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[Ashodin]

1. Super Mario 3D World ; No other game this year drew such interest than this one, especially because it made me buy a Wii U. Hot damn. The gameplay, the graphics, the nostalgia, and the newness really blew me away. Absolutely one of Nintendo's finest games. I can't stress it enough that the Wii U is totally worth this game alone, but there's more awesome to come next year.

2. Pokemon Y (X version doesn't exist! I refuse!) ; The pinnacle, IMO, of the starting and returning Pokemon player experience. As an old player all the way since R/B/Y, I was delighted to see old and new Pokemon alike in this title, and the music and battles are refreshing. It is literally stunning to see all the old Pokemon in glorious 3D with 3D models, and the training couldn't be easier.

3. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; Probably the most profound RPG experience on the 3DS this year, excepting for the fact that the US didn't get Bravely Default. BD will be on the list next year, I imagine. Putting choice into a Fire Emblem game (making your character, and becoming a part of the story) was probably the most western-focused idea in the game, and it shows. It's practically amazing how the decisions you make, including relationships, change the outcome of some parts of the game.

4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Already I can tell this game is in top tier of Zeldas - from the pacing, to the combat, to the solid 60 fps 3D on the system, it's just flawless.

5. Gone Home ; Gone Home was absolutely a shocker title for me. With its no combat premise, expert written dialogue and nooks and crannies deliverance of the plot, it really stood out to me as a fresh and unique indie first-person adventure.

6. NES Remix ; This game has come out of the blue - not only to reviewers but to Nintendo fans alike - the game is pretty much the 9 Volt sections of Wario Ware expanded to multiple multiple NES games. It's bite-sized, so you can pick up and play at any time, and it is enjoyable to even those with little skill with some games (Excitebite, I'm looking at you). Absolutely a killer eShop title for Wii U.

7. Bioshock Infinite ; Terrible gunplay aside, the story, the crafted experience, the lore, the depth of the characters' convictions really play up the fact that this game is just setpiece to setpiece, and you're all the way in on the crazy rollercoaster ride.

8. Quiz RPG: The World of Mystic Wiz ; This is an Android/iOS game, very much a clone of Puzzle and Dragons, but it gets the A+ from me because of one simple thing: Quizzes are your combat weapons. Furthering your knowledge of random trivia from a myriad of subjects, Quiz RPG not only brings the addictive Pokémon collect-em-all, but it also stands to actually help you learn a thing or two. Which is often lost in many games.

9. Shadow Warrior ; This remake is truly worthy of its original, as the gameplay and gunplay of the FPS of the Year* is palpable. It's really smartly written, the dialogue is accessible and funny, and the gore and blood don't disappoint. If there's one FPS you should really play this year, it's Shadow Warrior. Don't let all the other numbered sequels take your time away from something magical. It has RPG level up elements, and everything.

10. The Stanley Parable ; Stanley Parable is a feast for the brain. It makes you think, makes you laugh, makes you cry. Well maybe not that last one. Just laugh though. The creator tried real hard to capture that Valve essence, and I believe they got some of it right.

x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 5 ; Only played the demo, but it stands to reason it's one of the best games of the year.

x. Hearthstone ; While still in Beta, Hearthstone is still a magical experience, and a digital TCG done right.

2012. Guild Wars 2 ; Still the undisputed king of MMOs, given awards from Massively and MMORPG, Guild Wars 2 sets the standard of the genre on its head by delivering an insane 2-week cadence of updates that other games cannot compete with. As the year closes on a solid launch and post-content update extravaganza to the game, next year looks to be even bigger as ArenaNet continues to outclass every other MMO developer.

 

[Incendiary]

Here's my list, subject to change as there are a few games I still haven't gotten to that I may acquire or play before voting ends.

1. Bioshock Infinite; When I first played it, I knew it was going to be my GOTY. I loved the combat, loved the atmosphere of Columbia, loved the story, loved the art style. It was everything I was looking for in a FPS and never had a complaint about it (other than I wish there was more). One of the few games this generation I 100% completed (at least the main story, still working on the challenge DLC). Fantastic game.

2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; Link to the Past is my all-time favorite Zelda game, so this had a lot to live up to. And it did. This game hit me right in the nostalgia and yet was still fresh. I loved seeing old enemies/bosses as well as new ones mixed in. It's exactly the kind of LTTP sequel I always desired, familiar enough to bring a smile to my face and yet fresh enough to keep me on my toes.

3. XCOM: Enemy Within; Enemy Unknown was my GOTY last year so it's no surprise that the expansion would be near the top of my list this year. The new mechanics/soldier types add even more variety and awesomeness to the gameplay, the new enemies are cool, and the new 'scripted' missions are pretty fucking awesome. Best strategical game I've played in a long time.

4. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons; I picked this up when it was on sale on XBLA...holy crap this is an amazing game. I love how simplistic the controls are and yet how fluid all the actions in the game feels. On top of that, it's one of the few games I've played this year (or at all for that matter) that really moved me emotionally. Such a powerful story with no dialogue or explosions or shootbang. Definitely recommend for anyone who is an adventure game fan.

5. Grand Theft Auto V; I completely skipped GTA IV because it looking boring and drab. GTA V, though, was the complete opposite of that: fun from the get go. It's so much fun just driving around the world, listening to commentary. And I've enjoyed myself in GTAO with my friends, somewhat, so overall a blast of an experience although it gets a little repetitive towards the end.

6. Fire Emblem: Awakening; I bought a 3DS just to play this game: in fact I got the LE FE bundle. I love SRPGs and the partner mechanic for Awakening freshened the genre up and made the game very interesting. Plus it was quite challenging (as long as you stayed away from the DLC) and it is the title I've clocked the most hours in on my 3DS (and probably overall this year).
7. Shin Megami Tensei IV; Speaking of time spent on games, SMTIV is my second-most hours spent on a game this year. I've started playing JRPGs less and less, mostly because I don't have as much time to devote to them anymore. SMT was a joy to play, though, I went through all the sidequests and is the first non-Persona SMT game I've actually finished. Love SMT.
8. Battleblock Theater; I'd been looking forward to the release of this on XBLA for years. Great little platformer, especially in co-op. I definitely got my money's worth out of it, and love being able to create torturous levels for it myself.
9. Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus; Great return to form for R&C, the weapons were great and fun as usual, and several of the worlds were a blast to explore. Just wish there was more and it was longer.
10. Gunpoint; Nifty little strategy game I downloaded for the PC. Even though it's short, it's a blast to play. The simple mechanics make it super fun to figure out the best way to complete levels.

xx. Pokemon X/Y; This version of Pokemon has been pretty addicting, I must say. The streamlining of certain aspects of it got it to keep my attention for much longer than usual. The transition to 3D has definitely been a plus.
xx. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies; Love AA, wish it would fit in my top 10 but too many great games this year. A great story and fun cases overall.

2012. Binary Domain; Played this earlier in the year and loved every minute of it. One of the tightest and most fun TPS games I've played, along with a pretty engaging story.

 

[sappyday]

1. The Last of Us ; Yes another The Last of Us vote, surely this game must be overrated. But it's not. That's because it has been able to do things no other developers have done. Naughty Dog took a well known genre (post-apocalyptic) and just made their own game out of it. It takes cues from other stories but it spins them around. It's a character bond between two amazing written characters. Ellie is my personal pick of character of the year because of her depth, strength, and maturity. But if the story and characters were only good then I would claim that it was the best "movie" of the year, but the gameplay is fantastic as well. Not fully horror survival and not fully Uncharted adventure. The slow and dreadful (in a good way) pace you have to maintain yourself is what you keeps you on your toes. Sound design and level design that is beautifully crafted. The best of all is that the gameplay and story wouldn't work without one another. Sorta like how Trevor from GTA V is the best character to ever play in a GTA game because how his personality 1:1 with the gameplay. The game is amazing, not much else to say. When the game finished I remember saying "Is this it?" I remember not fully being satisfied by the ending. I remember wanting to play it more though as well. Once I did to my new game + and experienced the game again I then realized why we got that ending and why no other ending really could of fitted the game more.

There is also a really good multiplayer. My favorite multiplayer of this year albeit I'm not a big multiplayer fan.

