10. Final Fantasy XV

This game is a departure from what Final Fantasy has been in the past, while trying to adopt some modern conventions it doesn't quite nail it, but the world, characters, and gameplay it does deliver made for a unique experience. Pacing and story issues aside, I can't deny I had a good time.

9. Dragon Quest Builders

If you give me a free-form building game I usually run out of ideas early on and get bored. This game gave me just the right amount of direction I needed while still giving plenty of room for creativity. By the end of each world I was pretty happy with the little base town I had built.

8. Batman: Arkham Knight

Say what you will about this being so similar to the previous games, I enjoyed those ones as well. This one in particular might be my favorite, as the generational jump led to a big improvement city size and scope, without sacrificing the personality and style that drew me into its world.

7. Stardew Valley

I didn't spend as much time on this as I'd like so far, but I can tell it's something special that belongs on this list. Any time I had tried to get into a Harvest Moon game in the past, I'd run into design/control/ui annoyances that added up made me put it down. This feels like it's addressed those, added a ton more things to do, as well as having a memorable cast of characters.

6. Ratchet & Clank

While this game probably ranks higher on my list due to nostalgia for the original PS2 game, it still does an excellent job of splitting the difference between being faithful to that game, yet tightening up in areas that benefit the overall pacing, and incorporating the newer gameplay elements of the series that weren't present the first time. Also it look amazingly CG movie-like and I say that unironically.

5. Inside

This has some clever puzzles, great atmosphere, memorable moments and set pieces, and doesn't overstay its welcome. It also looks great and has an incredible amount of detail packed into every area and animation.

4. Doom

This came out of nowhere as a game that had no right to be good, but modernized the franchise in just the right ways while taking itself as seriously as it should (not at all) and made for big, loud, dumb fun. It looked and ran great as well.

3. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward

While this is a release I played last year as well, it felt inaccurate to not include it again considering the continued content patches coupled with the amount of time and fun I've had with it this year. Taking a break to try to go back to the other MMO I used to play's new expansion made me appreciate what this one has to offer even more.

2. The Witness

I had been looking forward to this game for years and it did not disappoint. It does such a great job of introducing you to it's own puzzle vocabulary and gating your progress only by your knowledge as a player. The game world is beautiful and handcrafted in such a deliberate way and everything has meaning.

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

While I had no background in previous Witcher games, I quickly came to enjoy the world and cast of characters. In a game with player choice, you run the risk of making your protagonist too much of a boring blank slate or your choices feeling either meaningless or unintentionally comical on some scale of moral absolutes. Somehow this game pulled off interesting choice while managing to tell a great cohesive story, and Geralt has a strong personality while still leaving some room to play him your own way. Even though I spent over 200 hours between the main game and the expansions, felt like very little of that time wasn't meaningful or interesting in some way. Very few side quests felt like filler. Even hidden treasure locations usually had an accompanying letter or journal entry. Also I had a great time playing Gwent, and I'm not even a card game person. This is the game I hope everyone that works on games plays and can take away some lesson or insight from. And when the time is right, I look forward to jumping back in to new game plus and seeing how things play out differently.

The 13 Games of 2013 that I didn't get to yet

This morning while thinking about what my personal game of the year top 10 list would look like, I came to realize that maybe half of the games I played this year didn't come out this year. Thanks to the ease and convenience digital distribution and online sales, as well as my fondness to waste time in MMOs that you can never truly beat, I have an ever growing back catalog I'm working through. I decided to be a little proactive this year and make a list of games that I'm interested in playing sometime next year, and very might well end up as 2014's 2013 game of the year.

