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[KDC720]

1. Grand Theft Auto 5; Rockstar took everything they learned over this console generation, and managed to combine them into this one game. The story was a bit messy, but the detailed world, 3 interesting leads, and varied, exciting gameplay made for my personal game of the year.

2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; I've beaten this game start to finish at least 5 times now, yet I still have the urge to go back for more. The fantastic combat mechanics, and the best soundtrack this year make this game such a joy to play.

3. Bioshock Infinite; People may have had problems with the combat and linearity, but I didn't. Columbia is such an interesting place to explore and the story and characters were so charming and fun. I also very much enjoyed the gameplay, I thought that vigors were implemented much better than plasmids, and the skyhook was a great mechanic.

4. Splinter Cell Blacklist; The best game in the series since Chaos Theory. The lack of Micheal Ironside was a bit awkward at first, but the open gameplay, fantastic level design, and great multiplayer quickly had me getting over that.

5. X-COM: Enemy Within; Everything you loved about Enemy Unknown with even more awesome stuff. Incredibly addictive.

6. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon; Build on Far Cry 3's mechanics, add in boatloads of 80's nostalgia, some hilarious writing, and you get Blood Dragon, one of the best downloadable games ever.

 

[GRIP]

1. The Last of Us; It was just that much better than any of the other games that I played this year (that came out this year). The story telling is probably the best I've seen in a video game and the game play was also very fun. It was the complete package for me.

 

[Regiruler]

1. The Wonderful 101; Very rarely have I played such a game where it's able to constantly and consistently build upon itself with every passing moment. Boasting unique gameplay and a fairly interesting, if somewhat cliche at times, story, the only dampers in the experience were the occasional moments were the game threw you into a situation where you ran around in circles until you found a way out
2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; Second only to super heroes fighting aliens, a ninja cyborg ensuring world peace for great justice is all kinds of fun. Although the gameplay can get slightly boring at times and can be borderline frustrating, the music and overall style is more unique than W101 despite this being a Spin-off of an already existing franchise.
3. Pokemon X/Y; X and Y took the necessary steps to bring a good level of transparency while making the system more accessible for everyone. The setting was top-notch and the OST has multiple memorable tracks.
4. Super Mario 3D World; the amount of fun in some of the level ideas is unparalleled. Granted, I haven't finished it so I can't really place it as my GotY
5. Sonic Lost World; The parkour system is phenominal and gives an unparalleled feeling of speed and flow. The lighting effects are excellent and the reasonably-solid 60 fps or so (I could be wrong on this, I'm not a pixel counter) was crucial to the experience. It's a shame there was a good bit of pop-in though, and some gameplay elements left a bit to be desired. Still, it has, arguably, one of the best OSTs on my list.
6. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon; decent bit of exploration with some interesting bosses
2012. Xenoblade Chronicles: Downright gorgeous art direction with a (so-far) interesting plot and a solid combat system. While some of the anti-frustration features are great, it has a tendency to lack in others (in particular with picking up items off dead enemies since it's hard to tell whether it's better at a glance). It helps that I think the Mechon look bloody awesome.

EDIT: New entry! Raiden has gone beyond the impossible and made my list at the last minute by the divine power of RULES OF NATURE
EDIT2: Switched my LTTP entry

 

[bender]

1. Gunpoint ; Lovely writing and I'm a sucker for stealth games.
2. Spelunky ; I'm hopelessly addicted. Every game needs daily challenges/tournaments.
3. Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; A Link To The Past is one of my favorite games ever and one of the few Legend of Zelda games I've like. I was really skeptical about this game due to being a sequel and beyond one dungeon, it was a pure joy to play. It made me completely forget about Super Mario 3D World.
4. The Swapper ; Such wonderful atmosphere and it's a great puzzle game.
5. Hot Shots Golf World Invitational (PS3) ; I'm cheating. This was on my list last year due to the Vita and Japanese PS3 release but the PS3 version is new to North America. I can't get enough of daily tournaments.
6. Animal Crossing ; I put over a hundred hours into this game and I'm not sure why. Actually, I am. I like collecting stuff and this game is an OCD nightmare.
7. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; The story and presentation are fantastic. It's an underutilized setting. The fun play is fantastic and that's not something I say about shooters a lot this day and age.
8. Last of Us ; Underrated mutliplayer. The story is a tad exploitative but has an amazingly realized setting and the game play is solid on the hardest difficult level (too bad that's locked from the outset).
9. Super Mario 3D World ; Really solid follow-up to Super Mario 3D Land. It may not be the same tier as the Galaxy games but I'm finally happy to own a Wii U.
10. Yakuza 5 ; Would probably much higher on the list if I understood Japanese.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

1. BioShock: Infinite ; A roller coaster ride in the best way possible. It starts off with a slow and steady build up with a familiar setting--which incidentally sets the stage for one of the major themes of the game--and then explodes into a fury of sound and color as the doors open and the majestic streets and flying islands of Columbia greet you. The game's story takes you through some fantastic sequences that feel like homages to Alice in Wonderland while still bearing the very unique tone of the BioShock series. The design of the world, the inhabitants of that world, and the players in the plot are all fantastic, and are only amplified by the gorgeous art design, incredibly cool use of licensed music, and very well wrought voice acting. BioShock: Infinite is in a word, magical. It is a "Stranger in a Strange Land" story that weaves you through literal and physical corridors of intrigue as you chase after a girl who ties it all together. Its biggest shortcoming is the actual combat, but only because it's disappointing that it isn't very daring when it could have been much more complex. The combat does an adequate job of connecting the peaks and valleys of the plot in what is otherwise an excellent and wonderfully immersive game.

