The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Game of the Year 2013 Poll [VOTE HERE]
mcc
glitchRegistered User, ClubPA regular
glitchRegistered User, ClubPA regular
So every year since 2004 I have been doing a Game of the Year poll on this forum. And here's the poll for 2013:
Vote here
This is the tenth time we have done this!
There are a lot of Game of the Year polls out there, but the thing that makes this one interesting (in my opinion) is that although most GOTY polls just give you a list of maybe five of the best-selling games from the last year, and ask you to choose your favorite; THIS poll gives you a list of EVERY game that came out in the last year (more or less) and asks you to vote for [up to] your top 20, ranked by how much you liked them. Here's last year's poll results if you want to see how this works. We actually wind up with a serviceable ranking of the top hundred or so games from the last year, with blockbusters, obscurities and cult hits mixed in side by side.
The poll is going up a *little* late this year; it's the evening of Jan 5 right now, so I'll run until the evening of Jan 12 and then post the results.
Thanks everyone for the help with this poll!
(By the way, if you feel like using this thread to post how you voted, the last page of the poll script spits out what you voted for.)
Vote here
This is the tenth time we have done this!
There are a lot of Game of the Year polls out there, but the thing that makes this one interesting (in my opinion) is that although most GOTY polls just give you a list of maybe five of the best-selling games from the last year, and ask you to choose your favorite; THIS poll gives you a list of EVERY game that came out in the last year (more or less) and asks you to vote for [up to] your top 20, ranked by how much you liked them. Here's last year's poll results if you want to see how this works. We actually wind up with a serviceable ranking of the top hundred or so games from the last year, with blockbusters, obscurities and cult hits mixed in side by side.
The poll is going up a *little* late this year; it's the evening of Jan 5 right now, so I'll run until the evening of Jan 12 and then post the results.
Thanks everyone for the help with this poll!
(By the way, if you feel like using this thread to post how you voted, the last page of the poll script spits out what you voted for.)
+39
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Thanks! You voted for:
1. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC)
2. The Stanley Parable (PC)
3. Dota 2 (PC)
4. Batman: Arkham Origins (360, PC, PS3)
5. InFlux (PC)
6. Euro Truck Simulator 2 (PC)
7. Papers, Please (PC)
8. Strike Suit Zero (PC)
9. Bioshock Infinite (360, PC, PS3)
10. Slender: The Arrival (PC)
11. Surgeon Simulator 2013 (PC)
There was some game I played earlier this year where you play as a ghost and you possess people to ask other people in this hotel questions. You possess a little girl to ask the secretive person who won't talk to a cop, you possess the cop to demand answers from people who fear authority, etc.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
Thanks! You voted for:
1. Monaco: What's Yours is Mine (360*, PC)
2. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PC, PS3, PS4, WiiU, XB1) (how did no one nominate this already
3. Shadowrun Returns (Android, PC, iOS)
4. Long Live the Queen (PC)
5. Salty Bet (PC)
6. Euro Truck Simulator 2 (PC)
7. Penny Arcade's On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 (PC, 360*)
8. Westerado (PC)
9. SolForge (iOS, PC)
10. Geoguesser (PC)
11. Marvel Heroes (PC)
12. You Will Select a Decision, No. 2: Cow Farming Activities on the Former West (PC)
13. SUPERHOT (PC)
14. Cookie Clicker (PC)
15. Candy Box (PC)
16. A Dark Room (iOS, PC)
17. Simian.interface (PC)
18. SimCity (PC)
1. Last of Us – It seems like everyone likes the story, and the big question is whether or not the methodical, violent, stealthy brand of third person shooter with a bit of scavenging works for you or not. Personally, I loved it and found the game to be fantastic top to bottom: gameplay, music, visuals, art, writing, acting…I really don’t have any meaningful complaints. Best ending in a game! Best use of Nolan North since after we got kind of sick of Nathan Drake in everything! Most subtly, least stereotypically gay character! Complex relationship between lead characters that are far more nuanced and don’t fit into the usual “simply buddies,” “romantic interest,” “useless escort object” or even “frienemies”…there’s just so much to offer in the story, and it doesn’t hurt that the gameplay is tense and rewards methodical, thoughtful approaches to enemy encounters. Having to scavenge for supplies in the harder difficulties really scratches an itch that never seemed to be taken care of by anything but crazy janky eastern European games, but here it is in a platform’s flagship title. Last but not least: holy hell, that ending.
