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GAF Games of the Year 2013 - Voting Thread - VOTING CLOSED

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ohlawd

Member
Using 10 to 1 order since I got the go-ahead! Worst to best but my worst is still the best. That make any sense? PM me if there's anything wrong with the formatting or if any ballots are invalid.

10. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; I had an awful start with this game. Platinum Games really sucks at explanining stuff or maybe I'm just an idiot. I think it's the latter. Had to bench this game for a while because I wasn't making any progress but I came back months later. This game is fun. The soundtrack is incredible and it gets my blood moving. I don't think the normal enemies and the bosses are anything special but the whole game just comes together.

9. Ys: Memories of Celceta ; It plays like Ys Seven which means this game has always had a guaranteed spot on here. Soundtrack is obviously awesome. Karna is the best.

8. Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk ; Gust really screwed up the alchemy system they've established in Totori and Meruru. We got something messed up in its place and I don't like it all. Nevertheless I enjoyed this game immensely thanks to the characters (hai Linca!) and got the Platinum for it.

7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ; Like Ys: MoC, I don't have much to say. An established series brim with quality and the newest entry does not disappoint. Has the second best case out of the localized games in its DLC.

6. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; The first couple hours of this game is so brutal but it balances out as it goes on. I was never bored for even a second thanks to great pacing. Blazing fast battle system is icing on the cake. Would have been nice if the non-neutral endings were better.

5. The Wonderful 101 ; My favorite action game ever, dethroning Bayonetta... also by Platinum Games. I did have another awful start with this game but I had to stick with it with WWHD coming days later on the eShop. My love for this game grew as my team started getting permanent members. It's all relative. The more I could string combos of sword, whips, guns, bombs, the more I was having fun. I seriously have to do another run.

4. Pikmin 3 ; The best game in the series and Pikmin 1 and 2 are so good it's kinda hard to imagine it'd be top with another entry. It happened though and I'm so glad Pikmin 3 exists and is in my hands. I miss Pikmin 1's time limit and Pikmin 2's caves but when everything about the gameplay is as solid as a Rock Pikmin, it's all good.

3. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Anyone worth their lick in the OTs know I love this game. Really wish the mission objectives changed every chapter. Would it have killed Intelligent Systems to include a "Defend Princess Blah for X turns"? Map designs suck for the most part. As far as I know, this game deserves top billing for letting me build a Bride Army. I'm prepared for the responses sure to come.

2. Super Mario 3D World ; Not as good as Galaxy 1 and 2 but hey at least it's better than the rest of the 3D Mario games. Love this game and I love it dearly. You just have to play this to understand. Words don't do this game justice.

1. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ; The finest game I've had the pleasure of playing this year. Easily my GotY and nothing else comes close.

My experience with this game isn't like anything else I've ever played. It's kinda like you're those fruity kids from those Narnia books and you enter that closet and find yourself in a vastly different world. That's what happened with EOIV and myself. The game isn't saddled with cutscenes and it wouldn't fit with the artstyle and the theme the game's got going on anyway so it's like a stroke of luck. Basically you get called into this city out in the middle of nowhere and the big cheese tells you "hey we need people out there mapping this area so get cracking." Upon hearing that, you make the rest of your party and the rest is history.

When you enter any area, the map in the bottom screen is blank. It's got nothing on it. It's up to you to fill it up by drawing the walls, mark the hazards, note any interesting areas. It's a great feeling to have when you've reached the ending of a floor and look at your creation. But it ain't so fun when you make a mistake on your map. You might have blocked a completely new area on the map, just because you put a wall there!

Within each world map and there's a couple of them, there's a bunch of little areas with only a floor's worth of exploring and then there's the big area called a Stratum and they have multiple floors. What's cool to me is that every Stratum is different from the rest. The first one is a jungle and while the enviroments are plastered on walls making them look flat (it's still a first person dungeon crawler), this game makes me feel like I'm actually in a peaceful forest. It's probably because I have to use my imagination instead of relying on another person's vision on what this forest should look like. I say peaceful partly because some of the backgrounds look like they have sunlight going through the thicket. The other is because of the song the plays. It fits so darn well. The other Stratums include a ravine, a cave of some yellow rock guess I'll take a shot in the dark and say limestone, even a library. There are more but they're kinda spoilers so I'll leave it at that. This game tickles the right areas of my brain and stimulates it. Minimal presentation resulted in the most vivid images in my head, who woulda thunk?

So we got these great cool areas to explore, that's cool right? Should make the mapping a breeze. Wrong. It ain't all sunshines, unicorns and rainbows up in here. The game does have random battles as you walk but there's an encounter radar-thingy on the side so you can better prepare yourself when it turns red. The real danger comes from the FOEs. Stands for some kinda Latin thing. These monsters are much stronger than the random enemies you face. When you move a tile, they move a tile. Sometimes two. If you ain't careful, they can wipe you clean and you'll have to restart from your last savepoint and you lose all newly gained experience and loot if you're playing on the standard setting. If you aren't cool with that, you can play the casual option where you'll be sent back to the city after dying. What I really like is how the FOEs interact with the environment. In the 1st Stratum, you have to lure the Cutter (scary looking bear, one of the first FOEs you'll see) around to break obstacles that you can't break yourself. It makes you feel that the atmosphere in the dungeon is authentic and that your party aren't the only living beings around. Another is when you kill some harmless looking deer FOEs but after you're done, the big bad mama FOE is out for your blood. There are consequences for everything you do, you just never know until it's too late. Yet another is in another Stratum where freezing the water to walk across on is the key to progress. When you freeze the water, turtle FOEs will slide across to match the change in the environment, ignoring the usual 1 or 2 movement. Stuff like that really shows you have just as much of an impact on the environment as the FOEs do.

Team building and skills are hands down my favorite parts. There are a bunch of different classes and they all function differently. Fortress is your tank, Medic is your healer, Nightseeker is your status inflicter, Runemasters cover your elemental coverage, and more. Obviously certain set ups will see more success than others but there isn't a really bad way to build a team. This is where the game shines. It opens up different ways to approach enemies. Take the Cutter, it mainly uses its arms to attack. Bring a Sniper to binds its arms, rendering its attacks useless for a bit. If you don't want one, bring a Fortress and use Taunt to draw attacks. Or you can bring both to make your life even easier. Eventually you unlock subclassing and you can effectively use two classes on one unit. Make a Runemaster your main class and subclass Medic into it so you can have a healer just in case. There's a ton of freedom EOIV gives you in team building and I can't praise it enough.

Seriously I got no words man I really, truly, madly do love this game. I rambled on and on so sorry about that. EOIV pushes boundaries, turns the medium an artform, a once-in-a-lifetime miracle in video games, all that cheesy stuff that pervades a whole bunch of posts in this here GotY thread. All of that applies to EOIV. 100 hours well spent. Atlus, you da best!

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Or if you didn't bother reading my awful writing (cuz I don't blame ya), Wynne says what I want to say in the most eloquent way possible. Minus the lady boner since I'm a dude and EOIV instead of weapons.

x. Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl ; EO with a story. The story is decent enough but lack of good skills to use in story mode is a letdown. What we get as a substitute in gems is a joke. Still a great game, though.

x. Pokémon X/Y ; Customizing my playable character is so fun. Game Freak did well with the latest installment of pokeymanz. Too bad about the framerate.

x. Grand Theft Auto V ; controls with the helicopter or anything that flies is so bad. Has A+ certified Rockstar writing. Best game to fool around in.

x. Senran Kagura Burst ; Forget the well endowed chicks, the gameplay is pretty legit.

x. Rayman Legends ; not too big of 2D platformers but I liked this enough.

x. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ; My favorite game, period.

2012. Persona 4 Golden ; Terrible dungeon design and battle system and this is coming from the same people that made SMTIV and EOIV. Just like with Persona 3, the social links save this game from utter suck and that's enough for me to forgive this game in its entirety. 10/10 will play again for harem ending. Should be okay here since I'm in NA.

