We start off this list with the first quarter of the year. These are the game released from Jan.-Mar. that I enjoyed well enough. Also included in this list are games that released over the year, so they don't have any one specific release date.
Bravely Default
Jan. 7th
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The JRPG genre is not dead, at least not yet, but it's wounded and limping. There hasn't been a truly great JRPG in a very long time, with many believing that Final Fantasy X was the last great one. Sure, the Final Fantasy series keeps chugging on, driven forward by the belief that someday they'll get it right again, but outside of that series the entire genre is stagnant. What a pleasant surprise that Bravely Default is then, a hardcore oldschool JRPG that's not afraid to innovate where necessary.
The plot is the same thing we've seen in every JRPG ever made. The hero's town is blown to shit so he, along with his three friends, must journey across the land to unite the mcguffins and capture the red herrings. There are character specific plots, side quests, and every town has it's own story to uncover.
Where Bravely Default sets itself apart is in it's refined and perfected gameplay. Combat is still turn-based, but rather then just one attack per turn you can choose to Brave or Default. Default puts your character into a defensive state and earns you a Brave Point. Brave allows you to queue up multiple moves per turn, using up Brave Points, or allowing you to go into the negative. This means you can queue up to four attacks in one turn, but will leave you vulnerable for the next three turns. It's a great system that can allow you to speed up battles and tackle tricky foes. Couple this with the incredibly deep job system and a tonne of different weapons, and combat is a satisfying affair that'll keep you attached for the game's 80+ hours.
JazzPunk
Jan. 7th
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It should come as no surprise that JazzPunk is published by Adult Swim. The game's mile a minute jokes and bizarre pop-culture references feel right at home with the late-night comedy channel. I was honestly surprised that the game wasn't written by Tim and Eric, Adam Reed, or the guys behind Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Technically, JazzPunk is a series of mostly unrelated spy missions, with you as the spy. You must infiltrate various places, complete various objectives, and usually escape. That's just the setup. In execution it's much different, as you find yourself conversing with microwaves, playing wedding-themed versions of Quake, setting a building on fire with the "Ice Alarm" and destroying a fine China shop to kill a fly.
I won't spend any more time talking about JazzPunk, since it's a game that's meant to be experienced. Come with a sense of humor, because despite it's really short length, this is a jam-packed game.
Banished
Feb. 18th
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Banished is a rare type of game, and I mean that in the most literal sense. Here in the West we don't tend to see a lot of city building sims, perhaps since up until recently there was only one name in that game. But Banished is a great example of how small dev teams, in this case one guy, can really show up the AAA industry when they put their minds to it.
As a game, Banished sits somewhere between Sim City, the Anno series, and Dwarf Fortress. It's a city building game, certainly, but there are layers upon layers of micro-managment at play here, that you need to pay attention to everything going on, not just building placement. You will fail in Banished, many, many times before you get it right, but once you learn how to play it properly, you'll fall in love with it.
Rayman Legends
Feb. 18th
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Technically, this released in 2013 for the WiiU, but since it's so damn good I'll include it here, thanks to the X1 and PS4 re-release.
The Rayman series is almost as old as Sonic or Mario, yet often gets forgotten against the onslaught of games from those two series. Despite this, back in 2011 Ubisoft resurrected the limbless hero for Rayman Origins, a visually creative and back-to-roots platformer. Now they've brought him back again for another go, this time around it's a romp through history, and you can bring your friends.
Originally slated as a WiiU release, that version of the game features an asynchronous type of gameplay where, for certain levels, most player plays as the regular collection of Rayman characters, and one player plays as Murphy who manipulates the levels to help his friends succeed. It's fast paced and tense as you find yourself working together to achieve split second success.
As far as platformers go it's not quite as tightly controlled as Mario, and it's speed never reaches Sonic levels. It's closer to Super Meat Boy, with split-second restarts and tough-as-nails boss fights. Play through it with a friend, and it's one of the best platformers in years.
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Mar. 4th
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Licensed games are terrible, everyone knows that. Parody games are terrible, everyone knows that. Yet, somehow, South Park studios, along with Ubisoft, were able to pull off both of these things in one of the best and most surprising RPGs this year.
SoT sees you as the New Kid, a silent new addition to the eponymous Colorado town who gets recruited into the fantastical conflict between the Elves (including Stan and Kyle) and the Humans (featuring Cartman and Kenny). However, like most episodes of the show, this soon blows up to epic proportions, with aliens, government agents, Nazi Zombies, and ancient fart magic all coming into play. It's a weird examination of the RPG and JRPG genre, and it uses the well known tropes of these games to great use.
Combat in Stick of Truth is oddly reminiscent of the Mario RPG games, with you dishing out attacks and using items while making use of your support character. It's strangly deep, with different damage types and a variety of status ailments to make use of. Your going to actually need to put effort into combat, and some of the battles, especially the boss fights, are particularly tough.
More then just good gameplay, Stick of Truth feels like an episode of South Park, albiet an incredibly long, 12-15 hour episode. You'll interact with the familiar denizens of the town, occasionally taking on missions from them, and there are so many references it's impossible to keep track. The writing is top notch, mostly thanks to Trey Parker and Matt Stone taking the reigns on everything, and the animation is identical to what South Park should look like. This is a game for fans of the show, by fans of the show, and another reminder why Obsidian is one of the best RPG devs in the business. Come for the fart jokes, stay for the great story and gameplay.
The Wolf Among Us
Various Dates
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There was speculation that this game would never be finished. After hitting it off so well with the episodic formula, Telltale games took their sweet time getting this adaptation of Bill Willingham's comic Fables out the door. It seems to have paid off though, as this is a series well worth the wait.
The set up for Fables and TWAU is that a while back, most of the fairy tales migrated to New York City to attempt to live like normal humans. The result is things like Snow White as an administrative assistant, Beauty and the Beast as a bickering couple in debt, and The Big Bad Wolf as a human detective. All of this is set against a neon-soaked noir background some time in the late 90's and it makes for a grim tale to be sure.
What's great about TWAU is how different it is from Telltale's other hit series The Walking Dead. Whereas that series is all about survival in the face of grim disaster, Fables is a much different beast. It's darker in certain places, but manages to crack a smile now and again, and even fit in a joke. It's clear that the Telltale team were stretching their creative legs again, and it's a nice change of pace from the dark tales of the Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead: Season 2
Various Dates
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It's as good as the first season. Playing as a little girl lets the game get into some incredibly dark scenarios, and you will see/do things that will make you sick. It's hard to tell how much of the horror comes from the actual situation, and how much of it comes from the idea of a little girl doing it, but it's terrifying none the less. If you enjoyed the first season you owe it to yourself to play this one.
Check back tomorrow for Quarter 2.
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