Burgess_101
Member
Does Hotline Miami count?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
GAF Games of the Year 2013 - Voting Thread - VOTING CLOSED
- Thread starter timetokill
- Start date
- Status
Marauder Shields
Member
Ugh if it wasn't for Dota 2 I'd probably have been able to list 10 games. Thanks Valve.
1. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; You'd be hard-pressed to find ten better games this generation. Beautiful, imaginative, charming, heavy. I can't think of a more coherent game released this year. Every aspect informs the rest: the interaction is strengthened by the story and vice versa. Almost all games pick one and gimp the other, Brothers stands apart.
2. XCOM Enemy Within ; Successful in both strategy and tactical layers, with good two-way interaction. Firaxis are the undisputed champs of constructing games that almost demand emergent narratives. I sacrificed three dudes to bring a fourth beloved soldier out of a botched mission alive. It was stupid, probably cost me the campaign, but winning wasn't worth doing without Garcia pulling through. Everything new improves on Enemy Unknown.
3. Pikmin 3 ; Game what got me to pick up a Wii U. Inventive and gorgeous and charming, really scratches that path/task-optimization itch I used to satisfy in Azeroth. Love the layers of "how do I do this" and "how do I do this most perfectly and quickly" and "while juggling two other tasks entirely".
4. Spelunky ; I have played impossibly many hours of this stupid "little" game on both console and Vita. I don't even want any of that time back. Spelunky is sublime -- little game's got legs.
5. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Yo real talk I thought the business of children characters was dumb because by the time that happened I'd paired all my mages off with knights so the skill inheritance didn't make the new generation much better-off than the old, plus when I got my first kid I could only s-link her with her parents; by the time I had enough kids to field a crew that could all s-link together, the adults had long since outpaced the kids so whatever. Everything else: tremendous.
6. Assassin's Creed IV ; My only next-gen game, this guy really surprised me. After being bored to tears in III, this one really brought it back to Brotherhood's heights. I sometimes played the game as busywork "cleaning" out the cities and forts and little villages scattered across the map while listening to podcasts or whatever, but no other game this year looked and felt so delightful as Black Flag. Didn't want it to end.
7. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; This game's got issues, shit is obtuse and straight up obstructive in turns and virtually impossible to navigate without some external aid. But the game is surprisingly heavy, and doesn't flinch from confronting some dark themes, which is approaches with due nuance. And the SMT fusion system continues to be a thrill, pulling a great demon out of the fusion machine after a good long chained fusion session is a thrill, and watching that Norse Motherfucker stomp on monsters unable to even mount a counterattack, put on their ass as they are, is gratifying something fierce.
8. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon ; Played through 100% in basically one lazy Sunday. Perfect way to trim all the fat off the otherwise mechanically-satisfying Far Cry 3. Visual style was great, and the story furnished some delightfully dumb jokes despite it's frequent and colossal shortcomings. I appreciated their commitment to their dumb past-future vision and stabbed and shot my way through some great assault puzzles without a thought of stopping.
9. Ni No Kuni ; Haven't actually completed this one, suffers a little too much from "my first RPG" slowness, but hell if I can't get enough of that Welsh fairy dude or those cute lil Pokemons. Definitely going to wrap it up after Christmas.
10. DMC Devil May Cry ; Yeah, I said it -- deal with it. I had a blast.
2. XCOM Enemy Within ; Successful in both strategy and tactical layers, with good two-way interaction. Firaxis are the undisputed champs of constructing games that almost demand emergent narratives. I sacrificed three dudes to bring a fourth beloved soldier out of a botched mission alive. It was stupid, probably cost me the campaign, but winning wasn't worth doing without Garcia pulling through. Everything new improves on Enemy Unknown.
3. Pikmin 3 ; Game what got me to pick up a Wii U. Inventive and gorgeous and charming, really scratches that path/task-optimization itch I used to satisfy in Azeroth. Love the layers of "how do I do this" and "how do I do this most perfectly and quickly" and "while juggling two other tasks entirely".
4. Spelunky ; I have played impossibly many hours of this stupid "little" game on both console and Vita. I don't even want any of that time back. Spelunky is sublime -- little game's got legs.
5. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Yo real talk I thought the business of children characters was dumb because by the time that happened I'd paired all my mages off with knights so the skill inheritance didn't make the new generation much better-off than the old, plus when I got my first kid I could only s-link her with her parents; by the time I had enough kids to field a crew that could all s-link together, the adults had long since outpaced the kids so whatever. Everything else: tremendous.
6. Assassin's Creed IV ; My only next-gen game, this guy really surprised me. After being bored to tears in III, this one really brought it back to Brotherhood's heights. I sometimes played the game as busywork "cleaning" out the cities and forts and little villages scattered across the map while listening to podcasts or whatever, but no other game this year looked and felt so delightful as Black Flag. Didn't want it to end.
7. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; This game's got issues, shit is obtuse and straight up obstructive in turns and virtually impossible to navigate without some external aid. But the game is surprisingly heavy, and doesn't flinch from confronting some dark themes, which is approaches with due nuance. And the SMT fusion system continues to be a thrill, pulling a great demon out of the fusion machine after a good long chained fusion session is a thrill, and watching that Norse Motherfucker stomp on monsters unable to even mount a counterattack, put on their ass as they are, is gratifying something fierce.
8. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon ; Played through 100% in basically one lazy Sunday. Perfect way to trim all the fat off the otherwise mechanically-satisfying Far Cry 3. Visual style was great, and the story furnished some delightfully dumb jokes despite it's frequent and colossal shortcomings. I appreciated their commitment to their dumb past-future vision and stabbed and shot my way through some great assault puzzles without a thought of stopping.
9. Ni No Kuni ; Haven't actually completed this one, suffers a little too much from "my first RPG" slowness, but hell if I can't get enough of that Welsh fairy dude or those cute lil Pokemons. Definitely going to wrap it up after Christmas.
10. DMC Devil May Cry ; Yeah, I said it -- deal with it. I had a blast.
1. The Wonderful 101 ; Simply one of the best games I have played. I don't even consider picking "GOTYs" but this game was just that good for me.
In this game you control 100 heroes as a single unit. You have to morph your units into weapons to attack enemies by drawing shapes in the Wii U gamepad or using the right analog stick. Each hero in your team works as both resource to morph your weapons and as heroes to attack the enemies by themselves.
That's one of the unique aspects of the game, it manages to take an action game and have semi resource-management that happens at the same time you fight your enemies.
This coupled with the fact that pretty much every single enemy barring a couple of exception can be dealt with anything you have on your repertoire of attacks and abilities allows everyone to approach the game in the playstyle that fits them best.
The game is pretty challenging, but once you get used to the game mechanics and get comfortable with them, the game becomes really rewarding. Every single enemy has tells in the form of visual cues, or sound, so blocking and dodging has to be timed along the enemy cues to avoid getting hit.
Where the game shines most is in its replayability. Like previous Platinum games, your performance is scored based on how well you did on the stage, receiving a trophy at the end of each stage. Once you finish a stage you are free to replay it as many times as you want, and I found myself doing just that.
The game has a lot of content and I kept finding secrets by replaying stages. This one of the few times where I actually wanted to 100% (or 101% a game) and it was really rewarding to completely beat the game and unlock every single character the game had.
One of the aspects I didn't expect to enjoy about the game was its story. While most of the characters don't have character development and aren't beyond a few quirks, the plot manages to actually be really funny and exhilarating. The plot steadily keeps escalating until it reaches a climax so over-the-top and great that beating the game just to see the ending ends up being rewarding in itself too.
So in the end, this was the surprise of the year, even when I was already anticipating it, it ended up being a lot better than I expected. The game has a lot of content, replayability, mechanical depth, and manages to be unique to boot to. Due to all the above, It gets my GOTY vote.
2. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; I didn't expect to like it as much as I thought I would when I first played it. It has some callbacks to the first Shin Megami Tensei, and has the battle system from Nocturne.
The press turn system is great. Your party and the Enemy party has as many turns as units they have on either team, but if you manage to hit an enemy with an elemental weakness you get an extra turn, but if you hit them with something they can block, repel, or absorb, you might lose a turn, or even all of them. Its great that it work both ways, as enemies can also take advantage of it.
Demon fusing is a lot easier now, since you can select with abilities your fused demon will inherit from both "parents". This allows you to chain-fuse demons to make them have pretty much each of each elemental attack and makes them very versatile for press turns. Being able to summon again demons used in fusions is great if you are wanting to fuse a demon, but don't also want to lose one of the specific ones you used in the fusion.
On the story, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. I found myself actually wanting to know what would happen next, and try to dig deeper into some of the mysteries of the plot.
The only negative I can think that would be an "universal" flaw would be the navigation in the over-world, other than that, I think this game managed to accomplish what it set out to do.
3. Pikmin 3 ; Pikmin 3 was the reason I decided to get a Wii U so close to launch. I actually didn't get into the Pikmin franchise until 2010 or so, when I bought both the first game, and the second (New Play Control).
The Pikmin franchise has one of the most amazing worlds, filled with all sort of critters and creatures you must defeat, treasure to collect, and a big world full of puzzles to solve. In Pikmin you have to growth the population of your pikmins which will are your main mean of obtaining treasure and getting through the game. You must carefully plan your pikmin use through the day so you can make the most progress before night falls and you are forced back to your ship.
In Pikmin 3, the number of playable captains raises to 3.While I was disappointed that there weren't many puzzles that required full strategical planning of your 3 captains, the few ones that were in the game were really great, specially the one in the last stage. In the end it is more about managing your available resources to get the most of the day, and less about using your 3 captains to complete specif puzzles designed around them.
I felt that compared to the other 2 Pikmin, it was easier and shorter, but still a very solid and good game, The Challenge maps its where most of the actual planning and strategy shines, and I am looking forward to new maps being released for the game.
2012. Xenoblade Chronicles ; It was hard deciding between this and Last Story, but while I like Last Story more and appeals to my tastes, I think Xenoblade is the better game.
Xenoblade is a long game, really long game. The barebones story is probably around 60 hours or so, not to mention all the side content such as side-quest and exploring the game's areas.
The plot starts strong and I couldn't wait to see how the plot would develop, I was also genuinely puzzled at the intentions of some of the most shady characters, whose allegiances kept giving me doubts until the endgame where everyone's motives were revealed. I also liked the cast and their interactions mid-battle where a nice touch. While I felt that the plot overstayed its welcome near the end, I still enjoyed it a great deal.
One of the things I liked most about the game is that you are pretty much free to do whatever you want, a great deal of the game's areas are open to you after a certain event, and you can go anywhere you want provided you avoid the overleved enemies that lurk about. The landscapes in the game are amazing and coupled with the great music the game end up giving a feeling of discovery that few games can match.
