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XBLA Fans’ 2014 Game of the Year awards
9 years ago

XBLA Fans’ 2014 Game of the Year awards

GOTY_Title_2014

It’s January, which means it’s time for XBLA Fans to take a look back at the best and brightest games of the last year.

2014 was a transitional year for the Xbox brand. It was Xbox One’s first full year on the market, and it bore witness to Microsoft going all-in on its complete reversal of the console’s strategy and public image. Redmond distanced its next-gen console from being some sort of multimedia wonderbox as much as possible and did its best to focus on the games. Despite a litany of exciting ID@Xbox game announcements, the program got off to a bit of a slow start, though. Ports and re-releases dominated much of 2014’s ID@Xbox release calendar, and last-gen Xbox Live Arcade releases on Xbox 360 were used to buoy Microsoft’s greater indie library.

If you paid as much attention to ID@Xbox as as XBLA Fans did, though, then you know there were some standout stars even if there was not a terribly high quantity of them. We’ve played the games and cast our votes, and how we present you with our 2014 Game of the Year awards. Don’t like our picks? Fair enough. Head to the comments and make your case for why yours are better.

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Child of Light review (Xbox One)
10 years ago

Child of Light review (Xbox One)

Child of Light was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released April 30, 2014, on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 for $14.99. An Xbox One copy was provided for review purposes.

Child of Light

Child of Light is a game that isn’t afraid to take what it likes. Ubisoft Montreal’s pastiche borrows liberally from the JRPGs of yesteryear in paying homage to them. Its roughly 12-hour adventure is filled with bits from its source material: Final Fantasy VII‘s sword gigantism, Final Fantasy X‘s in-battle character swapping and a sidekick that acts like a more palatable version of Ocarina of Time‘s Navi and looks like a Dragon Quest Slime, to name a few.

The story also feels like it was cut from the same cloth of many seminal RPGs. It revolves around a group led by the titular Child of Light (Aurora) on a quest to save the fairy tale world of Lemuria from the Black Queen, who has pilfered the land’s sun, moon and stars and appropriated its throne for herself. Child of Light‘s pitting of good-natured youngsters against an evil covering the world in darkness is nothing new, and its world, while beautiful, can be less than exciting to traverse. You might not then expect a game aspiring to be an indie love letter to the JRPG composed by the blockbuster shooter production crew at Ubisoft Montreal to keep you happily adventuring along. Thanks to a sublimely addictive combat system, pretty artwork and a delightful cast of characters, however, you’ll continue to gravitate towards this quest until you reach its conclusion.

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Child of Light gets release date and price
10 years ago

Child of Light gets release date and price

By  •  News

Child of Light, the upcoming role-playing game by Ubisoft Montreal, will be headed to both Xbox 360 and Xbox One on April 30, 2014 for $14.99. The game has …
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The Xbox Games of 2014: Part I
10 years ago

The Xbox Games of 2014: Part I

Xbox Games of 2014: Part I

We’re late, and it seems that’s become somewhat of a trend for us lately. Our Game of the Year awards weren’t doled out until January, and now our look forward at the XBLA and Xbox One XBLA-type games of 2014 is just making its way to you in February. You were on your own when it came to planning out January’s releases, but now it’s time for our annual look ahead at the top downloadable games likely to arrive on an Xbox platform during the (remainder of) the year ahead. Read on to find out what you can expect out of Xbox over the next (not quite) 365.


Below


Developer: Capy Games

Developer Capy Games is hard at work on two games for this year, including the Xbox One exclusive Below. Announced during Microsoft’s E3 2013 press conference, the game centers on a adventurer who lands on the shore of a mysterious island. The game’s major focus is exploration; your character is but a tiny portion of the screen to show the full scale of the island. There’s plenty of island to see, and the randomly generated environment will ensure every adventure will be unique. Making it through the island will not be a walk in the park: the “roguelike-like” combat and permanent death will make survival difficult, but Capy promises to play fair. Only those who can brave the game’s toughest challenges will find the game’s hidden secrets and discover what lies below.

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