until it appeared on Steam's coming soon list. I thought the art style looked fantastic, so I decided to try it out. I definitely wasn't disappointed at all. The gameplay reminded me of Fire Emblem (just not necessarily as deep) with additional elements like resource management (in this case, the number of soldiers in your group). While the number of soldiers didn't necessarily have any affect on the game play, I did feel a bit disappointed when I made a wrong choice or an event happened that resulted in me losing some (or many, in a few cases). My only real complaints with the Banner Saga is that it ends rather abruptly (although it is supposed to be the first game in a trilogy,so we'll see how it feels when all is said and done) and the accents on the voice acting can be a bit heavy at times.

5. Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls ; I actually really enjoyed vanilla D3 and put about 70-80 hours into it. I felt like it had the most enjoyable combat compared to similar games of it's genre, it just felt so good to run around and kill undead. My biggest issue with it was simply that it didn't have enough variety. Having to run the same story mode over and over again with the only difference being difficulties just wasn't enough to hold my attention. I feel like Reaper of Souls really solved that. Not only do we get Act V (which had a somewhat underwhelming villain, admittedly), but Blizzard also added Nephalem Rifts and Adventure Mode, which, simply put, are fantastic. Knowing that I can login and have access to randomized content actually makes me want to keep playing it (even if I don't necessarily play for hours at a time). The Crusader class is also pretty enjoyable, although my favorite class is still the Witch Doctor.

6. Mario Kart 8; I don't think Mario Kart 8 is going to win anyone over who didn't enjoy Mario Kart before (and if you didn't, what's wrong with you?), but it's definitely the most polished Mario Kart yet. The races are fast, the action is swift, and online mode ensures that there's always going to be someone you can race. As someone who hasn't really played a Mario Kart game since Mario Kart DS, I enjoyed the large amount of unlockable characters and the remakes of older levels (along with plenty of new ones). That being said, I would have liked to see more variety in said characters, because multiple koopalings were just underwhelming. At this point, I'd rather we just Nintendo Kart for the next iteration (mostly because I just really want to race a Kart through Hyrule).

7. Child of Light ; Review in Progress

8. The Wolf Among Us ; I didn't think anything about the Wolf Among Us was revolutionary, but I did think it told a pretty good story. Before I played the game, I had never heard of the "Fables" series, so I didn't really know anything going into it. I just thought the art style looked pretty cool. For a game with a lot of bright colors (mostly in the form of neon lights), it was definitely a pretty dark story. While it was really just a murder mystery, I thought it was told pretty well. I also felt like it did pretty well at dealing with morality, especially near the end of the game. One thing that I thought was pretty interesting was how absolutely none of the characters were "good", they were all pretty sleazy and at times I thought it was even a bit difficult to root for "your side". The only character in the game that was even remotely good was this kid who's a frog, and he's barely in the game and isn't really important in the large scheme of things. I don't think I enjoyed The Wolf Among Us nearly as much as I enjoyed The Walking Dead Season 2 (which I didn't think was as good as Season 1), but this is still a game that's worth picking up and trying out. It took me a few months to run through it, even though it isn't too long. I think the biggest benefit I got out of playing it is that I now want to check out the comic series it's based on.

9. Transistor ; Review in Progress

10. Influent ; Influent is a game that I high doubt anyone else is going to have on their list, but it's one that I felt was worth mentioning none-the-less. This definitely isn't the most in depth game, and some people may not even consider it a game at all. It's educational, the entire point is that it's pretty much Vocabulary Words: The Game. When you first buy the game, you can choose what language pack you want to start out with (there's a pretty decent list right now, I choose Korean). Additional language packs cost extra though. I think where it succeeds is it's implementation of Vocab. The game sticks you in a small house, you go around and click on things, and then it adds those things to a vocab list. Once you get a certain amount of words on your list, you can take a quiz. Instead of simply saying "X word means X", you have to go and actually find that word in the house. So, for example, if the answer is "door", you would have to go find a door and click on it. If the answer is "guitar", you would have to go find a guitar and click on it. It's pretty simple, but I think it helps a lot for memorizing because it isn't just words on a piece of paper, you're having to prove that you actually comprehend what you're reading. It also teaches you more than just nouns, some items are associated with more than one word (door, for example, also gives you the verbs for "open" and "close"). It's pretty simple, but it works. It also times you during the quiz, there's been plenty of times where I took a quiz over and over again just to shave a few more seconds off. This definitely isn't a game for everyone, but if you're looking at learning another language I would say it's a pretty useful tool.

 

[elfinke]

1. Desert Golfing ; at first I thought the atari-esque visuals and gameplay were too simple, but I kept playing now I'm 700 holes deep and can't stop. a great example of how a videogame can be stripped down to the very basics and still get under your skin.

Right! That does it: I'm buying Desert Golfing next time my iPad is on hand.

 

[Messofanego]

5. Insurgency ; What a great game. I've never really been into the tactical squad-based FPS's before, but WOW! This game makes me wonder what I've been missing all these years. Some of the most fun I've had this year is getting a group of friends together and hopping online and just being a squad together. Just about two or three shots and your dead, and don't get cocky because respawns are limited to waves.

Been meaning to check this tactical shooter out, but the generic art always pushes me back Silly prejudice.

 

[Alessandro]

1. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; What a recovery for Bioware, from Dragon Age 2 to this. You realize you're having fun when you are 25 hours in, you've just tackled 2 main quests and you want more. There is so much care about details in this game, from the spoilersartspoilers to the wondrous locations. DA: Inquisition deserves to win just to reassure everyone that spoilersthis is the stuffspoilers that we want to see. If possible with fewer romances, fetch quests and herbs\books\minerals gathering, thank you.