There are some other games such as Metal Gear Solid Rising, and Ace Attorney that I would like to nominate, but since I haven't played them thoroughly yet, I won't add them. Maybe if I manage to finish them before the deadline I will edit my post.
In this game you control 100 heroes as a single unit. You have to morph your units into weapons to attack enemies by drawing shapes in the Wii U gamepad or using the right analog stick. Each hero in your team works as both resource to morph your weapons and as heroes to attack the enemies by themselves.
That's one of the unique aspects of the game, it manages to take an action game and have semi resource-management that happens at the same time you fight your enemies.
This coupled with the fact that pretty much every single enemy barring a couple of exception can be dealt with anything you have on your repertoire of attacks and abilities allows everyone to approach the game in the playstyle that fits them best.
The game is pretty challenging, but once you get used to the game mechanics and get comfortable with them, the game becomes really rewarding. Every single enemy has tells in the form of visual cues, or sound, so blocking and dodging has to be timed along the enemy cues to avoid getting hit.
Where the game shines most is in its replayability. Like previous Platinum games, your performance is scored based on how well you did on the stage, receiving a trophy at the end of each stage. Once you finish a stage you are free to replay it as many times as you want, and I found myself doing just that.
The game has a lot of content and I kept finding secrets by replaying stages. This one of the few times where I actually wanted to 100% (or 101% a game) and it was really rewarding to completely beat the game and unlock every single character the game had.
One of the aspects I didn't expect to enjoy about the game was its story. While most of the characters don't have character development and aren't beyond a few quirks, the plot manages to actually be really funny and exhilarating. The plot steadily keeps escalating until it reaches a climax so over-the-top and great that beating the game just to see the ending ends up being rewarding in itself too.
So in the end, this was the surprise of the year, even when I was already anticipating it, it ended up being a lot better than I expected. The game has a lot of content, replayability, mechanical depth, and manages to be unique to boot to. Due to all the above, It gets my GOTY vote.
2. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; I didn't expect to like it as much as I thought I would when I first played it. It has some callbacks to the first Shin Megami Tensei, and has the battle system from Nocturne.
The press turn system is great. Your party and the Enemy party has as many turns as units they have on either team, but if you manage to hit an enemy with an elemental weakness you get an extra turn, but if you hit them with something they can block, repel, or absorb, you might lose a turn, or even all of them. Its great that it work both ways, as enemies can also take advantage of it.
Demon fusing is a lot easier now, since you can select with abilities your fused demon will inherit from both "parents". This allows you to chain-fuse demons to make them have pretty much each of each elemental attack and makes them very versatile for press turns. Being able to summon again demons used in fusions is great if you are wanting to fuse a demon, but don't also want to lose one of the specific ones you used in the fusion.
On the story, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. I found myself actually wanting to know what would happen next, and try to dig deeper into some of the mysteries of the plot.
The only negative I can think that would be an "universal" flaw would be the navigation in the over-world, other than that, I think this game managed to accomplish what it set out to do.
3. Pikmin 3 ; Pikmin 3 was the reason I decided to get a Wii U so close to launch. I actually didn't get into the Pikmin franchise until 2010 or so, when I bought both the first game, and the second (New Play Control).
The Pikmin franchise has one of the most amazing worlds, filled with all sort of critters and creatures you must defeat, treasure to collect, and a big world full of puzzles to solve. In Pikmin you have to growth the population of your pikmins which will are your main mean of obtaining treasure and getting through the game. You must carefully plan your pikmin use through the day so you can make the most progress before night falls and you are forced back to your ship.
In Pikmin 3, the number of playable captains raises to 3.While I was disappointed that there weren't many puzzles that required full strategical planning of your 3 captains, the few ones that were in the game were really great, specially the one in the last stage. In the end it is more about managing your available resources to get the most of the day, and less about using your 3 captains to complete specif puzzles designed around them.
I felt that compared to the other 2 Pikmin, it was easier and shorter, but still a very solid and good game, The Challenge maps its where most of the actual planning and strategy shines, and I am looking forward to new maps being released for the game.
2012. Xenoblade Chronicles ; It was hard deciding between this and Last Story, but while I like Last Story more and appeals to my tastes, I think Xenoblade is the better game.
Xenoblade is a long game, really long game. The barebones story is probably around 60 hours or so, not to mention all the side content such as side-quest and exploring the game's areas.
The plot starts strong and I couldn't wait to see how the plot would develop, I was also genuinely puzzled at the intentions of some of the most shady characters, whose allegiances kept giving me doubts until the endgame where everyone's motives were revealed. I also liked the cast and their interactions mid-battle where a nice touch. While I felt that the plot overstayed its welcome near the end, I still enjoyed it a great deal.
One of the things I liked most about the game is that you are pretty much free to do whatever you want, a great deal of the game's areas are open to you after a certain event, and you can go anywhere you want provided you avoid the overleved enemies that lurk about. The landscapes in the game are amazing and coupled with the great music the game end up giving a feeling of discovery that few games can match.
There are some other games such as Metal Gear Solid Rising, and Ace Attorney that I would like to nominate, but since I haven't played them thoroughly yet, I won't add them. Maybe if I manage to finish them before the deadline I will edit my post.
Kenshin001
Member
It's on the list. Was released on Mac/PS3/Vita in 2013.
adamantypants
Member
Damn I should probably get around to beating the games I said I would for GOTY
The Librarian
Banned
Didn't see this in the OP, but is there a minimum? I think it's been three in years past.
1. Super Mario 3D World ; So much better than I expected it to be. The amount of creativity on display is amazing.
2. Ni No Kuni
3. The Last of Us
4. Rayman Legends
5. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
6. Pikmin 3
7. Wind Waker HD
8. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
9. God of War: Ascension
10. Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus
2. Ni No Kuni
3. The Last of Us
4. Rayman Legends
5. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
6. Pikmin 3
7. Wind Waker HD
8. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
9. God of War: Ascension
10. Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus
1. The Last of Us ; The only game I've completed more that once in recent times, and yet I'm desperate to go through it again. Some great fights and Ellie is a surprisingly useful AI, my favourite scene is with her in the Toy Shop with the robot that Sam drops, worth watching her closely on a second playthrough.
2. Super Mario 3D World ; A game I can play with my 6 year old chasing through early levels for stars and throwing each other off the landscape or on my own tackling the later levels. Pure fun.
3. Assassins Creed IV ; Yaaarrrrrr! Nails the atmosphere and the ship to ship battles are wonderfully realised. If this had been released after a two year gap from Revelations it would be topping lists.
4. Pikmin 3 ; Louie is an asshole.
5. Lego City Undercover ; Similar to Mario, this is pure glee in videogame form and that last level is something that everyone should have been able to experience. A wonderfully realised city with sly nods to adults as well as slapstick for children.
6. Tomb Raider ; It does kind of lose it's way as a Tomb Raider game (only a handful of Tombs, WTF?), but does stand on it's own. Also, I love the Bow & Arrow as a weapon.
7. The Stanley Parable ; Was taken with the demo as soon as I found the Disco room, but the bigger experience was fun and charming, especially when crossing over into other games.
8. Fire Emblem Awakening ; A constant companion on tram travels with witty & endearing characters.
9. StreetPass : Mii Force ; A shoot'em'up with weaponry depending on the shirt colours of the Miis Streetpassed. A game of the ilk that's not really made these days and a welcome sight to me.
10. The Typing of the Dead: Overkill ; Stupid zombie fun with weird sweary phrasing and football manager quotes. Never change, Sega.
Honourable Mentions
x. Civilization V : Brave New World ; Fixes a lot that was busted in the base game, and is more fun towards the end but it's taken a lot to get there.
x. NES Remix ; A Late contender for weirdest release of the year.
x. Antichamber ; Not spent enough time with this, but after The Stanley Parable I didn't really feel like going back.
Dishonourable Mentions
y. Bioshock Infinite ; A touching piece of work with wonderful visuals and sound but the game is kind of lacking and turns into a frustrating spam fest towards the end.
y. Grand Theft Auto 5 ; Quite a disappointment, especially after the GTAIV side stories. A control scheme that's 4 years out of date, characters that are despicable, a game past it's sell by date. And I think I'm finally tired of the knob jokes.
y. SimCity ; Fuck you EA.
Not yet played Tearaway or Puppeteer.
2. Super Mario 3D World ; A game I can play with my 6 year old chasing through early levels for stars and throwing each other off the landscape or on my own tackling the later levels. Pure fun.
3. Assassins Creed IV ; Yaaarrrrrr! Nails the atmosphere and the ship to ship battles are wonderfully realised. If this had been released after a two year gap from Revelations it would be topping lists.
4. Pikmin 3 ; Louie is an asshole.
5. Lego City Undercover ; Similar to Mario, this is pure glee in videogame form and that last level is something that everyone should have been able to experience. A wonderfully realised city with sly nods to adults as well as slapstick for children.
6. Tomb Raider ; It does kind of lose it's way as a Tomb Raider game (only a handful of Tombs, WTF?), but does stand on it's own. Also, I love the Bow & Arrow as a weapon.
7. The Stanley Parable ; Was taken with the demo as soon as I found the Disco room, but the bigger experience was fun and charming, especially when crossing over into other games.
8. Fire Emblem Awakening ; A constant companion on tram travels with witty & endearing characters.
9. StreetPass : Mii Force ; A shoot'em'up with weaponry depending on the shirt colours of the Miis Streetpassed. A game of the ilk that's not really made these days and a welcome sight to me.
10. The Typing of the Dead: Overkill ; Stupid zombie fun with weird sweary phrasing and football manager quotes. Never change, Sega.
Honourable Mentions
x. Civilization V : Brave New World ; Fixes a lot that was busted in the base game, and is more fun towards the end but it's taken a lot to get there.
x. NES Remix ; A Late contender for weirdest release of the year.
x. Antichamber ; Not spent enough time with this, but after The Stanley Parable I didn't really feel like going back.
Dishonourable Mentions
y. Bioshock Infinite ; A touching piece of work with wonderful visuals and sound but the game is kind of lacking and turns into a frustrating spam fest towards the end.
y. Grand Theft Auto 5 ; Quite a disappointment, especially after the GTAIV side stories. A control scheme that's 4 years out of date, characters that are despicable, a game past it's sell by date. And I think I'm finally tired of the knob jokes.
y. SimCity ; Fuck you EA.
Not yet played Tearaway or Puppeteer.
1. The Stanley Parable ; Turn around one corner and The Stanley Parable is delightful. Then it's unsettling. It's laugh out loud funny. It's mundane. It's full of surprises. It's more than just clever criticism, which it also is but that's besides the point. It's an experience that left me reeling for days, a psychological funhouse of video game nonsense and beyond and probably the best thing I played in 2013.