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; It's big. It's beautiful. It's fun. Those three elements are what puts it in #2. The story is good at first but quickly falls on it head later on. The first heist is AMAZING but the later ones are disappointing. The characters would act a certain way but then their actions in gameplay diminish their personality (with the exception of Trevor as said above). The radio selection is disappointing. The guns don't satisfy me as in other games.

A lot of disappointing things but there are still a lot of amazing things too. In the end, the good overpowered the bad and it's the reason I have it as #2.

(I'm treating GTA Online as something separate because GTA Online is boring)

3. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 ReMIX ; If Wind Waker HD is allowed so can this. Kingdom Hearts is my favorite series. Kingdom Hearts 1 is my favorite game of all time. My favorite game of all time is now HD. Luckily I let The Last of Us and GTA V be above it just to be fair.

4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; It's A Link to the Past 2.0. But still, it incorporates some new ideas that are relatively simple that makes it fresher than any Zelda game since Wind Waker. It stopped worrying about combat and more about the dungeons and world exploration which is what Zelda should always be about. Over complicating the combat is the reason Skyward Sword exist. Nintendo can focus on Zelda's combat now with Hyrule Warriors.

5. BioShock Infinite ; If you would of told me what was one of the greatest games I have ever played of all time earlier this year then I would of told you BioShock Infinite. I admit that I can exaggerate things. I felt that BioShock Infinite was one of the greatest and smartest stories every told. I literally screamed out "Oh my god" when I found out

Spoiler

Elizabeth was Booker's daughter.

But then the hype wore down. Then I saw the flaws (more like some YouTube videos showed it to me) of the story. It's really not that smart and the story was not that smart. But hey The Last of Us story isn't smart either so why don't I give this one a pass? Because this one rides itself on its story. It''s only proud of its story and the controversial themes it likes to talk about despite all of them being thrown away for the dumb internal plot. This game feels like Kanye West, it thinks its amazing and its a genius and we should all appreciate it, but then you realize that it's just a simple FPS with a convoluted story that thinks its smart. It tries though and don't get me wrong I still enjoy the story and the characters and I don't think it's shit and I hate it when people who use to love it start to rip it apart because they realized the story isn't as smart is it is. I still love Kayne West.

 

[Loakum]

*deleted*

 

[krossj]

1. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ; Having just used the last supply mini-whetstone, already having used all 20 of the regular whetstones I had and defeating Dire Miralis in the last minute of a 50 min battle was one of my favorite gaming moments of the year. I played the whole game solo and the only Monster I haven't beaten is a Hallowed Jhen Mohran. I had spent a little time with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite but couldn't bring myself to use the claw method comfortably. After hearing about the touch screen camera and quick lock on I decided to give this a try and got hooked. The variety in monsters and weapons was overwhelming at first but learning new things about both is really why the game peaked for me. Memorizing monsters animations while managing how I used my own was super fun and rewarding. The environments were interesting and added more layers to the combat depending on what monster I was hunting. I really didn’t think I would enjoy the game as much as I did and there really is no other game with the sort of animation-based combat I found in this. It really earns the top of my list for being a surprise and something new to me. The underwater sections were often frustrating due to the camera and there were certainly times I felt disenchanted with it in these sections. But it didn't damper the fun I had overall with the game and I'm very excited to try out MH4. Please bring it over Capcom!

2. The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds ; It was great to play a Zelda with controls instead of a touch screen or waggle again. The combat was even more fun than in previous 2D Zelda's with the game running so smooth. The puzzles while bite sized but still rewarding and the wall merge mechanic added a new slant to the established 2D Zelda gameplay. The Art in my opinion wasn't too as impressive as previous games in the series and it could of done with being a more challenging game. I have heard the hero mode is a lot more difficult so will try that at some point. The changes they made with the items didn't affect the fundamental gameplay in any way for me and I hope they have the confidence to try new things again in the future. I consider it to be equal to MH3U but only edged out because it feels so familiar but great fun nonetheless.

3. Bravely Default ; The Brave/ Default system is probably one of my favorite things to happen to traditional turn based combat in a long time. Having the abilities from different jobs to mix in the points system and using them in a number of actions for one turn is very enjoyable. I am more than 30 hours in and while the in game characters and the creatures are not the most original or exciting the environments are beautiful and implemented in a terrific way with being able to run around them and view the whole environment as the camera pans out after a few seconds of inactivity. While I am thoroughly enjoying it I have yet to complete it and have read some people really didn't enjoy the second half but so far I feel what it is doing with it's battle system and implementation of art is exciting and would really like Silicon Studio and Square Enix explore this path further with the sequel. I hope Revo do the soundtrack to the sequel as well, fantastic stuff in this.

4. Fire Emblem Awakening ; I feel like I dampened my time with this game by playing on Hard Classic. The interactions had me wanting to keep all the characters alive so I would reset after a character fell in battle. If I had played it on a different setting I may have been less frustrated with it. At the same time I had a lot of fun with this game Once again the class system was interesting to experiment with and I had fun maxing out some of my characters. I also appreciated the street pass functionality a lot in this game. I enjoyed the character art and felt the characters were well written especially the support conversations. I generally prefer Tactics games like FFT and TO over more strategic games but this felt like an interesting bridge between the two.

5. Etrian Odyssey IV ; Like I have already stated previously, having customization options in RPG's is really enjoyable for me. This game was similar to the previous games in that regard. I enjoyed the whole game but once I unlocked the Imperial class the game was a total blast, drive blade was so much fun. The arcanist also seemed interesting but I didn't experiment much with it, perhaps if I play further in the future. It is still the same great formula I experienced in the first game but I appreciated what they are doing with classes and some of the new twists on boss battles. I enjoy a challenge with dungeon crawler games so I played this game on the highest difficulty option and selected the mode that made you loose your items if you fell in battle but I still found the main quest relatively easy compared to the first Etrian Odyssey which is the only other in the series I have completed (haven't started II or III yet). In saying that though I attempted a post game boss and got destroyed on a number of occasions so perhaps there is more depth post game.

6. Persona 4 Golden ; (EU) Having gotten into the SMT series over the past couple of years the mainline series appeals to me more than the persona games (SMT IV please come to EU sometime..) but I thought this was a superb game and equal to persona 3. The battle system was fast and the characters were great especially the with the social link segments in this entry. Along with the battle system the demons is what gets this game on my list. Kazuma Kaneko's demon designs are still brilliant and I don't get old of them no matter how many games they appear in. They are so well designed that with each new game I play in the multiple SMT spinoffs a specific few jump out at me and they are always a different selection from the last game I played in the series.

7. Soul Sacrifice ; Soundtrack of the year! It isn't a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination. When you reach a certain point and start playing the extra quests online the game becomes more of a grind and the fun of exploring new spells and encountering creatures for the first time is lost. But while lacking in some areas I found the Single player and the side quests to be a lot of fun. The story is interesting and presented in a beautiful way through illustrated book segments and has wonderful music which adds so much mood and atmosphere to the overall game. And while you could just play the whole game as a spam fest using different spells made the game thoroughly more enjoyable. I would like to see Comcept expand on the gameplay and refine the sigil combining which is little half-baked. Most importantly I hope instead of just monster arenas they implement areas that can be explored with more going on in the environments gameplay wise.

8. Spelunky ; (vita) My experience with Rougelikes isn't vast and I haven't played spelunky a lot but my time with it so far has really opened up the appeal of that genre of games. There is an excitement to getting further than I have before, more gold to be placed higher on the daily challenge or even just discovering something I haven't on previous runs. It has opened my eyes to a genre where my only previous exposure is Scarab of Ra and Mystery Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer.

9. Muramasa Rebirth ; While the combat was fun, especially the move that let you glide through the air, the real standout for me was the art. I was aware Vanillaware made beautiful games but this really did strike me on the Vita's OLED. The environments were repetitive but everything was beautiful to look at and the enemy/ boss design was very interesting and new.

10. Pokemon Y ; The online features is why this made my list. The amount of customization and depth there is to fighting against another opponent is fascinating and enjoyable to experiment with. The trade options and friend safaris also made the game fun, making it easy to get access to many different creatures easily.

Have got Luigi’s Mansion 2, Devil Survivor Overclocked still to play and could pick up tearaway but will probably not get round to them in time so as of now that's it.