2013 is one my favorite years of gaming ever. Bought tons of games from this year alone. Most I've ever spent in a year. I won't forget it. Kinda hard not to when this is the year I've also bought a Wii U, Vita and Animal Crossing 3DS XL. Gaming goodnessssss. Oh and I used the Vita camera for the pics. Sorry for the quality.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Okay I just played a bit of Metal Gear Rising and I am disappointed in myself for not including it before in my GOTY list. Holy fuck you guys should try this out its insanely fun and for once I'm using that phrase in the literal sense.

^^ can now be pre-ordered on steam too btw
 

Zophar

Member
I didn't get to very many games this year, but the ones I did play I enjoyed thoroughly. My rankings:

1. Rogue Legacy ;
2. The Last of Us ;
3. GTAV ;
4. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ;
5. Bioshock Infinite ;
 
1. The Last of Us ; Naughty Dog at its best. One of my favorite games of the generation and better than any Uncharted Game.
2. GTA5 ; I was disappointed in GTA4, but GTA5 fixed everything wrong about GTA4. I loved the story and the characters. Fun to drive around and the side missions were great.
3. Gone Home ; I just finished this game today on Dec 22nd, 2013 and wow...what an amazing and unique game. I've never played anything like it. Touching story that I'm still thinking about and will think about for days to come. I loved exploring the whole house.
4. Bioshock Infinite ; I know this game gets a lot of hate on GAF, but I loved it. Intriguing story with a fantastic introduction. Gameplay has been improved since the first one.
5. Assassin’s Creed 4 ; Huge improvement over Assassin’s Creed 3.
6. Injustice: Gods Among Us ; Not as good as MK9, but still a great fighter with tons of content.
7. Splinter Cell: Black List ; A really good SP Campaign. I love that it gives you choices on how to play each level. Good Co Op missions and the return of Spys vs Mercs is great.
8. Saints Row 4 ; Volition just doesn’t give a crap. They will put anything and everything into their games. Love how this game made fun of other video games…especially Mass Effect 3.
9. Need for Speed Rivals ; I haven’t played a NFS in years, but I wanted a next-gen racer and this delivered. I love the online component of this game. The story takes itself way too seriously, but it’s still fun to see it unfold.
10. Tomb Raider ; I thought this game would suck, but this was a great rental. I enjoyed the game from beginning to end. I will most likely buy the next gen version.
x NBA 2k14 (PS4) ; I’ll admit, I bought this game on the graphics alone and they blew me away. I’m having tons of fun with the game. I realize the next-gen version is getting a lot of hate due to modes etc, BUT as a gamer who buys a bball game once every 3-4 years there are no complaints from me. My Career has a dumb and goofy story but it's fun to watch it play out.
x. Lego Marvel ; Fun game! Tons of characters and you can tell the developers put a lot of care into pleasing hardcore fans.
x. Battlefield 4 ; This game is great!....when it works. Could easily be a GOTY contender if it didn’t keep f’n up my SP save. I love the MP and the maps are great. FIX YOUR GAME EA!
x. Beyond: Two Souls ; This game is not as good as Heavy Rain. It’s a solid game and the production values are through the roof. I thought the gameplay took a step back from HR. While the voice acting was leagues beyond HR, the game just wasn’t as fun to play. It had some cool moments though.
x. God Of War: Ascension ; This was a fine game. I enjoyed the MP and the last boss battle was one of the best in the series. If they make a next gen GOW game, I will be there day 1.
x. Call of Duty: Ghosts ; I am a huge COD Fan and have loved all the games except COD3. The campaign was fun and the MP is silky smooth as always. Squads and Extinction are fun modes, but nothing will ever touch SPEC OPS. Please bring that back, IW!!!!!
2012. The Walking Dead ; 2012 was a weaker year for gaming and I didn’t play this until this year. It was fine, I was never blown away by it. Far Cry 3 was the best game of 2012 and since I played that in 2012 I won’t count it.

This is a work in progress and I will continue to update it before the deadline.
 

Prinny

Member
1. Super Mario 3D World ;
2. Disgaea Dimension 2: A Brighter Darkness ;
3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; My favorite top-down Zelda since ALttP, incredible soundtrack and excellent use of 3D.
4. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ;
5. Shin Megami Tensei IV ;
6. Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk ;
7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ;
8. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Extremely fun combat, great boss battles and high replay value.
9. Dragon's Crown ;
10. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ;

x. The Last of Us ;
x. Soul Sacrifice ;
x. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ;
x. Grand Theft Auto V ;
x. Tales of Xillia ;
x. BioShock Infinite ;
x. Ys: Memories of Celceta ;
x. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team ;
x. Fire Emblem: Awakening ;
x. The Wonderful 101 ;
 
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; A sequel to my favorite game of all time, yet it somehow lives up to expectations. The level design, new mechanics, pacing, and amount of content combined with the legacy of ALTTP push this one over the top. Sorry Trevor and Mario.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; Puts other so-called "sandbox" games to shame. Great characters, story, huge interesting world, but the best part is that the gameplay shines on its' own and is not treated as an afterthought (I'm looking at you Bioshock/Tomb Raider). It delivers as a modern AAA blockbuster that also plays exceptionally well. Also, it's refreshing to see this kind of game smash sales records, putting a lie to the modern myth that only stale annualized games can sell well.
3. Super Mario 3D World ; Would be number one in most other years. Brilliantly realizes Nintendo's dream of combining the best of 2D and 3D platforming. Perfectly fuses the fast action and excellent multiplayer of the 2D games with the playground-like feel of the 3D games. The cat suit. The soundtrack. The gold train. Bliss.
4. Pikmin 3 ; The year's most immersive game. Have never seen this kind of world in HD and it's stunning. The soundtrack is surrealistic and wonderful. Beyond the aesthetics, it's also the perfect realization of the Pikmin concept, balancing the gameplay of the first two games and maximizing the experience with pointer controls. Excellent challenge modes and multiplayer.
5. The Last Of Us ; The best cinematic action game of all time. Gameplay is great and is balanced with the cinematic elements very well. Great characters, story, and pacing. The world design is a work of art.
6. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; The most charming time sink of the year. In addition to being the best and most polished AC yet, Spot Pass implementation takes the social aspect to a whole new level.
7. Guacamelee ; A loving, cheeky tribute to one of my all time favorites, Super Metroid. Cool art style and music.
8. The Wonderful 101 ; Fun, innovative, and exhilarating action game.
9. Saint's Row IV ; Incredibly fun and funny. Don't know why this has got lost in the GOTY conversation.
10. Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move ; Excellent tile-base puzzle game.

LTTP Paper Mario: Sticker Star ; Gets trashed unfairly because it's not a clone of the first two Paper Mario games. The combat system is interesting and fun. The characters, graphics, and soundtrack are all excellent. Also, love the environmental puzzles and the non-linear world map. There are problems, but it's much better than people give it credit for.

Still waiting to play Revengeance, Rayman Legends, Luigi's Mansion 2, Mario and Luigi Dream Team, Fire Emblem Awakening, Sly Cooper Thieves in Time, Ratchet and Clank Into the Nexus, and Arkham Origins/Blackgate. Any of those games could be top 10 material, but they are still in the backlog for various reasons.
 

ezekial45

Banned
1. Grand Theft Auto V ; Expansive, diverse, and engrossing. GTAV is Rockstar's greatest achievement this generation. You can go on about how richly detailed the world is, or how much there is to explore -- but the single greatest thing about this game is that it is never same for each player. There is no greater joy than to talk with friends about how crazy of high-speed chase you had, only to have them one-up you with their story of how they made a getaway by jumping off a mountain and parachuting to the streets to hijack a scooter bike. What GTA excels in is choice, and this entry is the culmination of over a decade of developing open-world games. GTAV is not only the best game in the series, but also Rockstar's greatest title in years.

