charlequin
Banned
Alright, let's do this.
1. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; There were a lot of games I enjoyed quite a bit this year, but when it came down to which one would take the top spot there was really only one choice. I know a lot of us thought we might never see another entry in this series at all, much less one that lived up to the standards of its predecessors. With this game, Atlus didn't just recapture what was great about Megaten in the first place; they did it with a new team and a surprisingly progressive design. In a year where there seemed to be near-universal agreement about the downfall of Japanese development, SMT4 points to what was so great about it in the first place: excellent combat, beautiful design, an expansive world, and a philosophical story to tie it all together. Of all the games on this list, this is the one I know I'll be going back to over and over again.
2. The Stanley Parable ; Videogames, at a certain level, are built on a paradox; a medium whose fundamental strength is interaction, but its bounds are constrained by what the creators choose to put into the game. The best games find a way to carefully balance this problem; the Stanley Parable smashes through it with a sledgehammer. For anyone who's ever been annoyed at a shoehorned set of "moral" "choices," or swore about the half-assed "story" in a AAA game, Stanley has your back. The cleverness of this game is almost impossible to describe; the best thing to do is simply dive in and experience it yourself. (P.S.: EIGHT.)
3. Gone Home ; A lot of what's been said about this game doesn't quite fit for me. It's not revolutionary; it's not a clever satire of game storytelling (look above for that.) What Gone Home is, though, is shockingly well-realized, naturalistic storytelling of a type that's quite rare in gaming. Gone Home is short, but perfectly paced and expertly designed; it provides a window into the lives of its characters in a way that's only possible in an interactive format. For anyone who wants to pore over the artifacts of an unknown setting, to extract meaning from subtle details, this is pretty much a perfect game.
4. The Swapper ; The first thing that strikes you about this game is the carefully-cultivated resemblance to Metroid. But instead of an action yarn about monsters and pirates, this game delivers a moody, cerebral meditation on the nature of thought -- wrapped around the set of clever, brain-twisting spatial puzzles that the swapping mechanic makes possible. The puzzles will make you think through pretzels, but every one has an elegant soluton that'll make you slap your forehead once you figure it out, and the game blazes through the possibilities and finishes up before it gets old.
5. Rogue Legacy ; I actually agree with many of the criticisms of the game: it's kind of shallow, it's a little unbalanced, it's overly long, and it gets grindy. But despite all that, I just kept finding myself drawn back to this game, thinking about it when I wasn't playing, spending time beating my head against bosses, staying up too late doing just one more run. This game is a perfect, accessible introduction to rogue-lite mechanics and a great way to get a Castlevania fix.
6. Pikmin 3 ; I've been a fan of Pikmin since the beginning, but each of the previous games had issues: Pikmin's aggressive time limit made playing it stressful, while Pikmin 2's dungeons made it drag on and left the game with too many tedious segments. Pikmin 3 is a perfect midpoint between the two: a more forgiving time limit and a better-designed set of objectives, combined with new mechanical improvements, make it the best-playing and most enjoyable game in the franchise.
7. Etrian Odyssey IV ; At this point Atlus has gotten the EO franchise down to a science: manually mapped dungeons, F.O.E. encounters, a minimalist story with a twist.... The fourth entry doesn't bring much new stuff to the table, but instead just focuses on streamlining and polishing what's already there. What that gets us is the entry I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone who wanted to get into these games, and one that chewed up about 100 hours of my time.
8. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; In a year with so many art games, what actually surprised me the most about this one was how solid the game mechanics were. "Each half of your controller controls a different person" is a simple idea, but the game makes excellent use of it, carefully exploring the puzzle potential in a way that feels natural and elegant. Plus, this game is absolutely gorgeous, with a fairy-tale presentation that is simply stunning.
9. Papers, Please ; More than any other game I played in 2013, Papers, Please is the one to really challenge my preconceptions of what gameplay could actually be. The challenge of sorting through paperwork starts easy, but as the game expands the challenge of juggling every rule and restriction starts to get really stressful as you fight against the clock to clear immigrants an earn money for your family. The story is minimalist, but that's exactly what makes it so easy to insert yourself into the scenario.
10. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ; After a disappointing entry and the specter of the 3DS transition, I was approaching this game with a sense of trepidation, but I was quite happy with what we got. Dual Destinies preserved the charm of the older games, and the story even rehabilitates Apollo Justice with its new ensemble cast approach. Beyond that it's the same legal goodness that the franchise is known for -- but more Ace Attorney is plenty good to squeeze into the last spot on my list.
x. Super Mario 3D World ; It's no Super Mario Galaxy, but it's still quite good.
x. Guacamelee ; This was actually a surprise. The "jokes" in this game hit with a big clang, but the visual design is stunning and the gameplay is rock-solid, with platforming and combat that flow perfectly and great level design that doesn't wear out its welcome.
2012. Hotline Miami ; At this point I don't think there's much more to say about this game that hasn't already been said: the psychedelic visuals, the precision ultraviolence, the incredible soundtrack. Everyone should play this.
