Top 15 games I played in 2014

Intro- Hey guys, Erablier here with another one of these lists. Being my second list of games I played a year, I figured wynaut. Same rules as last list, one per-francise and it doesn't have to have been released this year, I just have to have played it. Shall we being?

15. Super Mario 3D World- And it must be surprising that the most famous video game character barely gets on the list, even though the one I played was really good. That game being, Super Mario 3D World. Now here is a interesting Mario game. Like Super Mario 3D Land, World is a 2D Mario game in a 3D world but this one has few new differences. Mainly you can play as multiple characters those being Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach and the unlockable character Rosalina. They each play differently and some need to be used to get certain green stars or stamps which are the games collectables. You also have some segments that switch up the gameplay such as riding a loch ness monster like dinosaur named Plessie down a water slide and collecting green stars in a 3D-cube puzzle thing with Captain Toad. Captain Toad in particular is a really fun minigame and actually got turned into a spin-off title that I've yet played. But what we look for in a new Mario game is the new power-ups and it brought  some pretty cool ones. The two that stand out the most are the Super Bell and the Double Cherry. The Super Bell turns you into a cat version of yourself that can climb up walls and flag poles making it super easy to get to the top of the flag pole. Double Cherry on the other hand adds a copy of yourself that will mimic whatever you do. There isn't else much to talk about this game as there isn't much of a story and it is very similar to 3D Land. But it was a game I had fun with, that's that.

14. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance- Have you ever had a game that you wanted to play but kept procrastinating it? Yeah, I may have done that. Although, I have to say, the wait was worth it. Metal Gear Rising may have "Metal Gear" in its name but it plays nothing like a Metal Gear game. Metal Gear games are drive by stealthy dispatching enemies with a deep and heart felt story. Rising on the other hand, has you slashing enemies in pieces with an insane story and crazy bosses. There is some message about kill innocent people who are just doing their job, but this is a game where you fight a Metal Gear Ray with rock music playing, I don't think that message is going to have a lot of thought when we're ripping people apart. The similarities to the rest of the Metal Gear series are so few and far between. I mean you do play as Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2 and the first boss is a Metal Gear Ray, and you do hide inside a cardboard box in order to sneak past enemies. But the basic combat is completely different, playing like a hack and slash gameplay style like No More Heroes and Madworld. Cutting people to sherds is some much fun in this game! That... doesn't make me a horrible person... right? Anyway.... this game also features it own unique feature like Madworlds powerstruggle: Blade mode. Blade mode slows down time and lets you cute enemies in certain areas to either cut of their body parts and maybe collect their Zandatsu which will heal you. It's bosses are also really cool with only one that isn't really that good. As for the soundtrack, it's freaking insane. And I love it! Just listen to "Rules of Nature" if you're wondering how insane. Overall I had alot of fun with game which lands it a spot on the list.

13. Skullgirls- Now heres one 2D fighting games that I really enjoy, the indie fighting game Skullgirls. I was a bit skeptical about it because of the fact that it has a all female cast, but after watching some gameplay of it, I decided to pick it up and see if I would like it, and boy did I. First the art style, I love it! It's got an anime feel while not being full on anime. The characters move so fluidly and it makes use of the style so nicely. It also has something that is very different from any other 2D fighter that I've played: a smaller roster. The game only has eight characters at the start. Eight! That's even less than smash bros 64 which only had 12 characters. But there are six characters being release for DLC, bring the total up to 14, but that's still not much compared to modern fighters. However, this gives both the developer and the player to play around with every character. Their all balanced, with the exception of Big Band, and are a joy to play as. You're probably gonna gravitate to different characters as with most fighting games, but it's much easier to decide who you want to play as since the roster is so small, with my favorites being Squigly, Peacock and the insanely powerful Big Band. It also has a very in depth story that connects each of the characters back stories together. Not only is it great that they were able to do that and not make it forced, at least I don't think it was forced, but they actually made a story with this much depth where most fighting games barely put in one. That's freaking great! This was originally higher on the list, either 7 or 8, but I pushed it because I did enjoy most of the other games more than Skullgirls. And they doesn't help it that much when climbing up the list.

