It's late I know, but there's still a lot of games that I haven't played of 2014 and completed to pass rightful judgment on like Bayonetta 2, Dragon Age and many others so FOR NOW, this is just based on the games I've already played. In light of that, I made it shorter so I can change it later. Enjoy!
It's been a great year for gaming. Personally, I finally got a next gen system in Xbox One and that opened up a lot of potential games to play in the future, like Quantum Break and Rise of Tomb Raider to name two. I also got a Vita, which led me to an amazing series and continued to play my trusty 360, where I played plenty of multiplatform games on. 3DS gaming was a little lite this year until I got Smash Bros and that led to Persona Q. 2014 ended with me playing Danganronpa 2 while trying to clear out my increasingly large library of Xbox One games. Let's break down some of which I played in the year 2014.
Best Moments
3. The whole experience - Danganronpa - Ever since the Phoenix Wright games on DS, I've been a fan of the whole visual novel type games. I played and loved Hotel Dusk and my favorite example from this genre are the games in the Zero Escape series; 999 and Virtue's Last Reward. Those games sucked up HUGE amounts of time from my life, especially Virtue's Last Reward, which I played one month after getting married. Probably not the best idea. Anyway, I heard there was another great visual novel series on the PS Vita but I didn't have said system, so of course, with a new Tales game coming November, I found a way to get a Vita this past summer. After I spent ANOTHER 60 hours in the land of Persona 4, I rented Danganronpa from GameFly, only knowing that it was made by the team who brought us the Zero Escape series. My hype level was way over 9000. I didn't know too much about the story or gameplay elements but I dove right into it. Once again, this game starting to take plenty of hours from my life as I weaved through the mixed gameplay. It's part Ace Attorney part first person adventure game. The results are a match made in heaven. The story was fantastic and it kept me on the edge of my seat each time I played it. The trials are the best part of the game, though they do take awhile to get used to. It's easily one of the best experiences on the Vita this year and while it wasn't the sole reason for my purchase, Danganronpa justified a purchase of the PS Vita.
2. Loading up for the first time - Smash Bros Wii U - Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out when I was a junior in high school back in 2008 and I was pumped then. I love the Smash Bros series and with all the new characters in Brawl and the addition of a cutscene based side scrolling adventure mode, I was gushing when I first got to play it. Fast forward 6 years, now as a married deacon, the same excitement was there for when I first loaded up Smash on Wii U. I was excited to play the 3DS version but I will always see that as the lesser version or rather, the trial version as the Wii U version is just so much more superior in every way. I went digital with this release as I'm too lazy to actually go to the store to pick it up and walk out in the cold. I preloaded it to my console on Tuesday and did the last update during the last minutes of watching NXT at 11:50PM Thursday. Just seeing the opening cinematic pumped me up and then when I finally got to play with Shulk, who's my main character. in stunning HD, I felt like that 17 year old in high school again. It's one of the best experiences of the year and it's an absolute blast to play with friends. I could literally do 30 different matches in Smash with friends and NOT get bored. Such a fantastic accomplishment by Nintendo and the bar is raised SO HIGH for the next installment.
1. The World is Your Playground - Sunset Overdrive - Immediately when I started looking up games for Xbox One, Sunset Overdrive captured my attention, mainly from it's awesome way of traversing the city. It reminded me so much of Jet Set Radio Future, which was one of the first games I played on the original Xbox and one of my favorites as well. It takes some getting used to but once you fully comprehend the controls and how to mix together grinding, wall running and bouncing, the world is your playground. There has never been a game where I was having so much fun from going from point A to point B. I only used the quick travel option when I was trying to save time before work. It's also just a blast to create as much mayhem as you can with the arsenal of weapons that you get. It's just fun and I loved the experience.
Most Wanted List
5. Tales of Zestiria - 2014 had two separate Tales titles on display, both fun and great titles that continued to showcase the great action/fighting battle system and distinct worlds. Zestiria is unique, mainly because it's also being released on PS3 although the next gen systems are out. That's alright with me since I still don't have a PS4. Anyway, it's Tales and it's JRPG. While I'm definitely not as hype for it as a certain other RPG game hopefully coming in 2015, I'm still going to play it on release day and beat it like the others before it.
4. Rise of Tomb Raider - 2013's Tomb Raider was a surprise favorite for me last year. I did not think I would haven brought it as soon as I did and enjoy it as much as I did either but it just was so great. I was never a big Tomb Raider fan. I played Legend and Underworld on 360 but I hated the originals due to the clunky controls and steep learning curve. The reboot was much more accessible, violent and borrowed from some of the best games in the 3rd person games of the era. It's easy to see why I'm looking forward to the sequel, even without any gameplay footage. It's going to be a fantastic experience, hopefully released by the fall.
