Personal Top Games of 2013

[NerfedFalcon]

Runners-up in no particular order: Bioshock Infinite, Devil May Cry HD Collection, Grand Theft Auto V, Pinball FX 2, Shadow Warrior, Spelunky, King of Fighters 13, The Stanley Parable, Lego Marvel Super Heroes

Game of the Year 2013: Dota 2
I'm aware that this has been available for a while, what with Valve giving out those beta keys like crazy, but since the official release date was only this year, I'm going to count it as a 2013 game, and it beats out everything else I played this year in terms of the thing that matters most: gameplay. Simply put, I have never played a game with such mechanical detail as Dota 2, and everything about it just fits together to create a near-perfect package. It's not a game for people without much patience, but if you're willing to put the time and effort into it, Dota 2 will reward you like few other games can.

 

[TakerFoxx]

1. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. This is an older game with some wonky gameplay, but it still sucked me in like no game since Knights of the Old Republic has. Absolutely sublime writing, characterization, and voice acting, and about as good an adaptation of the World of Darkness as we're ever going to get in a video game. Bloody loved this game.

2. Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. My impressions of the Assassin Creed games are as follows. 1: Kind of frustrating, but still pretty enjoyable. 2: Very, very cool, even if the individual targets felt like they had less importance than from the first game. Brotherhood: Also very cool, though the setting has less variety. Revelations: Bit of a let down; okay, had some cool bits, but felt unnecessary. 3: Didn't like at all, eventually just watched the cut-scenes on Youtube and skipped the rest of the game. But 4 completely revived my faith in the series. It was everything I ever wanted in a pirate game and more, and having just finished it, I'm actually going to replay it(once I'm done bagging all the collectibles), the first time I've done that for any Assassin Creed game.

3. Sonic Generations. Suffers from a dumb story, poor voice acting, and an annoying final boss, but the gameplay and level design is downright godly. Sooooo much fun.

4. Bioshock Infinite: I don't like FPS's, and this is no exception, but the story parts, characters, and setting were just plain great. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to finish it, as that damned flagship mission keeps kicking my ass.

5. Warcraft III. I'm including this at the bottom of the list because it doesn't really fit the criteria of a game I'm playing for the first time, but replaying it again after several years has still been a lot of fun. Even now it's been kind of forgotten under WoW's shadow, it holds up magnificently.

 

[w9496]

Personally, Metro: Last Light was one of, if not the best games I've played this year. It feels like what the modern Fallout games were trying to reach with the whole survival thing, but Metro made the world feel alive, which gives an edge that most games don't have.

 

[EyeReaper]

My game of the year? this little rhythm game simply titled Osu!
Ever played Elite Beat Agents?
Ever played it on an inferior console (the ds was much better for this than a mouse is)
Ever wanted to play literally thousands of songs, from Persona 4 to pokemon to Touhou to Yuru Yuri to Donkey Kong?
And Best of All.....
Want it free?

Runners up are: Pokemon Y, SMT 4, Persona 4 Golden, Dragon's Crown, and Lord of the Rings, WitN.

What's that? most of these weren't 2013 releases? well, I found them in 2013, so for me, they might as well have been

 

[GundamSentinel]

5. Warcraft III. I'm including this at the bottom of the list because it doesn't really fit the criteria of a game I'm playing for the first time, but replaying it again after several years has still been a lot of fun. Even now it's been kind of forgotten under WoW's shadow, it holds up magnificently.

Damn you for reminding me, now I have to go play it again!

Still one of the best strategy games I've played.

 

[Karoshi]

DmC Devil May Cry is my favourite game this year and I basically loved everything about it. Amazing graphics and beautiful level design, snappy combat, great music and good writing (you can argue about it, but I still enjoyed it very much).

Mars: War Logs. Nobody heard about, average Metacritic of 60, but loved every second. RPG set on Mars with non-lethal combat options, dialogue options and meaningful choices? Sign me up.
Spiders are a very ambitious video game company, but their lack of polish and small budget shows. Nevertheless, I have kinda become a fan of theirs and looking forward to their next project.

Planescape: Torment. Oh man, Planescape: Torment. I played it only this year and was blown away by how multi-faceted and philosophical this game is. One of the greatest games ever made and I am very hyped for its kickstarted sequel. Praying as hell that it will live up to its predecessor.

 

[Googenstien]

It was a damn good year for gaming IMO and I am still catching up with alot of small/indy games. Fooking loving Terraria and Teraway on Vita . Here is my list of Games of the Year.

1. Bioshock Infinite - for me its the most polished and most playable game. I played thru it 3 times and still load in run thru my favorite parts.

2. Europa Universalis IV - I am hours into this game and still feel like I dont know what I am doing.. its just a great damn game.

3. Tomb Raider - I hated all the old TR games and this one I found super fun and well done, I guess I am a sucker for the Uncharted model because......

4. ...The Last of Us - yes its another freaking Zombie game and another Shooter but its alot of fun and really done well.. I think it looks like poop on the PS3 and wished it was on PC.