12. Earthbound- Let's go back to 1999 and Super Smash Brothers. While the game featured tons of famous Nintendo characters, there was one character that most people didn't recognize, and it was Ness. When I first saw Ness in brawl, I didn't really care to much about him, since there were some many more characters, and ones that I found to be better. But when I started hear some about his series and saw some gameplay of it, I figured I might as well check it out. And so, as many of you may have guessed by now, we're talking about Earthbound. This is one of those, it's about time games that everyone talks about with high regard. And while I like it as much as other people do, I can see why other people hold it such a high regard. The game doesn't have a lot of the tradition RPG formulas. The combat is still turn based, you level up after you get enough of exp, but most of the other stuff is tweaked in a unique way. The health bar turns meaning that you can save party members from death if you health them before it hits zero, encounters aren't random and if you walk into an enemy who is a much lower level than you are, the screen flashes and gives you the victory without the need for a battle. That last one particular is one that I really like, since it means that I don't have to be forced into battles against low level enemies that I can one shot with out even trying. I also like how it inserts all the RPG items into really world 90's. Instead of Swords and Staffs, you have Baseball bats and Yo-yos. Instead of Helmets and Gauntlets you have Hats and Bracelets. It's very charming. And that's the word to describe this game, it's charming. There's also one last thing I want to mention and it's about the Japanese name for the game; Mother 2. Aside from the fact that we didn't get the first Mother game, I feel the name fits much better. In all three Mother games, moms play a very important role, and I feel the title fits the series better than Earthbound. Just my two cents.

11. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future- Well isn't this interesting. Just bearly making the cut for the top ten, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future is what is considered the best game in the Professor Layton series and it's easy to see why. Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke receive a letter from Lukes future self saying that the future is in peril, and after the help of some clock store they end up in the future! But while in the future, Layton keeps seeing what may be a ghost from his past. I am going to stop right there, if I told you anymore about the story, it would ruin the experience. This is a game where the story takes up a good chunk of the game and missing it would take away from the gameplay as well. So, lets talk about the gameplay! The Layton games are mainly based on logic puzzles and have you try to figure them out. I'll fully admit, I did look up how to complete some of these puzzles online because I wanted to progress the story, but if that doesn't show how great it is, I don't know what else could. However, when I did solve them on my own, it felt sooooooooooooo satisfying. And.... I don't know what else to say really. It's a fun game with an amazing story. But because I can't talk about that story, I haven't got much to say.

10. Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright- Now THIS is a crossover! This is a weird game for me, Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright is a love letter to fans of both series, but me on the other hand went into this game with out playing either a Layton or Ace Attorney game before. Regardless, the game was still pretty great. Like Unwound Future I can't talk about the story because I'm afraid that I'll spoil something for a game that would lose part of what makes it so good. However I will give say this, the main heroes from both series are sent to a mysterious place where magic and witches exist and have to defend a young girl in witch trails, that's about all that you can pick up from the trailers so I'll stop there. So instead I'll talk about the gameplay. It fuses the gameplay styles of the Layton and Ace Attorney series having plot progression via Layton's puzzles and the trials are done with Ace Attorney gameplay, no duh.The puzzles aren't that challenging and are more meant to entertain the player as they look for evidence for the witch trails. The puzzles are fun and there was only one that I hated with a passion. But where the real meat lies are in the witch trails. They play like any other Phoenix Wright case; listen to the witnesses, press them for more info and shout OBJECTION! once you find a contradiction. However, there's a new feature to these trials, multiple witnesses will testify at once, and while they can support they each others testimony, they'll also contradict each other, and you can capitalizes on this. And there isn't much else to talk about without spoiling the story. I know that's not much to talk about, but I really don't want to spoil it. It'll ruin the fun.

9. Megaman Battle network- If there was one franchise that I feel sorry for, it would be Megaman. Cashcom has cancelled four of his games in the last generation and while Legends may have a chance to return, I think they buried this series long before that. While I may not have played every Megaman game, the ones I did play were really good, and while I did expect X2 to take the list, I found another one. Yup, I like Battle network more than the X series, but can you blame me? This is one of the most unique RPGs I've ever played, I know that's a phrase thrown around alot, but I can't think of a single game that plays like this. In the future, everything is connected to the internet, but this makes viruses a huge form of terrorism. So people use AI companions know as Net Navies to fight these viruses. And others use them for terrorism. Our heros, Lane and MegaMan.EXE have fight these terrorist and save the world. Simple, and for an RPG story it's very disappointing. But where Battlenet work truly shines is in the gameplay. Instead of the classic stand hear, attack, get hit by enemy, repeat. It instead lets you move around a nine tiles and attack using the mega buster or power attacks that you can equip. It allows you so much more to do compared to almost ever other RPGs I've played. In fact, the only RPG that other game that I've played that is kind of similar was the Mario & Luigi games giving you a chance to avoid damage. Everything else is something that came Battle network or the Megaman series. This game is one that I mainly love for the gameplay rather than the story, and the lacking story is what doesn't get the game any higher. But hey, Battle network 2 was released on the eshop and I got it so it'll most likely.... not be on next years list. I said X2 was going to be on this list and it isn't, and I recently got Megaman Zero so it'll likely not make it on the list.