It’s probably silly to go about declaring a fairly new game your favorite of all time, but this just may be the one for me.
2. Tomb Raider- This really took me by surprise. The environments are beautiful, there’s a satisfying RPG leveling up system for you and your guns, and, if you can forgive some of that buzzword “ludo-narrative dissonance” in the number of guys Lara kills during gameplay, this is a really solid reboot of the character that is really pleasant to spend a game with. No more stupid lines like “now to take get out of these clothes and take a hot shower,” no more swimming in sub-zero water in a slim revealing swimsuit, no more super short shorts…just a humanly vulnerable but not in a pandering kind of way, intelligent, capable Lara Croft. Some seem to take issue with the fact that she is still very much designed to be easy on the eyes, but…I don’t believe that being a feminist dictates the complete removal of all enjoyment of the female form, and I’ll go ahead and admit that Lara’s attractiveness is a small part of the fun here for me. I wish there were more puzzles and tomb raiding, but don’t let rose tinted glasses fool you--most of the puzzles in the old games were bullshit “wander around and find a bunch of cogs/levers and just keep moving forward and do what obviously needs doing next.” I can see why this is not some people’s bag, and to some degree this is guilty pleasure for me, but this game really, really clicked for me. A game with rock solid action mechanics about someone being stuck in a really hostile environment with crazy locals and traps with nods to survival horror themes and set pieces, and with a weird but oddly compelling upgrade system…this is in a lot of ways the Resident Evil 5 we should have gotten.
3. Ni No Kuni – Yeah, the pacing could use more hustle and there are way too many bullshit “broken hearted” fetch quests…but nonetheless, the beautiful Ghibli art, stunning music, and rock solid gameplay that neither holds your hand for as long as FFXIII nor tries to crush any fun you might have with it (worst parts of Dark Souls style), and a simple but solid story whose child-friendly story book sensibilities keeps out the eye-rolling, poorly written/translated teen angst and sexualization of creepily young characters that seems to be dominating modern anime, JRPGs, and general Japanese nerd culture in recent years. It’s still cliché as hell, but that Ghilbliness sells it. As someone who just couldn’t get into Xenoblade and doesn’t game on portables anymore, this was the first RPG I’ve really fallen in love in with for the better part of a decade. I miss them, so that counts for a lot.
4. Pikmin 3-That last escort bit kind of sucked, but this game is beautiful, charming, with gameplay that rewards thoughtfulness without being overbearingly punishing when you just want to go on cruise control for a bit. Pikmin has every bit of the wonder and whimsy of Nintendo at its very, very best, except we haven’t seen eleventy billion entries in the Pikmin franchise, so the effect is all the more keenly felt than the Marios and Zeldas of the world.
5. DmC – A lot of people seem to say that the nitty gritty mechanics of this game aren’t quite up to the standards of previous entries in the series, but unless you’re the kind of person who played the old ones in their highest difficulty with a plastic guitar as a controller, you’re probably not going to be bothered at all--this can be plenty challenging and engaging if you want it to be and adjust the difficulty accordingly. Great action, surprisingly decent writing/story (as far of you could ask for a reenvisioning/adaption of the DMC mythos goes, anyhow), great visual fidelity and design...you find yourself fighting in a dance club that itself jumps and changes to the beats of music, an underground and upside city with winding metal pathways soaked by rain that falls up, watch eerie phantom office drones slam their head against office walls and floors as they flail fruitlessly in striking envisioning of a corporate environment, and fighting a living embodiment of Fox News…man alive, this game is tragically unappreciated. Be sure and go back and replay the originals if you’re of the mindset that new Dante is some kind of big step down from the original—this guy’s “Jesse Pinkman with a god complex” shtick certainly isn’t perfect, but old Dante wasn’t really a character at all so much as a cipher for a couple of cheesy jokes in a red coat. There just was nothing there, but now Dante and co have a definite personality, motive, and chemistry, I love it.
