Its beginning to look a lot like GOTY

[clyde]

I hope you post your thoughts on them eot.

[Pepyri]

I know it's cheating, but I've hit a point where "Game of the Year" ends up missing so much that it just isn't worth it anymore, because of how often great post-release support makes a game so much better.

 

So for me, I define it all by "Best Gaming Experiences of 2014". To keep myself from posting a top 10 list, I'm just gonna point out the games that made a theme for a time of this year for me-

 

• 80 Days - What a damn experience. I've never played such a well-realized combination of mechanics and VN-style story, and having never read the book it's based off of, it was all fresh and lovely to me on top of it. First "gripping" experience I've ever had on my phone, easily.
• The Wolf Among Us - This started last year, but I was desperate for every last episode until it ended. The music, the visuals, the world- I loved it all so much. I really need to read the graphic novels.
• Endless Legend - Easily the biggest surprise of the year. Getting this, it's hard to not look at Civilization: Beyond Earth with downright scorn in comparison. Beautiful, unique, well-realized art style. Incredibly diverse, truly game-changing races. Smart innovations in everything from luxury resources to combat. Stupid amounts of variety. Great lore. And only $40, for the best strategy game of the year. SURE OKAY.
• Crypt of the Necrodancer - Just buy it. You'll think it won't be that unique looking at it. Play it and find out how wrong you were.
• Dragon Age: Inquisiton - The normal RPG fare, until you get to actually managing the inquisition. I loved sitting in that throne, ruling and judging situations. Why can't there be a game about ruling, instead of warring armies or 4x-style stuff?
• League of Legends - Things just keep getting better. After the best esports year any game has ever had, the 2015 pre-season changes combine with the 2014 changes to just put League in a pure, wonderful place. The game has never felt better, and I've been playing since alpha. Good gracious it's lovely.

[Griddlelol]

[*]Dragon Age: Inquisiton - The normal RPG fare, until you get to actually managing the inquisition. I loved sitting in that throne, ruling and judging situations. Why can't there be a game about ruling, instead of warring armies or 4x-style stuff?

I completely agree, that part was great. It could basically be a Lord Management game.

[Reyturner]

King of Dragon Pass is literally that game.

[Gwardinen]

Yeah, if someone updated the UI of King of Dragon Pass to not be so profoundly unintuitive - hostile, even - it would probably be my favourite game.

[SuperBiasedMan]

You can sorta play that way in Crusader Kings. Admittedly all the other people warring does make it hard to stay neutral...

[Gwardinen]

And the main scoring system of Crusader Kings II is prestige. Since winning wars gains you prestige, as does having as many titles as possible, you're pretty heavily incentivised towards not staying neutral.

[SuperBiasedMan]

That's true but I thought most players stopped caring about prestige after they figured out the game.

[Pepyri]

I'd never heard of this game! It's on iOS, so I think I'll pick it up.

[miffy495]

In terms of time spent, I'm coming up on calling either Binding of Isaac Rebirth or Rogue Legacy my goty. Both have managed to successfully make me feel like I'm not wasting my time by playing a roguelike and have really managed to get their hooks into me. I haven't beaten either (though I've managed to beat both the Cathedral and Sheol in BoI, and am able to open the final door in Rogue Legacy, so that's something), but am close enough to call these my favourite games of the year. Strangely, both on Vita.

[Griddlelol]

Vita is the best for rogue likes, and indies in general. I played to about NG6+ in rogue legacy on my vita! and BoI is now my go to game.

Is it actually possible to "beat" BoI?

I recently got Freedom Wars for vita, and it's a super pretty game, with a really interesting narrative that ties in great to the game play, which is sort of hunting-like, but it feels a lot better than things like monster hunter or soul sacrifice.

I'd recommend trying it out if you have a vita, and I'm pretty sure it's on sale in most countries (I got it for £10 in the 12 deals of Xmas). My only issue is they use the amnesia trope but for literally no reason. You're in prison, and you get your sentence extended for amnesia. They could have easily just thrown you in prison without the why explained, or even just some throw away reason like theft or something more interesting like murder. Nope though, amnesia, sigh.

[chummer]

Here is the paradox: Bernband is seemingly convincing in it's illusion and Hernhand's appeal is partly the transparency of the way it is put together; but Bernband feels fully designed while Hernhand feels representational of real experiences.

