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[ohlawd]

Seems like there's less consensus going forward this year. So many people were saying TLoU was their GotY earlier, but there's a lot of handheld and PC stuff making the tops of peoples lists, so it doesn't seem like there's gonna be a runaway winner this year.

uhh no lol you should look closer. It's definitely #1.

I can't count how many "The Last of Us is my game of the generation, it breaks conventions, it redefines gaming" paragraphs I've read so far.

 

[ciccione]

1. The wonderful 101; the best platform ever.
2. Tearaway; surprising and tailor Made for Vita.
3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; a fantastic Zelda.
4. Super Mario 3D World .
5. Tomb Raider.
6. Fifa 14 .
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf .
8. Pikmin 3.
9. Guacamelee .
10. Assassin's Creed IV.

 

[Kabouter]

Seems like there's less consensus going forward this year. So many people were saying TLoU was their GotY earlier, but there's a lot of handheld and PC stuff making the tops of peoples lists, so it doesn't seem like there's gonna be a runaway winner this year.

Haha, The Last of Us will be #1 by a massive margin, I don't think it's been this wide a gap in years.

 

[pretty done]

Seems like there's less consensus going forward this year. So many people were saying TLoU was their GotY earlier, but there's a lot of handheld and PC stuff making the tops of peoples lists, so it doesn't seem like there's gonna be a runaway winner this year.

Not a chance, definitely go back and look at last years thread. Half the lists in here look almost identical. TLoU, GTA V, Mario yadayada

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Portal 2 had 2114 points, 2nd runner-up was Emcee's favorite, Skyrim, at 1654. I think RE4 might have won by a bigger margin, but that was in 2005 and the site was much smaller than it is nowadays.

 

[Dr.Acula]

uhh no lol you should look closer. It's definitely #1.

I can't count how many "The Last of Us is my game of the generation, it breaks conventions, it redefines gaming" paragraphs I've read so far.

Haha, The Last of Us will be #1 by a massive margin, I don't think it's been this wide a gap in years.

Not a chance, definitely go back and look at last years thread. Half the lists in here look almost identical. TLoU, GTA V, Mario yadayada

Well if you do what I did, and started reading this thread from this page, then it seems like I said. But I did jump back and looking at the other pages, yes, TLoU is kinda running away with it...

 

[Yuterald]

Is there a limit to how many honorable mentions you could have? I didn't see anything in the OP about this, unless I missed it somewhere. I should probably have my list up by tomorrow morning.

 

[timetokill]

Is there a limit to how many honorable mentions you could have? I didn't see anything in the OP about this, unless I missed it somewhere. I should probably have my list up by tomorrow morning.

No. But try to use common sense, and if you're going to list a bunch put reasons for them so it contributes to the thread.

 

[Steiner_Zi]

I have 2 games from 2013 that I consider special:

1. The Last of Us ; Simply, the best game of 2013 no matter what perspective you look at it from. It blew any other AAA action game out of the water. It took back the extreme hand holding of this gen's AAA games for a more challenging while still modern game experience. This game reminded me of the PS1 action/adventure games in the sense that exploration and adventure were given equal weight as the action. You couldn't go out and shoot everything and not expect to easily die. No more enemy waves, no more auto fill of health, no more lousy writing. Very big and awesome areas to explore and to gaze at. Superb graphics and art direction. Nice gameplay which took some time to get used to but by the end of the game really had clicked with me. Believable and relatable characters. Special and fitting soundtrack. Flawless pacing. What more could you ask from? The only minus is that the game is so convincing in transporting you to a really grim and cruel world that it is hard to go back and replay the game. But one day, I will... Also, too bad I haven't touched the multiplayer... All in all, a very special game I will long remember.

2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; My first AC game, lol. I put over 100 hours into it just in the summer. I was so obsessed with it that every day for about 3 months I said to myself "OK, let's play for 15 minutes" and then I always ended up playing 2-4 hours! For me, someone who rarely plays a game over 2 hours straight, that was unheard of..!

2012. Sleeping Dogs ; Such a good, fun game. Wish more people had bought it because it deserved to be a big hit. I liked it so much that after completing the main story I kept playing and almost platinum'ed it.

 

[Yuterald]

No. But try to use common sense, and if you're going to list a bunch put reasons for them so it contributes to the thread.

Okay, I sort of have a bunch...but I've got fairly beefy write ups for both my top 10 and my honorable guys, so I hope it's not too overboard!

 

[Vire]

Haha, The Last of Us will be #1 by a massive margin, I don't think it's been this wide a gap in years.

More interested in what is getting second place at this point.

Pulling for ALBW.

 

[Dark Schala]

And you have to bear in mind that even if it isn't #1 on people's lists, as long as it's somewhere in the top 10, TLoU will still get points allocated towards it. Going by my calculations, it's really running away with it. Last year's thread had lists that were more varied, partially because 2012 didn't seem to strike a huge chord with people as 2013 did, despite TWD/Journey leading the charge.

What will be interesting to see if whether or not this year's winner will catch some flames in the coming year/in the results thread, as Skyrim, MGS4, etc. have before it.

Is there a limit to how many honorable mentions you could have? I didn't see anything in the OP about this, unless I missed it somewhere. I should probably have my list up by tomorrow morning.

I usually have a ton of those, but I generally write out reams of text to explain why.

 

[timetokill]

Okay, I sort of have a bunch...but I've got fairly beefy write ups for both my top 10 and my honorable guys, so I hope it's not too overboard!

As long as you've got write-ups for them it'll be fine. Don't worry about it.

 

[NullPointer]

I have 2 games from 2013 that I consider special:

1. The Last of Us ;

Simply, the best game of 2013 no matter what perspective you look at it from. ...

