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HoloDust on 08 December 2023
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Another fairly solid year, with some ups and downs for me.

I'd be lying if I said that Watch Dogs was not something I anticipated the most (after that amazing reveal trailer). Turned out I didn't like it at all, and gave up on it after a day or two,

The other one that I thought I'd enjoy was Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (since it's sort of a mix of AC and Batman: Arkham City) - but for some reason I couldn't get into it at all.

Dark Souls II was a given that I'd like - and I didn't. It took playing DS III and then going back to DS II: Scholar of the First Sin to actually appreciate it so much that it's actually my favourite Souls (yeah, I'm one of those few weird ones that like DS2 the most, flaws and all).

Wolfenstein: The New Order was fairly good - its beginning design reminds me somewhat of a Return to Castle Wolfenstein (for me, still the best Wolfenstein to date), but it gets a lot more linear later on.

Mario Kart 8 was a lot of fun - then again, what MK is not?

Far Cry 4 was a pretty good "sequel" - and I'm saying "sequel" because for the most part it was reskinned FC3, with some good new stuff thrown in the mix.

Elite Dangerous launched in 2014. Elite is one of my all-time favourites, but, unfortunately, I didn't have time to commit to an online only game.

CRPGs got a pretty solid game in Divinity: Original Sin - Larian was always weak when it comes to story and characters, but gameplay is usually good.

Broken Age finally launched (well, Act 1)- you know, that adventure game by Tim Schafer (from LucasArts golden P&C adventure game days) and his Double Fine that pretty much started gaming Kickstarter craze. Nowhere near as good as his best work (and for a lot of people best adventure game ever made) Grim Fandango, but still quite enjoyable.

Alien: Isolation really nailed that feel of original Alien - I don't play a lot of horror games, but this one hit the spot.

The Banner Saga came as a surprise to me  - a tactical RPG inspired by Norse mythology, with some nice story alterations depending on choices you make.

I thought that supergiant's Bastion was ok game, but I really liked Transistor and that's one of my favourites from 2014. Still have to play Hades...

The Talos Principle was a fantastic puzzle solving game, even better in VR. Again, still yet to play sequel...

Another puzzle game got my attention that year, Monument Valley, as developers describe it themselves, "it’s a bit like an interactive M.C. Escher artwork". Loved it.

An indie retro pixel art game was a smash hit - Shovel Knight. One of my favourites from that year as well.

I don't really play JRPGs, but Ubisoft's Child of Light (being W-JRPG) caught me by surprise. Really enchanting world with fairly good gameplay.

Another W-JRPG turned out to be excellent, being probably my favourite game of that year (Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is 2015, so I don't count it) - South Park: The Stick of Truth. I still enjoy South Park, and Stick of Truth was all one could wish for a game about that show.

I didn't play Dragon Age: Inquisition or Bayonetta 2, so I'm a bit reluctant to give my vote for any game this year, hence I'll be abstaining, since I don't see an obvious overall winner for GotY.

EDIT: I almost completely forgot - 2014 is the year when the most successful edition (though not the best by a long shot) of Dungeons & Dragons launched - current 5e. Not a video game, but worth mentioning.

Last edited by HoloDust - on 08 December 2023