2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; ---
3. Metro: Last Light; ---
4. Dota 2; ---
5. The Last of Us ; ---
6. Gran Turismo 6 ; ---
7. Rayman Legends; ---
8. Pokemon X/Y ; ---
9. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; ---
10. Tomb Raider ; ---
2012. Borderlands 2 ; Fun, funny, and more polished in every way than its predecessor. Everything you could want in a sequel.

~~~

Posting the rest once I figure it out. All multiplatform games available for the PC were played on the PC.

 

[BobbyRobby]

I just got a PS3, but have only played older games on it. The only games I've bought at launch have been for my WiiU and 3DS. I mostly play classic games.

1. Super Mario 3D World ; This game has fresh ideas until the end, and more afterwards. Fun in multiplayer too.
2. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; A worthy sequel to my favorite Zelda title. The game plays wonderfully. It is snappy and the wall-walking is implemented well.
3. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; I love the simple but challenging battles. I loved the relationship system. I loved how explicit this game is with its systems for the first time in the series.
4. Pikmin 3 ; The game is really gorgeous and charming. I loved the puzzles as well.
5. NES Remix ; This game breathes life into classic games, and makes me appreciate games I never liked.
6. Pokemon Y ; They fixed a lot of things about Pokemon that annoyed me. I've sunk a lot of hours into it.
7. Ducktales: Remastered ; Great version of a cherished game. A lot of people hated it, but I loved hearing the cast reunited.
8. New Super Luigi U ; Fun and quick levels.
9. Rayman Legends ; great art, great controls.
10. Game & Wario ; I had a lot of fun with the multi-player on this,

 

[Assault]

1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; one of the best SRPG's ever. Brilliant game.
2. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ; insanely addictive formula.

 

[Sid]

1. DMC ; Fantastic combat system & encounters,really well paced & overall a very enjoyable game.

2. Killzone Mercenary ; Probably the best Killzone ever.

3. Crysis 3 ; Improved upon Crysis 2 which already improved upon the original & Warhead,the best Crysis ever.

4. Battlefield 4 ; The best SP BF by a huge margin.

5. Metro: Last Light ; It improved upon 2033 in several ways & the franchise is at its peak right now.

6. Bioshock Infinite ; Loved the story,weapons,zip lines & encounters.

2012. Real Racing 3 ; The races were fun & I never quite cared for the f2p aspect & didn't spend a dime but played for 10+ hours & still playing.

 

[Papercuts]

I am currently enjoying the hell out of Zelda and Wonderful 101. Going to cut it close this year...

 

[firehawk12]

Did GAF ever compile a list of games that came out in 2013? I remember a thread for it anyway.

 

[Dark Schala]

Did GAF ever compile a list of games that came out in 2013? I remember a thread for it anyway.

quote this post for the spreadsheet

 

[March of the Crabs]

1. Super Mario 3D World; This is what happend when EAD Tokyo discovered the long lost artifact known as "pure fun" and distilled it into code. I haven't felt so stupidly joyful in years.
2. Fire Emblem: Awakening; Rarely has a game consumed my life as much as this one. A beautifully made strategy game that hooked me in a way that no other game has in a long time.
3. Pikmin 3; Miyamoto is back.
4. Saints Row IV; Basically my dream open world game. It also has better dick jokes than I could ever come up with.
5. The Wonderful 101; JUST GO BUY THIS GAME. PLEASE. NOW. STOP READING.
6. Resogun; This game came out of nowhere for me and blew me away completely. The controller saying "save the last humans" to me gets me STOKED.
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; After the pretty ok Skyward Sword, Nintendo decided to melt my face off with the best Zelda in years.
8. Rayman Legends; Best 2D platformer in years with beautiful artwork and music that warms my crusty heart.
9. Battlefield 4; It pains me to put this game on here after the awful, awful launch and the terrible campaign but the multiplayer is Battlefield finally reaching perfection and is too good to ignore. Already have sunk way too many hours into this game.
10. Need For Speed: Rivals; This came out of nowhere and absolutely destroyed my (admittedly low) expectations. Skip the laughably awful "cutscenes" and youll find yourself with a game that is mindlessly fun and keeps you hooked.
x. Luigi's Mansion 2;
x. Sonic Lost World; The negative reaction to this game really bums me out because it is a great platformer that finally perfects 3D Sonic, but sadly suffers from a steep learning curve and some technical hiccups.
2012. Sonic All Stars Racing: Transformed; move over Beerio-Kart, here is the new king of kart racing drinking games.

 

[firehawk12]

quote this post for the spreadsheet

Derp, can't believe I missed that.

 

[Riposte]

Journey ; It was my GOTY in 2012, and it's still my GOTY from 2012.

The purpose of the 2012 vote is to pick a game you didn't play (and vote for) in 2012.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

The purpose of the 2012 vote is to pick a game you didn't play (and vote for) in 2012.

Woooops. I'll change it.

 

[Regiruler]

quote this post for the spreadsheet

Why did we hide this anyway? Why do we care whether other people know the entire list of GOTY candidates?
I'm just asking, I really don't know.

 

[orborborb]

1. GTA V ; A bitter and depressing miniature train set brought to life with the beauty of the natural world and the longings of popular culture. An elegy for the death of western civilization, a peaen to the engineering of the built environment.
2. New Super Luigi U ; I still play the old 2D Mario games regularly, and this one is mostly better, that makes it pretty darn great.
3. The Last of Us ; A great survival horror game with great characters. The plot is not strong enough to support the emotion in the performances or the environments, but the gameplay eventually is. Don't skip the multiplayer.
4. Super Mario 3D World ; If they're not going to do another Mario 64/Sunshine style game of multi-layered playgrounds, I'm glad at least that they can make a good linear 3D obstacle course style Mario that compares favorably with the 2D Marios (The Galaxy games did not).
5. Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn ; The first MMO that has allowed me to appreciate what people liked about the old World of Wacraft. Not quite as interesting as Final Fantasy XI mechanically, but there's still a lot to think about. The cutscenes are terrible but the mission text is delightful and the world design is stunning.
6. Volgarr the Viking ; As good as a Castlevania or Ghouls'n'Ghosts game from the late 80s.
7. Pikmin 3 ; Play with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and don't miss the DLC.
8. Eldritch ; Spelunky + Thief + Minecraft. Not as good as its inspirations, but in this case that's just fine.
9. Zelda A Link Between Worlds ; A whirlwind tour of the original masterpiece that adds one brilliant new mechanic but is far too streamlined to be otherwise memorable.
10. Galaxy Force II Sega 3D Classics ; I never played it when it was in arcades, but this game feels directly copied out of my childhood imaginary sci-fi dreamscapes of the late 80s. This port is so much improved it feels like a new game, but still one that was designed to eat quarters.

x. Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
x. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
x. Tearaway
x. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
x. Pandora's Tower

 

[timetokill]

How are you guys dealing with episodic games? Are they gonna be eligible for voting in the year the final episode is released, even if they're spread over multiple years?

Yes.

 

[sharath_kumar]

Didn't play much this year. My list is just one:

1. The last of us: The story and the acting was good. The gameplay was amazing. Long after the game, I would still keep thinking about the gameplay as I walked around the cubicles in my office. I hear multiplayer is good, but didnt get much time on it as I gave it to my cousin. This is the one of the few games that had an emotional impact on me.

Spoiler

Shot all the docs with the shotgun, including the nurse too.

. So, this is my GOTY.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I need to play the Pikmin DLC.

 

[Budr]

1. Gone Home ; Good atmosphere.
2. BioShock Infinite ; Beautiful looking game with an interesting enough story and good combat scenarios.
3. Beyond: Two Souls ; Gorgeous graphics and animation, and an enjoyable, if flawed, story.
4. Saints Row IV ; In the shadow of The Third and never reaches those highs but still stupidly fun.
5. DmC: Devil May Cry ; Never like a Devil May Cry before but the action was pitched at just the right complexity/difficulty level for me this time.
6. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; Really enjoyed Far Cry 3, and the 80s.
7. Dust: An Elysian Tail ; Did not expect to like this but the controls and RPG mechanics were excellent.
8. The Stanley Parable ; Bit of a one-trick pony but an interesting and enjoyable trick.
9. Tomb Raider ; Not a Tomb Raider game but, once I looked past that, a decent enough Uncharted knock-0ff.
10. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; Either loved the control scheme, or hated it. Not quite sure. Beautiful game.
x. Dota 2 ; Spent significantly more hours in this than the rest of my gaming time combined this year, so it probably does something right.
2012. The Room ; Only recently got into phone gaming. Good vibe and puzzles.

As and aside, I had played ~50 games before but this was the year Dota 2 ruined me. I preordered Heart of the Swarm and still have it sitting in its shrink wrap. Ditto for Runner 2 and Payday 2 (Steam shrink wrap ). Never finished God Of War, even though I adore those games. The list goes on. Dota just kept pulling me in and leaving me no time to do anything else. Fuck Dota.

 

[homeworkfilms]

1. Dota 2 ; Currently in my Top 3 games of all time. I have sunk an incredible number of hours into the game this year> so many other games I have played are faded from memory as a result.

 

[Dusky]

1. DMC ; Fantastic combat system & encounters,really well paced & overall a very ejoyable game.

2. Killzone Mercenary ; Probably the best Killzone ever.

3. Crysis 3 ; Improved upon Crysis 2 which already improved upon the original & Warhead,the best Crysis ever.

4. Battlefield 4 ; The best SP BF by a huge margin.

5. Metro: Last Light ; It improved upon 2033 in several ways & the franchise is at its peak right now.

6. Bioshock Infinite ; Loved the story,weapons,zip lines & encounters.

2012. Real Racing 3 ; The races were fun & I never quite cared for the f2p aspect & didn't spend a dime but played for 10+ hours & still playing.

Wow, I completely forgot Crysis 3 came out this year. Feels like this came out ages ago, doesn't time fly!

 

[aravuus]

1. Tales of Xillia ; It's Tales. I fucking love Tales. The characters are simple, the stories fairly dumb and the writing is certainly nothing to write home about but I just can't help loving it. Tales of games tend to have some of the most addictive battle systems too, and Xillia is in the top three of the series.
2. Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen ; Oh my god, almost forgot about this! How is this possible. Anyway, the gameplay is just incredible, the feeling of adventure is fantastic and there are very few games that make me feel like I'm actually adventuring around like DA does. Just so so good.
3. Bioshock Infinite ; Not as good as the first game, but still blew my mind. It was a lot of fun to play and I thought the twists were incredible, I tend to like that kind of stuff quite a lot.
4. Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut ; Gameplay and graphics were eh at best but goddamn that atmosphere. So incredible. Loved the story and characters too. Makes me really sad I won't be able to play D4 for quite a while.
5. Grand Theft Auto V ; I guess every list gotta have GTA. After the massive disappointment that was GTA IV, I was very skeptical about GTA V, but was positively surprised. Like every GTA game I kind of forgot about it after around 30 gameplay hours and never played it again, but those 30 hours were filled with joy. Shame about the performance.
6. Bravely Default ; The turn-based old school JRPG with quite possibly the best gameplay in years. The story turned out to be a disappointment in quite a lot of ways, but Ringabel and Edea were awesome enough to still pay attention to it. The character growth system was a bit boring and I ever came to use like a tenth of all the jobs, but fighting was simply fun, and I absolutely LOVED the battle speed and random encounter frequency settings. In fact, it may be the only turn-based JRPG where I've ever actually reached max level with everyone.