6. Super Mario 3D World – Fantastically varied and fun level design, gorgeous graphics and soundtrack, and no more copy/paste NSMB sensibilities-Mario’s back! The only reason this isn’t number one is that I’m not too crazy about the Sonic 3D blast style isometric style of Mario. The camera can be bad in spots, the characters feel sluggish, and in general it lacks the wondrous three dimensional freedom of a proper Mario 64/Sunshine style game AND the precise visual simplicity, speed, and elegance of a 2D Mario…so it’s just…in between in an unsatisfying way to me. The art and general inventiveness still makes this one of the best games this year, though.
7. Bioshock Infinite—Amazing art, story, characters, decent gameplay…there’s a lot on offer here, but I find myself without a lot to say about it at the moment. Shame that the bits with Daisy Fitzroy and the song bird were nowhere near as fleshed out as they deserved, but ah well—this is still one heck of a ride. It’s amazing the sky hook mechanic works so well and smoothly.
8. Guacamelee!—It’s a crying shame that we didn’t see more SotN style Castlevanias on consoles. What’s not to like about Super Metroid by way of crazy mythology? This game has really charming visuals, music, and writing, and I’ve seen it on sale for less than 4 bucks on Steam/Humble store, so you’ve no excuse not to check this one out.
9. Grand Theft Auto V – Huge, beautiful, insanely polished open world goodness—there’s no need to explain the parts of this game that work well and why it’s at least this high on my list--this is damn near close to the ideal realization of the whole GTA idea. Why is it so low, though? I just hate the petty, vicious, mess of a tone and characters they have here. It’s not subtle or clever enough to be a meaningful political /satirical piece of art, yet it’s far too mean and depressing to be particularly fun-spirited at the same time: I felt repelled and annoyed by most of what the story and characters had to offer, and not in a respect-worthy, artistically alienating way…it just saps the game’s energy. I’m sure the writers could write a really interesting, engaging attack on the darkness and malaise in modern western culture…if they weren’t trying to stuff that into a 100 hour, sprawling game that needs to make a trillion dollars and so not offend people too much. (“Hey guys, this “lifeinvader” stuff is such an evil, bullshit phenomenon for morons, amirite? Oh, hey, by the way, wanna connect your Rockstar Social Club account to Facebook?”) As it is, this is just the same old GTA tropes re-bundled with 2013 cultural references. Its un-fun mess of a narrative aside, the game on offer here is top notch.
10. Saint’s Row IV—It is a ton of fun to fly around this world, and I love the intelligently-stupid writing. I do feel that this got off a little too easy for using the exact same map (but at night now, wow!) and throwing tons of the same kinds of side missions at you, many borrowed right from SRIII, in leiu of proper story mission pacing and amount. It’s all too clear that this is a DLC piece that they tried to blow up into a full game, not quite successfully—but you can wait until it’s on sale for the price of DLC anyhow and merrily fly around and laugh at the jokes then.
Other mentions:
1. Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate: I played, beat, and mostly enjoyed Dark Souls. I get “challenging but rewarding.” I get “precision action gameplay through un-cancelable movesets that change with different weapons.” Cool stuff, no problem there. The issue is I just can’t get past the first couple of hours of this game; it’s some of the most boring, uninteresting gameplay I’ve ever had to endure. No interesting plot, graphics aren’t much to be impressed at, the art’s nothing to blow your socks off, there isn’t much of a challenge at all (yet, I’m assuming) so I’m just killing a bunch of nothing enemies while gathering weeds with really clunky interfaces and a ridiculously small, compartmentalized, loading-screen-full map. This is straight up terrible. Japan is officially collectively crazy for liking this so much, or at least giving the first couple of terrible hours a pass. The music’s all right, I guess?
