{"id":25751,"date":"2015-01-21T15:09:57","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T20:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=25751"},"modified":"2015-01-21T15:14:05","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T20:14:05","slug":"five-games-josh-liked-in-2014-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=25751","title":{"rendered":"Five Games Josh Liked in 2014: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shamus called 2014 The Year of Meh<\/a>, a sentiment that certainly seems to resonate with a lot of people when they look back on it. And I can't really blame him or anyone else for holding that view. This is the year that Facebook bought Oculus. The year Google almost bought Twitch, and then Amazon did. The second half of the year was dominated by an oft-violently heated debate, with social movements and counter-movements that, no matter where you stood on the issue, probably managed to piss you off somehow. But all of this is beyond the scope of this piece, and what really I'm interested in discussing here is the games of 2014.<\/p>\n

And as far as games go, last year had a lot of misses. Ubisoft took the brunt of it with the triple whammy of Watch_Dogs, The Crew, and Assassin's Creed Unity. But it was also the year we saw Dungeon Keeper turned into a “free” to play monstrosity of naked corporate greed. It was year where even the “great” games were more often just good games that had no competition from their peers. 2014 is a year without instant classics. There was no “Gone Home” or “Paper's Please” or “Last of Us” that unified and galvanized gamers like there were in years past.<\/p>\n

Even so, I just can't quite bring myself to say that 2014 was a bad year. There were a lot of games in 2014 I really liked. No instant classics, but I feel that helped me to appreciate the games that otherwise might not have gotten the attention they did. I want to talk about five games in particular in this list, the five games I liked the most this year. This list can be read as a top 5 list, with #1 being my “Game of the Year” if indeed such a thing has any meaning. Of course the actual gradient is much more nuanced and the games so different in what they do and do not do that a direct comparison will always open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

I've also had to split this list into two parts, as I am apparently completely incapable of writing short, concise blurbs when I'm passionate about something. And the first half of this list is the two games that I feel probably wouldn't be on it if 2014 had a stronger lineup. So maybe I'm not making a very good case for my point here. Don't worry, it'll all come together later.<\/p>\n

Without further ado… <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. Destiny<\/h3>\n

Spaceballs taken literally.<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

If there is anything that can be said about Destiny, it's that what we got was certainly… unexpected. The product of an unholy alliance of Activision's nigh endless resources with Bungie's skill and experience making shooters, Destiny seemed perfectly positioned to be the Next Big Thing. It would be an understatement to say it was highly anticipated, and it's obvious Activision was giving it the royal treatment in the press cycle leading up to release. This was to be the first game in a new flagship franchise for Activision, after all, and Bungie is reportedly already working on the sequel. I think everyone who was watching and waiting for it could be forgiven for expecting Destiny to be the next Halo.<\/p>\n

I think it's safe to say now that Destiny is not. But what's really puzzling is the myriad ways in which it is not. It's absolutely baffling that a game with such resources behind it could feel so bare-bones. It's a pseudo-MMO–Borderlands style, except actually massively multiplayer–with only one town and four open world zones, about six or seven dungeons and one raid. It's small and it's short. You can easily finish the main story and reach the maximum level (without taking gear into account) within 6 to 8 hours. After that, the only thing left to do is grind for better gear. The game launched with zero social features – there wasn't even a way to chat with other players. You could form guilds, but you could only do so through an external website. There was (and still is) no matchmaking for raids, forcing players without five other interested friends to seek out third party websites just to find a group. The list just goes on; every quality of life feature developed for MMOs in the past 15 years is either absent entirely or so poorly implemented as to be functionally useless. <\/p>\n

Destiny is a skeleton of a game, and the cynical part of me would expect the reason for that to be some awful piecemeal microtransaction scheme that nickel and dimes you for all the “good” content. But there isn't even that. Aside from the small and overpriced expansion, there's no DLC or microtransactions at all. It's just completely bare-bones.<\/p>\n

It is mighty pretty though.<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

And the story is perhaps the most visible example of this. I've played through the entire story twice, and I still have no idea what it's about. Who are the Vex? What's the Black Garden? Who's the Queen? Wait, so I died a long time ago and then Peter Dinklage-as-a-robot resurrected me somehow? Is that ever even mentioned again after the tutorial? What is the Darkness? What is the Light? Why is this robot lady following me around everywhere? Why does the moon have earth gravity, and where did all these piles of bones come from? Why are we calling a giant floating ball “the Traveler?” <\/p>\n

There is no exposition whatsoever. In the entire game. Every character (what few there are, at that) brings up concepts and events that are never properly introduced, leaving the player in the awkward position of listening to conversations between characters that know way more than they do and aren't going to tell them anything. Even worse, Destiny almost seems aware of this. But instead of, I don't know, fixing it, it makes light of it, taunting you with dialogue like, “I could tell you of the great battle, centuries ago, how the Traveller was crippled,” (and then he doesn't) or the ever classic “I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain.” And yet the game has well produced, high quality cutscenes with skilled voice actors. Taken individually, each cutscene seems internally consistent, but they never explain anything and, when combined, don't fit together to form an overriding narrative. They're just… there.<\/p>\n

But even with all of these problems, Destiny is still really fun. It is an extremely technically impressive shooter. Visually, it's very pleasing to look at. And while it doesn't break any ground with its realistic visual style, it's still very well constructed. More than that, the game plays brilliantly. Say what you want about the game's other failings, but it's clear Bungie still knows how to make a console shooter. It's simply fun to play; and that, more than anything else, is what keeps me coming back. Sure, the game would be better if it had about twice the content, any sort of social features, and a story that had some kind of impact or at the very least made sense. But while I was actually playing it, none of those things really bothered all that much. I was just having too much damn fun shooting vaguely-bad dudes in the face.<\/p>\n

