Game of the Year

[Pike]

2014 is winding to a close, so it's time to decide: what was your personal Game of the Year? What game that came out this year was better than all the others?

If you need a refresher course, here's a list of the stuff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_in_video_gaming#Game_releases) that came out this year. (Note that this includes remakes and ports. Whether or not you want to include these is up to you.)

[escobert]

Does this include alpha/early access games? :D

[Shiny]

This year was pretty lackluster in my opinion. There were clear choices last year for Game of Year contenders from 2009-2013, but this year that's not so apparent. Most of the games that will probably be considered or named Game of Year are just good games, not great. With that said, I'll go with The Wolf Among Us, for replayability, storytelling and enjoyability.

[Rez09]

Well, looking at all of those titles a few caught my eye. I greatly enjoyed Broken Sword 5, maybe almost as much as the original, but unfortunately it's not something I'm likely to play through again for quite a while. The same is true for Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, which was soooooooooo much better than what I was expecting, but finishing it once doesn't leave much reason to play it again. Soooooo, that would make . . .


:party: Shovel Knight! :party:

my favorite title of the year. It's got a great sense of humor, I loved the controls, the game has some decent challenge to it if you don't use your meal tickets, there was plenty to explore -- it was everything I wanted from a 2D platformer and completely worth the wait. :D


EDIT: Also, it seems Suikoden II was FINALLY released to PSN. :o

[Jinx]

Tomodachi Life! :D (I don't play many games.)

[Freya]

I heard DA:I got game of the year at the video game awards.

I haven't played enough this year to give a great opinion. A lot of the games i've played didn't come out this year. I'm currently playing DA: I so i'll get back to you if that's goty worthy

[Tigmafuzz]

Aside from ports/remakes/re-releases, there were only a handful of good original games that came out this year.

South Park Stick of Truth, Infamous Second Son, Shovel Knight, Destiny...

Uh... Peggle 2?

For me and a good deal of people I know, most of this year was spent lamenting the lack of good games coming out while replaying older titles.

EDIT: I'm about 20 hours into Dragon Age Inquisition and it already feels stale. I can't bring myself to keep playing it.

[Dr Unne]

This year was freaking amazing. Off the top of my head:

Shovel Knight
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Transistor
Shadowgate
1001 Spikes
Abyss Odyssey
Bravely Default

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is an easy winner, but most of those are contenders.

[Spuuky]

Divinity: Original Sin, by far.

[Vyk]

Yeah I'm thinking a lot of you may have sadly missed out on some amazing titles. Either. That or this year's batch was legitimately not relevant to your interests

The new Divinity was awesome. As was the new Wasteland. Haven't had the pleasure of the new Shadowrun but I have faith since it supposedly addressed every issue I had with the first one

I forgot South Park came out this year. That was a really good one too. As well as all the Telltale games from what I've seen

For my choice it's Alien Isolation. Without a second thought. I haven't been that enthralled into a game in a very long time. Even during the slow or frustrating parts I was enamored. And plugged way more hours in than necessary. Rare for me these days

To me this was a great year for video games

[Bubba]

Super Mario World

[Depression Moon]

I wish I could actually make a credible opinion in one of these discussions one day. Usually, I only buy one or two games a year and only half the time is that game a brand new one. I haven't bought a single new game this year, so I can't really say shit.

[Skyblade]

voh6NEpwEVY

[Del Murder]

I guess Bravely Default though that game had a major flaw that's hard to ignore for GotY. Not a tremendous year imo. I have yet to play any 'next gen' game so maybe DA:I is where it's at.

It would be pretty cool if Shovel Knight got it though.

[Jessweeee♪]

Of the ones I've played, Inquisition. There's a lot of great ones I haven't played though. I watched Unne play Shovel Knight during a good chunk of his stream. It was pretty neat.

[NeoCracker]

21 games I played this year have been good.

6 I've been indifferent too.

3 have been not good.

