Video games played in 2014

Since the number of books I’ve read in 2014 is so low, I figure I should list the video games I’ve played, just so I can have a higher number to show! This is my blog, so I’m allowed.

Gone Home
I bought this in October 2013, but my notes say I played it in 2014. Who knows! What I do know, however, is that this little game is sweet, short and entertaining. Some people call it a walking simulator, but it’s really more of an exploration game. You come home to your family’s house, and nobody’s there. So you walk around, trying to find clues as to where everyone went. Oh, and it’s 1995. It’s not particularly scary, although the setting may be slightly eerie, and it’s nice to dive back into the 90ies when the riot grrrl movement was in full swing. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I knew the kind of music that was played and could relate to the story. At any rate, I recommend the game, but would advise to pick it up when it’s on sale rather than pay the full 20 EUR for it, as it only offers about 3 hours of playtime.

Don’t Starve
I’ve obsessed way to much over this game, in which your goal is, as the title says, not to starve. And well, not to be killed by angry frogs, killer bees, deerclops, insanity… The list goes on. My steam account says I’ve played 170 hours of this, plus 54 hours of Don’t Starve Together, which is the multiplayer mode currently in its beta version. If you get Don’t Starve before the multiplayer comes out, you’ll get it free once it’s released, so what are you waiting for? I do adore the art style and overall humor of this game, and having played and enjoyed Mark Of The Ninja before (on Xbox 360), I’m now going to watch closely whatever Klei Entertainment come up with. I wholeheartedly recommend this game! At least if you feel like wasting 200 hours of your life on video games…

Bioshock Infinite
I enjoyed the gameplay of this and the use of music, but the story had some serious flaws. Well, that’s putting it a bit mildly. There are lots of – spoilerific! – articles on the racism in this game:
Bioshock: Infinitely Trampling Over Minorities In The Valley Of The Real at designislaw.tumblr.com
Booker DeWitt and the Case of the Young White Lady Feels via archive.org
Bioshock: Infinite – 10 features you should read and why they exist via theguardian.com
Also, they got so much credit for the amazing female character they created, but she’s just some naive lady whose main job it is to throw you ammunition every once in a while.

Remember Me
This came “free” with my Playstation Network Plus account (as did Bioshock, actually) and I lost interest at first before giving it another shot. In the end, I did enjoy it a lot, especially once I understood the fighting system. The story’s alright, although it didn’t really draw me in all that much, but still a good game to pass a few evenings with.

Pikmin 3
If you have a Wii U (and really, why wouldn’t you?), you should definitely play this game. It looks really pretty and it’s very enjoyable to command your little cute Pikmin around to gather fruit and… um, dead animals? This also made me appreciate the option of playing Wii U games on the GamePad only, without using the TV. This way I could play it while lying comfortably on the couch. Yes, there is no end to my lazyness! Hehe.

Max Payne 3
I bought this for 5,- EUR off someone at work and then proceeded to play it over quite a long time. Or maybe it just felt long. Some parts were enjoyable – probably the running around and shooting at things part – but the story was rather dull and I didn’t care for the alcoholic anti-hero or really anyone else who appears in this game. Wouldn’t recommend it.

State of Decay
I got this a while ago but just restarted and finished it in the holidays now. It was rather short, but really refreshingly so, and it’s surprisingly enjoyable to trash car after car by driving over zombie hordes. I did experience a ton of bugs with this: crashes, zombies stuck in floors, graphic issues, etc. Also, I feel they didn’t really explain a lot of things very well (like, how to expand your base or level up properly). But I still enjoyed it a lot.

Other games I’ve played but haven’t finished:
Cook, Serve, Delicious – I became interested in this after reading the developer’s article How much do indie PC devs make anyways. Simple mechanics, but very entertaining.
The Swapper – I started this and enjoyed it, but got stuck at some point. Maybe I’ll pick it up again eventually.
Democracy 3 – Also nice and very engaging when you try to balance out everyone’s interests!
Papers, Please – Hard! But good.

Well, let’s see what 2015 will bring in terms of games! Happy new year.

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