Just a head's up:

[*]Comments on games must begin on the same line as the game title itself, following a semicolon (.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Yeah, Portal 2 wasn't everybody's #1 favorite, but it was the kind of game that had a mass appeal and everybody liked enough to put it in their top 10. It's clever and funny and the kind of thing you could feel passionate towards, or at the very least appreciate what it does pretty well, IMO. It one of the few GAF GotYs that doesn't seem to harbor much backlash either, besides arguing whether it was as good as Portal 1 or not.

Its still interesting to read all the individual lists even with an obvious winner. Everybody celebrating what they enjoyed about this year's batch of video games. These are always my favorite threads on NeoGAF.

 

[Dark Schala]

Yeah, for once, people are talking about stuff they like for a change. It's usually like a breath of fresh air.

That sounds awful. Have you tried increasing the FoV? I was playing Call of Juarez: Gunslinger recently and that game's FoV is so small that the game felt claustrophobic and I started getting sick. So I increased it from 75 to 95 and it looked a lot better. But seriously that sucks.

I've certainly tried, yeah. No matter what, my vestibular system just doesn't like it. Really disappointing.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

 

[Vire]

Neiteio your list was lovely. Good job!

 

[Nintyb]

1. Fire Emblem Awakening ; The best TBS of all time.

2. The Last of Us ; One of, if not the best, cinematic video game experience I've played. The multiplayer isn't too shabby either.

3. Tearaway

4. SMT IV

5. Animal Crossing New Leaf

6. GTA V

7. Battlefield 4

8. Tomb Raider

9. Bioshock Infinite

10. Assassins Creed IV

 

[timetokill]

Neiteio, great list, a pleasure to read.

If you could do one thing for me, though, and that is change your "X)" to "x." for the parser. Thanks!

invalid ballot

Please read the OP and try again.

 

[theprodigy]

some point tallies for major games (format is creamsugar style meaning that for example TLoU is under 1300 points)

1300
The Last of Us

650
Bioshock Infinite

500
GTA V
Super Mario 3D World

450
Fire Emblem Awakening

350
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

I think Tomb Raider might get on here too, haven't checked yet

edit: why do I keep mistyping "World" as "Word"

 

[Neiteio]

Neiteio, great list, a pleasure to read.

If you could do one thing for me, though, and that is change your "X)" to "x." for the parser. Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words. I went back and tweaked my list as requested. Also, I think I'll go back later and to add a comment or two for the x-votes.

A question: How do you guys tally it up? Is the "parser" something done manually, like Control + F and then searching "1." to find all of the No. 1 votes?

 

[sleeping_dragon]

some point tallies for major games (format is creamsugar style meaning that for example TLoU is under 1300 points)

1300
The Last of Us

650
Bioshock Infinite

500
GTA V
Super Mario 3D Word

450
Fire Emblem Awakening

350
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

I think Tomb Raider might get on here too, haven't checked yet

Oh damm. I guess I have to finally buy tlou now.

 

[pulga]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Pure gaming bliss, I had the stupidest smile on my face at all times during the course of this near-perfect experience.
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Super Mario 3D World
4. The Last of Us
5. Fire Emblem: Awakening
6. GTA V
7. The Wonderful 101
8. Pokemon X/Y
9. Splinter Cell: Blacklist
10. DmC: Devil May Cry
x. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

 

[timetokill]

Thanks for the kind words. I went back and tweaked my list as requested. Also, I think I'll go back later and to add a comment or two for the x-votes.

A question: How do you guys tally it up? Is the "parser" something done manually, like Control + F and then searching "1." to find all of the No. 1 votes?

It's a script that automatically parses the thread contents. It works kind of like what you're saying, where it looks for specific formatting and tabulates from there.

I used to do it manually but Cheesemeister was kind enough to write a script that automates the process. It's a tradeoff, where dozens of hours of counting votes are saved, but is less flexible in ballot formatting. When I did it manually I didn't care how people formatted their lists as long as I could understand what they were doing.

I do a weekly pick'em for College Football GAF that I still do manually, because it's a much smaller sample set.

some point tallies for major games

I appreciate you not putting specific numbers, but please don't do too much of this. We intentionally don't post running tallies because it can cause people to change how they vote in order to push certain games over others.

 

[Neiteio]

It's a script that automatically parses the thread contents. It works kind of like what you're saying, where it looks for specific formatting and tabulates from there.

I used to do it manually but Cheesemeister was kind enough to write a script that automates the process. It's a tradeoff, where dozens of hours of counting votes are saved, but is less flexible in ballot formatting. When I did it manually I didn't care how people formatted their lists as long as I could understand what they were doing.

I do a weekly pick'em for College Football GAF that I still do manually, because it's a much smaller sample set.

Do games with colons in the title affect the parser? For example, if someone writes "Fire Emblem: Awakening" and another person writes "Fire Emblem Awakening," will the parser know they're referring to the same game?

 

[Frosteey]

1. Rune Factory 4 ; Rune Factory 4 makes almost no effort to revolutionize the Rune Factory formula (with the lone exception of providing a female protagonist from the outset, which is a significant and welcome change), but personally I don't need it to, and what it does provide is enough substance and polish to make an incredibly satisfying experience. They still need to do a little cleaning up on the crafting, the town building aspect was a touch underwhelming, and not being able to rotate furniture is truly a blow to my heart, but those minor complaints are all I really have for what is otherwise a fantastic game. The cast is almost universally colorful and endearing (the lone exception being stupid boring Doug and his boring family), there is plenty of dialogue variety both day-to-day and for special events, the request box does a reasonable job of providing short-, mid-, and long-term goals for you to accomplish, farming works, and almost everything feels crisp whether you're casting spells and swinging swords or moving from screen to screen or simply sorting through menus. Rune Factory has certainly tread this ground before, but I would be completely ecstatic for a sequel to follow in this game's footsteps if it managed the same execution with even just minor advancements. Please : (

2. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; I desperately wish that I could champion Awakening as my full and undisputed favorite game in the series. I am still not sure if it manages to squeak into that position. That there is even a question on this matter (despite the game having the most expansive roster of entertaining and likable characters in the series backed up by a stellar voice casting performance, the most polished presentation, the best support conversations, and excellent music), highlights a number of flaws in the game which I just can't overlook. Map/scenario design is fairly uninspired, difficulty progression is a bit off balance (especially with the power creep mess that is caused by paralogue recruitment chapters), there is no good difficulty compromise between the quickly easing Hard Mode and oppressively limiting Lunatic Mode, and the overall story is weak (even by Fire Emblem standards) thanks to an incredibly abrupt and underwhelming final arc.