 

[Levyne]

Thanks for the Soul Sacrifice impressions, I'm starting that soon, maybe will finish before the deadline here. I'm curious about the illustrated book segments you're mentioning. Hopefully I'm in for a treat.

 

[Andiie]

I tend to lean toward games I had a lot of fun with or games I truly enjoyed rather than games that are great examples of the best in the industry. Being older and more conscious of where I spend my time I'd take a small, fun indie game over a AAA game due to being able to get in fast, enjoy myself and feel like it's been time well spent. Bonus points if it let's me play with family.

1. Dota 2 ; I still can't believe this game costs you nothing to play. There's more here than most $60 games. I put in 75 hours just watching the Dota 2 tournament and barely got 1/4 through the games available. It's beautiful, fun, deep and it'll be around for many many more years to come. A seriously impressive game.
2. Gone Home ; All I knew going into the game was the basic story and that you'd be exploring the main character's home. By the end it made me feel so depressed that I quickly uninstalled the game to make sure I'd never play it again. Kind of laughable tbh but I feel the game does such a great job of making you feel a part of this world and does such a great job of capturing that place in time it's hard not to feel affected by it. Nostalgia hits like a truck and so many memories of times past come flooding back. It's a beautiful tale, engrossing and one of the best of the year.
3. Rogue Legacy ; First time playing this I was absolutely terrible. I'd die to the easiest enemies in only the first few rooms, I was awful at it. But the great thing about Rogue Legacy is it's built around going back, improving and going farther and farther into the dungeon. It's tough but the more you play you'll be pulling off dodges and moves you couldn't before and it feels amazing. Just a whole lot of fun and the one of the best indies of many years.
4. GTA V ; Along with Dota 2 this is one seriously beautiful game. It blows my mind to see how much detail they managed to pack into the environments. There's so much to do in the game that it dwarfs many games of it's type. The story is fun and probably the best of any GTA game. Trevor is a true gem of a character. A marked improvement on GTA IV.
5. Towerfall ; Yes, an ouya game. Like Spelunky HD last year, it has some seriously fun multiplayer. 4 players on one screen, last man standing, all trying their best to kill one another with bow and arrows and trying not to die to the various environmental hazards. Shooting takes some skill, arrows are limited and you're platforming the whole time trying to balance being offense and defense. The nature of the game allows for a lot of laugh out loud moments of sheer luck or skill if you've gotten good enough. Fast and chaotic. Great fun. Buy it on PS4 when it's out.
6. Diablo 3 ; The console version improves on what, imo, was an already fantastic game. Better loot, better controls due to it being built for a controller and has local 4 player coop to boot. Turned out better than most were probably expecting.
7. Call of Duty: Ghosts ; Ignore the single player, it's complete garbage, multi is where it's at. I normally hate COD games but this one is the first I've actually gone back to time and time again. It kills me that they removed 4 player split screen but 2 player is better than nothing. The controls feel great especially with the new PS4 controller, it's fast and intense when you're duking it out for bragging rights and while not a function of the game itself, the ability to upload footage is fantastic and improves the life of the game. Good fun.
8. Resogun ; A gorgeous game for the PS4. It's a fast, furious game with plenty to watch for as you dodge and fight your way through increasing amounts of different enemies. Gets top marks for looks and is a fantastic example of a shooter done right.
2012. Sleeping Dogs ; I played this properly early 2013 after being less than impressed the first time I had tried to play it. I couldn't believe how much fun it was. Cars were a blast to drive, the story was interesting, fighting was tough but rewarding. It was just fun all round. One of my favourite examples of an open world game.

 

[Cheesemeister]

forgive my laziness, I suppose, but is there a complete list of major game releases in 2013?

Quote post #2 for a link to a spreadsheet of eligible games.

Thanks. Just edited my post to put it in "Honorable Mention". Is that allowed? 0 points for Honorable Mention so I don't see a problem.

Honorable mentions of ineligible games will not be counted.

 

[-COOLIO-]

1. The Last of Us ; The best story in a video game ever, and expertly woven in with the gameplay. This gen was a slow crawl for game play improvements but the last of us at least made this the gen where damn good video game stories were born. i also enjoyed the weighty feel that they added to the combat in general.

2. Bioshock Infinite ; Amazingly atmospheric. It's my belief that the atmosphere was so good that it made some players detest the combat because they wanted to spend their time soaking it all in. I think the combat was pretty good, better than the first, but that there was a smidge too much of it. also the endgame was nonsense, and the ending itself, while clever-ish, was poorly presented and explained. Also, too much of the important story points were relegated to well hidden voxophones.

3. Rogue Legacy ; I hadnt been this addicted to a game in years

4. Gone Home ; I really didn't think much of dear esther, in fact it aggravated me greatly, but gone home won me over. it was a well told story of just the right length.

 

[scarlet]

1. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS) ; not a fan of strategy game, so I just bought it cause I don't have no games to play, and surprisingly I can't stop playing it for days.

2. The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) ; watched the 1 st teaser, loathe the art style. Watched the 1st trailer kinda like it, played it and wow.

3. Bioshock Infinite (PS3) ; A fan of the series, my second favorite after the 1st bioshock

4. GTA V (PS3) ; Best GTA game!

5. The Last Of Us (PS3) ; A breath of fresh air, I hate the slow pace for the first few hours and then come

Spoiler

winter.

 

[JBuccCP]

1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; First in the series for me. Was the game this year I couldn't put down the most. Makes you really care about your guys and you feel it when you lose someone you like. Also it has so many damn options it puts other games to shame.

2. Super Mario 3D World ; Beautiful game, I love this third style of Mario that 3D land created. I'm not done with it yet so it may take the #1 spot (But probably not)

3. The Last of Us ; I enjoyed the stealth and didn't find it tedious, and liked the survival aspects on the harder difficulties. The story was good and the performances are the best ever in a video game. Loved the ending.

4. Gunpoint ; Mechanically the most pure fun game this year. The writing is fun as well.

5. Brothers: A Tale of 2 Sons ; So I played this co-op with a friend. I used the keyboard and she used a 360 controller. I later read the creator was adamant it shouldn't be played this way but it made I still loved it and it made certain puzzles and especially the swinging parts super fun.

6. Gone Home ; I loved all of this game except the ending. Not because it wasn't dark and dramatic but because it framed Sam in a different way than I had thought of her up to that point. Even so the side stories in the house were really cool to discover and I loved just exploring around the house and the material the game covers.

7. Saints Row IV ; I didn't really like this series before, most of the stuff you were doing in the games just wasn't fun to me, but this one went crazy with the superhero stuff and the humor grew on me.

8. Bioshock Infinite ; I liked the combat up to a point, there's too much of it but it's interesting most of the time. I also wasn't crazy about the ending in this game but it's fun getting there.

9. DmC: Devil May Cry ; If this was made to get people who aren't fans of the series to get into it, I guess it worked on me. I liked the combat, the story was dumb but well presented, and the environment and character designs were pretty good. I still feel kinda bad about it because I know what it's like to have a series you love changed to attract more people.

10. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; A cart racer without rubberbanding or cheap items? Is such a thing even possible???


x. GTA V ; Just want to mention how amazingly crafted the city and countryside were. I got bored of the game itself though, I think I'm just over rockstar's humor and their formula for characters and missions.

 

[ComputerMKII]

I give up. Games in 2013 just weren't good enough. I'll vote in 2014 (for Titanfall, probably)

 

[Ilúvatar]

1. The Last of Us ; Great story, characters and combat system... and the multiplayer was fun as hell too!
2. Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons ; Dat ending... enough said.
3. Rogue Legacy ; Just a delightfully fun and endearing game that flips conventions on their heads.
4. Grand Theft Auto V ; The most massive GTA experience yet, complete with epic heists and triple the protagonists. Grand Theft Online is also something that is going to be fun to hop into for years to come (I hope).
5. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ; As a 1.6 player that never could get the "feel" of Source, GO feels like a true sequel to the original game. Baked in matchmaking (and oh lawd those skins) are great additions to the series.
6. Bioshock: Infinite ; Was a bit of a let down after all the hype and delays, but an incredible experience regardless.
7. Antichamber ; My brain melted.
8. Killzone: Shadow Fall ; Incredibly fun multiplayer that is the hallmark of all the Killzone games.
x. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; This is an honorable mention because I've only just started it, but I feel like if I had played it earlier it would definitely be on here.
2012. Dragon's Dogma ; A RPG with massive scope and seemingly endless possibilities and replayability. By no means perfect, but a great experience nonetheless.