2. The Last of Us ; Naughty Dog has shown that they've got what it takes to make great action games, and now they've surprised us again with their own take on the horror genre. The Last of Us displays ND's strengths for storytelling and action by carrying it all on a heartbreaking and bleak story, while bringing in new take on survivalist action gameplay. This game that will stick with you for a long time, and it is a testament to the power of games as a means for telling stories about the human condition.

3. Dragon's Crown ; The beat-em-up genre has been pretty sparse this past generation, so it was a relief to see Vanillaware tackle the genre with a title that's both modern and in keeping with the classics of yesteryear. Dragon's Crown is a game that honors the past, while bringing the genre into the present day with new innovations and design that go hand-in-hand with the accessibility and depth of classic brawlers.

4. DmC: Devil May Cry ; This is one of those bizarre instances where politics about videogames can overshadow the resulting product. While you can go on for days about how this game is not like the previous titles in the franchise, doing so would deny this game the recognition it deserves. DmC takes the classic formula and reinvented it, by not only adding in a number of tweaks and fundamental changes to the combat, but also giving a greater focus on exploration and platforming gameplay. Ninja Theory succeeded in creating a good DMC title, but they also made a good game that can stand on its own. And yes, it is better than DMC4.

5. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; "Mark IV style, Motherfucker!" This game is everything an 80's kid who enjoys action films and cartoons would love. It's an open world shooter that's self-aware and loves to toy with the expectations of players. Also, having the main character being voiced by Michael Biehn adds a lot to the charm. Next to God Hand, this is one of my favorite Action-Comedy games, which we really don't get enough of.

6. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; Who knew Call of Juarez's bite-sized downloadable title would end up being the best game in the series? The smaller sized game doesn't pull any punches, and it easily overtakes its predecessors. Gunslinger takes an interesting approach to storytelling by incorporating narration and memories to level-design, enemy placement and set-pieces. The shooting gameplay is crisp, smooth, and sharp -- and shows that the developers have learned much from their missteps in the previous games.

7. Metal Gear Rising: Revengence ; One thing certain, Platinum Games are the kings of the action genre, and Metal Gear Rising is a testament to their talent. This entry in the series is quite the departure, focusing more on action as opposed to stealth, but it does so to fulfill a long-time fantasy that fans wanted fulfilled, which was to control cyborg-ninja within the Metal Gear series. While it is a bit more over the top and goofy, it plays well to the strengths of the lore and makes a title that can stand on its own as a solid entry in a great franchise.

8. BioShock Infinite ; Despite the fact that it's a step down from the previous titles, in terms of level design and exploration, BioShock Infinite is still the tightest and most refined games of the series. Easily, the most talked about element of this game is the story, and it really did live up to the hype. There aren't many games that present a living and breathing world like this, and many elements of the narrative play to the strengths of videogames, which shows that this title can't be done in any other medium.

9. Dynasty Warriors 8 ; I'm pretty surprised that I'm placing a DW title on this list, but this is the game that deserves it. During the ten years of the 360/PS3 generation, this is the first title that actually evolved and changed the series for the better. It's as if all the previous titles were prologue to this game. While the same hack and slash gameplay is still in place, they add much more content and additional tweaks to the gameplay that enhances the core combat, and ultimately make the game feel like new. DW8 is the definitive Dynasty Warriors experience.

10. Tomb Raider ; Reboots were pretty popular this year, and this one was one of the more successful ones. Ironically, it took more after the Uncharted series for this entry, but it was the best course action as this game is easily the most content rich and complex game of the franchise.

X. Saint's Row IV

X. God of War: Ascension
 
I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who is putting thoughtful comments on their ballot. The voting thread itself is really more interesting than the awards thread, because you guys make it so valuable and entertaining to read through. Kudos, and keep up the good work!



1. Dota 2 ; It is the best game.

On the other hand, this is an example of a ballot with an insubstantial comment.
Per the rules: "The comment must be more substantial than "GOTF lol" or what have you."
 
1. The Last of Us ; The full package. Top notch gameplay. Top notch characters. Top notch acting. Top notch story. Top notch atmosphere.
 

CrisKre

Member
1. Super Mario 3D World
2. Legend of Zelda: Link between world's
3. Pikmin 3
4. Tearaway
5. The Last of Us
6. Fire Emblem Awakening
 
I like how timetokill post about how great everyone is in reading the rules and posting substantial comments, immediately followed by disqualified posts that do the exact opposite.
 
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1. The Last of Us; My game of the generation as well. There hasn't been a game that's left such a big impression on me in a long time. It’s a pillar of this generation like RE4 and MGS3 was to last gen. The story is great, with strong characters and entertaining writing. The fact that the story was tied together with extremely satisfying combat is why this game is so good. The meaty punch that every shot has coupled with the visual feedback you get from the AI, the way some shots by the enemy can knock Joel on his ass and have you scrambling to get your footing to get your next shot off, how one thing can go wrong while you are using stealth and the gameplay completely changes and turns from hunting into hunted gameplay. Everything about it was sublime.

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2. Mass Effect: The Citadel; Good lord ME3 left such a sour taste in my mouth, to the point where I pretty much didn't want to experience any entry of the series anymore. But the Citadel, wow, it really did make me appreciate the characters and universe Bioware built so much. Every reference, and inside joke made in this DLC was so entertaining. I don't think I would have enjoyed 40 minutes of sitting around and listening to conversations at a party in any other franchise.

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3. Pokemon X/Y; It was great to see some of my favorite monsters in 3D, with new animations for attacks that really makes every move appear to pack more of a punch and help breathe life and more character into the franchise, in and outside of battles. It has framerate drops in battle but runs smoothly in its beautiful overworld, with varied locations and a wonderful soundtrack (Power Plant Theme, Route 15 and the Pokemon League come to mind). I’ve also felt that Game Freak has been slacking on designs for the past 2 generations but they stepped the Pokemon designs up this time around, Pangoro, the two legendary pokemon, Tyrantrum and Trevanent are some of the standouts. It also handles online so smoothly, in a way I didn’t expect a Pokemon game to, always having the opportunity to challenge or get challenged to a battle, or trade with someone makes you always feel connected to the community. I wish a 75.lvl cap was in though, takes too long to get to 100.

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4. Grand Theft Auto V; The game is an achievement technically, vast land, sea and air exploration, an extremely detailed world with no loading times. However the story was poor, the middle really started to drag with FIB clowns giving me more and more work for them, and setting up elaborate heists with no payoff in the end. There are so many ways to entertain yourself in Los Santos though, the game is quite the time sink.

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5. Hotline Miami; Addicting, punishing, fast and fun gameplay with an amazing soundtrack that really got me into electronic music. I'm glad this was on PS+ and I cannot wait for Wrong Number.

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6. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon; Just goes for pure fun and doesn't take anything seriously at all. The game goes all out with the satire, from the hilarious tutorial, flipping the bird when there is nothing to melee, the elaborate reload animations. It also has such a good soundtrack that feels like a Sega Genesis was stuffed in your console and blends in well with the exciting gameplay

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7. Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag; Man it's fun being a pirate, I swore off the series after Ubisoft shit the bed twice in a row with samey sequels and played out settings, but this feels nothing like them. Interesting locations, fun main missions and challenging ship battles. Upgrading your ship and finding shanties to hear new songs your crew sings as you travel to the next undiscovered island or mission is awesome. I also enjoy the new, less serious take on the Templar vs Assassin war that I stopped caring about in AC2.


