Video Games

The Otaku’s Study Video Game of the Year 2014 – Nominees

December 28, 2014

gameoftheyear2014-nominees

With only a few days remaining in this year, it is time for me to once again reminiscence about all the video game releases in 2014 to determine which ones deserve to be commended during the annual “The Otaku’s Study End of the Year Awards“.

As this is a site run by just myself, I don’t feel particularly compelled to go through each genre and niche to determine which game shined under each category. Instead, I will once again be identifying just three titles, with one receiving a trophy, another one earning itself a trophy and one last one receiving a still commendable trophy.

As some games on this list are major AAA works and others are targeted towards more niche audiences, simply being the best game out there won’t suffice for an award. Instead, I will be handing out all three awards based on how that game manages to stand out in its particular genre and/or contribute to it. Therefore, lets hypothetically say if RPG A is great but incredibly similar to RPG B and C, then it might not have enough to earn itself an award.

Here are a couple of rules that I am going to be following for this award ceremony:

——————-

The game MUST have been published in 2014.
The game MUST have been published in Australia, PAL Regions and/or North America. The Australian day of launch is dominant if the US or PAL release date falls in 2013 or before.
This game must be a brand new title, and not a HD remake or port.
Must have received at least an A- grade when reviewed OR received an A+ score in either Storyline and/or Gameplay review subcategories.
The game must not have won any awards in previous years.
Due to severe time restraints in the latter half of this year, there will be some titles listed that have yet to receive a full review on The Otaku’s Study. While the score may not have been published, I have assigned all playtested games a full score (As you would expect to see in any regular review). These titles, alongside others, will be receiving mini graded reviews in the next couple of weeks.

——————-

Rule #6 will likely be exclusive to 2014, as my time should be much freer in 2015. All other rules will likely carry over to 2015 and beyond. The winners will be announced on New Year’s Eve.