 

While Bernband definitely feels more "designed" (I think your comparison to an amusement park is on-point), I actually felt it was representational of my memories of a place. While experiencing cool things in a city rarely happens as often/within the short time-span that Bernband presents, that's certainly the way I remember places. For instance, I've been to San Francisco once and I remember having a drink in a tall building, meeting a homeless person who told jokes for money ("I can tell you where you got those shoes." "Where?" "You got them on your feet!"), eating mac & cheese with lobster, a rude jogger and so on.

 

 

So it's weird, and I need to restate that I can't say that Hernhand is better than Bernband or vice-versa...

 

It's not better, it's just different and something that has more resonance with me.

 

Fair enough. I think arguing which is "better" isn't what's making the conversation worth having anyway; I just fall on the other side and say that Bernband hit me stronger.

 

 

PS. The number of "Hernhand" and "Bernband" on this page makes you all look like crazy people. It's like a nonsense conversation inside Bernband.

 

Bernand. Hernhand. The Yawhg. Nidhogg.

 

It's the era of nonsense names.

 

 

 

something something Smooth Criminal

 

[clyde]

[Bjorn]

Is it actually possible to "beat" BoI?

Getting Real Platinum God would have to qualify (unlocking all items, finding all items in a game and completing every achievement).

[Griddlelol]

That's a pretty tall order considering the randomness of it all. I unlocked ipecac ages ago and have yet to see it drop.

[Justin Leego]

My only issue is they use the amnesia trope but for literally no reason. You're in prison, and you get your sentence extended for amnesia. They could have easily just thrown you in prison without the why explained, or even just some throw away reason like theft or something more interesting like murder. Nope though, amnesia, sigh.

Ok, now I'm interested!

[chummer]

 

http://youtu.be/IdSUKIFnYc8?t=6m12s

 

Not sure how I feel about the gun and scoring as discovering the world is what really made Bernband great, but I'm willing to try it out.

[Apelsin]

wait, so is this Prey 2 now?

[Laprasdemon]

scrabble is really good. my goty

[Bjorn]

It's not the end of the year yet, so I'm adding the wonderful 80 Days to my list. 

[Griddlelol]

I honestly didn't like 80 days. Something about it didn't click for me, just felt like I was clicking things and progress was happening irrelevant of whether I did the "best" way or not. Probably doesn't help that I don't enjoy adventure games, and that's basically what it is.

[bakelite]

Alien: Isolation, This War of Mine, Elite: Dangerous, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Lots of good colons this year.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I honestly didn't like 80 days. Something about it didn't click for me, just felt like I was clicking things and progress was happening irrelevant of whether I did the "best" way or not. Probably doesn't help that I don't enjoy adventure games, and that's basically what it is.

 

I wouldn't really say it's an adventure game, more of a light management sim on top of an interactive fiction game. The focus is supposed to be more about exploring options than optimisation really. I've had a lot of fun roleplaying as Passepartout, first trying to be as astute a valet as possible then a game where I'm just amazed by the world as we travel and explore it.

I don't know if that matters to you but I just wanted to explain my take on the game.

 

I also need to add Shovel Knight and Crypt of the Necrodancer. Both just really solid fun experiences, though technically the latter is still in early access. They just tap into the fun of games, similar to Spelunky and Super Meat Boy for me that way. I've been finding more and more that I like movement based platformers way more than anything else when it comes to wanting a challenging game.

[Bjorn]

I honestly didn't like 80 days. Something about it didn't click for me, just felt like I was clicking things and progress was happening irrelevant of whether I did the "best" way or not. Probably doesn't help that I don't enjoy adventure games, and that's basically what it is.

I agree with what SBM said. The roleplaying part of it is really, really good. Each playthrough, I've decided that I would begin it with a particular personality, but would try to react naturally to each situation. Which makes it play out really interestingly.

But on top of that, the game does something that is never done. It seems to be incredibly gender agnostic in character designs. There are all sorts of characters that would have defaulted to male in any other game. It tries to be more agnostic about ethnicity and race as well, but is more handcuffed by the politics of the day on that.

[mikemariano]

After being disappointed by Wasteland 2, I thought "was that the only game I played this year?"

 

No, I played Shadowrun: Dragonfall.  I really liked Dragonfall!