Megatron
Member
I held out to the last day to play a few more games before submitting my list. My top 6 were pretty clear cut. These were definitely my six favorite games of the year. After that it was much harder to choose from a large list of candidates.
3) Link Between Worlds ; When this game was announced, I was lukewarm to it. Sure, it was a successor to my favorite Zelda game of all, but the series had grown stale, Ive been enjoying the handheld games, but not loving them, havent even brought myself to finish Minish Cap and Spirit Tracks. The flattening element particularly looked like a tiresome gimmick reminiscent of shrinking in Minish Cap. When I got my hands on it at PAX Prime, my impression started to change. This was my game of the show along with Titanfall and I all of a sudden couldnt wait for this game to come. Im not one of the people who is floored by the rental system. Its fine, but I could take it or leave it. I do like the feeling of exploration again and the knowledge that I can get to almost anywhere and do almost anything if I think about it, and not be waiting for some predetermined event before I can access every area (which was my main complaint with Minish Cap and Spirit Tracks) And this is a little thing, but it was really nice that when I picked up my first rupee the game didnt stop and explain what a rupee was and what the different colors meant. This game was a start contrast with Nintendos recent games where they overload you with tutorials. Those were gone, we were just left with fun puzzles, a great environment and excellent gameplay.
6) Guacamelee ; The game started out seeming like a parody of Mexican and Videogaming culture. Which I suppose it is. But its also an incredibly fun Metroidvania title. Its a short game, I finished it in under 6 hours, because unlike some of the other games in the genre, it gives you a helpful map, identifying doors by colors, so you know where you were and which power you need to go. Some games have you returning to every area you couldnt go to every time you get a new power, which is tedious, I much preferred this method. Midway-to-later through the game actually evolves into a platforming puzzler as you use all the different abilities youve unlocked to get through tricky platforming sections which was really nice change of pace.
X: Super Mario 3D world ; Maybe Im just not far enough into the game (World 2) but so far Im not seeing why so many people are so crazy for this game. Ive played through the first world solo and with my girlfriend to see if the experience is more magical with co-op. Maybe Im just not far enough in, its not like this is a bad game, but its not really grabbing me either.
X: Pikmin 3 ; This is a game I wish Id played more of, but it came out at a busy time for me. Hopefully Ill be able to give it more time in the coming year.
X: Beyond 2 Souls ; Im only about halfway into this game, and still not sure exactly whats going on. I think if Id finished the game I might have it in my top 10, but as of right now, Its not there.
2012 game: Uncharted: Golden Abyss I was very skeptical of this game at first, it seemed like a very limited game, but as I went forward that feeling melted away and it started to feel like a true Uncharted experience on the Vita. This game became my first and only platinum trophy as well.
1) The Last of Us ; It was quite a feat for this to be my favorite game of the year, because this isnt my favorite genre. Im someone who has to restart if he takes too much damage or wastes too much ammo which can make games like this stressful and frustrating. When I initially played it I was captivated by the prologue and really interested to see the relationship between Joel and Ellie evolve. I stopped playing for a few months due to the aforementioned frustrations, but when I came back to it, those concerns melted away and I was captivated. The further into the game you get the more fascinating and compelling it is. Im not usually someone who cares about story in videogames but this game kind of pointed out to me that thats because the story in most games is garbage. When you can add a really compelling story onto a technically marvelous game, it can be magical. This game really felt like the spiritual successor to Resident Evil 4 to me, just a phenomenal effort.
2) Bioshock Infinite ; This and the Last of Us are pretty much tied for me for game of the year, I gave the slight edge to the Last of Us, thanks partially to being a new IP. I didnt find the story in Bioshock AS compelling as in the Last of Us, but it was still a terrific story. After I finished the game I had to spend hours on the internet reading and discussing what that ending meant. And when my friends finished the game, we had a lot of fun discussing our theories and experiences. Not a lot of games can evoke that kind of reaction. I loved the gameplay, particularly the skyhook, and pairing it up with Winters Shield and some of the other gear combinations to make myself virtually an unstoppable juggernaut.