Overall I think this has been an absolutely fantastic year. :p

[Bolivar]

I played a lot of great games this year but my favorite was Advanced Warfare. The gameplay and setting are very fresh and exciting to engage with and the designers clearly knew what makes these games rewarding. I also think Kevin Spacey's performance and the advanced mocap and animation technology is going to entice a lot of creators from other mediums to take another look at gaming. The rest of the cast was truly excellent as well, the game is pretty much a buddy film starring Troy Baker and Balthier from Final Fantasy XII. Lastly, this is the game that set the new standard for this medium's technology. So far we've had a lot of great-looking games that run decent, and decent-looking games that run great, but this is the first next-gen title that both looks and runs fantastic. I had to adjust myself at first because I wasn't used to playing such a responsive game at such high visual fidelity.

Overall, a great year. It's never been easier to find new games that suit your tastes.

[Vyk]

...That is probably the first valid argument I have heard from someone for pro-CoD anything. Usually they're just addicted to multiplayer, and even they aren't quite sure why. And it makes me invalidate any argument they have for the games

[Skyblade]

So far we've had a lot of great-looking games that run decent, and decent-looking games that run great, but this is the first next-gen title that both looks and runs fantastic.

Which system do you play it on? Because the XBOX 360 version doesn't run native 1080p, and the PS4 version has noted framerate drops down to 40 FPS in intense moments.

Bayonetta 2 released earlier, runs at a solid 1080p 60FPS, and holds a significant edge in aesthetic design. Smash Bros. also holds the edge in technical performance and aesthetics, though it did release a few days later. :D

[Bolivar]

...That is probably the first valid argument I have heard from someone for pro-CoD anything. Usually they're just addicted to multiplayer, and even they aren't quite sure why. And it makes me invalidate any argument they have for the games

Thanks Vyk! Truth be told this one's an easy game to praise, it's one of those special titles where it's apparent what a labor of love it was for the team. Everything from the game design to the voice actors and audio is really stellar.


Which system do you play it on? Because the XBOX 360 version doesn't run native 1080p, and the PS4 version has noted framerate drops down to 40 FPS in intense moments.

Bayonetta 2 released earlier, runs at a solid 1080p 60FPS, and holds a significant edge in aesthetic design. Smash Bros. also holds the edge in technical performance and aesthetics, though it did release a few days later.

While those games are fair counterpoints, I think they fall under the "looks decent, runs great" category. You could argue they have the aesthetic edge but we're no longer talking about tecology at that point. It's also subjective; these games have completely different settings and I would argue Advanced Warfare is very highly stylized for its genre (the game director is actually a very talented artist).

I play it at full 1080p on PS4. As someone who spends a lot of time modding and tweaking games on PC, framerate dips during intense scenes are expected for me. If a game occasionally drops to the 50s and high 40s, while otherwise staying at 60fps, that's awesome performance in my book. Multiplayer is more or less locked at 60 and even the campaign dips never stood out to me.

[Tigmafuzz]

Oh, and I forgot Wasteland 2 also came out a couple months ago. Maybe not game of the year, but definitely a great title.

[metagloria]

I'm totally cool with Lightning Returns as my GOTY. I played it twice in a row and loved it.

[krissy]

flappy bird

[Bubba]

flappy bird

I had a few goes on this again recently whilst bored. Managed to beat my highest score!

60960

[Sephiroth]

0. Probably Drakengard 3 - I don't have it yet but it is the world of Nier I. Final Fantasy XIII-3 Lightning Returns West Edition II. Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 ReMIX III. Final Fantasy X & X-2 HD Remaster West Edition IV. Atelier Escha & Logy The Alchemist of the Dusk Sky

[Ayen]

I only played two games that came out this year. Bravely Default and Telltale's Game of Thrones. Between the two of them I'd have to give it to Game of Thrones.

[NeoCracker]

Yeah, I ended up giving my game of the year to Dragon Age: Inquisition. It was a hard choice to rate that one over the newest Atelier release.

