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MormonWarrior

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Best of 2014

MormonWarrior: Best of 2014

This marked the year when I was done with school and had a real grown-up job, so I could of course buy way more games than I actually had time to play satisfactorily. Still, it was fun to have a wide variety of games available, and this year was much better for games than several of the past few years (apart from 2013, I'll admit...). I also built a gaming PC for the first time in my life, filled out my Wii U library, and ended up purchasing a PS4 and Xbox One against what is probably my better judgment. Eh, whatever. Video games!

List items

  • Dark Souls is easily one of my favorite games of all time, and for me Dark Souls II didn't disappoint. It takes some elements of Demon's Souls that were abandoned (some good, some bad) and blends them with Dark Souls and some interesting new ideas and creates a creepy, foreboding and fiercely challenging experience. There's great weapons, awesome boss fights, beautiful and entrancing areas, and a much stronger multiplayer focus in some areas. It doesn't replace the original for me, but it's still my most-played game this year and tops this list handily.

  • I think Mario Kart 8 has dethroned Mario Kart DS as my favorite game in the series. It's just SO. GOSHDARNED. BEAUTIFUL. I always get excited in anticipation for a new Mario Kart game, and after a couple of sort-of lame entries, Nintendo finally hit it out of the park. I love the way it controls, I actually enjoy the various kart/bike options, and the cheap, well-made DLC has extended it a fair bit for me. If only that battle mode wasn't such horrible garbage, this would be the perfect package. I've even enjoyed playing the game online!

  • I've been a huge Smash Bros fan since Melee (always thought the N64 game was sort of lame apart from the concept). Both the 3DS game and the Wii U game are polished, fantastic multiplayer experiences that are just chock full of unlockable content, great characters and levels, and loads of options. They don't disappoint this Smash Bros. fan one bit. I really enjoy what they've done this time around. They just need to get Ice Climbers and Lucas back in there. That is all.

  • The gameplay is much smoother than the first game (which was already great) and the weapons, levels and bosses are all so outlandish. It's maybe not quite as insane at the end as the first game was, but it's still an uproariously good time through and through that had me cackling with delight many, many times.

  • Tropical Freeze delivers a lot more in the way of high-flying thrills than its entertaining (but somewhat underwhelming) predecessor. It doesn't quite reach the imaginative, masterful level of DKC 2 and 3 from the SNES days, but it's still a pretty, well-made and challenging platformer that is just another part of a frankly unbelievably strong year for Nintendo.

  • I truly love the way these colorful Nintendo games look in HD, and Captain Toad is one slick little package. The puzzles are often devious and always fun. It's a good breather between some of the more intense releases this year.

  • I haven't been a fan of the inFamous series at all up to this point. I thought the characters were awful and the mission design/open world was garbage. The idea, though, of having superpowers and going around taking control of various parts of the city is something really appealing overall. Second Son works much better for me with an enthusiastic main character, various special moves that make it so you can move around a lot more quickly and fluidly, and a better design of things to do around Seattle (a great locale, by the way). All this means that I'll probably end up getting 100% in this one. Oh yeah, and it's breathtakingly beautiful. That helps.

  • The combat and navigation are stronger than Batman and Assassin's Creed. I'm way into that. I really enjoy the unique Nemesis system that involves various procedurally generated orcs moving up and down ranks depending on the outcome of fights with them...and it generally seems to use the Lord of the Rings stuff pretty well. I'm into it.

  • Nice, well-made homage to the NES-era Mega Man games with lots of other elements thrown in for good measure. It does the "fake old game" schtick much better than Mega Man 9 or 10 ever did. I don't think it quite hooked me the way it did to other people, but I definitely had a great time with Shovel Knight and would recommend it to anyone that likes classic platformer action.

  • It was surprisingly incredible to revisit Final Fantasy X. I didn't love it back in the day when it first came out, but I really can appreciate what it is now that I've replayed it. The voice acting and script don't hold up so well, but the overall game is pretty darn great and definitely an interesting piece of gaming history to go back to. I'm awfully indifferent about X-2 as always though. It's just too dumb of a gear shift from the tone of X for my tastes.

  • SPECIAL HONORABLE MENTION: Well shut my mouth wide open! I actually think this game is dumb fun. Not a masterpiece or high art by any means, but just dumb mildly tactical fun with loads of unlockable skills and weapons and absurd character moments.
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