Video Gaming News 2014 Rewind: Monthly reviews

Let’s be real here: 2014 sucked. A lot.

But what about video games? Did last year suck for them too?

Well… let’s see. Join me as I go through last year in gaming, month by month. As a bonus, I’ll compare what I’ve been playing to what was actually released. See how in tune I am with current gaming events!

(Spoiler alert: I’m not. I’m really not.)

January

Event of the Month: It’s the month after December. Nothing happened. Everyone was too busy playing Fire Emblem to do anything.

New Releases: Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, Wii Fit U

What I Was Playing: Fire Emblem Awakening, Breath of Fire IV, Pokemon X.  Two new games and one over 10 years old. Usually it’s the other way around, but I couldn’t resist the Pokemon and Fire Emblem.

February

Event of the Month: Twitch Plays Pokemon takes the internet by storm. Just to let everyone know, I loved Pidgeot long before he was cool. (Side note: as of January 2015, TPP is still going. They haven’t given up yet!)

New Releases: Bravely Default, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Tales of Symphonia Chronicles

What I Was Playing: Fire Emblem Awakening, Breath of Fire IV, Pokemon X, Bravely Default. I got Bravely Default pretty soon after its release since everyone was hailing it as the second coming of JRPGs. It was okay, I guess.

March

Event of the Month: Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney finally gets US release date after two years of waiting. Now if only they could give us Dragon Quest VII 3DS, I would be happy.

New Releases: Dark Souls II, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metal Gear Solid V, Yoshi’s New Island, Titanfall

What I Was Playing: Bravely Default, Breath of Fire IV, Pokemon X. Not much of a change.

April

Event of the Month: Major gaming convention PAX East held in Boston. It showcased demos of popular upcoming releases, such as The Crew and Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel.

New Releases: Goat Simulator, Elder Scrolls Online, Child of Light

What I Was Playing: Breath of Fire IV (finally slogged my way through! Worth it.) and Skyrim. This is about the point where I got sucked into Skyrim for a month straight.

May

Event of the Month: Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire announced for November release, surprising no one. The memes are inescapable.

New Releases: Kirby Triple Deluxe, Wolfenstein: the New Order, Mario Kart 8, Watch Dogs

What I Was Playing: Skyrim, Tales of Phantasia (when I was coming up for air in Skyrim.) Side note: 10 minutes of Tales of Phantasia had more depth, emotion and character than 50 hours of Skyrim.

June

 

Event of the Month: E3 2014! Zelda Wii U is announced. And some other games, but that was all I really cared about.

New Releases: Shovel Knight, Tomodachi Life, Sniper Elite III

What I Was Playing: Assassin’s Creed III, Tales of Phantasia, Metroid Fusion. Still no interest in current new releases.

 

July

Event of the Month: QuakeCon 2014, North America’s “largest LAN party”, held in Dallas. Massive competitions held for games such as Fallout 3, Wolfenstein, and of course, Quake.

New Releases: The Last of Us Remastered, The Wolf Among Us: Episode 5

What I Was Playing: Tales of Phantasia, Dragon Age II, Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, Tales of Xillia. Don’t ask me how I managed to juggle so many games. I don’t know either.

August

 

Event of the Month: Nintendo announces the New 3DS. I have a few things to say about it.

New Releases: Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, Tales of Xillia 2, Madden NFL 15

What I Was Playing: Kingdom Hearts 3D, The Sims 2 (chronicled here).

 

September

Event of the Month: The Sims 4 is released to mediocre reviews and complaints that they got rid of the swimming pools. Wait for them in the upcoming expansion pack, only $39.99!

New Releases: The Sims 4, Hyrule Warriors, FIFA 15, Forza Horizon 2

What I Was Playing: Tales of Phantasia, Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney, The Sims 2.
Anyone know if Hyrule Warriors is any good? It got all quiet after it was released.

 

October

Event of the Month: Final Fantasy XV switches directors and gets a new trailer as Square Enix decides they should probably get it finished. I mean they’ve been sitting on it for what, eight years? I write about the new trailer. (Apropos of nothing, I got enough views to get paid that month.)

New Releases: Super Smash Bros. 3DS, Bayonetta 2, Sunset Overdrive, NBA 2K15, The Evil Within

What I Was Playing: Skyrim, Tales of Xillia, The Last Story. This is when I got back into Skyrim again. I ended up selling it after that letdown of an ending, so that’s the end of my Skyrim adventures, I guess.

November

Event of the Month: Majora’s Mask, a Legend of Zelda game that could be considered a cult hit, announced for Nintendo 3DS. Zelda fans flip out. Expect something on it from me in the future.

New Releases: Dragon Age Inquisition, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Super Smash Bros. Wii U, Far Cry 4, and basically every other big game of the year. All at once.

What I Was Playing: The Last Story, Pokemon Omega Ruby (I wrote about it too!), Tales of Destiny. I could only afford one new game to buy, so I picked Pokemon. Later, Dragon Age. Later.

December

 

Event of the Month: The Game Rewards 2014 held in Las Vegas. Dragon Age Inquisition wins Game of the Year. Literally everyone asks why I haven’t gotten it yet. Well, you throw $60 my way and maybe I will.

New Releases: Kingdom Hearts 2.5, The Crew, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

What I Was Playing: Pokemon Omega Ruby, Dragon Age II, Assassin’s Creed IV, Bowser’s Inside Story, Persona 4 Arena. Wrapped up the year with some really good games! And Dragon Age II. Also I forgot to write. Sorry.

 

Here’s to a 2015 with better, less-buggy games that have evenly spaced release dates and actually have all their content instead of day-one patches and DLC!

…Hey, I can dream, right?