Has 2014 been a disappointing year for games?

I remember similar things being said about last year.

Personally, I found 2013 to be a year of highs and lows, while 2014 has been pretty mellow. If there's one disappointment to be had, it's that I haven't really played a game this year that filled the spot Gone Home or Brothers sat in. I've not played an indie game this year that I hadn't heard of a month prior, of which I really enjoyed.

Nah. There's no year that's bad for games in my opinion. Seriously, I even love weird years like this year and 2012. You just need to open your mind to other things. There's a whole world of video games out there.

I would say compared to recent years, yeah, it has been.

Bad year for AAA, some great smaller games though. Transistor, Jazzpunk, Ethan Carter, Shovel Knight, D4, Bravely Default.

Although Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls 2, Smash Bros, Mario Kart and Mordor were all pretty well made. just a lot of dissapointing AAA games next to them.

I thought only AC was not so good this year... everything else was a hit in my view. So a great year for me!

I wouldn't say it was "bad" it was just a really bizzare year. 2015 seems to be the year where the current gen consoles will come into their own.

Personally, I'm not really disappointed, just apathetic. I spent a good chunk of the year not playing anything and only recently I've started to catch up on a few of this year's bigger games. I can count the number of 2014 games I played on one hand, which is way less than last year which I thought was the most solid year of gaming in a long time.

I wonder if the GOTY this year will have a "Best 2015 game of 2014" that lists those anticipated titles of 2014 that slipped into 2015.

I think it has to do with 2013. I felt like that year had a lot of really incredible releases from big publishers and they're easier to list. 2014 was not a bad year, but it definitely doesn't feel that perfect. It may also have to do with all the messed up shit going on with games and its industry this year. And it's the first year of the two big consoles. On the other hand though, Wii U had a really impressive year. 2015 is going to be a lot better though. A lot of huge releases, no matter what scale. From Hotline Miami 2 and Galak-Z over Ori and The Witness to Persona 5 and Metal Gear Solid 5. And that's only scratching the surface.

It wasn't the strongest year, but overall it wasn't terrible. Watch Dogs was my biggest disappointment really. Destiny and AC Unity were disappointments to a degree, but I still thoroughly enjoyed both of those games quite a bit. Dragon Age: Inquisition and Far Cry 4 are both superb games to end out the year and earlier in 2014 I had a lot of fun with Transistor, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and Infamous: Second Son.

No.

Shovel Knight alone kinda makes this the greatest year ever.

Yes, this year hasnt been very good. Its always been like that when new consoles are released. Last gen didn't really kick it into high gear until 2007.

Absolutely not, this year has been fantastic for games, i've been super busy and unable to keep up. It has been pretty bad for AAA games, but it has been full of geat games on other levels. smaller PC releases have never stopped coming, and even some ios releases have really shone this year, like 80 days The AAA stuff that has come out does still have some good ones; dark souls 2 as mentioned, shador of mordow, bayonetta 2, and far cry 4 sound pretty too. but even without those, I wouodn't discount this year as a bad year for games, just because there wasn't much AAA shit that was worth mentioning. A ton of great stuff came out.

The only way I can think that it would be disappointing is if you are the type of crackpot who buys every new game that's release. Based on my "worst of 2014"/"best of 2014" lists I enjoyed this year pretty well.

This year has had some real highs and lows for sure. There were a lot of mediocre games, and highs just don't feel like they have matched the lows. I don't think it's been a bad year, it just as great as others.

Also, it also seems like this was the year of re-releasing games (Sleeping Dogs. The Last of Us, and Halo to name a few).

The quality of games in a year is not necessarily defined by how many obvious Game of the Year picks came out. The way I remember it, there were interesting games coming out each month, and many of them were very good.

Only AAA games had a down year. That may be an indicator of a Trend towards a New Paradigm, or it may just be rotten luck. Big games flop every year.

@slag said:

I'd give it a 3 / 5.

Some good surprises, a lot of crash and burns in the AAA game space, and no real revolutionary games.

It's been pretty rough since 2012, really. Next year should be the big turnaround (or major crash). Either way, it'll be a fun year to be a part of. Plus there's Persona 5. So there's that.

Divinity: Original Sin made it all worth while

2013 even, for me (On PC. Consoles had some good releases) Only memorable experience I'd had was with Black Flag. 2012 was the last of the really satisfying years in terms of games. (ME3, Sleeping dogs, FC3)

Dragon age 3 and witcher 3 should hopefully be looking to change that, though

It has been somewhat, but Shadow of Mordor was a nice surprise and Wolfenstein could have been garbage but turned out rather strong.

