by fakekisser
Okay. Yeah, this took me way too long to get together. However, it is because I had a second kid last December, and the last four months have been a "whirlwind."
So, I'm just now getting to this, but I still enjoy doing these lists, so I'm doing it anyway! :D
One new thing for me this year is that any game I played last year is eligible...not just games released last year. Others have done this, and I like the idea, because I don't get to play a lot of games, and there are still literally hundreds of games on my backlog I want to give attention to.
So, without further ado...
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
I did not expect The New Order to be my game of the year. I didn't follow the development much, I didn't pre-order it, and I only bought it once it went on sale during the Steam Summer Sale. However, I loved the story. I really thought there was a great mix of serious, mature themes that were handled with reverence and the sense of humor that wasn't too heavy-handed but was just enough tongue-in-cheek for me. Also, as someone who really likes stealth games, I loved the stealth gameplay of The New Order. It was fluid and very fun to sneak around and switch to guns blazing once I was eventually found out...where I would normally reload in other stealth games...
As many have said before, The Stick of Truth did everything it needed to in order to be a believable South Park episode (series). The visuals were perfect, the gameplay was interesting enough to be engaging the whole way through, and the writing was funny and spot-on to the show. I would love to see another game, if they get the opportunity.
Device 6 really surprised me. I played Year Walk and liked it but wasn't that taken with it - probably because I'm not a horror fan. Device 6 had the perfect atmosphere and story hooks, though. I wasn't hooked the first hour, but I stuck with it and loved where the game took me, all the way to the ending.
SteamWorld Dig was an addiction for me. I loved playing it. I loved the loop. I wouldn't have wanted it to be longer, but I do want a sequel. :)
A lot of people didn't like Origins, and I understand why, but I liked it more than Arkham City. Asylum was great, because I thought the tighter locations worked better. However, Origins did the open-world better than City, in my opinion, and I had a lot of fun with the combat...again.
I loved so much about Shadow of Mordor. The story was not great, the ending was bad (including the last boss fight), and I personally had anxiety about facing most of the orc leaders...even when I was strong enough to pretty much tear them apart. However, I had a lot of fun with the stealth and getting stronger, and, like many people, I thought the nemesis system was done very well. I hope that is "copied" in some other games with settings I am into a little more. I love the Tolkien universe, but the orcs were done so well in Shadow of Mordor that they literally grossed me out (again, I'm not a horror fan, if that helps explain at all).
I liked Uncharted 3 better than any of the other Uncharted games. I got very frustrated with the combat, especially in a couple of tough places, but I did enjoy the set-pieces and story. It is definitely a "ride," and I am glad I finally got to experience it.
I really thought Far Cry 4 would be my Game of the Year. However, I think it is just too much of the same, compared to 3. I loved Far Cry 3, and I was stoked for 4, but I just got tired with it, only a few hours in. Maybe it just wasn't the right time for me to play a game like this, which is too bad. It's still a good game, though, and I think it is very well done.
I thought Costume Quest (1) was a brilliant idea, and I loved the atmosphere. However, I hated the combat. CQ 2 improves on the combat just enough that I didn't hate it, and I thought the story and level design was so much better. I had a blast, and I really think CQ 3 could be phenomenal if the team makes as much of an improvement over 2 as 2 was over 1!
When I built my new PC, I finally decided to install the copy of Crysis I've had for years (not since release but 3-4 years). There was a lot about the game I didn't like. The story wasn't engaging, and I felt that there sometimes wasn't enough to keep me interested in crawling through the jungle hour after hour. However, I liked a lot of what it was doing. I thought Warhead offered a more cohesive experience, but I still liked the first game better. I hope Crysis 2 combined the things I liked most about Crysis (1) and Warhead, as I'll probably play 2 this year.