Spoiler

(PS the spotpass characters honestly kind of manage to detract from the overall experience. Also there is this hellish curse called Male Morgan inflicted upon me )

None of these elements actually reach the point where I would call them outright bad, and the gameplay side of Awakening easily manages to still be an entertaining experience (the pair up system is a pretty good combat gimmick even with the shortcomings surrounding it and could easily be fleshed out into a great one). But I can't help but hope that the next game will manage to couple the much tighter gameplay of other games in the series with the aspects that Awakening completely aced, and wish that Awakening itself could have done so.

...it is probably my favorite in the series.

3. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; STM IV is solid, streamlined, and quick. Battles are brisk and fusion is a breeze. I think, of all things, the facet of the game that impressed me most was its incredible reward system and schedule. Practically every fight gives you something to be excited for: level up, newly recruited demons, new fusion possibilities, new demon skills, inherited skills. But even with the flood of rewards it doesn't reach an overwhelming level - each manages to be its own accomplishment, and the addictive thrill of getting the next one never fades through dozens of hours and hundred of battles. Other assorted thoughts: Ended up liking Isabeau and Walter, wish they would have condensed the app bonus messages when recruiting demons, like 90% of the hats were awful (but playing dressup is always appreciated as long as there are at least some good options), endgame was pretty underwhelming.

4. Pokemon Y ; It's hard to envision myself ever growing tired of the Pokemon formula. Collecting an assortment of cute little floofballs and using them to conquer the world appeals to me at a fundamental level. X/Y for the most part brings refreshing updates for some of the more archaic aspects of the series. X/Y, to my surprise, won best dressup of the year, which obviously scores big points, and the incredible jump in graphical presentation was also a pleasant surprise. Online components continue to plod forward, although the Global Trade System remains a barely functional, barely searchable mess. I also have to assign some negative marks thanks to my reunion with Whimsicott being marred by the lack of engaging postgame content to explore (with no interest in online battles).

5. Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies ; Dual Destinies boasts a startlingly good transition to 3d character models, a satisfactory cast of new characters (Athena is great, Blackquill is good, Juniper and Fulbright are fine), and a solid soundtrack. Unfortunately, I feel the meat of the game was merely decent. The story/cases don't really ramp up until the mid point, and don't excel until the final case. Even then, the finale only faintly compares to the likes of the final two cases of Ace Attorney 1 or the final case of AA3. While many of its twists and conclusions were carried out quite well, some of the most vital components simply fell flat. Dual Destinies is a competent, funny, and enjoyable addition to the series (well worth playing), but not quite a truly great one.

6. Etrian Odyssey IV ; It's another Etrian Odyssey game.

7. Civilization V: Brave New World ; I skipped over...uh, Civilization V-2, so I enjoyed a particularly large upgrade when jumping up to Brave New World. It's more Civilization. Religion, ideology, tourism, and whatever else are all interesting additions to explore, and the core experience (for me) of discovery and expansion remains compelling. On the other hand, military matters are unappealing as ever. The bland upgrades, the tactical inflexibility, the general financial and political impracticality, the sheer tedium of managing a twenty ship armada. It is only rarely that I particularly enjoy this huge aspect of the game, so I only occasionally return.

8. Dota 2 ; I'll start by saying Dota 2 is not my preferred game in its genre. While Dota is entertaining in its own right, I lack both the time and conviction to add a second MOBA to the rotation. Despite that, Dota 2 does plenty of things to be respected and even envied. The Compendium was an amazing and well executed idea, alternate announcers and UI skins are a smart way to add to and customize the game experience beyond the in game character cosmetics which have come to be expected, and the community and esports integration within the game client are impressive as well. It says a lot that I will continue to be interested in Dota 2's ongoing development despite having no plans to actually play the game more than a few times per month.

9. Rogue Legacy ; Rogue Legacy made me more closely consider just what it is I find most appealing about the roguelike genre. I love the genuinely unique nature of each run. I love the feeling of being on "The Run." I love the heavy weight on every decision stemming from the very real repercussions for failure. Rogue Legacy is noticeably lacking in these regards. The death of John the Hokage is no tragedy, because Johnette the Hokage is waiting in the wings to run through some more similar rooms, except Johnette will have +2 attack and be able to fly for .5 seconds longer despite having never explored a single part of the castle. Rogue Legacy competently executes on being what it is, with its grindable persistent upgrades and teleportable boss rushes. That game is still a fun experience, just not one I tend to hope for when roguish promises are made.

10. Gone Home ; I'm glad Gone Home exists, I appreciate what it does. I just don't really want to play the whole thing. Some of this is my own fault, as I had to read spoilers (many of them) to convince myself to give it a chance in the first place. Although it doesn't do much for me personally, the amount of effort and attention to detail that went into crafting the nostalgic 90s environment is worthy of praise.

 

[timetokill]

Do games with colons in the title affect the parser? For example, if someone writes "Fire Emblem: Awakening" and another person writes "Fire Emblem Awakening," will the parser know they're referring to the same game?

The parser will know it's the same game, yes. We also handle games that are the same but have different names in different territories. Don't worry about it
As long as you follow the rules in the OP your votes will be tabulated correctly.

 

[theprodigy]

The parser will know it's the same game, yes. We also handle games that are the same but have different names in different territories. Don't worry about it
As long as you follow the rules in the OP your votes will be tabulated correctly.

what about abbreviations, as long as it's only for one game?

Spoiler

Tomb Raider<TLoU, oh noes results!

