For 2014’s best games, SideQuesting is taking a different approach than in the past. We’re not hosting a definitive Game of the Year for the site, instead focusing on the individual writers and their favorites. Hopefully, you’ll be able to connect a little better with the writers that make up this little corner of the web, as many of us will be posting our Top 5 lists throughout the next week. Enjoy, and bring on 2015!
I think that saying 2014 was a bad or sub-par year for games has been a little misleading. Sure, there weren’t as many epic, AAA, earth-shattering video games as compared to past years, but we’re still in the middle of a huge generational transition that will last through to the end of 2015. We saw this coming. The new gen consoles still have small install bases compared to their last gen siblings, and gaming isn’t as much of the home experience fad it was when the Wii sparked the emergence of mass appeal. And it costs much, much more to develop those big games than it ever did.
Simply put, everyone started going to mobile devices, which saw an incredible boom in gaming.
But I’m mostly a console/handheld gamer myself, and while iPhones were great homes for games, this was an important year for me personally to be able to sit down and escape the rest of the world. A lot of mental, physical and emotional anguish took its toll on me, and by May I was already worn out. Thankfully gaming was my comfort food, and being able to tap in to nostalgia and connecting with my family calmed me beyond ways I could imagine.
When I formulated my list, I found myself going back to those comfort zones and ways I could deal with everything that was going on. Games may not have outright saved me, but they definitely provided that much-needed diversion.
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Robots. Cyborgs. Mutants. Lasers. Explosions. Moon battles. Love story? Mutha-truckin’ Wolfenstein. It has it all. And it surprisingly weaves it all together in a way that is not only true to the classic games (through great shooting and traversal) but it does it with a capital M for Mature, and not just for its ESRB rating. Wolfenstein‘s narrative features some great human interplay and memorable characters with actual emotions and motives. Heck, it even treats sex well, focusing on the sometimes primal need for love-making during difficult circumstances.
The game is designed like a movie with massive set pieces and an often harrowing adventure. There’s plenty to ogle and gawk at while running through. It’s also never unbeatable, even at its more difficult settings, gently guiding us forward with a nudge or a rocket-launcher boom. It’s complete narrative escapism, and coupled with great yet classic gameplay it becomes an enjoyable ride through hell and back.
Mario Kart 8
I don’t think I’ve played any one series more than I’ve played Mario Kart. It is undoubtedly my favorite party game, my favorite racing game, and my favorite multiplayer game series of all time. It’s so simple in its premise that the entirety of the franchise’s evolution and enhancements rest on the refinement of that very first SNES version. It’s possibly one of the most “pick up and play” series around.
I think it’s that approachability and design that lets my wife enjoy Mario Kart 8 as much as I do, leading to some of the best couch multiplayer in recent years. With fantastic animations, replays (death stare!), beautiful visuals, and the incredible track design, Mario Kart 8 is going to be played in my home for a long, long time. If there’s ever been a sure fire bet, it would be this.
This War of Mine
Back when I first previewed This War of Mine at PAX East in 2014, I noted how much it made me reflect on what my family had gone through in Eastern Europe. Violence and terrorism were an unfortunate part of daily life, and one I hope I never have to live through myself. Granted, just the short play experience in a crowded convention hall was enough to make me even slightly disturbed.
So why go back? Why experience the game when I was trying to get away from stress and emotional turmoil? Simple: This War of Mine became therapeutic.
The game is never quiet, often leaving me stressed out or shaking as I realize I may have to sacrifice the lives of others just to make it through a night in a war torn building. But by doing so, by forcing myself to survive, I was teaching my actual self about how to deal with stressful situations. Today I know a little more about what my family went through, but I also know a little more about what my emotional limits are.
Shovel Knight
Pure nostalgia. Shovel Knight isn’t just a game that’s designed in the style of an 8-Bit NES game, it’s designed exactly like one, from the ground up. It’s apparent, feeling “just right” for a game that we would have played in 1989. And just like those late NES games the visuals and audio capture the best of the era. Combined with fantastic writing and incredible depth, Shovel Knight is the kind of game that is almost endlessly replayable, and equally enjoyable and refreshing.
Super Smash Bros
My first real foray into a Smash Bros game was the Wii’s Brawl. I played some of the N64’s version but completely missed Melee for whatever reason. After years of hype and how the game was going to be more of a return to the competitive form, I wanted to dive headfirst into it.
And it is, just as advertised, an incredibly hectic, pixel-perfect multiplayer game. Its seemingly endless assortment of modes, unlockables and collectibles, along with the great visuals and design, make for one of the deepest games of the generation. And with forthcoming tournament modes and potential DLC, the game will have a lot of legs over the rest of this year and next.
But none of that compared to watching my daughter play the game and having my perception shattered. As she punched and kicked and jumped, she kept losing. And losing. And losing. And loving it. The giggles would grow louder each match, her voice filling the living room with glee as she sometimes hit an opponent and sometimes (rarely) won. It wasn’t about how she finished the matches, but what she did during them that fascinated her. She was in love with the chaos, much like I was when I first played Smash on the N64 in a college dorm. Happy chaos! Nintendo chaos! It was never about winning, but about how I got to the end, and watching her made me realize that all over again.
Nintendo has that magic perfected in their games, and that’s perhaps why this past year has been a happy return to form for my inner fanboy. It was needed, and games like the ones above exemplify that. And, from what we’ve seen, 2015 should be just as great if not better.
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