This is year has been fantastic for games, the variety has been exciting to see and with the new generation out, 2014 could another amazing year.
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Why is Tomb Raider my GOTY. I enjoyed the early TB games (1 to 3) but had lost interest in the series when it was brought to the PS2 era and early last generation. The gameplay remained the same and the stories became ridiculous. When the new TB was announced i was intrigued about what said (Lara's origin story). As i started playing the game, the visual style was striking. The gritty tone of the game stood out, Lara being beaten up, pushed around, visible injuries was something i was not expecting. Lara in previous games was an arrogant strong women and seeing her like that was shocking. The story itself was not new, if you have seen TV shows and movies with people being trapped on an island, you can figure out whats going to happen. The difference with the TB story is Lara's progression through the game, her becoming more mature and dealing with certain situations. Killing 100's of enemies does break the immersion but this is a video game and you have to accept that. The gameplay in TB is what i enjoyed the most about the game. The shooting mechanics, traversing through the enviroment and 90% of the missions were a joy to play. I did not get frustrated (except for the end on the PS3, the frame rate was terrible but the on PC was easy as pie), i played it twice because the game moved at a fast pace. To complete the package the game looked gorgeous, especially on the PC (and i didnt even see the hair physics). I do hope they continue with the story and keeping eveolving the gameplay.
European Release 2013. If you are part of the Giantbomb community, Persona 4 is engraved in our culture. Having watched the endurance on many occasions, i never actually completed the game itself. On the Ps2 i had made it two Nanako's dungeon and lost my save file. So when the P4 Golden came out in Europe i was excited to play it. The changes they made to P4 had made the game even more special. I will probably forget all of the changes but here i go. The graphics have been updated to bring a much sharper image quality (removes the PS2 hazy effect), this makes the game look beautiful . The audio has been updated, the voice for Chie has changed but you quickly get used to her and the OST has been improved on. A few new songs have been added but capture the P4 essence. In terms of game play what i enjoyed the most was at certain difficulties you can repeat a floor or even a boss fight. The biggest improvement was the fusion section, now you can select the skills of your choice instead of the random chance. This made the game less repetitive and that's always a good thing, because it is a JRPG. The whole package was amazing, you can view the cut scenes and listen to the OST. There were even a few surprises that i won't spoil. Overall this game still holds up, i enjoyed my 60+ hours .
European Release 2013. The much anticipated 3DS game for a few years now, finally came out. The question mark over Square Enix's ability to produce another great JRPG can finally be answered, they have the talent to make great games. Bravely Default is a JRPG with a few new gameplay changes but not only that, it has a decent story with lovable characters. The first thing i have to talk about is the gameplay. The brave and default system changes the way you think about each battle. I will describe it as a gamble between pure attack or more a cunning strategy. With brave you can make a character take 4 moves in 1 turn. The gamble is they will remain inactive until the battle has progressed 4 turns. Anybody that has played a JRPG, there is always a thought of should i attack and defeat the boss or recover. Default is the opposite and involves storing your turn and this will means you take your turn & there is no waiting for you next turn. This adds another dynamic to a traditional battle system. This makes the game fun to play, along with the job system (like old FF games) and a variety of dungeons, Bravely Default was worth the wait.
Technically this game came out in 2011 but i finished it this year and loved it. 2013 has been a big year for Dark Souls, the number of streams available for this has grown and it got me interest in playing the game. I started the game in the summer and had managed to get to the gaping dragon. I had difficulty defeating the boss and stopped for 3 months. During those months i kept getting bugged to contnue my adventure and see if i could complete the game. So i went back to DS and beat the dragon, got through blighttown and the game got easy after that. Eventually i got addicted and played it every day for a week and finished the game. I loved the challenge that i decided to buy it for the PC and again completed it. I was in two minds on placing this on my top ten but it had to be there, this is the only game where lengthy conversations were had, it was on my mind 24 hours a day.
Naughty Dog have the ability to produce great games and with The Last of US they have done it again. This game could have been my number 1 due the best graphics of the generation, story and real sense of drama. The issue i had was with the game play but i will explain why later. When any game comes out that produces a story that is so amazing, you will hear phrases like academy award level writing or this must have been like watching The Godfather for the first time. Usually this is not justified but on the rare occasion it does happen. The Last of Us encapsulates the player in loving the characters (Joel and Ellie), the environment they are put in and what scenarios they happen to across. Along with the detailed facial design you can see pure emotion when something occurs in a sequence and that is scarce among video games. Sadly for me the game play slightly ruins the experience of game with its ability to frustrate you, when you want to see the next story beat. I thought the game mechanics were amazing during the first few hours but as the encounters got more challenging it got annoying. This would lead to rushing sequences and furthering my dislike for the game play. I truly believe this may have stopped a number of players from seeing an amazing story and this saddens me. It's a Beautiful game with a brilliant story but shame about the game mechanics.
Whenever Rockstar games announce they are working on a new GTA i get excited. Rockstar have not produced a poor game in my opinion in a long time and with the GTA V the trend continues. GTA V is bigger, bolder and much more crazier than its predecessor. If the story was a bit tighter and slightly shorter, this like a few games could have challenged the top spot for me. First of all i love the idea of controlling 3 characters, who have their individual personalities and where it would take them in the story. Along with Ellie from The Last of Us, Trevor is the best new character of 2013. GTA games are known for their semi realistic cities and with the GTA V set in Southern California and having never been there it looked amazing. Hearing people who have been there, they all agree it looks the same and attention to detail is astonishing. So far all of the boxes have been checked, along with a stable frame rate and a decent soundtrack this game should have been much higher on the list. The story was good but got convoluting with it starting as petty heists to a conspiracy theory and with the characters getting a bit lost in the process. The key points of the story were brilliant (don't want to give away spoilers), Michael and Trevor had their personal story completed but Franklin became a bit part character. Comparing the other GTA stories it was kind of weak. Hands down this game is a technical masterpiece, with lovable characters and awesome game mechanics but the story let me down.
European Release 2013. I had a hard time choosing between Injustice and Persona 4 Arena, as my favourite fighting game this year. I think the characters from P4 and P3 are unique enough to form a fighting game. The core mechanic of the game was fresh and with the incredible OST, this pushed Injustice to the limit but my love for Persona is far greater than DC comics.