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2012. Far Cry 3; I would have voted this as GOTY last year if I finished it by voting time. It does so many things right.
-Motherfucking wingsuit.
-Weed farm mission
-The way it handles health, always being able to heal a portion of it, but it takes a long time to do so/
-It spawned the most ass-kickingest DLC in Blood Dragon
-Uneashing caged beats on unsuspecting pirates in enemy camps.


x. NBA 2K14, it's beautiful, it's this generations Fight Night Round 3, people who aren't really basketball fans like it because of how much of a leap from last gen it is. It's a fun and deep game, but the online DRM sucks taking away singleplayer options if you aren't connected to 2K servers, and Mycareer is very rough, the scripting of the story really hurts it for example, performing well in a game yourself but still getting you minutes cut if you AI team couldn't help you win a key matchup.
 

Milennia

Member
1. Bioshock infinite ; this game had me hyped since its initial announcement due to the name behind it and its concept. A sprawling, floating city in the sky's. Such a great concept after their previous entries in the franchise placed in the sprawling, deep sea city of rapture. The game lived up to the hype in terms of story for me.
Constants and variables, dimensions and the overall connection between the 2 main characters really stuck with me this year compared to other games.
Im not the best when it comes to dealing with more survival horror/creepy games (odd since i love horror movies) so i had to struggle through the first 2 entries in the franchise, which in turn, sort of ruined the experience for me. This wasn't the case with infinite or its dlc. The game was bright and colorful for a good while, which really surprised me compared to its predecessors. I got used to the gunplay and powers fairly quickly, although what is in my opinion a low point of the game, the combat was fairly serviceable simply so that i could unfold the rest of my favorite game story of the year.

2. GTA 5 ; Its GTA, so as about as ritualistic as i could get, i picked it up while watching the amazing streams of those who got the game early. After the announcement i was excited after hearing about the 3 main protagonists and swapping etc. although, i was a bit concerned. It all honestly sounded too good to be true. We had seen next to nothing of the game outside of in engine trailers and 1 gameplay trailer that had most of the community hampering for more. After many ruled the screenshots out as bullshots etc. the game started to get leaked to the public. Streams where popping up everywhere and GAF was on full GTA lockdown.
We got to see some of the first bits of the game, as well as the gameplay that we were all hungering for. It was well worth it, the game looked absolutely gorgeous and character switching/the 3 main characters worked just as well as we had hoped they would. After i picked up the game, i proceeded to marathon it until completion.
I was amazed nearly the entire time at the amount of content that was in this game, much more the visuals and environment took me away. My play through was extended by maybe 10 hours, just exploring and staring at the game, i really couldn't believe they accomplished this on a current gen system. The story lived up to the hype for me as well as pretty much everything else other than GTA online, which i just gave up on. Truly worth the praise it gets. This game was leaps and bounds more enjoyable for me than its predecessor in terms of story and content.

3. The Last Of Us ; as i stated above in my explanation on Bioshock, i dont take to well to survival horror like games. This game fit the bill pretty significantly. Hence why i was really debating on if i should pick it up or not (also consodering that id idnt even have the money for it at the time), after seeing the reviews, readingt he gaf early impressions as well as looking at the gameplay videos, i decided i was going to bulk up and trade some old games in to pick up the game. This was mainly due to hearing about the story and how well paced it was as well as how it played out.
Im a sucker for a good game story and in a AAA exclusive no less? Count me in.
Now i played the game as requested on survival difficulty up until about a quarter of the way in, i then switched it to normal -.-. As stated , i was getting a little bit nervous and jumpy (even though this game didnt jump scare me, which is 85%why i hate horror games) due to lack of supplies and fast enemies. I really had to suck it up to finish this game, which is most likely why its not my end all be all GOTY, as it really affected my enjoyment of the game from a gameplay standpoint, even though i enjoyed the gameplay itself as a whole, as well as fighting the human enemies.
The story was indeed worth the mental suffering i endured going through this game and i plan on playing it again in the near future. It was much more emotional than anything else i played this year for sure, so a nice change of pace that i needed. This game has also surprisingly opened me up to more games that i would otherwise be afraid of.. Such as the fact that im picking up The Evil Within, on dayone as opposed to 0 as i find theg ame interesting now. Before playing this game i used to need friends with me to play dead space, now i find it worth it to at least give the more freaky games a shot. Although i don't see many game stories doing what the last of us and bioshock did for me in the near future, so i may still be a tad reluctant :p.

4. Tomb Raider ; this game had me hooked for a one sitting playthrough. I found the story dragged a bit yet the combat and slight survival elements made the story a bit more servicable as an overall package for me. Loved the way lara would move in and out of cover when she heard something, as well as how she moved through the environment with finesse as the story continued, like she was learning. Real harsh reality stuff.

5. Pokemon X and Y ; a mainline pokemon game for the 3ds. Every since i was a child i have wanted a game that included full 3d rendered pokemon. Its pretty much the only reason i ever picked up coliseum and stadium as well as all of their sequels (even though they turned out to be good games in their own right). Now that we have it i am blown away, especially since its on a handheld. The way the Pokemon move just works, each with their own specific movements/smiles etc. alot of love was put into 3d rendering all of these little guys, and it really shows. The story was immensely lackluster for me compared to the previous mainline titles, especially B/W, however the gameplay made up for it. I just loved the whole pokemon formula in this game, although lacking any sort of meaningful end game content compared to some previous titles in the series, i have had tons of fun collecting/breeding and battling online. This game really hit me in the feels for slot of reasons pertaining to the way the moves look as well as the overworld, this was e game i always wanted, excluding the end game content. I hope the next chapter in the series will fill those tiny little voids these games left for me, so as to create my ultimate pokemon experience.

6. NiNoKuni ; this games art style and character developement blew me away.
I had heard a good bit about this game, but really out myself on blackout out of lack of immediate interest. However when the reviews started rolling in, i was sort of topped over the fence and proceeded to pick up the game. I was amazed at how this game looked, like a movie i had never seen before, that i could play. The love and time that was put into just this games aesthetic is unbelievably apparent at every turn and every character you come in contact with. Its whimsical in every definition of the word outside of some of its more darker sections and overall plot.
The story kept me going in this game, as the combat dragged on quite a bit in my case., i didn't really enjoy the combat as a whole much at all. The pokemon like collecting mechanic was neat but didn't last long for me. I just really wanted to progress the story and see more of the gorgeous settings. The overarching plot really set in with me and caught up with me about 75% in when i told myself.. Wow this games plot is quite dark, yet it kept getting foreshadowed by the aesthetic of some settings. I recommend this game to anyone who loved beautiful jrpgs and a unique, yet subjective combat system and collecting mechanic.

X. Fire Emblem Awakening ; love strategy rpgs and this game was one of the best i have ever played.

2012. ; Borderlands 2 ; I'm sure all that needs to be said about this game has already been said, but i couldn't really get my word out since i wasn't a gaffer at the time, so perfect Opportunity :p.
I bought this game this year to keep me busy for a week and because i loved borderlands one and was so knee deep into WoW at the time of release, i just never got around to playing it (this was the case for nearly all games in 2012 , including my other pick which would be dishonored). I expected to be done after a week due to not having many friends who still play the game, much less on ps3 or pc, yet i wasn't. This game had me hooked more than borderlands 1 ever could (over120 hours of mostly just screwing around) due to the story, which i found hilarious and the gameplay improvements, such as the new player powers and guns.mi would farm legendarys for the new dlcs as well as replay the game over and over again on new game plus. Although much harder solo (especially bosses which required me to use some gimmicks, specifically raid bosses) i still enjoyed every second of the game until i hit max level for vanilla. I then grew a bit tired of the game after tiny tina dropped (i have about 250 hours in the game and only had it for maybe 2 months at that point) and just didn't feel like buying the level increase as i was already tired of the single player experience at that point. Heres hoping borderlands 3 or Destiny will keep me hooked even longer lol as well as allow me to join in on the discussions and groups from the beginning.. As opposed to half way through 2013 and missing the party.
 

