Here's my list! (Now with pictures -- thanks Wikipedia!)
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ; To put it in
Breaking Bad terms: ALBW is "99.1 percent pure." Pure pacing. Pure mechanics. Pure design. Pure craftsmanship. Even in 2013, one of gaming's finest years, ALBW is so pure that every other game feels a shade
less by comparison. The zen-like flow of the game is immediate -- satisfying at the most basic level of leaping off ledges in stereo 3D and attacking at a fluid 60 FPS. All of the pacing issues that plagued the last four Zelda games have been filtered out and expunged. What remains is a gem of a game that gives you the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want; a game that has faith in you to figure out things on your own; an infectiously fun adventure, both freewheeling and focused; a game that respects your time and intelligence.
Superficially, it revisits the world of its SNES predecessor... But I have no nostalgia for that game. Rather, ALBW wins me over on its own merits -- not the least of which is the wall-merging mechanic, the best Zelda "gimmick" since the 72-hour cycle of Majora's Mask, and no gimmick at all, since it completely changes the way you approach the dungeons and overworld. Along with the freedom afforded by having (nearly) the entire toolkit from the start, the wheel has been reinvented, the formula refreshed. ALBW creates a buzz like none other, as though you're being intravenously fed pure gaming
bliss. Nintendo clearly applied themselves here. Walter White would be proud.
2. The Last of Us ; One of the greatest strengths of The Last of Us is its excellent narrative. Impeccably shot and beautifully paced, the presentation has admirable restraint, exemplified by a sparse soundtrack and understated performances by actors who express more in what they
don't say than what they do. It's a game of great subtlety, where more is inferred than flat-out told, and where long stretches of peace and tranquility are punctuated by incredible brutality -- displays of bloodshed made all the more striking for the quiet that came before. And yet, the violence never feels gratuitous, and it never distracts from the human heart at the core of the tale.
This narrative strength is also the game's greatest curse: There has been so much talk of the game's cinematic qualities that it has overshadowed the equally sublime gameplay. The industry loves to laud the cinematic qualities of games, but to only focus on such with TLoU is to do a disservice to one of the tightest-controlling third-person stealth games on the market. Joel can effortlessly climb through a window and segue straight into cover without ever feeling restricted by his cover. The animation blending and responsive controls convey every firm footstep Joel takes as he crouch-walks around a corner, steadying his hand on the wall. It's a delicate balancing act of making the player feel vulnerable yet empowered. Joel will be knocked to the ground with obliterating force if he opens himself to enemy fire, but moving swiftly and silently allows him to ambush foes with shivs and firebombs cobbled together from supplies. And each takedown is an exquisite release of adrenaline and emotion.
These semi-frequent encounters play out like clockwork constructs, with multiple rooms and floors and numerous ways in and out of each. Enemy AI is highly reactive, and clearly telegraph their patrols without becoming entirely predictable. The game feels fair, never frustrating -- a feat in itself -- and it still creates a harrowing experience where every move has weight. And framing each of these encounters are prolonged cool-down sequences where you bask in the environmental detail and character banter, scouring for supplies and figuring out how to get from one point to another. It's all done with supreme confidence, making for the best-paced console game since Resident Evil 4.
3. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; The "rule of cool" is in full effect here. Mere minutes into the game, Raiden the cyborg ninja stands his ground against a Godzilla-sized robot, grabs its sword-arm, throws it into the stratosphere, and leaps into the sky after it. He lands on the tip of the sword-arm, while the robot is still tumbling through the air, and runs up to its shoulder, slicing and dicing all the way. All in perfect synchronization to the music, of course. And when Raiden falls back to earth, he doesn't turn to look at the ensuing explosion. After all, cool guys
never look at explosions. Duh!
This game is full of moments like that -- a relentless parade of empowering acts, all matter-of-fact and unapologetic in how
cool they are. Some are triggered by quick-time events, but PlatinumGames has its priorities straight, and the game never plays itself. Each QTE bookends a rigorous workout of the game's mechanics -- and its mechanics are
masterful. Perhaps the greatest revelation is the game's minimalist approach to blocking and dodging. You're encouraged to abide by the mantra, "A good offense is a good defense," negating force with force by pushing
toward incoming attacks and attacking yourself. This allows you to stop even the most overwhelming of attacks. If that Godzilla-sized robot tries to stomp on you, you push back, and you
strike. If an enemy cyborg uses its powers of magnetism to amass a pile of debris the size of a parking garage and throws it your way, you push back, and you
strike.
These mechanics shine brightest in the one-on-one confrontations against cyborg opponents. The sensation of steel-on-steel swordplay is incredibly tactile, and the stakes are heightened by the escalating explosions, the wild tricks each boss has up their sleeve, and the layered music
where the lyrics kick in at just the right moment. The game also honors the detailed world-building of the Metal Gear universe, but keeps the codec calls optional and the cutscenes skippable. The whole package comes together splendidly, and once again, PlatinumGames proves they're the best in the world at what they do.
