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

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TheXbox

Member
1. The Last of Us ; Ya'll know it. Everything about it is near flawless, save one or two cruddy encounters. Enough has been said about the narrative, no game this year even comes close.
2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; All the dumb shit I love about Metal Gear plus Platinum Games. Soundtrack of the Year
3. Grand Theft Auto V ; Online is garbage, fortunately the single player is great. The story doesn't live up to RDR or GTA IV, but who cares, it's more fun to play than both of those.
 
1. Volgarr the Viking ; An action-platformer that is made in a true arcade style (at least in the alternate route). Not the toughest game in the genre but leagues better than anything else made in recent years.
2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; It is a Platinum Games action game. It has some interesting ideas for the genre. My biggest worries for the game prior to release was that it would be too much like Bayonetta - and those worries did not come true. MGR has its own style and it is a great foundation for sequels if they make them.
3. Bleed ; The Arcade Mode in this game was a surprise. Hidden within menus is the mode that makes this game great, exposing the game's true intent to be completed in one life. Still having great fun trying to beat it in Very Hard Arcade Mode.
4. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; I don't really understand why this counts since the original game came out in 2012 and this is mostly just an expansion - but hey it is Dragon's Dogma.
5. Anarchy Reigns ; Chances are slim of me ever finding people online to play with for this game again but it was a pretty neat game.

/////////
Honorable Mentions:
None

Dishonorable Mentions:
DmC - RIP Stylish Combat 2001-2008.
The Last of Us - ladder moving simulator
 

Coxy

Member
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1. Tales of Xillia ; A cast of characters that are both interesting and likeable populate a story with some surprisingly interesting themes. Beyond the typical Tales fare of spirits and such it weaves a genuinely interesting story about power and conviction, strength of character, physical strength and those who lack one or both. Milla and Alvin really stand out with their humour and wit, Alvins trolling and Milla's arrogance and not-quite motherly wisdom.

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2. Atelier Ayesha ; Another game I enjoyed primarily because of its characters and story. Like most Atelier games it's mostly a personal story about a girl searching for her sister who went missing. Along the way a larger story starts to unfold about ancient creations and the dusk of the world. The main thrust of things is still the character interaction though. Most of the characters are really likeable, not just among the playable cast but you'll even care about npcs like shopkeepers and their everyday stories . Of the player characters, Linca, Regina and Keithgriff are all fantastic. The world is exciting to explore too, the explorable territory just keeps expanding and there's a bunch of really pretty towns to visit.

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3. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance ; Stupid awesome shit that's awesome and stupid, if running at a giant mech with a sword, kicking and cutting its missiles and throwing them back at it arent your idea of a good time, we probably cant be friends. The boss battles are all fantastic, they really went all out to make each one feel different. the parry system in general gives it a different pace compared to most other games of this style as you block, parry and counter instead of dodging. The music really fits the action well too, helping to keep you pumped through the sometimes rather long battles.

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4. The Guided Fate Paradox ; Dont let the high school anime looking official art fool you, this game is a really enjoyable, if brutal, roguelike. You soon cast off the appearance of a plain anime dude and take on your role as God, a god who strides into battle with a horse head mask, robot arms and a tutu on your legs. Every piece of equipment has its own special move so you're constantly trying new stuff.

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5. Anarchy Reigns ; With so many characters and so many game modes this game is seriously packed with variety. Online is a bit of a clusterfuck and I really wish this got a sequel to improve on that, sadly seems unlikely to happen. Throwing helicopters at people never stops being fun.

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6. Dragons Crown ; This seems like a great evolution of games like Golden Axe and Streets of Rage and I'd love to see a SoR or Final Fight style game like this too. Loads to do, bunch of characters to play as and loads of items to find, with the excellent FREE updates they've been putting out this is one I'll keep coming back to, if I had more time with it, I might have ranked it even higher.

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7. Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory ; The personification of Sega as a sadistic lunatic who only does anything nice in the hopes that it'll hurt you more deeply in the future is heart breakingly on point in a year where they passed on Yakuza 5 and PSO2. The battle system from mk2 combined with the better cast of the original game made for a pretty good game.

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8. Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut ; What a weird game, brought back fond memories of stuff like Blue Stinger. The characters, the script, the quests, everything about this game is weird but charming. Gameplay somewhat lets it down or it'd be even higher on my list.

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9. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; Honestly I found the majority of the main quest very boring and the world small and unexciting to explore with piss poor enemy variety. But once I tried the new content on bitterblack isle I really enjoyed it, mercilessly hard with loads of new enemies, unidentified equipment and some random events, it really made everything up to that point feel like worthwhile training with a good payoff.

10. Armored Core: Verdict Day ; They really turned the Chromehounds style multiplayer up a notch with this one
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
1. Tearaway ; It's a Vita thing, you wouldn't understand
2. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
3. Ys: Memories of Celceta ; ARPG bliss, great combat system on a grand scale
4. Rogue Legacy
5. Gone Home ; Made me cry, so it's doing something right I suppose
6. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; Capcom is still capable of great things
7. Shin Megami Tensei IV
8. Guacamelee
9. The Stanley Parable
10. The Last of Us ; The first game to made me think narrative and gameplay could be succesfully intertwined
 
1. Super Mario 3D World ; While not as revolutionary as the Galaxy series, this is still Mario at his finest. With every level seemingly introducing a new gameplay mechanic, the game is fresh and exciting from start to finish. The post-game content just doesn't quit, and that last level is easily the hardest in any Mario yet. The game is just perfect platforming in a nutshell.
2. Fire Emblem Awakening ; My first Fire Emblem game. The perma-death mechanic added weight to every decision you made, and the emphasis on characters added a lot without feeling cheesy, as could've been expected. The cutscenes were gorgeous as well, and this game serves as a shining example that handheld gaming deserves to be taken seriously.
3. Bioshock Infinite ; I don't understand this game's backlash at all. Yes, it was a bit heavy on the gunplay, but the atmosphere was perfect, and I don't feel like the ending was a letdown in the slightest.
4. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan ; My first old-school dungeon crawling game. Having the map-drawing mechanic on the touch screen was great and it really felt like I was discovering the world while playing.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD; While it's my least favorite 3D Zelda, the game is still absolutely fantastic and the HD version is jaw-droppingly beautiful. The faster sailing fixes much of the original's biggest issues, but I still would rather explore a land-based world.
6. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Simply the best simulation game I've played. The balance between charm and addictiveness is perfect.
7. Rayman Legends ; The best 2D platformer of the year, without question. The art style oozes with creativity, and the level design is great as well.
8. Pokemon X/Y ; The first Pokemon game in ages that actually felt fresh and new! The story was a bit forced, but the new Pokemon might be the best new generation since Gen II.
9. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon; The polish in this game is incredible. The amount of ways they used the vacuum mechanic is pretty mind blowing, really.
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; This game would be much higher on my list if the world wasn't just so plain and boring. The mechanics of the game are fantastic, and the dungeon design is easily the best of any 2D Zelda. But the overworld was probably the most boring of any Zelda to date.
x. Bit.Trip Presents Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
x. SteamWorld Dig
 
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Platinum Games delivered an experience I cannot even comprehend. It just blows my mind thinking about it. I'm positive that this is now my favorite action game of all time.
2. Spelunky ; Wonderful use of randomized maps combined with solid gameplay make this an instant classic.
3. Rogue Legacy; Sort of Spelunky meets Metroidvania -- very challenging and rewarding in the same ways that make Spelunky so good.
4. Risk of Rain ; Oh my word, what is it with me and Rogue-likes? This game has such a solid core the fact that the graphics look like something out of the Atari 2600 days just add to the experience.
5. Dragon's Crown ; Reminiscent of those fantastic CAPCOM D&D Mystara games while having a great depth to the combat and goregeous visuals. The core gameplay was solid and the draw of getting better loot and maxing out your favorite characters was inescapable. Patching in cross-play at a later date to grow the community was the cherry on top.
6. Soul Sacrifice ; A hunting game I finally like... fast paced enough for me and I love the aesthetic. I put over 40 hours into the demo and another 80 plus into the main game.
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; everything I hoped it would be... for me it was like the 2D equivalent of Twilight Princess. It was enough of a throwback to the game that was used as inspiration that my nostalgia was satisfied while being new/interesting/fun enough that I didn't feel like I was just playing the same old game again with updated graphics.
8. Killzone: Mercenary ; This runs on a Vita? Seriously. It's Killzone. In my hands. With score attack and tons of replayability.
9. Tearaway ; Magical. Absolute magic... I can't explain it any better than that. A couple nits and short overall, but amazing while it lasts.
10. Guacamelee ; Drinkbox delivers again, giving us a Metroidvania with their quirky offbeat sense of humor, surprisingly deep action-style combat, and ridiculously satisfying platforming. This game is just amazeballs.
x. Tomb Raider ; Outshines the Uncharted games for me. I had a blast completing the single player... I'm actually a fan of this reboot and can't wait to see what the next installment brings.
 
10. The Last of Us ; The first game to made me think narrative and gameplay could be succesfully intertwined

I find it strange that a game that could do something so significant is so low on your list.

As for my list, I wasn't sure if I could add additional comments in my post, but I recently moved to Japan and only brought my Wii U and 3DS with me, hence the VERY heavy NIntendo focus in my list.
 

