I've had a hard time choosing the winner this year, simply beacuse I feel I've played so mange great games. Honestly, I feel like every game until at least number seven on my list could've been my GOTY, depending on whether I'd vote with my brain, heart, spine, gut or some other part of me.
Voilà:
1.
The Wonderful 101 (Wii U); This is the most varied form of fun I've had with video games for at least a year or maybe even two. The main gameplay is very fun, interesting and complex, and it is introduced to the player at perfect pace with little or non hand holding. It's quite easy to get the hang of the gesture system (analogue stick is the absolute best way), while you increasingly build up your arsenal of team members and level them up along the way.
The parallel/serial combo system works astonishingly well, and it's mindblowing that Kamiya came up with it so late in the process as it feels so integrated to the game. On top of that, there's the enormous amount of other gimmicky chapters and the EPIC boss fights, with throwbacks to great video game classics along the way. Even the QTEs are fun to execute and watch in this game. Even failing them is fun.
The game oozes of effort, original thought and hard work. The game is so very thorough, so very filled to the brim with creativity, craftmanship and Kamiyas sense of humor. There's tons of quirky little details and small twists to add to the experience. The game is admittantly a bit rough, probably because they did not restrict themselves at all and just put all the stuff they could think of in there. Performance wise it's not at all a stable 60fps, and I personally experienced a freeze or two and the occasional glitch along the way. But the roughness is also what makes it so lovable in other respects and one of the many reasons this game will stick with me as a great modern video game classic for a long time!
I warmly urge
you to give this game a fair chance!
2.
Super Mario 3D World (Wii U); EAD Tokyo delivers, once more. The announcement trailer made me kind of nervous for some reason, as it did with so many others here on this forum. Then the Nintendo Direct came, but even that was just a little hint of all the 3D-platforming purrfection that flows through the entirety (or almost all) of this game like honey or wine, or something.
Level design is top notch, as would be expected. The game looks stunning, it really sparkles from the countless hours of polish that the team must have put in the game. I never experienced a dip from a stable 60 fps in my playthrough. But most important of all, I had fun the entire time. And I'll have fun with it, be it for replays on my own or in multiplayer sessions for shits and giggles. The main game may be a bit on the short and easy side, but the real challenge in this game is of course the post game contents. And there's lots of it. The suits are also an important part of Mario games, and this game has some of the most creative and funny power-up suits of any Mario games yet. Cat suit, Double Cherry, great stuff. It was also good fun playing a 3D Mario with four characters to choose from, varying up the gameplay along the way. There is also a SUPER SECRET CHARACTER that no-one in the entire worlds knows who is in this game. Cute as a bunny.
3.
Rogue Legacy (PC); A crazy take on the rogue-like genre, or not really a rogue-like, but some weird merging of randomly generated metroidvaniaish level design, with some evolutionary rpg-like family(!)-building, compelling visuals, and least but not last, some really challenging platforming action. More or less. This game easily becomes an obsession, right up there with Spelunky in that regard. It's a blast to play, my PC GOTY. In short: Absolutely everybody should play it!
4.
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS); From the very beginning I felt like I had re-entered some magical place. I don't know if it was the music (OST of the year!), or the joy of moving around in the familiar but still fresh environments that did it. Anyway, it was such a joy to play. The game was wonderfully paced, marvelously paced even for a modern Zelda game. That went so well together with the feeling of hurling Link around in 60fps, battling and puzzling in those flawless 3D impressive visuals.
Some of the dungeons were quite amazing, and some was generic and forgettable. I really liked the approach to an open-adventure experience, though the rental system wasn't perfectly executed in my opinion. I think the system would work even better for me if I had to buy them, and therefore actively having to choose where to go next. Such a big step in the right direction for the Zelda series for me, makes me quiver with excitement about the next installment on their home console!
Despite its minor flaws, the feeling of playing a game truly out of the ordinary stuck with me the whole time. I just never wanted to stop playing, dreaded the moment it would eventually end, feeling like a 14 year old, idiotically happy, little kid.
5.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PC); Another gem of a platinum title. Not as diverse and creative as W101, but platinum delievers action games as thight and good as they get. State of the art gameplay, incredible QTE and cutscenes, amazing bosses, but a big negative is the horrible camera in the game. What were they thinking? The game, unlike W101, is also a bit on the short side for my liking.
6.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS); Having never played an Animal Crossing before, I have to admit I though this game looked like a boring time-sink from the moment it was announced until I actually played it. I usually hate sim-games. For the longest time I thought I'd never even bother to buy it at all. Then I noticed the crazy build-up thread before the game launched in the west. Someone in the community, I believe it was MasterBalls and quite possibly some other guys as well, convinced me I should give it a shot. And never before in my life I think I have been so rewarded for going outside of my own gaming comfort zone. I fell in love with it, and a big part of the reason for that is the AMAZING Animal Crossing community here on GAF. The friendliest bunch of people I've ever encountered on the internet.
