Phew! What a year this has been. I've had so many changes in my life; both personally and professionally. From me leaving a career of nearly 18 years so that I may try new things I, hopefully, love. All the way to getting my health back in order, I feel I am finally on track to get my life back to a place where I've been trying to get it for many years.
None of that really matters here. This is, after all, about that vidja game habit we all hold so reverently.
2014 sure as shit was a weird year for games. Everyone last year was saying, as the new consoles were launching "Don't worry. All the stuff will be coming out in 2014. It'll make everyone want to buy a PS4 or XBOX One.". Well, I certainly disagree with that entirely (With the exception of Wii U). This year was riddled with games that disappointed me so much, I wanted to bust a baseball bat over my head and cause me to reevaluate my life. I did buy a PS4 this year, but only because I thought I would have a blast playing games like Destiny, Knack and Final Fantasy XIV with my family. While that was true in the broad sense, when you break down the individual parts of the reason I bought the system, it all falls apart. Destiny was a fucking mess. A pure, unfettered mess. It's not that I hate the game. In fact, I've put 25 hours into it, and plan to keep going. But, it is unequivocally, the most disappointing game this year. The game that was going to make me fall in love with that genre again the way Halo 2, and Goldeneye did again. Nope. Sorry, Destiny but you have a long way to go. Hopefully I can love you down the road, but for now, you are like that stalking girlfriend that won't stop stalking me.
Transistor is another game that made me so angry. I was so hyped after Bastion, but man... that fucking game is nowhere near what I thought it would be. I can say fuck that game and not be remorseful. FUCK THAT GAME.
With those said, I did love a lot about the games of 2014, and, as you'll see momentarily, it left me with some games that are probably going to be some of my favorites ever. I just can't believe how busted, and on fire this industry was this year. Ubisoft is like Leonardo DiCapprico's character in "What's eating Gilbert Grape?". Halo was broken??? Are you fucking with me?? Call of Duty was actually good this year? GamerGate... seriously, people? Did I get transported into some fucked up, Looney Tunes type world? I'm so confused. But I digress.
Here are my top 10 games of 2014. I would give some honorable mentions, but fuck that shit. If I'm going for blood, I'm doing it right.
10: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Morodor
This is a great game. I'm not going to deny that in the slightest. I know Giant Bomb voted it as their Game of the Year. Although I strongly disagree, I can not not deny that the game is fantastic. The game has a fantastic nemesis system, the orcs looks absolutely amazing, and the combat is fantastic and just plain awesome. However, here's where the game starts to break down for me. The game is just muddy to look at. Yes, I know that the game gets more colorful later in the game, but it just looks so bland and gross to look at for the first 5 hours. I know that can be attributed to the world of The Lord of the Rings, and its bleakness look in the home of Sauron. I just feel that the game could have been done much better with visual attire, and given it more than a mud look. I can't describe it, but I remember The Lord of the Rings having a much more realized world; even in the areas that were the bleakest. Also, I can not, with any good faith say this game has better combat and movement than Batman: Arkham Asyulm. It just doesn't. Period. Arkham Asylum is just one of the tightest, best controlling, well made games I have played in years. With that said, I can not possibly reward this for being a game that is of less sum than a game I enjoyed more 5 years ago. With all that said, I think it is a fantastic, amazing game, with a great nemesis system. It is a strong number 10.
9: The Walking Dead: Season 2
Yes. I know that Season 1 is just plain better than Season 2, by a long shot. However, the highs in Season 2 are just too impossible to ignore. The villain that was introduced midway through was just awesome, and his character had an amazing, brutal closure. I also love the way Clementine has evolved into such an amazing character. She's young, but her innocence is absolutely lost. She is tough after everything she has gone through. It's as if we are seeing someone grow in this apocalyptic world through our eyes, and that doesn't happen too often (Except for Ellie in The Last of Us). I know there are multiple endings, but the ending where Clementine shoots Kenny took my breath away. It left me so speechless. It made me realize that Clementine has finally realized she must do anything she can to make sure she survives against all adversity. I know the game has faults. The beginning is slow as hell (Although I do love how Omar is killed off in the first 10 minutes), the penultimate episode left my head scratching, but man, the ending... it is something to behold. The game play is still ass balls, but even with all the holes it has, when it is at its best, it punches harder than most games I played this year.
8: Valiant Hearts
Such a fantastic concept. Instead of slaughtering people by the hundreds, you are introduced to a group of characters who are personally afflicted by the events of World War I. It is a powerful tale. The first 60% is kind of hokey, but it builds, and builds to the point where I had to see it through. My favorite character is easily the dog, Walt. He has such a charm that helps cast light in this tragic tale. He is so loyal, so loving, and you kind of feel like you are watching the events unfold before your very eyes through his vantage point. The game has some silly puzzles, yes, but they do not hinder the game in the slightest. The animation actually helps convey the emotion of the characters and the world than a game done in another art style would. The ending... I can't go without talking about the ending. When Emile does what is obviously the right thing to do, and not see his fellow soldiers be sent to the slaughter, and is sentenced to death because of it, already had me in knots. What followed next with him writing his final letter to his daughter, and his feelings about war, and all the heart felt stuff was sad enough; the fact that I had to walk him to his execution while listening to that letter nearly brought me to teas for the first time in so many years. The ending alone makes the game an amazing experience.