NeoROCK

Member
4. Far Cry: Blood Dragon - Loved the original even more, and Blood Dragon was a good reason to re-visit

3. Resogun - Old school arcade style immediate gratification.

2. GTAV - They pushed the limits on PS3/360.

1. The Last of Us - A throwback game that did everything differently.
Regenerating health? Nope.
Tons of Ammo? Nope.
6-7 hour campaign? Nope
Happy ending? Nope.
Bullet sponges? Nope.
Rambo-like mowing down enemies? Nope.

Pick up melee weapons? Yup.
Multiplayer metagame? Yup.

In a generation where every game seems to copy one another, The Last of Us dared to be different. On top of that, it was solid all around with a great story and polished gameplay.
 

Massa

Member
It was like that last year too. 4 games in the top 20 were indie and technically 2 of them were funded by multi-billion dollar console makers. The indie crowd here is insanely vocal but really small when it all comes down to it.

Hum, from what I remember numbers 1 and 2 last year were indie games. That doesn't say small crowd to me.

That said, for every 10 votes to a single AAA game you may get 10 votes to 10 different indie games. That doesn't mean there's more love for AAA games in general.


You should edit that to fit the rules in the first post. :)
 

Strobli

Neo Member
1. Dota 2 ; The sheer amount of variety that a single match of Dota can have is incredible. I've been playing it for upwards of 700 hours and still find every match just as entertaining and challenging as the last. While the most of the ideas behind the game are the work of a number of different developers and modders from over the years, Valve polished everything up and brought a Warcraft 3 mod together into one, fantastic package that is almost impossible to put down.

2. Gone Home ; This was certainly an amazing experience. I never realized it, but this is the “game” that I have wanted to play for some time now. A game that lets me takes a break from the puzzles, the fighting, and the killing. A game that lets me sit back and enjoy the story without spoon-feeding me every twist and turn. The deeper I got into the house, the more I wanted to read every note, every journal, every scrapped piece of paper. You won’t uncover a grand story, but something a lot smaller and more intimate. And what a story it was.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; This is one of my favourite Zelda games of all time. It successfully mixes together both old and new Zelda formulas and creates something that is the best of both worlds. The item rental system allows for more freedom than we've ever been given in a Zelda game and works perfectly. Exploring Hyrule hasn't felt this fun since Link to the Past. Oh, and of course the music helps as well. It’s absolutely incredible.

4. The Swapper ; I bought this game on a whim not expecting all that much. Boy was I wrong. The concept of creating additional bodies and swapping between them is great and actually provides some very challenging puzzles. And the atmosphere. In a game about morality, they really set the mood in a dimly lit abandoned space station with (amazing) sombre music. What better place to raise questions about the soul and the body? The game just feels fantastic.
 

uceenk

Member
1. Fire Emblem : Awakening (3DS); 200 hours gameplay and counting, this game is so good that i never bored with it, still play it untill now

2. Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS); i love the gameplay, made me frustrate most of the time yet it was fun at the same time, story was suck though

3. Kingturn Plus RPG (iOS): i rarely played mobile games, but this one was exception, fun gameplay (similar to fire emblem), the dialogue was also very funny, although i don't really like the presentation
 

Ajacx

Banned
1. The Last of Us; Never has a game immersed my so much in its story or characters as much this gem from the Naughty Gods.

2. Battlefield 4; Disclaimer: I have the Xbox One version and it has been virtually bug free. The framerate and player count on next gen is something else entirely for console players.
 

Jachaos

Member
1. The Last of Us ; An amazing game. On the gameplay front (the most important one), it provides a ton of fresh mechanics (to me at least) to third-person shooters. Being able to move around freely and get into cover without being pulled and attached to it like a magnet. Being able to craft on the fly with stuff you find. Being able to explore such a beautiful world in a linear game and getting rewarded for it so often with extra loot (while there’s not too much of said loot, unlike Bioshock Infinite). Being able to approach sections differently, having good stealth for a third-person shooter and good melee animations. The multiplayer is also great, feels really different and fresh and fun. The sound is incredible, the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve ever heard, the visuals are great, the cutscenes and animations and voice-acting are the best I’ve ever seen and the story is amazing. For all those points to come together in the same package gives a superb atmosphere to the player who gets completely immersed in this gem.

2. Pikmin 3 ; Lovely game. Amazing gameplay when combining Wiimote+Nunchuk+Gamepad. Brings multitasking in that way and it’s a great challenge to try and beat your scores in individual maps. The multiplayer is also a lot of fun. While the story mode is short, the other two modes make up for it and the story mode itself is also a lot of fun. A nice combination of puzzles, strategy, exploration, action and makes micromanagement fun. It has an amazing atmosphere, great visuals, soothing music and is a fresh kind of game you don’t feel like having played every week for the past decade. There’s nothing quite like Pikmin 3.

3. Fire Emblem Awakening ; I love Fire Emblem. Awakening is a really great game and while it’s not as good as Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn, it does deserve this high a spot on my GoTY list nonetheless. It does not have Canto, Elevation, world building, variety of objectives and difficulty of the ones I named above, and it does have unnannounced reinforcements and grinding. But it also brings a lot of improvements and new features to the table to make up for that. Support conversations are insanely deep and much improved over Radiant Dawn especially. Streetpass and downloadable maps are some nice touches. I wish there would be true multiplayer but as a game it was still very much enjoyable and I’ve sunk over 150 hours in it. It also helps introduce new players to the series which is a good thing. About the pair-up mechanic, I’m neutral on it. It feels overpowered but its use is not forced.

4. Grand Theft Auto V ; Great open-world game. It has an amazing variety in terms of gameplay and locations to visit. The soundtrack is good but not on the same level as the other Grand Theft Auto games. The gameplay itself, while varied, is not always elite, sometimes even quite boring, but it does do a lot of things very well. The story is interesting while not even close to being the greatest we’ve seen this year. The heists are extremely fun, but there are not enough of them. The GTA Online launch was rocky and now that the dust has settled, its a fun online multiplayer to mess around in that however doesn’t fully achieve its potential. All in all, Grand Theft Auto V is a great world to explore and simply have fun with.

5. The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds ; Amazing puzzles. Amazing music. Amazing atmosphere. I love the sound effects that play on nostalgia. I love that it brings gameplay that changes up the Zelda formula. I don’t think the rental system is the way to go however and would rather have the items be inside the dungeons again, or find another way. The 2D-3D shifting of perspective is great however and makes you switch the way you think the game often. The wall mechanic is a great addition. All in all, a really great game that everyone with a 3DS should play.

6. Pokémon X/Y ; What can I say, I simply love it. Much impressed with the visual upgrade, it’s looking really really good now. Perfect art-style for the battles too. Kind of like having improved Pokémon Stadium level battles on the go. Great core gameplay, have been loving all the games I’ve played so far even if I’ve skipped a few of them, great 3DS game, tons of replay value, good bits of nostalgia by bringing in some Gen 1 Pokémon without going over the top. Lots of new cool features and playing online with friends is easy and a joy.

7. Bioshock Infinite ; Atmosphere. That’s the word that brings all the stuff I love about it together. The visuals, the soundtrack, the story, the characters, the craziness and originality of the world, it’s a great game. The gameplay is fun as well even though it doesn’t always make sense in the context (plasmids everywhere mostly) but it doesn't matter as that's what helps make the gameplay so fun, the plasmids and some of the enemies, they help the game stand out from other shooters, and having tears and rails are nice additions. A couple of places, mostly when going back to the weapons guy in Fink, the game is hurt by what seems to be boring endless waves coming at you. But overall, aside from a few bad encounters, it’s really memorable.

8. Super Mario 3D World ; It’s a 3D Mario with local multiplayer. One of the best, most well-made games this year and on next-generation so far, I can recognize that. It’s not at the top of my list because I’ve never been the biggest fan of other 3D Mario games or platformers in general. I play them, I love them, I’ve gotten far into Mario 64, but it’s not my favourite Nintendo IP, not even top-5, and I’ve never finished a 3D Mario. However, as this one has multiplayer, I can more easily dive into it, play with family and enjoy the quality of level design on display here.

9. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag ; Much improved naval combat and has nice visuals especially after the post-launch update on the PS4 version. I love Assassin’s Creed games in general and while they were going downhill to me as AC II>ACB>ACR>ACIII in my opinion, ACIV bucks that trend. While I preferred AC III’s story and characters, Black Flag is much, much less buggy, has nice new gameplay mechanics, is much better as an open-world to explore and has more memorable music (instead of just the main theme and Fight Club for some fights in AC III). Overall, a really good game.

10. Resogun ; Just about the only thing I played the first weekend on my PS4. Probably the best in the genre to me. Addictive, fun, beautiful, different, impressive. A Platinum Trophy later, it very well deserves its spot in my top-10.

x. Luigi’s Mansion 2 ; Didn’t like the original Luigi’s Mansion when I was younger but this game is really good. Clever puzzles, unique atmosphere in video games, great visuals to showcase the 3DS. Overall I love it and am happy to have picked it up right at launch. I’m trying to find another way to include Luigi’s Hello in my thoughts on this game but I can’t, so I’ll do it this way. There you go.

x. Contrast ; I know it was janky and buggy, but I loved it nonetheless for various reasons. Mostly because of its style. The music, the setting, the look and feel of it. Story was surprisingly interesting, especially the end. Gameplay didn’t fulfill all the potential there was, but it did have a lot of very good and clever moments. A patch has recently come out and much of the bugs are gone. I now recommend anyone with PS+ to at least give it a try. Plus, seeing the CMF/FMC logo when starting up the game for the first time was a surprise. I didn’t know they were financed by Canada, so when I saw the studio was right around where I live in Montréal I was happy I was supporting them by playing the game and even getting all trophies for it.