Batigol

Banned
1. FIFA 14 ; Best FIFA to date. Ultimate Team continues to improve and I can use Heskey again, which is always a plus
2. Saints Row 4 ; It's still the true successor to San Andreas. It's just ott fun. Doesn't try and take itself too seriously and I like that
3. GTA V ; Not quite San Andreas but it was still fun for a few weeks.
 

Zemm

Member
1. Papers, Please ; GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA!

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2. Tearaway ; This game has the best videogame soundtrack ever.

3. The Swapper ;

4. Guacamelee! ;

5. Call of Juarez Gunslinger ; best gunplay and fun story telling of 2013
 
I like how timetokill post about how great everyone is in reading the rules and posting substantial comments, immediately followed by disqualified posts that do the exact opposite.

Well, I was thanking those that read the rules ;) But yeah, the timing is a little sad in hindsight.
 
Interesting choice to include the Citadel. I really hope next Mass Effect is a return to greatness.
I really, really hope so too. I have amazing and bad memories with ME. I'm cautiously hyped and hope they can do right by the universe they created.
 

Fury Sense

Member
1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; A great game in every sense. Very deep gameplay.
2. Pokemon X/Y ; Battle/Trade online anywhere and accessibility of competitive play makes these the best pokemon games to date.
3. Papers, Please ; The magic of Oregon Trail revived in modern gaming
4. Civilization V: Brave New World ; It's just so damn fun. Join a game in the steam no-quitters group chat and enjoy 6 hours of competitive, friendly, and intense strategy
 

Anteo

Member
1. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; Best Zelda game since MM. Amazing experience overall
2. Super Mario 3D World; A amazing 3D Mario, second to Galaxy 2 only
3. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan; What can I say, a better game than the third entry, while the story took a step backwards, the game was much much better with great balance and good post game content.
4. Fire Emblem: Awakening; A game with so much content that I have over 300 hours and I am still playing it.
5. DOTA 2; This game man, played it for 5 years, and the dota 2 release this year along with the 6.79 release changed so much that the pacing is completly different. This game will never end.
6. Monster Hunter Ultimate; And another game that wont end, I whish I had more time to play it, but over 100 hours and still feel like a completly noob.
7. Shin Megami Tensei IV; First time playing this franchise and it is so good. This was a great year for the 3ds.

I whish I could offer more variety for the goty list with games from other platforms, but I only have enough money for those 2 consoles and a shitty pc. Also I still dont have tw101, I bet that game would be top 3 for me
 

FootballFan

Member
1. The Last of Us ; Game of the Gen, easily.
2. Persona 4 Golden ; What a game, awesome characters, story, graphics etc.
3. Tearaway ; Adorable and made use of all the features of the Vita.
4. Pokemon X ; Gotta catch em all, never gets old innit.
5. FIFA 14 ; Yeah, that's right rvy, FIFA 14. You broke my heart PES.
6. Mario 3D World ; Awesome co-op shit.
7. Knack ; What an underrated game. Divisive.
8. Gran Turismo 6 ; The best driving simulator on any console available.
9. Spelunky ; Crack, in video game format.
10. Professor Layton: Azran Legacy ; Same old formula, same old fun.

Note: I have yet to complete Link Between Worlds and Wind Waker HD.
 
Last of Us ; There is no contest. Last of Us is the emotional game this year. It is a game that doesnt treat you like an idiot. Gameplay,Story and Graphics are top notch.

Papers Please ; The first game that was fun and gave me feels in a way no other game could. In a simplistic way.

Dota2 ; Best MP game on PC

DmC ; The most fun i had with a DMC game.

GTAV ; A game that is just plain stupid. And funny as hell.

Rogue Legacy ; Addictive game. You sit there thinking "Just one round" and finding yourself playing this game for another 6 hours.

Amnesia Machine for Pigs ; Best horror game this year.

Rayman Legends ; Best Jump'n'run game this year.

Spelunky ; Not quite as addictive as Rogue Legacy for me but its a fun game.

Metal Gear Rising ; The Action is top notch. But those dialogs were cringeworthy.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Oh is Mass Effect Citadel allowed? In that case I'd like to include it as well. Great game DLC. Made me hype for ME4 all over again.
 
1. The Last of Us ; The Industry Standard
2. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm ; loved the art and the characters
3. Bioshock Infinite ; Not as good as the original but still a great ride
4. Killzone: Shadowfall ; best multiplayer I've played in quite awhile
5. Tomb Raider ; too much combat but rock solid
6. Splinter Cell: Blacklist ; liked it more than I thought I would
7. Dead Space 3 ; series needs a hiatus but I hope it comes back someday
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; the best 2d version since the original
9. Super Mario 3D World ; still haven't gotten sick of Mario after 20 plus years
10. Rise of the Triad ; a nice blast from the past
 

batbeg

Member
1. Super Mario 3D World ; It's fucking awesome.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; I don't have much of a history with this franchise (Dabbled in 1&2&London&3 and then never played it again) but I found the joy of just traversing and making my own fun out of destruction, mayhem, randomness and even occassionally actually doing what I was supposed to be doing a complete thrill. The graphics were out of this world to me, and the characters were all actually entertaining. Solid job Rockstar.
3. Fire Emblem: Awakening ;
4. The Wonderful 101 ; Haven't beaten it by a long shot yet but I'm pretty terrible at these types of games and still find myself enthralled in it. I can do some killer combos, I just suck at not getting hit :(
5. Ni no Kuni ; Beautiful style and I actually really adore the battle system though I see it regularly hated on.
6. The Last of Us ; My enjoyment of ND games tends to go down in order of mine playing them but they're still awesome. The praise it gets for being a gamechanger and all super amazing story shit I just don't get, but it was a fun game with breathtaking art direction and awesome character interaction.
7. Pokemon X and Y ;
8. Bioshock Infinite ;
9. NES Remix ; I know it just released but I'm already enjoying it immensely and wouldn't be surprised if given more time with it it could move up my list (but I kind of just want to get this out of the way before I forget).
10. Candy Box 2 ; These games are fucking awesome.

x. Pikmin 3 ; Yet to open. Sorry little buddy.
x. Monster Hunter 3 U ; Also yet to open.
x. Rocksmith 2014 Edition ; Played with my friends a little bit, really cool learning tool and entertainment package thing.

There’s a shit ton of games this year I didn’t buy I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy, but it is what it is.



You guys did read the OP, right?

Yes but I may be a little high. Fixing now.
 
I didn't get to very many games this year, but the ones I did play I enjoyed thoroughly. My rankings:

1. Rogue Legacy ;
2. The Last of Us ;
3. GTAV ;
4. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ;
5. Bioshock Infinite ;

1. Super Mario 3D World
2. Legend of Zelda: Link between world's
3. Pikmin 3
4. Tearaway
5. The Last of Us
6. Fire Emblem Awakening

1. Gone Home ;
2. Bioshock Infinite ;
3. GTA 5 ;
4. Papers Please;
5. DOTA 2;

1. Super Mario 3D World ;
2. Grand Theft Auto V ;
3. Fire Emblem: Awakening ;
4. The Wonderful 101 ;
5. Ni no Kuni ;.
6. The Last of Us ;
7. Pokemon X and Y ;
8. Bioshock Infinite ;
9. NES Remix ;
10. Candy Box 2 ;

x. Pikmin 3 ; Yet to open. Sorry little buddy.
x. Monster Hunter 3 U ; Also yet to open.
x. Rocksmith 2014 Edition ; Played with my friends a little bit, really cool learning tool and entertainment package thing.

There’s a shit ton of games this year I didn’t buy I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy, but it is what it is.
You guys did read the OP, right?
 

Serrato

Member
1. Path of Exile ; Simply the surprise of the year for me. Good mechanics, ever changing game, constant update. For Free.