 

[RK9039]

1. Risk of Rain ; Puts all big triple A games this year to shame. It deserves to be rewarded with 4 Jammy Dodgers and a spot in the 2013 Hall of Fame. This game is the jabroni beating, abahalalalallalaaooow! pie eating, trail blazing, eye brow raising, harder than Dark Souls, faster than Sonic, the biggest game of 2013 because The Last of us Sucks! (jk, don't kill me) IF YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROBOT JANITOR IS COOKING?

2. Final Fantasy 14 A Realm Reborn ; The only Final Fantasy game I have ever played, which makes it the best Final Fantasy game I have ever played.

 

[SmashBrosAwesome]

1. Saints Row IV ; Simply put, the game which I found to be the most fun this year. All thanks to hilarious writing that was right up my sense of humor's alley, story missions that almost always brought some new gameplay experience to the table, and superpowers that made traversing the city between missions entertaining, well into the late stages of the game. Overall, I just loved this game's sense of bombast and self-awareness.

2. Risk of Rain ; Any rogue-like with fast-paced action, super tight controls and a wealth of interesting power-ups is pretty much guaranteed to win me over in no time at all, especially if it has a good system of risks and rewards. Binding of Isaac fit this bill in years past, and now Risk of Rain has taken its place.

3. Rogue Legacy; To be honest, I could probably just copy my comments for Risk of Rain and put them here and it would describe my feelings for Rogue Legacy all the same. The one thing that put Risk of Rain above Rogue Legacy was that I vastly preferred the boss encounters of the former game. Nevertheless, this was the rogue-like(-like) of the summer for me, and the content update released for the game a few weeks back gave me a few additional hours of joy.

4. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

5. Spelunky

6. Animal Crossing: New Leaf

7. Picross e

8. Super House of Dead Ninjas

9. Eldritch

10. Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe

2012. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

---

More comments to come later, if I don't forget.

 

[Neiteio]

Yeah, Portal 2 wasn't everybody's #1 favorite, but it was the kind of game that had a mass appeal and everybody liked enough to put it in their top 10. It's clever and funny and the kind of thing you could feel passionate towards, or at the very least appreciate what it does pretty well, IMO. It one of the few GAF GotYs that doesn't seem to harbor much backlash either, besides arguing whether it was as good as Portal 1 or not.

Its still interesting to read all the individual lists even with an obvious winner. Everybody celebrating what they enjoyed about this year's batch of video games. These are always my favorite threads on NeoGAF.

Man, reading this takes me back to the 2011 voting season. So many great games that year, IMO. For me, some of the standouts were Bulletstorm (my last-minute GOTY), Catherine, Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and of course, Portal 2. So much variety in style and subject matter between those five games alone.

 

[FriedConsole]

1. Tomb Raider ; My previous love of Uncharted is questioned after playing this game.
2. Hotline Miami ; I go into a weird trance when playing this on my Vita.
3. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; Mario Kart has some work to do to catch up to this.
4. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; Better shooter than anything else and it is $15.
5. Spelunky ; Awesome on Vita
6. Puppeteer ; This and Raymond games reminds me that 2D platformers can be awesome.
7. Velocity Ultra ; More than another top down shooter
8. Switch Galaxy ; Great PS Mobile game
9. Rymdkapsel ; Great PS Mobile game. Another game that induces trance like time warping of hours.
10. Killzone Mercenary ; Just started but it is awesome and finally the portable shooter I have been waiting for.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

x. Tearaway ; This single-handedly justifies the Vita's existence. Innovation at its finest right here, folks. Bringing your fingers into the world of papercraft via the back touchpad is pretty satisfying and just plain fun.

x. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD ; It&#8217;s Wind Waker in HD. Anything I can say about the game has already been said a decade ago.

x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney &#8211; Dual Destinies ; The Ace Attorney franchise returns with a 3D makeover! Continuing the saga started by Apollo Justice, we get another adventure of objections and hold its! The lawyering is as intense as ever and the likable cast of characters makes for an enjoyable ride from start to finish.

x. Pandora&#8217;s Tower ; The swan song of the Wii. Well okay, maybe that title belongs to Skyward Sword, but this isn't a bad post-successor release either. Unpolished as it may be, this is a solid ARPG with a cool chain mechanic and some fun combat. Just another hidden gem to add to the Wii pile.

x. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows ; Not a lot fazes me, but sometimes it's hard to not flinch when you're watching a fully conscious little girl get her entrails ripped out by angry ghosts. Of course, this series is not just gore porn, but a legitimately unsettling and disturbing experience thanks to some amazing atmosphere, an absolutely chilling soundtrack, and some of the most effective voice acting in the entire medium that accurately emulates the terrible things happening on-screen to a cringe-worthy degree. While I wouldn't pick the visual novel style over the first game's style of gameplay, I can't deny the crazy experience I had with this and how hyped I am for the final game in the Heavenly Host trilogy.

x. Luigi&#8217;s Mansion: Dark Moon ; After a decade, the well-received Gamecube launch title finally gets a sequel. A new haunted adventure for everyone's favorite overlooked brother was the perfect way to kick off the year of Luigi.

x. Tales of Xillia ; A standard Tales game. Not much more to say than that, but I will say there are a few scenes on Jude's path (those that played it know what I'm talking about) that elevate the story to higher heights than I had ever seen in a Tales game before. Super hyped for the sequel, which is apparently the best in the series both on the gameplay and story fronts.

10. Puppeteer ; This is the very definition of "2D action platformer". With great level design, a unique visual style, crazy presentation, and the scale and level of escalation more akin to an extreme combat game like Bayonetta than a 2D platformer, this is by far the most underrated game of the year. That this flew under the radar of so many people is a damn shame.

9. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Why the hell is this fun? I've clocked in over 120 hours and I still can't answer that question. Addictively mundane, there's just something charming about making your town better and paying off your debt to the local tanuki mafioso.

