What is your Game of the Year, or Games of the Year?

[MachoJabroni]

It's that time: Time to start purging your wallet for Steam Sales to play the GOTY nominees of this year. But what were these games or this one, truly amazing game that you think must be your Game of 2014? It's always atough decision, so I've decided to make a Top 5 list (Non-Steam games included):

5. To start my list, it goes to Smash Bros for 3DS/Wii U, or Sm4sh. My favourite game series to play with friends not only added so many new things, it kept the old content and improved it so much. The day I got it I immediately unlocked every character just so I could play as all of them. So far, I main Robin, Shiek, and Fox (all those who main them represent!) and I use so man other characters for ♥♥♥♥♥ and giggles, and that's playing Solo or Online. I don't even know what I'll use against friends.

4. Shovel Knight is my number four. I've barely played an hour of this game, but holy hell do I intend to finish it before the end of the year. The amount of fun I've had in 45 minutes of Shovel Knight mostly consists of amazing gameplay (I mean a shovel as a weapon? Unheard of! Truly revolutionary!), catchy chiptune music, and nostalgia of games that I was lucky to even play when I was young (I grew up with an original Xbox and Playstation).

3. South Park: The Stick of Truth takes third place. I only just started watching South Park a couple of years ago and when I got this game, I didn't know what to expect. What I got was probably one of the best RPGs I've ever played. The story and visual style makes it feel exactly like an episode of South Park, and the fact that the actual show made a three episode story arc that parodied Game of Thrones just to advertise for this game made it so much better! The funniest game of 2014 goes to The Stick of Truth as well, seeing as within the first 5 minutes I took a ♥♥♥♥ in game.

2. Two goes to... Titanfall. Now wait a minute, I hear you ask, this was overhyped and terrible and a game so boring it made the grinding in Destiny seem like a Michael Bay extravaganza! Well first off, Destiny ain't all that bad either. Second off, this was my multiplayer shooter of the year. I stopped playing around June, and a month later I immediately regretted the decision. I'm missing out on Frontier Defense and Marked For Death because my computer doesn't have space for Titanfall anymore (I have too many games to complete!) But the multiplayer was so satisfyingly good that I couldn't put it down for hours, days, weeks, months after it released! I'd also like to put the Advanced Warfare multiplayer in this spot as well because while they are different playstyles and I've put lots of time into both, I couldn't put both on the same list due to my want for diversity on this list.

Honourable Mentions!
-Alien: Isolation (Haven't played much of this either but the gameplay so far is tense!)
-Five Nights at Freddy's 1 & 2 (3spooky5me, but seriously, Scott did amazing storytelling in these games, and MattPatt gave great Game Theories on the two games)
-The Wolf Among Us (Just finished this year and was amazing! Go play it!)

Now for number one! It is...


A three way tie between Wolfenstein: The New Order, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, and Transistor...


"WHAT?!?" I can hear you cry! "You can't do that!" Oh but I can. I give each of these my GOTY seal of approval for one reason that makes each game what it is: The gameplay and visuals of Wolfenstein, the art design, soundtrack and brilliant mixture of RPG and strategy of Transistor, and the creativity, educational value (surprising, yes, but also amazing) and storytelling of Valiant Hearts. I'll explain each in their own manner.

Wolfenstein: You've killed MechaHitler. You've slaughtered thousands of Nazi scumbags, and you start this game by waking up from a 14 year coma to slaughter more Nazis, join a small resistance, bang Polsh babes, and exact revenge on General Deathshead. Obviously, you sound like a badass. This game sets it up so perfectly. Now it also gave you not only some run and gun gameplay to match, but also some surprisingly decent stealth to suit those who want the "Nazi Assassin" approach instead of the old fashioned "Walking Aryan Slaughterhouse" way of life. Combine that with probably one of my favourite video game guns, the Laserkraftwerk, the ability to dual wield almost any weapon including full auto shotties and sniper rifles for your 420 Qu1cK_5c0p3zZz, and the new perk system and you have a refreshing take on an old classic franchise that needed to be revived after what happened with Wolfenstein '09. Not to mention, Moon Nazis and robot dogs that scare the bejeezus out of me. 10/10, best single player shooter this year.

Transistor: A picture says 1000 words, so why not have a picture AND music tell the story for me? Lazy? Yes. Effectively says why I loved this game? Also yes. And the story for this game was spectacular as well.
Art design:
https://www.supergiantgames.com/webhook-uploads/1407982520654_Transistor_19-mar-2013_04.jpg
Soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql8K3KJyWgY
10/10, best RPG this year.

Valiant Hearts: Oh boy, where do I start? Maybe wiht the fact that I'm a history buff; I love to learn about historicl events that shaped the future as we know it. So when Ubisoft announced this game, along with others that SEEMED promising *cough* Watch_Dogs *cough*, then I was excited. There are never any WWI games anymore, and there were barely any to begin with. So when I played this game, I collected everything I could just to learn more. But the narration also had me hooked; telling the audience about the character's story as if it were a Discovery Channel documentary is somewhat odd, but surprisingly effective. The dog in this game is one of my favourite companions in videogaming, up there with Kazooie from Banjo-Kazooie, and Pokemon, and Elizabeth or the Little Sisters from BioShock. This game puts other war games to shame by showing how many of the soldiers really felt about war; they didn't glorify it forever, and many were taken through horrific and terrible means, including being purposely killed by their allies for doing what they believed was right. This game shows the horrors of war, but also brings to light the beauty of friendship. The main cast is all connected throughout the story, and it was heartwarming through and through. This game was what a war game with dogs should not only be (Infinity Ward can suck it), but also what any story about war should be about. If there was any redemption for Ubisoft, it would be to make a sequel to this game. 10/10, best adventure game this year.

So there is my list. I went into a lot of pointless detail. But why? Because this year, so many said this: 2014 sucked for gaming. Yes, Ubisoft done goofed with a lot of stuff while EA and Activision somewhat redeemed themselves. Yes, GamerGate happened and is still currently going on leaving many to mass-exodus from 4chan to 8chan, and from Kotaku to IGN, or vice-versa depending on which side you're on (let's keep this neutral, anyone who wants to discuss it). And of course, MANY games were overhyped. Too many. But that is your fault for falling for the hype, my friends. BUT! What really happened this year was something I never thought I'd see: Game of the Year lists on many websites are so diverse and incredibly unbiased towards one game, and not only that but there are barely any fights over which game is better! You dont see "Transistor suck! DA: Inquisition is better!", you see "Transistor had great gameplay, but I found Inquisition's to be much more fun all around." If there was ever a year in gaming I loved more than any other, it might be this year. Sure, 2010 had 3 of my favourite games release (Mass Effect 2, Halo: Reach and BioShock 2, for those wondering), but this year had so many diverse and amazing games. Thanks for reading if you read the entire way through.

Put your GOTY or Top Games list in the comments!

[MachoJabroni]

Oh, I forgot New Vegas, Metro 2033, Red Dead Redemption, Assassin's Creed II on PC and Brotherhood, Black Ops, Back To The Future: The Game, and of course, Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game came out in 2010 as well. So maybe 2010 is my favourite year in gaming?