2. Beyond: Two Souls: I am 100% behind the idea of crafting really cool interactive movies that sacrifice a ton of player agency for really fine-tuned directorial control. Gamey games aren’t going anywhere, why not try visuals novels, but with movies instead of books? Sure. It might work, if the writing wasn’t staggeringly god awful. Good lord, this stuff is so bad.
3. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. I think people like the theme and general idea behind this a lot more than they enjoy actually playing “Far Cry 3, but without the scenic vistas, vertical jumping/falling/sailing craziness, or endless stuff to do.”
4. Dead Space 3: I like horror games. I like action games. Your horror game won’t sell and you need to make an action game instead? Disappointing, but hey, fair enough. Dead Space 2 was awesome: as long as it’s a good action ga—oh, they screwed that part up too this time. Shame, that. Can’t help but wonder why they thought going the route of Resident Evil 5 was the way to go here.
5. 5. ACIV: I've been loving the series up until this point, and it's a fine game in a vaccum, but man...I am SO sick of the same tiny number of mission types and copy paste game design. I really want to like it, but I'm done. They need to evolve the core instead of adding some ships and piratey goodness around the exact same mechanics otherwise.
Haven’t Played but Would if they weren’t portable: Zelda 3DS, Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei, Phoenix Wright, and Etrian Odyssey. (Sorry, these look fantastic, I just find the experience of gaming on a noisy, bumpy airplaine/bus/car/whatever really unpleasant and so I’d rather just read a book there, and when I’m at home I’d rather play on a big screen/PC. Here’s hoping all of that wishful thinking for a truly portable machine/Big TV streaming hybrid device for Nintendo’s next system bears fruit.)
I’d Like to Play, But Haven’t Yet: X-Com: Enemy Unknown, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Gone Home, Hate Plus, MGS: Revengence, Papers Please, Rouge Legacy.
Best game I’m never going to play, ever: Dota 2. I’ll…just take your for it, I guess.
First game my PC apparently can’t run: Strike Suit Zero. I was kindly gifted this only to find that, despite that fact my PC can run every other game I’ve tried at perfectly decent settings, its DX11 or bust with this one, which is a first as far as I know. I’ll get a new PC sometime in 2014, or 2015 if something sells me on a PS4 or Xbox One.
I'd also like to encourage people to check out the awesome but non-eligible Fez PC, Windwaker HD, and Baldur's Gate II (EE or otherwise).
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
2. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
3. Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
4. The Wonderful 101 (WiiU)
5. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (360, PS3)
6. Bioshock Infinite (360, PC, PS3)
7. Pikmin 3 (WiiU)
8. The Last Of Us (PS3)
9. Pokémon X and Y (3DS)
10. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
11. Tomb Raider 2013 (360, PC, PS3)
12. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
13. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (360*, PC, PS3*)
14. Rune Factory 4 (3DS)
15. Wii Party U (WiiU)
16. Cookie Clicker (PC)
This list is only valid at the exact second that I hit "submit this" and the order is subject to change at any time, especially based on me playing Gone Home and Brothers soon
But this is the list I submitted because these are the best games I played last year. I left off a few like Tales of Xilia and Shin Megami Tensei IV
1. Bioshock Infinite
2. Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag
3. Far Cry 3: BLOOD DRAGON
4. Saints Row 4
5. Tomb Raider
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
What? Hell. I'm gonna quietly delete it
I have gifted out ten copies of the game to date, that's how much I believe in it, and it would be my #2 behind Heart of the Swarm - a CLOSE number two at that. If you have EVER liked space, NASA, or rockets, you will enjoy it so so so so so much.
Just a note, The Room came out for Android in March of 2013.
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
2. Kentucky Route Zero (PC)
3. Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (360*, iOS, PC, PS3*, Vita, WiiU*)
4. Path of Exile (PC)
5. Papers, Please (PC)
6. Pokémon X and Y (3DS)
7. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (3DS)
8. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
9. Gunpoint (PC)
10. Rogue Legacy (PC)
11. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PC, PS3)
12. Ittle Dew (Android, iOS, PC)
13. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
14. Candy Box (PC)
15. Picross e / Picross e2 (3DS*)
16. Questlord (Android, iOS)
17. Project X Zone (3DS)
18. Divekick (PC, PS3*, PS4*, Vita*)
19. Steamworld Dig (3DS, PC)
20. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PC, PS3, PS4, WiiU, XB1) (how did no one nominate this already
More people should play Kentucky Route Zero.
