List items
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If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that a
collection of minigames would take my Number 1 spot, I would not have
believed you. But this collection, and particularly Johann Sebastian
Joust, has brought endless laughs even to my friends who don't
normally play games. Of all the games I played this year, only
Sportfriends is guaranteed to provide many more hours of fun in 2015.
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I didn't like Halo. I didn't even really like Halo's seemingly
unassailable score. But something about the moody minimalist sci-fi
atmosphere in both sound design and narrative hooked me. I cannot stop
playing Destiny. It is currently paused as I write this list.
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A genuinely funny first-person adventure is an irresistible prospect
to me, and this was a particularly lovely one. This year really showed
that two developers on the Unity engine can potentially obliterate 200
on the Frostbyte Engine, and it's a heartening trend.
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Dragon Age has always been a fascinating series, from its ominous take
on magic to its refreshingly liberal perspective on sexuality. Gauging
morality in a nebulous way without the painfully simple Good and Evil
meters from the studio's other titles helps to make it the best RPG of
2014.
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Though released in 2013, I can't help but include Cara's game on my
list as it continues to haunt me more than a year later. It's a dating
sim about one-night stands and the rest is better left unexplained. It
is wonderfully devastating.
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It's probably saying quite a bit that I am not just tolerating, but enjoying an MMO requiring subscription in 2014. However, the wonderfully-deep class system and plentiful endgame content in a beautiful world makes this a lock for the Top 10.
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A few very large updates later, and suddenly Driveclub is a phenomenal game. The weather effects enhance what is already an astonishingly beautiful game. Caught somewhere between sim and arcade, the controls are ideally suited to my play style. It really is a shame no one is casting even the slightest sympathetic eye in Driveclub's direction, because it is slowly becoming the masterpiece one expects from Evolution.
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It took me a long while to put aside my feelings about the politics surrounding Fez and just attempt to experience the game for what it was in isolation. What I found was a clever puzzle-platformer with an undeniably charming aesthetic. The fact that Fez still stands apart from the many titles that share its sensibilities since its 2012 release is a testament to its quality.
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TowerFall has been livening up parties with gamer and non-gamer friends alike all year, and the only thing I don't know for sure is which group screams louder at every close call and miraculous comeback. I can't wait to play TowerFall again, and the co-op modes introduced in Ascension provide a welcome break from PvP just long enough to miss it all over.
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Better left undescribed, and honestly I'm sure I haven't seen even close to all of this wonderfully imaginative game.
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