 

[cj_iwakura]

1. Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers ; One of my favorite SMT games, if not RPGs period, finally localized. It's a great game made even better, and as timeless as it was back then.

2. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; No, it's not Nocturne, but it's damn close. The gameplay, story, atmosphere, it's all fantastic, proving Atlus can still make a great core title.

3. Shadowrun Returns ; Familiar yet addictive gameplay and fantastic writing. Well worth backing, and it was certainly worth the wait.

4. Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut ; Boy did this live up to the reputation. A slow burn for sure, but once it got rolling, it became a trip I won't soon forget.

5. Black Rock Shooter: The Game ; It was quietly announced, delayed for ages, and finally released to the total opposite of massive fanfare. I couldn't put it down, and was soon hooked by another innovative ImageEpoch trip.

6. Killer Is Dead ; The first Suda 51 Trip since Killer7 to be worthy of the title. Great story, fun gameplay. Kill The Past... again.

7. Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies ; Not quite the best game in the series, but still fantastic, and the creative team was firing on all cylinders once again.

8. Tales of Xillia ; The one I waited for, and promised to buy on Day 1. I did, and I wasn't disappointed. Solid story, great gameplay, just a nice old fashioned JRPG. Sometimes that's enough.

9. Class of Heroes 2 ; It's not the greatest dungeon crawler ever made, but it's a very good one, made even better by fantastic Working Designs trademark writing.

10. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F ; I've always been a sucker for rhythm games. This one has style to spare, and plenty difficulty to boot. Weekender Girl!

x. The Last of Us ; Hardly the best game ever, but it had a gripping story, and stealth gameplay that actually encourages you to be stealthy. Take some notes, Kojima.

x. Hotline Miami ; Just plain fun. The style helps, too.

2012. Sniper Elite V2 ; Now that's a sniper's game. Pure fun from start to finish.

 

[ThanksVision]

Is there a definitive list of 2013 games? I know I played quite a few of them but I feel like I'm not remembering them all. (That's probably a sign that they won't end up on my list!)

 

[timetokill]

Is there a definitive list of 2013 games? I know I played quite a few of them but I feel like I'm not remembering them all. (That's probably a sign that they won't end up on my list!)

Read the OP or 2nd post.

 

[Levyne]

Interesting and unique selections, cj. I have played only 1 or 2 of those. I tried Soul Hackers but could not get into it at all, eventually dumped it off onto my brother, who had the fortitude to finish it and put it on his list as well.

Deadly Premonition is something I wanted to try, if only because of having seen Durante take charge and fix the thing, haha.

 

[Dark Schala]

This year's thread is already better than last year's simply because people are actually taking the time to do writeups and talk about stuff they liked. I'm very happy to see a lot of people putting some time into this. That's what makes these threads fun to read.

Is there a definitive list of 2013 games? I know I played quite a few of them but I feel like I'm not remembering them all. (That's probably a sign that they won't end up on my list!)

Quote the OP for the spreadsheet or quote Cheesemeister's post here for the spreadsheet.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Interesting and unique selections, cj. I have played only 1 or 2 of those. I tried Soul Hackers but could not get into it at all, eventually dumped it off onto my brother, who had the fortitude to finish it and put it on his list as well.

Deadly Premonition is something I wanted to try, if only because of having seen Durante take charge and fix the thing, haha.

The hype is real. One of the best stories I've been exposed to in a while.

 

[Paskil]

1. The Last of Us ; The Citizen Kane of games.
2. GTAV ; Not as much replay as past entries for me, but still a blast.
3. Saints Row 4 ; GTA wishes it could be this fun.
4. Gunpoint ; Just a phenomenal package. Great dialogue, puzzles, and gameplay.
5. Assassin's Creed 4 ; Enjoyed the hell out of this on PS4. Enough to get the platinum trophy.
6. Hotline Miami (Vita version) ; Just a spectacular port of one of my favorite of 2012.
7. Rune Factory 4 ; This is my Animal Crossing. So great and relaxing.
8. Fire Emblem Awakening ; 100+ hours later, still having a blast
9. Papers, Please ; I love this game. It's especially appealing to me as a white collar government employee.
10. Kentucky Route Zero ; So good.
x. Guacamelee ; This should be on my list, but so many other good games. Just a phenomenal metroidvania. Cheers to Drinkbox on a great game.
x. Shadowrun Returns ; Would probably be on my top 10 list if the user content was there.
2012. Dishonoured ; Had a blast with this game. It was a bit linear for my tastes, but a fun romp that brought back wisps of my original Bioshock playthrough.

 

[tino]

1. The Last Of Us; The game of the PS360 generation for me
2. Grand Thief Auto V; The best GTA yet. Too bad the ending was pretty fan service non ending. I feel the game doesn't wrap up the character arcs with satisfactory endings. It's a whole generation better looking than GTA4!
3. The Wolf Among Us; This game made me start reading comic books. I was an avid manga reader but never was able to gotten into any American comic until now.
4. Beyond Two Souls; I like story games. It's weaker than heavy rain however. They should ditch the MGS segment.
5. Need For Speed Rival;
6. Kingdom Rush/KingdomRush Frontier; Smartphone game. Both me and my wife beat them so you guys and suck it
7. Assassins Creed IV; This game is ok. It's still no where close to the AC2/Brotherhood level.

 

[Represent.]

lol

1. The Last of Us; This game was like something crafted in my dreams. Its like ND went directly into my brain, saw the game I wanted to play, and made it. Perfection through and through. TBH, even if it consisted of just the Winter chapter alone it would still probably be my GOTY. The best game I've ever played.

My only vote.

 

[GQman2121]

I really can't believe how many top five votes Tomb Raider is receiving. It's baffling that a game with such a bland cast of characters (including the lead); supported with such hallow gameplay that was completely void of any originality can be held in such high regard.

In a year that had a number of really well told stories that truly pushed the current hardware to new heights, I just don't see where TR fits in. I really don't. The entire time I was making my way through it I just felt like I was waiting for something to impress me, and at no point did that ever materialize. In fact, by the time the majority of the cast was revealed, I just wanted it to end.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I guess this will be a contest for the #2 spot. I enjoyed TLoU, but I really don't feel compelled to ever play it again.

I think my biggest problem was that I wasn't having very much fun. It was more soul-crushing.

 

[NMFried]

1. The Last of Us ; Naughty Dog strikes again. I borrowed my manager's PS3 just to play this game, since I had to sell mine before heading off to college. I never felt a dull moment in this golden apocalyptic setting. Drama, action, emotion. Spectacular.
2. Pokemon X/Y ; Pokemon will always hold a special place in my heart, and these entries were no different. I felt like I was exploring a whole new world for the first time again, and of course this time it was in a full-3D open world. Delicious.
3. The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD ; I watched my dad play the original Wind Waker on GameCube, but I blindly sold the game when I first discovered GameStop. Coming back to it in full HD was simply blissful. I played it to completion in no more than three days and I loved every second of it. Ace.
4. Super Mario 3D World ; Just finished this one the other night. A very, very solid platformer that executes everything with such grace. Even the frustration comes to pass when you finally get all three stars and the stamp. Golden.
5. Grand Theft Auto V ; Well, I watched this game be beaten twice while I was laid up from a wrist and jaw surgery, but once I was healed and finally got to play it I saw what all the hype was about. Heist movies are my favorite, so heist games play off of that strength for me. Great performances from all of the characters and another home run from Rockstar.
6. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; This was my first successful foray into the FE series since a failed entry point in Shadow Dragon. Needless to say, I got addicted within the first few hours. I grew attached the characters, and the twists in this game were, just that, shocking twists. Now give me a new Advance Wars with this kind of care IS.
7. Injustice: Gods Among Us ; It's MK, but with DC superheroes. Not only that, but it's an extremely solid fighter that makes drunk gaming a joy. So many nights were spent having competitions with friends and family. Can't wait to see what NetherRealm does next.
8. Animal Crossing New Leaf ; I put many hours into the DS game, and the same could be said for this release. Lots of content, lots of connectivity, and who would have thought I'd be competing with my friends to catch bugs once again.
9. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon ; I didn't think this game could work well on a handheld with only once analog stick, but Nintendo once again proves me wrong. This game worked wonderfully, and the controls were extremely tight for what they were, and this made for a joy of a playthrough. I want more.
10. Mario & Luigi Dream Team ; Though nothing will ever capture the joy of Superstar Saga, Dream Team comes pretty damn close. From the imaginative combat system to the vibrant art style, this game was solid from start to finish. Now give me a Wario & Waluigi RPG game. Please.
x. Lego Marvel Super Heroes ; I wanted a Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, and I got this. Maybe it wasn't as deep, but playing as almost any Marvel character I could think of, and in an open-world nonetheless, was awesome. Great co-op too.
x. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; Hot off the heels of Far Cry 3 as my 2012 GOTY, I simply loved this DLC/Add-on/Standalone game. It was exactly what it needed to be, and just that. It was also wonderfully self aware.
2012. The Walking Dead ; I finally got around to finish the last two episodes and the 400 days DLC, and I can honestly say it was one of the most emotional experience in gaming I've ever gone through. Now I'm just waiting for Season Two to end so I can catch it on sale.

