Pretty straightforward. These are my favorite games that I played this year. I played a lot of EU4 and a couple of other games, but I also didn't struggle to put together this list. So all in all, a good year for video games. Just not for anything else, personal or otherwise.
There was no game I spent more time with this year than HOI4. And I spent a lot of time doing the same things over and over again, but trying to do them a little bit better or a little more neater. Without mods, this game is pretty great. With them, it is without a doubt the most fun I had playing a game all year.
The only Hitman game I ever played was Hitman: Blood Money. And that game is one of my personal favorite games of all time. No game had better writing, more inventive gameplay, a better sense of humor, and more support. This game came out back in March, and it continue to be supported with really good stuff. No part of this game fails, at all.
This game felt completely unnecessary when it was announced. Now I cannot imagine a better or more fitting way to end this series. I like Uncharted 3, because I have a soft spot for those end of series games that know it. That scene at the end of 3 where Nate, Elena, and Sam walk off into the sunset just gets to me. And a lot of this game did that, but did it better. And as someone who enjoys the way that Naughty Dog games play, this game was everything I didn't know I wanted. They never hit a wrong note over there, and this game is no exception.
I haven't gotten into a Battlefield game since Battlefield 2. Which seems really strange when I write it like that. Game numbering is pretty fucked up. The sense of scale is incredible, the visuals are without par, and it all feels incredible. Multiplayer games that last 30-45 minutes should be an instant turn-off for me, but not here.
A strange, dark, and extremely hard game. I enjoyed every second I spent with it, and knew exactly when I was done with it. Certainly not for everyone, and I would have thought not for me. Rogue-likes turn me off like nobody's business. But the feeling of dread and the striking visuals kept me coming back for more.
Part of me wishes I had spent more time with Stellaris. But then again, part of me wishes I liked Stellaris more. Don't get me wrong, I love this game, but it has a lot of the same problems that a ton of Space 4X games have. The difference is I break off from a lot of those games after a few hours, but this one help my attention for a lot longer. I think DLC will improve this game, and I'm excited to play that new content. I wish a lot of games had the creation options that Stellaris does, and it leads to a lot of the fascinating "emergent" storytelling that Paradox games lend themselves to. Unfortunately, HOI4 swallowed up all of the time I would have sunk into this.
A great single-player and a killer multiplayer, what more could you want? I weirdly might prefer the bathos of the Infinite:Warfare campaign, but this one just had some awesome sequences that felt like nothing else all year. And I played a lot more of this multiplayer than Infinite:Warfare. The Bounty Hunt mode felt designed for me: someone whose no slouch at shooters, but who prefers the slower pace of a Battlefield. I didn't play the first Titanfall, but this one was really something.
Just cool, just really cool. Inventive and engaging at a time when most shooters feel weirdly familiar and uninteresting.
I played this game before ever playing Limbo and immediately went back to try Limbo. Inside makes Limbo look like an early first attempt, and Inside feels like they're getting most of the way there. It's still clunky in parts, where you realize the solution to the puzzle and then just need to accomplish it. But the final sequence has to be one of the funniest video game moments I had all year. I was giggling through that entire nonsense.
Nobody told me this was the spiritual sequel to Godfather Part 2. I love Godfather Part 2, warts and all. And hey, this game actually had a really good story and some stellar writing to go along with it.