2012. Journey ; This was one of my favourite experiences of the year and one of the best ones I’ve had all-time in games. Extremely inventive. It and Unfinished Swan are now among my top-4 games of last year but I hadn’t played them since I only got a PS3 in January. Simply put, it’s amazing.
 

alice

Member
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1. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; Flynn and Isabeau look just as surprised as I am. This game was completely not on my radar until a few weeks before release. Although I loved Persona, I never got around to playing the dusty copy of Nocturne that I bought ages ago. I didn’t even own a 3ds. But, as a fan of jrpgs, I thought I owed it to myself to pick it up (and I didn’t like to admit that I was also buying the system to play #3 on my list.) Simply put, this is the rpg I didn’t know I wanted. It starts out routinely enough - you are a Samurai in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado. It has a major difficulty curve - I died in the tutorial - but I thought I knew what I was in for. But then you make it to the bottom of the dungeon, and holy crap… I will not spoil it, but it was a great moment in gaming for me. At that point I was hooked, and I ended up putting 90 hours into the game. I did every side quest and managed the neutral ending. I saw complaints about the story in the game, but I don’t have any… I thought the story was interesting and unique, and I thought it was well explained. The main character was a bit of a cipher, but well… that’s SMT for you, with their silent protagonists. Graphics in the game were nice, and took good advantage of the 3d capabilities. The soundtrack, mostly rock and synth themes, fit the game perfectly. If you like jrpgs and you haven’t played this game, I question your dedication to the genre. Go. Play it. Thank me later.

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2. Tearaway ; I played a lot of handhelds this year, due to being on the road a great deal. The Vita was an impulse purchase, but as far as I’m concerned Tearaway justifies it completely. When I heard about this game, not being a fan of Little Big Planet (other than the fabulous Stephen Fry as narrator) I dismissed it as gimmicky. When this game came out, VitaGAF was mad for it, so I downloaded the demo. After 10 minutes I quit the demo and bought the whole game. I played as Atoi, the female messenger (sadly, the photo above is from the PS blog, not mine… though I must make an elk soon!) Everything about Tearaway is so incredibly charming, from the character models to the adorable language that all the paper characters speak. The music is fantastic, like really fantastic, and the story is lovely. The end is particularly touching. The platforming is (for the most part) fun and decently challenging. There are a few gyro controls, which I never enjoy. The controls are fairly tight, though Atoi was occasionally loose on landings (but she was made of paper, so who can blame her?) The game isn’t incredibly long, though if you are OCD like me there are lots of things to collect for the platinum trophy. I really hope there is a sequel someday set in the same world, but if not then I’m so glad I got to play!

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3. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; I used to laugh at the Animal Crossing fans, but not anymore. It’s hard to explain what makes the game and your animal neighbors so compelling, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t shed a tear the day that Cesar moved away. I spent 4 months playing this year before work distracted me,and now I actually feel guilty. If you go back they know exactly how long it’s been and will tell you. I’m sorry Marshall, bear who enjoys dancing, and Coach, the bull who calls me “Lady-bro” and always shows me his muscles! I promise to come back more often!

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4. Gone Home ; This game inspired a lot of debate on the price, and discussion of what makes a game. I don’t have an opinion on price, since I bought it in a Steam sale, but this is definitely a game. It reminds me of the adventure games I grew up on - no combat, just exploration and some light puzzle solving. It also provoked major nostalgia in me. You see, I myself was a teenaged girl in the 90s - just a few years younger than Sam. I’m pretty sure I had VHS X-file tapes just like the ones above, and I watched them until the tape broke. Everything in the game is authentic to the time. The story of the game was good, but what was better was how it was told. Walking through the house, picking up papers and trying to piece together what has happened to your family in your absence was unsettling. No, this isn’t a scary game, though a few sequences managed to evoke a feeling of dread in me, as I feared I was about to discover something awful. I am glad I got to experience Gone Home.

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5. Etrian Odyssey Untold ; This is my first Etrian Odyssey game. I avoided them because I generally like a story to go with my games, and the series doesn’t really have much of one. This game is a remake of the first with optional “Story Mode,” which is what I played. The story is decent, and it definitely kept me invested. Raquna (the lovely lady with the beer stein) was my favorite, a fantastic and completely non-typical anime woman. The mapping, which I thought would be irritating, turned out to be really fun. The game includes the option to hear the new,orchestrated soundtrack or the original chiptunes, a great touch! I think Atlus was wise to make this game with modes that appeal to both those who like story and those who want to make their own characters - it’s made me more likely to try the other games now.

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6. Papers, Please ; Oh, Jorji. Every time you appeared with your poorly forged documents (Cobrastan, really?) I wanted to let you in. Alas, my Uncle needs medicine (the freeloader!) and I already have to choose between food and heat. Please understand.

Papers, Please does something unique. It does a better job than any game I’ve played of really forcing you into someone else’s life. I’ll admit, I thought before starting the game that I would certainly let in as many people as I could, but this game made me think about why people make the choices they do. This is one of several games this year that really made me consider what games can accomplish.

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7. Bit.Trip Runner 2:Future Legend of Rhythm Alien ; Runner2 is just fun. It’s full of jokes and absurd ads (like the above) but it’s also a really challenging endless runner. Adding the music aspect makes it both harder and easier. I don’t think I have ragequit so often since Demon’s Souls, but it is all worth it! Thinking about getting it on Vita too, since it would be easier on my blood pressure.

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8. Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers ; After playing SMT IV I went on a bit of a binge. I played Devil Survivor Overclocked, which would have totally made my list had it not been from 2011, and then I played this. This game is from 1997, which is somewhat apparent due to all the references to things like hackers and “The Information Superhighway.” Basically you are a member of a gang of hackers, and you have to figure out what to do after your best friend is possessed through a computer. Nemissa, the demon doing the possessing, is a great character. While the rest of the characters seem a bit bland and too trusting, Nemissa is having none of it. It’s worth it for her (and the boss above… yes, his weapon is a guitar.) There are a few dungeons that go on forever, but the game is short for an RPG - 18 hours for me. I enjoyed the tour of history.

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9. Guacamelee ; I played Castlevania (Symphony of the Night) on the PS1, but I have to admit I had to look up what a Metrovania game was. Apparently, Guacamelee is one, and it’s fantastic. Filled with humor and cute characters, I was charmed from the first scene. The platforming and combat are a challenge, at least for someone as platformer challenged as I, but there are lots of checkpoints, so dying never means going all the way back to the beginning of the level. Yet another fantastic Indie game - one that makes me excited about the future!

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2012. Persona 4 Golden ; I wasn’t sure I was going to buy this game, since I played Persona4 on the PS2. But it went on sale, so I thought why not? To my surprise, there is a ton of new content. The battle system has been updated, as have fusions (they now resemble those in SMT IV, which has a great system.) My only disappointment is the changing of Chie’s voice actress - I know the old one wasn’t available,but I loved her old voice… now she sounds too girly. Kanji has replaced her as my favorite character for this playthrough. Other than that the game is perfect. If you haven’t played this game, which might be my all-time favorite, I suggest you do!
 

Jon Armdog

Member
1. Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen ; PS3 version. A simply amazing game, fulfills my dreams of a roaming, combat focused build-your-own adventure better than any game I've ever played. Easily the best game for me this generation, and surprisingly now on my list for all time greats. Seriously. For me, the only thing it's missing is a PC edition that is open for community modding - then I would probably play this damn game forever.
2. Nothing else is close.
2012. Dragon's Dogma ; Vanilla edition. See above, except slightly less so.
 

Breziron

Neo Member
1. GTA V ; Singleplayer absolutley lived up to the Hype, expected more from Online though (but in the end, that's not really my concern, since SP-action is what I was looking for).

2. Bioshock Infinite ; Such an amazing world - Columbia is simply one of the most impressive game-settings I have ever seen. And then the story of course - the ONLY "bad" thing about this one in my opinion is it's genre: world and story would perfectly fit for a 30+ hour RPG instead of a 12 hour Shooter.

3. The Last of Us ; Although I am not a big fan of all those Zombie/Undead/Infected-games out there, this one is something special. The the post-apocalyptic story and the environment similar to those "Life After People" documentaries makes it very interesting - the Joel/Ellie "substitute-daughter"-relationship does the rest.

4. AC IV: Black Flag ; I wasn't quite sure if I would like the whole pirates-setting, but it turned out to be my most favorite title of the series so far.

More than those wouldn't be accurate coming from me at his point, since i haven't played any Nintendo titles this year.
 