Destiny was my major sore point, the gameplay/graphics are SO GOOD and everything else around it is just a pale sad reminder of what it could have been.

300 Million dollars and you get 4-5 cutscenes, no story, no "big moments", its a big mess. Hearing people defend the "story" of Destiny are sad human beings I love Halo and I can be level with people about some of it being kinda dumb but I will listen to no one tell me that Destiny's "story" is worth talking about it any way because there isn't one.

This year was stupid. Video games need a REVOLUTION!

I don't think I would have played stuff like Destiny, Watch Dogs or AC: Unity even if they had come out great. Sims 4 is the only real sore spot for me all year.

I enjoyed

• Dark Souls 2
• Danganronpa 1 & 2
• Counter Spy
• Rogue Legacy (well it's 2013 game)
• Freedom Wars
• Olli Olli

And planning to get Far Cry 4, since I just decided to purchase a current gen console.

But I gotta admit that some of the higher profile games don't live up to the expectations, e.g. Watch Dogs, AC Unity, Destiny, Evil Within. And there seems to be a number of remakes released or announced this year, and delays that further dampen the feeling of 2014.

Well, let's see how 2015 fares.

Depends on your platform. New consoles? Yes, games coming out for them were being developed before the consoles were out, so there's nothing particularly great on them yet. Just look at AC Unity. Blame the new consoles for it being so broken.

People want something new on their new consoles, and that couldn't happen this year, so people are disappointed.

i thought that it was up until the last 3 or 4 months.the last 4 months dragon age,evil within,far cry 4 and borderlands pre sequel came out.then when you add diablo ultimate edition,dark souls 2 and a couple other games you have a great year.looking at past years and looking at this year i realized that all the years are pretty much the same in quality.every year you have 5 to 10 games you are excited for,and half of them usually suck.then you usually have 3 games every year that are great.all this happened this year,and looking back it was like that every year before as well.so no its not disappointing for me,but it could be for others depending on what you like.i mean i think the main difference this year is all the games have mixed reactions.usually there is a pretty good consensus on what games were good that year,this year there are very few games everyone can agree on.so while i like all the games i mentioned earlier,there are alot of people who dont like them.the side you are on will decide what you think about this year.TLDR this year is like the previous years,and it just depends on what you like.

While 2014 hasn't been the best year in recent memory for video games, there were enough good games that have come out to satisfy me. Dark Souls II is probably my GOTY followed closely by DAI. Enjoyed other gamed like Lightning Returns, Bayonetta 2, Evil Within, Shadow of Mordor, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, even Masterchief Coklection and Far Cry 4. In summary not a bad year for gaming at all.

I think it's been a fanatic year personally. Warlords of Draenor, shadow of mordor, bayonetta 2, arguably one of the best call of duty games, divinity, hearthstone, I could pretty easily go on. Sure we've got a lot of flops too but so does every year. Names just change.

The only 2014 games I played this year were Dark Souls 2 and Far Cry 4. I loved both, but there was literally nothing else new I wanted to play. I did discover the souls series this year though, playing and beating 1 and 2 both multiple times, so this has actually been one of my best years of gaming technically.

I might be the outlier here but I've had a great time with AAA games this year and the only indie game I've really enjoyed is GeoWars3 and the Limbo rerelease on Xbox One. But yeah been a good year for me

Nope because South Park

There was a solid handful of great releases this year, but like any first year with new consoles, it's been a slow one for big releases.

Nothing to worry about. Next year will probably be pretty good.

I'd certainly count Hearthstone as revolutionary for lierally reinventing the computer TCG genre. Shadow of Mordor's nemesis system will become a given and a staple in future AC/Batman-likes - or at least it should because it fits so well in the genre.

I haven't played much new stuff this year so I can't really tell beyond that.

Yes and no. I suspect I'll be playing the best games of this year for the rest of the generation, at least. Towerfall Ascension, Mario Kart 8, Smash, etc. Awesome stuff. And then also great horror like Alien and P.T., some good shooters like Far Cry and Wolfenstein, and a distinctly rad iOS lineup in Threes, Desert Golfing, Monument Valley, 80 Days, and The Sailor's Dream? Incredible. Playing all of those other than Alien and Wolfenstein makes up for missing great games like Mordor, Dragon Age, and Persona Q. RPGs alone have a super standout lineup when you add in stuff like South Park, Divinity, Bravely Default, Wasteland 2, and The Banner Saga.

But does it compare with 2012, which gave me at least four or five of my favorite games ever made? Absolutely not, and that's I guess disappointing. I suspect 2007 and 2010 are "more" that reaction for other people, but when you love Fez and Mass Effect 3 as much as I did, it's easy. All the same, it's not LIKELY to be one of "those" years, but I think there were still a really huge number of great games.