2. A Link Between World ; Return to the King of the Legend. And it worked.

3. Fire Emblem: Awekening ; Good story, lovable characters, good gameplay. Everything we need.

4. Pokémon X/Y ; The First 3D entry of the series enter with a blast. Vibrant new addition, addicting as ever.

5. DOTA 2 ; As Addicting as LoL.

6. Etrian Odyssey 4 ; Dungeon Crawling never as been so fun.

7. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ; Phoenix Wright is back, and is still so good!
 

Pro

Member
2. Guild Wars 2 Living Story updates (17 updates): This has been my go to game since it released and with every update this year I just got more and more hooked into it. 17 updates in one year for a non subscription MMO, what's not to love.

I wanted to put something from GW2 but didn't know if it "counted" for 2013. Might have to go back and amend my comment now. GW has been my go to game ever since 2005.
 

spliced

Member
1. Super Mario 3D World ; Logged in 60 hours on this beauty. It's not the best 3D Mario but it's highlights were level variety and consistency. the game is always either getting better or maintaining it's quality as you play, there are no drop offs.
2. The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds ; work in progress
3. Ratchet and Clank Into the Nexus ; Solid little effort in my favorite PS series.
4. Rayman Legends ; work in progress
5. Pikmin 3 ; Not really my type of game but it's easy accessibility and charm helped me enjoy it.
 

Andrew.

Banned
1. The Last of Us ; The most emotionally gripping, tense and best acted 3rd person action game experience I've had in my 25 years of being an enthusiast. Oh, and it's a blast to play as well.

2. Wonderful 101 ; I've never felt more satsified besting a boss in combat or even a regular skirmish with normal enemies since Demon's Souls. The sense of accomplishment in this game is astounding and increases the more you play, if you decide to commit to it. The rewards for perserverance pays off in spades.

3. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; The most fun FPS I've played in ages and provides true edutainment value in those Nuggets of Truth you find if you search around enough. The soundtrack and wielding dual shotguns alone is worth the price of admission and if you have a nice PC rig, feast yourself on that artstyle.

4. Killer Is Dead ; Diehard Suda fans are the only ones that will "get" this bizarro Lynch-esque fantasy amalgamation of 51's console titles of the last generation(s). Pieces of Killer7, No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned and even Lollipop Chainsaw are rampant throughout. If you want a mindfuck of an action game that will leave you scratching your head yet additonally saying things like "Woah, that was pretty awesome...", roll up a fattie and pop this sucker in. Oh yeah, and the soundtrack is composed by Akira Yamaoka.

5. Brothers ; As a fan of Starbreeze and ICO, I found this beautiful, solemn adventure of siblings to be the perfect length of storytelling that engages your brain functions in a way that I have never experienced before.

6. GTAV ; While the world of San Andreas was enough to melt my eyes, it was the story and character development of Trevor, Franklin and Michael that I was sucked into the most. Some prime voice acting from most notably Steven Ogg (who deserves all the awards he can get) and a soundtrack that introduced me to many new musicians, made this particular experience a memory not soon forgotten.

7. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; Like many others, I found this spin off of FC3 a more enjoyable experience than the vanilla. It wasn't just the Biehn, the neo-synthesized 80s soundtrack, Tron bow or one-liners. It was the fact that this was a much more compact experience that didn't dawdle much in the filler bullshit and just handed you a one of a kind 80's throwback FPS adventure.

8. Bioshock Infinite ; Aside from the lack of any sort of replay value I now see in the title, Infinite took me away to Columbia in that week of poopsocking that is forever burned into my memory. I'll never forget that ending and Shawn Elliott's tip on besting that ghost in the easiest way possible. March 2013 was a real fucking blast because of this game.

9. Super Mario 3D World ; This is the most complete and fun Mario title I've played since first laying hands on an SNES controller to play Super Mario World. Everyone that doubted Ninty EAD can EAD indeed. This game is a true Mario masterpiece and proof positive that regardless of how old a company mascot is, they can still churn out surprises that can blow anyone away.

10. Tomb Raider ; Having never been a fan of the original games, I welcomed this reincarnation with open arms and was most pleased. So much so that I have 100%'ed the game completion-wise twice already. Plus, Camilla Luddington.

x. NES Remix ; Classic NES games tailored to ADD/OCD crowd in the form of pocketed challenges that last anywhere from .01 seconds to 30 seconds and based purely on skill, speed and score? Sign me the fuck up. This is the U's new killer app.

2012. Hitman Absolution ; Crucified at the stake is what I'd get if I had made a thread about this, but I found this iteration of this series to be the most enjoyable for me. While I didnt think the story was anything special, I loved the presentation, control and bizarrely twisted characters you meet and murder along the way. The fact that a handful of the actors from Deadwood acted in this made a downright winner for me practically immediately.
 

Hindle

Banned
And you didn't play 10 games that you liked this year?

I've not managed to play or finish some very important games released this year. Both Mario, Zelda, and Fire Emblem would place very high, and replacing them with Bioshock Infinite would be a joe lol.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Reading through this thread I have quite obviously not played enough of the year's best games, but I can blame a lot of it on lacking the consoles needed :p

Anyway, a little recognition for the games I have played and a GOTY vote I am passionate about.

1. The Last of Us ; a masterpiece. Even if not every element of it were superlative (and many are), the complete package is truly something special and will be regarded as a milestone. From acting to atmosphere to narrative to moment-to-moment gameplay, everything is so thoroughly in sync, and of such a high caliber, that it is simply and untouchably the "Game of the Year" in my eyes- rather a bit like Portal 2 was for me in 2011. I was not a shoe-in to love it, as the Uncharted games did absolutely nothing for me, and wasn't above criticizing the premise as cliché. But it wound up exceeding the considerable hype for me nonetheless, tackling issues of morality with a deft hand without purporting to offer every answer, and setting a new bar as to how to present characters your audience will care about and tie that back to the gameplay. Not a perfect work of art, but an unabashedly great one, and Winter stands as my favorite individual section of any videogame I've played. Put simply: of games that are anything like The Last of Us, The Last of Us is the best one.

2. Dragon's Crown ; simply pure arcade-gamey action-RPG bliss, and I was hooked as soon as I was let off the leash. I'm sure it will continue to entertain for months to come whenever I get the itch.

3. Gone Home ; I haven't beaten it yet (presumably I may not even be close), but is quality is obvious from the moment you walk in the door. This is something to see and dive into fully. It can't be easy to make "figure out what is going on" into a compelling gameplay experience; doing so without falling back on combat or other "remember this is a videogame!" conventions doubly impresses me. Like any good novel Gone Home pulls you into its world and truly has something to say.

4. DmC ; picked this up for cheap, hoping it would fill the "stylishly kill hordes of things for stress relief" void in my diet, and wound up having my dreadfully low expectations defied by the total package. It really is legitimately good. Gorgeous graphics on a good PC and an actual sense of style throughout. The script didn't lose my attention 25% of the way through and even got a couple real actual laughs out of me. Like many I'd prefer more available depth in the combat, but it's consistently fun which is its most important quality, and the Bloody Palace is definitely sating my bloodlust as I close in on mastering it.

5. Antichamber ; if for no other reason than so boldly trying something different and achieving some degree of success, I must give mention to this mindfuck. A first-person what-the-fuck-am-I-doing-er themed around non-Euclidean geometry and some deft (or unintentional) navigation of the fourth dimension, never have I felt so intelligent for having the correct idea about a problem, nor so utterly bewildered for progressing without understanding how. Antichamber takes an attempt to rectify something I complain about frequently- modern gaming expecting too little of its audience and spelling everything out with flashing neon signs- to its logical, polar extreme. There will be times playing this game wherein you will be absolutely fucking stumped about what to do next, and stressed by an omnipresent timer counting down, only to "figure it out" completely by accident. These sensations are intentional; it's one of the most unnerving games I've ever played. I can't characterize it as consistently fun or really even "fun" at all in the sense I usually use to judge games, but that's why I'm mentioning it on this list- for me to actually like a game I can't really describe as fun means that it's something worth your attention.