Bittercup

Member
1. Saints Row IV ; Saint's Row the Third is my second favourite "GTA" right after the Saboteur so I had very high hopes for Saint's Row IV and it's great. Maybe not as good as the Third but mainly just a very different game. Not much left of GTA with all the superpowers and more Infamous but it's a great superhero-game and the powers work really well and help that the game even though they reused a lot of things from SRTT including the whole city to feel very fresh. Plus I was laughing all the time. It's just such a funny game with great writing. And I absolutely love female voice 1 <3

2. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; I'm a fan of the Assassin's Creed series. Even though there is always very little progression in terms of game mechanics and it's pretty much every time more of the same only with a new setting and story but I enjoy that. I like Ezio, the cities, climbing around the rooftops and the stories, even with the silly nonsense parts.
AC3 just left a very sour taste with not even getting the more of the same aspect right with boring cities, main character and horrible mission design, so I didn't expect much for the next title which made AC4 probably the biggest surprise for me on my list. In its core it's still the same game again but with the focus on ship battles it feels surprisingly fresh and different, more than any of the previous games did and Edward is a very likeable character and the setting is just great, which makes it a tie with AC2 for me as the best Assassin's Creed game so far. I enjoyed every moment of it (except the stupid hacking mini game).

3. Beyond: Two Souls ; How much you enjoy this game probably comes down to how much you like Jodie as a character and I thought she was amazing. Maybe slightly disappointing that decisions have less of an impact on the story as in Heavy Rain but still enough variety that it felt like "my" play-through. And I found the ending (at least my choice) just perfect. It's not often, that a game feels so satisfying to me to complete.
From the beginning to the end I simply loved playing this game. What a wonderful experience.

4. Gone Home ; I didn't know anything about this game at all when I bought it. Not what it was about or what you do or what kind of game this even is and bought it only because it got so much praise and was on sale.
And it was one of the most memorable games I ever played. So good, that I immediately played it again the next day and tried to find everything I missed the first time.
I'm especially impressed how great the storytelling works just through exploring.
I think it works best if you don't know much about the game, so I'm not writing anything else, just play it.

5. Diablo III ; Probably the game I spent the most time with this year. The improved loot adds a lot to the motivation and the controls work great on a gamepad. I still don't like the visuals and soundtrack and the story is painful, but overall the console version is a lot more like what I had expected from Diablo 3. I'm looking forward to the addon.

6. Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut ; Before I played this game I always heard that this game is so bad that it's good which is probably the most misleading thing you can say. Everything the game does badly is genuinely bad and just that. That's certainly not why I love this game so much.
And scenes like the famous sandwich/dinner scene can give the impression, that it's just some silly fun game which isn't entirely incorrect as the game indeed has many weird and hilarious moments with all its quirky characters but it's also a very strange but equally interesting mystery crime story, and a very sad one, too. The story is the biggest strength of the game together with the main character. One of the best characters I have ever seen in a video game, thanks to the amazing writing and voice acting. This is why I love this game.
Unfortunately the PS3 version (which was the first time I played this game) is a shoddy port of the 360 original with downgraded visuals in exchange for slightly better controls and a wider FOV and the PC version is a shoddy port of the PS3 port with the same downgrades, else it would have been a certain pick for the top position. At least the good things of this game are still unaltered and therefore it still deserves the place on my list. But if you have the choice I would rather play the original.

7. Tomb Raider ; I played all Tomb Raider games and the core gameplay idea of the older titles was great: Exploring old caverns and ruins and solving puzzles and I wish to see a reboot of that, because gameplay-wise the reboot has nothing to do with the old games. Very little exploring, hardly any puzzles and way too much shooting.
But after the adjustment of expecting as much "Tomb Raider" from this game as Syndicate from its reboot I enjoyed the game very much. The island is nicely designed always nice returning to earlier areas with new tools to find new passages, fighting is at least for a while and in areas where stealth works best enjoyable, I like the new Lara (not so much the English voice, but the German one is fine) and overall it's my favourite Uncharted game.

8. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist ; I like the old Splinter Cell games but Conviction was fine as well. Its panther-style-gameplay has very little in common with the earlier titles but was on its own still very great to play. But I'm glad that Blacklist returned as a more thought-through reboot. Normal stealth without killing everyone is a viable options this time around, which I prefer in addition to the also fun stealthkill-everyone-approach from Conviction and a pretty pointless action mode that especially on higher difficulty settings makes no sense at all. But at least Panther and Ghost are quite enjoyable and mechanical well done. One of the better recent stealth games I played.
Boring story and removing Sam and Grim from the cast except for their names with new voices and especially very different writing compared to previous games is a curious decision. They were fine characters and I always liked their chats and banter during missions and the dry humour. Sadly none of that is in Blacklist and because of that the game lacks a lot of charm. But at least the gameplay was good.

9. Soul Sacrifice ; Great battle system and even better bossfights. I even enjoyed the multiplayer (which I usually avoid). And so much content and free DLCs.

10. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; That was an interesting one. I hadn't heard much about this game and title and art style didn't draw my interest either but puzzle games are nice so I asked a friend if it was any good and she said yes so I bought it. I'm so glad I didn't miss this game. Reminds me a lot of ICO and how the developers use the controls in such a creative way is impressive, as well how good the story telling works without any actual telling in the game.

x. Hotline Miami ; Addicting gameplay, amazing soundtrack and works perfect on the Vita (those visuals + dat OLED). Not enough places on the list :/

x. Civilization V: Brave New World ; made an already great game even better

x. XCOM: Enemy Within ; similar as Brave New Wold, nice additions to a great game.

x. The Last of Us ; Somehow didn't click for me for most parts of the game and I constantly considered just watching the rest on youtube. I didn't enjoy the gameplay and level design at all. But the story and characters were great and I cared about them and wanted to know what happens next so I continued. For this it deserves a honourable mention.

2012. Spec Ops: The Line ; Even though I had the basic story and twist spoiled, I was still amazed when I finally played the game. The only military shooter I consider a great game.
 

GeekyDad

Member
1. Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS); I've played a lot of "mature" games, but SMTIV contains one of the most thought-provoking stories I've ever come across, whether in a game, book, etc. The game itself is also incredibly engrossing. The sidequests are meaningful, with lots of great extras to grab that make the game tons more interesting and even easier to navigate. With three unique paths to take, the replay value is through the roof. Exceptional writing, dialogue, music. It's got it all. It's not perfect, mind you. I could do without the ability to change difficulty on the fly, but as an entire package, the game is stellar and the most fun I've had with a game in 2013.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Didn't play a whole lot of new games in 2013.

1. Forza Motorsport 5 ; Light on content but by far the best playing and driving game in the series. The physics and AI are an absolute joy.
2. Rayman Legends ; So much content and charm! Retains and even manages to build upon the great gameplay of origins. The Murphy bits are an interesting idea/experiment and are the only downside to an otherwise awesome experience.
3. Killer Instinct 2013 ; I would have NEVER anticipated a fighter would make my top ten list let alone be purchased, but here I am and with the Double Helix developed KI reboot no less. This fighter is just fun and perfectly captures the vibe and enjoyment of the classic games but updates them in a stunning and deep fashion. Oh, and online play is virtually perfect.
 

redcrayon

Member
1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; Great new mechanics really push the genre forward. Great to dip in and out of, real depth and longevity.
2. Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds ; Addresses criticism of the series really well. Back to proper, open adventuring and discovery.
3. Etrian Odyssey IV ; Best in the series, utterly engrossing, I couldn't put it down.
4. Bravely Default ; Great new ideas for shaking up turn based battles, combined with the return of a jobs system. The best FF game in a long time.
5. Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies ; Great new characters, the new prosecutor and detective made me smile. Very funny.
6. Steamworld Dig ; Made me sit up and take notice of what indies are doing on the eshop. Really smooth controls, a joy to play.
7. The Last of Us ; Good use of storytelling and combining it with gameplay.
8. Luigi's Mansion 2 ; I loved the attention to detail, the way Luigi always scared, that kind of thing. A great sense of fun.
9. Dragon's Crown ; Interesting brawler, some real potential for this new IP.
10. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies ; Nice send off for the Professor.

Heavy 3DS bias for me this year, but I spent hundreds of hours with it. Enjoyed plenty of PS3 and PSV stuff too, a fantastic year for games as far as I'm concerned.

I suppose games that release in one year in Europe and another in NA are at a bit of a disadvantage, but them's the breaks.
 
1. The Swapper ; Combine Metroid, Portal and the movie Moon and you get The Swapper. Without doubt this was one of the games that left a big impression on me because it tackles deeply philosophical issues, and I'm still thinking about them till this day. The atmosphere in this game is incredible thanks in great part to the unique art style and superb ambiance soundtrack. The feeling of isolation reminds me of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

2. Brothers ; Just finished this wonderful game, two days before the year is over, and it has forced me to change my list. Wow, we need more games like Brothers in this world! This is a perfect example of why I believe videogames can surpass film as a storytelling medium. I'm completely blown away and was seriously considering making Brothers my number 1 game of 2013. Every single environment in this game was a work of art and the gameplay although easy was very effective. The game didn't overstay its welcome and it used every single second to deliver a very condensed, focused, story.

3. Guacamelee ; Managed to squeeze this game in the last two days of the year and I had a great time. This is the only game this year that I couldn't put the controller down, and I actually wanted to play more. Superb mechanics and extremely responsive controls. Being Mexican, this game had me smiling at a lot of things, the humor, the surprisingly authentic portrayal of a lot of Mexican folklore, the subtle way that is was playing with telenovelas tropes. Drinkbox clearly did their homework. It is also by far the funniest games since Psychonauts.

