2014 was a strange year for videogames. Even with the promise of new consoles, games struggled to find their place among them. Many series faltered in either not living up to their initial promises or just not working correctly. Despite the setbacks some real gems arrived this year including a banner year from Nintendo, the best licensed property game since Batman: Arkham Asylum and several sequels that lived up to their predecessors.

Best games of 2014

	1. Mario Kart 8Mario Kart 8 features some of the best racing I've had in Mario Kart in years. Rather than try and reinvent all its features, MK8 instead focuses on making sure the core gameplay, tracks and music are given a great level of polish. While the new feature anti-gravity is a bit underused in the base game it is given its time to shine in the first dlc pack. The only negative being the reduced battle mode, Mario Kart 8 and its DLC packs still delivered the most fun I've had in a game this year.
	2. South Park: The Stick of TruthIt took years but South Park finally has a game worthy of the tv series. Featuring animation that looks exactly like the show and the full voicework and story from the show runners, South Park succeeds where so many other licensed games have struggled in the past.
	3. Dragon Age: InquisitionNothing stops the Inquisition and Dragon Age is no exception. Connecting Dragon Age 1 and 2 together was no easy feat but Inquisition does a good job of not only that but also telling its own story. Taking several pages from the first Dragon Age game, Inquisition has you crossing the world, building your forces and making decisions that will affect 2 kingdoms. The companions you can recruit are still the highlight, each one coming with an interesting backstory and motivations. Interacting with them is the highlight of the game, although dealing medieval justice from your throne is also kind of fun. If you loved Dragon Age 1 but weren't a fan of 2, don't shy away from Inquisition.
	4. Gods Will Be WatchingTake the most intense choice decision of any recent Telltale game and ramp it up by 100%. Gods Will Be Watching is a series of intense scenarios as you attempt to survive a variety of situations. Unforgiving difficulty, random events that can force a restart and crazy twists highlight a game that asks you to make difficult decisions with limited resources.
	5. Far Cry 4The sequel to my goty 2012, Far Cry 4 is still a fun romp through the war torn country of Kryat. Featuring a very open ended design philosophy (including the easter egg to beat the game in 15 minutes) Far Cry 4 puts the player in control and gives them the tools to do whatever they like.
	6. Wolfenstein: The New OrderIf you would've bet me at the beginning of the year that Wolfenstein would be on my top 10, you'd be much richer right now. Wolfenstein comes through as an excellent first person shooter combined with an overly ambitious story compared to many other fps games on the market today.
	7. Hyrule WarriorsThe Legend of Zelda meets Dynasty Warriors could've gone wrong in so many ways but Omega team manages to pull off a competent mixture of the 2 series. Giant bosses add some variety to the stages and every character controls differently enough forcing you to change your strategy.
	8. Captain Toad: Treasure TrackerCaptain Toad's spin off game is a fun light puzzle platforming game.
	9. TowerFallA crazy competitive couch game Towerfall is easy enough to understand and a blast to play with friends.
	10. Super Smash Bros.While it doesn't have the ambitious story mode of the last Smash Bros game, the core of the Wii U version is just as fun. The return of challenges (both coop and single player) are a mixture of being fun, varied and creativity.
	11. inFamous: Second SonOf all the Sony exclusives this year infamous was the one I was looking forward to the most. It delivered a solid open world game and had some really cool lighting effects.
	12. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIIIThe end to the FF XIII saga, Lightning Returns is borderline good and bad all at the same time. While weighed down with the story of the past 2 games, the gameplay systems are quite fun and different (it helps that it reminds me of Majora's Mask one of the best misunderstood Legend of Zelda games).
	13. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground ZeroesGround Zeroes teases the idea of what the next Metal Gear game will be like and shows a lot of potential but doesn't go far enough to show the true potential of a next gen Metal Gear game.