7. Fire Emblem Awakening ; My first Fire Emblem, and quite a nice surprise. Not a fan of stupid hard RPGs most of the time so I ended up grinding a lot, but the game was still very enjoyable. Story was pretty boring, unfortunately. Surprisingly liked the "waifu" stuff.
8. The Last of Us ; I personally never thought the game was as good as everyone made it out to be, but it was still pretty great. Gameplay was.. Tolerable, but the main attraction here is obviously Joel and Ellie. Their interaction was very interesting to watch. Won't be replaying it anytime soon though.
9. Battlefield 4 ; Bought BF3 a bit after it was released, but never really played it so I'm not quite sure why I came to buy BF4. It was a lot of fun whenever I wasn't crashing but I doubt I'll be going back to it.

2012. Virtue's Last Reward ; 999 and VLR are the craziest and most crazy awesome stories I've experienced in YEARS. They are so insane and so insanely satisfying I just couldn't help but giggle from excitement when I got my hands on VLR earlier this year. The wait was most certainly worth it. Both are game of the generation stuff for me.

 

[Tizoc]

1. Killer is Dead ; The gameplay and combat is simple yet satisfying. Visual presentation or art style is pretty good. Story and characters are the expected kind of wackiness one would expect from Suda51. Also, this is what plays when fight the final boss: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap1ea8bvMgw
2. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse ; AKA Castle of Illusion HD a fantastic remake of a 2D platforming Classic. Primarily being 2D with a few 3D sections that aren't really that hard or irritating IMO. Great soundtrack and the graphics are really nice.
3. Typing of the Dead: Overkill ; My first TotD game and it's a blast to play, bonus points for including the main game and for having a multiplayer mode.
4. Bravely Default ; Reminds me of all the things I've loved about the Final Fantasy games
5. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ; AKA Ace Attorney 5, it's so good to be back playing as Wright and co. the fantastic humor, the crazy cases, the wacky characters and OH MY GOD THOSE COLORS AND ANIMATIONS! This is a game that shows that Capcom's still got it, but only time will tell if they'll keep up with quality like this...
6. Rayman Legends ; Rayman Origins was my GotY 2011, and this game surpasses it while featuring other elements that make it great, like the music stages and having the best water stages ever in a Platformer IMO.
7. Bit.Trip presents… Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien ; I actually ended up 100%ing its Trophies on the PS3. I enjoyed the gameplay and its soundtrack.
8. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros. ; I've always loved the Mario and Luigi games and this lived up to its predecessors while featuring one of the best soundtracks in jRPGs.
9. Guacamelee ; While I would've preferred more cooler looking throws, the Mexican theme and setting was welcome and it had some very good boss fights IMO.
10. Ni no Kuni ; Putting aside any of its faults...I really enjoyed this game. Great colorful graphics, fantastic music, I actually geeked out when I was on the overworld map. The gameplay and combat are standard fare jRPGs, yet despite its issues I enjoyed them.
x. Lost Planet 3 ; While the gameplay isn't anything amazing, it had great characters and voice acting, the game practically had you feel like you're a freelancer on an alien planet working for a living.
x. Deadpool ; Much like LP3, it may not have had the best combat but as a Deadpool fan it delivered on the humor as the game nailed everything about Deadpool's character.
x. Super Mario 3D World ; Freakin' cat suit and you can use a Piranha Plant as a weapon!
x. Stick it to the man! ; A simple and hilarious adventure game, and works as a great 'take a break' game.
x. 3D Shinobi III ; Great port of a 2d action classic, music is great and the gameplay is straight forward and simple so long as you don't rush it.
x. 3D Sonic the Hedgehog ; While not the best version of the game IMO it runs really well on the 3DS.
x. 3D Super hang-on ; Outrun but with motorcycles, the 3D mode is well done and it's a great 'take a break' game.
x. Brothers: A tale of two sons ; Gets a mention from me for being an adventure game & for the last segment being so emotional. It gave me the feels, but overall its simplicity is akin to traditional PnC games and I liked exploring the areas in the game.
2012. Virtue's Last Reward ; Having finally got around to playing it as a Plus freebie it blew my mind the same way 999 did. I played with the english dub which was well done, its cast of characters are terrific and the puzzles were for the most part really good.

Pretty much done I'd say, hope it's OK to have multiple Honoraries.

 

[MYE]

1. Bioshock Infinite; Amazing game. Very fun to play, amazing to look at hear and think about. I keep hearing people having every issue in the world with it, but I honestly can't relate to any of that.
Most memorable game this gen for me.
2. Super Mario 3D World; I don't feel I even need to explain this one. Fun and happiness on disc form. EAD'd unmatched polish/brilliance/charm etc... here to show the rest how its fucking done again and again!
3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; Still shocked that this was made. A sequel to LTTP!!! Not only that it fine-tuned and made the flow and dynamics of the Zelda formula so awesomely paced and snappy its hard to keep track of how much time you've been playing. A classic.
4. The Last of Us; Cinematic roller-coaster ride done right. Near perfect flow with solid controls, gameplay and fantastic characters and production in general. Finally made me care for ND after the horribly mediocre Uncharted games.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.


WORK IN PROGRESS...

 

[Donos]

1. The Last of Us ; all around the best package for me. It's not ground breaking or the best game ever for me but it's just so well made and i had so much fun playing it (hard, no listening mode) that i have to give it my first pick. The character interactions are really great. People saying that people liked it because they don't knew other zombie games / movies is such a bullshit for me since i almost know them all.

