What is your favourite game of 2014, so far?

After finishing it tonight, I would have to say The Wolf Among Us.

Looking over my list of games that I've played this year and cutting it down to the three games from this year I'd rank them

1. Icarus Proudbottom's World of Typing
2. OlliOlli
3. Dark Souls 2

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/your-favorite-games-so-far-in-2014-1488520/?page=1

Also, The Wolf Among Us for me too...

Not a lot has grabbed me so far. These two were hella fun while they lasted through.

Infamous: Second Son

LUFTRAUSERS

Actual winners:

The Banner Saga, pretty easily. Though South Park is right up there too. Those are the only "Holy shit, you really need to play this" games that I would bother telling any of my friends or family about who play video games. Shovel Knight is actually really baller, but I've barely played like 45 minutes of it yet. Still, I don't see how they could really screw the rest of it up from what I've seen so far.

Other things I feel like I should acknowledge:

• Dark Souls 2 is probably alright, but I haven't played the Souls series.
• Watch_Dogs turned out to be a GTA game with "press X to hack". Based on that original E3 demo I was hoping it was way more like an honest return to a Hitman-style game where when you use violence it is brief and precise, but is ultimately much more about planning how to take down a target when he is most vulnerable, using knowledge gained from cyber research or something. It was probably stupid to hope that since even the reveal demo ended in an obvious GTA-style firefight and police chase, but whatever, I had my hopes. It did not turn out to be that game. So nope.
• It feels preemptive to include Broken Age yet. I liked what I've played and the art is gorgeous, but my final verdict on that game will hinge on whether that story concludes well, because boy, what a cliffhanger.
• Mario Kart 8 is pretty good, but it's not exactly reinventing the wheel.
• Wolfenstein: The New Order is probably great, still haven't played it yet. Seems like something I'd like.
• I'd have kinder things to say about Bravely Default if its plot and character writing weren't so abysmally cliched; they're not even cliched in the way that old JRPGs were, they're cliched like modern anime is, with characters whose defining features include: shy guy who does the right thing who is obviously the player surrogate, shy girl who is very humble, giant pervert with amnesia, and angry no-nonsense fighting girl who doesn't approve of the pervert. Stop me if you've heard any of these before. You'd hope that perverted amnesiac would at least create some hilariously jarring tonal shifts, but really the amnesia thing doesn't come up for a long time so he's just a pervert for a giant portion of the game. And then the game runs out of classes and areas to introduce (and to its credit that was already a lot of content, it could've ended there), so it feels the need to wildly recycle content for the remainder of the game, as if it wasn't bad enough that even in the first half of the game I was already fighting palette swaps of some enemies because it is a JRPG after all.
• I'd have kinder things to say about Transistor, but it could've presented its story so much better. The two protagonists honestly never get characterized very well, with the result being that I wasn't that moved by the ending. Gameplay, graphics, and music were still good, but the writing was a step down from Bastion. It just never endeared me enough to the characters or world that I cared what happened to either. Even on the art front, the monochromatic Process were kinda boring to look at compared to Bastion's different enemies in each act (the City, the Wilds, the Terminals all had differing enemies). And ditto for the background of each area: those three acts of Bastion established very different regions, with occasionally memorable sub-areas. Compare that to Transistor, where all the areas (Goldwalk, Bracket Towers, The Empty Set, etc.) feel like they have the same features and colour palette and I found them pretty much indistinguishable, until the final 10% of the game, when the environments change drastically. The Bastion was a memorable hub with arena challenges that actually had a bunch of cool backstory, whereas Transistor's back doors led to a boring sandbox devoid of any exposition or character development (the hammock talks are pretty much just plot recaps). I could go on.

Honestly, the first half of 2014 has been pretty weaksauce so far.

Uh, well ive barely played any games released in 2014.

So im gonna go with the only real 2014 release i played in 2014, dark souls 2. Great game. not as great in dark souls 1, but not disappointing either. in fact gameplay wise its better in just about every way. it just didnt "stick" wtih me as much as the first game did, but i guess thats to be expected.

If you don't say Dark Souls 2 you didn't play Dark Souls 2

So far? My gut answer is Bravely Default, which is a huge shame since that game is so heavily flawed.

Shovel Knight

@hunter5024 said:

I know, right? It's one of these situations where I want to sit down with Square Enix, and be like "Look, Japanese dudes, you keep on doing the game design for all these sweet JRPG battle systems. It's great work, and you've got a good thing going. Also your musical composers are great. But the writing side of things? How about you just find like, I don't know, some random North American/European writer within one of the Eidos-related studios and have him write the next one, because seemingly the majority of writers in the mainstream Japanese games industry are awful hacks who just write the worst manga/anime-derivative tripe. So maybe that Eidos guy won't write something that is embarassingly bad, and if we're lucky it won't be angsty melodrama either."

