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WJist

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GOTY 2013

2013 is the year the "Best Games" list is stuffed-to-the-gills with extremely memorable, poignant, even beautiful games. These end-of-year lists are usually limited to 10, but I think 15 games more accurately captures how I feel about this year's bumper crop of good game experiences I would have no problem recommending to friends and family.

It reflects game developers maturing over the course of what has been the longest generation of console cycles and finally breaking through in terms of overall quality, style, presentation, graphics, storytelling, and gameplay. Typically, every year in games has one stand out game - 2013 has a debatable plethora of games that stand out from each other, but there is no clear frontrunner: just a lot of cream of the crop. This is especially appropriate because the next generation of consoles is upon us in the Xbox One and the PS4, and also because Nintendo is finally figuring out how to put good games out on the WiiU.

More importantly, this list has some notable omissions from 2013 - games like the new Tomb Raider (a lot like the Batman: Arkham series, but extremely brutal and a little unrealistic), Battlefield 4 (fun when it works, but is hideously broken), Pikmin 3 (cute and cheery, but you have to be into Pikmin), BIT.TRIP Runner2 (excellent music and style, but ultimately a little too simple), Soul Sacrifice (cool premise, but too much like Monster Hunter), The Stanley Parable (extremely funny and charming for a repetitive game, but it requires a certain sensibility), The Swapper (this year's most atmospheric game, but bogged down by some very abstract puzzles divorced from its setting), Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (fast-paced, but you have to be WAY invested in Metal Gear lore to enjoy it), Guacamelee (an excellent Metroidvania with Mexican style, but too short and leans a little too heavily on internet memes), Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (the best Zelda game since Ocarina of Time, but leans a little too heavily on A Link To The Past nostalgia), and Shadowrun Returns (a great revival of an old series, but a little linear and short), among others. I would have no problem recommending the above games to people who enjoy video games as a medium, but I think the 15 below are more representative of this year's excellent showing in games.

Finally, a few words about the next gen consoles and the games that have come out for them in 2013: the PS4 and Xbox One are primed to inspire a lot of new, interesting games. However, I don't feel comfortable recommending any of the two new platforms over the other. There are what appears to be excellent games on both, but not so much so that I'd go out and buy one myself right now in their inaugural holiday season. If, for some reason, you are lacking in a game console for a holiday present, the WiiU is an excellent choice now that Nintendo has gotten around to releasing great first-party games (Zelda: Wind Waker HD, Mario 3D World [listed in my Top 15], Pikmin 3) and a better library than what is currently on offer for PS4 and Xbone. The other two consoles will get there in terms of a deep game library; they just aren't there quite yet.

List items

  • When I think of the descriptors "challenging" and "fun," the Fire Emblem games traditionally miss the mark by having a simplistic rock-paper-scissors combat system, a nonsense storyline with characters who always follow the "I'm a prince/princess but somehow still know how to expertly wield a sword and lead an army" trope, and a punishing difficulty spike that makes you reach for the reset before you lose characters you've invested in for hours.

    Fire Emblem: Awakening manages to transcend its predecessors by being accommodating to newcomers with selectable difficulty settings, introducing a new customizable main protagonist, side characters that you actually want to see dialogue play out with, a marriage system that lets you recruit children of the two characters you marry into your army (Nintendo is not quite progressive enough to allow same-sex couplings yet, but it'll get there), and combat robust enough to throw the rock-paper-scissors days of old out the window.

    On top of it, this game has the best implementation of the 3DS Streetpass to date: you can recruit characters, buy items off of, participate in cooperative missions with, and fight against both your friends' armies and randos you Streetpass with. In an added bonus, the DLC is easy to get to, fun to play, and, in an important step forward for Fire Emblem games, these missions are repeatable, so you don't have the soul-crushing experience grind other FE games have had in an arena setting.

    For me, Fire Emblem: Awakening is the best game made in 2013 and an important milestone for fans of strategy, portable games, storytelling, and revivals of games series coming back in their best forms. A true representative of the graduating class of games for 2013.

    Now where's the next good Advance Wars?

  • This game is the not the first one to be about exploring an abandoned house, with no weapons, no combat, and no tension (all done in a first person-view), but it's certainly the most touching, most affecting, and most poignant. Best of all, the game really doesn't "direct" you on a critical path - you can cut to the quick or explore the objects within the house to get more details. There's a love story buried here if you look for it and a critical examination of what it means to be part of a family and a household. Gone Home certainly isn't for everyone, but those who find solace in its finer touches (digitally scanned in handwriting, loving, knowing references to things from the 90s, and more) will find a lot to love. We may never know the answer to "Are games art?", but we certainly have a Mona Lisa in Gone Home.

  • Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons suffers from its most interesting kink: the controls. Controlling the two brothers on two separate sticks on 1 controller to solve some clever, well-designed puzzles feels wrong. Yet, this control scheme leads to some revelatory moments where you find your brain harmonizing with two different characters at once. I think you'll also benefit emotionally from this game if you have a sibling - the game's story is moving in its own right (and manages to do this with a world where everybody speaks gibberish language), but there's something to be said for the emotional payoff you get from seeing these two brothers work together that you understand better if you have a brother or sister yourself. On top of all this, the game is pretty to look at and exudes enough confidence to know it: you can sit on benches strewn throughout the game just to take in the detailed environments.

  • Pokemon X/Y is the best Pokemon game since the original Red and Blue. That statement means nothing by now, since the generation of kids of a decent age to play the original games are now all full-fledged adults about the ages of 23-26. However, Pokemon X/Y manages to pay enough tribute to the series history (yes, you can get the original starter Pokemon and yes, you can collect all Pokemon from the games made up until this point) while introducing new elements that make the game the easiest it has ever been to get into (faster walking, fun training minigames that don't obfuscate the hidden math going on behind-the-scenes for stat growth, an online trading and battling interface that doesn't involve crappy link cables, spotty internet connections, or friend codes). Pokemon X/Y also finally makes good on the promise of making the monsters themselves feel real - the 3D battles look good and the Pokemon animate naturally. And the new Pokemon? Not a terrible set of newcomers (though the new Fairy type can be hit-or-miss). It has never been a better time to fall into the rabbit hole Pokemon can be.

  • The Grand Theft Auto franchise is such a well-oiled machine. Other open world video games have largely evolved the systems, scope, settings, characters, and shock value this series has made. However, nobody else quite does this style of game just right: GTAV is the ultimate evolution of the open world genre. Yes, the stereotypes and political commentary feel dated, but at this point, these tropes are so "Grand Theft Auto" that they feel new and exciting all over again. By dividing up the story across three protagonists, we finally have an interesting GTA story worth seeing all the way through (though admittedly, the character with the most potential, Franklin, is wasted on playing third fiddle to Trevor and Michael). The licensed songs and radio stations are the best they've ever been, particularly when you pair them with the excellent Heist missions you spend the majority of the game preparing for. The gunplay remains largely the same from other Rockstar games, but improving the three protagonist's skills in shooting, driving, flying, stamina, and health is more engaging than it has any right to be. Ignore the awful multiplayer experience and bathe yourself in the scope and size of the best GTA game Rockstar has ever made. And remember, you don't gotta like it cause the hood gone love it.

  • Role-playing games have it rough these days: Final Fantasy isn't the franchise it was originally, no one series has emerged from the niche audiences these games typically serve, and other types of games have taken large chunks of the RPG experience and made them compelling mechanics for games not suited to best taken advantage of these systems. This is why Ni no Kuni feels so refreshing: a hand-drawn world made by the people who brought us Dark Cloud that plays a lot like what I might think of as "My First RPG." Sure, the story is predictable and yes, the game has what amounts to be Pokemon as the biggest gameplay element. However, the game feels so childlike and innocent that you can't help but fall in love with its simple charms: Mr. Drippy is the best sidekick in recent memory. This feels like a game that is good for the whole family without devolving into the kind of slog some kid-focused games tend to be.

  • Super Mario Bros. 2 is not my favorite Mario game; hell, it's not even in my top 5 of favorite Mario games. However, Super Mario 3D World takes SMB2's best mechanic (choosing between 4 characters with different abilities) and turns it into one of the best recent Mario games. The Cat suit is in an interesting new power that doesn't feel gimmicky and the bright and vibrant level design reflects a cheerful confidence in Nintendo's most storied franchise. There are also some deep cuts in terms of nostalgic Mario references and, best of all, just like Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS, the game opens itself to the best levels after the main quest is over. More Mario games like this, please.