6. Bioshock Infinite ; of games I will play this year that are great, Bioshock Infinite is not likely to be surpassed as the most disappointing. This is because I fall into the camp stipulating that it should simply be a different kind of game. It's not even that the combat is bad- indeed, aspects of it are unique and fun- but the reliance on it as "what you do when you play" pulls me constantly out of what would be one of the most immersive videogame universes ever created. Extended shootouts amid the bedlam of "whoever's there first" security systems made perfect sense for the already-ruined mutant hellscape of Rapture in Bioshock 1 and 2. After all, these are crazed genetically twisted lunatics and you have amnesia, weapons, and orders from a voice in a box. What could you do but fight for your life? But deWitt is a Pinkerton agent. He had a specific mission and specialized talents. Should have been sneaking, infiltration of ranks, interrogation, detective work, with open combat as a last resort, and Elizabeth's power used to get out of scraps when things got really dire. Another game on my list I haven't beaten, but despite the truly excellent world-building, character development, narrative threads, art design and fun elements like the vigors and skylines, it can't place any higher on this list for me because the gameplay has already blown its load and it just doesn't fit in my mind.

2012: Spec Ops: The Line; I was told to play this game 30,000 times and had enormous expectations, but was still more or less blown away. Despite minor gameplay quibbles, this one and The Last of Us are the best examples of ludonarrative consonance I've encountered in this generation, and it has the best final act of any shooter I've played. Military shooters need to look to this as the pinnacle of what the genre can accomplish with a little creative vision.

edit: Like Kos Luftar and Pro I would amend this list to include Guild Wars 2 (a 2012 release) if it were acceptable somewhere. Besides The Last of Us it is definitely the game I have derived the most enjoyment from this year and I've been ecstatic with what they've been able to accomplish without a subscription fee or falling into traditional MMO traps.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
I've seen you playing a lot of DmC, Hawk. Got me really itching to try it out. Great impressions.
As long as you can experience it without a "they've ruined the series that filled my dark soul with liiiiiiiiight" chip on your shoulder, I'd be shocked if any genre fan didn't at least consider it a good game.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
1. The Last of Us ; Nice to see what is essentially a stealth game (RIP stealth genre) get so much love. Excellent performances lend the characters in The Last of Us a believable quality not seen in many other games.
2. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time ; The flawed but fun return of a franchise that I thought Sony had forgotten.
 
1. Super Mario 3D World ; Just pure fun. Being able to play 3d mario with my family has been hilarious.
2. Bioshock Infinite ; Loved the story. Gunplay was great. Blasting people off the edge was hilarious. I was astonished by the ending.
3. The Last Of Us ; Great story. Made me feel exhausted (as it should have). Wish stealth wasn't so busted though. Tightest team-based multi in years.
4. Grand Theft Auto V ; The complete package. Loved the split characters. Loved multi. Loved the variety.
5. Killzone: Shadow Fall ; Single player is kinda dog shit, but multi is a great time.
6. Dead Rising 3 ; Builds on the greatness that is Dead Rising 2. The amount of zombies to kill, the collectables, the super combos all make for the best zombie slaying experience.
7. Pokemon X ; First Pokemon experience since Yellow. Makes me feel like a giddy kid.
8. Gunpoint ; Hilarous, stylistic, and unique. Puzzle-stealth is something that I'd never imagine I'd enjoy.
9. Papers, Please ; Indies game nailing aesthetics on all fronts still amaze me. Made me feel terrible with decisions I made.
10. Tomb Raider ; Garbage story, great action. I enjoyed hunting too much. I wish exploring for items was a little more difficult.

x. Payday 2 ; Stealthing everything feels so bad ass.
x. Killer Instinct ; Ccccccooommbboo
x. Resident Evil 6 ; Stupid good time rolling around, sliding, and acting like an idiot. Just wish they concentrated on one good campaign.

2012. Journey ; Just beautiful. Having to play with a silent partner, and working together was something I thought would never be possible in the time of COD bros.

--

I have a few games in the backlog I hope to play in the next few weeks. That includes The Stanley Parable, A Link Between Worlds, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, Tearaway, Guacamelee, Spelunky, Gone Home, Rayman Legends. I'm sure my list will change.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Ah. That should not be a problem since I have no history with this series!
Ah then you don't even get my reference :D But I definitely recommend it in that case as it serves basically as a full retelling. Be warned there is some extreme vulgarity; not to be played around impressionable youngsters.
 

NotSaladin

Neo Member
Here is my list thus far...

1. The Last of Us ; This game encapsulates everything I look for in a video game and is one of my all time favorites. I became so invested in Joel and Ellie's journey that it truly meant something to me on a emotional level, and that makes it a game I will never forget. Every element weaves so perfectly together and the fact that I could share so many incredible moments with non-gamers was icing on the cake. ND continue to raise the bar and set industry standards.

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; What can I say, it is GTA! In all seriousness, as a whole, this game is a brilliant achievement. The world is fully realized, the classic GTA humor ever present and the story of these 3 psycho's (in their own ways) was highly entertaining. The delivery, of being able to switch between 3 characters, really added a whole new dimension to gameplay and story. Endless fun and exploration for many hours and those heists were great fun. I wore myself out on the game, but that is not to say I didn't enjoy while it lasted.

3. Tearaway ; This game almost had me welling up by the end. Such a unique and charming experience that you just wouldn't find on any other platform. The level of detail in this paper crafted world is dazzling, making it something truly special. MM have once again proven their caliber as a studio.

4. Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag ; The best AC yet. The main protagonist Edward is a extremely likable character and the Pirates of the Caribbean theme is well executed. Playing it on the PS4 really elevates the experience as well. Great open world exploration with the best bits of Far Cry 3 added to the mix. Glad they made use of the excellent ship combat from ACIII.

5. BioShock Infinite ; I primarily enjoyed this game for the genius story telling from Ken Levine. The gameplay was a bit mundane and repetitive at times but for the most part, the tools available to you as a player allowed me to spice things up enough to maintain my attention. Again, another game with really memorable characters.

5. Battlefield 4 ; Finally being able to play BF at full 64 players is truly an experience and I have been enjoying my time with 4 way more then I did with 3...possibly because I only played 3 on the PS3. Regardless, highly enjoyable game in terms of MP but I didn't think the SP experience itself was as bad as other made out. The only issue I had was the poorly written script, and lame story. The actual missions themselves were entertaining.

6. Tomb Raider ; A true reboot for the series. I look forward to seeing how they evolve the series in the future. I remember enjoying the game a great deal, even if the story was iffy at times. Still, the most important thing is that it felt like a modern Tomb Raider game. Some great game mechanics as well, with the tools at Lara's disposal.

7. Guacamelee! ; Another fantastic effort from Drinkbox studios. Really enjoyed the style and flair of this game (both audio and graphical), with a great combat system to boot. The puzzles felt challenging without being too overwhelming and there were many genuine funny moments where I had a smirk on my face.

8. Hotline Miami ; Played it for the first time on Vita. That soundtrack and precision needed to get through that game make for bloody satisfying experience. That 80's vibe is well executed.

9. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; I found the pacing to be a bit slow at times and the characters to be a bit bland (with the exception of Drippy!), but again as a whole I cannot knock it. Great JRPG, and the only true one I played this year. The beautiful anime art style and combat, were the best parts for me.

10. Resogun ; Great pick up and play action which is surprisingly challenging!

x. Killzone: Shadow Fall
x. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
x. DmC: Devil May Cry
2012. Persona 4 Golden ; Your thoughts on Game M from 2012.
 