8. Pokémon X/Y ; After nearly 2 decades, Pokemon finally enters the 3D frontier, and boy is it glorious. The beloved formula remains mostly the same, but the additions make this the definitive Pokemon experience in many ways. The social aspects have undergone a mind-blowing improvement, the tradeoff being the unfortunately underwhelming post game. But hey, Pokemon is all about the multiplayer, and thanks to several additions, entering the competitive scene is easier than ever. Fairies are also nice.

7. The Wonderful 101 ; Holy shit, Kamiya did it again! In what may be the most varied action game of all time, Platinum brings together a whole lot of weapons and characters into a mishmash of playstyles that would intimidate even the greatest of DMC combo-ers. That and the presentation/story is absolutely balls to the wall crazy, but that's par for the course when it comes to Kamiya. He just decided to inject his own brand of insanity into a massive member sentai game, to fantastic results!

6. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; I've never been super interested in Studio Ghibli movies, but this definitely makes me want to marathon them. In what many consider to be the first quality console JRPG in a while (something I disagree with, but whatever), we're treated to a unique composite turn-based/real-time battle system alongside a simple yet charming story, a beautiful world complete with the seemingly lost genre function known as a "world map", likable characters, and a lot of fake accents! Level 5 had a hand in something special here that, while not perfect, proves that there's still life and a market for standard formula console JRPGs.

5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; One of the most beloved Zelda titles finally gets a direct sequel, one that is every bit as worthy as its predecessor to stand as a testament to the quality of the series. Familiar yet fresh, A Link Between Worlds does everything right to make it appeal to both new and nostalgic fans. The dungeon design is great and none outstay their welcome, while the rental system give a welcome new twist on the standard formula that we've all come to love. Even lapsed Zelda fans are eating this up. It definitely deserves the praise.

4. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; You&#8217;d think with the fall of Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden along with the general indifference surrounding God of War, the stylish extreme combat character action genre would be dying. Nope, it&#8217;s alive and well thanks to Platinum! In the first awesome Metal Gear spin-off, we&#8217;re given control of the guy we all wanted to play in MGS4, Raiden! The fast combat, tight responsive controls, and crazy amounts of combos you can unleash on those poor cyborg people makes you feel like a badass, even moreso upon mastery. There&#8217;s nothing more satisfying than cutting people into a billion pieces all in the span of a fraction of a second. And that&#8217;s even before we get into the fantastic bosses and one of the most ridiculously awesome finales in gaming. I have nothing to worry about with Bayonetta 2 because every single person at Platinum is a master at this genre.

3. Pikmin 3 ; Miyamoto&#8217;s best game ever? Maybe not, but it&#8217;s certainly a charming continuation of the unique RTS-ish series. While it merely expands on the already established formula, there&#8217;s not much to complain about. As with most EAD games, it&#8217;s hard to deny the polish and love put into this colorful and strategic adventure. With new types of slaves Pikmin to control and new well-designed areas that make use of your microscopic battalion, this is most definitely a worthwhile game and among the top reasons to buy a Wii U right now.

2. Super Mario 3D World ; The alternate reality version of Super Mario 64 if the formula stayed the same. Taking the 2D traits of Mario and converting it into 3D, Nintendo have created an incredibly polished and impressive entry that can easily stand alongside the 3D entries in the series. The Mario games have always been about adding subtle touches to expand the platforming possibilities, and this is no different thanks to the cat suit. While it is merely genre refining as opposed to Mario Galaxy&#8217;s genre redefining, this is a perfect game to close out this long saga of instant classic Mario games before the geniuses over at EAD come up with the next big innovation for the portly plumber.

1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; I can&#8217;t remember who, but one of the creator&#8217;s of the game said that the future of the series was in jeopardy while the game was in development, prompting them to work on the game as if it was the last Fire Emblem they would make. This is entirely believable after seeing the ridiculous amounts of content and features packed into that tiny-ass 3DS cart. This is the ultimate Fire Emblem experience. Streamlined but not easy, incredibly deep combat, an insane amount of variety, numerous likable characters, and waifus! This will very likely be looked back on not just as testament to the quality of the Fire Emblem series, but also one of the best SRPGs of all time.

GOTY I wasn&#8217;t allowed to give GOTY to

Danganronpa: I had already started writing this before I knew it wouldn&#8217;t count, so that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s here even if I&#8217;m probably disqualifying myself from voting for it when it actually gets released in English.

As much as I loved Fire Emblem, THIS is my game of the year. I&#8217;m a relatively recent fan of the visual novel genre (well, it has been half a decade since I first played Phoenix Wright), but no game had ever stood up there with the greats from my favorite genres like Action and JRPG. Danganronpa changed that.

This game was essentially tailor made for me, and I didn&#8217;t even know it. It&#8217;s over the top, it&#8217;s uncomfortable, it&#8217;s got a dark sense of humor, it&#8217;s intense, it&#8217;s thought provoking, it&#8217;s addictive; it&#8217;s everything I want. With some absolutely insane genre blending of Phoenix Wright/VNs and even some rhythm, ridiculous yet visually appealing character designs to accompany the initially gimmicky yet interesting characters, a truly hateful antagonist, a crazy and cruel game of death premise, and ridiculous amount of effective twists and plot developments, this was really a no-brainer for me. First VN I would give a perfect score to. I hope everyone buys the game when it releases in the US in February.

 

[MW_Jimmy]

1. Resogun ; Resogun is my clear favourite of the year. It's a game that initially feels messy and flash, but when the systems reveal themselves you start to realise just how incredibly balanced all of it is. How they subtlety overlap each other and force choices to be made at every turn. How the waves follow a learnable pattern, and very clear audio and visual cues make it obvious what is happening at any time. I'm not a massive fan of shumps by any means, but by avoiding the niche tropes of Cave, and eschewing design nods from the likes of REZ, Space Giraffe and Gradius IV it remains accessible and fun. Having a clear 5 level structure and some brilliantly designed bosses a session never outstays its welcome. I always expected this would be a great game, but never expected an utter classic.

