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LegalBagel

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GOTY 2013

This was a weird year in gaming. Lots of amazing games, big and small, but nothing that demanded to be placed on the top of my list, unlike in previous years where I thought Journey and Portal 2 were near-perfect experiences. The huge titles of the year were great, but didn't wow me, and definitely felt like retreads in terms of gameplay. Smaller stuff surprised me and provided unique experiences, but didn't provide a once-in-a-lifetime must-play game.

There are games that likely could make my list if I had a chance to play them, like Assassin's Creed IV and Brothers, but these are the best of the ones I did play.

List items

  • Link to the Past is on my top ten list of all-time, possibly at the top of that list, so this game had the chance to either be amazing or awful. Luckily they picked amazing. Inspired by the previous game, but not a complete retread. New stuff to the Zelda franchise combined with classic Zelda goodness. And perfect music spinning on the great soundtrack from the previous game. I could easily see myself playing through this once every few years, just like I do with the original.

  • Every year it seems one game jumps out of nowhere and steals dozens of hours from me with fun, quick bite gameplay. FTL, Binding of Isaac, and now Rogue Legacy. A ton of fun to play, with really rewarding progression both for your character and your own skill in dealing with the enemies and bosses. I had some classes that I stuck with, but the generation conceit with different classes, magic, and traits led to slightly different experiences and strategies each time.

  • I didn't know what to expect beyond a slightly interactive story, but this game still hit me with how well it was put together. It drew me in and I kept waiting for it to unfold or drop the other shoe. And it did, but never completely how I expected, and always instead in a more realistic, more human, and more interesting fashion. The gameplay is minimal, but the interactivity and exploration compliment the way the story is told perfectly. Just a well-crafted experience.

  • An emotionally draining, crazy experience, with believable and enjoyable characters. Though it was the little touches of dialogue and character moments that pulled it all together. Plus great, brutal combat that actually fit in to the world and story for a change. I never bought Nathan Drake the mass murderer in Uncharted or its world, but everything Joel does makes sense for him and the world.

  • The backlash about Infinite among the gaming intelligentsia reached epic proportions in the months after release, but that doesn't change the amazing things about it. An amazing, fully realized world with tons of great details. A whirlwind story with an insane ending. And tons of great moments throughout.

    I'm most confused how the Internet decided the combat in the game sucks. I had a ton of fun riding skylines and tossing down vigors, and it was leaps and bounds above the original Bioshock's fairly one-note combat. It might not be the main draw, but it was by no means just a slog to get to more story.

  • Persona 4 was the first Atlus RPG of this sort I went through, so I didn't know what to expect from SMT IV. While it lacked the charm of Persona's characters and setting, it had its own compelling story and characters that I saw through twice to experience the different choices, along with a challenging, frustrating, yet rewarding battle system. I'm hoping they bring in the perfect fusion system from this game into the next Persona, as it's leaps and bounds over P4 and made filling out your compendium and putting together a perfect demon much simpler.

  • I don't think I enjoyed it as much as Origins, but with great level design, fun art, and some incredible musical levels, it comes damn close. And considering Rayman Origins was one of the best 2D platformers of this generation, that makes this a great game on its own right. Playing it not on Wii U made some of the levels slightly awkward, and their attempts to jam in multiplayer and progression were a little strange, but it was still a great platformer to run through.

  • I'd never played any of the standard Tomb Raider games, so I had no expectations here. But taking the navigation, combat, and spectacle of Uncharted, adding in exploration, RPG mechanics, and metroidvania-style upgrades made for a great game. And while the unnecessary punishment of Lara and murder-spree needed for combat detracted, the story and development of Lara of a character still worked well.

  • A pure, fun character action game. I've played the previous DMC games, but never been a huge fan. This combat here grabbed me though, and pulling off huge SSS combos was enormous fun. And some of the level design and bosses were downright amazing.

  • I'm a sucker for 2D metroidvania games, so this game had me from the start. Add in a fun, unique setting and style, great combat, and some real challenge.
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