The Top 10 Games of 2014 (So Far)

Written By: Tyler

We're a little past the middle of the year, and I love "Top 10" lists, so I think now is a good time to give a quick rundown of my favourite games of 2014 so far. Let's get right to it.

10: Earth Defense Force 2025 - I'm a little disappointed with Earth Defense Force 2025 because in a few ways they've improved the experience, but then they've dampened it in a few ways as well. They've improved classes like the Diver (jet pack), and they have some neat other classes, but I feel like one of them is broken and the other wouldn't be any fun unless you're with someone. Still, it's the same Earth Defense Force that I know and love, so it has to be on there because it's just mindless fun.


9: Jazzpunk - Jazzpunk is a parody/homage/satire of the spy genre, and it's one of the funniest games I've played in the past ten years... and it's one of the funniest of the year. It's a joy to see how silly everything is in this game.


8: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Even though I've always enjoyed Donkey Kong Country, it's not a series that I get excited for when a new game is announced, especially when I feel like the developer should have made a new IP or just done another Metroid. But despite all that, Donkey Kong Country follows a familiar formula but it's an awesome platformer.


7: South Park: The Stick of Truth - It'd be easy for South Park to just rip on the role-playing genre, and it certainly does that, but it embraces the genre at the same time. It's a solid, though pretty linear (as if a linear game is bad), and has solid game mechanics. If you don't like South Park you won't like it as much, but I love the show, and I feel like that should go without saying. Obviously the humour of South Park is the main draw, but even if you took it away there'd be a pretty decent RPG here.


6: The Floor is Jelly - The Floor is Jelly uses a bunch of different tricks to keep the platforming fresh, and it has a beautiful soundtrack by Disasterpeace, who should be indie video game music royalty by now. The ending also caught me off-guard in the best way possible.


5: Charge! - At the beginning of the year I was disappointed by a Jake Clover game, but then I played this later on and it reminded me why I love the game. It isn't much, but it's a lot of fun. It's essentially just a repetitive run-and-gun shooter but it's surreal and uses an excellent song by Jack King-Spooner really well.


4: Mario Kart 8 - I have a few beefs with the way they handle online and the Battle Mode is ass, but it has a good amount of re-worked old tracks and brand new ones. The driving is Mario Kart at its best, especially when you consider how nuts some of the tracks are.


3: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - If this was The Phantom Pain, I have no doubt that this would be number one -- I can already call my game of 2015. Since this is so short and is more of a teaser than anything, I dropped it down a point and only gave it a 9. The gameplay is awesome and dynamic, and I can tell from the limited experience that The Phantom Pain will be awesome... but it's hard to shake the feeling that this is an overpriced demo.


2: Sluggish Morss: Ad Infinitum - Jack King-Spooner released the third game in the Sluggish Morss trilogy -- a series full of surreal and odd social commentary -- and it's a doozy. It's easily the best entry in the trilogy, and while I still feel like it would do him well to add some real gameplay (not just walking around), it's one of the best games of the year due to the style, visuals and the story.


1: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - I'm considering an expansion a game, especially since this, and the update before it was released, re-works the Diablo 3 experience drastically. Diablo 3 was a good, even great, game with a bunch of flaws, but Reaper of Souls fixes pretty much all of them but one. The only flaw I think the game still has is the level system, but they'd have to do a complete overhaul to fix that anyway. The new act that they added was incredible, the music actually sticks out and is one of the best soundtracks of the year, and the new Adventure Mode adds a lot of replay value. Reaper of Souls made me go back to a game that I already put over a hundred hours into.

I Wish The World Was Like This -- The Floor is Jelly Review

Written By: Tyler Selig

Rating: 9/10

Verdict: The Floor is Jelly uses its novel concept of, you know, the floor being jelly to offer a different kind of puzzle-platformer. It’s smart, but might not be as complex as some people would want. It also has incredible music and is a mostly relaxing, beautiful experience.

The Floor is Jelly is the first game I’ve played this year – out of about 7 or 8 – that I would consider legitimately great. It is built around the idea that the floor is jelly, so one can imagine before they even play it what that will entail. I don’t know what you’re supposed to be in it, but you go from stage to stage while solving puzzles and jumping your way to victory.

The developer had a pretty simple idea: what would everything be like if it’s jelly? Well, it’d be a hell of a lot of fun. The things you jump on bend and twist like jelly would, and you can use this to your advantage by using it to jump higher. Or it can make things more difficult because you’re not on solid ground so there’s always that uneasy feeling of not being completely balanced. I have to say though that I’m in love with the idea and I was sold on it as soon as I heard about it.

The puzzles are not incredibly difficult, but there are definitely some that gave me a hard time. I got stuck on one for a while, and a couple others made me actually think. The Floor is Jelly switches things up constantly though, with each area offering a new twist, not unlike a game like Braid. Whether it’s going into the water or having to jump on things in order, to a low-gravity section, there is enough variety here to keep you entertained in the relatively short time you’re immersed in this world. It helps that the game is polished and I ran into very few hiccups, and they were minor at worst. However, in regards to the complexity of the puzzles, it didn’t seem like the developer was really trying to stress you out, as most of the game is actually pretty relaxing and beautiful. It is very easy to get lost in this world, and that's definitely a good thing.

In the beginning there was... jelly?

It’s not really the visuals that make it beautiful, though there is something to be said for the minimalist approach that it took. Sure, a lot of it is just shapes with no details, but there are subtle touches that lend a feeling of importance. For example, as you walk over certain sections, flowers will spout out. It’s a simple detail but it’s effective. The game also makes excellent use of colours. I don’t think it’ll win anything in “visuals of the year” this year, but the style works for it.

The music should win awards though, and I’ll definitely include it. Disasterpeace returns to do the soundtrack and it adds a great deal to the experience. It’s often very subtle as good ambient music is, and it lends a sense of atmosphere to the entire thing. Sometimes the audio is very minimal to the point that there may only be some sounds, but a song will creep in eventually and it’ll be wonderful. Or a song will be playing the entire area and it’s some of the most beautiful stuff you’ll hear. There are some interesting shifts in tone but I won’t get into them because I don’t want to spoil anything.

I don’t really know if there’s a story, and maybe the developer had something in mind. I only say this because as the game progresses, slightly odd things start happening. I won’t go into a lot of detail concerning this, but it was rather unexpected and it was awesome to see the game go a little off its hinges in the way that it did. I would really like to know what it all is supposed to mean or if it’s just a cool gameplay mechanic that he wanted to include.

When you combine all the elements of The Floor is Jelly, it’s an odd thing to say but it feels like a “big” indie game. It’s the type of game that truly impresses me and leaves me in a state of awe. Games before it like Braid and Limbo may offer different experiences, but despite how different they look… they sort-of accomplish the same thing, ultimately. Sure, The Floor is Jelly is less serious and has a silly concept of jumping around on jelly but these types of games are what gaming is all about.