My big ones:
1. The Last Of Us (PS3) - Because god damn.
2. Saints Row IV (360, PC, PS3) - Pure, distilled fun.
3. Tomb Raider 2013 (360, PC, PS3) - I'd never played a Tomb Raider before, but they won me as a fan with this.
4. Game Dev Tycoon (PC) - Go fucking play this if you like thinking about video games. Super fun.
5. Bioshock Infinite (360, PC, PS3) - Another super cool world to explore.
Honorable mention:
6. Pokémon X and Y (3DS) - is what it is.
7. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PC, PS3, PS4, WiiU, XB1) (how did no one nominate this already - Best pirate game ever, also includes something about assassins.
8. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3) - is what it is.
9. Need for Speed: Rivals (360, PC, PS3, PS4, XB1) only started playing this weekend. Pretty game, pretty cars, pretty fast.
999. SimCity - die in a fire and watch as the firetrucks trying to save you pile up on top of each other, stupid game.
And I played a shitload of Skyrim this year, but for some reason that wasn't on the list :P
What do you mean it's 2014???
Seriously though, so I got a week to play all those Steam games I just bought. Challenge accepted.
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Gone Home (PC)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
The Last Of Us (PS3)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (360*, PC, PS3*)
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (3DS, WiiU)
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PC, PS3)
Guacamelee! (PC, PS3*, Vita*)
Every one of these is awesome for one reason or another.
Gone Home: Wonderful story and atmosphere. The subject matter dealt with here is not often (ever?) used in games. We need more games like Gone Home.
A Link Between Worlds: Best Zelda since Ocarina of Time.
GTAV: The amount of detail, polish, and breadth of stuff to do in this game is staggering. I don't think there has been a game so big and well-produced.
The Last of Us: Naughty Dog's best take on what they do best: A combination of gameplay and setpieces. But the story here is more nuanced and character-focused than anything they've done before, and the actors nail their performances. It also looks stunning.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: A magical, emotional story told without a single word. And the control scheme tells a part of the story as well. I want to say more, but I'd spoil it. If you haven't played it, please do so.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate: The best Monster Hunter yet. If I hadn't played so many other games this year, I'd have put more that the 50 hours I already have on my save file.
FFXIV ARR: A huge reboot of an MMO, and it's actually really good! It's also the first FF in several years to grab me. Hits all the notes that a FF should.
Guacamelee!: Metroid-vania, fast and technical combat and platforming, all wearing a luchador mask. It's the whole enchilada.
If I haven't played enough of a game, I won't vote for it, which is why Soul Sacrifice and The Wonderful 101 aren't on the list, even though I'm sure I'll like them.
As a father of two daughters, Bioshock Infinite hit me directly in the feels. I could never live with myself if I did what Booker did. Despite being the protagonist, the man was a monster who got far better than he deserved. The gameplay was incredibly fun and never got stale. An intriguing storyline and a fun gameplay, what else is there to ask?
Probably the most underrated game I've ever played, DmC: Devil May Cry was very fun. While the story was average and the humor downright juvenile at times, the level design was spectacular. I would have never thought I'd recommend a game based upon level design as I'm a story guy, but here we are. The combat was also very fun, if I had to judge it on Dante's past games, it'd be between DMC1 and 3, falling closer to 3. Seriously underrated, which I think is mostly based on prejudice from old Dante's fans. DmC is a very fun game on it's own merits.