Also, yeah, all the padding at the end of the game. Also an issue.

@bisonhero: everyone I know seems to say Dark Souls 2. bravely default is something I wouldn't mind trying, but from I what I've seen, there seems to be something that does not grab me.

Transistor for me. I really like that game a lot. I'm even a bit of the odd one out in that I loved the obscure but satisfying storytelling. I'm the sort of nutjob that enjoys worldbuilding and working for story fragments, like in Morrowind, so that might explain it.

Other than that I was dazzled by slightly older games: Gunpoint (short but very sweet), XCOM: Enemy Within (unsurprisingly a home run for me, glad I finally dug in) and still Solforge - lots and lots of Solforge (technically this still isn't "out" of course, what strange and wonderful times we live in).

Next up (after XCOM) are older titles also: Shadowrun Returns (hope I find something there since at least the new campaign garnered a lot of love from the right people - can't make heads or tails of this damn game) and maybe another shot for Risk of Rain (which is cool but hasn't really grabbed me in a big way either).

I was about to go for Banner Saga and Warlock II during the Steam sale but held back due to backlog. Other than that the new Dragon Age (maybe), Wasteland 2 (likely) and Civ: not Alpha Centaury (almost definitely) look like they might find their way on to my top list in a timely enough fashion.

1. Ultra Street Fighter IV - Based on what all else is coming this year, I highly doubt anything will trump this
2. Bravely Default - Best turn-based RPG combat mechanics ever
3. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Very unique take on ARPG combat and Lightning is still awesome
4. The Banner Saga - If Oregon Trail was a TRPG with vikings
5. The Last of Us (Left Behind DLC) - Blown away, so good. Mechanics still hold up
6. The Walking Dead: Season Two - I'm way into the season so far
7. Broken Age - I fully expect this to jump up once it's a complete game
8. Shovel Knight - The rest of this list is going to be replaced by year's end
9. inFamous: Second Son
10. Mario Kart 8

I think it'd have to be either Wolfenstein or South Park, so far. Haven't been playing masses of 2014 releases, still working through backlogs from 2013 in my Steam library...

I'm not even through Divinity: Original Sin and it's already the best thing I played this year. It's got all the things I like, like dialog trees and desecrating graves. Followed by Transistor, Banner Saga and Dark Souls 2.

Not played a bunch, but here's mine in a vague order:

1. Dark Souls 2
2. Shovel Knight
3. Fract OSC
4. Jazzpunk

Unless Sakurai/Nintendo messes up spectacularly, I can see the new Smash Bros games easily being up at the top of my list at the end of the year.

Bravely Default. I didn't find it as flawed as other people did (I enjoyed the writing and even the second half). I said at the beginning of the year that it was going to be either this or Dark Souls II for my favourite game this year, and Bravely Default is just too strong in my mind.

I also really liked One Way Heroics. I thought it was a really cute take on Roguelikes.

This year has felt a bit underwhelming so far...

The top game would be one of these three at this point;

Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall
Dark Souls 2
Wolfenstein: The New Order

Divinity: Original Sin

Wolfenstein: The new order- The most fun I've had with a video Game in a long time.

Shovel Knight

inFamous Second Son

I am pretty sure we already have this exact same thread somewhere. But whatever, here we go take 2.

As of right now my top 3 games of 2014 -

Destiny - yes the alpha was enough by itself, I know it will be a hit when it launches
Dark Souls 2
Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall - Some say Divinity: Original Sin is better... I say it has better graphics, is a lot longer, and has better music. However I still prefer Shadowrun in all other respects, I just don't want to write a docudrama about it here.

Runner up: Assassin's Creed: Black Flag

Best 2013 game of 2014: Last of Us, yes I didn't play it until 2014.

Dark Souls 2, but I've not really played many games that came out this year. Most I've been playing older stuff I get for free on Xbox Live or games from my backlog like Vanquish. For the record, I don't think that Dark Souls 2 is as good as it could have been.

At this point I'd go with Titanfall. I've spent many hours shooting robots in the face.

Strangely enough, unlike last year where there a few clear favorites at this point in the year (DmC, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Bioshock Infinite). There just hasn't been anything that screams "GOTY" yet. Titanfall, Valiant Hearts, Threes, and OctoDad will all most likely end up in my top 10 for the year but I'm not comfortable calling any of those my GOTY.