Sadly I won't get to play games like Tearaway, Pikmin 3, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Tomb Raider, or A Link Between Worlds before the end of the year, so who knows if my list will change after that.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Hmmm... these are the games that left an impact for me this year:

1. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen ; not many people, if any, would vote for this as their number one so let me be the person doing it--I love, love, love, love this game to death. I love it so much the various technical issues like framerate and such and such do not bother me at all. I love creating my own character and my pawn, I love love love love the battle system--especially the magic system, I love love love changing up vocations to change my approach towards battle, and I dearly dearly love love love love love love the OST.

2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; insanely addicting, love the art style, the characters, and love the marriage with children system. I poured around 200 hours getting all the extra content like conversations between characters and pairing them up made me go d'awwwwwwwwwwwwwww so many times it's silly, hahaha. I am a big sucker for romance so this game is like heaven to me.

3. Persona 4 Golden: a definitive improvement over an already great game, many people would say this is one of the best, if not strictly the best, of what Vita has to offer, and for good reason. The characters are great, the story are great, the music is totally hummable, and everything about this game just... works (aside from a little snag one or two)

4. The Last of Us ; The opening is one of the rare few instances of a gaming scene this year that managed to touch me in a way that I almost shed a tear. Superbly acted, superbly directed, superbly produced: everything that is needed to be good they managed to accomplish and even exceed gloriously. It also gave me two of the tensest gaming moments for me in this year--the hotel and under the university level.

5. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; One of the best JRPGs in this year, I gobbled this baby like a crazy dude. Hundreds of hours from battling, recruiting, and fusing demons to expand my repertoire of pokemon-with-a-horn army, and I loved and cherished every second of it.

6. Bioshock Infinite ; I very rarely ever touched FPS anymore but this game is an exception since I really like the world I was presented at here, and the scope of the story/setting is so grand it just astounded me. The ending lingered on with me for quite a while after I finished it, something that very few games are capable of producing such effect for me.

I really can't believe how many top five votes Tomb Raider is receiving. It's baffling that a game with such a bland cast of characters (including the lead); supported with such hallow gameplay that was completely void of any originality can be held in such high regard.

In a year that had a number of really well told stories that truly pushed the current hardware to new heights, I just don't see where TR fits in. I really don't. The entire time I was making my way through it I just felt like I was waiting for something to impress me, and at no point did that ever materialize. In fact, by the time the majority of the cast was revealed, I just wanted it to end.

Is a GOTY voting thread, a thread of people giving out opinions about what they like most, the right place for you to start preaching/ranting about how you just *can't understand* how people like what they listed? Really?

Speaking of,

7. Tomb Raider: I like it. Some would launch a tirade against me and call me a part of lowest common denominator for liking it, but it is what it is. Gorgeous graphics, great atmosphere all around, enjoyable gun/gameplay... I enjoyed my time with it, and one of rare games this year that I actually bothered to finish from start to end.

 

[Levyne]

I only played like 11 2013 releases this year and Tomb Raider was one of them ;_;

 

[Teddified]

Still have lots more I need to play from this year but from what I've finished so far this is how I'd put them.

1. The Last of Us ; Great game loved the story and combat. It also had a great atmosphere and was just engrossing.

2. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; Fun game, loved the story and the sailing.

3. Grand Theft Auto V ; Liked the story, was a fun and beautiful game.

4. Tales of Xillia ; Loved the combat and characters. Skits are just great.

5. Disgaea Dimension 2 ; A Fun return trip to Laharl and the gang. Not as good as the first one but was still fun and I liked the story.

6. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; The main game is fun enough but the addition of the crazy Bitterblack Isle and Death made it even better.

7. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; Loved the humor, it was just a blast playing through it.

8. Bioshock Infinite ; Great story, alright gameplay, it just wasn't as good as it should have been.

9. Killzone: Shadow Fall ; Only played the Multiplayer so far so it'll go here, but I had lots of fun with it.

 

[Steel]

9. Class of Heroes 2 ; It's not the greatest dungeon crawler ever made, but it's a very good one, made even better by fantastic Working Designs trademark writing.

You know. I hated this game for every detail. And yet I found it addicting. Put tons of hours into it. I find myself both approving someone putting this on their list and feeling utterly shocked someone would think this game is good.

So conflicted.

 

[MiamiWesker]

1. The Last of Us ; its almost a tie for me for number 1 but TLOU did something amazing with its storytelling so I will use that to put it ahead of GTA.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; The most fun I had playing a game all year, not as good as the PS2 classics but still excellent.
3. Super Mario 3D World ; Pure Mario goodness
4. Legend of Zelda A link between worlds ; Pure Zelda goodness, not as good as the 3D ones though.
5. Bioshock Infinite ; Amazing adventure with one of the most interesting stories ever told in a game.
6. Wonderful 101 ; An action game fans dream come true.
7. Rayman Legends ; Imaginative and always fun 2D platformer.
8. DmC ; Not the best DMC game but surprisingly great.
9. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon ; So charming, fun and addicting
10. Tomb Raider ; Very well done TPS with good exploration elements.

 

[UNCMark]

1. Super Mario 3D World ; Games are supposed to be first and foremost fun. SM3DW is pure, unadulterated fun from start to finish, and also one of the most beautiful looking games ever made this gen or any other.

2. Grand Theft Auto 5 ; Again, brilliantly fun game. Amazing scope. Pushed current gen consoles like no other game I've played.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Nintendo proving once again why they're better than everyone else. Fun, exhilarating, nostalgic, and epic from start to finish.

4. Animal Crossing New Leaf ; Somehow they managed to get me invested in the fake lives of these little creatures for over 100 hours so far. Just one of many amazing games from Nintendo this year. No other developer produced this much brilliance

5. Fire Emblem ; Engrossing, fun, and at times epic.

6. Diablo 3 on 360 ; Modified from the PC version perfectly and stood out to me as bettering the flawed PC title

7. Pikmin 3 ; Miyamoto at his simplistic best. Straight forward, fun, and incredibly engaging. Makes you feel bad any time one of these little guys die.

8. New Luigi U ; For fans of 2D platformers, it gets no better than NSMBU. Unless of course you're craving an extra level of difficulty, which this game offers in spades. Nintendo proving once again why they have no peer in this genre. There's them, and then everyone else. Expertly designed levels combined with tight, amazing controls.

9. Tomb Raider ; Very well made game but can't make my top 5 simply because of how unpleasant the feel of the game was to me. A great experience but not a great game

10. TLOU ; Same as Tomb Raider. Just an aggressively unpleasant game that was a cool experience, but as a game I'd never want to play it again.


2012. Journey ; Played it through in its entirety 5 times in the span of a week. Simple game mechanics married to a beautiful experience. If it was released this year it would be #3 behind only SM3DW and GTA.

