Divinity

The Top 5 Games I Played that Came Out This Year

Overall, I would call 2014 a disappointing year. Most of what I was looking forward to ended up being pushed back to 2015 and what did release mostly left me feeling underwhelmed or ambivalent. However, there were still quite a few surprises to be had and while my back catalog from 2014 isn’t quite complete, here is a rough look at my Top 5 in no particular order.

1. NaissanceE

Released early this year to little fanfare, as are most things relegated to Greenlight that aren’t building/survival sims, NaissanceE was both a visual and sensory treat, giving me bright, distinct visuals and absolutely breathtaking atmosphere. I spent all of my time with the game either in awe of it or terrified of it, it’s great big cityscapes coupled with an excellent use of licensed music led it to be at the forefront of my memory, even through the rush of holiday releases late this year. A beautiful game that makes me look forward to whatever the devs bring next.

2. Divinity: Original Sin

I haven’t reviewed Divinity yet for the sole reason that I haven’t finished it yet. That being said, I don’t imagine there is much I could do that could cause it to drop in my mind. With hassle-free and tactical — if not exploitable — combat that gels seamlessly with the exploratory elements and a full co-op campaign that feels designed for such, Divinity was just a treat to play at almost every turn. Minor quibbles about delay inputs in the UI aside and sometimes juvenile writing aren’t enough to turn me away from my most pleasant surprise of 2014. Here is a Kickstarter I wish I had backed.

3. Drakengard 3

No other game on this list will be as technically incompetent or frustrating to play. Framerate and screen-tearing issues abound in the title which only hampered by the fact that the game looks like an early-era PS3 game with the budget to match. Gameplay is straight forward and repetitive to a fault and is only playable in the sense that it plays better than previous titles in the series. It’s a crude, ugly game all the way through.

And I think I’m in love with it.

While NaissanceE continues to be in the forefront of my mind, Drakengard 3 never quite left all this year either. While it fails to live up to the batshit zaniness of it’s predecessors, a great performance by Tara Platt as Zero and one of the most dysfunctional RPG casts in recent memory lend itself well to just being unforgettable. Add in the best damn score of the year and some truly wonderful directorial touches by Taro Yoko and you have a game that’s all the right levels of crazy to sometimes pull it off just right to make something so ugly become beautiful.

4. Bayonetta 2

No, I don’t think I can add anymore that needs to be said Bayonetta 2. It isn’t the masterpiece others make it out to be, but no other game will play better or gives a better bang for your buck action wise. Add to that often humorous characters and truly dazzling set pieces and you have a game that never forgets to have fun.

5. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Awful title aside, I have to love Nintendo for being one of the last few bastions of playing with friends on a couch. And no game better serves that point than Super Smash Bros. I may gripe and whine while playing — I am one of the saltiest people you’ll ever meet while playing fighting games — but I still always come back.

I find it funny that we praise Smash Bros. for having loads of content when almost all of it is terrible. Smash Tour sucks, the single player content still hasn’t evolved past what it was in Melee, this time without a goofy mode like Subspace Emissary to give me wonderful cutscenes (Shut up, I liked Subspace Emissary for the cutscenes and felt the mode would have been fine if it cut back on the repetitive gameplay elements). But the core gameplay is just so simple to grasp and fun to play around with that we kind of forgive how throwaway the rest of the game is. And I will admit that while 8-player smash is awful, I appreciate the mode because it allows for 5 people to play with little to no repercussions. No more having to rotate loser.

Honorable mentions this year include: Endless Legend (an easy choice for number 6, one of the best 4x I’ve played in a long time), Grand Theft Auto V (belongs on a 2013 list), Mario Kart 8, InFamous: Second Son, Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax.

That’s not quite it for 2014 for me (Like I said, I got backlog I’m working on right now) but this is the list in time for year end. Tomorrow I’ll highlight the games I’m looking forward to most next year.

Happy New Years, I guess.