I have a video game disease that causes me to drop games I’m really enjoying. Pikmin 3 is a good example. This game is really great, yet I’ve only played it for about 4 hours. Because I played it once (a long session), and then have yet to go back. I have done this with many games, for many years. Pikmin 3 will be completed and enjoyed (probably sometime this year), but because of my affliction, I have not played it enough to give it, and many other enjoyed games, a position on the list. Because of this disease, I’m only really certain, really set on my top 4. The remainder was a struggle to pick and order, and most of the blame for it can be placed on my problem (don't worry, I’m in a 836
gamestep
backlogprogram).
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1.
Trials Evolution ; Whenever I think about this game, the same idea always comes to mind. Trials Evolution is a next step in the platformer genre. It’s a Mario game, where you control each of his legs independently, and simultaneously. You’ve also got to manage how fast he runs and how hard he digs his heels into the ground to slow down, to a precise degree. A Mario where velocity, angle and balance matter just as much as jumping at the exact right time. It’s a platformer where you have even more minute control over your character than ever before (don’t take this literally, please
). Mario is not the most analogous game to Trials, but hopefully you understood my point. WAIT, WAIT, no, Trials is to Mario as Skate is to Tony Hawk Pro Skater! Right, okay, sorry, no more analogies from me.
Trials is simple to learn but hard to master. It begins with the joys of schadenfreude, as your poor little motorbike man crumples into yet another rock. You don’t know what you’re doing, but it sure is funny to watch. Eventually you begin to realize there’s more here than meets the eye, and previously insurmountable levels start to become easy. This combination of stupid, adrenalined-fun mixed with pursuit of mastery makes for a game that compelled me to play it more than any other in 2013 (120 hours).
The best part of the game is it always stays fresh and fun in multiple ways. You can work on your technique, speed-running and learning new ways to traverse a level you once thought to be mastered. There’s always platinum medals and higher leaderboard places to chase. If you’re in a silly mood, there’s a lot of equally silly mini games. Then there’s creating your own levels. And of course, my favorite Trials past time, doing as many “unnecessary back flips” as humanly possible (especially in multiplayer). It wasn’t a real win, unless you won with (unnecessary) style, I always say!
This game simply feels amazing to play. It’s one of few games that gives you really deep control over a character or vehicle. Learning and exploiting the physics system is a joy. There aren’t many platformers with half as much depth (I know it’s not strictly a platformer, but I’m sticking with the comparison). It’s an amazing feeling when you start to naturally incorporate the advanced techniques you watched the leaderboard top dogs do. Going back to old to old, easy levels and speed running them with your new found crazy-ass techniques is sublime. Trials Evolution on PC, is my GOTY 2013.
2.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; I’ve noticed this being placed as a few people’s 2012 nominee. I’ve checked the spreadsheet, and it’s eligible this year. I’m putting it in my list. Sonic and a Bunch of Randoms Racing is a fantastic kart racer (or arcade racer, if you want). I loved this game from the first race in Ocean View. And it gets better as you become better!
Hours later and the game really reveals itself as the classy lady it is. Seamlessly transitioning from power slide, to backflip, to barrel roll, back into a power slide is arcade racing heaven (look at the GIF). It’s about finding every little crack in your game, and filling it with slides, boosts or tricks to cut down your time. You flinch, freeze or sneeze? You’ve lost ground to the ones who didn’t. High skill ceiling, arcade racing was an itch I didn’t know I had.
Even the AI is good. Less cheap feeling than other kart/arcade racers but also able to hold their own (until you get really good
). Then there’s S Class. It is a bit cheap, they kinda gang up on you. However, it’s still a great option for experienced players, as it ensures that playing the AI won’t get too easy and dull. And of course there’s multiplayer to find people who might be classified as SS Class or something.
The game is also beautiful and silky smooth on PC. Every level is great to behold. I hold little nostalgia or knowledge for most of the games, but blasting through them is still wonderful. Transitioning between car, boat and plane in these terraforming, crazy levels is like playing Rat Race. Yeah, I’m talking about that movie from 2001. Playing this game is like “living” the silliness of a movie like that. You and a bunch of rivals going a whirlwind competitive adventure. If that made any sense, that’s what it kinda feels like.
Right! It’s very fun, and the high skill ceiling means there’s always room to grow, preventing stagnation. It’s just a shame it doesn’t perform beautiful across the platform board. I bet if I had people I could convince to play this locally with me on a regular basis, it’d become my favorite arcade/kart racer of all time. Okay, it basically is already. YAY GAMES!
3.
State of Decay ; Making this list taught me that State of Decay is really hard to GIF. It's dark. Really, really dark. I was going to wait around for day time, but then I remember that'd take a literal hour :/. So, I used a brightness filter and doubled the saturation instead to make it visible.
To make that first paragraph not a waste of your time, let's tie it into something, shall we? Notice I said it would take an hour for day to come? That's one of many little things that go into this game to make it not just another zombie action game. I personally very much enjoy zombie games. I don't play every single one, just a few, so I have yet to tire of them.