2. Driveclub ; laawwwwwwd. The thing I like most is the design behind collisions and errors. Have a clean drive and be rewarded, disable UI and enjoy.

3. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; I've played only a couple hours but the presentation and storytelling is crazy good, gunplay is satisfying and levels are well designed.
4. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call ; It gets repetitive if you don't knock up the difficulty to Ultimate which then gets almost impossible to finish a song that isn't Aerith theme. Git gud.
5. Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends ; Finally a DW fun to play after DW5. Attack animations are now unique for each character and you get a full old-style mousou bar if you use certain game mechanics. Bought a Xiaho Dun themed pen for the occasion.
6. The Banner Saga ; This, alongside with Baldur's Gate: EE and Shadowrun, have proven that tablet and smartphones can be suitable for games other than card games.
7. The Wolf Among Us ; Liked this one far more than Walking Dead season 2, probably because you can tore ogres apart and I want to know more after that cliffhanger at the end.
8. Transistor ; Gorgeous art style and beautiful OST. Gameplay is good too and story is unfolded in tiny bits that leave you hungry for more. This game made me remember that time when Greg Kasavin had to evacuate the Gamespot building because of a fire alarm during a Oblivion marathon. Brain works in mysterious ways.
9. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ; Nemesis system and gameplay mechanics are engaging though it gets repetitive after a few hours. Please don't lock abilities behind main quests. It's a free roaming game, If I want to explore every nook and cranny I shouldn't get punished for it.
10. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; It's a paid demo but thanks to that we can finally put to rest the Revengeance continuity argument.
x. The Evil Within ; The equivalent of Kojima's MGS2 for Mikami. There are scenes copied from RE (like the first zombie encounter when he turns at Jill) and gameplay doesn't seems to have evolved much since RE4. I've completed a bunch of chapters and have no idea what to make of. Anyway, I kinda like what I'm playing.
x. Wasteland 2 ; Divinity: Original Sin has exciting gameplay mechanics with less interesting story and writing. W2 has fine writing and not so great gameplay (albeit you can dig up a kid grave and steal his bbgun. Whole town won't like it). All my hopes are on Numenera.

 

[Messofanego]

2. Driveclub ; laawwwwwwd.

Haha, every single letter.

Love that Wolfenstein ad.

 

[Saul]

1. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U; Sakurai did it again! Balancing improved, higher speed, great character roster, good online modus without great deal of lag. Chapeau!
2. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
3. Mario Kart 8
4. Risen 3: Titan Lords
5. Game of Thrones: Episode 1: Iron From Ice

 

[PK Strawstorm]

1. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ; I never even looked at the thread about this game before I got it for free with PS Plus, and now I seem to play it at the beginning and end of every PS4 gaming session, if not the entire session. Trophy bugs are pissing me off, but the amount of (twisted) content put into this {arcade roguelike / Zelda dungeon homage / limited twin-stick shooter} keeps me coming back and generally leaves me smiling.
2. Bayonetta 2 ; This is not really my genre (I usually suck too bad) but I loved everything about this game (sans Loki of course). It feels and looks so smooth even when I'm sucking, but the rewards for getting good have inspired me to get at least okay I think... so far...
3. Shovel Knight ; I don't think I've ever bought the same game for 2 systems in the same year before. I beat it on WiiU the first weekend, and now it lives on my 3DS as well.
4. Mario Kart 8 ; This is probably only this low because nobody in my family / friends has yet been able to challenge me. That said, I went into the GAF room one day and got crushed.
5. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; I enjoy the single-player challenges in this version more than the 3DS one, and I like not having to panic about my 3DS blowing up under the stress the game puts on it. I've played at least 20 hours of both games combined, and feel like I haven't scratched the surface.
6. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn ; My first MMORPG. It was grindy and I never convinced any of my IRL friends to join (although I joined a super-friendly guild and generally had great dungeon experiences with strangers), so I solo'd pretty much everything. The world and music and my hot girl archer are beautiful, and there is enough depth to the gameplay where I enjoyed my ride. I just loved visiting Eorzea and often think about re-subscribing when I have the time, because, unlike Destiny, this is a world that I want to be in.
7. TowerFall Ascension ; This game makes me wish I lived in either a gross college dorm with friends or a clean future house with an internet capable of putting this online.
8. Alien: Isolation ; The original Alien film is one of my top 5 movies of all time, and this game did a better job capturing the atmosphere of its source material than just about any game ever has. The story could be improved and gameplay could be varied, but I trust in Weyland-Yutani.
9. Fantasy Life ; Great because it's portable. Repetition, but with enough charm and progression to make it feel like the world deserves all the time I'm dedicating to minigame shoemaking.
10. Mercenary Kings ; This was the multiplayer game for my friends and I from its release up through the Destiny release. There is a lot of potential here to turn this into something great, and I hope it does, because although I don't think it will ever pull my friends away from choosing a Destiny-like FPS experience, I personally would love a 2D alternative.