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5. Tomb Raider; I really liked this take on the series. Some were completely turned off by how many changes were made, but I personally was never into the series until now. I won't deny that this isn't Tomb Raider of old, but much like Resident Evil 4, I still found it to be a very fun and engaging game regardless. Amazing visuals, atmosphere, and soundtrack. I also really liked the new Lara; I wouldn't go so far to call her a great character, but she worked for me and I enjoyed her company.

4. Super Mario 3D World; What hasn't been said about the game already? It's Mario in fine form. The levels and game design are about what you'd expect from Nintendo's EAD, the soundtrack is about what you'd expect from the likes Koji Kondo and Mahito Yokota, and it provides a disgusting amount of content and replayability. Absolutely one of the best games of the year from any standpoint, especially design, visually, and musically, and one of the finest Mario titles ever created.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; While I'm not of the mind that Zelda was becoming stale or that the last few installments were bogged down by this or that; and while I'm certainly not of the mind that A Link Between Worlds was a breath of fresh air, it is an impeccably designed game with awesome pacing, tremendous music (some of the dungeon themes blew my mind), great bosses, a neat but somewhat forgettable story, genius dungeon and puzzle designs-- basically all the makings of a great Zelda game, and this is indeed a great Zelda game which is what makes it worthy enough to be here.

2. Bioshock Infinite; Well, I loved it. I loved it because of not just its sickening attention to narrative detail, or the story itself, or the memorable and vibrant characters, or how the story builds and builds toward interesting and impactful revelations, or how impeccably atmospheric it is, or because of the ridiculously awesome score. I loved it because I thought it was a great videogame on top of all that. In a time where so many developers attempt to be film directors or magnificent storytellers, Ken Levine and Irrational Games actually do so without forgetting that you're playing a game. I see comments about how the gunplay and level design and this and that are boring or broken or lack innovation, but I would completely disagree with all the above. I thought the enemies were a blast to fight, the powers were a lot of fun to experiment with, I loved much of the level design, and the length of the game was pretty perfect. If I were forced at gunpoint to come up with any complaints, it would be that I can see how some people think that the game did not live up to its ambition. Regardless, it did live up to its story ambition, the gameplay was fun, and it left me feeling completely satisfied.

1. The Wonderful 101; I'll be blunt: this is one of the very best games I've ever played. It was also a completely unexpected surprise after not being thrilled with the demo. This is a game that, if you give it the chance, it will very probably blow your mind, much like the Demon's or Dark Souls. They seem a little hard to get into at first, perhaps even a bit inaccessible, but the more you play it the more you "get it" and that's when the appreciation and enjoyment begins to grow, and the game gradually blossoms into what became my most thrilling and memorable gaming experience of the year. It's colorful, over the top, has insanely lovable characters, one of the best game soundtracks of all time, great scale, relentless action, interesting controls that are indeed a bit of a learning curve but exciting to learn, chaotic trial and error gameplay at times, and the most positively batshit insane climaxes in recent memory. It's a rush and it leaves you feeling completely satisfied. At the end you do not find yourself asking for more because you have absolutely no idea how the game could possibly keep topping itself. Actually, you start asking that hours from the end, and it proves you wrong about, oh say 102 times. This is a game, a production with so much color and life and character that it makes many other things look dull and lifeless by comparison.

Also the greatest final boss music ever. No, not of the year. I repeat: ever. Uplifting and unforgettable.
 

Krafter

Member
1. Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS) ; Probably my favourite FE game to date, and that's saying something. Intelligent Systems continues to be the most underrated developer in the World.
2. Pokemon Y (3DS) ; As above, probably my favourite in the entire series, though I'm addmittedly not a Pokemon carnoisseur. Same addicting gameplay, but now with customizable characters.
3. Killer is Dead (PS3) ; All Grasshopper Games are great, they scratch a certain itch that no one else is able to reach. Does not even sniff Killer 7's lofty heights, but what game does? Crazy story (I am no where near finished), great visuals, "Dark Side 007" indeed.
4. Soul Sacrifice (Vita) ; I constantly feel like I've made all the wrong choices, not wanting to Sacrifice anything, but I think that's part of the game's charm. Grim atmosphere and great fights, probably my most played Vita game this year. Looking forward to Delta.
5. Amnesia A Machine for Pigs (PC) ; Somewhat disappointing if you compare it to the original Amensia, but still a nice and slow horror game, which is exactly what I like.
6. The Hobbit Armies of the Third Age (Android) ; Standard Empire-builder with a Hobbit skin. Been playing with my family, have our own clan, and I am on it every day as it is easy enough to pick up in 3 minute bursts.
7. Senran Kagura Burst (3DS) ; Fun brawler with a surprising amount of content. I feel like I have played maybe a fifth of what's there, will have this installed on my 3DS for a year until I have unlocked everything.
8. NHL 14 (PS3) ; I love the NHL series, always play the Hell out of them, and they will always make my top 10 list in the early going. NHL 14 is the same old song and dance, fine by me.
9. Tekken Revolution (PS3) ; I will probably be the only one with this on my list, but I had fun playing a daily game or two before dinner, and you can't beat the price.
10. DOTA 2 (PC) ; I hate MOBAs, hate the community, play with headphones off and only against bots. Still addicting, and everything feels like such a big deal, the start of a game that will still be a monster a decade from now. Easily the game on this list with the longest staying power.
 
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1. Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus ; Beyond the fun and quirky Musou-like brawler, SV is chock-full of content, from costums and accessories to unlock to multiplayer modes, several storylines and 20+ heroines, each one with her own moveset and gameplay.

2. Tearaway ;

3. Zelda : Link Between Worlds ;

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4. Etrian Odyssey IV ; Demanding and challenging, yet ultimately rewarding RPG as step by step you map new dungeons and new territories, gather ressources or chase down monsters to get new weapons, and develop your ultimate team of unstoppable adventurers.

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5. Monaco ; More than a Pac-Man game with stealth elements and a Ocean Eleven caper (classy) skin, I loved the feeling of playing a boardgame on my PC.

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6. Europa Universalis 4 ; I was sceptical at first about the changes in the gameplay, but as soon I had a better understanding of the game I understood how the core experience has been kept the same while forcing me to rething my strategies. I really have to go back to this game and complete my Byzantine party... :)

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7. Dragon's Crown ; More than your typical Vanillaware beat'em all, a magnificent tribute to decades of classic sword fantasy imagery.

8-10 : TDB

2012. FEZ ; this game almost drive me crazy. I loved he play on the dimensions, the music, and how beyond its surface of a fancy 2.5D platformer you will find a mad, obsessing puzzle game which almost put the likes of Myst to shame.
 

IndustryX

Member
After reading trough the spread sheet I realize that I've played next to no new games this year. I'm gonna have to spend the upcoming holiday playing a lot of games.

However one thing I can post already is...

x. The Last of Us ; I do not get this game. Don't get me wrong, the Narrative (the story being the low point) is flawless and it has stunning visuals. The contextual combat blew me away on a technical level making me almost giggle when smashing a (not) Zombie's head against a wall. However the gameplay was kinda shitty. Levels are linear, upgrade system near pointless, and the enemies are bland. I don't really have a point past this, the game is certenly well made, but for me it takes more in order to be GOTY than pretty graphics and good voice acting.

To anyone that can possily say this about the gameplay, you really didn't play it on a hard enough difficulty to get the true experience.
 
1. Super Mario 3D World ; Evolution of 3DLand, doesn't reach the heights of the Galaxy games but easily stands above everything else this year
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Just a wonderful experience and the best handheld zelda since Links Awakening
3. The Wonderful 101 ;
4. Pokemon X/Y ;
5. DOTA 2 ; MOBA done right
6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ; One of the best (looking) games in HD? yes please.
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Game of the summer, chilling outside while playing this was a hell of a time
8. Saint's Row 4 ; This is one of the games i thought i would hate but i never had this much fun in an open world game since crackdown
 
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