 

[Kiyo]

1. The Last of Us ; The clear GotY for a lot of people, me included. I feel like the only other game that could be up here for me is GTAV but I'm waiting for PC to play it, so it won't show up on my list.
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; LttP has always been my favorite Zelda, so this one being up here is no surprise. I enjoyed the game from start to finish and liked all the new things it introduced, while still keeping that same Zelda feeling. This would be my GotY if TLOU didn't exist.
3. Tearaway ; A surprise for me at least. Did not expect this game to be as good as it was and it seemingly came out of nowhere. I guess it's just a testament to how poorly SCEA has handled the Vita. Oh well, at least I get a lot of use out of mine now that I have a PS4.
4. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; Almost forgot this game came out this year (all the way back in January). Any game that has Studio Ghibli involved is a game that's going to interest me, and this one did not disappoint.
5. Pokemon Y ; I bought my 3DS XL specifically for this game and it didn't let me down. It brought back a lot of the old Pokemon feeling while bringing a lot of new things to the table. A fun game, but not as good as the 2 handhelds above it on my list.
6. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed ; Not sure if this is eligible, but it came out on PC this year and has had enough content added to differentiate itself from the console version imo.
7. Tomb Raider ; It felt like an Uncharted game, but in 1440p with TressFX and a sexy main character. I really enjoyed it.
2012. Journey ; I waited too long to play this. Such a great experience. I'm glad I did eventually get around to playing it.

 

[MrCookiepants]

1. The Last of Us ; I played a lot of amazing games this year that seemed less amazing as time went on. This was not one of them. Unforgettable.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; An incredible technical achievement and buttloads of fun. Typical open world filler content and terrible online soured the experience for me a little.
3. Pokemon X/Y ; My most played game this year by far. Gamefreak nailed the 3D transition. Best Pokemon game ever.
4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; A lesson in game design. It was a blast while it lasted.
5. Ni No Kuni ; Argh, had to edit this in. The best JRPG of this generation, which might not be saying much... but I love Ghibli and Pokemon (obviously) so this was right up my alley.
6. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; Got me into the series. Ridiculously addictive with some awesome production values. I enjoyed the dating sim aspect more than I care to say...
7. Gran Turismo 6 ; Some annoyances keep this from greatness, but just like GT5, driving your favourite car around the Nurburgring is one of the best gaming experiences you'll ever have.
8. Bioshock: Infinite ; This game blew me away while I was playing it, but it's impact has worn off considerably. I'll have to replay it to decide whether this was influenced by the GAF backlash.
9. Tomb Raider ; One hell of a ride. Great level design, tight mechanics and some of the best set piece design we've seen.
10. God of War: Ascension ; I nearly forgot about this one, which kind of says it all. Still, I think it's underrated and the multiplayer was a fun distraction.
x. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; I was loving this game until I stopped playing because Pokemon. Now I can't get back into it. It absolutely dominated my life for a while though.
x. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon ; Another 3DS game. I've wanted a sequel to LM for so long and this didn't disappoint.
2012. Sleeping Dogs ; The best open world game not named GTA V ever. Loved every minute.

 

[dreamfall]

1. Grand Theft Auto V ; There are few games that manage to evoke a feeling of meandering in a digital city that is completely alive. Rockstar seems to create digital bliss in their locales - the shimmering glows of neons from the Pier reflect on waves crashing below, the dusty trails of dirt swirl around the top of Mount Chilliad, and the city lights glitter from the balconies in Vinewood Hills. The level of detail is astounding- and Los Santos is the star attraction. The character switching mechanic was a revelation for me; I loved jumping between each character and adopting a different playstyle based on who I was moonlighting as. Everyone had grizzled beards, and snazzy suits. And yet my interaction with Trevor was purely psychotic. His introduction saddened me deeply, but I grew to love him as a complex sociopath. Michael rolled about, subdued in a drunken stupor picking up the pieces of his marriage and family. And Franklin was on the rise, a young understudy to the intricacies of refined crime heists and pure chaos.

I tend to think that GTA IV had more of an impact on me, because of the first interaction with the RAGE engine on such a massive scale- Euphoria, indeed. GTA V leaves a lasting legacy- this is a tale of betrayal, sadistic enjoyment of refined shooting mechanics, and of quietly marveling at orange hues at dusk near Nowhere Road. I think diving into the ocean in the mission “Daddy’s Little Girl” was the defining moment for me- the realization that the mundane and insane could coalesce in such grand fashion. Cross-dressing, avoiding sharks, parachuting from the highest skyscraper rooftops- this is what I’ll remember most. The foray into Online was plagued by launch woes, but my gangster girl has been my go-to character to explore and appreciate all the wonder Los Santos inspires.

2. Gone Home ; The ineffable. The sadness of lost youth, the promise and idealism of feeling invincible. Trusting your heart. It’s so difficult to attempt to explain the magic of Gone Home. I think I liked the sincerity of the Riotgrrrl blues. And the voyeurism, of exploring someone else’s world that felt familiar, and terrifying at the same time. There’s something so disarming about well-written narrative, it’s so plausible it feels alarming at times. Chris Remo’s soundtrack is utter perfection, it drifts in and leaves me feeling haunted. No ghosts you say? I couldn’t play anything for weeks after. The willingness to feel free, to chase what you love - sometimes a wonderful game can be the best reminder.

3. The Last of Us ; The sadistic satisfying brutality of smashing someone’s face in with a brick - that’s something I’ll never forget about The Last of Us. The last remnants of humanity, in a horrifying, dynamic stealth title. This is as close to Manhunt as it gets; the basement generator left me reeling, frantically trying to rush towards a door with nightmarish monsters chasing ever closely. It’s a game I had to play in doses, and with a heavy-heart. There’s nothing scarier than slowly creeping through an abandoned suburban neighborhood, praying that your slightest movements don’t alert infected nearby. The crafting system encouraged me to salvage items, and save materials for difficult encounters that were ahead. Naughty Dog left this console generation with a marvelous title- one that made me question the sacrifices one would make for someone they loved.

4. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag ; Sailing the high seas, with a pirate crew bellowing shanties as waves crash against the Jackdaw - this is bliss. Edward Kenway is charismatic as he is cunning - and Ubisoft managed to strike a balance between the best bits of free-running in past AC titles and the evolved ship mechanics of naval combat from III. Havana is eerily reminiscent of Florence from AC2, and it’s a wonderful feeling. There’s always something on a nearby island to collect, craft, hunt or a person to assassinate- there’s a plethora of activities to get lost in, and it’s the breezy, islands that make it all that more inviting. The sword/gunplay combination is as bloody delightful as ever, and it’s the proper introduction to workable stealth mechanics that feel like a first in the franchise. The present day Animus activities are also handled with grace. It’s a treat for those who’ve played every iteration, and newcomers alike.

5. Bioshock Infinite ; Elizabeth dancing on the beach - for this moment alone, I owe it to put this game on the list. The world of Columbia is a stunning achievement; the art direction is unrivaled. I was completely enraptured by the tearing into other dimensions, hopping on a skyrail for the first time and encountering the Luteces throughout. The quieter moments, of listening to Elizabeth’s musings, and appreciating the beautiful colors clashed with messy, uneven combat and some truly failed character development (Fitzroy, bah). But I loved the GAF thread on understanding the ending, and felt like it had a substantial impact on my gaming experience this year. I’m still conflicted about it!

6. NBA 2K14 (PS4) ; This was the reason I jumped in, and bought a next-gen console at launch. I’d like to think that the realism in Sports games is what I’m most excited about in the coming years, and playing pick-up games with my brother has probably been the most fun I’ve had all year. The flow of the game feels much more dynamic, players’ reactions and behaviors to ball movement are pure art. The technicality of emulating a basketball simulation is achieved by 2K in spades- sure, the three pointers seems to drop in too easily at times, the defensive coverage feels too loose and some of the blocking animations are questionable. But I love it. The game is so pretttttty. I’m astounded by the graphical fidelity - the poofiness of Harden’s beard, the sweat beads on Lebron’s forehead, the swaying jerseys on fastbreaks- it’s love letter to the game (minus the microtransactions, and the strange cutscene-ridden MyPlayer mode).