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; i almost gave it the first spot because i still play it (with over 60 hours put in). It's quite a marvel how the PS3 (and Xbox 360) can run this game. GTA4 did nothing like this to me but V was a GTA game i found finally awesome again. Story felt flat to the end and while it has great detail, alot of little things are missing (no wheelie/stoppie counter??).

3. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ; almost forgott this gem. This is how you make a short fun game with fantastic gunplay and suprisingly entertaining storytelling. Best suprise out of the last years.

4. Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen ; Really a RPG and world how i like it. But sadly some big design flaws.

5. Bioshock Infinite ; kind of a place of honour for Infinite because i really loved the world and Elizabeth and the story but the weak gunplay was a huge dissapointment to me.

 

[Majmun]

So many posts won't be counted. People need to read.

 

[Donos]

So many posts won't be counted. People need to read.

Are you (also) reffering to me? tried to make everything like the op said.

 

[benny_a]

Are you (also) reffering to me? tried to make everything like the op said.

You are doing great! Except for choosing the wrong games!

 

[Majmun]

Are you (also) reffering to me? tried to make everything like the op said.

Lol, no. It's not about your list. You did read.

 

[bootski]

Are you (also) reffering to me? tried to make everything like the op said.

don't think FTL is eligible; not on the spreadsheet list
also, FC3 is on someone else's list up there; not on spreadsheet. Blood Dragon is though.

 

[bootski]

1. The Last of Us ; easily the best game i've played this year. only played it through once, on hard and it was quite satisfying in terms of length, difficulty, gameplay and story.

2. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn ; have put a couple hundred hours into this game since it's release in late August and have loved every second of it. i've played a fair bit of mmo's and this one really stands out to me.

3. DOTA 2 ; while i haven't spent a crapload of time here, the game (and the genre) to a lesser extent are changing the face of competitive gaming.

4. Just Cause 2: Multiplayer Mod ; excited to see this one on the list. deserves a spot on here as it's a new exciting way to play jc2. born from a small team and lived through a long beta, im glad these guys made it. there's not of things more fun than grappling rooftops and using smg's in multiplayer online combat.

 

[Chinner]

1. The Last of us ; its a good game with good graphics and good music and good story and good acting
2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; the sword gameplay is mad sic
3. The Stanley Parable ; i like how open and the humour
4. Resogun ; it reminds me of geomtry wars in a good way

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

1. The Last of us

10/10 would read again

 

[N.A]

1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; One of Nintendo’s finest ever games. There are no weak elements. Fantastic characters, a great story,with meaningful choices and a gloriously accessible yet deep battle system. This game is reason enough to own a 3DS.

2. The Last of Us ; The greatest advert so far for videogames as a storytelling medium. Despite the gameplay itself being only only “good”, TLoU surpasses almost all other games this year purely on how it tells it’s story. With probably the best realized world and characters ever in a game.

3. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn ; Very few people would have predicted ARR’s success this year. The original XIV was a horrible mess but players that stuck around had faith in the person brought in to save the game and oversee this revamp. Naoki Yoshida brought a breath of fresh air not only to the Final Fantasy series, but Japanese development in general by being completely open and honest with the fans and responding intelligently to all feedback. It has resulted in ARR being the best subscription MMORPG since World of Warcraft.

4. Grand Theft Auto V ; Quite simply the greatest open world ever. Memorable characters, refreshing mission design and Rockstar’s attention to detail make GTAV the best GTA yet.

5. Bravely Default ; The best single-player Final Fantasy game since the PSX days, even if Square Enix chose to ditch that name. Absolutely stunning visuals, fun and innovative job and battle systems, a great soundtrack and a compelling online/social component makes Bravely Default not just a great game, but hopefully a template Square Enix can build upon for their other jRPGs.

 

[Ishan]

1. Last of us ; Loved the uncharted games and was a bit skeptical with the zombie setting but wow. Starts slow but boy does it take off . One of the best experiences in a while. Truly a culmination of all the advances in gaming this generation. Also multiplayer is the most fun ive had since cs.

 

[MYE]

1. The Last of us

lol

 

[Plasma]

1. Bioshock Infinite ; I loved the world of Columbia and the story in Bioshock Infinite more than any other in a game this year. It's also backed up with some solid gunplay, I just wish they'd let you carry more than two weapons.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; I really liked some of the heists, they fixed the awful driving controls and nobody kept calling me up as I was about to start a mission to go bowling with them.
3. The Last of Us ; The opening sequence in this game blew me away to the point that I don't think the rest of the game managed to hit that high bar again.
4. Saints Row IV ; Fun gameplay and some memorable missions and moments, the only thing that was a bit of a let down was the amount of recycled content they used from Saints Row the Third.
5. The Stanley Parable ; The narrator really sells this game, I loved how exasperated he got when I continually ignored his instructions.
6. Persona 4 Arena (EU) ; I had to wait so long for this to come out over here but it was worth it, the characters from Persona 3 and 4 are great and the story in Arena was a nice extension to that universe.
7. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist ; I liked Conviction more than any of the other Splinter Cell games that came before it and Blacklist builds on that concept, taking the missions to more varied and interesting locations.
8. Gone Home ; A fun exploration game with a good story, I look forward to whatever Fullbright makes next.
9. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; The ship to ship battles added variance to the gameplay and I though the way the story outside of the animus was presented was neat. I just hope Ubisoft fine tune the on land controls next time around, I still find the free running controls a bit clunky.
10. Batman: Arkham Origins ; I was a bit surprised that I ended up enjoying this more than Arkham City, maybe I'm just a sucker for Gotham at Christmas.

x. Beyond: Two Souls ; Better than Heavy Rain but it was a bit inconsistent, some of those sequences like the Navajo were bad. Having finished the game I understand why all the sequences aren't played in chronological order but I still didn't like the constant moving back and forth.
x. Pokémon X/Y ; Finally a mainline Pokemon game that lets you move in more than four directions.
x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ; I'm liking what I've played so far but I only got up to case 3 and I need to go back and finish it.
x. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Like with Phoenix Wright I still haven't finished this game yet, but what I will say is the gameplay is top notch and the music is fantastic from what I've played so far.

2012. Mass Effect 3 ; The Citadel DLC that came out this year helped to remind me that despite the ending being total garbage those three games still had some great characters and moments.

 

[Dave1988]

1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; RULES OF NATURE. This game deserves GotY for its soundtrack alone. It's cheesy as hell but it works so perfectly in the game. I've listened to the vocal tracks of the OST more than I care to admit. Rising is also a joy to play. While the game is not without faults and it's clearly visible that the short development time hurt the game somewhat, it still delivers a package that I just love. The combat is rather simplistic for a top tier character action game, but slicing up fools into confetti never got old for me. The game is laud, brash, cheesy, and OTT as hell and ,more important, a joy for me to play, and that's enough for me to place it on the number one spot of my GotY list even with its shortcomings. RULES OF NATURE.

2. Dragon's Crown; Stunningly beatiful 2D graphics that on top of a suprisingly fun beat 'em up with a deep progression system. With six distinct character classes and tons of loot, this game offers tremendous amounts of replayability. It's also worth mentioning that the newest patch (1.05) brings a plethora of new things to the table: new, ultimate difficulty level that will put even the grizzled veterans of DC to the test, a risen level cap, a new infinite dungeon, and new loot with some crazy properties. And all that for free. It's amazing that in an age where publishers try to squeeze money out of consumers' pockets any way they can, Vanillaware improves and adds even more content to the already fantastic base game.

3. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag; Honestly, I'm surprised I'm listing this game in the GotY vote. After the horrible ACIII, I approached this game with reservations. Turned out my fears were unfounded. Ubisoft took the best part of III (naval combat) and made a whole game around it. Boarding ships, plundering caves and underwater ships, braving storms and high waves. Hell, you can even manage your own fleet to become the richest pirate of the West Indies. Oh, and let's not forget the shanties sung by your crew while sailing which add so much to the game's atmosphere. In Assassin's Creed IV, you're pirate first assassin second and the game is so much better for it.

4. Grand Theft Auto V; Truth be told, this game wouldn't be on my GotY list if it weren't for Trevor. This homocidal maniac makes the game for me. Every scene that he's in is pure gold. In a way, the character of Trevor harkens back to the times where R* knew how to make crazy open world games that weren't too stuck up to not themselves seriously. GTA: SA this is not, but after the horrendously boring 4th installment, it's a vast improvement.

5. Splinter Cell: Blacklist; Sam Fisher is dead. Long live Commander Fisher of the SSV Paladin! On a more serious note, this is probably the biggest surprise of the year for me. The game is a welcome return to form for the Splinter Cell series and probably the best AAA stealth game on the market since Chaos Theory.

 

[Magicpaint]

1. The Last of Us ; Ever since Resident Evil 4 was released, I've been yearning for more of the same kind of experience where visceral combat meets with spectacular set-pieces to create a truly (for the lack of a better term) "blockbuster" style videogame experience. I've gone through the entire Gears series, played a couple of Uncharted games and some more third person shooters here and there, but this is the only game that is on the same level as that masterpiece. The attention to detail in this game is amazing, especially considering how well they pushed the aging PS3 hardware. There are compromises made in framerate and texture resolution but every location is wonderfully crafted, every facial detail and animation spectacularly stylized and convincing. Combat is also great: it's instinctive, it's brutal, it's stealthy; it gives you many options on how to tackle the numerous wave of enemies and adversaries that are often smartly placed. A huge improvement over the dull combat of the Uncharted games. The crafting and upgrade systems are great additions too. But the real triumph is in the roller-coaster ride and sense of thrill that the story gives in conjunction with the gameplay scenario. It's one of the best examples of how the medium can be every bit as cinematic as it is interactive. TLOU merges both. In short, with a wonderful sense of pacing, compelling characters and a gorgeous setting, TLOU stands head and shoulders above everything else I've played this year.

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; Fantastic ride. After the somewhat dreary GTAIV, GTAV brings back the satire, the humour and the crazy thrills back. The multiple protagonists were a welcome addition and added variety. Los Santos is a joy to explore with all the random events you could trigger. The heist missions are all fantastic. In short, it's just a blast to play.

3. Luigi's Mansion 2 ; Wonderfully crafted game. The attention to detail in the environments are truly amazing. The game simply oozes charm from every orifice. Aside from some pacing and polish issues (one boss fight in particular was dreadful), this game was a fantastic ride.