2. The Last of Us ; Gripping and spectacular, from the detailed environments and characters to the grounded survival/stealth mechanics to the narrative journey. The dialogue is tastefully understated and the personal interactions are as good as games get. Early frustrations aside, it's a ride that sucks you in and rolls around inside your head long after it's over. Multiplayer's not too bad, either.
3. Tearaway ; Tearaway's tactile, living, softly crackling world sunk its paper claws deep into my heart from the first loading screen to the bittersweet finale. Unfolds from idea to idea with a clarity of vision and effortless charm few developers can match. Features a smarter integration and successful evolution of Media Molecule's play/create/share values. A game that's never afraid to stop and draw the moustaches.
4. Spelunky ; A shining example of good game design - what seems like random unforgiving challenge at first glance is revealed to be a series of puzzle-like systems and obstacles that make sense with each untimely demise. And just when you think you're getting the hang of things, Spelunky smacks you down with another agonizing lesson in patience, observation or hubris. Quick restart, try again, daily challenge, rinse and repeat indefinitely.
5. Super Mario 3D World ; This year's hot new Mario Bros. game has all the latest graphics, power-ups and levels. It also has all the creativity, diversity and polish one could hope for from the fun wizards that made Galaxy 2 and 3D Land. Makes me glad I picked up a Wii U, I find myself playing just as often on the gamepad as I do on the big screen. Capable local co-op and clever Miiverse integration throughout.
6. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; Refined, turn based strategic bliss. A seemingly endless amount of content kept me busy for months but the compelling relationship system is the heart of this particular Fire Emblem. With well written characters and direct impact on story, combat and lineage, I quickly found myself grinding for friendship and liking it.
7. Papers, Please ; Darkly funny, sobering and thoughtfully presented, where action and inaction dictate narrative threads and the gameplay loop is unexpectedly engaging for a paperwork sim. After a few early endings I found myself creating handwritten maps, symbols and notes in order to serve country as efficiently as possible (glory to Arstotzka). Kids should play this one in schools, Oregon Trail-style.
8. Europa Universalis IV ; As a relative newcomer to grand strategy but a big fan of 4X games, the improvements to the interface alone makes EUIV significantly more accessible than its predecessors. All the depth and political complexity involved in simulating history on a global scale is here, with numerous emergent stories that take shape during the course of your rule. Elegant and engrossing, I'll be playing this well into the new year.
9. Bioshock Infinite ; As a shooter it's fast and fluid, allowing for player creativity by way of arsenal and environment. As a story it's ambitious and bombastic, equal part modern fairy tale, half-hearted commentary and metaphysical mindfuck. Somewhere over to the side is a floating barbershop quartet singing God Only Knows in the clouds.
10. Guacamelee! ; Guacamelee! is a Metroidvania Video Game and it wants you to know it, but it does so with a confidence and style that's easy to like. Platforming segments are challenging and new abilities are rewarding to master, there's a luchador inspired combat system, mirror world traversal, chicken transformation, all sorts of good stuff in there. Also, there's memes.
x. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; A snappy, classically designed Zelda adventure, one that deftly walks the line between familiar and fresh.
x. Gunpoint ; Cool sneaking mechanics wrapped in pixelated noir that doesn't wear out its welcome and allows room for improvisation, leaving you feeling smart the way great puzzle games do.
x. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; Tall tales of the Wild West, featuring an innovative first person narrative structure and plenty of appropriately satisfying gunslinging.
x. Grand Theft Auto V ; The most impressive open world city to date. Los Angeles is a perfect setting for GTA's signature brand of cynicism and mayhem.
x. The Swapper ; Puzzle rooms, heady concepts and a clone gun in outer space. Dripping in atmosphere. Classy sci-fi sound design, soft, glowy visuals.
2012. Cook, Serve, Delicious! ; My go to iPad game for the better part of a year. Steam release gave new life to the PC version, which I'm also happily making my way through again. Pro Tip: Lobster, Fish, Chicken, Salad, Steak.
Thanks for the shoutout, timetokill! Appreciate the work you and Cheesemeister do with these threads.
1. GTA V ; First game in awhile that I finished within a month, best GTA of the generation and tied with Vice City for best GTA ever, imo.
2. Killzone Shadow Fall ; I really dont understand all the negativity surrounding this title, the SP is one of the best shooter campaigns in years, the MP is tons of fun, and its the best looking console game ever.
3. Football Manager 2014 ; Best entry in the series in years if you ask me, always good for 100s or 1000s of hours of fun in one year
4. Ni No Kuni ;
5. The Last of Us ;
2012 : Sonic & Sega Allstars Racing Transformed
Wow, a slow year for me I guess, cant even think of more 2013 games for the list or it would just be filler.
2. Killzone Shadow Fall ; I really dont understand all the negativity surrounding this title, the SP is one of the best shooter campaigns in years, the MP is tons of fun, and its the best looking console game ever.
3. Football Manager 2014 ; Best entry in the series in years if you ask me, always good for 100s or 1000s of hours of fun in one year
4. Ni No Kuni ;
5. The Last of Us ;
2012 : Sonic & Sega Allstars Racing Transformed
Wow, a slow year for me I guess, cant even think of more 2013 games for the list or it would just be filler.
Thorwaldsson
Member
After reading trough the spread sheet I realize that I've played next to no new games this year. I'm gonna have to spend the upcoming holiday playing a lot of games.
However one thing I can post already is...
x. The Last of Us ; I do not get this game. Don't get me wrong, the Narrative (the story being the low point) is flawless and it has stunning visuals. The contextual combat blew me away on a technical level making me almost giggle when smashing a (not) Zombie's head against a wall. However the gameplay was kinda shitty. Levels are linear, upgrade system near pointless, and the enemies are bland. I don't really have a point past this, the game is certenly well made, but for me it takes more in order to be GOTY than pretty graphics and good voice acting.
However one thing I can post already is...
x. The Last of Us ; I do not get this game. Don't get me wrong, the Narrative (the story being the low point) is flawless and it has stunning visuals. The contextual combat blew me away on a technical level making me almost giggle when smashing a (not) Zombie's head against a wall. However the gameplay was kinda shitty. Levels are linear, upgrade system near pointless, and the enemies are bland. I don't really have a point past this, the game is certenly well made, but for me it takes more in order to be GOTY than pretty graphics and good voice acting.
1. The Last of Us
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Tomb Raider
4. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag; this game single-handedly revived my non-existent interest in this series, particularly after the deathly dull Assassin's Creed III. I am officially back on board the train - nice one, Ubisoft.
5. Guacamelee
6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
7. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
8. Rayman Legends
9. Bioshock Infinite
10. Dragon's Crown
x. DmC: Devil May Cry
x. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
x. Beyond: Two Souls
x. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
x. Batman: Arkham Origins
x. The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - Faith
2012. Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Tomb Raider
4. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag; this game single-handedly revived my non-existent interest in this series, particularly after the deathly dull Assassin's Creed III. I am officially back on board the train - nice one, Ubisoft.
5. Guacamelee
6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
7. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
8. Rayman Legends
9. Bioshock Infinite
10. Dragon's Crown
x. DmC: Devil May Cry
x. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
x. Beyond: Two Souls
x. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
x. Batman: Arkham Origins
x. The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - Faith
2012. Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
1. The Last of Us ; The world, the gameplay, the music, the characters, the everything. ND did one hell of a job, they created one of the best games of last gen and the most believable characters I've ever seen in a VG.
2. BioShock Infinite
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
5. Tearaway
6. DmC: Devil May Cry
7. Puppeteer
8. Rayman Legends
9. Dead Rising 3
10. Hotline Miami
x. Tomb Raider
x. Metro: Last Light
x. Beyond: Two Souls
x. Super Mario 3D World
Man, this was such a great year.
2. BioShock Infinite
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
5. Tearaway
6. DmC: Devil May Cry
7. Puppeteer
8. Rayman Legends
9. Dead Rising 3
10. Hotline Miami
x. Tomb Raider
x. Metro: Last Light
x. Beyond: Two Souls
x. Super Mario 3D World
Man, this was such a great year.
Cheesemeister
Member
Yes, but only comments on the same line as the game title will be recorded so we don't have lots of irrelevant chatter for comments.
1. DOTA 2 ; Y'know, for the first three months of playing DOTA 2, I assumed it was a game about losing matches. Now I realise it's a game about losing time. Nearly 300 hours into this game, and it feels like I only just started. It's a game with a tonne of depth, overlapping systems, of complete mastery and skill, and it's a game I'll be playing for a long time. It's also the best game of 2013.
2. Antichamber ; There's not one single vote for this game. Not one single vote so far. You guys are complete monsters. Antichamber pulled me in with its mystery, its wonderful little boxed-in universe, smart and complex and open to exploration. I went in not knowing a damn thing about it - it had me for two days straight - and I came out able to beat it in under five minutes. It's one of the best puzzle games I've ever played. The thing that makes Antichamber for me, is the sense of discovery. You have to learn the mechanics of the game, and there are multiple "eureka" moments scattered through its playtime. I noticed that there was a clear divide between the people who worked out the secrets of this game early, and those who struggled, stuck with nowhere to go. In a way, it's a flaw of the game, that it leaves people behind. However, in a really snooty, pretentious way, it's what I like about Antichamber. It wasn't for everyone. Not everyone gets to enjoy Antichamber. But I did, and I enjoyed it all the way to the end.
3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
4. Papers, Please
5. The Last of Us
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Bioshock: Infinite
8. Gone Home
9. Rogue Legacy
10. The Stanley Parable
x. Saints Row IV ; Man, Saints Row. We used to be friends. Then you got caught up in "whacky" and I just can't look you in the eye anymore. Because you covered it with dildos.
x. ARMA 3 ; You do so much right, ARMA 3. You've got great controls, great weapon reports, stable multiplayer, you look amazing. It's a lot of fun rolling in a squad into Fucked Up Village #31, blowing up mortar camps and weapon caches. That one time that we airlifted a tank into the ocean? Fun times. Remember sneaking up on an enemy village with one other guy, scouting it out for 20 minutes, then running through it like Rambo? That was great. Actually, hold up, I changed my mind. That's the problem, ARMA 3. Your enemy AI sucks. They're dumb as bricks and completely unfun to fight against. Maybe if servers had different game modes they'd roll, it'd be cool. But all people host are DayZ clones and coop shooting galleries. That's no fun. You're no fun, ARMA 3, you're no fun. But we can still be friends.
2012. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward ; One of those series that I played based on NeoGAF's praise alone. It took me a few hours playing 999 to even decide I'd be willing to stick through with the visual novel genre, and if Walking Dead and other games of the sort hadn't convinced me last year that there was potential in a game like this, I probably wouldn't have touched it. But, here I am, having finished both 999 and VLR, loving them both.
