Man 2014 was a great year for me, I had a blast playing games this year. I wrote this not realizing that there was a theme. Most of the games I played this year were special to me because of the people I played with, something that is new to me due to the fact that I am primarily a solo gamer. I want waste anymore time. I know the suspense is killing you. Enjoy!
I wrote twenty different opening sentences, trying to best explain my general thoughts on Dark Souls 2 and all I came up with is, “Dark Souls 2 is not a perfect game, it has its flaws”. That however doesn’t afford me the right to ignore just how much fun I had with this game this year. Regardless of its flaws, I spent over 200 hours so far(not done yet) exploring every corner of this world, discovering every secret, remembering every boss tell, weapon location, and enemy placement. I know to roll into the sword hand of “The Pursuer” to avoid most attacks. I know that in order to defeat the Ancient Dragon you have to strip down to your undies and turn your back to him when he engulfs the his perch with fire(ring required, also praise the sun). Never forget that when all else fails 100 perfectly placed butt pokes will bring almost any boss down if you learn to dodge roll properly. It is easy to become reductive if you want to criticize the game, and for the most part I agree with every criticism I hear. To ignore those criticisms is just allowing yourself to be another mindless fanboy(which I may be). With that being said my answer for most criticisms is “Thats why I love it.” To finish up my thoughts, over the past month I had convinced my best bud to start playing and we have been playing though most of it COOP(not an easy thing to do). That experience cemented DS2 as my GOTY. I love being a coach and partner as we demolish Drangleic together...PRAISE THE SUN!
I’m going to just flat out say it, I wanted to hate Hearthstone. I was ready to troll on it and ignore it completely. Don’t get me wrong after reading the rest of my list it will become apparent to you, I’m kinda a blizzard fanboy. I love the warcraft universe, its super interesting to me. For some reason I have wasted space in my brain remembering WOW lore as stupid as it is. Now to flip the script a little, and here is the problem, I LOVED Magic: The Gathering. Key word being “ “LOVED”. My wife and I played countless games of Magic together and I lost more than I will admit here. When I saw Hearthstone all I could think of was the original WoW:TCG that to me was less than impressive. It was in no way as complex and interesting as Magic. All I could think was “huh, what another waste, why don’t they give up this Card Game.” I assumed hearthstone would be just a digital version of that game. Oh man was I wrong, they completely built this game from the ground up for the interface in which you interact, its interesting and utilizes the fact that the game is played digitally. This allows mechanics not possible within a physical format. Sure there aren’t that many cards yet, and sure the meta kinda gets stagnant from time to time, but with its popularity and the way they are supporting it with quick content(first two content updates happen within the first year) all of that will be ironed out in time.
Final thoughts: After me and my wife got addicted to this we sold our Magic cards. Don’t need them any more, we have two kids and those cards take up space. We’ve sunk hours into Hearthstone and I plan to spend many more hours therein...JOBS DONE!
This game was almost numero uno. Shovel Knight breathes in my childhood and exhales Nostalgia. I had a smile across my face the entire time I played. I bee-bopped and rocked out to its classic 8bit-ish soundtrack. I exclaimed a ridiculous “Whhaaaaaaatt?” when I saw it had a Mario 3 like over world. I constantly aggravated my wife every time it reminded me of another game. “MEGAMAN HONEY THIS GAME IS PRACTICALLY MEGAMAN!” She would roll her eyes, and I would grab another bowl of cereal. I have literally played through this game in my PJ’s with a bowl of cereal in my lap. My wife just recently had to talk me down from buying it again on my 3DS. I still might do it. If you have any love for NES games at all, it is a must play, the only reason it is not higher on my list was the fact that it was too short and easier than I would have wanted, I’m excited to see Shovel Knight 2...DIG IT!
“We will never be slaves!” -Grommash Hellscream. Well you lied Grom, you lied right to my stupid face I became a slave again. I thought I had finally kicked the habit. I was clean for so many years. Then you said it, “We will never be slaves!”...I immediately re-subscribed, boosted a new class to 90, and jump right back in. I fell in love with wow all over again and this was before the expansion came out. Then release day, I could not believe that this was the same game, blizzard did exactly what a story nerd wanted. They focused on and improve how they presented the story.The cutscenes were amazing and for the first time in the games existence my character felt special. It really felt like I was the hero for once, not another all be it awesome NPC. Thrall….FREAKIN THRALL...was calling me commander, My only wish was that, those same things I loved while leveling through Draenor were present in the endgame...Lok’Tar Ogar!
I think sometimes the fun you have with a game doesn’t have to stem from the game itself, but from the people you play it with. I had an absolute blast this year getting my butt stomp my wife in Mario Kart over and over. Sometimes a shoulder punch after a successful green shell at the finish line win is a better reward than anything the game could unlock. Me and my wife laughed til we almost cried playing through this game together. Curse words were let out in anguish, threats on my life were made, and I’m pretty sure divorce was mentioned at least once (JK :P). She would laugh in my face every time I would get hit by a blue shell, allowing her to then finish first. Those moments we spent side by side on the bed playing together were the most fun I had in a game this year and that was due to her, not the game. The game was only a catalyst for the larger game of smack talk we played...Its a me, Mario!
I think is universally believed that this was what the original game should have been in the first place. I wholeheartedly agree. The story is dumb and the gameplay can be mindless if you let it but man its so much fun getting that loot. I loved playing through Diablo as a monk and adventure mode is loads of fun...Stay a While and Listen!
Exactly the game play I wanted with lots of pokemon to collect. It looks beautiful and I had a blast with it. My only complaint was that nintendo pads that game with way too many extra side distractions that I want nothing to do with. I don’t want to make my pokemon look cute and take pictures of them, I’m a grown man for god sakes...Gotta catch em all!
I didn’t think they made games like this anymore. I thought the days of a point and click, fully realized world, with well written/funny dialogue, that is also FULLY COOP-ABLE. Died with Neverwinter. I wish I played more of it, and I plan on getting back to it. My biggest complaint was having to restart once I started getting other followers who were the same archetype as me, but hey that happens...Click Click I’m dead!
This simple but hard to master Indie game killed a bunch of hours this year for me while I waited for my wife to get ready to go out. Fast paced gameplay is the most reductive thing I can say. I loved how you had tons of plane parts to choose from and each combinations felt wildly different from the previous. Its well worth the price tag...NEIN!
Another game me and my wife played over and over. We would laugh every time we threw a sword and then somehow get hit by it a screen over. Nidhog will bring out the competitive side in anyone. Don’t let the simple graphics fool you, the combat it more complex than you would think...En’garde!
Ill post this here! :P
~~Games Im sad I missed~~
Bravely Default
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Dragon Age Inquisition
Super Smash Bros 3DS/WIIU
Southpark Stick of truth
~~Honorable Mentions~~
Threes, Crossy Road
~~First Time Played this year and loved.~~
Dark Souls 1- I could write pages on this game but this game didn’t come out this year and this is not the place for it, it has become my all time favorite game.
The Legend of Zelda: A link between worlds- Everything I wanted and more from the sequal to my previous all time favorite “The Legend of Zelda: A link to the past”.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf- Me and my wife are having fun goofing off in here.