5. Metro Last Light - A real good successor to 2033 and I just love this world/setting. Still not done with my playthru, maybe it woulda been ranked higher but all in all its a freaking great game.

6. Path of Exile - still barely into the game but I was not expecting this to be as much fun and as solid of a game as this is.

7. Gone Home - WOW.. this came out of nowhere for me and even tho its my wifes game I played thru it twice.. haha

8. Ys Memories of Celceta - Game I am currently playing and I love Ys games and this one is done really well and fun fun fun.


Because of all the praise I see on these games I am going to get Papers, Please and Brothers - a Tale of Two Sons

 

[sagitel]

in no particular order:

1. rouge legacy. this game is just awesome. pure fun. i shouldn't say anything more

2.papers please. who would have thought that a game about an artotzkan border post would be this much fun? glory to artotzka!

3. CoJ: gunslinger. a small game about a bounty hunter in the wild west. his stories goes from a little over the top to crazy in a few minutes. it did the unreliable narrator better than many games. the game play was fluid and well done. it was just a wonderful game.

4. the Stanley parable. everyone has said what i should say about this game. im not picking it because it talked to me or had a massage or what not. im picking it because it was really funny and well made.

5.bioshock infnite. yes the i know gameplay was not great. the handy men and mechanical patriots were a pain. but elizabeth was just the best side character i know. and it was the second game (after walking dead) that made me feel anything aside the usual im gonna beat your ass for killing me. the part were elizabeth was taken hostage made me feel angry, desperate and sad. it was just a great game. and im one of the few that liked the ending.

6. prototype. this game was released 2009 but i played it this summer. this game was the most i had in a pretty long time. i went about just turning on the shield and running around making bulldozer sounds. jumping up and down. this game is the most fun sandbox i have ever played.

 

[the_great_cessation]

5. The Wolf Among Us (Ep.1: Faith): Although only about a fifth of the game has been release, the first episode of The Wolf Among Us has left me infatuated. I absolutely adore neo-noir, so making a game which blends that with another one of my favorite genres (urban fantasy) will easily please me on concept alone. Luckily, The Wolf Among Us has sharp writing, gorgeous graphics, and an thick atmosphere to back it all up. Add to that a refinement of the text-adventure style gameplay found in last year's critically acclaimed Walking Dead series, and you have what is shaping up to be one of next years best titles.

4. A Link Between Worlds: Like many 20-somethings, I grew up with Zelda. So regardless of quality, this was a game I was going to play. What I was not expecting was the best title in the series in 7 years and one of the best titles in the franchise overall. What I feel makes this specific entry so great is how it blends both cultural nostalgia for Zelda (constant references to old Zelda games, familiar over world and atmosphere, remixed music tracks and themes,etc) with innovation to the core mechanics which make up Zelda, hitting a sweet spot between new and old that will easily please Zelda fans new and old (it doesn't hurt that it has some of the best dungeons in the series to date and an open overworld which actively encourages exploration).

3. Rayman Legends: God damn, do I love this game - a beautiful hand-drawn artsyle blended with crazy good music and platforming gameplay that just feels so great make this one of the most addictive and rewarding games of 2013.

2. Bioshock Infinite : While this game has had it's fair share of back lash, I am still very much of the mindset that this game is wonderful. I adore the sheer creativity and audacity of this game. The world of Columbia is one of the most memorable fictional settings I have ever seen and although many may dismiss the narrative for being overly complex and contradictory, I found it to be a unique and memorable tale with a decidedly human core. Furthermore, I actually found the core gameplay to be quite addictive thanks to vigors and skylines. All in all, I adore Bioshock Infinite and no amount of fan backlash can ruin what was, to me, a phenomenal experience.

1. The Last of Us: I really don't feel I need to expand on this. It's a great cinematic experience with a beautiful story, amazing character development, haunting music and a tense and engaging core gameplay system. I could talk about what makes this game amazing for hours, but I'll just conclude with saying that The Last of Us was easily the best game I played not just all year, but all generation and stands as one of my fondest gaming experiences I have had to date.

 

[Alarien]

In no order:

Bioshock Infinite
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Rocksmith 2014
Dragon's Crown
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm

Most Played:
Dark Souls PC (got it originally on 360, played it again with the DLC on PC)
TESIV: Oblivion (finally bothered to go back and play it with the good mods)


Special Mention:
Dust: An Elysian Tail (I don't know why, but this is a very charming and fun to play side scroller action/platform)

 

[DeltaEdge]

Hm, it's usually pretty difficult more me to definitively assign ranks to games I like numerically, so some of these ratings may just be arbitrary, but here it goes!