2. Antichamber ; There's not one single vote for this game. Not one single vote so far. You guys are complete monsters. Antichamber pulled me in with its mystery, its wonderful little boxed-in universe, smart and complex and open to exploration. I went in not knowing a damn thing about it - it had me for two days straight - and I came out able to beat it in under five minutes. It's one of the best puzzle games I've ever played. The thing that makes Antichamber for me, is the sense of discovery. You have to learn the mechanics of the game, and there are multiple "eureka" moments scattered through its playtime. I noticed that there was a clear divide between the people who worked out the secrets of this game early, and those who struggled, stuck with nowhere to go. In a way, it's a flaw of the game, that it leaves people behind. However, in a really snooty, pretentious way, it's what I like about Antichamber. It wasn't for everyone. Not everyone gets to enjoy Antichamber. But I did, and I enjoyed it all the way to the end.
3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
4. Papers, Please
5. The Last of Us
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Bioshock: Infinite
8. Gone Home
9. Rogue Legacy
10. The Stanley Parable
x. Saints Row IV ; Man, Saints Row. We used to be friends. Then you got caught up in "whacky" and I just can't look you in the eye anymore. Because you covered it with dildos.
x. ARMA 3 ; You do so much right, ARMA 3. You've got great controls, great weapon reports, stable multiplayer, you look amazing. It's a lot of fun rolling in a squad into Fucked Up Village #31, blowing up mortar camps and weapon caches. That one time that we airlifted a tank into the ocean? Fun times. Remember sneaking up on an enemy village with one other guy, scouting it out for 20 minutes, then running through it like Rambo? That was great. Actually, hold up, I changed my mind. That's the problem, ARMA 3. Your enemy AI sucks. They're dumb as bricks and completely unfun to fight against. Maybe if servers had different game modes they'd roll, it'd be cool. But all people host are DayZ clones and coop shooting galleries. That's no fun. You're no fun, ARMA 3, you're no fun. But we can still be friends.
2012. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward ; One of those series that I played based on NeoGAF's praise alone. It took me a few hours playing 999 to even decide I'd be willing to stick through with the visual novel genre, and if Walking Dead and other games of the sort hadn't convinced me last year that there was potential in a game like this, I probably wouldn't have touched it. But, here I am, having finished both 999 and VLR, loving them both.
Tizoc
Member
Preliminary list for now:
Ni no Kuni
Guacamalee!
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
CoJ: Gunslinger
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros.
Ace Attorney 5
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Castle of Illusion HD
Runner2
Rayman Legends
Killer is Dead
Lost Planet 3
Typing of the Dead: Overkill
x: Stick it to the man
x: Brothers a Tale of Two Sons
x: Super Mario 3D Wolrd
LTTP 2012: Virtue's Last Reward
Again preliminary list, will tidy it up by January.
Ni no Kuni
Guacamalee!
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
CoJ: Gunslinger
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros.
Ace Attorney 5
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Castle of Illusion HD
Runner2
Rayman Legends
Killer is Dead
Lost Planet 3
Typing of the Dead: Overkill
x: Stick it to the man
x: Brothers a Tale of Two Sons
x: Super Mario 3D Wolrd
LTTP 2012: Virtue's Last Reward
Again preliminary list, will tidy it up by January.
Imp the Dimp
Member
1. Dota 2 ; It's head and shoulders above any other game I've ever played, let alone every game 2013.
2. Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
3. Pokemon X
2012: Virtue's Last Reward
2. Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
3. Pokemon X
2012: Virtue's Last Reward
I have the same question. To me the content is substantial enough for it to be eligible but I'm not making the rules !
I'll vote for it.
1. The Last of Us; Easily Naughty Dog's best game ever. The best part is obviously the story but the gameplay holds up as well and generates a lot of tension. There was a lot of care and thought put not only into the gameplay mechanics but also stuff such as enemy encounters.
2. Grand Theft Auto V; Great sandbox game with lots of fun characters. It's a vast improvement over GTA IV. What hurts it though is how shallow certain mechanics such as the robberies are. There are only a few robberies and of those, even fewer are complex at all. Also the game sometimes throws waves of enemies at you without trying to have any sort of encounter design.
3. Bioshock Infinite; The writing and art direction in this is phenomenal. I think it works really well as a period piece to an extent but also a critique of current American society as well. The shooting is easily the weak part of the game but I enjoyed the rest.
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; The boss battles are so good. So good.
5. Pokemon X/Y; I haven't played Pokemon in awhile so it was nice playing this updated version. I'm still having tons of fun playing it.
2. Grand Theft Auto V; Great sandbox game with lots of fun characters. It's a vast improvement over GTA IV. What hurts it though is how shallow certain mechanics such as the robberies are. There are only a few robberies and of those, even fewer are complex at all. Also the game sometimes throws waves of enemies at you without trying to have any sort of encounter design.
3. Bioshock Infinite; The writing and art direction in this is phenomenal. I think it works really well as a period piece to an extent but also a critique of current American society as well. The shooting is easily the weak part of the game but I enjoyed the rest.
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; The boss battles are so good. So good.
5. Pokemon X/Y; I haven't played Pokemon in awhile so it was nice playing this updated version. I'm still having tons of fun playing it.
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
1. The Wonderful 101 ; Elegant combat system, insane variety for an action/beat 'em up title, decent and sometimes moving story even if a game like this didn't require a great one and most of all a purely fun arcadey one of a kind experience that only could come from that guy and his team...quite simply, a lengthy title that never overstays its welcome and has a lot of replayability even if you have unlocked everything because the fighting engine is so complex yet super smooth.
1. Dota 2 ; I never thought I'd get into the whole MOBA hype, but after trying out Dota 2 I get the hype. Not only is the game addictive and great fun, it also has a huge bunch of characters which has some of the greatest art design and "personalities" I've seen in games.
2. Path of Exile ; Great game, counters the mess that is Diablo 3 perfectly. Really have a hard time finding anything negative to say, especially since it is true F2P.
3. Battlefield 4 ; I know, I know.. The game was a buggy mess at release, and the singleplayer is atrocious. But now the bugs are getting sorted and I've put the sp behind me completly. That brings me to the MP, which when it works is truly awesome and fun. Will have a great time with this game for several years.
2012. Planetside 2 ; This game is amazing. I'm sad that more people don't like it. I think the gunplay is great, and the scale and art style is amazing. I hope this game continues to evolve and grow.
2. Path of Exile ; Great game, counters the mess that is Diablo 3 perfectly. Really have a hard time finding anything negative to say, especially since it is true F2P.
3. Battlefield 4 ; I know, I know.. The game was a buggy mess at release, and the singleplayer is atrocious. But now the bugs are getting sorted and I've put the sp behind me completly. That brings me to the MP, which when it works is truly awesome and fun. Will have a great time with this game for several years.
2012. Planetside 2 ; This game is amazing. I'm sad that more people don't like it. I think the gunplay is great, and the scale and art style is amazing. I hope this game continues to evolve and grow.
ResidentDante
Member
1. Tomb Raider ; I love the original series, but I put aside expectations and enjoyed this reboot and absolutely loved it!
2. Rayman Legends ; Adds so much variety compared to origins, and was really fun to play through coop!
3. GTAV ; So many details and a incredible living city. Best GTA since Vice City imo.
4. Splinter Cell Blacklist ; Fixes a lot of issues from conviction, I really liked the central hub of the game being on a airplane. Very varied locations.
5. Bioshock Infinite ; Fantastic atmosphere and incredible environments. Blends a bit of creepiness into the mix too. Doesn't quite live up to the original Bioshock though.
6. Resident Evil Revelations ; Really underrated RE game, much better controls than RE6 and blends nicely the action from RE4/5/6 with the more atmospheric and creepy RE1/2/3
7. Gears of War Judgement ; Initially I was a little sceptic, but this GeOW is different with it's mission based story and diverse locations.
8. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; A fantastic way of letting developers go wild with a triple A game engine. I loved the 80's vibe, music and graphics!
9. Grid 2 ; Another fantastic and intense racer from Codemasters. Great blend between realism and arcade.
10.Remember Me ; Good adventure game, with slightly lose controls. But I enjoyed the art design and locations. The memory remixes were really cool!
2. Rayman Legends ; Adds so much variety compared to origins, and was really fun to play through coop!
3. GTAV ; So many details and a incredible living city. Best GTA since Vice City imo.
4. Splinter Cell Blacklist ; Fixes a lot of issues from conviction, I really liked the central hub of the game being on a airplane. Very varied locations.
5. Bioshock Infinite ; Fantastic atmosphere and incredible environments. Blends a bit of creepiness into the mix too. Doesn't quite live up to the original Bioshock though.
6. Resident Evil Revelations ; Really underrated RE game, much better controls than RE6 and blends nicely the action from RE4/5/6 with the more atmospheric and creepy RE1/2/3
7. Gears of War Judgement ; Initially I was a little sceptic, but this GeOW is different with it's mission based story and diverse locations.
8. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; A fantastic way of letting developers go wild with a triple A game engine. I loved the 80's vibe, music and graphics!
9. Grid 2 ; Another fantastic and intense racer from Codemasters. Great blend between realism and arcade.
10.Remember Me ; Good adventure game, with slightly lose controls. But I enjoyed the art design and locations. The memory remixes were really cool!
TheRedSnifit
Member
1) Mario 3D World; Awesome levels, awesome everything. Moreover, it's just plain fun, which is something we don't see enough of anymore.
2) Wonderful 101; Bombastic and creative, it's impossible to not grin while playing this.
3) Fire Emblem Awakening; few games manage to get me obsessed like a Fire Emblem game, and Awakening is no different.
4)Puppetteer; Fun, while having some of the most creative presentation around.
5) Splinter Cell Blacklist; The best Splinter Cell game, managing to combine stealth and action without depleting from either one of those. Also, Spies vs. Mercs Classic is awesome.
6) The Last of Us; Great story, great gameplay, great game.
2012) ZombiU; Likely the scariest game ever, ZombiU manages to combine old-school horror with modern gameplay mechanics.
2) Wonderful 101; Bombastic and creative, it's impossible to not grin while playing this.
3) Fire Emblem Awakening; few games manage to get me obsessed like a Fire Emblem game, and Awakening is no different.
4)Puppetteer; Fun, while having some of the most creative presentation around.
5) Splinter Cell Blacklist; The best Splinter Cell game, managing to combine stealth and action without depleting from either one of those. Also, Spies vs. Mercs Classic is awesome.
6) The Last of Us; Great story, great gameplay, great game.
2012) ZombiU; Likely the scariest game ever, ZombiU manages to combine old-school horror with modern gameplay mechanics.
