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What has the world come to? My favourite games this year where a stupid anime “visual novel”, a turn based rpg and now a card game. I hate these genres. With Danganronpa and South Park, their wonderful writing and fun twists on the usual tropes made me love them but with Hearthstone? I think Blizzard may have just created the perfect mix of simple mechanics, low barrier of entry, ridiculous fun, and strategic depth. I’ll try anything if it’s free, and Hearthstone hooked me from the moment I discovered the thrill of opening a card pack and seeing that satisfying animation as the pack explodes into potential fun stuff. It wasn’t long before I was on the reddit, reading patch notes, studying pros, learning the mechanics of every deck in the metagame. To be honest, I’ve probably spent more hours watching tournaments and streams of Hearthstone then I have playing any other game this year. This wasn’t just a silly card game, this was a huge part of my year in every way, and I’ve loved every minute of my time in the innkeepers lounge. Except playing against Zoolock, because fuck that noise.
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Describing Danganronpa, I think it’s best to avoid talking about how it’s a Japanese visual novel in an anime style with a talking robotic bear who wants to kill teenagers. Instead I like to focus on what makes it so truly amazing. It takes the Agatha Christie “And Then there were none” format and completely subverts your expectations. Each chapter is a new surprise, one with the sort of quality mystery writing you would never expect form this sort of thing. Each case in woven together with an overarching narrative that constantly keeps you guessing and compelled to play on. The game creates 14 of the most memorable characters in anything I’ve experienced this year. It’s funny, heart-breaking and always phenomenal. I love this game, and any other year this would be my number one. Super High school level video game, indeed.
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I’ve never been the biggest South park fan but I’ve always admired Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s ability to satirize everything and everyone. So when I heard that they were turning their comedic talent towards video games, I was cautiously optimistic, but I had no Idea how smart and funny this would turn out to be. For a show that has been so hit and miss, it’s amazing that nearly everything in The Stick of Truth works. From the nazification of every enemy right down to the Skyrim fart humour, every joke is delivered with a self-seriousness that had me laughing like a maniac to myself consistently. That’s not to mention the ridiculously fun combat system and open world that Obsidian created that complimented South Park’s style and humour without making any compromises. And hey, any game that has abortion QTE’s is a game I can get behind.
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While I may have soured on this sequel since launch, I still have to admit that nothing compares to the first playthrough of a Souls game. There’s the dread that you feel at every new intersection, the frustration of learning through failure, and the triumph of beating the odds. You always have to be alert and ready for anything, because as soon as your guard slips, it’s all over. There’s a satisfaction, a sense of achievement every time you make a tiny bit of progress in this world that feels as if it was made to make you suffer. Sure, both its precursors are better games. Sure, it doesn't play as well, or have as many memorable moments of surprise or success. But that still doesn't diminish the fact that I had more fun tackling the wealth of areas and enemies this game has to offer than I did in most other games this year.
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Most sequels try to be bigger and better than the original, but rarely does one go as off the rails as Danganronpa 2 does. It doesn’t try to match the controlled, succinct perfection of the first game’s narrative, instead going for pure insanity. It’s a heavily flawed game, with some broken gameplay systems and irritating quirks, but none of this matters because the things you’re going to remember are the great characters, brilliant mysteries and most of all, the twists. Holy shit, the twists. The last few hours of this game are like the 6th sense multiplied by infinity and a half, and the goofy grin on my face was more than worth putting up with some annoying problems.
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I’m always disappointed by the lack of funny videogames. I mainly watch dumb sitcoms and comedies so it sucks that I can’t get decent laughs in what is probably my favourite medium. Luckily this year has been a bit of an outlier because Octodad is hilarious. It takes an absurd premise and fully commits, with even basic movement providing comedic brilliance. Maybe its best feature is its wholesome, family friendly tone that creates that rare warm fuzzy feeling inside. Octodad is simply joyful, a real treat.
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Binding of Isaac exemplifies that “just one more run” mentality, as I stay up until the early hours of the morning trying to top my previous run. It’s infuriatingly addictive, and it boasts just right amount of depth and simplicity to make it something I’ll probably still be playing this time next year. I don’t really have much to say about this, It’s just a really good game.
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This was a complete surprise for me. If it hadn’t been for Ps Plus, I would have completely missed it. The simple hack-and-slash sword play combined with the tight platforming made this game really enjoyable, nothing more, nothing less. It’s not an incredibly deep or long lasting experience, but it’s a fun little action game with some nice visuals and some neat ideas.
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If I had have had more time with this game then I’m sure it would have climbed higher up my list, but as it stands, I’m really impressed by the changes that have come with Advanced Warfare. Sledgehammer manage to innovate on the existing formula with essentially a double jump and a side dash, but man it’s made a huge difference on the way Call of Duty plays. In the campaign, it’s led to new types of level design incorporating more verticality and player choice, while the multiplayer has become even faster and more adrenaline filled. It also has virtual Kevin Spacey so 10/10
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Trials Fusion is more Trials, and I really like the franchise. The core gameplay of face paced platforming/racing is still supremely satisfying, even as it enters its third incarnation. I liked Fusion’s new visual style, and its menu theme is rad, but I honestly don’t even think this is a great sequel to Evolutions, but hey, it’s more Trials. If this year had of had better games, rest assured, this game would not be on my list. This might not be the right year for a song singing “WELCOME TO THE FUTURE”.
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