7: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
By the time Thanksgiving was here, I had pretty much had my top 10 almost complete. Then, all of a sudden, out of NOWHERE came Captain Toad. A game I knew was going to be good. I did not, however expect it to be this god damn fantastic. It left me cackling in pure enjoyment. The puzzles are so simple to play, but so difficult to master. It has a colorful look (Even if it is torn from the levels in Super Mario 3D world). Nintendo is the absolute best at bringing their colorful universes to life and look just better than most things you will play.. Period. The soundtrack is so damn good. I love Toad as a character, and that he finally gets his chance to shine in his own game! There is nothing I don't like about this game. To those who say it's too short, I say fuck off. You are literally playing the game wrong. If you miss the optional diamonds, the golden mushrooms, the challenges of every level, and the speed run goals, you are missing over 50% of the game. The game is chock full of shit that I have enjoyed for over 15 hours, and I still have the bonus book to play. Man. What a game.
6: Super Smash Bros.
If I had to pick one, it would have to be the Wii U version. The game is just the ultimate Nintendo fan service. More so than any other game i've ever played in my life, have I seen such fan service in one single package. Some would argue that The Master Chief collection is the biggest package in a game. I say eat shit and die. Smash Bros. for Wii U is everything Nintendo has ever had in their gaming existence thrown together in one package of pure joy. The fighting is great, but I know that it's take it or leave it. You can button mash. You can learn block dashing. You can play pro. You can play insane. It's all up to you. There are EIGHT GOD DAMN different controller options to use! That is absolutely insane!! There are so many things you can do, variations of matches, a perfect online play (Yes, Nintendo did online well!), and 49 characters. What more can I say about this? 8 player Smash is just one of the best things in the history of history. The thousands of collectible achievements? The 80 billion game modes? The soundtrack of over 100 games in the universe? Fuck. I can go for hours. It's just phenomenal. The ONLY gripe I have of it is the explanation of DLC being hard to implement into the game. I call pure bullshit on that. I sincerely hope that Sakurai is sincere in saying that he isn't doing another Smash Bros. This game is just so nearly perfect that it will easily last me for the next 10 - 15 years, and I will still be unlocking stuff. It is the one game on this list I can say I will play well into my mid-life years.
5: Far Cry 4
I came out of E3 in June thinking this game was a shoe-in to be my game of the year. I have nothing but the utmost reverence for Far Cry 3. The game looked phenomenal. Once it came out, I was in love. I remembered how well I loved shooting in 3. The new systems in place were fantastic. The first vehicle takedown made me literally say "Holy Shit" at my TV. The world was so big, and full of so much stuff that it was almost overwhelming. I loved everything about it. Pagan Min is probably one of the best villains i've seen in years. He just made me laugh so much at the things he would say and do. Plus, that ending at the beginning of the game is just amazing. The story was good with the Golden Path. The story choices were obvious to me. I chose with Amita all the time because I felt Sabal was too old fashioned and wanted to go back to ways I viewed were just not inline with the way the world was actually working around them. I loved the crafting system, the amount of collectibles. I could go on for days, but I can't because I stopped playing 40 hours in. Why? Because the game broke my heart. During the last mission of act 2, you are betrayed by a main character, and the scene cuts to black. My game crashed during this time. Once I loaded it back up, I was inside the Ghale Homestead, and I could not, no matter where I went, progress the story. I looked up online that I was supposed to be in a prison. I contacted Ubisoft support. They asked me to send them my save file so they could fix the bug. Then, after not hearing from them in 4 days, I went online and found out that they had closed my case, basically fucking me out of all the hours I put into this game world that I love. The game broke my heart. Correction! The developer broke my heart. I wanted to spend dozens of more hours in this world, and now I can not without starting over completely. I may very well someday go back to it because it is so amazing, but I can't help but be sour at Ubisoft. I know they have had a horrible year with terrible, and busted games, but the ONE game they make that is fantastic had one issue that killed it for me. This would be higher on my list... MUCH HIGHER if it had not broke my heart.
4: South Park: The Stick of Truth
I have been watching South Park since 1998. I have watched all of the episodes, and watch the new ones the day that they air. They are still amazing, and hilarious. It's great that in lieu of The Simpsons not being funny in over 15 years, South Park continues to pounce it in every single way. When I first put the game in, I was kind of worried that the game would just be a throw away fan service with shitty game play. Boy, was I wrong! The comedy is just perfect. They take everything old, and new and flesh it out in the best ways you can possibly imagine. To your parents having sex while you fight gnomes, to the anal probes on the UFO, to Al Gore, it's all implemented perfectly. The humor does not just need to be praised; the game play is great too. There is no grinding in the game. You just go around and do the stuff in the game. You experience the world of South Park. The battles are great, funny, well executed and do not overstay their welcome even once. I felt like I was watching Season 18 months before Season 18 officially started. The game is truly something to behold. The game looks like the show perfectly. The voice acting is the best Trey and Matt can do. It's a perfect South Park. One that will likely never be duplicated. Congratulations, Obsidian. You've probably created the only great game you'll ever make.