The Illiterati
Member
1. La Mulana ; I think this game is amazing. Yes I used a FAQ some, but not as much as I could have. I put 60 plus hours into this gem and I absolutely can't wait for the sequel. People complain about handholding in Zelda? This is the true anti-handholding game. I loved just chipping away at it and trying to find something new each time I booted it up.
2. Desktop Dungeons
3. Brothers
4. Papers, Please ; Yes, I only played the 5 day demo. I don't care. It's enough. Will play the full game soon.
5. Puppeteer
6. GTA V
7. Tearaway
8. Rogue Legacy
9. Tomb Raider
10. Assassins Creed 4
x. Spelunky ; Just cuz it was my number one last year.
2012. Persona 4
2. Desktop Dungeons
3. Brothers
4. Papers, Please ; Yes, I only played the 5 day demo. I don't care. It's enough. Will play the full game soon.
5. Puppeteer
6. GTA V
7. Tearaway
8. Rogue Legacy
9. Tomb Raider
10. Assassins Creed 4
x. Spelunky ; Just cuz it was my number one last year.
2012. Persona 4
1. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; Dark Arisen gave us access to not only the best content within the game in the Death stalking Bitterblack Isle but also the best content of the year. A fantastic, challenging and rewarding combat heavy fantasy game with a great twist to its story and plenty of content to last several hundred hours. Being able to incorporate your friends pawns helped make your journey that more personal and unique, unlike any other game this year.
2. Anarchy Reigns ; Incredible soundtrack and a genuinely exciting game from beginning to end. Its style of gameplay was a nice change of pace from the norm and showed that even on a budget, a game doesn't need to be about framerate or resolution but just having a outstanding time playing it,
3. The Last of Us ; That dynamic cinematic experience with real drama and stressful gameplay made this something special, from the thrilling intro to the compelling ending the entire game was captivating. The multiplayer component creates very tense and ultimately a rewarding experience unlike any other multiplayer game released in the year.
4. Bioshock Infinite
5. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
6. Super Mario 3D World
7. The Wonderful 101
8. X-Com Enemy Within
9. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
10. Tomb Raider
2. Anarchy Reigns ; Incredible soundtrack and a genuinely exciting game from beginning to end. Its style of gameplay was a nice change of pace from the norm and showed that even on a budget, a game doesn't need to be about framerate or resolution but just having a outstanding time playing it,
3. The Last of Us ; That dynamic cinematic experience with real drama and stressful gameplay made this something special, from the thrilling intro to the compelling ending the entire game was captivating. The multiplayer component creates very tense and ultimately a rewarding experience unlike any other multiplayer game released in the year.
4. Bioshock Infinite
5. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
6. Super Mario 3D World
7. The Wonderful 101
8. X-Com Enemy Within
9. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
10. Tomb Raider
Both Nintendo AND Sony released a great game this year, no way a PC or Xbox game wins here. But I would like to see it at least get top 5.
I need to know this too, I only voted for one game.
Nestunt
Member
1. Bioshock Infinite ; My 2nd favorite game of this generation til this point was Bioshock, this is a better version.
2. Metal Gear Rising ; Jetstream Sam.
3. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon ; More Far Cry 3 and love what the idea of this publishing represents.
4. Runner 2 ; A game so happy should be in everybody's top 5.
5. Injustice ; The half that was missing from their revision on MK vs DCU.
6. Rayman Legends ; Not higher (place of Runner) because I played it in a PS3.
7. Rocksmith 2014 ; I am still amazed that this exists.
8. GTA V ; the scope of this game.
9. The Last of Us ; story.
10. XCOM Enemy Within ; My 2012 GOTY gets more stuff.
2. Metal Gear Rising ; Jetstream Sam.
3. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon ; More Far Cry 3 and love what the idea of this publishing represents.
4. Runner 2 ; A game so happy should be in everybody's top 5.
5. Injustice ; The half that was missing from their revision on MK vs DCU.
6. Rayman Legends ; Not higher (place of Runner) because I played it in a PS3.
7. Rocksmith 2014 ; I am still amazed that this exists.
8. GTA V ; the scope of this game.
9. The Last of Us ; story.
10. XCOM Enemy Within ; My 2012 GOTY gets more stuff.
1. The last of us ; fantastic story and visuals, as expected of ND. However i was surprised to see the gameplay was also amazing. Some intense combat and one of the few survivial horror games this gen that actually needs a lot of scavenging and conserving resources.
2. GTAV ; a huge improvement over gta4 and easily the best gta to date. not much more to say other than its great
3. Metal Gear Rising ; I love character action games, sword combat, metal gear and platinum games. this game is the perfect combination of all of those. Its a very short game but i enjoyed every second of it.
4. TLOZ:ALBW ; This is my second zelda game ever. the fist was SS which i found pretty disappointing but this made me realize why zelda is such a beloved game. Everything is so intricately designed and all the characters are so charming i couldnt stop playing until i 100% the game.
5. Monster Hunter 3U ; My first monster hunter game and im hooked. Easily the game i have invested the most amount of time into this year and there is still so much left. The gameplay loop of hunt monster>carve resources>make armour/weapons>hunt bigger monsters is so addictive. Every single monster is so much fun to fight except the ceadeus.
6. Rayman legends ; This game is happiness liquefied and then digitalized into a game. great controls, visuals, level design and soundtrack. The music levels were some of the most fun i had this year.
7. FC3: Blood Dragon ; i really liked FC3 last year except for its story and setting which were a little dull. This game fixes all of that. Lets hope ubisoft makes a fully funded next gen spin off series from this.
8. DOTA 2 ; Earlier this year i sworn off playing this game ever again but the 250hrs i have put into it can't be ignored. This is easily one of the best PC games released in a long time. Chock full of depth and a difficulty curve that will keep some playing this game their entier lifetimes. Even though its MP only every character is unique and a has a detailed lore behind them.
9. Brothers ATOTS ; this is one of those special games. Its simple with unconventional gameplay with pretty visuals and a story to tell. everything works very well together to tell a pixar-like story and story which i can personally identify with. Brothers felt like a perfect little package to me.
10. Papers' Please ; one of the best examples of how gameplay mechanics can be used to not just tell a story but also to prove a point. This games takes its players and turns them into corrupt bureaucrats all without any waypoints. plus to take something so mundane as paperwork and turn it into a high stake, high action game deserves huge commendations.
x. The swappers ; puzzle platformers are to indie games what FPS are to AAA games. They are a dime a dozen but this is one of the best of them. A blend of 2001: space Odyssey, Alien and Event horizon, the atmosphere is easily the best in the entire indie scene. The puzzles are great, the visuals and soundtrack are great and the ponderous undertones in the story kept me thinking of this game day and night until i finished it.
games i have yet to play but probably would have been top 10:
SM3DW
W101
ACIV:BF
2. GTAV ; a huge improvement over gta4 and easily the best gta to date. not much more to say other than its great
3. Metal Gear Rising ; I love character action games, sword combat, metal gear and platinum games. this game is the perfect combination of all of those. Its a very short game but i enjoyed every second of it.
4. TLOZ:ALBW ; This is my second zelda game ever. the fist was SS which i found pretty disappointing but this made me realize why zelda is such a beloved game. Everything is so intricately designed and all the characters are so charming i couldnt stop playing until i 100% the game.
5. Monster Hunter 3U ; My first monster hunter game and im hooked. Easily the game i have invested the most amount of time into this year and there is still so much left. The gameplay loop of hunt monster>carve resources>make armour/weapons>hunt bigger monsters is so addictive. Every single monster is so much fun to fight except the ceadeus.
6. Rayman legends ; This game is happiness liquefied and then digitalized into a game. great controls, visuals, level design and soundtrack. The music levels were some of the most fun i had this year.
7. FC3: Blood Dragon ; i really liked FC3 last year except for its story and setting which were a little dull. This game fixes all of that. Lets hope ubisoft makes a fully funded next gen spin off series from this.
8. DOTA 2 ; Earlier this year i sworn off playing this game ever again but the 250hrs i have put into it can't be ignored. This is easily one of the best PC games released in a long time. Chock full of depth and a difficulty curve that will keep some playing this game their entier lifetimes. Even though its MP only every character is unique and a has a detailed lore behind them.
9. Brothers ATOTS ; this is one of those special games. Its simple with unconventional gameplay with pretty visuals and a story to tell. everything works very well together to tell a pixar-like story and story which i can personally identify with. Brothers felt like a perfect little package to me.
10. Papers' Please ; one of the best examples of how gameplay mechanics can be used to not just tell a story but also to prove a point. This games takes its players and turns them into corrupt bureaucrats all without any waypoints. plus to take something so mundane as paperwork and turn it into a high stake, high action game deserves huge commendations.
x. The swappers ; puzzle platformers are to indie games what FPS are to AAA games. They are a dime a dozen but this is one of the best of them. A blend of 2001: space Odyssey, Alien and Event horizon, the atmosphere is easily the best in the entire indie scene. The puzzles are great, the visuals and soundtrack are great and the ponderous undertones in the story kept me thinking of this game day and night until i finished it.
games i have yet to play but probably would have been top 10:
SM3DW
W101
ACIV:BF
1. Tearaway ; Completely and utterly charming.
2. The Last Of Us ; A powerful tour de force.
3. Dota 2 ; Fuck you game.
4. The Stanley Parable ; 8888888888888888888888888888
5. Civilization V: Brave New World ; More sleepless nights of one more turn
6. Rayman Legends ;
7. Dust: An Elysian Tail ;
8. Guacamelee! ;
9. Puppeteer ;
10. Rogue Legacy ;
2. The Last Of Us ; A powerful tour de force.
3. Dota 2 ; Fuck you game.
4. The Stanley Parable ; 8888888888888888888888888888
5. Civilization V: Brave New World ; More sleepless nights of one more turn
6. Rayman Legends ;
7. Dust: An Elysian Tail ;
8. Guacamelee! ;
9. Puppeteer ;
10. Rogue Legacy ;
01. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; Incredible game. The variety of demons is stunning, the gameplay is satisfying, and the fusion has never been better. I really enjoyed getting lost in Tokyo exploring all that I could. Press turn is still one of my favorites, and I really loved all the dialogue, story, and character interactions. The sidequests were hit or miss, but I found them to be pretty enjoyable to complete with decent rewards. And man, that story was just so great. I enojyed this game as a whole much better than Nocturne especially because of some of the older SMT callbacks. On a scale that only goes from awesome to awesome with no in-between, I think saying that this is a game deserving of its lineage is a safe thing to say. For me trying to rank SMT games is almost like trying to rank all the 3D Zelda games, where the love-factor is so minuscule between games that you can't help but stand back and be impressed by the lineage.