8. Kirby Triple Deluxe- Nintendo has had a great year in 2014 with releases like Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors and The Hoenn remakes, none of which are the list due to my lack of playing them that year. However there was one game that I had no idea was being released and to be honest, I'm very upset about it. For being my favorite video game franchise every, I have no idea how I didn't know that Kirby Triple Deluxe was even a thing. And easy to say, it keeps up the legacy very nicely. Triple Deluxe doesn't have the multiplayer of Return to Dream land and instead decided to have a bit of fun with the 3D plains feature off the 3DS. It's very fun and really shows the 3D feature very nicely. It isn't that difficult until you get to the arena, but Kirby games aren't meant to challenge you, they're meant to yet you have fun while murdering all the innocent creatures that you face. And speaking of murdering harmless creatures, let's talk about his new copy abilities. In Triple Deluxe, Kirby has four new copy abilities; Bell which makes Kirby look like a cute bell and make cute little chimes, Beetle which is like Suplex ability from Super Star Ultra but you're a bug know and you have a few more moves, Archer which is my favorite because it has range and holding down, and Circus which is the worse because of how awkward and one of it's moves threw me into a pit that was behind me before I could do anything to stop it! But along with those, we also got a super power inhale ability; Hypernova! This ability functions like the Super Copy Abilities from Return to Dream land, a super powerful ability that has the power to destroy terrain and all enemies in your path. Hell, later in the game you use Hypernova to eat Whispy Woods alive! And if that wasn't enough, there's more! You also have two minigames that actually good promoted to full game status; Dededes Drum Dash and Kirby Fighters. Drum Dash is a rhythm game that has Dedede bounce off of drums to reach the end and Kirby Fighters in smash bros but with copy abilities. And even then you still have going through the game as Dedede and both the arena and the true arena. While this may not be my favorite Kirby game, that would be Super Star Ultra, this is still one of the best Kirby games I've played.

7. Tales of the Abyss- I'll be honest, despite the fact that I love to play RPGs, there aren't that many RPGs that I like. Weird, I know, but it's true, there aren't that many RPGs that I like. Growing up, there were only three RPGs that I really liked; the Pokemon series, obviously, Mario & Luigi: Bowsers inside Story, and Tales of Vesperia. The latter of which was a great game that I enjoyed greatly, but didn't really get that far into it. So when I found out there was a Tales on the 3DS, I was so excited to get it and play the crap out of it. Tales of the Abyss really took what I loved about Vesperia brought it full force. Featuring a well done story that had he hooked on it from the start and a great battle system that is unique to the Tales series. But if there was anything I had to complain about in-terms of the battle system, it's that I found it very easy to abuse the free-run mechanic to avoid their attacks. I'm guessing that was the point, but it was way to broken and way to easy to do. But other than that, this system works very nicely. The party members that join you are greatly written and fun to play as, the members being the main protagonist Luke, the unknown intruder Tear, the sarcastic colonel Jade, Lukes best friend Guy, young puppeteer Anise, and the adventurous princess Natalia. You also get a cute little furry thing called a cheagle named Mieu who can shoot fire to solve puzzles. Hey, it's original Riki, but not as good because Riki is a party member. The music is also amazing, it's a great sound track and you should give it a listen. Actually, don't, instead go out and get this game, as long as you have money left over after getting the next six games.