2. Super Amazing Wagon Adventure Turbo ; deserves its high place for managing to do that most difficult of art: comedy
3. Tearaway ; Tearaway has had me smiling with it's inventiveness (a game that uses the back touchpad well!) and general playful tone. It's a game that makes you feel like you are back in kindergarten making things out of tissue-paper and glue. Somewhat slight at times, but it's a game that makes a better impression if you just go with it.
4. Anarchy Reigns ; Anarchy Reigns came very early last year and for the first few hours I thought it was utterly terrible, but once you understood what the game was trying to achieve (a proper multiplayer arena beat-em-up), it came into it's own. Team tactics could be employed and it had a level of depth akin to first-person shooters.
5. Soul Sacrifice ; I'm always drawn to titles which try new things out and try new gameplay systems, even if they are not successful. Soul Sacrifice takes something established and puts a number of really unique spins on the genre. In the manner the story is told through a book slowly revealing it's secrets, the manner in which you level up, and the way skill usage must be managed. They have really thought about how the Vita is used and in turn created a pick-up-play action RPG that often feels like a beat-em-up given the quickness of the encounters. Kudos to Comcept and Japan Studio.
6. Killer Is Dead ; Killer Is Dead is like a "Best Of SUDA51" and his most accessible title to date.
7. Rayman Legends ; Glorious art-design and effortless gameplay.
8. Brothers ; Shades of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus throughout, by no means as good as either title, but I appreciated the game design on offer through the unique control mechanics.
9. Velocity Ultra ; A shooter that isn't a shooter. Just a wonderful game that wants to keep throwing surprises at you.
10. Mount Your Friends ; far more than a cheap joke, Mount Your Friends is one of the best pass-the-pad multiplayer games around.

2012. Sound Shapes ; As a fan of Everyday Shooter, when I got my Vita this was the game I was most eagerly anticipating. As soon as I played Beck - Cities I knew this was something really special. The fusion of sound, gameplay and visual design has not been done as well as this since REZ. The built-in soundtracks are impeccable in design and unique in style. The most exciting part though is wandering through the user created content. There are people who wish to tell stories, make levels as hard as Super Meat Boy, make levels as complex as an MC Escher, or just create some brilliant melodies. The way these different elements rub against each other is real magic.

The only let-down is the level editor itself. I did expect something a little more free-form for a Vita title, and I find the tools very restrictive. If anybody knows of any decent video tutorials or where all these creators talk, then I would love to know!

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

some point tallies for major games (format is creamsugar style meaning that for example TLoU is under 1300 points)

1300
The Last of Us

650
Bioshock Infinite

500
GTA V
Super Mario 3D World

450
Fire Emblem Awakening

350
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

I think Tomb Raider might get on here too, haven't checked yet

edit: why do I keep mistyping "World" as "Word"

Wow, didn't expect The Last of Us to have GOTY so unanimously. Also pleasantly surprised to see Fire Emblem there

 

[MachoSuave]

1. Armored Core: Verdict Day ; Best multiplayer experience since the prequel: revised territory system, more parts, more areas, more challenging story mode too.
2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Platinum x KojiPro is the kind of collaboration I previously thought could only exist in dream-space.
3. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ; Far too easy throughout low rank, the real MonHun doesn't start until Jho first drops by to ruin your day.
4. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; Proof Mario Kart has no excuse for its consecutive stagnation.
5. Anarchy Reigns ; God Hand Online, staggered release split the playerbase and murdered any form of community build up though. For shame, Sega. Still stands high on singleplayer.

6. Pikmin 3 ; It's Pikmin, again, but with more pikmin, a worthy sequel.
7. Muramasa Rebirth ; Honestly this is mostly here because of my time with the Wii version, one of few games I've been happy to play for all

Spoiler

6

endings.
8. Sanctum 2 ; Wasn't too great at launch, has slowly evolved into a worthy successor to Sanctum thanks to the devs working tirelessly to address community requests. Coffee Stain devs of the year.
9. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; As ever love for AC is difficult to put into words, I hope I can leave it at that.
10. Luigi's Mansion 2 ; Would've preferred this without it being split into missions, but apart from that the feel of the first is still mostly there.

Honourabubble mentions:
x. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn ; Oh God I actually enjoyed an MMORPG this year what is going on.
x. Aces Wild ; 2D DMC with crazy floaty infini-flight combat.
x. Bit.trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien ; Beep. Boop. Thunk. FUCK.

Games that would probably be here if I'd played them:
Delayman Legends
The Wonderful 101

 

[slaughterking]

1. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Big step forward for the series, some tiny steps back. Really enjoyed it and it was pretty delightful seeing how well received the game was outside of the usual circle.
2. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance ;
3. Persona 4 Golden (EU) ;
4. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ;
5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ;
6. Diablo III ;
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ;
8. DmC: Devil May Cry ;
9. Guacamelee! ;
10. Tales of Xillia ;


Can't really bring myself to write anything about these games. I'm feeling pretty good about my Top 5, but I'm not really having any strong feelings about this gaming year. I would rather talk about the things I did not like about 2013s games. The heavy hitters this year (Bioshock, TLOU and GTA) felt especially flat to me and I guess that sort of overshadows things for me. I also wish I had played Zelda, Mario and W101, but that just hasn't happened yet.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Finally getting my list put together as I finish some games, but I had a question. Based on the "PORT RULE" in the OP, a game like Sonic Racing Transformed would qualify, right? It came out last year on consoles, but I didn't play it until I bought the PC version (which released in 2013).

Also, would the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX be qualified as well? I'd say it's more than just a simple HD upscale since they are the Final Mix versions and then they redid 358/2Days into a movie. But it's 2 games in one, so I don't know how that would work exactly.