Let's not forget it also has the best OST of 2013, too. (definitely spoilers in links! BEWARE!)
02. Ace Attorney Dual Destinies ; Fennie and gang are back in another incredible game. I can't describe the sounds I made and how much I defecated everywhere when this game was announced. The game delivered on my hype and much more, proving that Capcom could definitely handle the transition to 3D with a flawless victory. The returning characters are all great, the music has some of the series' best, and the story is highly entertaining and and fantastic experience that will have you shitting your pants all the way till the end of the game. The new characters are great, and Athena is an outstanding addition to the gang. Blackquill with the prosecutors is also wonderful, and he ended up 3rd on my overall favorites list. You min-know it! And man, I didn't think they could replace Gumshoe, but Bobby is a solid addition to an already outstanding cast.
Sexiest investigation theme in any AA game, ever.
03. Super Mario 3D World ; Pretty much a flawless platformer that is enjoyable with everyone. Every group of friends I have has all heard of the game, so they naturally demand I bring it over so we can play. I think as of writing this, i've probably played through the main game at least 5 times, all with different people each time and it never gets old. The music is incredible, Mario in HD is glorious, and nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa, I actually love the catsuit.
04. The Wonderful 101 ; The Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann of video games, I finally broke into the hype of action games. Something midway really clicked for me, and when I achieved a mindset that could clearly see, plan, and excecute my moves in real-time, the game is second to none in terms of delivering a deep and satisfying gameplay. The cast and story are also very unique and well, wonderful. I was fist-pumping so hard by the end of the game, and Tables Turn still triggers a Pavlovian drool elicitation from my mouth and an adrenaline rush through all of my veins every time the tune hit my ears.
05. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Pretty much one of the best Zelda experiences in a while, I really enojyed the love given to this game. Mechanics are tight, the new item system lets me explore where I want WHEN I want, and the music is oh-so eargasmic.
06. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ; My first experience with Monster Hunter (and with nobody to be my sensei either!) I thought I would hate the game after someone told me how steep it was to get into. I sit here now with a little over 300 hours played between both versions, and honestly I couldn't be happier. It always has me coming back, and every monster, every fight, and every hunting group are just incredibly memorable experiences.
07. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Came for the waifus, stayed for the... waifus and gameplay. Did not leave disappointed. While I prefer AW-style gameplay to the FE model, I still have a special place in my heart for FE. I played the game so much, loved the music, loved the characters, loved their interactions, and even loved resetting my game once every 5 minutes due to me being bad. Hell, the experience is half just resetting, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Also you all know Severa is the best girl. Let my post be recorded in NeoGAF history as stating the truth. You know it in your war snarl to be true.
08. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ; My first actual EO experience, I really loved this. Based Koshiro. I came for challenging and satisfying gameplay, and I did not leave disappointed. I sank so many hours into this game, and just loved the amount of customization I could have. The classes/jobs were all interesting, and fuck, I love drawing maps.
09. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn ; YoshiP came, he saw, and on the seventh day he rested. Seriously, not many people could orchestrate such a turn-around like this, and it went from a game that I liked to a game that I love. Everything is more intricate, more fun, more accessible to my friends (so they can play with me now!), and just overall a great job done. I still play, and I even double-dipped.
10. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; I'm still playing this nearly daily, and it's one game that I forced myself to get digitally because I literally could not live without it being in my 3DS every day. A must have.
Honorable Mentions
x. The Last of Us ; Simply wonderful. I cared about the characters and the story, and found the combat to be pretty engaging. Haunting.
x. Tales of Xillia ; Found it to be a step back in the gameplay department from Graces f, but the characters and story were much better. The game overall felt a lot shorter compared to other games, and the overworld was pretty poor, but man, I just fucking love playing Tales series games.
x. Senran Kagura Burst ; This game made me wear looser pants, and man is it fun.
2012. Diablo III ; Man, I have never made so much money off of one video game before. I'm really sad to see the RMAH go away, and it will be missed.
Shit I wish I finished before I made a list:
Tearaway
Pikmin 3
Device 6
Mario and Luigi Dream Team
Etrian Odyssey Untold
Metal Gear Rising (damn you PC port)
Let's not forget it also has the best OST of 2013, too. (definitely spoilers in links! BEWARE!)
02. Ace Attorney Dual Destinies ; Fennie and gang are back in another incredible game. I can't describe the sounds I made and how much I defecated everywhere when this game was announced. The game delivered on my hype and much more, proving that Capcom could definitely handle the transition to 3D with a flawless victory. The returning characters are all great, the music has some of the series' best, and the story is highly entertaining and and fantastic experience that will have you shitting your pants all the way till the end of the game. The new characters are great, and Athena is an outstanding addition to the gang. Blackquill with the prosecutors is also wonderful, and he ended up 3rd on my overall favorites list. You min-know it! And man, I didn't think they could replace Gumshoe, but Bobby is a solid addition to an already outstanding cast.
Sexiest investigation theme in any AA game, ever.
03. Super Mario 3D World ; Pretty much a flawless platformer that is enjoyable with everyone. Every group of friends I have has all heard of the game, so they naturally demand I bring it over so we can play. I think as of writing this, i've probably played through the main game at least 5 times, all with different people each time and it never gets old. The music is incredible, Mario in HD is glorious, and nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa nyaa, I actually love the catsuit.
04. The Wonderful 101 ; The Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann of video games, I finally broke into the hype of action games. Something midway really clicked for me, and when I achieved a mindset that could clearly see, plan, and excecute my moves in real-time, the game is second to none in terms of delivering a deep and satisfying gameplay. The cast and story are also very unique and well, wonderful. I was fist-pumping so hard by the end of the game, and Tables Turn still triggers a Pavlovian drool elicitation from my mouth and an adrenaline rush through all of my veins every time the tune hit my ears.
05. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Pretty much one of the best Zelda experiences in a while, I really enojyed the love given to this game. Mechanics are tight, the new item system lets me explore where I want WHEN I want, and the music is oh-so eargasmic.
06. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ; My first experience with Monster Hunter (and with nobody to be my sensei either!) I thought I would hate the game after someone told me how steep it was to get into. I sit here now with a little over 300 hours played between both versions, and honestly I couldn't be happier. It always has me coming back, and every monster, every fight, and every hunting group are just incredibly memorable experiences.
07. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Came for the waifus, stayed for the... waifus and gameplay. Did not leave disappointed. While I prefer AW-style gameplay to the FE model, I still have a special place in my heart for FE. I played the game so much, loved the music, loved the characters, loved their interactions, and even loved resetting my game once every 5 minutes due to me being bad. Hell, the experience is half just resetting, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Also you all know Severa is the best girl. Let my post be recorded in NeoGAF history as stating the truth. You know it in your war snarl to be true.
08. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ; My first actual EO experience, I really loved this. Based Koshiro. I came for challenging and satisfying gameplay, and I did not leave disappointed. I sank so many hours into this game, and just loved the amount of customization I could have. The classes/jobs were all interesting, and fuck, I love drawing maps.
09. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn ; YoshiP came, he saw, and on the seventh day he rested. Seriously, not many people could orchestrate such a turn-around like this, and it went from a game that I liked to a game that I love. Everything is more intricate, more fun, more accessible to my friends (so they can play with me now!), and just overall a great job done. I still play, and I even double-dipped.
10. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; I'm still playing this nearly daily, and it's one game that I forced myself to get digitally because I literally could not live without it being in my 3DS every day. A must have.
Honorable Mentions
x. The Last of Us ; Simply wonderful. I cared about the characters and the story, and found the combat to be pretty engaging. Haunting.
x. Tales of Xillia ; Found it to be a step back in the gameplay department from Graces f, but the characters and story were much better. The game overall felt a lot shorter compared to other games, and the overworld was pretty poor, but man, I just fucking love playing Tales series games.
x. Senran Kagura Burst ; This game made me wear looser pants, and man is it fun.
2012. Diablo III ; Man, I have never made so much money off of one video game before. I'm really sad to see the RMAH go away, and it will be missed.
Shit I wish I finished before I made a list:
Tearaway
Pikmin 3
Device 6
Mario and Luigi Dream Team
Etrian Odyssey Untold
Metal Gear Rising (damn you PC port)
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
1. Etrian Odyssey 4 ; The best Dungeon Crawler I have ever played. I could talk about it all day, but I'll just say it: Everything about this game is amazing, everything.
2. Super Mario 3D World ; Nintendo's still got it and it really shows in this brilliant title.
3. The Wonderful 101 ; The best Action game I have played in my life.
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Platinum does it again, this game is short but every moment of it is an amazing ride full of action and craziness.
5. Pikmin 3 ; Pikmin 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and somehow they topped it with this game.
6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ; Phoenix is back, and in what a way.
7. The Stanley Parable ; Brilliant Game
8. Shin Megami Tensei 4 ; We finally got a brand new SMT, and it's as good as Nocturne, if not better.
9. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; My favorite FE to date.
10. Pokemon X ; Game Freak showing us once again how amazing they are.
2. Super Mario 3D World ; Nintendo's still got it and it really shows in this brilliant title.
3. The Wonderful 101 ; The best Action game I have played in my life.
4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Platinum does it again, this game is short but every moment of it is an amazing ride full of action and craziness.
5. Pikmin 3 ; Pikmin 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and somehow they topped it with this game.
6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ; Phoenix is back, and in what a way.
7. The Stanley Parable ; Brilliant Game
8. Shin Megami Tensei 4 ; We finally got a brand new SMT, and it's as good as Nocturne, if not better.
9. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; My favorite FE to date.
10. Pokemon X ; Game Freak showing us once again how amazing they are.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
1. The Last of Us ; I'm too lazy to explain sry
2. Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen ; much fun
3. Ni No Kuni ; ghibli goodness
4. MGR ; crazy fun
5. FE:A ; waifus in my srpg.....I'm okay with this.
2. Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen ; much fun
3. Ni No Kuni ; ghibli goodness
4. MGR ; crazy fun
5. FE:A ; waifus in my srpg.....I'm okay with this.
1. Tomb Raider ; This is what a reboot should look like. Will double dip for new gen.
2. GTA V ; When a game as awaited as this shows up, usually something goes wrong. But no, R* did it again.
3. Xbox Fitness ; not a game per definitionem, but a helluva lot of fun, and wife friendly
4. Splinter Cell ; by far not the best in the series, but the basic formula still works for me
5. Ryse ; What the game lacks in length and variety, it more than makes up in eye candy, and made me very excited for the new gen
6. AC 4 ; Lacks in the visual compartment, and controls can be a chore, but it has so much gameplay on offer I always get back to it
7. Gears Judgment ; Very nice try to on doing something different for storytelling in SP
8. Deus Ex HR ; very interesting mixture of gameplay elements
9. Peggle 2 ; It´s Peggle!
10. Killer Instinct ; Yeah.
2. GTA V ; When a game as awaited as this shows up, usually something goes wrong. But no, R* did it again.
3. Xbox Fitness ; not a game per definitionem, but a helluva lot of fun, and wife friendly
4. Splinter Cell ; by far not the best in the series, but the basic formula still works for me
5. Ryse ; What the game lacks in length and variety, it more than makes up in eye candy, and made me very excited for the new gen
6. AC 4 ; Lacks in the visual compartment, and controls can be a chore, but it has so much gameplay on offer I always get back to it
7. Gears Judgment ; Very nice try to on doing something different for storytelling in SP
8. Deus Ex HR ; very interesting mixture of gameplay elements
9. Peggle 2 ; It´s Peggle!
10. Killer Instinct ; Yeah.
1. GTA V ; Everything I wanted GTA 4 to be. My new San Andreas, I took a week off work to play it and thoroughly enjoyed every moment.
