Oh 2014. No doubt you will be remembered, but perhaps not for anything good. This time last year we were discussing how many broken games there seemed to be, but that all pales in comparison to this year. It's been a year of disappointment, of so-close-yet-so-fars, and of asking 'Wait, that's not working either?'.
And yet, through it all, there have been glimmers of hope. Proof that out there, somewhere, developers still do know how to put out a game that functions and, get this, is fun to play. What lunacy! So let me discuss some of my favourites from this troubled year.
1. Bayonetta 2 ; Often, lately, within the gaming world, it's felt a bit like to turning up to a party where a group of people are engaged in a deep moral discussion. When all you want is to have a bit of fun and relax it kind of kills the mood. Then Bayonetta shows up. Cranks up the music, pours out the drinks and turns her hair into a demonic dragon monster.
Bayonetta 2 isn't demanding you to see the hidden life message or engage in the intricacies of its combat system. It just wants you to have fun. No matter what your play style or experience level it demands that you have a good time. And boy does it succeed. From top to barely-covered bottom, it is a sumptuous experience, full of gorgeous design work and so many glorious animations. It knows its a video game, it knows what you want out of a video game, and it is all the better for it.
2. Dragon Age Inquisition ; Earlier in the year I finally got around to playing Dragon Age 2. It's a strange beast, full of cookie cutter design, tedious stories and tedious-er characters. So it was something of a surprise to plug in Dragon Age Inquisition and find something that was the complete antithesis.
It's rare that the biggest complaint leveled against a game is the fact its starting area is too open and has too much stuff to do. The game wants you to explore so much that it forgets to tell you about the other 98% of its content. Inquisition is full of beautiful, endless expanses that place you in the role of pioneer, rediscovering landmarks and righting the world with your tag team of misfits and miscreants. And its those characters that keep the game from being just 'good'. Each is fantastically defined and engaging to the point where you want to travel with them just to see them interact. Dragon Age Inquisition is a vast game in many respects, one that rewards players willing to invest the time, and creates rich worlds in a way it has never done thus far in the series.
3. Shovel Knight ; In may ways Shovel Knight could have been a parody of today's gaming culture; a retro, 8-bit throwback indie-developed game funded on Kickstarter. But such a description is wholly redundant. Shovel Knight isn't a throwback so much as a game plucked from that era. It is a fantastically faithful game, sculpted with a modern touch that makes it wonderfully accessible and yet still providing enough bite to keep you coming back. I am personally too young to have grown up during the NES era, and yet Shovel Knight holds enough of an appeal and strength of character to keep it above being simply a good shot of nostalgia.
4. Dark Souls 2 ; There was a point around late last year, early this year that the Souls games felt like they exploded in popularity. Everyone seemed to be playing them, and every game was 'the Dark Souls of ___'. And while Dark Souls 2 did not necessarily become the industry darling it perhaps seemed like it would, it remains a fantastic game, something that can exist proudly in the Souls lineage and reaffirm the series as one of the best of the last generation. A melancholic world that simultaneously terrifies and excites, characters that are just enigmatic enough to keep you engaged, and a story...well, I still have no clue what the story was. But its still a bloody good game.
5. Donkey Kong Country : Tropical Freeze ; Don't release your games in February. Poor Donkey Kong; released at the beginning of a fairly slow year, and barely remembered ten months later. And perhaps thats just because its another fantastic Donkey Kong game. From the face of it, it is yet another brightly coloured platformer with fancy music. Dig a little deeper though, and Donkey Kong proves itself as a top tier Nintendo franchise, with fascinating, complex level design and some of the best music in any game this year.
6. Mario Kart 8 ; It feels oddly strange putting a Mario Kart game on a Game of the Year list. I grew up playing the vast majority of them, and while they are perhaps some of the best multiplayer games possible, they are just kart racers. But Mario Kart 8 deserves the plaudits. Call me vacuous, but I'm sticking this one of my list purely because it looks gosh darn phenomenal. Where Nintendo may lack the graphical finesse of other developers, they make up for it with an attention to detail that few others possess. They understand what a cartoon, Italian plumber would look like if he were driving in his anti-gravity kart and overtaking a cuddly green dinosaur. And most importantly Mario Kart 8 is a ball, and is one of the best games to play with friends in a year full of local multiplayer opportunities.
7. Rogue Legacy ; There was an article I read earlier in the year, discussing how Netflix has basically begun crafting its original programming based on the data it has received about people's viewing habits. It knows how to hook people, what will keep them watching, and when to grab a waning attention. All of which is to say Rogue Legacy may as well be a Netflix Original. It's hooks create a near endless loop, and it quickly becomes a game you have to actively disengage from. There is an admirable simplicity to it, a game stripped of unnecessary mechanics and extras to give a pure, refined experience that you need to keep playing.
8. Persona Q ; There's a reason the Persona series is so revered and popular. Persona 3 and 4 are perhaps some of the finest RPGs ever created, fantastically designed adventures with wonderful stories and characters. Persona Q acts as a reaffirmation of this, underlining the strength of atmosphere and place each game created. I'm a sucker for references and callbacks, and while Persona Q is so much more than a checklist of greatest hits, there is a joyful acknowledgement of what makes the series great, and the game melds what turns out to be two slightly disparate tones into one enjoyable package.
Honorable Mentions
x. Super Smash Bros. For Wii U ; I really don't like fighters. I think you perhaps need to have the right mindset to fully appreciate their intricacies, but for whatever reason they just do absolutely nothing for me. And to a certain extent that includes Smash Bros. But every part of Smash that isn't a fighter is why I think it deserves commendation. The game is brimming with heart, devoted to not just fan service but a celebration of what makes games great. I couldn't care less how much damage Pac-Man's down special does, but the fact he throws out a fire hydrant from Pac-Land is wonderful. Not only this, but the game is overstuffed with content, understanding that there is so much more to fighting games than just a 1v1 battle. It is a beautiful, big, busy game that acts as a celebration in a tumultuous year.
angerous that, by the little I played of it, could have been quite up on my list. It's the "risk" that applies to the games that launch closer to the end of the year as I think no one buys and plays all the game on day 1.
