Disclaimer
This list is made intirely of the games I enjoyed the most this year and whom I think everyone should at least take a look at.
number 5
bioshock infinite
Bioshock Infinite was either highly overrated or angrily hated by it's players. This is the consequence of its interesting and well thought story in combination with the generic and lackluster gameplay.
Apart from this controversy, the game excels with its beautiful world. From the sounds and the graphics to the buildings and character models, everything you see in this game seems to have been carefully crafted in order to make you feel inside Columbia. But the best part of this game is the music. They are some of the best covers I've heard anywhere in a long time.
Apart from that, Bioshock Infinite is worth playing even if only to experience a great game world, filled with originality.
number 4
assassin's creed iv: black flag
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is Ubisoft way to show how great an annual release game can be.
Although the last three Assassin's Creed games were lacking in quality and the franchise was starting to fall apart, Black Flag brings the assassins back up again. This game picks up the ship section of the last one and makes it such a good gameplay element, that the land "assassin" parts of the game feel very boring and uninteresting compared to how incredibly well crafted the ship gameplay is.
Still, Assassin's Creed Black Flag has a very good dynamic open world and it is probably the best pirate game of all time.
Although the last three Assassin's Creed games were lacking in quality and the franchise was starting to fall apart, Black Flag brings the assassins back up again. This game picks up the ship section of the last one and makes it such a good gameplay element, that the land "assassin" parts of the game feel very boring and uninteresting compared to how incredibly well crafted the ship gameplay is.
Still, Assassin's Creed Black Flag has a very good dynamic open world and it is probably the best pirate game of all time.
number 3
the stanley parable
The Stanley Parable is a really weird experience.
This title isn't a game in the regular meaning of the word. Instead, It is a "digital installation" talking about what games are and mean, and how linear games work, in the ways of something that someone like Dostoevsky or Kafka would do, even if miles apart in quality.
The way this game is presented is very strange compared to other indie games, which is a reason why this game is a bit overpriced, buut apart from that, this game is something that everyone should experience.
This title isn't a game in the regular meaning of the word. Instead, It is a "digital installation" talking about what games are and mean, and how linear games work, in the ways of something that someone like Dostoevsky or Kafka would do, even if miles apart in quality.
The way this game is presented is very strange compared to other indie games, which is a reason why this game is a bit overpriced, buut apart from that, this game is something that everyone should experience.
number 2
papers, please
Papers, Please is the game with the toughest choices I ever had to make in a video game.
Papers, Please doesn't present these choices in a highly emotional way "where you are the One who shall decide the faith of humanity", it simply produces a horrible dystopian world, where you have to make a living for yourself and your family, while people's lives start being literally in your hands. I ended up caring for these ugly pixelated people than for any other "morally complex characters" that appeared in any other video game.
For this reason, this is a game that should be supported by anyone with the time to try it, since you don't see many of these things nowadays.
Papers, Please doesn't present these choices in a highly emotional way "where you are the One who shall decide the faith of humanity", it simply produces a horrible dystopian world, where you have to make a living for yourself and your family, while people's lives start being literally in your hands. I ended up caring for these ugly pixelated people than for any other "morally complex characters" that appeared in any other video game.
For this reason, this is a game that should be supported by anyone with the time to try it, since you don't see many of these things nowadays.
number 1
brothers: a tale of two sons
There are bad games, there are good games but there aren't perfect games. However, Brothers almost reaches the line of perfection.
This is the most beautiful game in every way possible, that I have ever played. The puzzle system, with the innovative mechanics where you control two characters at once, never feels to hard or too long, while never being too easy either. The graphics are really beautiful and the game is even worth just for the way it looks. The ending is even better than Bioshock Infinite's ending, and the story isn't told through cutscenes but through the actual mechanics of the game, making you feel the emotions the game wants you to feel.
This game proves that no mater how many buildings you have falling and exploding at once or how deep the characters in your story are, the best games (and things in general) are always the simplest. This game is definitely game of the year and it is one of the best games of all time.
This is the most beautiful game in every way possible, that I have ever played. The puzzle system, with the innovative mechanics where you control two characters at once, never feels to hard or too long, while never being too easy either. The graphics are really beautiful and the game is even worth just for the way it looks. The ending is even better than Bioshock Infinite's ending, and the story isn't told through cutscenes but through the actual mechanics of the game, making you feel the emotions the game wants you to feel.
This game proves that no mater how many buildings you have falling and exploding at once or how deep the characters in your story are, the best games (and things in general) are always the simplest. This game is definitely game of the year and it is one of the best games of all time.