Another year, another group of video games that I played through. Honestly, I spent so much more time playing not from 2014 than I did from this year. It was an inconsistent, yet fun year that produced plenty of quality games. Unfortunately I can only name 10 games for this list, but I did the best I could do.
A game that came out of nowhere and blew me away. Great writing, the visuals are top notch, and good enough combat to keep me engaged throughout. A hilarious romp through such a wonderfully realized world makes this my favorite game of 2014.
A pretty much perfect character action game with an unreal scope and perfect controls. I went through this game several times and never got tired of the action sequences and loved messing around with different weapon combinations. It reaches the perfect level of balance in its combat and the emphasis on dodging and witch time make every battle as thrilling as the next one. Also, jaw-dropping visuals and brilliant enemy design stand out to help make this one of the best of its genre in recent memory.
Perfect jokes. Perfect visual style. Perfect characters. And Cake Wars.
It doesn't have the boss fights or the hardcore Ready To Die glossiness of Dark Souls 1. It doesn't have the Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)-esque rawness or level design of Demon's Souls. However, Dark Souls II is still a really impressive game mechanically. It also does enough things right with its world (the end game content is fantastic) that I was interested in playing through it a few times. Also, I had never had more fun with multiplayer in the Souls games until this one. There was so much fun to be had with summoning and invading people (the covenents are a neat idea though I didn't always love how they were implemented). Essentially it is the In My Lifetime, Vol.1 of the Souls series.
This game takes an uneasy subject matter and creates an experience filled with respect for its source material. The tone can be all over the place, but the characters and their stories are still wonderfully endearing and the final moments have such a powerful impact that I still feel to this day.
It's more Far Cry 3. It's almost as awesome as Far Cry 3 so it has to be on this list.
I tolerated, but didn't love the limitations of the combat or the tactical view. What stood out for me with DAI are the fantastic characters and interesting worlds that I loved to explore. This felt like a great introduction in the to the Dragon Age universe.
I love and hate this game. It is brutally punishing and unforgiving in many circumstances. The attempts at certain Resident Evil 5-esque action sequences fall flat and can be extremely frustrating. However, this game has more than its fair share of thrilling moments and amazing atmosphere. The enemy design is disturbingly on point throughout and the extremely letterboxing made everything feel so wonderfully claustraphobic to me. It's inconsistent in quality and pace, but it's so inconsistent at being inconsistent that I can't help but love the impact it left on me.
A surprisingly well made shooter with a lot more heart and interesting characters that I didn't expect to find so endearing. It may have frustrating bullet-sponge moments and doesn't always give its characters enough time to flesh out, but what is there is one of the more fascinating games of the year. Plus you can dual wield sniper rifles!
A near perfect platformer with enough, but not too much, nostalgia-driven awesomeness.It had just enough quality in its platforming elements to beat out Titanfall, Shadow Of Mordor, and Roundabout for my final spot on this list.
