Best of 2013
So, Probably rather standard, but most importantly... honest...
I didn't play as many games as I wish I had this year, but i think I managed to go through the main attractions.
List items
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Yeah, a lot of people seem to give TLoU a lot of grief because "they didn't enjoy the game part of it". Meanwhile I found that what it did best is use the game part of it to establish the tone and the atmosphere of the game in a really excellent way. It had flaws no doubt... I feel when it fell into more conventional "gameyness" it lost a lot of impact ( infinite ammo sections, collectibles in important narrative and action sections, monster closets). But still by far, the best game of 2013 and probably one of the most mature complete game experience up to date.
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Although technically released on 2010, A realm reborn is really a new game.
While it takes a lot of GuildWars 2 and Tera (and it isn't really as good as either), it is still a very decisive step in the right direction for FF14, and for square-enix in general.
Expectedly, it does have a few problems in the end game, and it has some very notorious forced progression aspects to limit the player's progress, but considering the positive player reaction, I hope upcoming patches which seem extremely ambitious will fix these problems.
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Almost finished with this one, Extremely beautiful, carefully crafted, thought provoking game, with only some sloppy puzzle execution. It's more subtle nature keeps it from being at the top of the list.
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Almost finished with this one too.
What an amazing atmosphere, how dark, how intriguing.
This is mystery done right.
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Mildly gimmicky, somewhat hipster, and all charming.
Like very few games lately, it managed to make me giggle and feel giddy. Maybe the more traditional platforming is the weakest link, but it rarely gets in the way, and everything else comes together in a complete package that is simply very enjoyable. If you own a Vita, you must get this.
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Replacing what I thought would be the spot for Gone Home. The wackiest funniest game of the year.
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Although it has been in open beta since 2011 it just recently got released.
Everything that Diablo 3 should have been, a deep customisation system, a robust campaign and some really interesting ideas. And OH, so much depth.
Also, its REALLY free to play...you can only buy aesthetic vanity items. I bought stuff only to support the newzelander developers who have done a really spectacular job.
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Even if a bit Juvenile and overly crass this game managed to re-capture any interest I had in the franchise. Really impressively vibrant art direction, both rescuing the spirit of the series and adding some much needed breath of fresh air to the mythology.
I would have ranked it much higher if the narrative didn't take a turn for stupidville in the last twist.
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It's hard to judge Bioshock, since it's dazzle does cover up for it's shortcomings. But the shortcomings are there, apart from a story that really becomes itself in the last 15 minutes of the game, the whole ordeal seems rather inflated and pointless. Even with the Spectacular art direction, there are far too many twists and turns that feel engineered, fabricated, forced and frankly dissonant. All in all though, it is still a game certainly worth playing.
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Metroidvania beat em up that leaves you wanting more... which is also it's weakest aspect. It feels like it could have been a bigger game, as if the already extremely interesting characters could have been better fleshed out, or played a bigger part in the story.
But on the other side it really manages to make the most of all of it's mechanics, packing some real challenge in the optional side quests. All things considered, it's great while it lasts.
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