Honorable Mentions
x. Grand Theft Auto V ; Played through the whole game again, which I don't really have the time to justify, except that Los Santos made the argument. It's incredible the depth of conversations you will hear from random NPCs walking down the street.
x. The Last of Us: Remastered ; Got it for Christmas (beat it twice on PS3) and I've only played Left Behind (really good, if a bit short on gameplay) and re-played the introduction so far, but it's still amazing and I'm glad this version exists.
x. Tomodachi Life ; I love telling my family about all the antics their avatars get up to in this game. I'm 31.
x. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition ; I play this game on my exercise bike because it doesn't require pinpoint accuracy to cruise through the world and blow up demons and have fun.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I see a lot of people mention Zelda, but Binding of Isaac really reminds me most of some kind of wacky mod of an old Sunsoft top down game more than anything

The variety of challenges in that game is what really sold it for me, no way it'd be as fun otherwise

 

[azxza]

1. Bayonetta 2; The best game of the last five years. Hashimoto and his team nailed a perfect pace and rhythm for the character action games. It has the best animations, enemy roster and rival fights in the genre. Amazing art direction and soundtrack too. The online mode works surprinsingly fine and is a lot of fun.
2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze; I didn't even like the Donkey Kong Country plataformers until this came around. Retro introduce new ideas in every single world. It's really something else.
3. Velocity 2X; Wonderful arcade with tons of charm. The new side scroller sections are really great and a nice change of mechanics.
4. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition; The coop is amazing and the game is packed with content.
5. Killer Instinct Season 2; Iron Galaxy is making an impressive job with the season. All the new characters have very interesting and inusual mechanincs.
6. Mario Kart 8; The perfect game for a evening with your friends.

 

[Sadist]

1. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; Told you I prefer the Wii U version, didn't I? You know, I could post a long, long story about my history with the Smash-series, but I won't. I'll just say I absolutely like what Sakurai has done to make this Smash even bigger than last time. Next to some welcome changes in the fighting mechanics, the game is a joy to look at. Seeing all of these vibrant colours coming at me and the gigantic roster of characters makes me extremely happy as a Nintendo fan. The amount of content is absolutely insane as well. I've played for about forty hours and I'm still missing a lot. I'll play this game for a long, long time and that's something you rarely see these days.

2. Bayonetta 2 ; As a first timer to Bayo I started off with the original, so going into the second I hoped it would step up it's game a bit. Don't get me wrong, the original is amazing, but it did have it's strange kinks. Bayo 2 however might be the smoothest action game I've ever played. The controls are buttery smooth, it's gorgeous to look at it and man, I like Bayo with her short hairdo. Suits her better. But the game itself? Man, talk about great pacing, fantastic gameplay and crazy over the top action. Every time when I thought Platinum couldn't top the level before, they tell me "oh hey man, if you think that's cool, here's something even cooler!" It's been a crazy ride and it's really cool Nintendo stepped in and made this game happen. Thanks for that. But mostly Platinum for making such a rollercoaster ride of a game. I won't forget it.

3. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; But, it's 2014? Yeah, but for us poor European folks SMT IV didn't release here untill last October. Digital release only. € 19,99. I admit I was peeved (Atlus screwing us over like this sucked) but when I started the game, it's been one amazing trip. Worth the wait. The first few hours were a bit too harsh, but after reaching the mysterious city of Tokyo the game's difficulty went down a notch and I enjoyed everything it had to offer. They mystery, the demons haunting the city and it's inhabitants, demon fusion, the amazing soundtrack... I'm really having a hard time describing what I like best about this game. Anyway, it earned a number three spot on my list.

4. Mario Kart 8 ; Best Mario Kart in years. MK7 did several things right, but MK8 finally made me enjoy the series again. Sure there's still the inevitable item carnage every now and then, but compared to the last few installments it's the most balanced one yet. Another thing this game does right are the amazing tracks (there are only about three or so I really dislike) and because of the DLC I'll get more out of the game than I ever thought. The great online multiplayer makes the game fantastic as well. The amount of disconnects I had are small, so I've been enjoying the game for many, many months now. Second DLC pack will be awesome as well.

5. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze ; I'll be honest, I never was that much of a Donkey Kong guy. The titles by Rare are good platformers, but nothing that special. And when the game was officially announced I wasn't that upset, but I did however question the collective rage by the internet when it didn't turn out to be Retro's super secret new IP which everyone made up. When the game finally released, I even sensed some... apathy regarding the media. "It's not a bad game, but is DK capable of saving the Wii U/selling more consoles?" or "While this game is better than it's predecessor, it's still Donkey Kong and not something entirely different from Retro which I really expected" or some other strange quotes. While I think it's not fair to pin it just on this game, I kind of stopped reading reviews all together. I just want to judge the game on it's own strength and weaknesses. And here we are, ranking fifth on my GotY list. As far 2D platformers go, Tropical Freeze is a great example of making something that works even better. Which wasn't the biggest of tasks, because Returns on Wii featured the strange shake to roll mechanic and overall didn't feel that surprising. Retro however learned from their first journey into the genre and pushed themselves into making better levels and a more engaging platform title. They did and it's awesome. Especially David Wise's work on the soundtrack makes the game work even better. And oh man, the Africa themed levels? Oh yes. Plus the bosses are pretty damn amazing. Oh oh oh, and fucking Cranky Kong.

6. Hyrule Warriors ; the biggest surprise of 2014. When they announced Hyrule Warriors I kind of scratched my head. Not to discredit the Warriors series, but of all the crossovers they chose to pair up Zelda with a Musou game? That's pretty... interesting. So after a very enthousiastic review by an acquaintance of mine I decided to give the game a try and to my surprise, I like it. A lot. There is something very satisfying while slasing your way through Hyrule with the cast of various Zelda-titles. I can even pick the demon king himself, Ganondorf. Wielding two blades I slash my way through hordes of monsters and enemy soldiers and every now and then I'll laugh like the demon I am. Moehahaha. But, eh, moving onward: the amount of fanservice is amazing, the soundtrack is great and I had loads of fun playing the Adventure Mode because of the many challenges. Yeah, sure; I see folks frowning upon this title and asking "How can a Musou game be this cool?" Well, play Hyrule Warriors. Sometimes non-stop action is just enough.

