GOTY 2013

Here we are yet again! A pretty good year for games, I must say. I didn't play through as many games as last year, but still a lot! (90 games, in fact!)

Honorable Mentions / Runners-up

• Tomb Raider: I ended up enjoying this reboot a bit more than I expected. The gameplay is satisfying, and they give you an interesting, gorgeous world to explore using the tools you acquire over the course of the game. There's a little too much of sections where you just hold up and move forward, and the story fell flat for me by the end (of course, supernatural nonsense!), but overall, very solid.
• Call of Juarez: Gunslinger: Another game I had low expectations for, but was suitably impressed by. The narrative tricks they use to tell their wild west "tall tales" are extremely clever, and the accompanying voiceover is well done and entertaining. The shootin' ain't too bad, either!
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf: Don't get me wrong, I played a shitload of this game, and it sort of consumed my life for a bit, but the objectivist in me has a hard time putting it in my top 10. It's a little too reminiscent of the AC experience from the Gamecube. The online experience - while I'm glad it exists at all, and was one of the big additions - definitely could have been better. And the UI could definitely be a little less clunky. Like I said, I had a lot of fun with it before burning out, but it won't be making the list this year.
• Puppeteer: If the gameplay would have been just a little better, this absolutely would have made my top 10 list. But as it stands, there's only room on my list for one incredibly creative game that's a little lackluster in the gameplay department (see: Tearaway).
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: The last 10 minutes of this game really elevated it for me, such a great example of storytelling through game mechanics. I did manage to find 10 games I liked better than it, though.
• Gunpoint: I'm a sucker for clever game mechanics, and Gunpoint has them in spades. The myriad ways that the player has available to clear levels makes this game particularly compelling. And a large amount of clever writing is on show here to bookend each level and carry the story along (not surprising with the game being designed by a former games writer)!
• Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies: Probably my favorite Phoenix Wright game since the original. I had forgotten what sort of weird, wacky characters inhabit the PW universe.

Excellent 2013 Games I'd Like To Get Back To in 2014

...this is what I get for trying to play too many games at once.

• Shin Megami Tensei IV: I really enjoyed the 15-20 hours I played of this. The setting especially was cool, and a nice change of pace. Will definitely go back to finish this soon.
• Skulls of the Shogun: The story mode was surprisingly well-written and funny, and while the mechanics were a little simpler than a lot of other strategy games, it was still engaging. Hard to complete with Fire Emblem, I guess.
• Ni No Kuni: I got stuck on one of the bosses about 25 hours in, and never went back to grind / level up to try and get past it. I really should get back to this game, because man, is it pretty, and crafts such a cool world to explore & characters to interact with. Mister Drippy is pretty much the best.

List items

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  1. BioShock Infinite

  I loved everything about this game, front to back. I know there were a lot of naysayers on the combat, but I really enjoyed it. Once you start flying around with the skyhook and have your whole array of vigors to choose from, it really elevated the combat to something more fun than your typical FPS. And besides that, the story, art direction, world-building, etc. are all top-fucking-notch. Always a good sign when the story generates so much good discussion.

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  2. The Last of Us

  I feel like I could just copy-and-paste the paragraph above that I wrote for Bioshock Infinite and use it here (I guess that explains why these two games are #1 and #2). A lot of parallels, including me once again liking the gameplay that a lot of folks seemed to be down on. And man, that ending. SO GOOD!

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  3. Fire Emblem: Awakening

  I feel like I normally have a short attention span for games, but I ended up putting in around 70 hours playing this new Fire Emblem over the course of a few months this year. Took me quite a while to finish it, mainly because I spent some time grinding/leveling up characters near the end once the missions really ramp up in difficulty (and maybe because I just never wanted it to end *exasperated sigh*). The increased focus on character relationships coupled with 8-4's excellent translation job really puts this game above and beyond the normal enjoyment I get from a Fire Emblem game. And having all that tie back into the mechanics and affect battles in a meaningful way is great, cohesive game design.

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  4. Papers, Please

  This seems like the sort of game tailor-made for me. I don't know if it's fun, per se, but it manages to turn such a mundane, bleak task into something so interesting; the way new mechanics are slowly introduced (and are really the heart of the game) makes everything more and more stressful as you go along. There's definitely way more narrative than I expected, and you get to make a lot of meaningful choices, both big and small. Glory to Arstotska!

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  5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

  This is the best Zelda game that Nintendo has put out in quite a while, and I think it stands on its own whether or not you have the associated nostalgia associated with Link to the Past. It's a very svelte (in a good way) experience that is respectful to the player's time. It cuts out all the fluff and gets right to the heart of why one comes to this series. Exploring, fighting, dungeons and puzzles make up the vast percentage of what you'll be doing, and this is streamlined even more with the revamping of the item system and the fact that you get fast travel so quickly.

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  6. Grand Theft Auto V

  This took over my gaming time for a good month or so after release (60 hours or so, according to the game clock). There's something to be said for creating a game world like this that you can get lost in, mundane parts and all. The storytelling isn't perfect (the constant bickering between Trevor and Michael got to be a bit much by the end), but I found the three main characters so damn compelling to listen to, interact with, etc. that it didn't matter. And the heist missions really brought an element of fun to the game that I thought was missing from the previous iteration. As for the online component, I messed with it for an hour or two, but it didn't really grab me. Luckily, that's not why I come to this series in the first place.

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  7. Tearaway

  It's crude to say, but this game is charming as fuck, and had me smiling from start to finish through its brief running time. I realize that the gameplay is not a revelation by any means, but it IS bursting at the seams with creativity. Media Molecule makes a great argument for why the Vita is a nifty little piece of hardware, allowing "You" to interact with and change the game world in a lot of fun ways. Name another game this year where I can build a top hat & cigar out of construction paper, glue them onto a pig, and ride around on it. That's right, you can't!

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  8. Ys: Memories of Celceta

  I don't expect this game to be on a lot of folks' lists; it's a Vita-exclusive Japanese action RPG released late in the year, so that kinda narrows things down. But anyways! It's a not a terribly innovative game, but IS a well-polished, fast-moving, fun action RPG that hooked me for a good 40 hours here at the end of 2013. It's definitely my favorite of the Ys remakes that Falcom has done so far, including what is probably my favorite soundtrack (and that's saying a lot, their music is always fantastic).

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  9. DmC Devil May Cry

  Definitely one of the best character action games in a while, although I wish it hadn't been a DMC game, just to avoid all the nonsense criticism that came with this reboot's launch. That said, I still found it to be a super fun, super smooth experience with some unexpectedly creative boss and level design.

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  10. Guacamelee!

  A super-fun Metroidvania that has just enough depth to the combat. I love the art style and aesthetic. Ended up playing through it twice, and got the platinum trophy (which I almost never bother with), spending about 12 hours total. The game is definitely made to attempt speedruns (leaderboards and all), so I took a third crack at the game and managed about 2.5 hours. I know the people are always clamoring for longer games, but I really appreciate shorter, replayable games like this.