	1. Super Mario 3D WorldEveryone that's played this game has positive things to say about it. A console Mario game from the Galaxy Team is probably great but I couldn't justify the purchase when I'm trying to get through so many other games right now. Also I have an unfinished copy of Super Mario 3d Land for the 3DS that I should play first.
	2. Papers, PleaseI did buy this when it came out and started to play, but put it on hold when a patch to address minor issues was announced. I just never got back around to it after that. So far I had found it to be really good, but super stressful to play. Maybe I psyched myself out of going back to it for now.
	3. Ratchet & Clank: Into the NexusI didn't purchase a PS3 until 2 years ago once a sizable list of exclusives had built up on it. At the top of that list was the Ratchet and Clank Future Trilogy, which I immensely enjoyed. I bought this on a Black Friday sale but I want to finish All 4 One and Full Frontal Assault before I crack the seal.
	4. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual DestiniesI was a big fan of the first 3 Phoenix Wright games on the DS, but for whatever reason, hesitated on ever picking up Apollo Justice. I played the demo for this and I think I would really like it, but I want to play the games in order.
	5. Batman: Arkham OriginsBatman Arkham Asylum and City were two of my favorite games of this generation. I almost jumped on board with this, but then remembered Arkham City sat on my Steam library for a few months while I waited for a patch to fix some performance and bug issues. I have enough to play right now that by the time I'm ready to play this and hopefully any issues are patched, it will go on a better sale.
	6. Pikmin 3I bought a Wii U last spring and bought this at full price when it came out because I desperately wanted to justify that console purchase. Pikmin 1 and 2 were pretty great in my opinion as well. I played about 2 game days into this one and shelved it for the time being, but not because I didn't like it. Until making this list, I had completely forgotten it came out this year and that I need to play it.
	7. The Stanley ParableI still know what this game is exactly, mainly because it seems to be a game full of great moments you can't talk about without spoiling that experience. Upon learning that there was a demo with unique content, I immediately played that, which led to an instant purchase. And then after looping through a path or two of the real game, I'm still confused as to what the game actually is. I'll play more at some point, as I'm sure it's really good.
	8. The Walking Dead: Season TwoThis isn't even out in time for Game of the Year lists but technically comes out this year. Or maybe it doesn't count until the whole season has been released. I feel like the Giant Bomb wiki will say 2013, so that's why I'm putting it here. Season 1 was really good, so I have to play this. I'd almost rather wait until the whole season is out though to get into it, like I did the last time.
	9. Assassin's Creed IV: Black FlagI played Assassin's Creed 1 (for the PC which supposedly added more mission variety than what the console versions had) and liked it. I went into Assassin's Creed 2 and didn't like the character or setting as much so didn't get too far. When 3 came out and the consensus seemed to be that it was a letdown, my interest in finishing any game in the series dropped to zero. But now that this is supposedly what 3 should have been and maybe the best one yet, I kind of want to go back and play through them all to get up to here. Maybe that'll happen, maybe I'll skip to this one when it goes cheap.
	10. Mario & Luigi: Dream TeamThe original Mario and Luigi game for GBA was pretty great from what I remember. Years ago, when I bought a DS lite, I bought a handful of games including a Mario and Luigi game that ultimately didn't grab my attention. I bought this game because of an online sale, and I don't feel the need to finish the DS games before starting this one, but it's just a matter of when I'll get to it.
	11. Luigi's Mansion: Dark MoonThe "Year of games featuring Luigi that I'm in no hurry to play but are probably great" continues. The great thing about Nintendo first party games is that they usually hold up well, so I'm not a big hurry on this one.
	12. Dragon's CrownI bought this game on sale at some point during Black Friweek, mainly because I bought a $10 PS3 game but wanted to hit that minimum for free shipping so I added this to my cart. In theory, I like sidescrolling brawlers, especially if there are RPG elements. Not sure if that's enough to overcome the baggage this game brings with it, but I distinctly remember most reviewers liking it so we'll see.
	13. HarmoKnightOk, I didn't want to end the list on the previous game, and having a list of 13 for 2013 seemed like such a genius idea, so here we are. Like so many game, I saw the quick look and said "hey that looks like a game I'd like to play". There's even a demo on the eShop that I enjoyed my time with. The issue is I've been so conditioned to never buy a digital good at full price, even if that price isn't that high to begin with. Also, I hesitated because I found the demo to be challenging, so maybe my rhythm skills would only take me so far into the full game. I still want to try at some point though.

There you have it. Also as a bonus my personal picks for:

2013's 2012 Game of the Year -

FTL: Faster Than Light

2013's 2011 Game of the Year -

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2013's 2007 Game of the Year -

BioShock

2013's 2004 Game of the Year -

Pokémon Emerald

Finally, a bold prediction,

Fallout 3

for my 2014's 2008 Game of the Year. I really need to play that game. Thanks for reading.