7. The Wolf Among Us ; The Walking Dead Season 2 move over, here comes the big, bad, wolf! I only read a few issues of Fables, so I kinda knew about the badass that is Bigby Wolf, but playing TWAU made him even cooler. Gameplay wise it's like TWD, but the story itself and the characters are better established compared to Clementine's second adventure. Yet again Telltale just knows which voice actors to pick for their respective roles and it made the game feel more alive. Also, did you guys hear the amazing opening? Loved it.

8. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth ; 2014 is the year I played SMT for the first time ever. I mean, the mainline series. And I've enjoyed it a lot. So when Persona Q came over and it combined the Persona series with Etrian Odyssey I was somewhat reluctant. Except for the original which I played for about seventeen hours I thought Etrian was a tad to difficult. I kinda gave up on the DS game and never looked back. But Persona Q using it's high school charm, awesome Persona-system and catchy music made me a believer. I haven't completed the game yet, but I've already played 48 hours and the game keeps reeling me in. Very good.

9. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ; The crossover we've all been waiting for! The gentleman vs. the acttorney! Ever since it's announcement I've been waiting for localization news regarding this game. When it finally released I was kind of worried; after the fantastic animation in AA5 I was kind of worried Layton vs. Phoenix would be a bit underwhelming. In motion however this is a great game to watch. What I did find a bit disappointing was the fact it's not a perfect blend of Ace Attorney and Layton mechanics. They just fused the parts of their respective series together and made it work. And while some things seemed easier for series veterans (like the puzzles and the courtroom sections) I completed the game with a giant grin on my face. The chemistry between Phoenix, Maya, Layton and Luke is definitely there and the dialogue is pretty funny. The entire story is a bit predictable if you played earlier Layton games though. Still, I thought after completing it I would forget this game, but here I am mentioning it. So yeah, it means I enjoyed the game enough to include it in my list.

10. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS ; My mind was made up, I'd totally go for the Wii U version and not the handheld game. But thanks to some good luck I got a copy and I'm pretty happy I did. First up, I still prefer the Wii U version over this one. But I have to say, Sakurai and co. went all out with Smash on the move. I like the fact it features more of the handheld history of Nintendo regarding stages and trophies. I do think the controls aren't all that (specificly on a OG 3DS) but it comes pretty damn close.

 

[broncobuster]

1. Legend of Grimrock 2;
Grimrock 2 does everything a sequel should do in my eyes. The new open non-linear world, with its themed dungeons and locale, is brilliantly crafted. Puzzles span from solutions in the immediate area to hours later when that one hint scroll finally makes sense. If you do get stumped by the puzzles, you're free to move on to another area and return later. Alternatively, you can brave the harder areas from the get-go. Explore, do what you want. Figure out how to escape. Talking only the broad, bullet point improvements to Grimrock 1. There's so much more. All that to say, if Grimrock 2 was more Grimrock 1 it'd be an improvement to an excellent game. It plays better, it looks better, AI is better, character creation is better, and so on. Add in all it does new and it's above and beyond what a sequel typically delivers.

2. Wolfenstein The New Order;
I can aim accurately without ADS? What year is this? Varied level design, tight shooting, and a nice length campaign. That's all I ask for in an FPS.

3. Far Cry 4;
If Grimrock 2 is everything a sequel should be, Far Cry 4 is everything an expansion pack should be. More Far Cry 3, with better good and less bad. Only it's a sequel coming two years after. I can be pedantic and hold the sameness against it, but it's a gosh darn fun, if shallow, time. Clearing outposts, gliding around, taking out a convoy on an ATV with my one-handed shotgun that you reload Terminator 2-style, taking out a second convoy with explosive arrows that you shoot Rambo 2-style, taking out a third convoy with a grenade launcher that you shoot Terminator 2-style from a mini-copter, taking out a fourth convoy--look, there are plenty of convoys in Far Cry 4.

4. Bayonetta 2;
Like Far Cry 4, it's more of a great game, with improvements in all the right places. It's a better game than Bayonetta in most areas, the areas that count anyway, while it's not the revelatory experience that was. I don't hold that against it. What I do is Loki. Half-joking.

5. Binding of Isaac Rebirth;
I went into BoIR very skeptical. Surely all those hours of Binding of Isaac and it's expansion burned me out. Nope. Not at all.

6. Velocity 2X;
Velocity 2X takes Velocity, adds fantastic on-foot sequences, and blends them together. It builds until the puzzles have you jumping forwards and backwards, inside and out, left to right, all over the map. Strong visual style and catchy music help bring everything together.

7. Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes;
Had this been a full product, it'd sit at #2. Phantom Pain will need to under-deliver and another game over-deliver for it to not be #1 next year.

 

[tcrunch]

1. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; I have put in 2.5 playthroughs and a bit over 150 hours into this beast. Worldspaces crafted with great care, interesting companions, gorgeous graphics, some excellent and varied main quests - only thing I need is MORE. It's quite an accomplishment since this game wasn't even on my radar before its launch trailer came out.
2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; Also fun, looks great, one of the best soundtracks of all time. Every time you think you have the mechanics down, DKTF has something new up its sleeve waiting for you.
3. Alien: Isolation ; A love letter to the original alien movie, complete with 1970's "future" aesthetics, and a blast to play. Also I died just like some idiot in a horror movie when I saw something dripping out of a vent and went to see what it was.
4. Bayonetta 2 ; Fantastically fun with many fun-enhancing improvements over the original, which is included for extra fun. Pretty limited scope / doesn't change much of the original's formula, but the setpieces are gorgeous and still a blast. Have I mentioned fun?
5. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ; Once I figured out how to actual kill an orc captain without dying horribly to his bodyguards, I got a real sense of satisfaction. Doubly so when I started to hear orcs gossiping about the terrifying Ranger in their midst. Lots of cool lore to get into as well. The combat feels good, though at the point I thought I had beat the game I had simply unlocked a new area, and once you get some of your advanced abilities the combat can get fairly repetitive.
6. Mario Kart 8 ; I am not a racing fanatic, MK is about the only series I will play, but I haven't touched it since MK64. This entry was an amazing upgrade, with a really good soundtrack.
7. Dark Souls II ; I did not really care for this entry as compared to the other Souls games, but the DLC certainly improved upon the base experience, and DkS2 still provided me many hours of play. I appreciated some of the technical improvements such as the use of soul items.