3: Neverending Nightmares
I don't know how much I can actually talk about this game. I'll just get a few things out of the way. I have suffered from depression my entire life. It is a continuing battle, and one that is something very few understand, and people sure as hell can't figure out a way to convey it in an art form that is presentable and can be related to by people such as myself. I suffer from nightmares. Ones that feel real, and I wake up in cold sweats from. The game is not fun to play. It is dreadful. It is terrifying. It leaves me in sweats, and it gives me chills. Not because it's a "Horror" game, but because it is a game about the horrors of a persons mind. The only thing I can say is thank you so much Matt Gilgenbach! You have created an experience that I find so uncomfortable, unsettling, and terrifying to play because it speaks to my very soul, and the troubles i've had in my life. Thank you so much! You have succeeded where tons have failed - You helped me partially cope with a problem i've had since I was 7 years old. This game will forever be etched in my mind as one of the ones that I will never forget.
Before I move on, I have to say this: The top 2 games are games I literally spent weeks fighting with myself over on which one should be on top. One week it'd be one, the next week it'd be another. I argued with myself so much. It was a battle of my mind that I hadn't had in years because both were just so god damn amazing. I just had to say that even though I did order these, they're both deserving of number 1. It just had to come down to me finally picking one.
2: Bayonetta 2
This is the best action game i've ever played. Period. End of sentence. There is no debate. Don't even fucking try! Bayonetta 2 takes the word crazy in video games, gives it steroids, pumps it full of unleaded gasoline, gives it a laxative and then says "Fuck you" and lets that shit explode. It is a bat-shit, over the top, orgy of fun that no other game of the modern era can top. Where can I start? The intentionally hokey dialogue. The funny conversations Cereza has with everyone. The amount of ways enemies are killed. The incredible tutorial areas that teach you how to play the game if you are new, or a veteran. You can play it any way you want. You can button mash, you can perfect combos. It's all there. This game can be played by anyone. Then, of course, the highlight of the show is the insane, bat shit encounters in the game. The fact that it starts you in an area with some enemies, then throws in 8 more, then it says "Fuck you, here's a boss". Once you kill the boss, the game says "Oh, hell no. We're not done yet". It then throws you into a scene where you're riding on a jet that is being chased by a guy I can only describe as Grimlock put into gold, and you beat the fucking guy and then act like nothing happened. She walks with that sexy, sarcastic attitude. And that's just the first 15 minutes of the game. God fucking damn!! The first fight with The Lumen Sage, where you two are fighting like superheroes, while their "Pets" are battling in the background Godzilla style caused me to just put the controller down and say "Shut the fuck up! This can't be happening". I had to watch for a good two minutes just to believe what my eyes were telling my brain. The game takes spectacle to a level I have never seen in a game before. It stacks everything on top of everything until it just feels like stopping. Not to mention that the god damn framerate is locked at 60 FPS for every sequence of combat. It is so fluid, so precise, so beautiful, so amazing. In a nutshell, I want to marry Bayonetta. Not the character, the game. Though the character sure is hot too. Jesus Christ. What a game! This is THE reason to own a Wii U. You will die happy if this is only game you play in your life. That is an objective point of view.
1: Shovel Knight
How did I pick this over Bayonetta? It was so god damn hard, but there is one reason I can give, and it's simple. It is the most fun i've had in any entertainment experience since Megaman 2 in 1988. I can say, without doubt that Megaman 2 is my favorite NES game, and it is in my top 10 games of all times. I still play it monthly! Shovel Knight brings in everything I love about Megaman 2, Castlevania and any other NES game that I hold reverence in my heart into the modern day. I feel like i'm 10-years old again. The gameplay is perfect. The challenge is perfect. The music is the best soundtrack i've heard in decades. I love the character Shovel Knight. He is just a great character to love, and enjoy having his bash people with a god damn shovel! I literally felt like I was in a time machine and transported back to the summer of 1989 where I was playing those games over again. I literally had a smile on my face every second I loaded, played, and experienced Shovel Knight. I was even smiling turning it off because it made me happier than any game i've played in 25 years. This game is not just my game of the year; it is almost definitely in my top 10 games of all times. This and Bayonetta 2 have those honors. I haven't felt this happy about these two games since Metroid Prime. Shovel Knight is pure perfection. There is nothing wrong with it. The "New Game +", the cheats where everyone says "Butt", to anything else you can add to that pile of amazing things the game has to offer. It is the perfect package. The game being $15 is a CRIME! I would've paid $60 for this game and still had it as my number one. I bought it for both Wii U and 3DS, and beat it on both 5 times! I will be getting the PC version soon as well, and beat it more times. This game will be in my "Recently Played" list on all 3 systems for many years to come. There is nothing that comes close to the pure joy that this game brought me. It is amazing. What else can I say? It is THE GAME OF YEAR... I may even say it is the Game of the Decade!
That is all. Thank you. Hope anyone cares about this. Have a great New Year.