I think this is when Wolf is suppose to go off on how the Atelier series is terrible. ;P

[Wolf Kanno]

Man I didn't really play anything new this year. I still have Bravery Default and Persona Q lying on my desk begging to see some action. I may have to give this to JoJo's Bizarre Adventures All-Star Battle because I'm a huge fan of the series and it was nice to get this fanservice filled game State side even with the name changes. Unlike P4 Arena Ultimax, I didn't have any issue playing the hell out of this and unlocking everything or dropping money for the DLC either so kudos to them for that.

Other than that I've been too busy with my backlog or more important things to really pay attention to gaming this year.

[Del Murder]

Shadow of Mordor is my current GotY. It's awesome.

[Pumpkin]

I've played Bravely Default, Atelier Escha and Logy (barely), Final fantasy XIV, Record of Agarest War Zero (although that one says PC and I played the PS3 version, so that may have been released another year), Tomodachi Life, Tales of Xillia 2, Fairy Fencer F (barely)

Thoughts:
Bravely Default :shrug:
Atelier Escha and Logy: Only played briefly, but so far :up:
Final Fantasy XIV: :up:
Record of Agarest War Zero: :up:
Tomodachi Life: :up:
Tales of Xillia 2: :up:
Fairy Fencer F: Barely played, just got it for Christmas, but so far so good

The winner would have to be Tales of Xillia 2 for me

[Skyblade]

Runner Up: Fantasy Life

[Fox]

I have Tales of Xillia 2, but not played it yet so I can't judge it. As a Tales fan (and Xillia is the best in the franchise so far) it would probably be high on the list.

So I'll have to give mine to Shadow of Mordor. The moment to moment orc-battering gameplay is extremely tight and enjoyable, and the Nemesis system is the biggest step forward for big budget games we've seen in a long time. It's not often you get true risk taking an innovation in 'AAA' games, as stuff like Assassin's Creed or (disappointingly) even Watch Dogs have proven.

But Shadow of Mordor tries it and nails it. Fantastic game.

[Loony BoB]

Of the new games I played this year, which is notably few, Far Cry 4 is probably the top one. Like many have mentioned for themselves, it just hasn't been a stand-out year for me.

[Psychotic]

I am Bread.

[Aulayna]

Goat Simulator

[Vyk]

Nice to see Xillia 2 get mentioned a few times even if its not anyone's actual choice. My girlfriend and I super enjoyed it. I don't think it was quite as cohesive as the first one, but it was a lot more fleshed out. The story was very scattered, but much better done. Other than Milla being immature and the weird return of a silent protagonist. Especially considering all his dialog was voiced, they just want you to play through the game a second time to hear it. But damn I still love that fighting engine~ And watching all those characters develop even more, and have deeper more meaningful interactions and views into their lives and everything was such a treat. Considering how bland and cookie-cutter my last few attempts at generic JRPGs have been, it was a delicious breath of fresh air (both games) even among other Tales games <3

[Psychotic]

For games released in 2014, going with Shadow of Mordor. But games I played in 2014, Bioshock Infinite is a beautiful game.

[Galuf]

i didnt play many new games this year. so i have to say Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha sapphire (i understand theres probably alot better games but i havent layed much this year )

[Levian]

Purely based on hours played alone:

Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Towerfall: Ascension

Both awesome games. Looking forward to playing Shovel Knight as well, looks like a game right up my so-called alley.

Other than that:
Little Big Planet 3
Mario Kart 8
The Evil Within

[Madame Adequate]

Earth Defense Force 2025 came out this year, so yeah, obviously that.

Outside of the objective winner, it's a tough one, though. Shadow of Mordor, Xenonauts, Reaper of Souls, The Sims 4, and Distant Worlds: Universe were all fairly great.

Plus there's things I have to get around to, like Dead Rising 3, Wasteland 2, Dead State, The Talos Principle, and Warlords of Draenor.

I think I'd have to give it to Endless Legend though. God damn that is how to 4x.

Honorable mention to Sleepy Dogs Definitive Edition though. I'd give it to that if it was a new game. Or Suikoden II if it wasn't a re-release, obvs.

[Slothy]

I think I'd have to give it to Endless Legend though. God damn that is how to 4x.

Well, my attempts to spend no money during the Steam sale have been a dismal failure today.