Honorable Mentions
x. The Last of Us Remastered ; Great game, my first experience with it was this version. Bit short, but wow it was awesome while it lasted. Not originally released this year means it will stay in the HM category.

 

[R&R]

1. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ; I simply loved the game, the main story was not even that great and the open world could have been more detailed and vast...but what this game got right, it really did! The Nemesis system was the first truly next-gen innovation I had the pleasure to experience. Combat was pretty much perfect, and I just kept on playing the game long after having finished the story. Having just finished the Lord of the Hunt DLC, which improves several elements of the game even further, I have to say the GOTY choice was quite easy in the end. Can't wait to see what the sequel holds out for us.

2. Driveclub ; The launch was a disaster and I was among the very vocal critics on this very forum even. However, after the patches and updates what we currently have is one of the best driving experiences of the last years. Weather is amazing, tracks are top notch and sense of speed is second to none. Really hope Evolution gets a chance to make a sequel.

3. Dragon Age Inquisition ; The return to form for Bioware. 100 hours went by so fast. Memorable cast of characters, pretty good story, beautiful scenery, countless things to do...whats not to love?

4. Valiant Hearts: The Great War ; Simple gameplay but emotional and captivating story. Probably the best ending of the year too. Ubiart at its best.

5. This War of Mine ; Best indie game of the year, easily. Captures the dreadful feeling of war from the civilian side better than any game before in my opinion.

6. Child of Light ; Another beautiful Ubiart framework experience. A bit on the short side but what was there was among the best gaming hours of the year.

7. Monument Valley ; A unique and beautiful mobile game. Every level has a totally different mood, puzzle solutions are if not very challenging definitely interesting. Really hope we get a sequel.

8. Hitman Go ; One of the best mobile games I have ever played. Loved the art style, the puzzles were challenging and it really felt like a true Hitman experience.

9. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; The definitive South Park game...of all time. Even with a protracted development Obsidian delivered, and a hugely enjoyd my time spend in
South Park.

10. Assassins Creed Unity ; Even without all the problems the lure of 18th century Paris was strong. Also loved the new murder mystery missions. Shame about the bugs though...also the basic AC gameplay is getting really stale. Ubi art team managed to save them a spot on my list though.

Honorable mentions:

The Last of Us: Left Behind ; The way all DLC should be. Great continuation to already amazing story of The Last of Us.

Infamous: Second Son ; A solid next-gen open world experience, especially great particle and lighting effects.

 

[Flayer]

1. Destiny ; In terms of pure gameplay Destiny is an incredibly good game. I haven't had this much fun shooting things, like, ever. It's a shame that some other aspects of the game don't match up but for the sheer joy of playing, Destiny gets my number 1 for the year.
2. Dark Souls 2 ; It's more Dark Souls and it's still got the same magic, even for a third time round with innervation restricted to "more". The more is bloody amazing though and there are some incredible boss fights. And somehow it does still manage to retain a feeling of mystery even in this day and age.
3. Hearthstone ; Addictive, challenging, cerebral, frustrating, exciting. There's lots to be said for the Hearthstone formula and it's simple yet endlessly different and competitive appeal. This is a game I can see myself coming back to on and off for years.
4. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; Short but sweet. My only criticism is that I would have liked a full game rather than a glorified demo. It's bloody brilliant really and a full game of this type would easily have been my GOTY.
5. Driveclub ; I hadn't played a serious driving game since the vague disappointment of GT5. Driveclub scratched that itch and surprised me by being a really good game on its own merits to boot. Looks and sounds beautiful too.
6. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; Didn't even look at this at release but picked it up after hearing all the good impressions. Surprisingly it turned out to be the best single player campaign of the year.
7. Transistor ; Beautiful and fun to play. It's been a while since a good RPG in this style has come along.
8. Infamous: Second Son ; It's damn fun being a super hero and Infamous 3 managed to capture that feeling.
9. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; I'm a big fan of South Park so the main reason I enjoyed this was all the humour and in-jokes. The fact that it was attached to an actually good game is just gravy.
10. Watch_Dogs ; I loved all the hacking stuff, added a fun twist to the GTA formula.

Honorable Mentions
x. The Last Of Us: Remastered ; Would have been my GOTY if it was a new title. It's still magic and the story and characters are still brilliant.
x. Grand Theft Auto V ; Another classic remastered. It's amazing that the GTA series still manages to retain the magic it created all the way back in 2001 with GTA 3 and keeps on bettering itself.

LTTP
x. Spec Ops: The Line ; The white phosphorous scene is maybe the most impactful and challenging one I've encountered in a game. It's something I won't forget. Spec Ops is a game everyone should play, not for the now rather antiquated gameplay but for the journey.