I haven't played much this year, for some reason. Despite having a PS4 and a high-end PC, I just haven't been able to find a whole lot that interests me. I'm probably going to have to go with Wildstar, simply because I've spent the most time playing that w/o getting bored. I know, I know, it's a "typical MMO" with all the typical MMO tropes, but I'm really having a good time with it.

Flash forward a couple months, and I think my answer would probably be Destiny. It's the first game I preordered in probably 5 years. The alpha was great.

Dark Souls 2 or Divinity Original Sin.

Probably inFamous: Second Son. I haven't played much else from this year that wasn't smaller (Trials Fusion, Sportsfriends) or way more focused (MLB 14, NBA 2K14, MGS V) and each of those last three have some major flaws I can point to. I didn't have a single complaint about inFamous other than Sucker Punch's typically iffy character development that left a lot to be desired, but I'm used to that with this series at this point.

The more I hear people talk about Wolfenstein the more curious I get but I'm not the biggest fan of FPS games, Bioshock Infinite was the first I really enjoyed since the first Modern Warfare. But let me look at my trophies to remember everything and then try to rank them anyway...

1. inFamous: Second Son: also worth noting this was the first actual game I Platinum'd, since Walking Dead: Season One gave you one just for finishing it.

2. South Park: The Stick of Truth: it's easy to forget this came out as recently as March. was a really smart game, playing as a mage was awesome. thinking of redownloading to play as another class eventually.

3. MLB 14 The Show (PS4): I haven't followed baseball closely at all since the Mariners broke up their late-90s all-star team, but I still recognize enough of the names from sports radio and it's a testament to how good the core gameplay of MLB 14 is that even with very little interest in baseball period I've played more MLB 14 than any other game this year.

4. The Walking Dead Season Two: A thread on these forums last week about the lack of conversation surrounding this season had me reflecting on what's gone on so far, and I have to say it's been another fantastic ride so far after a sometimes shaky first episode. This could easily climb to one of the top spots depending on how the rest of the season shakes out.

5. Trials Fusion: I expected to like it considering I have a history with these sorts of motorcycle balancing games going all the way back to the NES (and spent a lot of open period time during high school playing a flash version of what seems like eventually became Trials), but I really didn't expect it to be so funny or engaging past a week or so (I didn't play the other Trials games). I'm at the Expert's Club and finding myself calling the game impossible, but I'll keep logging in whenever I hear a friend beat my high scores until they stop doing so.

6. Watch_Dogs: To be honest, I haven't played this in two or three weeks and every time I think to I find an excuse to do something else, but the problem doesn't really lie with the game. Where Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row, etc. failed to lure me away from GTA, I'm actually pretty into Watch_Dogs. I'm almost exclusively into open worlds when they're done by Rockstar, but this Chicago is pretty fun to horse around and do side missions in. The problem is I HATE the main story, and now that I've cleared out nearly all the side stuff, I find myself unmotivated to continue (I am on mission 11, 12 or 13 of Act II).

7. The Wolf Among Us: Before episode 3 this would likely have gone above Watch_Dogs, but I haven't really enjoyed the twists this game's taken since the pretty fantastic first episode and think it overall feels like a less polished product than it's older brother. The release schedule has also hurt it, as it was something like three months between the first two episodes and then a lukewarm response to the last episode left me saving it for now, when the final episode releases. But my excitement for them is so low at this point I haven't downloaded them.

8. Sportsfriends: I think the other three games look fun, but this has essentially been a $15 Super Pole Riders for my friends and I, partially because I only have two controllers and partially because they couldn't wrap their heads around the other three / were too into Pole Riders. I haven't laughed so hard playing a game in a long time, probably since the original Super Smash days on N64. Joust can be a great foreplay tool as well.

N/A. NBA 2K14: The NBA 2K series, aside from GTA, is my favorite gaming franchise. The move to PS4 gave it some incredible graphics and some of the most realistic, tight gameplay feel imaginable. In so many ways, once you get on the court NBA 2K14 is just jaw dropping. Unfortunately, everything outside of that is jaw droppingly awful. The menus are terribly confusing, the constant cloud saving makes the game almost unplayable if the 2K or PSN servers are down, and the infectious disease known as VC finally ruined the core game to the point there's not a single enjoyable single player mode to be found. Again, once you get on the court it's fantastic, the game just doesn't provide a lot of positive reinforcement on the way there and it often collects dust as a result.

Yup the Wolf Among Us ..

