2015!! 2015 !! 2015!!
Every type of gamer has been happy this year- be it casual or hardcore; or PC or Console, everyone has had their moments. The million dollar question here is whether 2015 was better than 2014 and 2013, and to that every gamer would reply “Heck Yeah!!”. So we have a look as to why 2015 was such a big year in comparison to the previous years.
First let’s have a look at history, starting from 2011. Games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human Revolution had raised the bar and were competing for game of the year in a heated battle. Then in 2012 we saw some of the better ‘threequels’ with games like Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3 & FarCry 3 (Sorry Assassin’s Creed) and we also had some very awesome new IPs like Dishonored and LA Noire in the 2 years. So in total 2011-12 were proper gamers’ years. With so many games to choose from, it was difficult to pick one, if you were one of those collectors who kept every game rather than selling them.
Then came 2013. 2013 saw some good games but except Bioshock Infinite or maybe The Last of Us, you wouldn’t call the other games exceptional. For those who are thinking “Where is GTA?”, yeah we agree GTA was a good game, but honestly, it was not mind blowing. The story was boring and didn’t pick up traction until Trevor became a playable character. Other than that there were better than average games like Tomb Raider which was a decent reboot, Devil May Cry (Another reboot), Splinter Cell Blacklist which was better than the above average herd and some others, but again, emphasizing on the words ‘above average’ and ‘not exceptional’. All of these games were games to which people would say “I’ll get them when the prices drop” (Unless of course die hard fans of a series).
2014 was no less, with the best game being Dragon Age: Inquisition. Those of you looking at Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, we agree that it was a good game and had a very good story line, but the gameplay (Combat) had been directly taken from the Batman Arkham series, so it became boring after a certain period of time. Dark Souls 2 may have been a good game, but it didn’t appeal to the fans of games like AC or Batman and in fact many gamers who couldn’t invest time. Ubisoft was a disaster with Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed Unity, FarCry 4 being some relief. We can safely say that 2014 will be better off forgotten.
Enter 2015. Dying Light was one of the big games in early 2015 and it got a decent response from both, the crowd as well as the critics. From there it was all uphill in favor of 2015 with games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and recently Fallout 4 all contending toe to toe for Ultimate Game of the Year. Batman may not be critically one of the better games of 2015, but it definitely had a good response from the crowd. Let’s not forget Bloodborne which had the crowd buzzing. Toss in the GTA V PC version along with Online and other awesome indie games like Kerbal Space Programme, Ori and The Blind Forest and you get an awesome gaming year. In spite of ll these major releases, 2015 still got some juice left with Just Cause 3 yet to come. Being a Witcher fan I’d say that a Witcher release or rather a CD Projekt release is lucky for a gaming year because back in 2011, Witcher 2 may not have been in the Top 5, but it’s sequel showed the other games who the daddy is. May the best game win the Game of The Year 2015.
We’ve almost left 2015 behind and 2016 again looks like a good gaming year with Mirror’s Edge, Deus Ex and Elex coming. Let us know in the comments below what you think about the above comparison, and if we missed any of the notable games from any of the years.
While I agree that 2015 was an incredible year, I don’t think that others were that bad as you think.
2013 and 14 saw the raise of many indie games like papers please, monument valley, (freaking) nidogg, don’t starve, transistor (I wouldn’t call it indie, though, but, What a game!), and of course, The Stanley parable, and many many more!
Since no one in India plays Nintendo WiiU (I suppose), in 2014 we had Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and of course, BAYONETTA 2!!!! 2014 was a great year for Nintendo
Also, its a very misguided to say the Dark Souls 2 was not good, because it was not like Assassin’s Creed or Batman.
But, while I personally don’t count 2013 as a meh.. year (not by a long stretch), we all can agree the 2014 was severely underwhelming, where Devs and publishers still trying to figure out ways to monetize games and adapt the next gen hardware, and game journalists and gamers and critics embroiled in controversies.
You are right that there were many indie games, but then again if people know that games like Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty are coming, they generally keep their wallets at bay for the big games. Needless to say, indie games were a actually not very recognised until 2014, in which the games from big developers were so bad that people had to either move on to indie games or go back and play good games which they already owned.
As for Bayonetta 2, it was released on other consoles and it was like a lighter version of Devil May Cry. So, similar to the comparison between Batman and Shadow of Mordor, the combat becomes repetitive, which is bad for any game.
Dark Souls was not at all a bad game. It’s a game which requires time and patience, and someone going to college or office with a 9-5 daily routine would not like to make their day any more tiring by keeping on dying. I personally liked it but again you need to be seriously dedicated to the game to enjoy it properly. And comparing it to Batman and Assassin’s Creed was meant in the sense that Dark Souls was for dedicated and hardcore gamers and not for casual gamers who like the combat of games like Batman.
I guess 2014 was Meh according to the article and not 2013, which as stated above was a good year but not an epic year like 2015 or 2011-12.