 

[Zomba13]

1. Bayonetta 2 ; Bayonetta 2 is just the pinnacle of the action game genre
2. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ; Smash for Wii U is probably the best smash game yet I just hope Nintendo keeps supporting it with DLC
3. Dark Souls II ; Not as good as the first Dark Souls but still a damn fine game with some great DLC
4. Transistor ; I loved Bastion and I loved this. The music and art are great, the combat has enough depth to offer a lot of experimentation but simple enough to be enjoyable
5. Alien: Isolation ; Finally a proper Alien game. Really captures the tension and suspense of having an alien creature stalk you.
6. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; Much better than DA2, not as great as DA:O but still very fun with some fantastic characters
7. Shovel Knight ; A great retro inspired platformer with elements of Mega Man and Duck Tales.
8. Mario Kart 8 ; My favourite Mario Kart yet. I wasn't feeling a few past ones, namely the one on the Wii but MK8 brings it all back. Great DLC too and I love the Amiibo support so I can play as Captain Falcon.
9. The Walking Dead: Season Two ; I loved the Walking Dead Season 1 and highly enjoyed this one. It was a bit odd how Clementine ended up leading in a way but I really enjoyed it. The ending I got first wasn't that good but I redid the last bit and got a different one that felt much better and I think provided a nice close to a certain characters arc.
10. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- ; Maybe the one I spent the least amount of time with on this list due to it coming so late (and not even in Europe yet) but it's great. It looks fantastic and is the best implementation of anime style in a 3D game yet. It's classic Guilty Gear with a surprisingly entertaining story mode and also opened my eyes to how fun Sol is to play as (I was previously a Ky guy).

 

[Parsnip]

1. DARK SOULS II ; Dark Souls is a tough act to follow and they do a fine enough job at it.
2. Shovel Knight ; Everyday I'm shoveling.
3. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition ; They keep re-releasing it and I keep putting it on various GOTY lists.
4. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ; It wasn't quite the AC type game I expected but I had fun.
5. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 ; I liked it, with some serious reservations. Maybe the fact that this game made it to top5 speaks more about the year I had than anything else.

Honorable Mentions
x. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition ; The Steamworks conversion of the PC port pulled me back in big time.
x. Rooms: The Main Building ; It's a neat little sliding puzzle game that I started near the end of the year and while it's not quite the list material, more people should play it.

 

[wumpy]

1. south park stick of truth ; ive never laughed so much in a game

2. far cry 4 ; i fucking loved the experience of playing this game

3. pro evolution soccer 2014 ; the king is definitely back. all i care about is gameplay and realism in a football game.

4. middle earth shadow or mordor: pretty fun but the combat became boring after awhile

5. driveclub ; was good but im pretty shit at it for some reason

 

[Wendler]

1. Dounkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze ; The best game Retro Studios has ever developed.

2. Mario Kart 8 ; The best Mario Kart game.

3. South Park: Stick of Truth ; if you're a South Park fan, it's hard not to love it.

4. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; I don't play too much FPS games, but this one was overall quite good.

5. Shovel Knight ; While that's not saying much, it is one of the best games that came out off Kickstarter.

6. Bayonetta 2 ; it's good, overall a pretty messy experience, though.

7. Dark Souls 2 ; Nothing more than a solid ARPG.

That's all I've played this year released in 2014.

 

[Tom_Cody]

1. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS ; An amazing entry in my favorite series and my most played game of the year. The Wii U version could have also taken the top slot here but I have spent much more timing playing the 3DS version. Yeah yeah yeah, the Wii U version is "superior" but portable gaming is just a better fit for my life than console gaming.
2. Mario Kart 8
3. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
4. Bravely Default

Virtually all of the games I played this year were released in past years so I apologize for my list being so light and boring.

 

[EhoaVash]

1. Donkey kong country tropical freeze ; amazing platforming, amazing music, gorgeous visuals.

2. Bayonetta 2 ; Really great combat and amazing graphics. only reason its not number one is because lol i felt that the final boss battle didn't live up to the hype of the first few bosses

3. smash bros wii u ; shits on smash 3DS every single way. but only bogged down by few dumb sakurai decisions

4. mario kart 8 ; amazing tracks, music only held back by lack of single player content

semicolon edit

 

[Magic Mushroom]

1. Donkey kong country tropical freeze -amazing platforming, amazing music, gorgeous visuals.

2. Bayonetta 2 - Really great combat and amazing graphics. only reason its not number one is because lol i felt that the final boss battle didn't live up to the hype of the first few bosses

3. smash bros wii u - shits on smash 3DS every single way. but only bogged down by few dumb sakurai decisions

4. mario kart 8 - amazing tracks, music only held back by lack of single player content

Replace the dash with a semicolon, chap.

We have the same top two by the way, just in the opposite order.

 

[Zach]

1. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die ; I love SWERY's style and general zaniess.
2. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; Unbelievably good. No one should have expected this great of a game. It was one of those games that never felt like a chore. It was fun (and funny) throughout.
3. Shovel Knight ; Whoa! Cool game. Playing it now. Well made and funny.
4. Never Alone ; Touching and different. Also, that fox is ADORABLE.
5. Spelunky ; Super addictive for me, my son, and my significant other.
6. Luftrausers ; Came outta nowhere. I almost deleted it after a couple of deaths, but kept on and became addicted for a few days. FUN!
7. GTA V ; Even better on PS4. Just a sight.
8. Velocity 2X ; Cool game. Fun and fast. Great heroine.
9. Infamous: Second Son ; A bit monotonous at times (if you want to get everything), but overall it's a beautiful game with fun powers and movement. I'm okay with the storyline and characters as well. Deal with it. *sunglasses*
10. P.T. ; Great stealth release. Excellent atmosphere. Scary and exciting.

x. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ; I got my money's worth. Can't wait for The Phantom Pain.
x. Mario Kart 8 ; Much fun was had with family and friends.
x. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; Surprisingly good. Kinda dragged at the end, though.
x. Far Cry 4 ; I loved Far Cry 3. This was a little same-y, but I really enjoyed playing co-op with my friend.
x. Hohokum ; Whimsical fun.
x. The Wolf Among Us ; The intro alone gets it an honorable mention. Really cool and Drive-y. Too bad Telltale's games run like balls.
x. Suikoden ; My son and I are on the back end of this game. It's good, even considering the oftentimes hilarious translation errors...