7. Dead Or Alive 5+ (Vita) ; Being broke as all hell in the East Village, that’s what this year consisted of. And riding around trains incessantly, this was my fair-weather companion in the toughest of times. The fact that I can play a portable DOA title still feels mind-blowing to me. It also replaced Dimensions as my go-to fighter. I liked Shimbori’s take on the franchise, and the cross-save functionality was a god-send. I’m pretty shit at it, but I heartily enjoy it and I’ve played it a ton since moving in and out of different places. The touch-screen fights are so strange, the outfits are questionable, the game is undeniably beautiful. I remember sheepishly pre-ordering it for some Cheerleader costume pack, and getting funny looks. Little did I know how much I’d resort to it.

8. Animal Crossing - New Leaf ; Being Mayor in Elysium takes some major patience! Shaking fruit trees, tending to the garden, planting saplings, trying to build Public Works projects- I love to dabble in the game. It’s a slow grind, and an experience that helped me into a peaceful slumber many nights. Decorating and upgrading my home is a wonderful experience, sitting on a bench staring at the ocean makes me happy and the seasons changing mimics the best parts of life. I built a Snowtyke today, and it made me a bit giddy because s/he looked really funny and complained about it. As a bit of a loner, my neighbors keep inquiring where I’ve been. I keep wondering why I still haven’t instated an ordinance for shops to be open way later.

9. Anarchy Reigns ; The launch of this game, and the month after it, consisted of some of the best multiplayer matches I’ve ever played in my life. The game is full of ridiculous characters, ostentatious grabs, eviscerating special attacks- it’s the most fun I’ve had with a brawler since some of the classic rumbles we had in 4 player FFNY matches. It was also unlike any multiplayer experience I had this console generation. Platinum’s style can not be matched- and the game’s aerial combos were maddening and hilarious at the same time. BloodBowl! I still play with bots intermittently, it’s a ghost town. But holy fuck, if it wasn’t one of the most creative and engaging fighting games I’ve been privileged to experience. Bayonetta making an appearance was icing on the cake.

10. WWE 2K’14 ; Kayfabe is a beautiful medium some of us may never grow out of. Appreciating the spectacle of it all, trying to replicate the glories of old Wrestlemania matches of yesteryear- this game sent me on a great nostalgic trip. When the superstars were larger than life, when you watched with child-like wonder in awe at men & women creating history in the ring- this game captures that essence. The wrestling mechanics have been slightly improved from last year- there aren’t incessant reversals, and the gameplay feels tighter and quicker. But like all Yukes games, come for the fun, stay for the jank and bask in the hilarious glitches. I thought the Attitude Era mode couldn’t be topped from last year, and boy was I wrong. No Mercy foreva!

x. Tearaway ; I played a couple hours of this game, and it’s a complete revelation concerning the use of touchscreen integration with platforming. It’s creative dream, and is utterly lovable. Once I finish it, things may shift a bit!

x. Batman: Arkham Origins ; I’ve only made the slightest dent in the game, but I love the setting- Arkham, Christmas Eve! The combat feels slightly different, and that may be a good thing. Must dive in it more deeply!

x. Zelda- A Link Between Worlds ; It’s sitting wrapped up! I can’t wait to start it!

2012. Dark Souls (PC) ; Thank god for Durante. I’ve played 100+ hours this year, and haven’t felt that sense of rewarding accomplishment ever in a game. The bosses are all so fantastic, the level of perseverance required feels unmatched and the willingness to learn the combat system in order to understand the game make for an awe-inspiring experience. The Artorias of the Abyss DLC was phenomenal, and beating S&O after nearly 50 or so tries made me ecstatic. Right up there with my favorite games of the entire generation.

So far. Still editing and such, but I’ve got to throw in some thoughts on Gunslinger, The Novelist & Brothers soon!

 

[neohwa]

1. Atelier Ayesha - best simulation game ever
2. Atelier Meruru Plus - best vita game
3. Atelier Rorona Remake - dat improvements
4. Atelier Escha & Logy - barrel
5. Dynasty Warriors 8 XL: Atelier Rorona costume

 

[Rivver]

1. The Last of Us ; Great story. Great gameplay. There wasn't anything about it I didn't like.

2. Grand Theft Auto V

3. Tomb Raider

4. Batman: Arkham Origins

5. Resogun

 

[E-phonk]

1. The Last Of Us ;
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ;
3. GTA V ;
4. Beyond: Two Souls ;
5. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon ;
6. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon ;

x. Super Mario 3D World ; no wiiu (yet), but I really enjoyed 3D land so I'm sure I'd love this.
x. Wind Waker HD ; my favorite 3D zelda in HD. But same problem: no WiiU yet.
x. Puppeteer; I'm part of the problem and expect this to be a free ps+ title in 2014

 

[Trent Strong]

1. The Last of Us
2. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
4. Tomb Raider
5. Saint's Row IV; totes awesome game.
6. Rayman Legends

 

[Pepto]

1. Diablo 3 ; After a few (or ten) patches the game was really fun
2. Saints Row 4 ;
3. Assetto Corsa ;
4. Divekick ;
5. Metro: Last Light ;
6. Tomb Raider ;

 

[kadotsu]

1. The Wonderful 101 ; In a gaming landscape were the best studios often go for the self titled mature crowd, which in reality is the gore lusty teenage male crowd, a game that features true heroes and true villains is very welcome. No brooding grizzly men killing other men, no moral ambiguity which is really just cynicism. Platinum gave us a perfectly playing, expansive, uplifting and genuine hero action game, my game of the year.
2. Tearaway ; Media Molecule is probably the only company that can create art styles that cannot be broken by 3rd party interference. No matter how much stupid, vile, and immature ideas the user throws against Tearaway it never looses its charm. It is also the most mechanically competent 3D platformer released this year. Mm bends gimickry into actual core mechanics and justifies all indulgent hardware features of the platform. I hope this isn't the last time we have seen Iota/Atoi.
3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Cut out all the bullshit of post N64 Nintendo's "for everyone" design and you get this wonderful playing gem. Unfortunately the cutting went to far on some of the dungeons and they do not feel as epic as the best 2D dungeons (LA, OoA).
4. Antichamber ; Purest leveldesign perfection. It out portals portal and further cements the genre of 1st person puzzler as one of the most exciting new additions to the gaming canon.
5. Fire Emblem Awakening ; The new style suits Fire Emblem and the sales guarantee that we'll see more of one of my favourite series in the future.
6. Puppeteer ; The God of War of 2D platformers, with all it's perks and faults. It looks sublime and plays well.
7. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon ; This title elevates Next Level Games and they can now be named in the same breath as Rare and Retro as one of the best western Nintendo studios.
8. Pokémon X/Y ; It's faster and content rich and brought me back after a 4 Gen hiatus.
9. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Rules Nature.
10. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time ; A good entry in one of my favourite platforming series. If the next part was already announced it would rank even higher.

 

[Worthintendo]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
2. Fire Emblem Awakening
3. Lego City Undercover
4. Luigis Mansion Dark Moon
5. Animal Crossing New Leaf; I went into this thinking it was going to be like all the other Animal Crossings I've played. I would go in, play a for about 20 or so hours, get my house to max level and that would be that. 120 hours later and safe to say I was wrong. There is just soo much to do in it that you can keep yourself busy for many many weeks/months/years. The only reason I stopped playing it was because other games came out and had there been no other games out since this, I'm sure I would still be playing it to this day. The game looks amazing, its not pushing the systems hardware as much as say Res Evil Revelations, but it looks as good as it needs to. If I was to sum the game up in one word, it would be "Pleasant" you'll never feel stressed, you'll always want to explore and find something new to do. I feel bad for my villagers of Wintopia, I hope they aren't missing me too much.
6. Steamworld Dig
7. Pikmin 3
8. Super Mario 3D World
9. Pokemon X; I really had an amazing time with this game, it felt like a good restart to the series, stripped everything back to its basics and removed alot of the extra fluff that had bloated the series and made a great starting point for anyone who hadn't played the series before. The little additions to the game such as Poke-Amie, Mega Evolutions keep things fresh. I do wish the game had looked abit more impressive outside of battle, the game does still look alittle bland and boring in the overworld and I wish they had pushed 3D outside of battle. Also the lack of stuff to do once you finish the game is saddening, once you finish your journey and beaten the league, there isn't much to do. It would have been nice to see a decent amount of end game content to keep people happy once they wont he championship. This is one of the few games I would happily buy DLC for just to keep the journey going long after the credits have rolled.
10. Attack of the Friday Monsters

x. Mario & Donkey Kong Minis on the Move
x. Shin megami Tensei Soul Hackers Devil Summoner

2012. Crimson Shroud

 

[Morfeo]

THIS! Plus not having access to the TV due to the family watching their programs.