4. The Last of Us ; Not quite finished with this game yet, but with what I've played so far I already know it's going to be 2nd on my list of favorite games for the year. I like games that have quiet moments and this game has an abundance of moments like that. There is a serenity that leaves me in awe. In that respect, Naughty Dog is following the Valve approach to action. Having a big battle followed by exploration and interaction with other characters. Sure it's not perfect, but there have a few times where I'm completely immersed in. The gameplay is solid, and feels gamey enough. I highly recommend playing through TLOU on hard difficulty.

edit: I finished the game a few days ago, and after some consideration, I think TLOU has a very big flaw, its gameplay. The story is wonderful but it is just too disconnected from the gameplay loop. I know that Naughty Dog tried very hard, but it just didn't work for me.

5. Bioshock Infinite ; Actually I struggled a lot putting Infinite behind The Last of Us. In terms of pure entertainment value, I think Bioshock has the edge. The story has a lot more layers than TLOU, and the world of Columbia is the best gaming world created this year. These two aspects make Infinite campaign more replayable than TLOU I really don't understand the hate this game has been getting lately. The only reason why this ranks below the TLOU for me is that the game fails to take advantage of all the vigors. Irrational needed more enemy types for a game of Infinite's length.

2012. Mark of the Ninja ; I usually don't play stealth games because I feel the controls and the world aren't precise enough. This game does not have that problem. It has a certain "flow" to it. Once you get there you are in the zone. I really enjoyed the story and the collectibles. Overall of the best example of gaming mechanics in the past decade.
 

Trick_GSF

Banned
1. The Last of Us. The only game that really interested me this year, but would have no doubt been on my list regardless. A great adventure, with an emotional story to go with it. GOTY for me.
 

Frosteey

Neo Member
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1. Rune Factory 4 ; A good wholesome game about shipping

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2. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; A good wholesome game about shipping

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3. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; A good wholesome game about shipping

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4. Pokemon Y ; An unscrupulous game about slavery. Want emancipation

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5. Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies ; An unscientific game about the betrayal of hope

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6. Etrian Odyssey IV ; An Etrian Odyssey game again about on schedule

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7. Civilization V: Brave New World ; A Spanish game about discovering the wonders of the world

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8. Dota 2 ; A small business game about selling stuff to buy Steam stuff

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9. Rogue Legacy ; A reminiscent game, about time to go back to roguelikes

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10. Gone Home ; A spooky game about old people

Ace Attorney might end up higher than pokemon but probably not any higher due to its glaring omissions. Don't really see anything else changing before I do a more thorough writeup after Christmas
 
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1. DOTA 2 ; Valve has done an amazing job with this game. They could make this game better by removing IceFrog and bringing back the way Pudge used to hook before IceFrog screwed everything up like he always does. Even with IceFrog's shortcomings this is still the best strategy game ever and makes others jealous if this games glory. This game is also harder than other aRTS, but do not let that scare you since IceFrog will change everything so all players will go back to square one.
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2. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; The game starts you off in a way that gets you the hang of the dual analog functions. Even people who use the gamepad a lot will start the game off feeling a bit strange. Not long after the start, 15min, it will feel like the only way this game should be played.

The story is about two brothers that have a sick father, Aeed and Aada (At least that is what it sounds like their names are) want to save the life of their father by going to the Tree of Life. On their journey you will come across obstacles that will sometimes require only one brother, but most of the time two will be needed. You will fly, swim, climb, defeat bosses, and swim through pools of blood through the story. The pace is kept at a constant and even though it is only a few hours long, you will not feel like there was anything missing. The ending, like many have said, is very good. That is all you can really say because it will only impact you if you go in without knowing the ending.

Art wise this game is up there with Journey, Killzone 2, and Super Mario Galaxy. Snow, trees, rain, and the like all have a distinct look that seemlessly blends together when traveling.

The textures are sometimes extremely bad, but the game easily hits 60fps on a 1GB HD 7850. The lighting and shaders are very good and make up a bit for the lackluster textures.

The soundtrack is also very good with no dubstep in dramatic moments unlike some recent games.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is something everyone should make the time to play, preferably in one sitting.
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3. Metro: Last Light ; this game is one of the best first person shooters of all time. The game starts off after Metro: 2033 so if you have not beaten the game yet then you should go and do that first. The atmosphere is extremely good. You get the sense that the world was nuked and with the struggle to survive. The gameplay improves upon the last game in every single way except ammo. What about ammo? It is everywhere that is what. In the first Metro, ammo was scarce, but at the same time there were less enemies that needed killing per level.

Metro: Last Light does a good job in giving you parts of Moscow and the Metro and does not leave you bored even when there is a level with zero enemies.

The graphics are much improved over Metro: 2033 and it runs better as well. With my 7850 1GB OC to 1200Mhz Core and 1300Mhz Memory with an i5 the game runs very high with V-sync, no tesselation in 1050p at a constant 60fps. In 1080p you will get to 50fps so if you can handle it then go ahead and play in 1080p

To compare this to other popular shooters like Killzone, Halo, and Battlefield this game tops them all. Albeit there is no multiplayer, this game does not need it nor will anyone desire it.
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4. Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed ; If you are looking for something to tide you over until a new Mario Kart releases then prepare to never go to Mario Kart again. This game rewards skill instead of penalizing you for being in the lead or close to it. The game also helps those that are bad, but if you can't drive you are never going to win unlike in Mario Kart.
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5. Skullgirls ; A great PC port for a year with many bad ones. This fighter has a very heavy focus on combos. You might be thinking, "Don't all fighter do that?" Well, not quite like Skullgirls. You can get by in Mortal Kombat or Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series without combos, but you will do almost no damage without combos in this game. This would be a problem except the developers have made learning the game easy with probably the best tutorial that has graced the fighting genre.
x. Tomb Raider ; This game is great, but does not make it in the top 5
x. Bioshock Infinite ; This game is also great, but does not make it in the top 5.
2012. Sleeping Dogs ; This is one of the best game of 2012. The story makes you move all around the city, but not in a tedious way. This game also merges the city and story much better than other games like Grand Theft Auto or Skyrim.
 
1. Project M ; If I'm being honest, this is the game I was most excited for, the game I most played, and the game I most enjoyed. Smash Brothers embodies the social aspect of playing games with friends that is most important to me, and Project M has perfected that model in a way no previous game could.

2. Super Mario 3D World ; I thought I was done with Mario long ago. I thought he would never surprise me again. How wrong I was.

3. The Last of Us ; A masterpiece.

4. The Wonderful 101 ; What a shame nobody played this game. I was obsessed with it. So much creativity and spark.

5. Pikmin 3 ; Another under-appreciated game. There's something truly magical in Miyamoto's mind that he can create wonder like this time after time after all these years. He's a real-life Willy Wonka.

6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; What a shame the SNES only got one proper Zelda game. I like to pretend while playing this game that I'm still a kid experiencing Zelda for the first time. It's fresh and yet so nostalgic.

7. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; Like many others I'd been playing Marth in Smash Brothers for years before knowing anything about his series. I expected to not like this game, it sounded like all the aspects of jrpg's that I don't like but it turned out to be something completely unexpected. I somehow fell in love with the characters and really cared about the journey.

8. Europa Universalis 4 ; I love me some European History simulation.

9. Etrian Odyssey: Untold ; Did I say I don't like jrpgs? Maybe I just don't know what makes a jrpg because I loved this game.

10. Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker HD ; Yes, I love windwaker enough to put it on my list in different years. That's how this works.
 

zkylon

zkylewd
Took some scrambling to get this list done. It's not been the most exciting of years for me, gaming-related and otherwise, and while I did love many of these games, there's no game that made my year like Dark Souls on 2012 or New Vegas and Alpha Protocol on 2011. These games are by no means bad and I have pretty much only good words to say about them, but at the same time it's sort of a disappointing list. Fortunately 2014 seems to be a rocking year, with Dark Souls 2, Project Eternity, Witcha 3, this year's just too fucking exciting that I think it may just make up for 2013.

Also sadly league of legends isn't eligible, as its by far my favorite game for almost a year and a half and I don't see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.

I'll pick only 8 main games as they're the standouts for me, and just flood it with special mentions.

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1. Hate Plus ; first game in my life that asked me to bake a cake for it, and got me to do it. You can always count on Christine Love's games to tackle themes that are totally unknown to gaming and at the same time turn them on their heads with great wit and charm all the while weirding you out with constant fourth wall breaking and just very smart writing. I had a lot of trouble coming with the number 1 for my list, but in the end I feel I should just go with my favorite, and Hate Plus was it. It's not a game that everyone will enjoy, but it taps straight into some of my favorite things that gaming can do narratively, and in a year that for me was all about that one perfect storytelling in a game, there's no beating cake baking. Glad CL's working on her next thing, can't wait for it and I promise myself I won't wait for a sale this time.

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2. Gone Home ; Gone Home is basically Bioshock stripped down to its narrative core. It's got the audiolog infodumps, a unique setting that rewards exploration by simply being so very meticulously designed and layouted that you just want to stop and look at stuff and it's got the story and characters that stay in your head for days. The coming of age story + 90s setting also just makes it a very relatable game.

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3. The Last Of Us ; pretty much the same jist as The Walking Dead last year, shady dude playing dad to a little girl, but this time done in a way that it didn't feel insulting for me. Wherever TWD gave you false choices while railroading your story in its preset direction, TLOU does without that smokescreen and plain and simple tells its story, and it's a much better game for it. And it's a story that's fantastically realized and even for its zombie games trappings it sets the bar high for cinematic games from this point on. Unfortunately it's still tied to an Uncharted-esque third person stealther/shooter that's often frustrating and just not up to par with the story side of things, but hell if this tale's not worth the Uncharted-isms.