Major Disclaimer: I haven't finished this game yet! Lastly, Shadowrun Returns. While I am story guy, I can't help but feel some cheese while playing the main campaign. I'm enjoying the tactical combat and the Shadowrun universe, I feel as if the writers were limiting themselves and a lot of the dialog feels stunted or forced at times. I like how it's more focused on a single character, but the companion NPC's are rather bland and generic. There isn't really anything to make them stand out and it feels to me as if they were ripped right out of their tropes. Still, there is room for my opinion to change.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
Here's what I ended up going with after much soul-searching:
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) - Both The Wonderful 101 and 3D World honestly could've ended up on this spot as all three games were absolutely magical and would've easily won this in most previous years. ALBW was a fantastic experience from start to finish, ~15 hours of absolute gaming perfection. Yes, it's a game that leans on A Link to the Past..but it most definitely manages to stand on its own feet. Everyone needs to play this.
2. The Wonderful 101 (WiiU) - Again, this could've easily snagged the #1 spot, and it has in my heart
3. Super Mario 3D World (WiiU) It doesn't quite reach Galaxy's level, but then again, which games do? The game is just so fucking fun and exemplifies why Nintendo are still the goddamn best. They just know how to make fun games, something most of the industry seems to have forgotten.
4. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS) - Another more than solid entry into the franchise. Who knew that genetics were so much fun?
P.S. Donny 4 lyfe
5. Pokémon X and Y (3DS) - It's fucking Pokemon, of course it's excellent! And everything's in 3D now and shiny and pretty and oooooh
Plus, I completed the Pokedex for the first time ever
6. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) - I got this game for free as part of a promotion Nintendo ran earlier this year. I was debating between getting this or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon..well, I'm glad I went with this one since I ended up putting more than 200 fucking hours into this OH MY GOD HELP ME
It is just do incredibly fun and charming and it was so much fun interacting with other PA folks, Vandalizing @Quical 's town will never not be funny!
7. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS) After not liking Partners in Time and never really warming up to Bowser's Inside Story, this game really rekindled my love for the franchise. Sure, it's probably 10 hours too long, but the presentation is just so lovely that I didn't mind.
BEEF
CAKE
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS*) - Phoenix is back and he's as great as ever. If you're a fan of the series, there's no reason not to play this. I can't help but laugh at some fans who boycotted it because it was digital-only. Get the fuck over yourselves and don't miss out on this awesome game.
I especially loved the cool "super mind map" thingy you get right as you're about to solve a case. Really fucking cool and makes you feel pretty smart when you've just figured it out.
9. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS) - Probably a bit too repetitive but just so incredibly charming that it's hard not to love this game. Luigi is just fantastic.
10. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS*) - A lovely little adventure / graphic novel. Not a whole lot of "gameplay" per se, but hey. Playing it really transports you back in time to that era and makes you feel like you're actually there in that little Tokyo suburb. Plus, the opening song is great. If you love Studio Ghibli movies, you need to check this out.
Honorable mentions:
- Batman Arkham Origins: Still fun, but just not on the same level as the previous entries. Also buggy as hell.
- Tomb Raider: Entertaining, but incredibly predictable and by-the-numbers. Lara's "development" from supposedly harmless, naive girl to hardened survivor is laughable, the "puzzles" are basically non-existant and the climbing sequences boil down to "look for the nearest convenient colored object". It's a shame what happened to this franchise. The game wasn't bad, just..nothing special either.
- Lego City Undercover: Haven't played enough of it yet! So far though, incredibly funny.
Edit: Also, if the selection process wasn't completely arbitrary, you'd also find Bravely Default and Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy pretty high on my list. One is the best Final Fantasy in over 10 years, the other made me cry like a baby.
Wait, isn't like only 2 of 5 parts of this game out? How did it qualify?
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
2. The Stanley Parable (PC)
3. Gunpoint (PC)
4. Saints Row IV (360, PC, PS3)
5. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
6. Tomb Raider 2013 (360, PC, PS3)
7. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (360*, PC, PS3*)
8. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
9. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (360*, PC, PS3*)
10. Payday 2 (PC)
11. The Yawhg (PC)
12. Bioshock Infinite (360, PC, PS3)
13. The Last Of Us (PS3)
14. The Swapper (PC)
15. Shadowrun Returns (Android, PC, iOS)
16. Rogue Legacy (PC)
17. Euro Truck Simulator 2 (PC)
18. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (PC)
19. Don't Starve (PC)
20. SimCity (PC)
Some notes:
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
1. Gone Home—simply the game that I enjoyed most and struck me as the most passionate creation. A moving story without bombast and orchestral excess, the kind found in reality.