4. Bioshock Infinite ; A bit of a slight let down after the amazing Bioshock. The setting this time was quite as compelling or nearly as mysterious, and the atmosphere often took a backseat for a more generic style of corridor based shooting that moved you from place to place in a seemingly more random sense, yet it was still quite the ride. The story is wonderfully paced and the major characters involved were all compelling. The ending was totally worth the ride as well.

5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Thankfully after the disappointing Skyward Sword we have a new Zelda game that respects the player's ability in decision making. This game simply is a joy to explore with the hands free approach that's been missing since the N64 days. The new Item rental system however is a mixed bag, neutralizing dungeon designs and making them often simple one item affairs. The game also takes far too many liberties in aping its direct predecessor, much to the detriment of its own identity. Still, a fantastically redone score, charming story, and the free spirited sense of adventure makes this one of the better titles this year.

6. Etrian Odyssey IV ; Fantastic dungeon crawling, great soundtrack, great skill progression system and character classes. What's not to love?

7. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ; I was a bit salty about having to download this. I couldn't believe Capcom's mildly successful AA series from the DS days had to be "relegated" to a mostly unheralded DD-only affair. I think the series deserves much better exposure. Still, I eventually put that aside and the price friendly package made that rather easy. The game makes its transition smoothly to 3D. Wonderfully dynamic animations breathe life to the characters and oozes just as much charm as the 2D sprites did. The cases are still wacky, often bordering on the absurd but I wouldn't have it any other way! The DLC case is also a great addition. Music was true to form. All in all a really cool visual novel-style adventure.

Still trying to finish some other games (Bravely Default especially would easily make my list) but doubt I'll make it in time to add them or reposition them here, so I'll just leave it at this.

 

[MvmntInGrn]

Wow. I've only beaten one 2013 release, Bioshock Infinite. I've only bought 5 2013 releases: Bioshock Infinite, Pokemon X, LOZ:ALBW, GTAV, and Deadly Premoniton: DC.

I only beat 11 other games besides Infinite, all from other years. For the first time in a long time there isn't a game on the horizon I'm really excited about either. Thankfully I've got plenty of half-played titles from last gen to work on: Zack and Wiki, Little Kings Story, Vanquish, Bayonetta, Nier, and of the 2013 releases at least LOZ: ALBW (and tons more).

I've drifted away from games this last year. Thought I'd get back into games in a big way once I finished my current degree in school l but between living on my own for the first time and getting used to a new profession I find myself looking for lazier entertainment (watching TV) rather than playing games a whole lot and when I DO play games I'd prefer to play ones I know I already love (replayed OOT and Majora's Mask this year).

Anyway I'm not going to vote this year. Here is to a backlog heavy 2014 and the hopes that I find something to get excited about in the always inevitable e3 reveals.

 

[kiryogi]

1. The Wonderful 101; Kamiya never disappoints, and this might just be his best title yet. It really was a big gaping smile from beginning to end on my face. Not to mention I was mimicking all their superhero actions. So insanely over the top and charming, it's unfortunate it didn't perform better.

2. Super Mario 3D World; And speaking of charm, this probably would have been first, but I felt like an original IP deserved that credit more. But I have to say I've never played a platformer this intensely since the days of the SNES with Donkey Kong Country 2. A game full of unrivaled creativity and brilliance, with all the challenge to boot.

3. Bravely Default: For the Sequel; This is a tough one, but similar to SMW3DWorld, I don't think I've ever invested time in a RPG like this in a loooong time. While I understand the scenario can have some misgivings, the gameplay is pure and solid. The variety of jobs, the battle mechanics and tweaks. Never have I felt so satisfied and challenged with the boss battles in Bravely Default. They're hard, but definitely a massive sense of accomplishment when you manage it. I'm currently 70 hours and still not done, but dear god am I addicted. Not to mention an outstanding score from REVO, and absolutely breath taking handdrawn locales brought to life in 3D. Character designs by Akihiko Yoshida only serve to sweeten the deal further, and a script penned by the Steins;Gate writer, Naotaka Hayashi. Hot damn, if it isn't a real treat for the older Final Fantasy fan.

4. Metal Gear Solid: Rising: Revengeance; Another Platnium game, and does it deserve it. I was quite frankly somewhat a doubter before Plat was involved. But the end result now is absolutely visceral satisfaction. Like W101, Gameplay is king, but with absolutely riveting and adrenaline pumped set pieces that make it stand out amongst other action games out there. (Probably only another Platnium game, IE W101 or Bayonetta could compare) Oh, and that soundtrack, RULES OF NATURE INDEED.

5: Final Fantasy X|V: A Realm Reborn; Its all I fucking play, but I can't help but wonder if its GOTY or not. I've been with X|V since the days of 1.x, and I'm here out of loyalty. I've met Yoshi-p and Soken, I think it must merit something of a GOTY in my list somehow.

Honorable Mentions

Ace Attorney 5; It's great to have this series back, and not too many games keep me up until the early hours of morning because I'm so enamored in a court case.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Two Worlds; I played this game day and night when it came out. I had a blast, but can't help but be disappointed by its lack of difficulty amongst some other things, like retreading ALTTP itself in many ways. But be damned if it's not extremely polished and the best handling Zelda title to date, not to mention the orchestral soundtrack.

 

[nawwafh]