4. Fire Emblem Awakening ; Everything in Fire Emblem Awakening is so
snappy! Seriously, this game is smooth as silk, from the succinct tutorials handsomely arranged on the lower screen, to the clutter-free fashion in which the game conveys everything you need to know without ever slowing the pace or feeling overwhelming. This is one incredibly confident SRPG, all of the elements clicking together like clockwork. It is also my first foray into the world of Fire Emblem, thanks to the inclusion of Casual Mode, where any fallen units are revived at the end of each level. Purists will say this waters down the experience, but playing in Casual Mode on Normal difficulty was plenty fulfilling. I cared about the characters enough to try and prevent them from falling in the first place, but should the RNG (random number generator) make things turn for the worse, my party of characters -- so many of them, and all unique! -- would still be available for me to play matchmaker and see what relationships (and children!) result.
There is so much to love in this game: The top-notch localization by 8-4; the dynamic soundtrack that changes in and out of battle and includes
some of the best tracks this generation; the beautifully animated battles you can speed up for a strong sense of impact; the top-notch character portraits (I love virtually every design in the game and can stare at the art all day); the sheer variety of scenarios in the missions and paralogues; the brilliant Pair Up mechanic and Support dialogues; the subtle but striking use of 3D on the maps, where deep gorges gave me a sense of vertigo and birds in the sky made me think fruit flies were buzzing around my 3DS -- it all adds up to one of the finest portable gaming experiences ever, one that would easily hold its own in any format.
5. Super Mario 3D World ; "Density of ideas," and "polished to a shine." These phrases kept running through my mind while playing 3D World. The polish is evident in every immaculately clean, candy-coated surface -- so textured you want to touch it; so bright and colorful you can practically
taste it. Coupled with the buoyant animations, and invigorated by the incredible soundtrack, which swings effortlessly from
big band to Japanese folk and back again, the audiovisual package is so
complete that this WiiU game honestly feels a step beyond its HD contemporaries (PS3 and 360), and frankly looks and sounds more enticing than anything currently available for PS4 and Xbone. That alone is an accomplishment for a company not typically associated with the superficial aspects of a game.
But then there's the "density of ideas," an economy of design where one fresh idea peels back to reveal another, and another, and
another -- an endless series of hat tricks, all clever and confidently crafted. Perhaps the most impressive part is how well they translate to multiplayer. When some friends and I got together for four-player fun last weekend, it clicked in a way that multiplayer NSMB never did. Affording players the extra space of 3D makes it that much easier to move around, even for players who (like my friends) don't typically play videogames. I have a new appreciation for the run button and flagpole -- it was a familiar language for my friends, calling back to their 8-bit days. It allowed them to pick up the game quick, while the 3D space gave them room for error, even on the more intricate courses. Hilarity ensued -- one friend kept stealing the Ice Skates, while another kept destroying the Double Cherry clones, calling them "unnatural." Moments like these are why Nintendo is so special.
6. BioShock Infinite ; I played through BioShock Infinite twice. It's rare for me to play through games multiple times these days. It's even rarer for me to enjoy the game just as much the second time as the first. Some people experienced cognitive dissonance with this game, where they couldn't reconcile its gameplay and its narrative. But I never had this problem. To me, Infinite has always been a
game, first and foremost. It's an incredibly solid shooter, where the gunplay is weighty and precise -- so much so that I can reliably shoot from the hip and nail headshots on a semi-regular basis. It's a shooter where sprinting and jumping has just the right sense of speed and athleticism, where the ziplines allow you to close great distances and scale dizzying heights in the blink of an eye. There are tears in the fabric of space-time that allow you to modify the terrain at will -- a sniper perch here; some cover there -- and then there are the
vigors, criminally overlooked by so many players. Experiment with these superpowers, and every encounter will be exciting.
The shooting is just one part of the gameplay loop, of course. The looting remains as addictive as ever, the player scouring every nook and cranny for supplies to keep their weapons full and their character strong. And the looting, in turn, keeps you busy while you enjoy the sights and sounds. As the 1,500+ screenshots I took will attest (
you can see a sample of them HERE), the game world is well-worth your time and appreciation. I literally could not stop moving forward when I arrived in Columbia, even though I had planned to just "take a peek" and then return to my backlog. And that ending? The best finale since 999. The more I mulled it over in the spoiler thread, the more I was convinced of its brilliance. Individually, its ideas have been done before, but they all come together so beautifully here, and with such
heart. A game I didn't expect to deliver, but that delivered in spades.
