07. Hyrule Warriors -- If this is the start of what happens when Nintendo allows other developers to use their characters in other genres of games, I'm liking the direction this is headed! Nintendo deals in nostalgia; the sound of Mario's coins, the opening of a Zelda treasure chest, the dropping of a Metroid bomb. They build their games on a base of experiences and memories quite unlike any other dev house out there. When other developers "get this" and are fans of Nintendo's works, it shows. Hyrule Warriors is ALL about working every single piece of Zelda lore into every corner of the game, and the results are magical. You get items that are immediately familiar; they work in the way they are expected, but to all new super-charged effects. You get characters that are immediately familiar but are shown in a whole new light. They look as they should, they move as they should, they sound as they should, but in this game they ALL kick some serious ASS! The story sounds as if it could be the plot of any other Zelda, but the action is fast, strategic and FUN! It makes the perfect entry for novices to Musou games because it deals with characters, enemies, areas and events Nintendo fans know all about. Hyrule or the history of China or Japan? Hyrule, please! If you are a fan of the Legend of Zelda, and you have a mind open enough to try new experiences, I find it next to impossible to believe you can walk away from this game disappointed. You will be awed by the amount of fan-service Omega Force has packed into this game. Agatha from Twilight Princess? The Chain-Chomp from Link's Awakening? Legendary! Did I mention you could play this game for HUNDREDS of hours and still not get everything. Wow! Just wow!
06. Rogue Legacy -- The simple definition of legacy is: Anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor. The creators of Rogue Legacy wove this into their development in two ways: They knew rogue games so far have been almost exclusively top-down, dungeon affairs. Limited movement, limited energy, procedural dungeons, random items, permanent death... but the ideas have mostly been the same. Take the entire "Mystery Dungeon" series for example. The Devs respected everything about rogue games that came before this one, but turned the genre on it's side, LITERALLY! Rogue Legacy is a side-scrolling adventure game, almost in the vein of CastleVania games, but in full-on Rogue style! The dungeons are still randomized, death is still permanent, but they took this a step further. Your characters now get random traits, too, some good, some bad! Maybe you're built like a tank, but have no magic skill whatsoever. Maybe you are a powerful mage, but you are left-handed and all your spells are cast behind you! Maybe you have very low hit-points, but you have the knack for finding rare-items. This game is a brilliant new way to look at this style of game, yet it's as traditional as they come! You will die, dozens to hundreds of times, but all is not lost when you do! The other part of what makes Legacy "legacy" is: The buffs you buy, the equipment you've earned or crafted are all passed down to your kin! Maybe you're born colorblind, gay or extremely flatulent, but the extra-magic points your dad developed or the sword your mom earned isn't lost! Every next generation is that much stronger and able to progress just a bit further into the "Metroid-Vania-like" halls of this game's cursed castle and lands surrounding it! It's absolutely amazing! This game looks as if it could have been done on a Super Nintendo but the concepts behind it take this genre of game to all new levels; simplicity but amazing depth... This is the kind of game you know I am going to be all over! Excellent!
Hyrule has 100 hours of content. Nooo noooooo no more 100 games, I can't take it anymore!!!!! *jumps off cliff*
Dvader said:Hyrule has 100 hours of content. Nooo noooooo no more 100 games, I can't take it anymore!!!!! *jumps off cliff*
I just hit the 100 hour mark in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Archangel3371 said:I just hit the 100 hour mark in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Me too, I'm like halfway done! *cries*
Dvader said:Archangel3371 said:I just hit the 100 hour mark in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Me too, I'm like halfway done! *cries*
This is why I can't start this game until I finish Skyrim....and the size of Skyrim keeps scaring me away to shorter games.
05. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth -- In a synopsis of the commonalities of Edmund McMillen's games it was said: "McMillen inserts many deep themes in his work, but I’ve noticed one particularly overarching theme after viewing all of this new media: it tends to involve a person retracting into themselves when their home and social lives become too much for their view of reality to handle." In The Binding of Issac you retreat into the mind of a child named Isaac and I can hardly think of a more terrifying place to be. Kids are innocent, that is for sure, but they are also scared. The world is a big, chaotic place to them and they find many things to be frightened of. How could I possibly put a game about Religion, Poop, Dead Babies, Peer Pressure, Mother Issues, Bullying and Sin on my "Game of the Year 2014" list? Let me recount for you the story of my life so far... OK, maybe not --BUT-- as a --GAME-- The Binding of Isaac is a fantastic **yes, another** rogue style game. It looks like a demented Legend of Zelda, but plays like a twin-stick-shooter, adventure game. It's ---very--- unique! Permanent Death, Randomized Dungeons, Randomized Power-Ups and Items? Check, check, checkity-check. It has all the makings of an insanely addicting rogue game but has a plot that anyone who has ever been a small, frightened child will find elements to relate to. If you cannot, count yourself as being blessed, but you still might like this game in spite of yourself! This game could have been even higher on my list if a part of me wasn't equally repulsed by it as I am intrigued. That such an incredibly personal and disturbing vision of life made it as high as it did says A LOT about the quality of game it is! Recommended, but not for the faint of heart!
RECAP! The list so far!
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10. Kirby: Triple Deluxe 3DS
09. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor PS4
08. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth 3DS
07. Hyrule Warriors Wii U
06. Rogue Legacy PS4
05. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth PS4
04. ???
03. ???
02. ???
01. ???
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04. Dragon Age: Inquisition -- You may be asking yourself: "Hey! This is a Phantom_Leo GOTY list, where are all the loot games?" Here's one! As much as I LOVED the Mass Effect series, the story, characters, the skills and the action, First Person Shooters aren't always my thing. Inquisition, however, is like someone went into my brain and took the best parts of some of my favorite styles of games and mashed them together! The characters you can create are diverse enough and different enough to all be worth playing! The battle system can be as simple or complex as you like! The moral choices and conversation trees are still in, full force! Dragon Age, to me at least, plays more like a Diablo style game this time around, and there's nothing wrong with that at all! Having played and replayed D3 this year, I was looking for something else to sink my teeth into, and DA:I does not disappoint! Yes, it even has Loot! I love the way you can find different items in chests. I love the way you can forge and modify armors and weapons with different strengths, skills and looks. There are sooo many quests, sooo many areas to explore; just filling in the map and seeing what each area holds is a mini-adventure in itself! The story has the typical BioWare sense of mystery and epic-ness to it. The Lore is stronger than ever before --IF-- you want to explore all the Journal Entries you accumulate. The thing is, you can play this game as simply or in-depth as you want! Granted, I am only about 30 hours into it or so, but I can easily see myself spending 100 hours plus on this game... and then playing it again! It's that much fun to play! THAT is the mark of a GREAT game!
...oh! ...and Dorian! <3
I am trying to stay impartial here. Even in the face of man-ass! Normally dat ass would have made DA:I GOTY worthy all by itself!
** ...and trust me, it's hard to stay even only partial when there are characters like Dorian around! **
I liked DMC; the originals and the reboot. I was just never very good at them. The only one I finished was DmC.
Bayonetta, on the other hand, I LOVED! Just read my description of it in the 2011 Game Completion Topic.
I can't seem to find my GOTY topic for that year, but I'm pretty sure the ONLY reason it wasn't Bayonetta was because, well, Red Dead... Need I say more?
As for my hours in Dragon Age; it may be more than 30, I haven't paid much attention. I just did the "Days of Future Past" mission and then a bunch of Astarium, Rift and Shard quests, so it may be more... or may be less...!
Edit: Oops! Nevermind! It wasn't Red Dead Redemption for GOTY that year. I don't think I did one for 2011!? Had I, Bayonetta would have been my Number One game easily!