 

[OldAsUrSock]

1. The Talos Principle
What is consciousness? What makes someone a person? Can a dog be a person? These are some of the philosophical questions possed by Milton that you will have to answer. I trolled him and got an achievement that way without evening knowing how to get it lol. The story was well done and it suited the gameplay. I found the puzzles to be harder than Portal 2 and Quantum Conundrum.

2. Valkaryia Chronicles
One of my favorite strategy games ever. The story has some cliche moments, but overall it was engaging with an unexpected moment around the halfway point through the story. The artstyle is one of if not my favorite aspect of the game which was sadly lost in it's sequel on the PSP. The PC port was well done, though it is sad that tank physics get a bit wonky at 120fps, overall it runs smoothly.

3. Dark Souls 2
Better in every way to Dark souls 1 except level design.

4. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The story kept me engaged throughout the one sitting I played the game through. It took me maybe 3 hours, but I do not really care how long the game is just how it kept me interested. The only aspect of the game I dislike is having to go back and revist areas you missed. I missed three and still was happy with the story, but I guess the devs didn't want their hard work to go to waste.

5. Transistor
Great art, good story and I love the gameplay. Though the sword wouldn't stop talking. Like ever.

 

[Menome]

10. Journal ; A short narrative exploring a week in the life of a young girl with behavioural issues whose journal entries for the previous week have been torn out. The gameplay is limited and is in essence a 2D Walking Simulator, but the impetus here is on story and character and this delivered enough of an impact on myself to make it on to this list.

9. Murdered: Soul Suspect ; It's not the first game to feature you as a detective solving your own murder and it's not the only game this year to feature supernatural investigating. However Murdered: Soul Suspect manages to remain entertaining throughout its brief playing time thanks to gameplay features such as piecing together clues, possessing cats and being able to walk through walls, which give this game a unique sense of fun.

8. Child Of Light ; Ubisoft hasn't had a great year when it comes to bugs, shoddy review and release procedures and managing to fuck up Tetris. Buried amidst the tide of negative news were two little gems; Valiant Hearts and Child Of Light. The game manages to recreate a watercolour fairytale visual effect, couple it with one of the most beautiful soundtracks of the year and add a competent Paper Mario-esque combat system to the mix. The rhyming dialogue can be rather forced in some scenes, but overall this is an absolutely lovely experience.

7. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls: Ultimate Evil Edition: Electric Boogaloo: Simba's Pride: Die Harder ; I was expecting the worst when it came to porting Diablo III to consoles, but Blizzard managed to deliver a port that feels tailor-made for a controller-based setup. Coupled with all the other changes and additions from the expansion and this really is the definitive version of the game away from a PC.

6. Divinity: Original Sin ; I have to keep this one in the bottom half of my Top 10 simply because I haven't played enough of it yet to give an opinion on the latter half of the game. What I have seen however is a game nearer to Dragon Age: Origins than its actual sequel was, though with an added splash of humour mixed into proceedings. It's a CRPG wet-dream and it'll be interesting this time next year as to how I compare it to Dragon Age: Inquisition when I've 100% completed both of them as it could potentially end up the better-regarded of the two.

5. Jazzpunk ; A batshit-insane Cold War cartoon adventure game, with comedy thrown in at every possible angle it can manage. Sometimes it does fall flat, but when it works it's golden. If I have one quibble with the game, it's that the actual spy-gameplay vanishes after the first couple of levels, but the overall experience was so surrealy brilliant that I can forgive Jazzpunk its faults.

4. Dark Souls II ; No, it wasn't quite as good as Dark Souls and I'm sure Bloodborne will wipe the floor with it this year, but in 2014 there was no better third-person combat in any other game. It was a joy to play both in single and multi-player and Brightstone Cove Tseldora's second-to-last chamber can kindly fuck off forever.

3. Towerfall Ascension ; 2014 has been an absolutely fantastic year for couch-based multiplayer games and this spot would ideally be reserved for all of the games my friends and I have had hours of fun playing this year. Nidhogg, Hidden In Plain Sight, Toybox Turbos, Gang Beasts and numerous others have dominated Sunday evenings at my flat. Best of the lot was Towerfall: Ascension a game of both intentional and unintentional hilarity thanks to a plethora of maps and modifiers that provide a unique turn of events every time you play. If it had internet-play it'd be perfect.

2. Dragon Age: Inquisition ; Bioware takes a leaf from the Elder Scrolls games and expands Thedas' playable areas considerably, whilst adding an existential plot over the presence of the setting's version of God and the moral quandries being a prophet entails. Bioware also deliver as usual on the companion front with the return of fan-favourite Varric, the not-as-much-of-a-nob-as-expected Solas who elaborates on the nature of Fade in an engaging fashion and the fabulous Dorian. There's criticisms to be made on some of the fetch-quest mentality of some of the quests, but no other game apart from Destiny has sucked away so many of my hours and I don't see that on this list anywhere.

1. The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter ; Screw anyone who says Walking Simulators aren't proper games. I loved this game from start to finish, from the gorgeous visuals to the genuine feeling of exploration and discovery, it was a game that dragged me into its atmospheric locale and never let me go. To say too much about the plot would give it away, but I felt it wrapped itself up nicely and the developer's stance on not holding the player's hand through the game is something we need to see more of. I've enjoyed all of the games on this list and ones that didn't make the cut, but The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is the one that I've kept thinking about ever since I finished it. More like this please.