It didn't take me long to realize that the trick with this game is quite the opposite of most other games. You shouldn't grind beetles on the island, you shouldn't frantically build everything as fast as you can, or collect all the stuff maniacally. The Animal Crossing experience for me was aimlessly strolling about, talking to my animal neighbors, listening to the wisdom of the Kapp'n, blowing dandelion puff at animals, going to the club lol with my fellow gaffers. This game is about not giving a fuck really, and it made me really appreciate a lot of my fellow gaffers in here. Thanks guys!
7.
Papers Please (PC); Get your shit together, Jorji Costava!
I have a feeling this game is trying to tell me a story about how we're all shaped and limitied by the cultures we live in, how norms and values runs through our veins and shapes us in inconceivable ways and makes us pursue goals in life we may or may not have reflected much about, but that you're supposed to do to get ahead in life.
In this game you'll experience this in a compressed manner set in an autoritarian communist state, and you'll find yourself being a cynical prick because the rules of the game tells you this is the way to win. You will detain people you'd in other circumstances be highly symphatetical towards, because it's your fucking job, and the game mechanics don't leave you much time to relect morally. You also have a prone to be sick wife and kid to look after, and those pesky officers will give you hell if you resist to openly. Still there's some small room for resistance, some slight moral opportunities you can exploit, and pursuing those roads will interestingly enough often reward you in other ways than getting furthest ahead in the game (achievements and alternative endings are most often used to this end in the game).
The gameplay mechanics puts you under stress in a beatuifully though out way. The characters are among the most interesting I've had encountered in video games, despite not being presented in great braveur with cinematic effects. Such is the power of great writing, which the game has for the most part.
8.
Tearaway (Vita); I bought a Vita for this (well mainly), and looking back I'm glad I did. This turned out to be the most charming game I've played since Fez. I think Fez is also perhaps the closest reference point to this game in quite a few ways. Like Fez, the platforming gameplay in itself is rather uninteresting and straight forward. Like Fez, the game introduces some unique and nicely implemented gameplay elements. Like Fez', the world of Tearaway oozes of charm and provides the player with a great feeling of adventure. And like Fez, the ending of the game will stick with me for some time.
Unlike Fez, however, there's much less focus on puzzles, and the puzzles are very straightforward. I personally feel another Tearaway entry should dive into that direction, the mechanics seems made for it, since they're rather too slow and unprecise for a 3D platformer. Overall the platforming elements of the game are the least satisfying part of the adventure, especially combatting enemies which can be really dull, simple and repetitive.
I also wish there was more of it, which is obviously a good thing, but at the same time not.
9.
Guacamelee (PC); straight up the best metroidvania I've played this year. Fantastic humour, great gameplay, over the top power-ups and all you could possibly expect from the genre. Some real challenging boss fights too, towards the end.
10.
Pimin 3 (Wii U); Yet another Myamoto master piece, perhaps the most beautiful game he has ever created in terms of visuals and presentation if you ask me. It oozes of charm, colors and gave me some of the same magical feelings of adventure that games like Tearaway and Fez did. You'll grow to love those little pikmins (if you have anything remotely ressembling a heart), and it'll pain you to no end each time any of them dies. As such the game is fucking brutal, because unless you're quite the expert pikmin player, your pikmins
will die. So beautiful, so sad.
Gameplay wise the game is distilled fun and extremely innovative. There's not any games like the Pikmin series out there that I'm aware of. It's sort of casual in the sense that it is easy to complete the game if you're relaxed about not optimizing your pace and number of days. At the same time it is deeply complex, easily on par with some of the great RTS's if you're willing to immerse yourself in the multitasking possibilities and the unique gameplay mechanigs that the game offers.
It's a game that I loved every minute of, and when you've finished the story there's lot of great additional content and now also DLC to immerge yourself in.
The only downside I can think of (several months after finishing it) is that the camera can sometimes be a bit wonky, and the pikmin AIs can be infuriatingly frustrating at times.
Honorable Mentions:
X.
Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS); A magical adventure, some damn good srpg gameplay and waifus and offspring and tons of content. Every 3DS owner should dig into this.
X.
Gone Home; Wonderful little sad exploration adventure. Find out what happened to your sister while you were living the high life on a euro trip.
X.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons; Another sad and wonderfully directed adventure, with some interesting dual character gameplay,set in a beautifully presented fantasy world.
X.
Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien; This game could've easily made the list, so a bit random that it's relegated down here really.
X.
FEZ; Would be high on my goty llist, but it feels weird since it's first and foremost a 2012 game to me.
X.
Wind Waker HD; Same reason as above.
X.
Monster Hunter U; Same as above.
X.
Persona 4 Golden; Same as above.
X.
Bioshock: Infinite; Didn't quite connect with this one, it's a beautiful game no doubt, but I was kinda bored by it.
X.
Ridiculous Fishing; Amazing stuff, though a bit monotone.
X.
Gunpoint; A neat little puzzle game, loved it!
X.
Pokemon Y; Played through the main game, had great fun with it too, but wasn't able to let it really sink in, and had no desire for breeding or doing post-game stuff for some reason.
X.
Bravely Default; Just got this game, have only played 6 hours, so too early to tell. Maybe I'll switch it up later on.
2012.
Hotline Miami
