2001 vs 2014

Ulti's Analysis
For me, 2014 thoroughly deserved to get demolished in this contest. I like the new Smash Bros and Dark Souls 2, don't get me wrong, but that's basically all I've played from that year that I enjoy. I may have missed some games, but hey. Most importantly, Hearthstone came out that year. Hearthstone is on the level of Shadow of the Colossus or Warcraft 3 with me; bottom of the barrel garbage that shouldn't ever win anything. I could honestly make the case for Hearthstone's RNG making it the worst video game ever made, but Warcraft 3's RPG item system shoehorned into an RTS is so difficult

On top of that, look at how damn stacked 2001 is. I could never cram all my love for these 2001 games into a single PCA writeup, but I can shorten it up a bit for the sake of proving a point. Look at this list, and this is just stuff I've personally played and enjoyed:

-the Gamecube -the Playstation 2 -Final Fantasy X -Super Smash Bros. Melee -Metal Gear Solid 2 -Silent Hill 2 -Devil May Cry -Jak and Daxter -Conker's Bad Fur Day -Luigi's Mansion -Advance Wars -Castlevania: Circle of the Moon -Oracle of Ages -Oracle of Seasons -Golden Sun -Pikmin

That doesn't count Halo. I don't like Halo at all, but tons of people do. I don't care about Mario Party games or Mario Kart games or Runescape, but millions of people do. I don't care about the Xbox, but tens of millions of people do. We're comparing a year like 2001 to fuckin Hearthstone and it's shitty RNG? Give me a break. Fuck you and get your shit wrecked, 2014.

There are a few games here I need to give some personal love to, starting with Melee. We all have a Melee story, and mine is pretty simple. I loved Smash 64, and anywhere I went there was a huge circle of Smash fans that loved the hell out of Melee. Any college I attended, any town I visited, any friend I made, we all loved Melee and played the hell out of it. I never became a mega pro, but I always enjoyed using Wedding Dress Peach and shitting all over mega pro strategies. Wavedashing? Take 50 damage. Air garbage? Get DJC'd and Smash Turnip'd. I always got wrecked by Sheik and Marth, but so did everyone else. Melee is probably the one game on this web site we all grew up with, which makes the occasional random anti-Melee idiot you see that much dumber. There might not be another video game that's fostered such an insane sense of friendship and community among gamers than Super Smash Bros. Melee, which is why we all hated Brawl so much for being so terrible. None of us wanted Brawl to be bad. It just was.

Final Fantasy X might be the last true blue grade-A legend title in the Final Fantasy series. 12 is good. 13 is good. 15 is great. Kingdom Hearts games are...... yeah. But none are LEGENDS like Final Fantasy X was, and the crazy thing is I didn't like the game all that much until learning Yuna's truth, going to Home, and getting through Bevelle. Then it hit me that this happy go lucky video game with the beach boy blonde guy on the cover was not a happy story at all. Final Fantasy X is one of the darkest games I'll ever play, with an incredibly unique stat system to boot. There sphere grid is amazing, haters be damned. And Blitzball is a solid #2 or #3 mini game in that series. The order is Blitzball, Triple Triad, and FF9's chocobo treasure hunts in some order.

Then there's Metal Gear Solid 2, which honest to goodness was a game that made me really think twice about how government actually operates. At this point most people don't doubt things like new world orders and deep states, but for Kojima to discuss these things back in 2001 when no one knew about them was incredibly risky. Best plot of any game in this series by far, and probably the best gameplay to boot. I didn't mind playing as Raiden, because the decision to see Snake from someone else's eyes was an incredibly ballsy design choice. A lot of video games try to put the player in as an avatar. None achieve it better than Metal Gear Solid 2 does. I eventually beat this game on extreme, which is a favorite gaming accomplishment of mine. Fighting the plane on extreme is nuts, but fighting 50 Ray units was fucking out of control. I still can't believe I pulled that off.

For some quick hitters, I like Devil May Cry but fixed camera angles are trash. Advance Wars is incredibly charming, and the entire series is incredible. Hopefully we get a new one soon. Jak and Conker both have some decent games. And the hidden star from this year is easily Silent Hill 2. If you're a fan of psych thriller horror instead of jump scares like me, you *MUST* play Silent Hill 2. It's not negotiable.