GOTY 2013
Honorable mentions include Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Guacamelee, and The Stanley Parable.
List items
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I played Spelunky when it came out on XBLA in 2012, and it just missed my top 10 list. Then I decided to watch Patrick Klepek play the game on the site and finally realized how deep it is. I picked up my Vita, put some more hours into PSN version of the game, and became obsessed. It helps that Spelunky is a fantastic portable experience, and the daily challenges always keep me coming back for more. To this day, beating Olmec stands as one of my greatest video game accomplishments. Hopefully one day I can beat the game's version of Hell.
2017 Edit: I finally beat Spelunky the hard way by completing Hell. It was glorious.
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Video games don't always resonate with me emotionally, but I truly felt attached to both Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us. I felt sympathy for Joel, a man who constructs an emotional barrier in order to shield his true feeling from those he cares about. I also felt sympathy for Ellie, a young girl caught up in a post-apocalyptic world with no tangible feeling of hope until she meets Joel. The unlikely pairing between these two characters creates a dynamic relationship that forms the heart of the narrative and makes up for its somewhat derivative plot structure. We've seen all kinds of post-apocalpytic storylines in video games, but The Last of Us highlights how memorable characters can compensate for that and help create a more touching experience. Some might argue that the game's mechanics don't align with the fantastic narrative, but don't count me among those individuals. Plenty of games tout player freedom when it comes to gameplay, but The Last of Us feels like one of those rare cases in which there actually are multiple ways to approach any given situation. While playing I would stealthily kill enemies, get myself into big firefights, and run for dear life, and all three of those felt like viable options. I also loved the reliance on scavenging for supplies and crafting items, because it further immersed me in the bleak world and its insistence on resourcefulness to survive.
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I played Super Mario 3D World two years after its release, and I only grew to love it a couple years later (it's currently 2017 as I write this blurb). The wealth of ideas on display rivals Super Mario Galaxy 2 - one of my all time favorite games - in terms of creativity. 3D World brilliantly mixes things up on a moment-to-moment basis, whether it's creating copies of Mario and friends with the new cherry power-up, or the seemingly broken cat suit that lets players easily scale walls and dive across chasms like an amateur speedrunner. Oh, and I played the post-world levels for the first time in 2017. I love that Mario can appeal to a family friendly audience while simultaneously offering a meaningful challenge for platforming experts. I doubt I'll ever best Champion's Road, but I love that it exists.
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Every year one independent downloadable game comes out of nowhere and ends up near the top of my GOTY list, and Rogue Legacy is 2013's version. As much as I enjoy the trend of roguelike elements that appear in more and more games nowadays, the lack of player progression occasionally bothers me. Having some kind of goal to work towards feels a bit more manageable when the player is rewarded with cool gear and/or new abilities. Rogue Legacy recognizes this and combines player persistence with the "start from scratch" mentality that defines games like Spelunky, The Binding of Isaac, or FTL. So I spent 20+ hours with Rogue Legacy over the course of a week or so and just wanted to play more. I exercised self-control and moved on to other games in my backlog, but I just want to play more Rogue Legacy right now...
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Five years ago I would have stayed clear of "difficult" games like Volgarr the Viking. I automatically assumed I would face hours upon hours of frustration with no real reward. But what I failed to understand was the potential for player growth - I clearly improved the more I played Volgarr the Viking. It took me about 8-10 hours to beat the game the first time, and then I proceeded to finish the entire thing in 70 minutes the next day (I will continue to brag about that until the end of time). The feeling of satisfaction that comes from improvement extends well beyond video games, but that just goes to show how a legitimate challenge can be a good thing. There were moments in which Volgarr the Viking destroyed my self-confidence, but picking myself right back up again and vanquishing a giant red snake is a truly wonderful feeling.
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Confession time: I don't like Zelda. I can appreciate games like Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker from a distance, but I didn't actually have a great time playing them. But there is one Zelda game that I do have fond memories of - A Link to the Past. I admit I was among the skeptics when A Link Between Worlds was announced, but after reading the glowing reviews I decided to get a 3DS last month and I'm glad I did. A Link Between Worlds finds the perfect balance between nostalgia and modern game design, making for a worthy follow-up to A Link to the Past. It follows the same basic structure of its predecessor, but the addition of the merging mechanic and a broader array of items/upgrades makes for a more engaging experience. I was also struck by the narrative in the game. I'm not about to argue that A Link Between Worlds is one of the five best stories of 2013, but there's a certain charm to the writing that puts a stupid grin on my face every time I play it. And as far as I'm concerned, Ravio is one of the best new characters of the year.
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I know the innovative swapping mechanic and the strangley obtuse narrative are the two most prominent elements in The Swapper, but man does that game nail the dark sci-fi atmosphere. I really felt lost in the game's foreboding and desolate setting, which went hand in hand with the core swapping mechanic and philosophical story. The puzzles were often tough-as-nails, but it reminded me of 2008's Braid in that I welcomed the challenge as it reinforced a true feeling of accomplishment. The Swapper is the kind of independent downloadable game that excites me every year - unique, forward-thinking, and expertly crafted.
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I don't know what this says about me, but I love arranging marriages in Fire Emblem: Awakening. I guess the strategy RPG mechanics are good too. Awakening takes the familiar concept used in all Fire Emblem games and broadens it in such a way that it appeals to newcomers and series veterans alike. Battles are still tough and require careful planning, but I felt like Awakening was a lot easier to pick up and play. Again, those marriages help a lot.
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First off, I understand the criticisms thrown at Tomb Raider, namely ludonarrative dissonance and the way in which the game physically abuses Lara Croft. I don't want to get into all of that though, otherwise I'd be rambling for a long time. At a certain point one just has to recognize how much fun they had with a game, and... well, I had a great time with Tomb Raider. I've never really been a fan of the series, so the idea of a reboot immediately appealed to me. I was pleasantly surprised to see a transformation in Lara Croft into a dynamic character that grows throughout the course of the narrative, even if that growth may be a bit extreme. I also enjoyed the combat and traversal mechanics and how they complimented each other, rather than nonstop enemy encounters. If nothing else, developer Crystal Dynamics established Tomb Raider as a series I'm actually interested in going forward.
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