I kiiinda forgot to post the last two episodes on the website. Don’t worry, that’s being taken care of! Because here they are! Here’s my 2014 year in review video, where I talk about whether 2014 was as bad as we all seem to think it was. I also ramble off a list of games I enjoyed in the past year, but it’s by no means all inclusive.

Here’s the YouTube link! And the script is, as always, after the jump.

I’m not a big fan of end-of-year lists. Mostly because even more so than film or television, no one really has the ability to get a solid lay of the land for video games - even full time critics can’t keep up. First there’s the issue of time - it’s hard enough to watch most films and those only run two or so hours, but games can run much, much, much longer. Second, things like Early Access make it hard to pin down what year a game released in - can I put Prison Architect in a list of 2014 games if it isn’t technically out yet? Third, to do a proper list you’d have to keep abreast of a year’s worth of those very long releases on three home consoles, two handhelds, two or more mobile platforms, and all manner of games released on the PC from tentpole releases to medium sized indie titles to freeware and twine games. The sheer volume (not to mention the financial burden) would simply be too much. And in a way that’s good - games are ubiquitous, nearly everyone is playing them, and as a whole they’re undeniably more vibrant than they’ve ever been. But it does kinda suck for year end review lists, because we’re not just talking about my opinion on a core set of titles but my opinion from whatever hodgepodge of games I’ve managed to spend time with. And as such I wouldn’t bother with such a list, except…

Well, this has been a phenomenally bad year for games. And I don’t just mean the obvious, toxic, cultural stuff. Even if no one ever mentioned The Hashtag That Shall Not Be Named ever again starting now, the legacy of this year would still be… underwhelming. Like, there were a ton of rereleases instead of actual new games - Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition, Halo Master Chief Edition, Tomb Raider Definitive Edition, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Grand Theft Auto V and god knows how many others. And if we weren’t getting rereleases instead of new titles, we were getting teases of future content, like P.T. or Ground Zeroes. And what little did come out didn’t make a big impact. I mean, no one seems to remember that we got an Elder Scrolls MMO this year. Or The Sims 4. Or Little Big Planet 3. Titles that should have a huge splash haven’t really gotten a peep. And a lot of games this year have been buggy or unfinished. Thief, Unity, Master Chief Edition, Drive Club… it’s like Nintendo’s the only publisher who can reliably finish a game and that’s only because they keep releasing the same ones. And on top of all of that, as a general rule games released in the past 12 months lacked much of the thematic or emotional depth we’ve seen in recent years. There wasn’t really a Last of Us or Gone Home or Walking Dead or Papers, Please that blazed trails while inspiring discussion. 2014 really lacked any sort of unifying theme or guiding light; and for the first time in years I can’t say that they’re in a better position than they were last year.

So in the wake of the awfulness of the year that was, I thought I’d contribute whatever minor voice I had to try and reinforce some of the games that managed to shine. This isn’t a top ten list, this isn’t in any particular order, and it comes with the giant caveat that no one can play everything and this list is certainly missing some vital games I’ve yet to play, both big and small, artsy and stupid. It’s just my attempt to find some silver linings in the year that was 2014 by listing titles I got a lot of enjoyment from.

 

1. Glitchhikers (check)

I’ve already talked about Glitchhikers at length, but even after a few months it remains a game that beautifully encapsulates a singular feeling with such precision and power that it’s stayed with me. It’s still odd to me that it took a surrealist game to capture a very real and literal emotion. It’s weird, it’s quick, it’s free, and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s had a few bleary eyed late night drives or a penchant for David Lynch or Welcome to Night Vale.

2. The Adventures of Square (check)

A wonderful example of a design ethos that has otherwise been dormant for a few years, The Adventures of Square is like a PG-rated DOOM. But don’t let that fool you; it can be tough as nails. The primary colors pop with an almost faux cell shading and the levels are varied and enjoyable, but above all else the game somehow makes 2.5D shooting and key finding mechanics fun again, even if only because they’re novel. And hey, it’s also free - give it a shot.

3. Continue?9876543210 (check)

A game about a computer sprite trying to avoid deletion turns out to be a wonderful parable about mortality and faith. Its rapid fire mix of adventure puzzles, 2D minigames, and quietly introspective cutscenes thrashes players between noise and silence, activity and peace, force and thought, lightening and prayer, life and death. You’ll never look at garbage collection quite the same way again.

4. Valiant Hearts (check)

It’s one part Indiana Jones pulp and one part Saving Private Ryan war story, but it’s got the heart where it matters. It’s beautifully animated and despite its occasional cartoonish buffoonery it never becomes overtly manipulative or maudlin in its attempts to tell the tale of soldiers stuck in a war they don’t want to fight.