1. Pokemon Y
2. Shin Megami Tensei IV
3. Fire Emblem
4. Tales of Xillia
5. Disgaea D2

Okay, I don't even own Disgaea D2 yet, but most of the games I'm playing atm are from 2012. The main thing I'm playing right now is Persona 4 Arena, and I'm from the states, so that was 2012 not 13 or else that'd be on my list. Probably the main things I'm playing at the moment are Fire Emblem, and P4A, and I have to say after making that list that the rankings are definitely arbitrary and have no real meaning, as I like them all for what they offer. Disgaea D2 is only on there because it was the only other 2013 game I could think of. Props to Etrian Odyssey IV, it would've made the list since it's 2013(I think), but it's a bit on the difficult side sometimes and I often have no clue where to go, this coupled with the rising inn prices keeps me from really enjoying the game. Also, Pokemon MD GtI is alright, but not a favorite.

Edit: Oh, how could I forget ACNL! That was fun, but it'll probably get swapped for Disgaea D2 anyways, so since I'll be getting that very soon, I may as well leave it in.

 

[deathbydeath]

I'm going to eschew numbered rankings because fuck numbers as well as eschewing the Big Three of 2013 because fuck 60 USD up front for a video game. On those notes:

Gunpoint. This game kicks so much ass it has special trousers.
FEAR. I just played it this year but seriously, dat gunplay.
Costume Quest. Sure, the gameplay could be expanded upon a bit, but there's so much charm and appeal that you can't help but be enthralled with it.
Brutal Legend. See above.
Batman: Arkham Asylum. Despite the bizarrely frequent crashes I had while playing this game it was still of substantial quality.
Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition. Chris Avellone and Josh Sawyer did their thing, 'nuff said.

EDIT:

Anything else fades into obscurity beside [GTA V and The Last of Us].

I know, games journalism really needs to step its game up.

 

[Bigbomb94]

No game has gotten me into an unhealthy obsession with than Fire Emblem Awakening. Over 300+ hours and I'm always finding something to come back to it again.

Everything else I guess:
Anarchy Reigns
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
State of Decay
GTAV
Animal Crossing New Leaf
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen
Pokemon Y

 

[SnakeDoctor]

1) Splinter Cell Blacklist

2) Top Gun: Hard Lock

3) Arma III

4) Football Manager 2014

5) Medal of Honor: Warfighter

 

[norashepard]

My top five are:

5. Avadon 2 : The Corruption, First of all, Spiderweb Games make awesome RPGs in general, with in depth battle systems and leveling trees and the whole nine yards. Second, they make really neat worlds to explore and immerse yourself in, with interesting political questions and philosophical dilemmas. Avadon 2 finally added the last things I need to truly give a shit: characters that I can actually interact with, and divergent paths and story. The game does railroad in the beginning, but the sheer amount of choice that actually does matter is astounding, and with literally hundreds of endings, you really feel the weight. Definitely good for anyone who likes RPGs, especially those of yesteryear.

4. Pokemon Y : You could have dark skin and play dress-up. Literally nothing else needs to be said IMO.

3. Hate Plus : A visual novel in which you are stuck in space with one of two (or both) computer AIs and have to figure out what the hell happened on the derelict residential spaceship you were sent to investigate. I like that all the characters are Korean, which is unusual in games, the overarching themes of transhumanism and survival and just humanity in general, and for a game that is literally almost just words, the writing is excellent.

2. Bioshock - Infinite : Whatever you think of the story, Infinite was a pretty game that did one thing very well: Shotguns. I had a ton of fun bouncing around the battlefield with a boomstick, jumping off skylines long enough to level my foe and jumping right back on. It was fast and frantic gameplay which was just my speed, so I loved it. The interesting storyline didn't hurt either, even if it did lose itself as time went on.

1. Saints Row IV : I am a fangirl of the SR series and always will be. If there is a Saints game released, it will be my favorite game of the year, no questions.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I don't list games in any specific order because they all provided what I wanted, entertainment. Also some of these games may not have come out this year but I only got around to them this year... damn backlogs... and I still have a library of untouched games both with physical and digital dust respectively.

GTA V: Because like its other iterations, the world itself is so much more fun to run around and experience than the actual story. A game that I don't have to do anything required to play with is a great game to me.

FTL: Bringing back the Nintendo-hard trope with strategy and resource management.... and I still haven't won.

Lucius Son of the Devil: What? A game allowing me to play as Damien with a different name? Murder everyone around you in ways that don't point back to you? Sure, I'll buy that... except I didn't even intend to, it just was part of a bundle my wife bought. Thanks babe!

Darksiders II: (I told you I have a backlog). Fun romp through a beautiful world... well worlds... As Death who is much more interesting than his brother, War. Still the first game was fun too.

Deus Ex Director's Cut: Much better now that they fixed the boss fights. SOOOOOO much better. Took them damn long enough.

Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army: Fun because slow-mo sniper shots to already dead Nazi's is just as good as killing living ones... and the enemy types were interesting, frustrating and challenging. And thats on single-player mode. I've yet to play co-op because I don't always play well with others...

XCOM Enemy Unkown: Best reboot of a series. Hands down. Although the original is still fun as well.

Mount & Blade series: Because I just hadn't bothered to play them til recently and found what an interesting romp it is... especially with mods.

ACIV: It is one of the best in the series, and provides hours of entertainment for me. Thanks Ubisoft, you still have one fan on the Escapist