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4. Papers, Please ; I can see Papers, Please being for serious games what Braid was for puzzle platformers. It's just so very confidently done, a game about playing a bureaucrat in a fictional soviet country has no business being this fun or this charming. And the huge amounts of player agency you have while trapped in that torture of a booth is insane, so many small and big decisions, clock's ticking and your family's hungry, it's riveting.

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5. Fez ; the one thing that makes Fez great for me is that Fez just doesn't mess around. It's been years since I've had to make notes to solve a puzzle and it just takes you back to those times before the internet invented spoilers and you were trying to figure out those impossible mysteries in the schoolyard with your friends. Sadly I feel like I failed Fez, I got so close to finishing it up, and then life got in the way and now it's just too late, I don't remember anything and I'm not feeling like starting over. Someday, maybe.

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6. Kentucky Route Zero ; my list's full of non-games and this is probably the non-gamest of them all, and still it's just so fucking slick you can't really blame it. KR0 has so far been a very bizarre dream-like experience that can't really be explained all too well, but it's fantastic.

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7. Bioshock: Infinite ; despite whatever plot holes you can come up with and its gunplay being on the bulletspongy, tedious side, Bioshock: Infinite was just a crazy mindbending rollercoaster ride. The whole game is full of mystery, Columbia constantly displaying the new amazing thing and finally that mindblowing ending, it's just an exciting game from beginning to end. And dem crazy song old renditions! Feels strange to have all that creativity and then tie it to a blegh shooter, but hey, I hope it was worth it, Ken.

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8. The Swapper ; puzzle platformer with a unique aesthetic is kind of cliche for indie games by now but hey, if it's good, it's good. I really enjoyed its difficulty and its dark atmosphere.

Other Stuff:

x. Little Inferno ; more of a "thing" than a game, it's just chock full of personality with its dark humor, the crazy advertising and the danny elfman-esque ost. It's like an interactive Tim Burton short or something.

x. Dust: An Elysian Tail ; if you can ignore the furry it's a really fun metroidvania-esque hack and slasher. It's really fun, that about it.

x. Gunpoint ; really cute hacking mechanic and punching dudes in the face like a billion times is hilarious. Bite-sized cleverness.

2012. Super Hexagon ; spent a lot of time with this one in the first half of the year and now I play it a lot on my cellphone on idle moments.

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Games that had a shot of making it but I didn't feel like it: Shadowrun, SR4, The Cave. All three were disappointing in some way or another, so they don't get their honorable mentions either :(

I also liked Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons but I feel like I didn't get it, so I might think it a bit more and may turn up to be next years' LTTP game

Games I should've played: Mirrormoon, Stanley Parable. Neither was cheap enough for my broke ass to buy them. Sucks to be them!
 
Okay I'm taking MGR off my GOTY list. Game is really short, gets repetitive quite quick, QTE's are a pain, has some serious camera issues, and the story just went down the toilet (so cringeworthy). Disappointed indeed. Guacamelee shall take its place :)
 

Syf

Banned
Think I'll be adding Pokemon X/Y to my list soon. Finally got around to buying X and this is by far the best Pokemon game I've played. It's renewed my interest in the franchise and made it feel fresh again. Now, where to put it..
 

Levyne

Banned
So I've put in 4 hours into Papers, Please last night and I'm booting it up again shortly. Might have to knock Sly off my list soon...
 

Jhriad

Member
1. Europa Universalis IV ; The pinnacle of Grand Strategy games once again achieved by Paradox. After over 300 hours I continue to find enjoyment and new challenges in the game. Now if only I could actually fulfill my goal of a Byzantine world conquer.
2. The Last of Us ; Probably the one game from this year that I will remember the most. It had some flaws but what it did well made you forget them and wish for more. I'll be thinking of this game for years to come.
3. Rogue Legacy ; Addictive, fun, and charmingly simple. The best bite size game of the year.
4. Papers, Please
5. Saints Row IV
6. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
7. Tearaway
8. Divekick
9. The Stanley Parable
10. Puppeteer

2012. Journey ; Easily one of my favorite video game experiences of all time and one that I return to on a regular basis. From the soundtrack to the art direction this game has everything I was looking for in spades. Simply beautiful.
 

Sdoots

Member
1. Payday 2 ; This isn't the highest quality game on this list, but I had (and still am having) more fun with PD2 over anything else this year. It scratches every itch, from stealth to shooting, character building and coop, the list goes on. With quality updates and content constantly coming, it's hard not to love this game.

2. Shadow Warrior ; A superb blend of sword and gunplay. The genius control scheme allows some of the most satisfying combat this year, and the story ends up being surprisingly compelling. I want more Wang.

3. Dota 2 ; I haven't played a game where I continued to learn new things so many hours after I began playing it since before I can remember. I both love and hate that, knowing that every time I play, I'm going to get crushed by some Hero I've never seen before, but just as well I'll be learning what I did wrong, what to do in the future, and so on. The highs are astronomical, and the lows make me want to get in bed and just lay there. 200 hours later, I'm just now beginning to understand. I'm okay with that.

4. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag ; They fixed AC, guys. You can't help but laugh when the newest game gives you the robes less than half an hour into the game. After playing AC3 a month or two earlier, having to slog through at least 6 hours of garbage just to get my robes and the basic equipment, seeing Edward get his toys mere minutes after the game began was a welcome sight. The game only got better from there. As someone who tends not to care much for side activities, I was caught off guard when it sunk in some hours later I had barely touched the main story after getting my ship. Indeed, I was out plundering other ships, exploring islands, and generally getting into whatever trouble I could. While the lack of weapon selection from previous games is a serious bummer, it's hard to complain when you're a pirate/assassin hybrid with an awesome beard.

5. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist ; Another example of a series getting fixed, I did not expect to like Blacklist at all. Ubisoft worked a miracle here, and made a game that allowed players the chance to avoid confrontation entirely, go in guns blazing, or take dudes out quietly, and have an awesome experience regardless of which one they went with. A lot of games try to do a lot of things at once, and half ass them all. Blacklist did a great job at all three things it set out to do.

6. Killzone Shadowfall ; The multiplayer on offer here is strong enough to make up for the middling campaign. Everything sounds heavy and feels weighty, without the slow, sluggishness that implies. DICE will often tweak the classes with each Battlefield release, with varying results. Guerilla follows suit here, and absolutely nails it. An incredibly satisfying cacophony of violence that any PS4 owner should look into.

7. Bioshock Infinite ; It never could have lived up to expectations. That said, it was still a pretty great game. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Columbia, and while the story is far up its own ass, I can't help but love it.

8. Grand Theft Auto 5 ; Rockstar writing is always great, and the heists are easily the best part of the game. It's a shame there aren't more. Multiplayer feels both deep and half assed, like they took a lot of time on the wrong things. Love it, and it deserves to be on this list, but it could have been more.

9. Rogue Legacy ; It was fun as hell. Not much else to say about this one, it came out of nowhere and became a mainstay in my Steam library immediately.

10. Dragon's Crown ; A very smart approach to the traditional brawler, DC has some serious character progresion hooks that have kept me playing far longer than I should be. Intelligent use of the Vita touch screen that adds to the experience without feeling tacked on is worthy of praise unto itself. I just wish I could read where the artists were going with things whenever a questionable animation or scene occurs. The controversy for this game was both overblown and totally deserved, but that's not the point. This is a good game, and you should play it.

Honorable Mention. Rise of the Triad ; Exactly what it says it is. ROTT2013 is a throwback shooter to a fault. While I loved the fast paced combat with no regards for personal safety or realism, I can live without ever making precise jumps to tiny platforms in a FPS again. There is a reason games don't do some of these things anymore. To be clear, jump pads and platforming in an FPS? Totally cool with that. Super small bouncepads that I have to strafe-jump just right across lava in order to complete levels? Not so much.

Honorable Mention. Anarchy Reigns ; The black guy's grill spells out "FUCK YOU".

Game of 2012. Darksiders 2. ; Everything a sequel should be. Darksiders 2 saw the series come into its own. What was once easily defined as a "grimdark Zelda" was now its own beast, and it was better for it.
 

Necron

Member
1. The Last of Us ; Great work from Naughty Dog once again. The atmosphere, story and characters are fantastic. This is the best game I've played this year without question.
2. BioShock Infinite ; Ken Levine and team at Irrational have crafted a very unique world and setting. Walking around Columbia was a pure delight. The ending gave lots think and talk about.
3. Rayman Legends ; Another excellent game by Michel Ancel and team. The musical levels are the highlight though.
4. Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut ; Reminiscent of Twin Peaks and full of weird characters. I loved the surreal atmosphere it managed to create and for that, it earns a spot within the top 5.
5. The Stanley Parable ; An exploration into the world of choice or lack thereof. The illusion of choice and what this game tells you is simply amazing.
6. Dragon's Crown ; A great title (with a beautiful art style) of which I hope to see more of. Every character controls differently which makes combat interesting and experimentation is encouraged.
7. Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus ; Love the Ratchet and Clank games. However, could you make them longer again, Insomniac? Please?
8. Hotline Miami ; Such an addictive game... couldn't stop playing it for a long time.
9. Puppeteer ; A fantastic platformer that everyone should get. The imagination and art style are superb.
10. Resogun ; Great launch title for the PS4. Love these types of games and this one plays extremely well.
2012. Journey ; Still a greatly captivating title with an amazing score.
 

eXistor

Member
I'm gonna be putting more detailed explanations in the coming days.