  • Video game characters increasingly get a lot of makeovers these days, but rarely do these efforts result in something better than the source material. That is exactly what has happened with DmC: Dante and the rest of the cast are edgier, more rebellious, extremely cool, and most importantly, more believable while amazingly paying tribute to the original game. The combat manages to stay fresh the whole way through by constantly throwing new weapons and enemy types without feeling like a chore. On top of it, the game's boss battles are interesting takes on the "this part glows orange, so you know that's the weak spot" style of boss battle. The game's backdrop, a demon world where a Fox News-style conglomerate and a soda company brainwash the public, feels real and has something more political to say than "Hey, this crap all sucks." Gorgeous to boot, as well.

  • If you've ever gone through immigration and customs, you know what a terrible bureaucracy crossing a border can be. Papers, Please turns what might otherwise be considered dull and complicated work into a compelling game with a really cool style. Playing it, you sometimes feel for the tough decisions that go into being a mindless government drone and sometimes intentionally make mistakes in verifying paperwork because you feel sympathy to some immigrant's story. On top of it, your day-to-day performance impacts your family - if you haven't processed enough people or made too many errors, your family goes cold or hungry! The systems here are brilliant and matched up with some awesome totalitarian music. I can guarantee that you'll never have as much fun playing a stressful work simulator than you will with Papers, Please.

  • A challenging game that, once you've settled in with it, isn't that challenging. Rogue Legacy teaches you its tricks early, then asks you to repeat them in a way that feels very rewarding. The random nature of the character classes makes for some interesting mechanics (try playing with a knight who is afraid to eat chicken, a knight who sees all text backwards, and a knight who's sense of gravity is reversed) that vary from useful to nonsensical. There isn't much of a story, but it doesn't matter - the core game is so fun and you'll spend hours tooling around with your knights that you'll barely remember how many times you've died in trying to conquer the castle. The best rogue-like in a long time.

  • Bioshock Infinite is a game with some problems: the combat is largely uninteresting, the storytelling has some troubling racist and sexist undertones, and the gameplay is all over the place in terms of pacing. So why is it on this list? The world of Columbia presented here is graphically beautiful, broad in scope, and well realized, arguably better than the original setting of Rapture in the original Bioshock. The characters, while not stellar, have some interesting depth, even if Elizabeth's AI turns her into a walking, talking vending machine. And while the "twist" in this game is not better than the "Would You Kindly?" turn in Bioshock, it is this year's most mind-blowing revelation...and then continues to mess with the player for additional twists in the plot! It might not ultimately stick with you for very long, but the implications for future Bioshock games (should there be any more) is profound. And hey, at least the last boss battle in this game isn't some roided-up megalomaniac.

  • In the class of profoundly stupid experiences, Divekick takes the cake in meta-gaming humor and fighting game tropes, wrapping them in a simple game that has more mechanics than you might think. The controls are simple - there is only dive (jump) and kick but I had some pretty great times doing both. For what is supposed to be a joke product, I think Divekick has turned the joke on fighting games and made for an excellent subversion of the whole genre.

  • Man, Saints Row IV is a heck of a product. It opens up with the premise of becoming the President of the United States and then kind of devolves into a pseudo-Matrix version of the last entry in the series, Saints Row The Third. This game has some incredibly stupid moments (in the best way) and does a lot for mobility in open world games, which hasn't been done properly since Just Cause 2. And Keith David as the Veep is one of the best cameos by a celebrity yet. Just play this on the PC - the framerate on the console versions makes the Crackdown-like platforming almost unplayable.

  • I'm surprised at how much I like a sequel of a game that is basically a bank robbing version of every horde mode game you've ever played. It is strangely compelling, the upgrade system is deeper than first glance, and although the levels are largely very similar (and you repeat them often), no one heist is the same because of the game's matchmaking system. You'll work better in some teams of 4 than others to do everything from cook and steal meth to robbing a regional bank in broad daylight. Can hardly wait for what will probably be Payday 3!

  • Zombie and apocalyptic stories rarely make for compelling video games (with the notable exception of Telltale's take on The Walking Dead last year). The Last of Us is a beautiful, well told story that works almost perfectly. The only really detraction is the parts where you have to play it; it isn't bad per se, but the combat and stealth sections largely get in the way of some excellent cut scenes and dialogue. There are some also really unrealistic, video gamey elements to it that hurt the game (a boss battle where you have to hit the enemy 3 times in a game where most enemies go down in one or two hits, a character that miraculously stands up despite suffering a grave injury, a magic backpack that holds 6 weapons and supplies but limits your health kits, companions that enemies don't attack or seem to be aware of), but these elements don't get in the way of an excellent, profound ending. Has also one of the most heartbreaking openings to a game.
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