Even though I just said it's not just another zombie action game, it's still a lot of actioney fun. After all, you're still a god among zombies. This is a roundabout way to say that I enjoy the combat. Yes the game is supposed to make you feel vulnerable. And it does, until you realize how awesome you are. The game uses a modifier key like Assassin's Creed. Each of the four buttons does something different, so you have 8 moves at a given moment. Each one feels better in different situations, and for that I quite enjoy brawling with the zeds. It's pretty hard to die unless you're being stupid.
The survival aspect gives you a reason for being. I mean that in both a thematic and gameplay sense. It's not just a trope of zombie apocolypse survival, but a driving skinner box of the game. Because you are gathering for others that are depending on you, it feels important. Upgrading is another good motivator, but the clan mentality is very infectious (lol). You want your posse to survive. They are your family, your crew of zombie destroyers. You want to pamper them and build them up.
It's not like other games haven't done these things, but the thing that really makes me love this is its ambition. There's a lot of more systems in play than you might think at first. There's stealth, building, gathering, (bad) procedural social interaction, a deeper than you'd think combat system. I mean this game could be truly amazing given a sequel. The ideas and systems already in play work well, but it could be taken further, especially in the story. The only interactions worth anything are your connection to your radio intel-lady, and kinda the original trio of characters. All around, the game's story elements are thread-bare.
This game is already the solid ground work for a great survival action game, and I bet an improved sequel (much better story/dialogue, deeper base building etc) could be a game of the generation contender (for those not tired of zombies
).
4.
Guacamelee! ; Here's the last game that I'm sure of. I'm sure it should be on this list, and more or less where. So! This game is a wonderful fusion of two of my favorite genres, fighting games (okay, maybe just Street Fighter) and platformers.
I finished this game twice in a short period of time and platinumed it. A very good, know-what-you're getting game. I'm talking about the color-coded moves, enemies, shields and secret doors. It sign-posts everything, but not in an annoying hand-holding way. What I like most about Gaucamelee is it's on-its-sleeve design. You're never confused about what to do, where to go or how to attack. Guacamelee is a solidly designed game and it knows it.
On to the fun! For those that have played, you remember the final few Chicken combos? That large chicken that teaches you the fighting system? Well, strive to play the whole game like that, and you'll unlock the joy within this game. The combat is simple to execute, like a fighting game with extremely lenient input windows, but has depth if you want it. The combat being tied into movement makes it even more delightful. You dance across the battlefield, cracking skulls and pile driving as you go. It's very satisfying, pounding enemies. It makes me wish they had more health so I could juggle them longer.
Then of course there's the unique aesthetic. The lucha libre palette is bright and wonderful. The characters and exaggerated and fun. The writing is a bit too obnoxiously self-aware, especially annoying are the instances of internet humor. I felt that just didn't work at all. But it didn't matter.
All the fun frenzy of a fighter with the forward driving progress of a platformer. A great Metroid-whatsit. I really should play it in co-op some day.
5.
Antichamber ; And here we come to the part of the list where it's basically a vague mishmash of games in my head. No longer can I rely on well regarded, well-kept memories, but now I have to pretend I know what I'm talking about and squeeze out the remaining 6 games in anguish.
A mind-bending romp through a fun house filled with puzzles. I really enjoyed its mechanics. Slowly figuring out how the game worked was a very unique feeling of progression that not many games instill. I don't think its mechanics are that divorced from traditional video game puzzles, but it is its own game isn't it? Like a modern puzzle platformer-ish thing and one of those weird first person maze crawlers from the 90s had a baby (was that even a real genre? What am I talking about?).
If it wasn't already clear, I don't know what I'm talking about. It's hard to talk about this game period, and even harder without specifics. Don't want to spoil it. It's both a mystery of a game, and a simpler-than-first-impressions puzzle game. BUT! There are still puzzles, unknowns I left behind in that game. Things I never figured out. Or maybe there wasn't anything to figure out. Right... it's a good puzzle game. Leave me and my stupid brain be.
6.
The Swapper ; Great atmosphere and story. Really sold its sense of place. The claymation was hauntingly beautiful. The puzzles were very well designed. Almost none were too hard, they just needed a quiet period of reasoning. Only two bamboozled me, because of a variation on a known mechanic that I didn't know was possible. How the game ties in its central mechanic into the story telling was really effective. I was very invested in discovering more about my character and everything else. Great experience and puzzle game.
7.
Beyond: Two Souls ; I enjoyed being along for the ride. It succeeded in graphics (best on PS3, b/c of DAT image quality!), sound and acting. It failed to greater or lesser degrees in most other areas. However, I quite enjoyed. It's very easy for me to empathize with the fake people in the stories I'm told. It was easy, and enjoyable, for me to fill in the blanks where Cage's bland dialogue or plot writing failed. I was observing a life, and that was great.
