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AbleGamers names the top AAA, indie games of 2014
The AbleGamers Foundation, an organization that advocates on behalf of the gaming disability community, has picked Bayonetta 2 as the most accessible mainstream game of 2014, while Always Sometimes Monsters and This War of Mine are the organization's first-ever winners in the new independent game category. Bayonetta 2 receives the AbleGamers' Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year award because it is a "near-perfect example of game accessibility" that allows players to choose from a multitude of control options, AbleGamers says in a press release. "Bayonetta 2 stands out among other accessible mainstream games by paying careful attention to user-friendly game experience," the release reads. "The inclusion of a one-button combat mode creates an experience other character-action titles should implement. As a proof of concept, this game demonstrates that accessibility can be implemented into a mainstream AAA game without harming any of the gameplay. Popular titles such as Shadow of Mordor could easily implement one-button mode for those who need such accessibility while leaving complicated controls for those who prefer those methods, and still award players with a top-notch game that is accessible to everyone." We also thought Bayonetta 2 was an outstanding game of 2014. AbleGamers says it could not choose between Vagabond Dog's Always Sometimes Monsters – a game that we also adored – and 11 Bit's This War of Mine when selecting the inaugural AbleGamers Accessible Mainstream Indie Game of the Year.
Joystiq Weekly: GOG's Galaxy, Murdered: Soul Suspect review, Homefront's combat and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. E3 doesn't technically start until June 10, but with all of this week's announcements and E3 trailers, you wouldn't really know it. Forza Horizon 2 will let you drive recklessly later this year, Homefront is due for a return in Homefront: The Revolution, and the thinly-veiled Mortal Kombat X tease is finally over. And that's just the early stuff - we're about to get trampled with news and hands-on demonstrations as the convention itself kicks off next week. Don't worry though, we'll survive by channeling Simba's light-footed evasive maneuvers. Just ... y'know, without the tragic loss immediately preceding our exercise. You don't have to stick around and watch us warm up though - this week's highlights are waiting for you after the break. There are release dates for The Witcher 3 and Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, reviews for 1,001 Spikes and Tomodachi Life, and an exploration of combat in Homefront: The Revolution. It's all awaiting you neat and orderly-like after the jump!
Always Sometimes Monsters review: Being human
There aren't any monsters in Always Sometimes Monsters. No giant, scaly creatures with sharp claws and beady red eyes; no tentacled squid beasts; no fuzzy, purple and green dinosaurs. The game instead tackles figurative monsters in questions of morality, offering the player mundane choices in everyday situations: Do we buy a donut or save the money? Do we yell at this person or keep a cool head? Do we work hard at a tedious job or slack off? Is love worth it? Always Sometimes Monsters deals in chaos and quantum theories – in every second of our lives, we make choices that forever impact our timelines going forward, dictating whether we keep or lose friends, maintain a job or succeed in our goals. We are the masters of our destinies, Always Sometimes Monsters says – but we can't control other people's lives. That's where it gets tricky.
Always Sometimes Monsters is surprisingly almost human
Always Sometimes Monsters doesn't play, look, or read as particularly human. Vagabond Dog's story about traveling across the United States to win back your first love, built in GameMaker, is a heady brew of visual novels like Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward and SNES-era Squaresoft role-playing games. Squat, big-eyed cartoon characters wander about squat cartoon college dorms and warehouses having lengthy conversations in a lackadaisical but outsized tone, like a less scatological Kevin Smith movie. Vagabond's new PAX East 2014 demo impresses because of how a deeply human game peeks through these layers of artifice. "You can play as any race, gender, sexual orientation," Justin Amirkhani, creative director and writer on Monsters, explained. "People treat you differently based on who you are, what you look like, and whether they have personal prejudices or not." The demo demonstrates this philosophy well, but takes time to warm up. In a clever fourth wall-breaking sequence, Amirkhani and his partner Jake Reardon actually appear in the game, explaining why the player I'd get to control would be randomly selected. As a failsafe making sure my decisions reflected my own personality and prejudices, it worked nicely. The lovesick character picked for me came close to the mark: a white, heterosexual male writer. His great love? A Hispanic woman named Gina.
Morality play Always Sometimes Monsters launches May 21
Alongside the above trailer, developer Vagabond Dog has revealed a May 21 release date for its pixelated adventure Always Sometimes Monsters. Don't let the familiarity of chunky pixels fool you, Always Sometimes Monsters isn't a sweet, saccharine affair. Vagabond Dog describes the game as an "unconventional story-driven RPG about life, love, and the lengths that we will go to find happiness in both," but fails to mention that the "lengths" it is referring to include maudlin deathbed scenes and shotgun assassinations. Though that may seem bleak, the game is not specifically designed to be a downer. Instead, Vagabond Dog has created an open world that reacts to your character, and crafts a suitable narrative around the actions you take within the pixelated reality. "Always Sometimes Monsters is designed to reflect parts of yourself as you play and possibly give you a better understanding of who you are," said developer Justin Amirkhani. "What makes it interesting is not learning whether or not you're a monster, but reflecting on how you can change." If you just can't wait until May 21 to dig into Always Sometimes Monsters, you will get an early shot at the game at the upcoming PAX East convention, where you'll find Always Sometimes Monsters in the Indie Megabooth, at booth 787. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Always Sometimes Monsters being shown at PAX, arrives in 2014
Playable at PAX Prime this weekend at Booth 871, Always Sometimes Monsters is a "story-driven experience focusing on relationships and emotional bonds rather than traditional RPG combat and adventuring." The game will let you decide your own fate on PC in spring 2014.