3) Link Between Worlds ; When this game was announced, I was lukewarm to it. Sure, it was a successor to my favorite Zelda game of all, but the series had grown stale, Ive been enjoying the handheld games, but not loving them, havent even brought myself to finish Minish Cap and Spirit Tracks. The flattening element particularly looked like a tiresome gimmick reminiscent of shrinking in Minish Cap. When I got my hands on it at PAX Prime, my impression started to change. This was my game of the show along with Titanfall and I all of a sudden couldnt wait for this game to come. Im not one of the people who is floored by the rental system. Its fine, but I could take it or leave it. I do like the feeling of exploration again and the knowledge that I can get to almost anywhere and do almost anything if I think about it, and not be waiting for some predetermined event before I can access every area (which was my main complaint with Minish Cap and Spirit Tracks) And this is a little thing, but it was really nice that when I picked up my first rupee the game didnt stop and explain what a rupee was and what the different colors meant. This game was a start contrast with Nintendos recent games where they overload you with tutorials. Those were gone, we were just left with fun puzzles, a great environment and excellent gameplay.
4) Ni No Kuni ; I look at this as the spiritual successor to Dragon Quest 8. Its made by the same team, with a heavy focus on an anime look, has a monster-capturing aspect and is a very traditional turn based RPG. So of course I was going to love this, and I did. The complaints about my other teammates having bad AI never bothered me, Im the one playing the game, I dont want to let my teammates fight everything for me while I just watch the cut scenes. This was my favorite RPG in years.
5) Tomb Raider ; Its funny, when Uncharted come out, everyone accused that game of ripping off Tomb Raider. When this game came out, everyone accused it of ripping off Uncharted. They are similar, which is completely fine with me, as they are some of my favorite types of games right now. I found the story completely disposable, it was just a vehicle to put me in situations to fight and get new weapons. But the gameplay and the combat were so much fun, particularly using the bow.
6) Guacamelee ; The game started out seeming like a parody of Mexican and Videogaming culture. Which I suppose it is. But its also an incredibly fun Metroidvania title. Its a short game, I finished it in under 6 hours, because unlike some of the other games in the genre, it gives you a helpful map, identifying doors by colors, so you know where you were and which power you need to go. Some games have you returning to every area you couldnt go to every time you get a new power, which is tedious, I much preferred this method. Midway-to-later through the game actually evolves into a platforming puzzler as you use all the different abilities youve unlocked to get through tricky platforming sections which was really nice change of pace.
7) Ys Memories of Celcetta ; My first Ys game. I think this game was plagued by a bad release date and terrible box art, but its a terrific game, and really should be experienced by more people. Its always surprised me that the overhead Zelda style wasnt copied by more games, its produced so many classic games. I havent finished this game yet, but its one of those that I cant put down and I keep going with. It will probably lead me to check out some of the other Ys games.
8) Gears of War: Judgement While its true the Gears series is getting too formulaic, and this is not the best entry in the series, I still poured hours into it and really enjoyed my time with it, both playing the campaign through with friends, and the multiplayer. I liked the changes that People Can Fly brought to the game, and I really thought they helped mix things up. The sales the game got tells me these changes may not carry over into Gears 4, but I think people were just tired of the series and needed a break. Not making this Gears 4 surely didnt help perceptions either.
9) Rayman Legends ; Rayman Origins was my game of the year in 2011, so I was incredibly excited to get my hands on this. I think for me, the controversial decision to move the game to September so it could come out on other systems really hurt my perception of the game, because I got it for 360 (and Vita) instead of the WiiU for achievements and trophies, and the game is clearly designed for the WiiU. The Murphy levels are the games big weakness. They are fun enough diversions on the Vita, but having to try to force this non-playable character to pick up 600 lums and rescue all the teensies gets very tedious. The game is still very good, but it does seem like a bit of a letdown from the greatness of Origins.
10) Animal Crossing: New Leaf ; Its hard for me to put an Animal Crossing in my top 10, because they never feel like new games. This game felt the most like a new game since the Gamecube original. I thought the mayoral duties added a lot to the game. When the game first came out I got very, very addicted the way I always do with a new AC game. I put in 206 hours into it, which is ludicrous for me in this day and age.
X: Super Mario 3D world ; Maybe Im just not far enough into the game (World 2) but so far Im not seeing why so many people are so crazy for this game. Ive played through the first world solo and with my girlfriend to see if the experience is more magical with co-op. Maybe Im just not far enough in, its not like this is a bad game, but its not really grabbing me either.
X: Pikmin 3 ; This is a game I wish Id played more of, but it came out at a busy time for me. Hopefully Ill be able to give it more time in the coming year.
X: Beyond 2 Souls ; Im only about halfway into this game, and still not sure exactly whats going on. I think if Id finished the game I might have it in my top 10, but as of right now, Its not there.
2012 game: Uncharted: Golden Abyss I was very skeptical of this game at first, it seemed like a very limited game, but as I went forward that feeling melted away and it started to feel like a true Uncharted experience on the Vita. This game became my first and only platinum trophy as well.