3. Zelda Wii U - Zelda would be #1, only if I was 100% sure it was going to be released next year. I'm not convinced at all. They showed a quick trailer and then Link on Epona in an open world. Unless they show some actual gameplay at E3, I just don't think it will be released next year. If it is, I'll eat my words. The reason I'm looking forward to this is simple; it's Zelda and there hasn't been a release of a traditional Zelda game on Wii U yet, so anticipation is definitely there. And Zelda in HD? Sign me up. While the graphics weren't on the same level as the tech demo shown a couple years ago, they still look stunning and I can't wait to delve into the world. Hopefully, this game takes a note from the fantastic A Link Between Two Worlds and let's the player choose what they want to do next because the Zelda 3 dungeons, get the Master Sword, do 8 more dungeons and fight the final boss has gotten stale. Part of the reason why Skyward Sword wasn't my GOTY was because games like Dark Souls and Catherine were doing it different, changing the formula for games. If Zelda can add on to those additions made in ALBTW and do some things unique to this version, then Nintendo will have a recipe for a fantastic game.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles X - With Shulk being playable in Smash Bros, it made me even more anxious for this release. Xenoblade Chronicles is one of the best RPGs of the seventh generation but being on the Wii held it back graphically. Not on Wii U. It looks utterly amazing and I want to explore every bit of it. As far as story, I try not to look too much into it as spoilers suck and if you know anything about Xenoblade, the first three hours offers a huge shocker for the rest of the story. XBX doesn't have a firm release in 2015 but that's ok. It's going to be one of the biggest titles on the Wii U next year and certainly the one I'm looking forward to most.
1. Persona 5 - Surprise, surprise! Persona 4 is my one of my favorite games of all time so naturally, I'm definitely looking forward to the series first installment on a next generation console. With a release of PS3 AND PS4, the game being pushed back doesn't matter to me. I just hope we actually get a look at the actual gameplay soon. They showed a brief anime trailer of it and all it did was pique my curiosity even more. What will the actual game look like? Is it specifically designed for the PS4 or just a port with better graphics? I'm all for playing it on PS3 but if the superior version lies on 4, you better you behind I'll find a way to get it. Even though there has been nothing shown gameplay wise, I'm a huge SMT fan and looking forward to this regardless.
Game of the Year
NOTE: Games I didn't play YET, Bayonetta 2, Bravely Default, Titanfall, Destiny, COD, either Assassin's Creed release. If and when I play some of these releases and they deserve to be on the list, I will certainly change it.
5. Shadow of Mordor - Here's a welcome surprise. Shadow of Mordor is a blend of Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham series. It's an amazing blend that makes for one of the finer games of the year. Combat in SOM plays a lot like Batman. You use one or two buttons to attack and one button counters the hits coming to you ala Batman. It's fun and battles never get old. It's also very gory and execution kills are amazing to look at on Xbox One. There are plenty of upgrades to get, allowing you to upgrade your Wraith abilities or your ranger abilities. What's really unique is the Nemesis System in the game.
There are enemies called Uruks and not only are there the generic versions of them, there are also captain versions as well. Those captains will remember the battle they have with the main character Talion. For example, when I first played the game I was killed by an Uruk Captain named Zog the Serpent. After he killed me, he went up in Rank. I came back and tracked him down to get my revenge. Once I got to the final mission, him and an army of Uruks were waiting for me and stood in my way to my last goal. It's an amazing touch after your 15 hour journey is up.
Traversing in the game feels very reminiscent to the AC games. You run around and scale towers to reveal what's in the immediate area, which is done is almost every open world game now. Stealth plays a big part in the game and it's easily some of the most satisfying stealth done in a game in a while. Along with the main story, there are missions you can do for your individual weapons, which are your sword, dagger and bow. They have you doing certain task, like killing a certain amount of enemies without getting hit, doing stealth kills without getting detected, etc. They are a fun distraction from the main story.
Shadow of Mordor is fun and an achievement for the LOR lore. It's the best game in the LOR universe and will hopefully get a sequel. I had no hype for this game at all but for $25, I got more than my money's worth for this game.
4. Dark Souls 2 - Dark Souls 2 was more of the same. That's definitely not a bad thing though. DS2 is the same tried and true formula of the Souls series. You wander around, fight tough enemies, get killed, learn, and progress. THAT'S the game formula, nothing new. The only thing different is that once you really get going in this game, it's definitely not as much of a challenge as the predecessors. The first area did kill me for 3 hours straight but once I got my bearing, I ran through it.
