GOTY 2013

I barely played enough 2013 games to fill a Top 10 list this year. A combination of major projects at work, adventuring into DOTA 2, and falling back into EVE: Online for 4 or so months kept me busy enough that I preferred to just work on my backlog. I played a few high profile games and enjoyed them. I played A BUNCH of games from years past.

I finished GTA IV, it was fun and I enjoyed it despite the technical issues with the PC Port.

I played through Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition with a mod to play it with a friend on the PC. That was a lot of fun.

Additional I finished Renegade Ops, Battlefield 3's Single Player campaign, and played some other small time releases of this year.

Here's to next year being a little better.

List items

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  1. Dota 2

  I point to my fall down the DOTA 2 hole as one reason I ended up playing less of the new releases this year. DOTA 2 gives me that satisfaction of out-maneuvering or outplaying or outsmarting other players that I haven't felt since I was deep into Team Fortress 2. While those moments are still rare, I have put in enough time so far to truly appreciate the flashing lights and excitement of commentators for professional matches. I know I will never be that good, but each time I pull off a good initiation or a critical stun, I remember when I couldn't even get my fingers on the right buttons.

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  2. Gunpoint

  I have massive respect for Tom Francis as a game journalist and I have always appreciated his fascination and description of mechanics in games he really enjoyed. That being said, Gunpoint delivered on high percision gameplay with just enough elements of puzzles and stealth to always keep me engaged. While the story and dialogue was funny and seemed to be well written I was always more interested in getting to the next mission to truly appreciate it.

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  3. Rogue Legacy

  A brutally hard but fair and accessible platforming "rogue-like" that was thoroughly enjoyable even when I died over and over.

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  4. Saints Row IV

  Hilarious and stupid, but strangely clever at times. Its not as good as Saints Row: The Third, but it is none-the-less a quality game. I hope the best for the development team and look forward to their future projects.

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  5. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

  A quiet gem from last year and now improved with an expansion. Without Playstation Plus I would not have experienced this until it hit bargain bin prices in a year or so. I have enjoyed what I have played so far and look forward to more. Its a stretch to get it on this list since I didn't play the first version and I know I haven't made it to the new content yet. It reminds me of a better looking third person Morrowind in the way that it gives zero shits whether you are paying attention and know where you are out leveled in the region you are in.