It might have been a silly, implausible life, but I relished being in that fractured story. I like silly/fractured stories, if they do other things right. Beyond did enough for me. It had poignant moments, and even a handful of pretty good little gameplay sections. I was unsure at first, but once you hit a certain chapter early in, the ride is enjoyable throughout. Just pretend Dafoe had better, less out-of-nowhere-stupid motivations at a certain point in the plot, lol.
8.
Saints Row IV ; Saint's Row. A series I probably like... probably. It's a strange relationship we have. It always falls short of what I want, but I keep playing them and rooting for it the whole while. I 100%ed this game (not all achievements), so
I think I enjoyed it. It's just I totally forgot I actually played the game until a week ago. Bought it on release too, haha.
I did actually laugh this time. Three wasn't funny. Okay, maybe it was once, or twice. But anyways, the writing was a step up, but it's too random for its own good. Like watching
Who's Line is it Anyway? starring me and some other unknowns off the street.
Anyway, I should stop ragging on it. This is a GOTY list after all. I do like this game. Filling bars up and doing endless side quests is enjoyable mixed with super powers. The game was still a mess like 3 was, but a bit more enjoyable. Though it wasn't laugh out loud funny, I did find myself in a lot of amusing situations, and I still have affection for the characters and their misadventures of sociopathy. Speaking of affection, the jabs at Mass Effect were great.
I'm going nowhere fast here. This game is a fun mess. It was a game I enjoyed grinding away at on nights when I was brain-fried. It's a paragon of a comfort food game, and I'm glad it was made.
9.
The Last of Us ; The fact that I like this game at all means Naughty Dog did a lot of things right in this game. I'm serious strapped for time before this list is due though, so I won't go into all the reasons that
could have spoiled it for me. The point is, it overcame some preconceptions in me, and I enjoyed the game. Probably. I rented it, beat it and then returned it. It was fine. Then I learned the internet adored it. So, I really need to play it again sometime to see if I missed something.
But anyways, the crafting was a nice little option to vary up gameplay. I really liked having to plan out my tactics before each encounter. Okay, I've only got this and this, and this is what they've got, how do I get through it? That was very enjoyable. The only gripe I had with the story is that they kinda didn't show Ellie and Joel bond much. It was like they kinda hate each other, then time passes that we never see, and they've bonded. We kinda miss a lot of it. But that could just be me misremembering. Don't pay my ignorance any heed.
10.
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; A great arcade shooter. The cheat death and story-telling changing the game world mechanics were highlights. I'd say more, but this list is due really soon.
x. Wonderful 101 ; Another victim, like Pikmin 3, W101 left me in the dust mentally for 3 hours. I just haven't been back to it. It's a very cool world and idea though. Looking forward to moving past the stage of perplexment.
x. Pikmin 3 ; I've only put in 4 hours, but wow this game was much better than I could have hoped. It's fun, and really draws you in. I feel so bad for the Pikmin I exploit, lol. I'm sure this will be a great experience later this year.
x. Rayman Legends ; Something about how this plays makes it feel like an endless runner to me. And that's not good. I wouldn't know how do to a real analysis of the level design to figure out what I'm talking about, but the level design is just off. It feels like the runner iOS games, like it's too on rails, and only requires you to jump. It doesn't demand changes of pace or tricky moves like Origins did. Though the invaded levels are better. I think Origins is much better, level design wise. Legends' cake levels were fun though, and I adored the entire underwater world. It was fantastic. Something is off about the level design as a whole, and though I can't articulate it well, that nudges it off my list.
x. Wii Party U ; It's not quite as good at using the Gamepad as Nintendo Land, but it's got some cool ideas. I'm talking specifically about the social games. Such as the one where you draw a picture and guess who's is out of place, or where one person makes a face and the others guess from a multiple choice board what inspired the expression. The games fall short though, because the answers were not tuned thoroughly enough. They're great ideas, but so often the answers are 3 blatantly wrong ones and 1 obviously correct one. If someone/a team took a good deal of time to tune these games better, they could be fantastic party games, instead of just a nice idea yet to come to fruition.
2012.
Nintendo Land ; I've had the good fortune to play this game with others 5 or 6 times since getting a Wii U in September. This is an awesome time in 5 player local multiplayer. Luigi's Ghost Mansion brings people into the room wondering why everyone is yelling so much. Animal Crossing has its wonderful candy highs and devastating, jaw breaking loses. The Metroid shooter that was surprisingly awesome, and has really fun boss fights and encounters. The shared humiliation of dying again on an early level of the Zelda adventure. Mario Chase is hilarious. The Pikmin arena was the biggest surprise, it works much better than I thought it would,especially since the main mode is kinda dull. I don't much care for the singleplayer mini games (although the Donkey Kong one holds promise pending time investment), but I love this game for giving me some truly happy moments with visiting friends. It pulled in all of us, hardcore and non-gamer alike, and we yelled in delight for hours. Fantastic use of 5 player co-op and competitive gameplay. I really hope for a Nintendoland 2.