And, of course, then there are the games which should have been great that were actually bad. And, like, barring Destiny, a few of those were actually VERY bad.

@imsh_pl: Okay, I might give ya Hearthstone.

There have been plenty of good and popular TCG online before (M:tG is still making a killing), but probably none have had this level of mainstream success. I guess it depends on whether you're the type to consider World of Warcraft revolutionary, or just a really damn good version of what came before, which is kind of Blizzard's thing.

I don't know about the Nemesis system. Time is really going to tell on that one. As a betting man, I wouldn't put money on it.

@viking_funeral: The problem I have with MtGO is that is completely unaccessible to anyone who doesn't have MtG as their lifestyle. It's impossible to have a free deck that wins more than 10% of the games in the low skill level games. Plus the interface is just horrendous and I think the least accessible I've see in a video game.

What I love about Hearthstone is that it is completely viable as a free version. The deck building is simply slower, but even if you pay to get cards, there's no guarantee to get what you want. And skilled players can very easily farm gold in the arena. I haven't paid a single penny and have pretty much gotten every daily quest since the open beta (minus vacation time). The decision to actually not have trading cards turned out to be spot on since I reckon the game would just be a pay-to-win nightmare with people creating new emails just to have new accounts and get more packs. That plus some incredibly good design decision such as having maximum 2 copies of a card (increasing variety) and putting simplicity as their number one goal (with magic the just introduce 10 different abilities every couple of months).

The second point: you're right, the nemesis system might not become a staple. But I think it's revolutionary how well it fits into the genre. As opposed to all others quirks like handling assassination missions, this mechanic is not taken from a different genre, and would not fit in a different genre. It also indtoruces an additional layer into the game and kind of breaks the fourth wall since the in-game has actual consequences (other than respawn at checkpoint and lose money) and your opponents have awareness of your death.

@viking_funeral: I didn't even mention Hearthstone but it's the first Blizzard game I've played for more than six hours since The Frozen Throne.

I think this year was overall pretty good but they're were a few games that were bad.

2014 forced me back into my Steam library, and my last gen consoles a bit. Best thing that could happen to me were some old classics, and 'new' absolute gems like Torchlight 2. Sometimes it takes a little negativity for me to get over my own, and actually try something. The MGS HD collection has carried me nicely on the PS3, and MGS 4 is lined up. Shadow Complex and the Gears games on the Xbox 360. But the games I did play of this year were pretty good too.

I kept entertained.

Yeah, this has been a very bad year for AAA games. Personally, I absolutely LOVE the stuff that's been coming out on PS Plus for PS4. I also really liked Dark Souls 2.

I'm actually kinda bummed because, reading into the atmosphere on the bombcast it sounds like none of the games I liked will get on the list this year and they'll spend hours arguing over a bunch of mediocre games to put on the list.

The pleasant surprises have far outnumbered the soul-crushing disappointments.

I think last year was kinda disappointing. It had some cool indie titles, and BioShock was alright. GTA was much better than I would give it credit for last year, but it took the PS4 version for me to realize that.

This year you saw some good stuff on the new consoles, like Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age. There's a ton of good indie stuff too. There were a few too many "remastered" games, but at least it allowed me to play The Last Of Us, which I didn't have a chance to play last year. And while it looks like Xbox had some growing pains, it's had some first party gems. Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive, and more. The only notable Sony game I can recall is Infamous.

And that's just the new consoles. Dark Souls 2, which is probably my game of the year, didn't even make it to new consoles. South Park was also a lot of fun, if a little short. However, most of the big games for older consoles came out before summer, and since summer began, it's mostly been downgraded ps4 and Xbox one games.

No , but I guess I could see if one might feel that way ..

I've definitely noticed I don't really have a standout game of the year for the first time in a while - I liked a lot of the games that came out but besides Smash and Mario Kart nothing has really stood out that much. I haven't played Mordor or FC4 or anything though, I've kind of stayed away from AAA multiplats this year.

Dynasty Warriors 8 came out on PC this year, the fact that i picked that kind of says something.
Other than that Trials Fusion was good, Shovel Knight was ok.... what else... Farming Simulator 15.

I've been going through my backlog of unplayed Steam games this year so i've had plenty to do, but this year has been kind of a dud.

Lots of good to me Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2, Smash and Mario Kart 8 alone is enough to make a great year for me.

Spent 50+ hours on each.

2014 was one of the best years I can remember. Not really any greatest game of all time games but a ton of great games.

Overall no, but certain its decent amount of quantity over quality releases this year, and mainly the latter half makes it seem as if its been worse than it actually has I feel.