7. The Wonderful 101 ; Of all the games on my list, this one easily has the steepest learning curve. I had to play the demo three or four times before it clicked. The full game does a better job of easing you into the action, but even then, this is one complex game! The sheer number of options available to you in combat is
staggering. In time, you learn to "draw" the shapes for the different attacks with quick flicks of the right stick or touchscreen -- motions similar to a competitive fighting game -- and this allows you to modify the range and power of your moves on the fly. It's a richly rewarding game to play, because you
will get better. In this way it reminds me of Resident Evil 6, one of my favorite games last year.
TW101 is also the most
exhausting game on the list. It relentlessly throws new challenges at you, with the creative zeal of a madman who clearly has too many ideas in his head, and precious little restraint. Each situation is more absurd and over-the-top than the last. The sense of scale is astounding at times -- running along the back of a mile-long serpent, or battling one boss on top of another. And yet, even with all the frenetic action onscreen -- the kind that would be indecipherable to onlookers -- you remain in control. You just have to be willing to learn, and to go with the flow.
I am a couple chapters from the end of this game, and I'm sure I'd be even more hyped after finishing it. But like I said earlier, the game is exhausting. I don't find it compelling to the same degree as, say, Metal Gear Rising, where the action is more immediate due to the closer camera -- but TW101 is without a doubt one of the best games this year. And
definitely a contender for "Most Content-Packed Action Game!"
8. Pikmin 3 ; Miyamoto once said this may be one of his greatest games. And he may be right! It's all in the pitch-perfect
pressure the game exerts on the player. The first Pikmin overdid it with the strict 30-day limit, stifling the player's willingness to explore. The second game then went too far in the opposite direction, removing any incentive to hustle at all. Pikmin 3 finally achieves the best of both worlds: The more fruit you gather, the longer your stay, but there's no hard cap on the number of days, and should you run out of fruit, you can always revisit a previous day to try things differently. In the interest of forward momentum, though, you'll find yourself endeavoring to avoid this crutch -- and when you complete a task, however big or small, the accomplishment will feel that much more rewarding. Pikmin 3 exemplifies the simple thrill of task mastery and a productive day's work -- and it looks downright gorgeous at the same time. Screens don't do it justice. And words can't capture the feeling of hauling back multiple fruits to the ship and then surveying your spoils at the end of the day.
9. Puppeteer ; All the way up to its release, I worried that Puppeteer would be "floaty" like LittleBigPlanet, even though the two games are developed by different studios. But all worries were cast aside as soon as I took control of Kutaro. He is fast -- fast to run, fast to roll, fast to jump, fast to fall. He hits the apex of his jump a short distance up and then immediately returns to Earth, with enough air control to retrace his jump trajectory, if you so wish. But there is nothing "floaty" about the way Kutaro handles. The controls in Puppeteer are tight, tight, tight -- right down to the snappy roll that is highly reminiscent of the roll in Donkey Kong Country Returns. And speaking of DKC, this game's audiovisual presentation reminds me very much of DKC2, from the shadow-drenched landscapes and neon colors that call to mind Crocodile Isle,
to the score by film composer Patrick Doyle that is by turns epic, haunting, foreboding and whimsical. The way the sets dynamically transform, sliding together and apart, with new pieces clunking into place, is a sight to behold, each piece lovingly handcrafted, and seemingly no assets used twice. The narration is top-notch, by far and away some of the best writing and acting in the industry. And while there are (skippable) interludes to break up the action here and there, the core gameplay is just as tight as Kutaro's movement, getting tremendous mileage out of his scissors, grappling hook and other special abilities. The game is not meant to be a platformer you barrel through at a breakneck pace like Mario or Rayman; rather, it is more thoughtful and deliberative, with a point-and-click element via the right stick, and gadget-based puzzle-solving that would be right at home in a Zelda dungeon, albeit here they're strung along linear platform stages, and meant merely for progression. It all comes together in a very complete and satisfying way, with a fantastic finale and resolution.
10. Anarchy Reigns ; One of the best multiplayer games EVER. Solid in single-player, too... But it's a crying shame the online scene was a ghost town mere months after the U.S. release. Still, those months were packed full of great times. Hosting a 16-player Battle Royale as my main man, Big Bull, and then taking a launch pad to the top of a skyscraper and cleaning someone's clock with a rocket-powered sledgehammer is the very essence of this hobby and why it's so FUN. PlatinumGames has crafted a most remarkable brawler, full of colorful characters that would each be great leads in a stylish character action game. To have them all together in one game is just too much! And the soundtrack, comprising all-original hip-hop and rap tracks from a number of artists, is not only tonally and thematically appropriate,
but also legitimately good listening -- the Anarchy Reigns OST was my car CD of choice for the better half of the year. What a game!
x. Grand Theft Auto V
x. Pokemon X and Pokemon Y
x. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
x. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
x. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
x. Rayman Legends