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

1. Fire Emblem Awakening ;
2. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance ;
3. Persona 4 Golden (EU) ;
4. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ;
5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ;
6. Diablo III ;
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ;
8. DmC: Devil May Cry ;
9. Guacamelee! ;
10. Tales of Xillia ;


Can't really bring myself to write anything about these games. I'm feeling pretty good about my Top 5, but I'm not really having any strong feelings about this gaming year. I would rather talk about the things I did not like about 2013s games. The heavy hitters this year (Bioshock, TLOS and GTA) felt especially flat to me and I guess that sort of overshadows things for me. I also wish I had played Zelda, Mario and W101, but that just hasn't happened yet.

Heavy on 3DS and RPGs but no Pokemon?

 

[MachoSuave]

Based on the "PORT RULE" in the OP, a game like Sonic Racing Transformed would qualify, right? It came out last year on consoles, but I didn't play it until I bought the PC version (which released in 2013).

Also, would the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX be qualified as well? .

Both are in the spreadsheet in the OP, vote away.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Both are in the spreadsheet in the OP, vote away.

Ah, thanks! I forgot about the spreadsheet.

 

[slaughterking]

Heavy on 3DS and RPGs but no Pokemon?

Played it, finished it and liked it. It could have easily been in the lower half of my Top 10 (amongst other games that didn't make it), but there's only so much room there and in the end anything below Dual Destinies doesn't matter all that much to me anyway.

 

[Spwn]

Hard choices. This year has been great and I didn't have nearly enough time to play everything that would probably deserve to be on this list.

1. Bravely Default ; Truly a worthy successor to the classic JRPGs of the 90's. It does get repetitive, but it will definitely become a game that will be remembered fondly in the years to come.
2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; One of my most anticipated games of the year and it lived up to my expectations. The best action game of the year.
3. Gunpoint ; Definitely the shining star of the indies this year. The gameplay was enjoyable and dialogue was very well written. Had to get all the achievements for the game - it was that good.
4. Soul Sacrifice ; The game's world is so full of horrors I could not stop to be fascinated by it. Well written fantasy horror story and captivating gameplay. What else do you want? Aside from more open areas, perhaps.
5. Anarchy Reigns ; This game started my year in 2013 and I loved it to pieces. Couldn't beat it on the hardest difficulty, though. I have to try that again one day.
6. Bioshock Infinite ; I didn't enjoy the original Bioshock at all for some reason. I wasn't expecting Infinite to do that to me either, but I gave it a shot and it succeeded to drag me in.
7. The Stanley Parable ; The laughfest of the year. The Stanley Parable is the school book example of how to use the medium to create an interactive narrative experience. Or something. Do those words even make sense?
8. Papers, Please ; Just trying to do my job, mam. Now get off my border!
9. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers ; Love the setting, love the demon system. Love pretty much everything about but the difficulty. (first European release, so I assume this game is eligible)
10. Tearaway ; Perhaps the best looking PS Vita game to date. Also super charming and unique in almost every way.
x. Surgeon Simulator 2013 ; I loved the "demo" version as a joke and bought the full game immediately when it was released on Steam. Didn't expect it to feel like an actual game after countless of hours of practice.
x. Rayman Legends ; It's like Origins, but more of it!
2012. Dead or Alive 5 ; The DOA fan in me was happy to see that DOA is still DOA.

 

[tonitoni]

1. DOTA 2; At 1600 hours played, this is the reason I only have 3 games in the list.
2. The Swapper; Great puzzle game.
3. Europa Universalis IV; Fun game like its predecessor, the faster load times are very welcome.

2012. Dishonored; Great atmosphere and gameplay.

 

[Diablos]

1. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; Greatness. It has some of the best elements of a lot of JRPG's nicely blended together; there are a lot of things to do, questing and otherwise, even post-game; the art direction is amazing and adds so much charm to the game world; the soundtrack is world class as far as game OST's go. People like to complain that the story isn't very good, and that the gameplay is outdated. However, what makes Ni No Kuni great is that it kind of knows that, and only sets out to be a great JRPG, something that gets harder and harder to find these days. It succeeded in doing just that, and that's all it ever wanted to be. I personally loved the story: it doesn't take itself too seriously, it is simple yet enough to keep you going combined with having one of the most vibrant worlds to explore in any JRPG. This is vastly superior to what we are seeing out of other games in the genre like FFXIII, et. al., which are painful to sit through to say the very least, becoming a parody of themselves, and giving the genre a bad name in my opinion. More devs should take note: Stop being so pretentious/dramatic/overzealous and just set out to make a great overall JRPG, and the rest will take care of itself...

2. Metro: Last Light ; I rarely give a crap about first person shooters. However, this is a clear exception. Let's get the obvious out of the way: This game looks amazing. Not only the IQ in general but the amount of detail that goes into it, the way it is masterfully interwoven into the experience of conveying that, yes, you are stuck in a post-apocalyptic world. Immersion is the key word here, and it excels at that. It also has a different take on the FPS genre, not only because of the horror elements but how you have to manage your time. I find myself thinking more than just running around and shooting at everything that moves, blinking first, etc. which is far too commonplace in FPS games and a real bore. Not to mention, the plot and voice acting is head and shoulders above pretty much anything else in the genre today, which is a huge plus as well. I haven't appreciated a FPS like this since the first F.E.A.R., so it has been a long time.

3. Rogue Legacy ; If I could only describe this game using one word, that word would be addictive. This is a very hard game to put down. The randomly generated castle adds so much replay value, and seeing as how I got this for a mere $5, I can't remember the last time I got so much value out of a game purchase. Never gets old. I have spent way too many hours hacking away at this just so I can fail yet progress at the same time. Rogue Legacy (like many of the other rogue-like titles out there) kind of tweaks the formula a bit in terms of how a game can be both challenging and rewarding, and is a welcome change in this case.