1. Shin Megami Tensei IV ; There were a lot of games I enjoyed quite a bit this year, but when it came down to which one would take the top spot there was really only one choice. I know a lot of us thought we might never see another entry in this series at all, much less one that lived up to the standards of its predecessors. With this game, Atlus didn't just recapture what was great about Megaten in the first place; they did it with a new team and a surprisingly progressive design. In a year where there seemed to be near-universal agreement about the downfall of Japanese development, SMT4 points to what was so great about it in the first place: excellent combat, beautiful design, an expansive world, and a philosophical story to tie it all together. Of all the games on this list, this is the one I know I'll be going back to over and over again.
2. The Stanley Parable ; Videogames, at a certain level, are built on a paradox; a medium whose fundamental strength is interaction, but its bounds are constrained by what the creators choose to put into the game. The best games find a way to carefully balance this problem; the Stanley Parable smashes through it with a sledgehammer. For anyone who's ever been annoyed at a shoehorned set of "moral" "choices," or swore about the half-assed "story" in a AAA game, Stanley has your back. The cleverness of this game is almost impossible to describe; the best thing to do is simply dive in and experience it yourself. (P.S.: EIGHT.)
3. Gone Home ; A lot of what's been said about this game doesn't quite fit for me. It's not revolutionary; it's not a clever satire of game storytelling (look above for that.) What Gone Home is, though, is shockingly well-realized, naturalistic storytelling of a type that's quite rare in gaming. Gone Home is short, but perfectly paced and expertly designed; it provides a window into the lives of its characters in a way that's only possible in an interactive format. For anyone who wants to pore over the artifacts of an unknown setting, to extract meaning from subtle details, this is pretty much a perfect game.
4. The Swapper ; The first thing that strikes you about this game is the carefully-cultivated resemblance to Metroid. But instead of an action yarn about monsters and pirates, this game delivers a moody, cerebral meditation on the nature of thought -- wrapped around the set of clever, brain-twisting spatial puzzles that the swapping mechanic makes possible. The puzzles will make you think through pretzels, but every one has an elegant soluton that'll make you slap your forehead once you figure it out, and the game blazes through the possibilities and finishes up before it gets old.
5. Rogue Legacy ; I actually agree with many of the criticisms of the game: it's kind of shallow, it's a little unbalanced, it's overly long, and it gets grindy. But despite all that, I just kept finding myself drawn back to this game, thinking about it when I wasn't playing, spending time beating my head against bosses, staying up too late doing just one more run. This game is a perfect, accessible introduction to rogue-lite mechanics and a great way to get a Castlevania fix.
6. Pikmin 3 ; I've been a fan of Pikmin since the beginning, but each of the previous games had issues: Pikmin's aggressive time limit made playing it stressful, while Pikmin 2's dungeons made it drag on and left the game with too many tedious segments. Pikmin 3 is a perfect midpoint between the two: a more forgiving time limit and a better-designed set of objectives, combined with new mechanical improvements, make it the best-playing and most enjoyable game in the franchise.
7. Etrian Odyssey IV ; At this point Atlus has gotten the EO franchise down to a science: manually mapped dungeons, F.O.E. encounters, a minimalist story with a twist.... The fourth entry doesn't bring much new stuff to the table, but instead just focuses on streamlining and polishing what's already there. What that gets us is the entry I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone who wanted to get into these games, and one that chewed up about 100 hours of my time.
8. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ; In a year with so many art games, what actually surprised me the most about this one was how solid the game mechanics were. "Each half of your controller controls a different person" is a simple idea, but the game makes excellent use of it, carefully exploring the puzzle potential in a way that feels natural and elegant. Plus, this game is absolutely gorgeous, with a fairy-tale presentation that is simply stunning.
9. Papers, Please ; More than any other game I played in 2013, Papers, Please is the one to really challenge my preconceptions of what gameplay could actually be. The challenge of sorting through paperwork starts easy, but as the game expands the challenge of juggling every rule and restriction starts to get really stressful as you fight against the clock to clear immigrants an earn money for your family. The story is minimalist, but that's exactly what makes it so easy to insert yourself into the scenario.
10. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies ; After a disappointing entry and the specter of the 3DS transition, I was approaching this game with a sense of trepidation, but I was quite happy with what we got. Dual Destinies preserved the charm of the older games, and the story even rehabilitates Apollo Justice with its new ensemble cast approach. Beyond that it's the same legal goodness that the franchise is known for -- but more Ace Attorney is plenty good to squeeze into the last spot on my list.
x. Super Mario 3D World ; It's no Super Mario Galaxy, but it's still quite good.
x. Guacamelee ; This was actually a surprise. The "jokes" in this game hit with a big clang, but the visual design is stunning and the gameplay is rock-solid, with platforming and combat that flow perfectly and great level design that doesn't wear out its welcome.
2012. Hotline Miami ; At this point I don't think there's much more to say about this game that hasn't already been said: the psychedelic visuals, the precision ultraviolence, the incredible soundtrack. Everyone should play this.