1. Super Mario 3D World ; Quite simply: this is pure, unfiltered Mario, the likes of which we haven't seen since Super Mario Bros. 3. It's the complete package: wonderfully diverse levels, tight controls, multiple characters, killer soundtrack. It's the most fun I've had this year and I have confidence this will be regarded as one of the greatest videogames in recent times.

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; A truly monumental achievement in gaming; it may just feature one of the best game worlds ever devised. This is a game so vast and grand its downsides are, for me at least, easily overlooked. I fell in love with the characters and I feel they are the best type of GTA protagonists: anarchistic to the core (Trevor obviously fits this template best). It wears its satirical message on its sleeve, but again, I feel this works perfectly. This game is pure punk-rock in spirit; it's brash, unsophisticated and fun. The main missions are hit and miss and feel very restrictive and linear, but this is the type of game that rewards creative players. It may not be the best game in every respect, but a believable gameworld and being able to sufficiently interact with it is something I look for in games and in that regard GTA V delivers in spades.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; Yet another Nintendo game this year to be just about perfect all the way through, the only reason this game ranks lower than GTA is a little bit too much reliance on nostalgia; in many regards this feels more like a remix of LttP than a completely new game. That said, LttP ranks as one of the very best Zelda game ever made (automatically making it a candidate for Best Game Ever) and a Link Between Worlds is in many ways LttP's superior. It features a series-best soundtrack (best dungeon themes for one), smoothest controls, a quest that may be completed well under 20 hours, but it has none of the extraneous fat of the more recent Zelda's, opting instead for a more arcadey feel. My main downside outside of it being a tad too familiar (which is a personal downside, many may not agree) is that the rental system could have been implemented better. I've always loved the idea of searching for new tools, but simply getting them in a shop from essentially the beginning is a bit of a downer. The plus-side is of course allowing the player to finish the dungeons in any order, but I feel there's a better solution to this problem. All in all, this is a fantastic Zelda game, a very different beast from its 3D brethren and thus proving that there's always a place for this type of Zelda. I hope more will come.

4. Pikmin 3 ;

5. The Wonderful 101 ;

6. The Last of Us ; I've never really considered story-driven games to be the best type of video game (Lucasarts adventures are the exception). Gameplay should always be the number 1 priority. Here then, the Last of Us finally manages to strike a great balance between story and gameplay. It has some very likeable and believable characters in Joel and Ellie and had me interested in the story from beginning to end; a very rare thing in games. But this would not mean a thing if it didn't have the gameplay to back it up. Thankfully TLoU delivers here as well, providing a solid combat system and more survival-based gameplay than I was expecting. It dragged a bit and the game isn't quite as diverse as I had hoped, but in the end, the story pulled me through.

7. Dragon's Crown ;

8. The Stanley Parable ;

9. Gone Home ;

10. Fire Emblem: Awakening ;

x. Luigi's Mansion 2 ;
x. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ;
x. Puppeteer ;
x. Tearaway ;
x. NES Remix ;
x. Battleblock Theater ;
x. Attack of the Friday Monsters ;
x. Lego City Undercover ;
x. Bravely Default ;
x. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ;
x. New Super Luigi U ;
 
1. Metal Gear Rising: Revengence ; Great music, crazy action. Being able to slice enemies into pieces brings me joy.
2. The Last of Us ; I didn't think much about it before release. But when I played it, I was totally engrossed before I knew it. Amazing atmosphere.
3. Monster Hunter 4 ; Online multiplayer timesink
4. Blazblue Chronophantasma ; Revamped system. Good online features. Storymode much more enjoyable this time.
5. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Another fun timesink
6. Final Fantasy XIV: ARR ; Props to YoshiP's team for taking a dead game and reviving it.
7. Dragon's Crown ; Great graphics, fun coop, but ultimately becomes repetitive
 
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1. The Last of Us (PS3); Its narrative is intensely chilling, its characters human and gray, doing a breathtaking job wrenching the player’s heart from start to finish. Gustavo Santaolalla evokes serenity with a few strums of his guitar. The Last of Us defines what a studio was capable of with the resources of years-old tech. It’s no surprise Naughty Dog would be capable of such a generational swan song.

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2. Papers, Please (Mac); Lucas Pope devises an amazing and disheartening concept in his “dystopian document thriller.” Its mechanic is simple, relying on the player’s cognitive ability to spot mis-matches as fast as possible and making some dark choices along the way, all while set in a fictional early eighties communist bloc nation. Its cold, Apple II-esque visuals only add to the immersion.

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3. Pikmin 3 (Wii U); My first foray into Nintendo’s strategy/scavenger hunt/time-management series. I am overwhelmed by its pleasant atmosphere, its whimsical soundtrack, and management mechanic. It’s always fun trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B with your limited resources. I’m also amazed at the texture work at hand. The fruits you collect are insanely lifelike, and Pikmin 3 might have the most beautiful snow I’ve ever seen in a video game.

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4. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U); Nintendo EAD strikes gold again in its mastery of platform level design. Like Pikmin 3, 3D World oozes vibrant atmosphere that blends new with trademark Mario aesthetics. It is pure fun, harkening to the idea that fun, reaction-based games as well as games as “artistic” narratives can co-exist (though not mutually exclusive, of course).

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5. New Super Luigi U (Wii U); The perfect complement to last year’s New Super Mario Bros. U, which ups the difficulty a bit and cuts the time it takes to get through a single stage. It’s a true test for 2D platform aficionados, particularly if you’re Star Coin-hunting. The remixed stages and challenge come with great value. I hope Super Mario 3D World gets a similar equivalent.

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6. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3); Absolutely the most fascinating entry in a franchise that has overstayed its welcome. Raiden has always been the type of character who was better off in his own series or spin-off since his introduction twelve years ago, and this game proves it. Platinum Games absolutely nailed the combat, making it incredibly fun and intuitive. You feel accomplished. Although it requires a little mastery, MGR as a whole is great junk food entertainment, right down to its lovingly cheesy rock soundtrack.

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7. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3/PS4); After last year’s dud, AC IV brings back excitement setting it in eighteenth-century Caribbean. It nails its most prominent feature: sailing and naval combat. I can’t tell you how much time I sank (no pun intended) into taking my frail brig and turning it into a monster, a titan of the seas to be feared. I felt absolutely rewarded along the way. It also features the series’ best story to date. The assassin versus Templar conflict makes room for political and economical implications of the Golden Age of Piracy. Pirates are not fantastical thugs or Errol Flynn types, but struggling folks trying to make their way. Best series soundtrack to date, as well. There are still series-wide hiccups that need adjusting, but this series still has fight, clearly.

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8. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS); My second attempt at Nintendo’s social franchise after misunderstanding 2005’s Wild World. What blows me away is how Animal Crossing: New Leaf plays similarly (conceptually) to the kind of social games one might find on Facebook, but Nintendo steps it up and makes players feel rewarded, rather than obligated. It's great to get three friends together and explore each other’s unique villages, and goof around on the nearby island. There is almost always something new to do, taking into account real-world time and culture. I can’t believe how much time I have invested in making my small home look like a mansion, and collecting every last bug, or fish, or fossil. It's the perfect social game, and its soundtrack is even a underrated contender for best of this year.

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9. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS); A compact yet grand Legend of Zelda experience. It succeeds in taking the familiar world design of A Link to the Past and offering an absolutely new adventure with some fun dungeons to explore, and even offers some conveniences for the on-the-go crowd that I would love to see in a future console Legend of Zelda.

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10. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360); Rockstar Games continues to reign as masters of world creation, creating a grand-scale virtual west coast that excels in appearing "normal." It is your playground, not just for violence and chaos, but for recreation as well. Its single-player tale is fascinating, if not clumsy, with only a moderately satisfying conclusion. I applaud the ambition, and though it will never live up to certain entries, I highly enjoyed its original soundtrack. It absolutely outdoes GTA IV of five years ago, and succeeds in feeling like Grand Theft Auto again.

x. Bioshock Infinite (Mac); Columbia is a fascinating, beautiful, and dark world. While being immersed in an uncomfortable (yet not far from truthful) world of early twentieth century Americana, the narrative takes some interesting turns, but chose to focus on its protagonists with mixed results; I felt Columbia’s history had untapped potential. Its shortcoming is its first-person shooting being subpar and barely made interesting by the Vigor mechanic.

x. Pokémon X (3DS); A great first step into truly bringing about a new generation of this almost two decade-old franchise. Framerate issues hamper exciting battle animations, and the narrative is probably its strangest yet, but it does a great job in welcoming returning players as well as enticing newcomers. X says that the newest entries could be potentially amazing.

x. The Wonderful 101 (Wii U); I am glad this game exists. It's very fun in concept, and incredibly amusing, though I let its more frustrating aspects get the best of me, and it can be very frustrating. It is absolutely a game to learn, and you may eventually be in sync with it, but I underestimated it.

x. Resogun (PS4); In the short time since the PlayStation 4 launched and even shorter time I have owned it, this new generation already has its Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. It is beautiful, and challenging. Existing on hardware capable of sharing information, scores, and overall social exposure, I find Resogun to put a great spin on the old-school kind of arcade competition.

x. The Stanley Parable (Mac); I invested an entire night to The Stanley Parable. I am still scratching my head as to what I just went through. I love the relationship between the narrator and player/Stanley. It's a hilarious and well-narrated tale of of autonomy, though I can't help but feel there is far more than meets the eye.