2. Hotline Miami ; Perfect fit for the Vita. Fast, frantic and funky as fuck. Definitely soundtrack of the year.
3. Dragon's Crown ; So beautiful, so much content. A cracking brawler with RPG elements that keep me coming back again and again. I haven't even started on any other classes yet.
4. DEVICE 6 ; Unlike anything I've played before, and a great example of how to make a original experience that plays to the strengths of an iOS device.
5. Earth Defence Force 3: Portable ; Dumb brainless blasting in the best possible way. Never leaving my Vita memory card.
6. Saints Row 4 ; Not quite up there with The Third, but that's like saying a painting ain't up there with the Mona Lisa.
7. Tearaway ; Charming, original, makes great use of all the stuff they chucked into the Vita. An eminently memorable experience with the second best soundtrack of the year.
8. Killzone: Mercenary ; Stunning to look at, great to play. An excellent campaign mode that I can happily play over and over and try new things every time.
9. Puzzle & Dragons ; Probably my most played game this year. A clever twist on the ol' match 3.
10. Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus ; Musou. Tits. Magnificent.
EDF and P&D are both 2013 games here in the UK.
2. Hotline Miami ; Perfect fit for the Vita. Fast, frantic and funky as fuck. Definitely soundtrack of the year.
3. Dragon's Crown ; So beautiful, so much content. A cracking brawler with RPG elements that keep me coming back again and again. I haven't even started on any other classes yet.
4. DEVICE 6 ; Unlike anything I've played before, and a great example of how to make a original experience that plays to the strengths of an iOS device.
5. Earth Defence Force 3: Portable ; Dumb brainless blasting in the best possible way. Never leaving my Vita memory card.
6. Saints Row 4 ; Not quite up there with The Third, but that's like saying a painting ain't up there with the Mona Lisa.
7. Tearaway ; Charming, original, makes great use of all the stuff they chucked into the Vita. An eminently memorable experience with the second best soundtrack of the year.
8. Killzone: Mercenary ; Stunning to look at, great to play. An excellent campaign mode that I can happily play over and over and try new things every time.
9. Puzzle & Dragons ; Probably my most played game this year. A clever twist on the ol' match 3.
10. Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus ; Musou. Tits. Magnificent.
EDF and P&D are both 2013 games here in the UK.
1. The Last of Us ;
What game besides Silent Hill 2 makes you question what you just played? The ending is both chilling, disturbing while also being a "happy" ending, how can a video game achieve all of that? Well its Naughty Dog and they are one of, if not *the* premier studio right now in the entire industry. The entire journey is memorable and this is one of those games you will remember in 4-5 years, because its greatness goes beyond mere mechanics.
There are so many moments and scenes i will remember for years to come, this is the first video game ever made that has cutscenes which are in fact, not cringe worthy video game "jank" that every other game on earth almost has.
The switch from, calm, almost beautiful scenery to outright frantic battle to save your own life can happen within a single second, the game demands your attention and never lets go.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ;
Improves on everything imaginable, goes back to series roots with a more silly and "fun" tone. Its only downside is that, there is nothing truly memorable about this game besides maybe the crazy antics of Trevor. Its hard for this series, if not impossible to make the same mark that GTA3 did more than 10 years ago.
GTA is best when they set it in a time period, as that really gives the game a unique atmosphere that goes beyond the mere mechanics. Vice City is today memorable not for its missions, weapons or gameplay mechanics, but for its perfect representation of the 1980s. GTA5 lacks that spark, that unique identity. Its just a fun open world game.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds ;
Best Zelda since Link to the Past easily. Removed all the cluttery shit that plagues modern Zelda games and went straight to the point. This game would place higher if it wasent so obsessed with being in LttPs shadow. This is like a game version of R Kelly - Ignition (Remix), its good but it feels like a remix rather than its own game. Our memory of this game in a few years will be that it is just a remix of LttP, a sort of side adventure. Had this game had a new world rather than the almost copy/pasted one of LttP the game would have felt more fresh and felt like it was its own game.
But like i said this is still the best Zelda game in 20 years, and best Nintendo game in a long time.
And that is my list, i dont feel like any other games this year rank up with those 3 this year.
What game besides Silent Hill 2 makes you question what you just played? The ending is both chilling, disturbing while also being a "happy" ending, how can a video game achieve all of that? Well its Naughty Dog and they are one of, if not *the* premier studio right now in the entire industry. The entire journey is memorable and this is one of those games you will remember in 4-5 years, because its greatness goes beyond mere mechanics.
There are so many moments and scenes i will remember for years to come, this is the first video game ever made that has cutscenes which are in fact, not cringe worthy video game "jank" that every other game on earth almost has.
The switch from, calm, almost beautiful scenery to outright frantic battle to save your own life can happen within a single second, the game demands your attention and never lets go.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ;
Improves on everything imaginable, goes back to series roots with a more silly and "fun" tone. Its only downside is that, there is nothing truly memorable about this game besides maybe the crazy antics of Trevor. Its hard for this series, if not impossible to make the same mark that GTA3 did more than 10 years ago.
GTA is best when they set it in a time period, as that really gives the game a unique atmosphere that goes beyond the mere mechanics. Vice City is today memorable not for its missions, weapons or gameplay mechanics, but for its perfect representation of the 1980s. GTA5 lacks that spark, that unique identity. Its just a fun open world game.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds ;
Best Zelda since Link to the Past easily. Removed all the cluttery shit that plagues modern Zelda games and went straight to the point. This game would place higher if it wasent so obsessed with being in LttPs shadow. This is like a game version of R Kelly - Ignition (Remix), its good but it feels like a remix rather than its own game. Our memory of this game in a few years will be that it is just a remix of LttP, a sort of side adventure. Had this game had a new world rather than the almost copy/pasted one of LttP the game would have felt more fresh and felt like it was its own game.
But like i said this is still the best Zelda game in 20 years, and best Nintendo game in a long time.
And that is my list, i dont feel like any other games this year rank up with those 3 this year.
1. The Last Of Us ; Probably not a lot that I can say about this that hasn't already been said, but for engaging gameplay and the most compelling narrative I've experienced in a video game, hands down the best game I've played all year.
2. Papers Please ; When I first heard of this, it seemed like a fairly boring experience. Once I got around to playing it though, I found it surprisingly absorbing, and it's also a fantastic demonstration of how to mix story and gameplay well.
3. Assassin's Creed 4 ; After 3, I'd more or less given up on the series. But after seeing the reviews for this one, I decided to pick it up anyway. For me, it represents a huge return to form for the series, and its up there with 2 and Brotherhood for best Assassin's Creed game. Well done Ubisoft.
4. Bioshock Infinite ; I'm slightly baffled by how strong the backlash was against this game. While not perfect, I still thought it was pretty good. Oh well, people are weird I guess.
5. Resogun ; Best exclusive of the PS4 launch, fun little game with some absolutely stunning visuals.
6. Age of Empires 2: HD Edition (with the Forgotten Empires mod/dlc) ; one of my favourite games of all time gets an HD release, with some new features and an expansion adding some great new civs and campaigns.
7. Surgeon Simulator 2013 I'm sorry, this is just brilliant.
8.XCOM: Enemy Within ; Very good game gets more added to it. What's not to love?
2012 ; Civilization V : Gods and Kings, which I have sunk far far too much time into.
2. Papers Please ; When I first heard of this, it seemed like a fairly boring experience. Once I got around to playing it though, I found it surprisingly absorbing, and it's also a fantastic demonstration of how to mix story and gameplay well.
3. Assassin's Creed 4 ; After 3, I'd more or less given up on the series. But after seeing the reviews for this one, I decided to pick it up anyway. For me, it represents a huge return to form for the series, and its up there with 2 and Brotherhood for best Assassin's Creed game. Well done Ubisoft.
4. Bioshock Infinite ; I'm slightly baffled by how strong the backlash was against this game. While not perfect, I still thought it was pretty good. Oh well, people are weird I guess.
5. Resogun ; Best exclusive of the PS4 launch, fun little game with some absolutely stunning visuals.
6. Age of Empires 2: HD Edition (with the Forgotten Empires mod/dlc) ; one of my favourite games of all time gets an HD release, with some new features and an expansion adding some great new civs and campaigns.
7. Surgeon Simulator 2013 I'm sorry, this is just brilliant.
8.XCOM: Enemy Within ; Very good game gets more added to it. What's not to love?
2012 ; Civilization V : Gods and Kings, which I have sunk far far too much time into.
1. Dota 2 ; It's a game which goes against modern game design: it doesn't belittle the player with constant positive reinforcement, it's had years of balance patches and, while obtuse, has more depth than the deepest ocean. Incredible game. It's also one of the only games you can say is completely and utterly free.
2. The Stanley Parable ; A interesting look in to game narrative and the illusion of player choice. Interjected with the frustrations of a game designer trying to tell a story when your lead character has ADHD.
3. The Last of Us ; I'm sure other people will but much more concise and better thoughts about this. The gameplay was rather bland but the story carried the weight like Atlas carrying the world.
4. Saints Row 4 ; One of the only games to have me laughing all the way through. Revels in the ridiculousness of it all.
5. GTA V ; A return to form after GTA IV
6. Game Stock Car 2013 ; This won't get a mention from anyone else but one of the strongest racing simulators out there at the moment. Made by a small Brazilian team and with physics made by a Dutch fellow. It shames games with a much larger budget with how engaging they can make the cars feel.
7. Rayman Legends
8. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
9. Splinter Cell Blacklist
10. Bioshock Infinite
Over rated game of the year!
x. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; What a boring shower of shit that was. Kind of the gaming equivalent of: Too many cooks spoil the broth.
2. The Stanley Parable ; A interesting look in to game narrative and the illusion of player choice. Interjected with the frustrations of a game designer trying to tell a story when your lead character has ADHD.