6. Donkey Kong Country:Tropical Freeze- Yet another game brushed under the rug, Donkey Kong Country:Tropical Freeze is the platformer that I played the most, it wasn't my favorite or the one I had the most fun, but it's rather upsetting honestly. Taking place on Dks birthday, the Dk crew minus Tiny, Lanky and Chunky, celebrate his birthday when the Snowmads, an army lead consisting of arctic animals, attack. So Dk, Diddy, Dixie and Cranky set out across multiple islands in order to get back to DK isle and reclaim it from the Snowmads. As for gameplay, it plays like a Country game, but with so new additions in the form of two new partners; Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong. Dixie Kong gives the player a bit more air time and a small lift for a second jump and Cranky can pogo jump off hazardous terrain and get collectables that other kongs can't. Diddy also returns, but he's out classed by Dixie in this game, but not in smash. Freaking good in smash. The level design is so great with some amazing levels, with my favorite being Sawmill Thrill. Also, even though I don't really care about this stuff, this game has some of the best graphics that I've ever seen, even better than the PS4 and XBONE, but thats just me. If I had a problem, it's that the bosses aren't really that great, their not bad, just not that good aside from the final boss. But aside from that minor problem, it's an amazing game that anyone who owns a wii u should get.

5. Dust- Have you ever made a decision for something and then when you look back you wonder what you were thinking? Well for me, that decision was when I placed Dust very low on the list. I mean, seriously!?! This game is fucking amazing! I mean look at it, the beautifully hand-drawn art style is sooooooo pretty. Seriously, this game makes those realistic so boring in comparison. The combat system uses a beat'em up style combat system with a chain meter that gives you exp bonuses and a achievement for getting a 1000+ combo! That was so hard to get! The levels are also very well designed and the bosses are..... passable. They aren't that great but their honestly not terrible. Their just ok. And the story is just fantastic, follow Dust, a mysterious warrior with no memory, as he tries to end a on going war to end the cycle of death. He is joined by his talking sword the Blade of Ahrad and the greatest companion ever, Fridget who is a.... uh, pixie-fairy-uh... [Fridge: I'm a nimbat!].... what the bat-thing said. I'll admit I haven't played as much as I should have so I don't have as much to say, however I doubt that I would move it up even if I did. Because there is one big problem I have with this game and that's that there is a level that I absolutely hate and spent way to long on it, it also has an annoying boss fight that can only be hurt after countering. Still, While do hate this level the rest of the game is freaking amazing.

4. Metroid Fusion- Did you really think I was going to leave off metroid. Becoming one of my favorite franchises, I've played almost every metroid game in 2013 alone. Last year however, I only two Metroid games, with the two that I hadn't played being Prime 2 and Super Metroid (Note: While writing this script, Erablier has played Super Metroid). And because Return of Samus not being that great, I guess theres only one left. Have you ever felt along, helpless, with no way of escaping this nightmare? No? Then you clearly haven't played Metroid Fusion. While you aren't helpless and could easily shut off the game if it is to much stress for you, in you were in the shoes of Samus in this game, I don't think you would keep your cool. Being stuck in a abandoned space station, Samus has to fight of the X-parasite, while avoiding the SA-X, a X-parasite clone of her that if far more powerful than her. One thing that may be a turn off for Metroid fans is that the game is very linear, to the point where breaking the sequence is considered an easter egg. I, on the other hand, really like this choice as it makes the use of weapons much better and will help if you're afraid of missing a weapon. There are energy and missile tanks hide out of the way, but the main weapons and suit upgrades that you need are unlocked through normal story progression. It also has a mixed bag with its bosses, with some bosses great and some bosses terrible. And know for the thing that I have to say, I didn't find the SA-X that scary. Don't get me wrong, I found it really intimidating, but it wasn't as scary as I expected. Also, the game is rather short, if you know what you're doing you can beat in it a few hours. I had a similar problem with Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, but I don't mind it here because the game is much more to do and I just happened to like this game more then Shantae. To sum it up, I enjoyed this game sooooooooooo much, and it's easily my second favorite platformer I played in 2014. Key word 'second'.