4. Tomb Raider ; I am surprised that I enjoyed this so much, but the single-player game is a lot of fun. It's a romp with some mild puzzle solving scattered throughout, and makes for a well-paced, well-executed game. The only downside is that, yes, some of the Lara Croft death sequences are a bit overdone, and would have been better off without a lot of them. That said, the action is top notch and the island is pretty fun to explore as well. Multiplayer isn't amazing, but it doesn't suck. The plot isn't that bad, either. I just wish they would have toned down the way poor Lara gets hurt in this game when you fail.

5. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed ; I really don't have much to say here. It's probably the best kart racing game to come along in years. Online multiplayer is crazy fun in particular. The graphics and design do a great job reminding you of the vintage days of gaming while not forgetting it is designed for modern hardware. If you just want to "pick up and play" something awesome, this is a wise choice.

x. Beyond: Two Souls ; I just started playing this, and while my first impressions of this game are quite good, I haven't played enough to justify putting it on my list. I'm confident that it will prove to be a worthy contender for GOTY however.

2012. Sleeping Dogs ; Just finished as of my latest edit. Definitely LTTP but glad I was able to get through it finally. This reminds me of GTA3 or 4 (and the various spinoffs) but done much, much better. I especially love the emphasis put on hand-to-hand combat and not just running around shooting aimlessly all the time (i.e. GTA). This definitely keeps things fresher than usual for a genre that one could argue is fairly played out these days. Can't say one way or the other if it is better than GTA5 since I don't own it, but over the past couple years I haven't been too hyped for the GTA series anyway. Though the DLC leaves much to be desired (and should have just been in the game or scrapped afterwards), overall, this is a really enjoyable open world title with memorable characters, a good plot, top-notch voice acting, a world that is awesome to explore, reliable action-packed gameplay, as well as some unique additions (such as how you crack passwords, pick locks, RPG-like Triad/Cop XP system) that makes it even better. The graphics on PC are really nice with the free hi-res texture pack. Great OST as well (Warp and Ninja Tune radio in particular). Hoping to see a sequel soon, but it seems like we're getting a spinoff since Square-Enix considered 2 million sold as too weak (unfortunate).

 

[paul187]

1. Mario 3D World; this is the 3D Mario game I always wanted. While I enjoy the other 3D entries, 3D World's focus on tight Platforming and liner levels made for a better experience. The level design is masterful and gets better as the game progresses.
2. Last of Us
3. The Wonderful 101
4. Metal Gear Rising
5. Saints Row: The Forth

 

[theprodigy]

1. Fire Emblem Awakening ;
2. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance ;
3. Persona 4 Golden (EU) ;
4. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ;
5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ;
6. Diablo III ;
7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ;
8. DmC: Devil May Cry ;
9. Guacamelee! ;
10. Tales of Xillia ;


Can't really bring myself to write anything about these games. I'm feeling pretty good about my Top 5, but I'm not really having any strong feelings about this gaming year. I would rather talk about the things I did not like about 2013s games. The heavy hitters this year (Bioshock, TLOU and GTA) felt especially flat to me and I guess that sort of overshadows things for me. I also wish I had played Zelda, Mario and W101, but that just hasn't happened yet.

you know you have to write something, or your vote doesn't count right

 

[slaughterking]

you know you have to write something, or your vote doesn't count right

Thanks!

 

[Refreshment.01]

1. The Legend of Zelda: ALBW ; Nintendo at last listened to the followers that truely understand this series and made some necessary corrections. Between Worlds and 3D Land show without a shadow of doubt how stereoscopic 3D can both enrich a game's visuals and gameplay.
2. Metro Last Light ; Even if it somewhat compromises some of the original's visions, it remains a very interesting world to inmerse oneself in.
3. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; All aspects of the game are of high quality: Plot, cinematics, music, strategy mechanics. Well rounded from all sides.
4. Pikmin 3 ; Part 3 polishes the formula for this strategy/action hybrid close to perfection. A delight to play with the Wii Remote.
5. The Swapper ; Very interesting aproach to the visual design and the character cloning is a well implemented puzzle mechanic.
6. Brothers A Tale of Two Sons ; Like we have seen in games like The Adventures of Cookie and Cream or the Mario and Luigi series, controlling multiple characters at the same time can become an engrossing mechanic. The game also delivers an enteristing story withouth over exposing the players. Something game creators should beging to understand to advance this medium.
7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ; High quality classic adventure with good production values for a 3DS game.
8. Tearaway ; Media Molecule once more shows their true talent by developing yet another platformer full of creativity both in mechanics and visuals that fully uses the PlayStation Vita features.
9. Splinter Cell: Blacklist ; Possibly the best SC game after Chaos Theory and a good sign that the series is regaining some of it's scence.
10. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; One of the best action RPG's in recent years and a game deserving of more exposure. A possible sequel in the new platforms sets my imagination wild.

x. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon ; The full potential of the first Luigi's Mansion is realized in this game. It is also one of the best games coming from Nintendo in recent memory.
x. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; Yet another worthwhile entry in this cult series.
x. Stanley Parable ; This just deserves to be played by anyone interested in gaming as a medium capable of delivering an original independent way to tell a story.
x. GTA: V ; For it's impresive technological achievement and the promise of what a game like this could be when realized in more capable hardware.
x. Don't Starve ; Klei enterteiment has become one of the strongest Independent developers around. This and Mark of the Ninja (see below) can easily win any game of the year awards even when going against productions worth 100's of millions.

2012. Mark of the Ninja ; Who could say one of the greatest action stealth games could be done in 2D? No one until Klei showed us t
the way .

PLATFORM OF THE YEAR

3DS. Head and shoulders no problems.

THINGS I'LL WANT TO FORGET OF 2013

-The Tomb Rider Reboot.

-HandHeld games sort of getting shafted for Goty nominations by the gaming media.

-The perpetual cycle of overhyping some games. Another dig from yours truly to the press XD As a main example certain platformer (while good) averaging over 90. Try to remain objective dear friends.

 

[theprodigy]

1. DOTA 2;
2. The Swapper;
3. Europa Universalis IV;

2012. Dishonored;

you gotta have comments too man