Your GoTY 2014

Having read through a few different site's 'Game of The Year' articles I actually looked back on my own year of gaming and pondered what I enjoyed playing the most this year.

I stopped playing Maple in January of this year, so I've been playing 3 years worth of catch-up with games this entire year. That in mind...I chose my favourite game released in 2014 as well as my favourite game played in 2014.

Released in 2014: Transistor
Played in 2014: Fire Emblem Awakening

Edit-------
In hind sight I should have actually said why I enjoyed these games so much.

Transistor:
This game has an amazing atmosphere. Unlike a lot of other games I played this year Transistor teaches you how to play it through the game play and rewards players who experiment by giving them little bits and pieces of story information. What I especially liked is how the story is never really fully explained to you. I was able to draw my own conclusions based on the character dialogue, the information I found and my experience exploring the game's world. The soundtrack is also great (in my opinion).

Fire Emblem Awakening:
I was already a fan of grid based strategy games before playing this game, but I was completely blown away by what I got from playing my first Fire Emblem game. What really stood out to me in this game was the characters. The wide cast of interesting characters is what really made this game so special. After every battle I was always excited to see what new character interactions I had unlocked, so that I would be able to learn more about these interesting characters. It was because of this that I experimented with so many different combinations and strategies throughout the game, rather than relying on strategies that I knew would work. The combat was also really fun and I liked the variety of classes and skills that were available to every character. All of this combined helped in creating a game that I played through, multiple times, without the game feeling stale or "the same".
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So that said, what is your GoTY? What is the game you enjoyed playing the most this year, or that you thought was the best game you played this year?

Released in 2014: Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

I play that game like crazy, whenever I get a chance or just want to play something for 15-20 minutes. It's well worth it, and one of the best roguelikes around, even before the remake, although the remake was definitely worth it.

Played in 2014: Phantasy Star Online 2.

I've been playing a lot of PSO2. Every update makes the game better, it's a lot of fun, and the co-op aspect really appeals to my type of Multiplayer action. I would recommend it to anyone whose willing to work with the language barrier.

Honorable Mention: Nuclear Throne.

Although Nuclear Throne technically isn't released yet, this game is a fantastic shooter roguelike. The developers are very active in the community and one of the few Early Access games I fully support. It shows what Early Access was supposed to be like. With weekly updates, there's always something to look forward to and the game is absolutely a blast to play (literally!). I recommend it to anyone who likes the genre.

Released in 2014: I'm going to have to go with Rebirth as well. I burned through all the unlocks within the first 2 weeks of its release and it's still fun to hop on every now and then and kill a couple hours. I think that's the only "new release" I've picked up this year, actually...

Played in 2014: Recently, I would say Saints Row 4. Ridiculously stupid fun that I just can't get enough of.

Spelunky would be another top contender for me, even though I haven't played it since like early October.

Fantasy life is my GOTY this year, it was a fantastic game that brought a lot of memories of paper mario