Between The Wolf Among Us and Dark Souls 2 from what I played so far. Really hoping for a season 2 of TWAU in the future. I don't wan't them adapting the main story though.

Still wanna play the metal gear game, Divinity: Original Sin, Shovel Knight, finish The Walking Dead Season 2 and play the Youkai Watch 2 that will be released tomorrow (the first game was one of my favourites from last year).

Didn't even have to think hard for an answer: It's South Park: The Stick of Truth

From what little I've played this year, easily Shovel Knight. For $15 it feels like a steal to me. At 13 hours of total playtime, I exhausted my first play through. I'll most likely go back for New Game +.

• Shovel Knight
• Mario Kart 8

I agree the writing had some problems, though I definitely felt the story had its moments. I think Bravely Default was trying to be every bit as cliche as it actually was, because it was trying to be reminiscent of those older games, and that's exactly how they used to be. Though at the same time, this is a problem that modern RPGs still face, so I don't think it had the nostalgic reaction that they hoping for, it just made people go "Oh it's another one of those." Perhaps I'm just attributing intent to justify something lazy, hard to say. I just hope that they figure their writing out, because I'd much rather see a great story by these guys than have them pass it off to someone else. I wonder if part of the problem is with the localization, the voice actors Square chooses are frequently terrible, maybe that's indicative of the quality of their translation as well.

South Park, followed by the two episodes of Wolf Among Us I've gone through.

.... Maybe Bot Colony

Probably Dark Souls 2.

Luftrausers and OlliOlli continue the trend of surprisingly great experiences on the Vita.

Infamous and Titanfall are the only two big AAA games I've played that have stuck with me at all.

Hoping to get through Transistor, Wolfenstein, and Watch Dogs before the torrent of fall and winter games come pouring in.

BotColony, Phillips.

It's hard for me to say. I've played a lot of games that I enjoyed for a good while but figuratively ended up leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth. If anything I'd probably say the "game" that I thoroughly had a good time with and only stopped playing because it had run it's course was the Diablo 3 expansion. I'm also tempted to say Wildstar, since it's taken up a lot of my interest for the majority of the year so far, but I've not been very satisfied with a lot of the things that happened around and after launch.

There's also Hearthstone I guess, which technically came out this year, but I've been playing that since fall last year.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails. Both feel amazing, play amazing, sound amazing, DKC also looks amazing and Scram Kitty looks neat but very simple.

Both seem criminally overlooked, the latter more so than the former obviously but espcially on Giant Bomb, past that super depressing Quick Look, nobody gave a flying fuck about Tropical Freeze when it arguably has the soundtrack of the year should warm everyone's heart in all the right places with its challenging platforming, deepened mechanics and awesome level design.

Similarly, I keep bugging staff on Twitter once every few weeks about doing a QL for Scram Kitty since this super unique hardcore platforming/shooter thing plays smooth as butter with a 16bit/Treasure-style dose of throwback amazingness. But nobody cares.

Played some other stuff but none of it holds a candle to these two yet.

Wolfenstein, but still many games on the to-do list.

Dark Souls 2 and Strider is right behind that. To be honest I can't really think of a lot of games I actually played this year that are as memorable as those two. In my mind at least. I played a ton of Titanfall during it's beta and right after it released, but I haven't played it really since a few weeks after it's launch. I went back about a month ago and can say I'll be content if I never played it again.

I really liked South park and need to go back and finish it and Infamous was fun if not a bit short. That's about it though. This year really hasn't been that strong comparatively, but there's certainly been some good games. I'll get around to playing Wolfenstien and Transistor at some point hopefully.

Right now my top 5 is:

1. Infamous Second Son
2. Dark Souls 2
3. Wolfenstein: The New Order
4. The Wolf Among Us
5. South Park: The Stick of Truth

I would imagine once I play Transistor and Shovel Knight this could be a very different list, also (pending some more time spent with it) Divinity: Original Sin is looking like a strong contender. The Forest and Broken Age are honorable mentions.

Dark Souls 2 so far for me, then most definitely followed by Luftrausers. I was soured on The Wolf Among Us when it took so long for second episode to be released, but I might give it another go now that all the episodes are out. I'm still making my way through Divinity, so I won't presumptively laud it just yet.

After E3 though I must admit to looking forward to more of the end if the year releases though.

Probably Transistor, the only other 2014 games I've played were Child of Light and inFamous: Second Son, they were all very good but I'll give it to Transistor for being different/new/original ish.

A lot of people already said The Banner Saga so I'll say Fract OSC. Real great and original experience.