DS2 gameplay is simple. It's all about strategy and timing. You have to watch enemy attack patterns and plan a proper attack. You have to learn to counter, dodge roll and run because you'll need them all. You'll also need patience because sometimes, the game is very cruel. You'll just be walking and then out of nowhere, death will strike swiftly and you'll not know why. Get used to the death screen. You are guaranteed to die. Armor and weapons have a weight system implemented in the game so the less armor you have on, the faster you are but obviously, you're more exposed. There are multiple play styles in the game. Want to be a mage and keep your distance from enemies? You can do that. Want to be a brute who kills all enemies in his path? Little harder, but it's possible. DS2 is very broad in customization and it's unlikely you'll see two like character builds.
The game shines in its boss battles, where it will test your gaming skills and sanity levels. Bosses ABSOLUTELY require you to learn patterns and wait for your time to strike. If you rush in and just start swinging, you're gonna have a bad time. Seriously. You have to learn their weak spots, find your opening and strike. You sure as hell don't want to get down to the last bit of health only to make a mistake and have to replay the whole fight again. The most disappointing thing about all of DS2's bosses is that there is no boss that captures Dark Souls 1 Ornstein and Smough frustratingly hard battle. An Ornstein like boss appears in 2 but it's nowhere as hard as the original.
Dark Souls 2 is amazing. It's tough, diverse and a whole lot of fun learning from your mistakes. With a Xbox One and PS4 version incoming in 2015, I think I'll be traveling back to this world come April.
3. Sunset Overdrive - Open world games are amazing. Open world games where you can do whatever you want are even better. That's what Sunset Overdrive is. It's a sandbox, a playground for you to explore, littered with monsters for you to splatter with your arsenal of weapons. SO starts with you playing as a employee for the energy drink company called FizzCo, who are celebrating the new release of their energy drink. Everything is going well, until the drink starts turning all the drinkers into mutants, who start to terrorize the city. The city panics and goes into full quarantine zone and as the player, you have to try to find a way out of the city. The same isn't going to be remembered for its story. It WILL be remembered for its amazing open world gameplay.
SO is best described as Crackdown meets Jet Grind/Set Radio. You can jump around the city and grind on just about anything, electrical lines, rail tracks, pipes, etc. You can bounce on cars, dash in mid-air etc. It all feels very fluent and traversing the big city is fun. That's only half the game though. You have to kill the mutants, called OD so of course, you need weapons and SO is filled with them. You kill them with guns and all are pretty innovative. You get a gun that shoots records, one that fires out huge balls to mow down the mutants, one that shoots out fireworks, etc. There are other enemies among the OD, like other humans and FizzCo security bots. Each weapon does certain damage to each class so you have to plan accordingly when taking on enemies. Combining grinding, jumping and shooting definitely takes some getting used to but ONCE you do, it's a blast and very hard to put down.
Sunset Overdrive took me about 12 hours to get through the main story but there are loads of things to do, like collecting items located around the city to give you amps, which increase certain abilities, like the rate at which your bullets burn enemies. There are traversal challenges, that judge you how well you get around the city and of course, there's online play. I didn't have as much fun online as I did in single player so that's probably the game's only fault. While the story isn't the best thing going, the humor definitely is. SO is very self aware that it is in fact a video game and pokes fun at the fact plenty of times throughout the course of the game. One mission has you save a NPC and during your conversation with her, she mentions the fact that once the camera leaves her, she'll disappear from sight. Things like that make me giggle and are a nice added effect to the already amazing game. It's the best Xbox One exclusive to release this year and if you want to just have a fun time in a video game, I HIGHLY recommend picking this one up.
2. Super Smash Bros Wii U/3DS - This is the game I bought a Wii U for. Yes, Zelda, XBX and awesome Mario games help flourish the system but my sole reason for even picking up Nintendo's Wii successor was due to Smash Bros. And it certainly didn't disappoint. Either version. It was like the 3DS version was just to prepare you for what the Wii U version was going to bring to the table and it turned out fantastic.
Gameplay wise, it's still the same ole Smash. Do enough damage to your opponent until you can send them flying out of the stage. It's simple, fun and effective. They've added plenty of new characters, all who fit right into the Smash universe. The mascot dog from Duck Hunt was one of the late surprise fighters added and it's strange it took until now to include him. He has a very distinct play style, attacking with cursors and cans straight from his game. There's also newer characters, like Rosalina and Luma, Robin from Fire Emblem and my personal new favorite Smash character, Shulk. Even Mario's main rivals join in on the fun. Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man are all playable this time around and it's epic to see the four characters who represented Nintendo, Sega, Capcom and Namco respectively clash on one huge stage. It brings a tear to my eye. Also, there's plenty of your Smash favorites sans The Ice Climbers, who got cut due to the 3DS' limitations. Sucks. No Snake either but I wasn't really expecting him. There's so much variety in the total 49 characters and Nintendo could have easily doubled that roster if they included some of the Assist Trophies as characters, like Birdo, Waluigi, etc, not to mention more third party characters. Viewitiful Joe would fit perfectly, just saying. Anyway, the roster is diverse and all players can find someone to play with.