2. Saints Row IV—a game that can make my coop partner and I laugh and smile for countless hours while striking all the right chords is a winner.
4. Papers, Please—much like the details of sailing in the Aubrey-Maturin series, I never expected shuffling documents around checking for errors to be so engaging. On every level this game starts simple and then builds and builds and builds.
4. Tomb Raider—managed to turn my opinions on an old franchise around. Solid and enjoyable, without any higher ambitions—and that's okay.
5. Monaco: What's Yours is Mine—I'm a sucker for style and coop.
7. Valdis Story: The Abyssal City—this was an impulse buy, but I've enjoyed it considerably. Challenging without being frustrating (usually...it has one glaring error), and it has gorgeous character art. Pretty good for being made entirely by two people (plus a third for music). A pleasant throwback to a class of games I have fond memories of. Also it has a dog in a tophat, and another dog in a scarf, so it's sophisticated.
8. Receiver—little more than a prototype, but the concept is compelling. The panic of fumbling to ready your weapon again after having emptied a clip of misses offers a new take on a calcified genre.
9. Batman: Arkham Origins—most of the excellent forebearer is here, so it was still fun, but it felt heavily derivative of Arkham City even beyond gameplay.
10. Magic 2014—well, it's Magic, but you still can't build your own deck, so someone's missing the point.
Thanks for another round, mcc!
Stupid $3 last minute gem. Why did you do this to me, Steam?
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
I love looking at the old lists. 2004. What a good year.
ACIV and Tomb Raider are both way ahead of everything else on the list.
2. Tomb Raider 2013 (360, PC, PS3)
3. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
4. Dragon's Crown (PS3*, Vita*)
5. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
6. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
7. Pokémon X and Y (3DS)
8. Bioshock Infinite (360, PC, PS3)
9. Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)
10. Guacamelee! (PC, PS3*, Vita*)
Alot of portable games for me this year, especially 3DS, which I think had an amazing year. There's some games that I'm sure would have also made my list, but I haven't had a chance to play them yet, like the last of us for example.
So comments I guess. Really, it was kind of hard for me to pick between Brothers and Fire Emblem.
I thought Brothers deserved the praise for how well it delivered on the premise of interactive storytelling but there was just so much game and so much to love about Fire Emblem that I had to give it the top spot. I also banked over 100 hours into it and still replayed it, which is saying something for me.
I was going to give it to Bioshock at first but on retrospect I did have a few problems with the story. I still love the game to bits though.
Same with GTA5, I really liked the game but I found some of the story elements problematic.
Also...trying to choose which one I would place higher between Metal Gear Rising and Devil May Cry was pretty hard. I felt that gameplay-wise Metal Gear was better. But I didn't feel that DmC was a slouch in the gameplay department either and its presentation was just awesome. At the end I chose Metal Gear so I could maintain my action game street cred. :P
Tomb Raider also gets special mention for being the first one of the series I ever liked playing.
Also, one more know. I'm sad I didn't get around to playing Last of Us, I'm sure it would have been high on my list if I did. Oh well.
Thanks! You voted for:
Proteus (PC, PS3, Vita)
Receiver (PC)
MirrorMoon EP (PC)
Eldritch (PC)
Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension (PC)
Bionic Dues (PC)
Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages (PC)
Antichamber (PC)
Gone Home (PC)
Saints Row IV (360, PC, PS3)
ARMA 3 (PC)
The Stanley Parable (PC)
Don't Starve (PC)
Skyward Collapse (PC)
Kentucky Route Zero (PC)
Sanctum 2 (PC)
Tomb Raider 2013 (360, PC, PS3)
Volgarr the Viking (PC)
Race the Sun (PC)
Outlast (PC)
I need more time for games.
Thanks! You voted for:
1. Gone Home - I'm a sucker for exploration, atmosphere, and slowly revealed narratives, so I loved pretty much every second of this game.