 

[Locust]

1. South Park: The Stick of Truth ; Biggest surprise of 2014, really. Can't say I had as much fun with anything else this year.
2. Wolfenstein: The New Order ; First good singleplayer FPS in god knows how long.
3. Divinity: Original Sin ; Didn't actually finish this, but the first 20-40 hours were so much fun it belongs here for sure.
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ;
5. Dark Souls II ;
6. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ;
7. Alien: Isolation ; Revisit Colonial Marines afterwards to really see what a terrible developer Gearbox is.
8. Resident Evil 4: Ultimate HD Edition ;
9. The Wolf Among Us ;
10. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ;

Honorable mentions:
x. Wasteland 2 ;
x. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft ;
x. Insurgency ;
x. Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition ;
x. Valkyria Chronicles ;
x. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ;

 

[Uraizen]

1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; My favorite action game from PG, by far. It's like my pseudo-spiritual successor to Ninja Gaiden.
2. Bayonetta 2 ; Another great action game from PG that came out this year. I feel like it improves upon the original in many ways.
3. BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma ; This game is incredibly fun, but sadly took a loooong time to come to the west.
4. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- ; Gorgeous, fun, and the rebirth of a treasured franchise.
5. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax ; A Persona 4 Arena that's good? Unbelievable.
6. Killer Instinct: Season 2 ; Made quite a few system changes from the first season, but for the better. Definitely enough to warrant a place on my top 10.
7. Killer is Dead: Nightmare Edition ; Starts out pretty slow, but once you're fully upgraded it feels like a genuine action game. This is, of course, the part where you replay it on hard.
8. Resident Evil 4: Ultimate HD Edition ; It's Resident Evil 4.
9. The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition ; What can I say? I love the classics.
10. The Legend of Korra ; Not PG's best work, but still a little hidden gem. Only downfall is you need to beat it once for it to be enjoyable. I guess you could say that about other action games. This one was really bare-bones on the first run, though.

Honorable Mentions in no particular order

x. BloodRayne: Betrayal ; Controls are a little loose for what it asks you to do on later levels, but other than that it's a pretty good action game.
x. Dark Souls II ; Good, but nowhere near as good as the previous games in the Souls series.
x. Infamous: Second Son ; Funny little romp, but I have a strong preference for what I'm looking for in games.
x. Mighty Gunvolt ; Possibly a hidden gem on the 3DS. Give this game a look.

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

1. Mario Kart 8:
Where do I even start? The music is superb making it quite possibly my favorite original soundtrack in any Nintendo game ever and they got the controls down to a par. Also, the game looks phenomenal and is the most polished detailed game Ive seen this entire year.

2. Far Cry 4:
When Ubisoft said they wanted us to make our own stories in Kyrat some were like "yeah whatever" but after seeing this game and playing it I really feel like that's what they wanted. A world that is beautiful, dangerous, and fun. The story is also decent but that's not what youre here to do. You're here to have a fun romp and explore Kyrat, and by golly does it make you succeed at just that.

3. Smash Bros WiiU:
This game man. Before I owned a WiiU this is all I wanted to play. Even with a WiiU now this is still all I want to play. The characyers, the detail, the enhancements...everything is just top notch and leagues better than brawl. The characters are who they should be and they control how they should. There has never been a better realized fighter than this game. Amazing stuff.

4. Dragon Age Inquisition:
I'm not gonna lie, I'm not even finished with this game yet but I still know that it would end up on this list no matter what from the start. The blend of Bioware and fantasy world is brilliant. I've never played any other DA game but I felt right at home from the very beginning. The combat is good, the characters are some of the best theyve done. The mix of Mass Effect and the Hobbit are the best concoction you couldve stirred up.

5. Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc:
What a damn ride this one was. A rollercoaster of emotion and utter shock. The characters were fucking phenomenal and the art and music are superb. The story of the school and everthing was inter twined so well, everything felt very cohesive and together. Monokuma will go down as one of my favorite villains after this game.

6. Destiny:
Does this game deserve as much hate as it gets...kinda. For me though it's awesome, not looking at everything that should've been here. The gunplay is the best I've ever dealt with and the world feels very rich if a little bare. The ghost is really cool (I like him!) And the Tower is a great hub world I want to keep going back to to get shitty blue engrams. The PvP is also a ton of fun and playing COOP with friends is just downright a blast.

7. Infamous SS/First Light:
Being Sony's biggest exclusive of the year it had to live up to dome crazy expectations. Did it live up to those...? Not all of them but most of them. The story was trash (in SS) but Seattle and the powers were fucking great especially neon. That's shy I also said FL because it focused all on Neon and that was my favorite power. Characters were cool but a little underdeveloped and there were a lot of plot holes but overall a fantastically fun time.

8. Towerfall Ascension:
This game has made a ton of memories. My friends and I play and play and play this game whenever we are with each other. It is one of the most fun couch games ever and with these genre of games slowly dwindling it is fantastic to see a great one rise from the ashes.


Honorable Mentions:


The Wolf Among Us ; The first episode was the peak of the series bit I still think this was a very solid game. It had my friends and I talk about it during the intervals of when a new episode was gonna come out and the overall mystery was good. I just wish telltale would've left it like they had in Episode 1's ending.

Alien Isolation ; This games atmosphere is brilliant and as a hardcore Alien fan, it nailed everything. The look, the music, the Alien itself. Its awesome. It would definitely be higher up if I finished though. I'm still playing through and having a terrifying blast with the game.

Tales From the Borderlands Ep.1 ; TellTales at it again. This was the best premiering episode they have ever putbon and I could not stop laughing throughout the entirety of the ride. The characters are already awesome and I see this series having more potential and a better season all around than TWD or TWAU. Also! The Voice Acting is top notch.