3. Shovel Knight- Insert shovel pun here. And here arrives the king of kickstarter, Yacht Club games, Shovel Knight. While I didn't grow up in the NES era, I can appreciate what it has done for gaming, heck I've played some really good NES games. But this! This takes the whole cake! This is by far the greatest NES style game I've ever played, and hands down the best indie game I've played. Taking clear inspiration from Super Mario Bros 3 for it's overworld map, Mega Man for it's bosses and end game boss rush, and Duck Tales for the ability to pogo jump. I think that's where Cranky got it as well. But aside from that, everything else is original to it; go through the level, earn gold for upgrades, find Chester in the level to buy a new weapon from him, and progress to the end to do battle with a night from the Order of No Quarter. The level design is great and really uses the whole "Your weapon is a shovel" thing very nicely. It's also brutally hard! You know the phrase "NES Hard"? Yeah, theres a reason that phrase exist and this game shows. However, despite the insane difficulty, ever death feels like it's the players fault, not the game screwing you over, which is something I admirer. Plus, when you die, you don't lose a life, rather you drop some of the gold you collected and have a chance to get it back, as long as you don't die when trying to retrieve it. This game is just freaking amazing! Great visuals, great level design, great bosses, and an amazing 8-bit sound track composed by Jake Kaufman and Manami Matsumae (aka, the original composer for Mega Man!). If there was a problem I had with this game, I swear this is how I talk about all of the problems on this list, it's that I don't like anything to do with Propeller Knight. I don't like his stage, I don't like his boss fight, and while the weapon Chester gives you in this level is cool and all, it doesn't have as practical of a use in combat. Still, this is an amazing game that anyone who loves the NES should pick up. If you don't like hard games from the NES era, than you might want to stay away, but for everyone else, this is a you should defiantly check out. FOR SHOVELRY!!!

2. Smash Bros Wii U/3DS- Can you really blame me? Smash bros for Wii U and 3DS was my most hyped game for 2014, and it did not disappoint. I plan on talking about the characters at a later point, but I will say that this is by far the best roster they've had, bring back characters that needed to return and keep the clones the a minimum, with the only offenders being Dark Pit and Lucina (Dr.Mario is different enough from Mario). It probably also has the best set of new comers by far, with some of the stand outs being Villager, Mega Man, Robin, Little Mac, Bowser Jr and Shulk. Smash 4 as has the most extra things in it; Master Orders where you pay Master Hand in order to enter a challenge that will give you a nice reward. Crazy Orders where you pay a set fee in order to do multiple tickets (challenges are tickets) to build up rewards before you fight Crazy Hand in order to collect them. Wii Us exclusive Smash Tour which fuck that. 3DSs exclusive Smash Run which has you kill multiple normal enemies in order to build up stats for a final battle. Trophy Rush where you break boxes in order to build up a multiplier in order to get boxes that give you trophies, custom moves, and coins. and Target Blast which replaces Break the Targets and has you do the same except with a bomb. And that's not including the other modes that returned from Brawl such as Mutil-man smash, Hone-run Contest, and Events. Theres also custom moves that add effects to special moves, an improved Classic mode, on the 3DS you chose the path you go and on the Wii U you chose which group of fighters you face, and a online mode that has been the reason I've been behind on working on this and my comic. But heres the thing, out of all games on this list, this is the one I have the most problems with, be it assholes online, random bullshit in Classic or Crazy Orders or whatever, there's always something trying to ruin my fun. And yet, I keep playing it. And it's very easy to see why. It's fun, it's chaotic, it's amazingly designed, IT'S, FREAKING, SMASH BROTHERS!

1. Fire Emblem Awaking- It's time to tip the fucking scales! I know other people have said the same thing, but Fire Emblem Awaking is by far one of the best games I've played period! Ever since brawl, I've wanted to play a game in the Fire Emblem series, and it only took me about 7+ years to get one. Guess if it was worth the wait. While there are so many different things about this game that makes it great compared to the other Fire Emblem games is "Casual" mode. The biggest turn off for most people is that if your unit died in one of the previous games, they stayed dead. With casual mode, any units that died will return next mission, but if you want the extra challenge of keeping all of your units from prema-death there's always "Classic" mode. Along with that, another big new feature is the "Pair Up" function. See in other Fire Emblem titles weaker units were just fodder for the enemies to clear out, but in awaking you can have two units work together and take up one space, allowing them to preform more attacks in one move and even block incoming damage. This also leads to the support system which allows the characters to have support conversations which can lead to them getting married, hence the games nickname "Shipping Simulator 2013". And whats even better, if two characters get married, they can have a kid and they can have support conversations! Geez, and all of this on this small 3DS cartage! And then there is Robin, also known as the avatar, who you are able to customize, but even then he/she has an interesting personality, there's a reason why he/she is a new comer in smash 4. And yet there's still more with the amazing story, the DLC which I've barely bought and the godly soundtrack. There is just so much to love about this game and I've barely talked about! But I don't think just talking about it will justifie this game. Sure, it's not for everyone, but I recommend anyone who is interested to at least try it. You can get a demo of it from the eshop, and if you do show interest, I say go for it. I'm Erablier, and I can't wait to see what the next Fire Emblem game will bring to the series.