2015 is now in full swing with many us eagerly anticipating some of 2015’s big games with a big selection of potentially great games just around the corner literally. Just in this year alone we are expecting the final entry in Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham series, The Witcher 3, Zelda U, Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles X, The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask 3D, Battlefield Hardline, a whole lot of different games from Ubisoft and so much more.
Likewise 2014 delivered an amazing year for games as well, featuring some of the best entries in popular franchises in years, fantastic remastering’s and remakes, and new ideas brought to us for our enjoyment. Before the end of 2013 I never saw Hyrule Warriors coming, I never saw some of 2014’s best games being just that, the best games I have played, or at least memorable for certain things. So I figured since we are now in 2015 I should look back at my 2014 game of the years, however it not that simple over the course of January I am going to be bringing you a series of articles about my game of the year nominees. I may also bring smaller best of genre games articles over the month but what is more important is my nominees for Game of the Year, and this first one I did not see coming.
South Park the Stick of Truth is one game that almost didn’t happen, from changes in developers and other hindrances the Stick of Truth is lucky to here. It is silly, it is controversial, it is often disgusting, and it is South Park. The biggest honour I can give this game is just saying how great this is and how well the game plays homage to the show itself, let’s face it games based on Television shows or movies have a tendency to be bad, but Stick of Truth walks the perfect line of being a game while also being the heart of the show itself providing players the chance to explore South Park, see references in almost every corner and just play a fun original story.
I picked up this game when I found it cheap because I had heard good things and the game did look like fun, the problem was I did not expect it to be as good as it looked. Within minutes of starting this game when I was thrown out into the town I was blown away with what I was shown, the characters, the town, this was the perfect playground for a fun adventure.
But it isn’t just the world the battle system is also really clever, apart from Pokemon I am not a fan of turn based Role Playing Games, but within minutes of my first battle I was right into the strategy of plotting my attacks and performing the correct moves. It continues to evolve and expand as the game continues with new weapons and enemies all throughout the game, such as Nazi Rat which was hilarious. This is one game that recurringly had me laughing and having fun with my entire playthrough, it is funny, it is silly, and it is a really clever story that basically echoes the ideas of childhood fun, which is what you do, South Park is one of 2014’s best games, with so much potential and if you are an adult it is a must play, will it be game of the year, we will have to wait and see.