5. Alien Isolation (check)

I’m still astounded by the game’s commitment to effectively being a period piece in a period that never happened. It captures not only the visual essence of Ridley Scott’s film, but the sensation of being hunted by a singular predator. I still say it’s either badly paced or a smidge too long and the ending falls apart, but that can’t rob the game of its unique play, amazing environments, and the fact that it’s one of the boldest horror games released in years. Also its sound design remains absolutely the best you’ll hear this year.

6. Shadow of Mordor (check)

Like pretty much everyone I’m basically giving Mordor credit for its attempts to humanize its monsters more than anything else it does. Giving enemies specific fears, strengths, weaknesses, a name, and a smidge of personality through dialog go a long way towards humanizing what could have been generic orcs. The rest of the game may be Assassin’s Creed by way of Arkham Asylum, but being able to follow the story of not just your character but the characters you’re supposed to defeat goes a long way towards making Shadow of Mordor uniquely memorable.

7. This War of Mine (check)

It’s easy to dismiss this as a zombie survival game without zombies, but to do so would be to rob the game of what makes it so worthwhile. If you really get into empathizing with its characters and maybe even role playing a bit it’s a fantastic story generator about people trapped in a war torn city. Like Shadow of Mordor it’s notable for humanizing its enemies, but unlike Shadow of Mordor you slowly realize just how little separates you from them when survival is a zero sum game that pushes everyone to desperate measures.

8. Mario Kart 8 (check)

Aside from being drop dead gorgeous, Mario Kart 8 manages to be tremendous fun with some of the best tracks the series has ever seen. Yes, the singleplayer is as frustrating and random-number-generator determined as ever, but the multiplayer - especially local multiplayer - really shines. It’s a game that just does what it says on the tin, but it does it really, really well. Shame about that battle mode, though.

9. The Jackbox Party Pack (check)

It takes a lot of creative thinking to move the party game genre forward, but Jackbox games managed to do it by making a party game where traditional controllers aren’t needed. By making everyone’s cellphone or tablet an input device they managed to push the player limit up much higher than in other party games while at the same time making it much simpler to let everyone play at once.

10. Sunset Overdrive (Check)

If you can get past the humor, which is awful 80% of the time, you’ll find something like a spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio. The graffiti has been replaced with combat, but the general idea of traversing a city and completing an objectives while being trailed by bad guys with platforming as your only defense is still there, as is the aesthetic heavily influenced by music - although this time it’s less Guitar Vader and more Yellowcard. It’s not the Tony Hawk of shooters it was advertised as, but it is the Blink-182 flavored Jet Set Radio I never knew I needed in my life.

11. Destiny (check)

People thought Destiny was going to take Halo to the next level, but it actually pared it back to its core mechanics. I know those looking for an engaging space opera were disappointed, but to me this might embody a “gamer’s game” more than anything else this year. Gorgeous, high fidelity graphics, incredibly satisfying game feel, and dozens of hours of gameplay if you wanted to find it. It’s mindless and grindy and was so abusive to its narrative in development that every ounce of humanity has been sucked out. But it’s such a pretty Skinner box that just feels so good to push the buttons on you don’t mind all that much.

12. Fantasia (check)

It’s not really a simulation of conducting, and it’s not really dance central, either. Instead Fantasia tries to instill a sense of power over music, like Mickey in Sorcerer’s Apprentice. You don’t keep the beat, you summon the music into the existence through commanding hand gestures, twisting the instruments and remixing as you go. I’ve really never played anything like it; it mixes the power fantasy of making music and the physicality of a dance game into what is effectively an in-home art installation.

So that’s ten-ish games that I got enjoyment from in 2014. And I’m already feeling bad about games I didn’t put on - there was the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands; that was actually really funny. And Fract OST came out this year! And so did Actual Sunlight! And Escape Goat 2 - and Goat Simulator for that matter. And Five Nights at Freddy’s and most of Walking Dead Season 2 and Geometry Wars 3 and the Left Behind DLC and Jazzpunk and Octodad and Luftrausers, and, and… and maybe 2014 wasn’t such a bad year after all. I guess that’s my real problem with end of year lists - they tend to either try to capture what the year felt like or they try to respond to the year’s events, but no list can really capture how much amazing stuff gets made every year. But in years like this that’s heartening, to know that no matter how sucky and awful things might seem from every angle, there’s still a huge group of titles that are worth playing in some way. Even if we can’t fit them all in a list.