Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze....as great as that game is, it's not GOTY material. That's how bad this year is so far.

South Park the Stick of Truth, or Infamous SS

Im gonna go ahead and say Destiny, so far.

Titanfall of course. Hundreds of hours played and enjoyed every second.

Destiny is probably 2nd in time played but that was mostly suffering its shit designed grind to find the tootsie roll center of the tootsie pop. Still licking...

The Banner Saga

to be upfront,.. i haven't played halo.

but yes.   it is a lot like playing the co-op mode of other games but tooled to be easier.  you can see any of your friends and join them without the need to send party invites,.. just click join and you appear right next to your buddy.  

story missions are all solo-able but much more fun with a friend.  story missions start at a low level appropriate for someone going though all the story missions in order as you level up but also have "heroic" modes that bring the challenge up to your level so that no matter how great your gear is you can always find a challenge. 

strikes require a good group becasue they are much harder but there is matchmaking for these so even if you don't have friends online you can always play.  again,. they start low level so you can play your first strike at lvl 8 (i think) but they all scale up to be appropriatly difficult even if you are lvl 26.

raids require 6 and have no match making.  that was a choice from bungie because the raids are suppose to require really good teamwork because the fights have "puzzle" elements to them like the bosses in a WoW raid. 

each day there are an assortment of bounties that challenge you to replay the story missions and strikes with unique modifiers that change up the gameplay.

while strikes and missions are geared to be kind of linear in their approach there are also patrol options that allow you to go down the any of the planets and explore them in an open world format.  while on the surface you can pick up patrol missions that shuffle you around the map if you want some more concrete objectives.  patrols also have the community events which are a blast too in which a massive attack or big boss gets dropped into the world on top of you and everyone joins in to win.

the game is not halo.   the game is not borderlands.  it is unfair to judge destiny has not being halo or not being boarderlands.   this is a completely different game.   it is, imo, a MMO light.  it is very much an MMO with some significant changes to make it more pick-up-and-playable.  the missions are structures to put you right were you need to be so you aren't traveling for 30 mintues to get to your mission.  this means that even if you only have 20 minutes to play you can play and make some meaningful progress on your character even in that short time.

people complain about the loot system but i don't really get it.  it is structured so that you can do anything and still progress.  regardless of whether you want to play story mission, strikes, raids, patrols, or even the crusible (pvp) you can get loot that may be awesome for you.  it's not like WoW were if you can't do MC or BWR you can't progress your character.   just do whatever it is you enjoy doing the most.

the level design is amazing.  i never get lost and i never feel like things are repetitive.  bungie did such a great job of making every room and hallway and open world unique and memorable.  every inch if this open world is great place to have a firefight.

one of the best things is the way cooperation is aways a good thing.  you can't steal other peoples loot or kills.  if you are standing next to a random and they start helping you take down mobs you both get credit for the kills and you both can get loot.

no doubt, the game is best played with friends but with friends this game is amazing.  i don't know if you have friends playing but if you don't join the vizionaries clan and friend us.  i'd be happy to play with you (ps4) if you want (psn: kitler53).  i dunno why it seems all the xbox guys hate this game.  i haven't seen an xbox clan so maybe that is it,.. if you play the game solo you're missing the point.  if you are looking for a story campain that starts and ends 8 hours later you're missing the point.  this is a game that best rewards cooperative pve and does a damn good job at that.

Does Diablo III: UEE for PS4 count? if not go Dark Souls II or Infamous:SS so far in 2014.

Borderlands the presequel

Well, so far it's Mario Kart 8. And no doubt Super Smash WiiU and Bayonetta 2 will be strong contenders.

Seriously, if the GOTY 2014 is not a Nintendo game, I would be pretty surprised.

Cool.  Great comments and thanks.  I think it sounds fun.  I'm probably waiting a bit longer to pick up a PS4, but when I do Destiny will be a part of it and I'll seek out your clan.