1. The Last of Us ; Impeccable pacing, top notch story telling, incredible graphics considering the hardware, some of the best written characters in a video game and most importantly gameplay that was FUN. Pretty much gaming perfection for me..

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; Best sandbox game this gen without a doubt. The missions were so good this time around compared to GTA4..

3. Guacamelee ; Recently got a Vita and this game surprised me. Amazing platforming, satisfying combat and absolutely hilarious. Also, loved the art design and the soundtrack.

4. Tomb Raider ; The next Uncharted game could learn a few things from this game. Simply a great action adventure game. That cover system was smooth and seamless too.. Should be used more often

 

[IISANDERII]

1. Call of Juarez Gunslinger ; Never have I gotten all the trophies in a game so fast. Never have I gotten all the trophies in a game ever, in fact. The awesome moments per dollar per minute ratio in this game is supreme.

2. Miami Hotline ; Brilliant game, one of my favs for a long time. Only thing that kept it from #1 was the disappointing secret message and the ambiguity of other hidden elements.

3. Saint's Row 4 ; I think I enjoyed this game more than most other people simply because I played on Hard. It became a challenge and a very enjoyable one with an arsenal of super powers at hand. Great writing, awesome moments.

4. The Last of Us ; Gaming just matured by 8 leaps after this. Hollywood is scrambling a contingency plan right now.

5. Devil May Cry ; The original is my favourite game on PS2, bar zero. Haven't played any sequels either; I don't really enjoy character action games very much but this reboot is drew me in big time. Accessible yet challenging, awesome boss fights and an very well realized world. Dante sucks though.

6. Gran Turismo 6 ; A gearhead's delight but I only bought the game with the knowledge that the grind could be bypassed with a glitch.

7. Call of Duty Ghost ; Poor design choices in multiplayer and a dead horse campaign, yet still the tightest online shooter, a massive technical improvement over the Black Ops series in terms of responsiveness/latency/netcode or whatever.

8. Magrunner Dark Pulse ; A Lovecraftian Portal clone. And I love Portal. And I'm excited to probably be the only one who votes for this.

9. Flower ; Still a beaut all these years later.

10. Resogun ; Gotta respect the balls that decided one of the first games on a brand new next generation console is going to be a side scrolling shoot 'em up.

 

[gaugebozo]

Does the console version of Diablo 3 count? I don't want to use it as a 2012 choice, because I feel they truly are different games.

 

[Bedameister]

1. Bioshock Infinite ; What a great story, great city and great charakters. I even liked the gameplay. Great job Irrational Games

2. Metro: Last Light ; I was surprised they made it even better then 2033. Great to see that there are still people out there who can make good singleplayer shooters

3. Gears of War: Judgment ; I am a huge Gears Fan so I was really looking forward for this. Turned out not to be a huge success but I still liked the campaign and survival and overrun

Those are basically the only three games of 2013 I've played

 

[Nander]

1. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; I consider this game to be by far the most imporant game of the year, if not of the generation and it's a damn shame not more of you have experienced it. It's the first game that manages to evoke so many and so strong emotions, without being an "interactive movie". Instead, it's 100% game and really shows how games can be its own storytelling medium. With that in mind, it's a bit ironic that I took a movie director to make the game.

2. The Last of Us ; While TLoU is guilty of being an "interactive movie", I can't really fault it as the story is so fantastic and the gameplay is great as well.

3. Europa Universalis IV ; Slowly but steadily conquering the world as Brittany!

4. Payday 2 ; Haven't had time to play this enough, but I love the idea of co-op online bank heists and Payday 2 realizes the potential in the concept wonderfully.

(I haven't had time to play many games this year, and many of the games I have played weren't released in 2013.)

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

1. Remember Me ; Most beautiful game I've played in the last few years. Incredible realisation of the futuristic Neo-Paris. Very likable heroine in Nilin. Innovative gameplay with the memory remixes.
2. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; Beautiful and emotional game. Using a stick for each of the brothers was an inspired decision.
3. Tomb Raider ; Very human Lara in some great environments, with the right amount of exploration for me. Too much violence, yes, but the bow was incredibly fun to use.
4. Diablo 3 ; Much, much more fun game on consoles. A delight to play.
5. Solstice Arena ; Yes, a MOBA game, and a Zynga game. Still, the best MOBA on iOS, and with an ideal game length of never more than 10 minutes. Also some great character designs and animations. PC version is also good.

 

[Ryu bogard]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Best Zelda game I have played in years and the most fun I had with a game this year. Also that music is so good.

2. Volgarr the Viking ; Fun yet very challenging. music is cool too.

3. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; My most played game of 2013. I enjoyed it a lot but also felt disappointed it wasn't better. The map in this game is so bad. I got lost so many times that I just ended up checking forums and guides to find location or directions.The difficultly was also a let down. While the game starts off challenging but after the first area, it becomes too easy. Maybe its the way I am playing doing a lot of the side quest and stuff. But mid way in the game i was winning every battle easily.

4. DmC: Devil May Cry ; its not as good as the old dmc games but it still a very good game. Looks and plays great on the pc and I like the new dante better than old dante.

5. Tomb Raider ; Not a fan of the old tomb raider games but I had a lot of fun with this new one. i liked exploring the island it kinda felt like an ep of lost.

6. Rogue Legacy ; I liked the unique gameplay twist and it plays well.

7. Bioshock Infinite ; I liked the world and characters but hated the combat and there is so much combat.

8. The Last of Us ; Great story and characters but did not like the combat at all. That last area was a real pain to play thru.