Stage wise, there is plenty to choose from with all the characters getting stages to represent the game their from. There are also stages based on other Nintendo games, like Pilotwings and of course, stages representing all the third party characters. Sadly, no Green Hill Zone in the Wii U version. Don't know how that got cut. There are plenty of stages to choose from and it keeps the hundreds and hundreds of fights that you are certainly going to play fresh and fun.
There's no single player story this time around but there is still Classic Mode and All-Star mode, back from previous installments. All-Star mode has you facing every characters in reverse chronological order, which is different than the 3DS version. One of the exclusive modes to the Wii U version is Master Order and Crazy Orders, both have you completing tasks under certain requirements for rewards, such as trophies, equipment for your Mii characters/custom fighters and various music. They are a nice distraction but if you're smashing alone, there's nothing to really keep bringing you back after unlocking all the characters and stages. There's also a Mario Party esque board game mode that's not much fun to play.
Smash Bros for the Wii U is the complete version of Smash Bros this year. The 3DS version is amazing in its own rights too, but big brother shines brighter. From the 45+ fighters and stages, 8 player Smash, and DOZENS of unlockables, you'll be busy with the Wii U version for a very long time. Any Wii U owner NEEDS this game in their library. It's easily the best Smash Bros game yet and if they do release another one, it will be near impossible to top this.
1. Danganronpa 1/2 - 999 and Virtue's Last Reward are two of my all time favorite visual novel games of all time. Hands down, no questions asked. As I patiently wait for the 3rd entry in the mind breaking series, I heard of another great visual novel series for a system I didn't own, the PS Vita. Naturally, I had to find a way to get this system. I did, and a little after I did, I played Danganronpa 1, not knowing much other than that it was a visual novel game with a murder mystery twist to it ala the Zero Escape series. What I found was my Game of the Year. DR1 is such a crazy experience and although made by the people who did ZE, it was a unique experience of its own. You play as Makoto Naegi, an average high school student who enters Hope's Peak Academy due to a raffle win as all the student who attend the school are the best at what they do. The Ultimate. You have the Ultimate Programmer, Ultimate Swimming Pro, Ultimate Baseball star, etc. Makoto is dubbed the Ultimate Lucky Student. Once you get there though, you black out and then the story goes from there. You enter a killing game, where Makoto and 14 other students are trapped in the school, unless they can kill one of their own and get away with it during a class trial. The story, since it's a visual novel, is obviously the bread and butter of the game and is awesome. There's plenty of twists and turns that you definitely have to experience. DR2 has the same premise, but instead of the killing game at first, the students are brought to the island to acquire Hope Fragments from one another until they are forced to enter the killing game.
Gameplay wise, it's split up into two areas. You investigate or wander around most of the time, just reading plenty of text. The other area is the class trials, which is the meat of the gameplay. It's basically Phoenix Wright but done its own way. During trials, you have to pay attention to terms and with your Truth Bullets, which are pieces of information that you collect while investigating murders, shoot through the contradictions to advance the trial. There are also other gameplay modes besides that, like a hangman game, a comic book esque mode where you piece together how each crime happened and in 2, they introduced something called a Logic Drive, which is basically a snowboarding/skate boarding game. It's the best thing gameplay wise about the series. It maybe all sound weird at first but it's fun and easily grows on you.
The characters from each title are all lovable and unfortunately, you can't get attached to any of them. You never really know who will wind up dead next. I never correctly guessed the killer of any case in both games. Just means my deductions skills are horrible. Just when I thought I had the right person, I guessed wrong. The game has crazy logic at times and some of the cases did leave me scratching my head or felt they left out important details of certain cases, but overall, it's solid.
Danganronpa demands your attention. Yes, it's not a tradition game. You won't be mowing down dozens of enemies, leveling up your skills or farming for gold, but what's there is amazing. I spent 50+ hours with both games combined and ALL worth it. If you have a Vita and free time, PLEASE check these games out. They are well worth the time and money and are the best time I spent with games this year, simply because they were different. They didn't impress me visually but at the end of both games, I was left wanting more and that's all I ask for in games. Danganronpa 1 and 2, the series, is my Game of the Year. Your move Zero Escape.
There's the short version of my best of the year for video games. Sorry for the delay and sorry for the lack of detail in the post. I really need to beat these other contenders but until I do, please accept this trial version! Thanks for reading!