I really need remote play!

The Wii U is your friend!

 

[Imperial]

1. The Last of Us
2. GTA V
3. Bioshock Infinite

 

[NetMapel]

1. The Last of Us ; Great characters, stories, atmospheres
2. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds; Still playing this game right now but the gameplay design is already blowing my mind
3. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ; A new AA game is always top on my list
4. Super Mario 3D World ; Meow
5. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix
6. Grand Theft Auto 5
7. Ni No Kuni
8. Kerbal Space Program ; Is this a 2013 game ? Not sure but it's great
9. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
10. Fire Emblem: Awakening

 

[Oni Link 666]

1. The Legend of Zelda A link Between Worlds ; May be my new favorite Zelda game.
2. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate ; Over 300 hours logged in on the Wii U version alone.
3. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Beautiful art and music and great story and characters.
4. Animal Crossing New Leaf ; I was totally addicted to this for months.
5. Pokemon Y ; Going to get back into this when Pokebank comes out.
6. Super Mario 3D World ; Not as good as 3D Land, but still awesome.
7. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon ; It has some issues, but it's a very good game.
8. Pikmin 3 ; My favorite Pikmin out of the 3.
9. NES Remix ; I have a feeling this game is going to catch on quick. It's so fun and addicting.
10. Injustice Gods Among Us ; Just for the DC fanservice.
2012. Persona 4 Arena ; The wordiest fighting game I have ever played. It also got me into Persona. I bought a Vita and P4G because of this game!

 

[jimbobsmells]

1. The Last of Us ; Such an emotionally charged and brilliant game.
2. Grand Theft Auto V ; Huge, funny and best GTA since the original imo. Will they ever top GTA3's soundtrack though?
3. Bioshock Infinite ; I loved this game despite the grinding shooting mechanics.
4. Tearaway ; Very few games make my jaw drop, this was one of them.
5. Papers, Please ; *redacted*.
6. Resogun ; I was terrible at Geometry Wars. Just... terrible. This, not so much.
7. Killzone: Shadow Fall ; A really impressive start to the new generation.

 

[Robin64]

1. Super Mario 3D World ; Quite possibly the best Mario game ever made. Every level feels unique and the game is a rollercoaster from start to end. Except when you think it's the end, it's not, several times.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds ; Zelda distilled to its purest form, along with beautiful 3D and all at 60fps. Wonderful.
3. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; The first Animal Crossing game to feel like a true sequel of the original. So many cool new things added slowly unlocked to just keep you coming back every day.
4. Grand Theft Auto V ; It still baffles me how they managed to squeeze this game onto the aging consoles, but there it is. Not only technically amazing, the gameplay is fun and the characters are superb. Shame about the online.
5. NES REMIX ; A surprise, for sure, but a wonderful one. Pure Nintendo gameplay with so many things you know turned on their head.
6. Pokémon XY ; A return to form for the series, but the lack of endgame content means I can't rate it quite as highly as other games.

x. Hearthstone ; Though in beta, pretty much anyone who wants to can play it. The first card game, digital or otherwise, to get my attention. That Blizzard touch.
x. EarthBound ; This should definitely count as it was only just released this year in Europe and is loved so hard.

 

[Deadstarone]

1. The Last of Us ; Simply the most thrilling, draining, and emotionally affecting game I played all year.

2. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; After Assassin's Creed Revelations I swore off the series and AC3 reinforced that decision. Black Flag has absolutely redeemed the series. The modern day story is still dumb as ever, but the gameplay of AC4 is fun and captaining a ship in the carribean sea is pure joy.

3. Dota 2 ; This sort of feels like cheating because I've been playing Dota since 2006. Dota 2's release this year has given the world access to the best free-to-play game period.

4. Civilization V: Brave New World ; Brave New World is an expansion I spent a lot of time playing with friends this year. Multiplayer was greatly improved. The addition of tourism made a cultural victory far more satisfying. Barring any future expansion, Civ V is the definitive version of a fantastic game.

5. Rogue Legacy ; Rogue-like games aren't something I play a lot of, however, I played the shit out of Rogue Legacy this year. The RPG elements that let you keep the blueprints and gold you collect to further upgrade your skill tree and children are great. The game is fun, frustrating, and terrifying.

x. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; Ni No Kuni had so many things that were great about it. The music, animation, setting, characters were all charming and beautiful. Unfortunately the gameplay of the game and story petered out for me near the end of the game.

x. Grand Theft Auto V ; GTA V was the first in the series that I've played since Vice City. I was roped in by the ideas of heists and switching between the 3 characters on the fly. I was dissappointed with the way character switching actually worked out, not being optional during heists, and the game's insistance on coming up with story reasons to take all your heist money away from you. Everything outside of heists was fairly boring and the kind of gameplay I left behind in Vice City.

2012. Persona 4 Golden ; My first Persona game after hearing about it non-stop on forums. After playing I find most recomendations were right, it's a fantastic JRPG, and hell probably the best I've played in the last decade.

 

[R&R]

1. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; Amazing comeback for the series after AC3, also a sneak peak to where next-gen might take the series. The most fun I had all year, and there is so much to do. Hope they continue the pirate stuff in the sequels.

2. The Last of Us ; The story of the year. Absolutely enjoyable gameplay too, lengthy campaign, great presentation and likeable characters.

3. Bioshock Infinite ; The environment of the year...Columbia was amazing. Also really enjoyed the story and how Elizabeth was handled. Slightly cookie-cutter gameplay, but half of the time was not really noticing it from the awesome...

4. Grand Theft Auto V ; After the slightly disappointing GTAIV, Rockstar hits right on the mark again. Enjoyable long story, good characters, lots and lots to do. Amazing graphics on 360/PS3 too. The juvenile viewpoint to everything is getting slightly old, hope they change that a bit for GTAVI.

5. The Swapper ; Sidescroller of the year for me. Genius gameplay mechanics. Great atmosphere. You must play this if you haven't yet.

6. Tearaway ; Absolutely amazing portable game - the graphics, the atmosphere, the world, usage of Vita's controls...top notch in every way.

7. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon ; Second most fun I had this year - hilarious retro DLC for already amazing Far Cry 3. Could have been longer though. Hope for a fully fledged sequel.

8. Killzone: Mercenary ; Shooters don't get much better than this on portables. Also really liked the different viewpoint compared to the main series. Really wished KZ: SF could have taken some pointers from this...

9. Resogun ; What a great surprise this was! Probably my most played next-gen game after AC4. Top notch presentation too. Got a little repetitive after a while though.

10. Remember Me ; Amazing first game from a new studio, the world they build was mind-blowing. Let down by gameplay and too little exploring, also bit boring story. Music alone elevates this to my GOTY list.

X. Killzone Shadow Fall ; Great premise somewhat let down by some stupid design decisions and a not-so-good story. Still, a game that gave us a sneak peak to next-gen gaming, and a taste of things to come, therefore deserves a mention.

X. Tomb Raider ; Successful reboot that also gave a glimpse of things to come. I think especially the auto-cover mechanic will be heavily used by many future games. If all goes well the sequel could be GOTY material.

 

[MrChom]

1. Fire Emblem Awakening; Not just game of the year but one of the finest games I have ever played.
2. Assassins' Creed IV - Black Flag; I have invested 80+ hours into it. It is amazing. Ask no more questions and BUY IT.
3. Super Mario 3d World; Another amazing Mario game which has had me grinning ear to ear more than seems physically possible. Possibly the greatest Mario game of all time.
4. Gunpoint; Intricate puzzles with multiple solutions. I love it.
5. DuckTales Remastered; The original game was fantastic and this is a great new way to experience it. Not flawless, but certainly a game with plenty of merit to it.
6. Civilization 5: Brave New World; A great add on to a brilliant game.
x. Hearthstone; Closed Beta but fantastic, very fun and worth your time.
2012. VVVVVV (3ds); a fantastic port of one of my favourite games of all time.