2012. Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360); Great environment design, with an incredibly strange and dare I say uneven plot. It is best played as a means of venting, creating chaos, as a tropical playground of madness.
 

CzarTim

Member
1. Bioshock Infinite ; Best art direction of the generation, engaging story, and fun-if-not-ground-breaking gameplay.
2. Path of Exile ; The game Diablo 3 should have been with the best F2P model this side of Dota 2.
3. Gunpoint ; A world that's fun to play around with, offering multiple solutions to most problems.
4. Outer Wilds ; Never before has a game about exploring provided such a pure sense of wonder. And it's free too!
5. Agricola ; Fantastic iOS board game.
6. Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World ; While still not perfect, this expansion fixes a lot of the problems with the base game.
7. DiveKick ; The only fighting game I've ever enjoyed.
8. SolForge ; Gameplay wise, I prefer this to Hearthstone, even if the presentation is lacking.
9. CardHunter ; Great browser based strategy game.
10. Puppeteer ; Endearing art style, and gameplay that's fun in short bursts.
2012. Fez ; Oddly, I enjoyed the pre-new game plus more, but still one of my most memorable of the year.
 

Vire

Member
Hey, hey hey hey. Hey.

Rounded. Corners.



Both of your lists are great, though, I'll concede that. It's great to see these games mentioned on there!

Year Walk
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Two Worlds
Gone Home
Anarchy Reigns

Haha, I liked yours also, don't worry. I think this is the best GOTY voting yet from GAF, lot's of effort is being put into each post.
 
1. The Last of Us ; An outstanding game. Not just my game of the year, but easily one in the top 3 for best of generation. Any game that manages to make me cry earns itself a special place on my list.

2. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; What is it about this game that compelled me to play hundreds of hours and platinum it? I don't really know! All I know is that it was probably the most fun I've had playing a game this year. Every time it's mentioned I fight the urge to go back and replay it. I love it even for all its faults.

3. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; My introduction to the Fire Emblem series couldn't have been sweeter. An addicting strategy RPG with lovable characters makes this one a winner. The pain of losing a character is rough.

4. Tales of Xillia ; It's no secret to those that know me that 'Tales of...' is my favourite JRPG franchise. Xillia kept me hooked to the end with its great combat system. While the story was filled with traditional JRPG tropes I can't help but be a sucker for those kinds of things. It's just so damn endearing!

5. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; My surprise hit of the year. After AC3 I was ready to stop playing AC games altogether, but boy am I glad I decided to pick this one up. The best pirate simulator!

6. The Stanley Parable ; Short and sweet. Impossible to describe. Absolutely hilarious.

7. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; Hard as balls, but incredibly rewarding. Still playing through this rather lengthy game, but every time I boot it up again I wonder why I haven't finished it yet. Very addicting.

8. Saints Row IV ; Best superhero game ever made? Probably so. It's balls to the walls ridiculous and it knows it. A game created to be as fun as possible. Loved it. Simply charged jump gliding around the city with "Promises" playing in the background is surprisingly fun.

9. BioShock Infinite ; Beautiful visuals, an intriguing storyline, and fun gameplay earns this a spot in my top ten. A great game all around, but still flawed.

10. Beyond: Two Souls ; Another surprise for me. An incredibly divisive game amongst critics. I'm one of the people that really enjoyed it. It was certainly a roller-coaster both story and quality-wise but at the end of the day the good parts were so good that I could easily overlook the bad. Some segments were very emotional for me in the best way. I'm not sure I've ever had such a power trip followed by remorse in a video game.

x. Tomb Raider ; Great game that I think is too harshly criticized for being different from earlier games in the franchise. Viewed on its own Tomb Raider was tons of fun and I really enjoyed my time with it from start to finish.

x. Resogun ; Best arcade game I played this year. Just got my platinum :)

x. Grand Theft Auto V ; Rockstar are clearly very good at what they do. GTAV is a marvel from a technical point of view - it blows my mind that this game is even able to run on the PS3 and XB360. Sadly the structure and gameplay of GTAV has always been a bit boring and felt really feature bloated to me, and I never enjoy them as much as I think I should be. For this reason GTAV did not make my top ten but more than deserves to be mentioned.

x. Splinter Cell: Blacklist ; A return to form in some ways for the series. Incredible level design allows for multiple styles of play. It's actually true this time!

x. Guacamelee ; Such a great metroidvania game. I had a lot of fun with this one.

x. Dragon's Crown ; An entertaining Diablo-meets-Vanillaware game. Quickly became repetitive to me but the initial play through was really great.

x. DmC: Devil May Cry ; Honestly one of the most criminally chastised games ever made. The combat system in this game is fantastic. While clearly different from previous DMC games, I think it's still a strong enough game to bear the franchise's name. This game, especially on NG+, is really quite excellent.

Games not considered since I have not played them yet (I'm excited to!):
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Tearaway
Ys: Memories of Celceta
Super Mario 3D World
 
My Top 10...

1. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; From the battlefield to the bedroom(?!?!), this game give you complete control. Endearing characters, engaging battles and addictive gameplay. The total SRPG package.
2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Bursting at the seams with content. Lose yourself completely and never regret one second.
3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies ; Proving that this series still has a lot to give, AA5 is a satisfying and heartrending journey that takes off from the word go.
4. Sweet Fuse: At Your Side ; Bolstered by vivid characters & artwork, a story that hooks you immediately and some fresh and breezy writing, Sweet Fuse has a lot of heart.
5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; A return to the zenith of the series, ALBW proves that top down, 2D Link is best Link. The absolutely incredible soundtrack doesn't hurt either.
6. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
7. Attack of the Friday Monsters
8. Shin Megami Tensei IV
9. Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland
10. The Starship Damrey

Honorable Mentions...

x. Tales of Xillia
x. Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
x. Pokémon X/Y
x. Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate
x. Spelunky
 

haikira

Member
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1. The Last of Us ;

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2. Super Mario World 3D ;

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3. Spelunky ;

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4. Tearaway ; This is a game where you poke, pinch, shake, use the camera and perform all manner of peculiar methods to interact with the game. Astoundingly though, none of it ever feels like a cheap gimmick and infact, it all works magnificently well. It's game, that's constantly introducing new gameplay mechanics, different forms of puzzles and a variety of scenery, always keeping the game fresh. It's an imaginative and fun experience, one that never wears out it's welcome and is a joy to play from start to finish.

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5. Metal Gear Rising ; In typical Platinum Games fashion, Rising features a story that doesn't take itself too seriously and is only concerned with being both entertaining and acting as a catalyst for the next instance of insanity. Also true to form, for a Platinum Games title, it's a rewarding experience, filled with subtle nuances to the combat and responsive control. I'd remiss not to mention the sometimes bothersome camera and the voice acting that goes beyond being so bad it's good, to just being bloody offensive. Metal Gear Rising perhaps Isn't Platinum Games best, but it's still an awesome title, one packed with astounding boss battles and it's a game that I'll be back to, again and again. Especially with a tasty PC port on the horizon.

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6. Grand Theft Auto 5 ;

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7. The Stanley Parable ; Immediately, I knew there was something special about this one, when stumbling on a choice between two doors, I was told by the narrator which I'd picked, before actually walking through one. "What should I do? Pick what the narrator has chosen for me, or disobey my supposed fate?" This choice was just the beginning though, of what's an intelligent, thought provoking and just plain hilarious game. A game that people just need to experience for themselves, as trying to describe exactly what the hell it is, wouldn't just be a disservice to the experience, it would be bloody difficult.

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8. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ; Unlike many of it's peers, Dragon's Dogma is an adventure game that truly feels exciting, thanks to a world that punishes ill prepared adventurers and feels genuinely dangerous. You also can't mention Dragon's Dogma, without talking about the truly epic battles with colossal monsters or the ingenious pawn system, which lets you trade companions with either friends or strangers.

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9. Rogue Legacy ; Just one more go! Honest.

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10. DmC ; Fantasticly stylized and varied visuals with a game that's ever eager to please. Perhaps not the series' best, but I think Ninja Theory done a commendable job with it, all things considered and they created something unique. Definitely a game that's been unfairly bashed and it's a shame we're probably not getting a sequel.

x. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ; Despite being hampered by a combat system and stealth mechanics, which both are beginning to feel very long in the tooth, this is a really fun game and a marked improvement over it's predecessor.

x. Bioshock Infinite ; Now this is a game, that in respect to the public's opinion, seems to have had a sudden and sharp turn. It's been lambasted as pretenious, unnecessarily violent, repetitive and being guilty of Ludonarrative dissonance, the last I disagree with. The rest, maybe not so much. But there's still a lot to love about the game and it's not too hard to remember why it was so well received upon release. It's a game that's truly beautiful, showing off some impressive art on an admittedly dated engine, the lead vocal performances are engaging and it features an interesting story, which started and ended with a bang. Bioshock Infinite perhaps isn't a great game, but it's a very good one.

x. Rayman Legends ;
 

cj_iwakura

Member
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1. Rune Factory 4 ; A good wholesome game about shipping

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2. Fire Emblem: Awakening ; A good wholesome game about shipping

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3. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; A good wholesome game about shipping

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4. Pokemon Y ; An unscrupulous game about slavery. Want emancipation

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This is the best format.
 
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