I think my opinion of the game would be much different if I had been actively anticipating it. I absolutely cannot fault any Bungie fans who can't stand the game for how far it fell from what was promised. But to me, the only thing I was expecting from it was a fun, dumb multiplayer shooter that I could play with Campster on weekends. And in that, if anything, it exceeded my expectations. I wasn't looking for a good story and I certainly didn't find one, but I was looking for a good old shootman romp. And if you ignore everything else, Destiny is that in spades.<\/p>\n

4. Dark Souls II<\/h3>\n

F**ing poison statues!<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Dark Souls II is not a good Souls game. It is a very competently crafted game, technically superior to its predecessor in virtually every aspect. But it's also a game that bought into its own hype. Dark Souls II is a game that was designed by a talented group of developers who knew that Dark Souls was a great game, but crucially, did not know why<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The mantra from fans and media alike has always gone something like, “Dark Souls is good because it's hard.” The Dark Souls II team clearly agreed with this assertion, and so they took the very logical next step when designing their sequel: “We'll make Dark Souls II better by making it harder.” This would have been perfectly reasonable and acceptable, if it weren't based on a flawed premise. Dark Souls isn't good because it's hard, it's hard because<\/em> it's good.<\/p>\n

Let me explain what I mean: Like most people, I was utter rubbish at Dark Souls when I first played it. I died over and over again against small groups of weak enemies. I was clumsy, I couldn't handle the camera correctly, I kept getting backed into corners and run out of stamina. Now, I can waltz through those easy areas without even really thinking about it. It's not because I'm a particularly remarkable player, but because now I understand how Dark Souls works. <\/p>\n

See, Dark Souls has a deceptively simple combat system: R1 is your light attack, R2 is your heavy. Block with L1. Dodge with B. There are a few more advanced moves, but that's your bread and butter. There's no combo system and no super power-ups. The camera works by locking on to an enemy, meaning the combat system works best against single opponents or small groups. Attacks have mostly long wind up animations and cannot be cancelled, but all your opponents are bound by the same rules, and everything has a tell for when it's about to attack. The catch is that even a mook can kill you if you're not careful; attacks do a lot of damage and you don't have a lot health. It's simple on paper, but it punishes you severely if you mess up. That's what makes Dark Souls so compelling: it's like riding a bicycle: once you get it, it's the simplest thing in the world. It's getting there that's the challenge.<\/p>\n

Dark Souls II doesn't really get this. It has the Dark Souls combat system–it's even improved upon it in many ways–but it no longer feels fair. Enemies don't play by your rules anymore. They spin like a top while they're winding up to track you as you try to move out of the way. They have odd, janky attack animations with massive hitboxes that can hit you even when the physical model of their weapon never makes contact. Many enemies don't have obvious tells and can do damage when it looks like they haven't begun to move yet. And sometimes it seems like the encounter designer just gave up and dropped a dozen enemies for you to fight in a small room, a situation Dark Souls' systems were not designed for and handle very poorly; you're pretty much assured to take damage because you simply can't focus on all of the enemies at once. The game is undoubtedly harder, but it's not better.<\/p>\n

This one is also pretty.<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Again, it’s important to point out the developers didn't dislike Dark Souls; indeed, they practically worshiped it. And I think Dark Souls II would have been much improved had they instead tried to forge their own identity, rather than simply iterating on the first game. Nowhere is it more apparent than the story: it's a jumbled rehash of plot devices, themes, and even entire characters that have been lifted straight from the first game. Once again you're an undead cursed with immortality at the cost of slowly losing your sanity, once again you go to a fantastical kingdom in search of a cure, once again you have to collect the Lord Souls to open a door (they're even implied to be the exact same Lord Souls<\/em> from Dark Souls). It even ends on the same note, kindling the First Flame. Except this time you also become the monarch, or something, I guess. The whole “find a cure” thing is dropped after the tutorial and there's no real reason given for why you're doing anything after that point.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the worst part about all this is how it retroactively diminishes the core theme of the first game. Dark Souls was ultimately about mortality–that everything must eventually end, that all things die and even the brightest of flames will fade. Dark Souls II excuses its blatant rehashing with a theme of “It's all about cycles, really.” You can imagine why I was pissed.<\/p>\n

But now I've spent eight hundred words complaining about Dark Souls II. What's it doing on this list? Well, it's a bit like Destiny. Once you get past the irritating bits, it's still really fun to play. It turns out that a mediocre Souls game still makes for a pretty damn good video game, if not a great one. It's certainly better balanced than Dark Souls ever was, in terms of the options you have at your disposal. You no longer have to be using a shield or two-handed greatsword. There's more viable weapons, spells, and specialties than ever before. It is superior to Dark Souls in every technical aspect, from graphical fidelity to framerate, to the feel of the game in your hands. And the PC port is actually functional. It may not be exactly what I was looking for from Dark Souls II, and its story and lore certainly didn't grab me the way the first's did, but it's still a very good game. And I probably poured more hours into it than any other game that came out this year.<\/p>\n

If there's one thing I'm discovering while writing this list, it's that I'm very good at finding things to dislike about games. But I do mean what I said about Destiny and Dark Souls II. Despite all their faults, they're still good games and I'm glad that I played them. And indeed, still am still playing them.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for the second half of this list, and some closing thoughts on 2014 as a whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shamus called 2014 The Year of Meh, a sentiment that certainly seems to resonate with a lot of people when they look back on it. And I can't really blame him or anyone else for holding that view. This is the year that Facebook bought Oculus. The year Google almost bought Twitch, and then Amazon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[348,437,221],"class_list":["post-25751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-videogames","tag-dark-souls","tag-destiny","tag-josh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}