3. The Last of Us ; I'm sure other people will but much more concise and better thoughts about this. The gameplay was rather bland but the story carried the weight like Atlas carrying the world.
4. Saints Row 4 ; One of the only games to have me laughing all the way through. Revels in the ridiculousness of it all.
5. GTA V ; A return to form after GTA IV
6. Game Stock Car 2013 ; This won't get a mention from anyone else but one of the strongest racing simulators out there at the moment. Made by a small Brazilian team and with physics made by a Dutch fellow. It shames games with a much larger budget with how engaging they can make the cars feel.
7. Rayman Legends
8. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
9. Splinter Cell Blacklist
10. Bioshock Infinite
Over rated game of the year!
x. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; What a boring shower of shit that was. Kind of the gaming equivalent of: Too many cooks spoil the broth.
GlamFM
Banned
1. Grand Theft Auto V ; My expectations were high - GTA V surpassed them. If R* decides to make a next gen port I will probably keep playing this game for years.
2. Metro: Last Light
3. Tomb Raider
4. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
5. The Last of Us
6. Forza Motorsport 5
7. Bioshock Infinite
8. Person 4 Golden
2. Metro: Last Light
3. Tomb Raider
4. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
5. The Last of Us
6. Forza Motorsport 5
7. Bioshock Infinite
8. Person 4 Golden
D
Deleted member 59090
Unconfirmed Member
But it came out last year.
N7Commander95
Member
1; Brother's: A Tale of Two Sons - Easily the greatest game of the generation. While other games like Uncharted, Last of Us, Halo eg most triple A games ever made confine there stories through cut scenes, dialog and maybe some use of mechanics of metaphor, Brother's is a game that runs rings around other narratives without a single word spoken at all. It made wimpy pressing a trigger button one of the most emotionally recasting and later uplifting moments in gaming history. Beautiful, Powerful, succinct and perfect.
2; Mass Effect 3: Citadel - I don't care that this is DLC dammit, it was the most fun I have ever had in a videogame. A loving, hilarious and heartbraking love letter to one of the most important game series of a generation.
2; Mass Effect 3: Citadel - I don't care that this is DLC dammit, it was the most fun I have ever had in a videogame. A loving, hilarious and heartbraking love letter to one of the most important game series of a generation.
Atomic Airplanes
Member
reserved
para me
para me
1. Tomb Raider; Just a fantastic reboot. Great gameplay, visuals and a semi open nature to it. Loved the upgrade system too.
2. Dead Rising 3; easily the best next gen launch title on any platform. Just so so so much fun and craziness. A great way to scratch that Crackdown itch till CD3 drops.
3. The Last of Us; great visuals, decent story, but just really enthralling. A game that I continually wanted to come home and play.
4. Guacamelee; I love my Metroidvanias and Guacamelee is a great spin on the formula. Funky art style that suits the story and context down to the ground.
5. Killer Instinct; Double Helix have done a fantastic job remaking a so so 90's fighter into a genuine competitive fighting game. Deep if you want it to be, but accessible enough for noobs to stand a chance.
2. Dead Rising 3; easily the best next gen launch title on any platform. Just so so so much fun and craziness. A great way to scratch that Crackdown itch till CD3 drops.
3. The Last of Us; great visuals, decent story, but just really enthralling. A game that I continually wanted to come home and play.
4. Guacamelee; I love my Metroidvanias and Guacamelee is a great spin on the formula. Funky art style that suits the story and context down to the ground.
5. Killer Instinct; Double Helix have done a fantastic job remaking a so so 90's fighter into a genuine competitive fighting game. Deep if you want it to be, but accessible enough for noobs to stand a chance.
I think cause the same version came out in 2012 the answer would be no.
Thanks, it's the port rule that's tripping me up, because it was released as a download in the EU in 2012, but ported to Vita in 2013...
King Beyond the wall
Member
1. The Last of Us ; story, gameplay, atmosphere, music, characters, this had it all and is easily my favourite game of not only this year but of the entire generation.
2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; this was my first fire emblem game but it was incredibly fun and addictive.
3. Ni No Kuni ; this took me surprise and I loved every minute, particularly the art style.
4. Beyond two souls ; this game does get a lot of hate but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The performance of Ellen Page was exceptional and made this game.
5. Bioshock Infinite ; really loved the art style and atmosphere of this game, though it was a bit disappointing in the story department.
2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; this was my first fire emblem game but it was incredibly fun and addictive.
3. Ni No Kuni ; this took me surprise and I loved every minute, particularly the art style.
4. Beyond two souls ; this game does get a lot of hate but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The performance of Ellen Page was exceptional and made this game.
5. Bioshock Infinite ; really loved the art style and atmosphere of this game, though it was a bit disappointing in the story department.
I better get started, impression later
1. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Crack. Total Crack. Nintendo released a crack
2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; This was also another Nintendo's another crack
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ;
4. Super Mario 3D World ;
5. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between World;
6. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; I totally thought this is going to disappoint after AC3, they surprised me.
7. Lego City Undercover ;
8. Saints Row IV ;
9. Pokemon X/Y;
10. Batman: Arkham Origins;
2012. Puzzle and Dragons ; I got in late, but this game has so far consumed the most of my playtime in 2013. This is my actual no.1 game of the year. Unfortunately I cannot place it at number 1.
1. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Crack. Total Crack. Nintendo released a crack
2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; This was also another Nintendo's another crack
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ;
4. Super Mario 3D World ;
5. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between World;
6. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; I totally thought this is going to disappoint after AC3, they surprised me.
7. Lego City Undercover ;
8. Saints Row IV ;
9. Pokemon X/Y;
10. Batman: Arkham Origins;
2012. Puzzle and Dragons ; I got in late, but this game has so far consumed the most of my playtime in 2013. This is my actual no.1 game of the year. Unfortunately I cannot place it at number 1.
Dragon1893
Member
1. The Last of Us ; Not only my game of the year but my favorite game ever. All the stars aligned to make this an unforgettable masterpiece. The best written characters in the medium are brought to life by the best acting ever seen in a videogame which made me care for them more than I ever have for any other virtual character. The fantastic animation seals the deal. Like with Uncharted, the cliche plot takes a backseat and is merely there to provide context and an overall goal for the characters whose arcs and interactions are what you take away from the experience. Then there's the fantastic art direction which combined with ND's technical prowess sells you this post-apocalyptic setting like no other before it.
Fortunately the gameplay is just as strong as the rest, making you feel the struggle Joel and Ellie endure every step of the way. The game should definitely be played on hard and survivor only though, wall-hack disabled. Resources are scarce, health doesn't regenerate, stealth is incredibly tense and every fight is visceral and brutal, with a melee system that makes you feel every blow and characters reacting convincingly to every bullet impact. The existence of 4 types of enemies with completely different behaviour keeps things fresh. Environments allow for a surprising amount of exploration, with dozens of buildings waiting to be explored for loot and optional conversations.
Then there's the music, the game just wouldn't be the same without it, Gustavo Santaolalla delivered a beautiful soundtrack where every single note counts and enhances the atmosphere a 100 fold.
2. Persona 4 Golden
3. Bioshock Infinite
4. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed ; Only played it this year on PC. Reminded me of why I love videogames. Pure destilled fun and the nostalgia was overwhelming.
5. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
6. Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers
7. Metro Last Light
8. Fire Emblem Awakening
9. Tales of Xillia
10. Muramasa Rebirth ; One of the most beautiful games I've ever seen, the incredible art and suberp use of color come to life on the vita`s oled screen to provide a mesmerizing experience. The gameplay is fantastic and the boss battles provide a great challenge on the Chaos difficulty setting.
x. Ni No Kuni ; Breathtaking is the only way to describe the game's incredible presentation with visuals and animation unlike anything I've ever seen. Fortunately it's also a very competent rpg with dozens of hours worth of content. It's a shame that the AI isn't better.
x. Killer is Dead ; I came for the artstyle and stayed for the gameplay which is surprinsingly fun, it's refreshing to play something that is just completely crazy and out there once in a while.
x. Resident Evil 6 ; Though the campaign was mostly disappointing (it still had some good parts though) the gameplay is actually fantastic, something most people didn't realize. I'm putting it here because of the huge amount of fun I got out of mercenaries on coop where the gameplay really shines and the game becomes incredibly addictive. Seriously, give it a chance.
x. Puppeteer ; Incredibly charming game.
2012. XCom: Enemy Unknown
SMT IV and Bravely Default will lose a lot of votes because of only being released in a single region. Votes for these will be diluted over this and the next year.
Fortunately the gameplay is just as strong as the rest, making you feel the struggle Joel and Ellie endure every step of the way. The game should definitely be played on hard and survivor only though, wall-hack disabled. Resources are scarce, health doesn't regenerate, stealth is incredibly tense and every fight is visceral and brutal, with a melee system that makes you feel every blow and characters reacting convincingly to every bullet impact. The existence of 4 types of enemies with completely different behaviour keeps things fresh. Environments allow for a surprising amount of exploration, with dozens of buildings waiting to be explored for loot and optional conversations.
Then there's the music, the game just wouldn't be the same without it, Gustavo Santaolalla delivered a beautiful soundtrack where every single note counts and enhances the atmosphere a 100 fold.
2. Persona 4 Golden
3. Bioshock Infinite
4. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed ; Only played it this year on PC. Reminded me of why I love videogames. Pure destilled fun and the nostalgia was overwhelming.
5. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
6. Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers
7. Metro Last Light
8. Fire Emblem Awakening
9. Tales of Xillia
10. Muramasa Rebirth ; One of the most beautiful games I've ever seen, the incredible art and suberp use of color come to life on the vita`s oled screen to provide a mesmerizing experience. The gameplay is fantastic and the boss battles provide a great challenge on the Chaos difficulty setting.
x. Ni No Kuni ; Breathtaking is the only way to describe the game's incredible presentation with visuals and animation unlike anything I've ever seen. Fortunately it's also a very competent rpg with dozens of hours worth of content. It's a shame that the AI isn't better.
x. Killer is Dead ; I came for the artstyle and stayed for the gameplay which is surprinsingly fun, it's refreshing to play something that is just completely crazy and out there once in a while.
x. Resident Evil 6 ; Though the campaign was mostly disappointing (it still had some good parts though) the gameplay is actually fantastic, something most people didn't realize. I'm putting it here because of the huge amount of fun I got out of mercenaries on coop where the gameplay really shines and the game becomes incredibly addictive. Seriously, give it a chance.
x. Puppeteer ; Incredibly charming game.
2012. XCom: Enemy Unknown
SMT IV and Bravely Default will lose a lot of votes because of only being released in a single region. Votes for these will be diluted over this and the next year.
- Status