2. Bioshock Infinite - See #1. Also, I enjoyed how lightly the punches were pulled when depicting 1912 American society.
3. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - The big, dumb, pretty remake of Sid Meier's Pirates! I've always wanted.
4. Saints Row IV - The big, dumb, supervillain game I've always wanted.
5. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - An example of how a few clever touches, such as an unreliable narrator (who provokes levels to be re-drawn on the fly when other characters call him on his mistakes) and a clever duel mechanic, can elevate what would otherwise be a generic shooter.
6. Remember Me - The game I wanted Deus Ex: Human Revolution to be, well, almost all of it. Amazing design and clever touches abound, enough to make the generic combat tolerable.
7. State of Decay - Not everything I want in a zombie apocalypse survival game, but enough to be a whole lot of fun.
8. Tomb Raider 2013 - Once it got past being the Lara Croft Brutal Death QTE Experience, it became an exciting action game.
9. Shadowrun Returns - Not everything I imagined it would be, but an extremely well-written RPG with an excellent setting.
10. Marvel Heroes - Dumb fun. Sometimes I just want to punch Hydra agents until they explode into glowing orbs of XP.
11. Payday 2 - Equal parts frustration and fun, but I'm a sucker for co-op games and there were few things more memorable than a Payday 2 run gone perfectly right, or perfectly wrong.
12. Defiance - One of the few online shooters to emphasize exploration and co-op over deathmatch.
13. Typing of the Dead: Overkill - (Insert string of hastily-typed expletives here)
14. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - I may be the only person to vote for this game, but I have always empathized with unloved mutt games. While it could have been a lot better (and I would have loved to see the game the developers originally wanted to make), but this was better than the total abomination it was hyped up to be.
15. DmC: Devil May Cry - This would have ranked higher if I'd gotten back to playing it, probably.
16. Gunpoint - One of the rare puzzle games that didn't frustrate me into quitting, the additional layers of humor and style helped.
17. Monaco: What's Yours is Mine - Like Payday, but more frustrating than fun, but still enjoyable in short bursts.
18. Don't Starve - Ask me in a few weeks, I might be sick of it by then.
19. Batman: Arkham Origins - Marred by some truly frustrating, "Hey, have fun not playing for a week" glitches, but still brought the Batman action, and I am at times easily impressed.
20. Lego Marvel Super Heroes - See #10, only replace "glowing orbs of XP" with "Lego bricks".
Also, my condolences to the games I haven't played (yet) since there's no PC version (yet), and the few games I snagged too late in the year to play enough of to confidently vote for.
1. SimCity (PC) - I played it the most last year despite how broken the game is. Its still fun somehow
2. Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita) - Best game on the Vita. Made me wish I discovered the Ys series before MoC
3. Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS) - Probably the best Fire Emblem will ever be.
4. Dynasty Warriors 8 (360, PS3, PS4, Vita) - Dynasty Warriors is my favorite franchise. I was kind of disappointed with DW8 though. The 360 port was awful and the game itself didn't improve over DW7 in anyway (except bringing back free mode).
5. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PC, PS3) - My first MMO since City of Heroes.
6. Monaco: What's Yours is Mine (360*, PC) - The best coop game of the year.
7. Senran Kagura Burst (3DS*) - Plot.
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS*) - Case 2 was awful but the rest of the game was great to read play. Still suffers from you figuring out the killer too quickly (in the later cases).
9. Rune Factory 4 (3DS) - Surprisingly fun.
10. Rayman Legends (360, PC, PS3, Vita, WiiU) - I actually didn't play Legends, I only played the demo. I loved Origins and I'm sure I would have loved Legends (loved the demo). I didn't play enough (good) games that were released in 2013 and I wanted to get to 10 games (it was this or Metro) >_>
Prime World: Defenders
and
Starseed Pilgrim
That said I voted and forgot to copy it but my top 3 were
1. Brothers a tale of two sons
2. Risk of Rain
3. Tomb Raider
Prime World: Defenders would have been 4 or 5 if it had been available.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX