Fakey's Top 10 Games of 2013

* Originally posted on my personal site*

This year, I really tried to play a lot of new releases. However, I didn't get a chance to play as many new releases as I would have liked. That's not to say that my year was bad. My daughter was born, making it the best year ever...so far... So, yeah, I'm not complaining about losing some gaming time. :D

However, the truth is that I don't have the time to play all the games I want and likely never will...unless I somehow come upon enough money to stop working... Therefore, my "backlog" just keeps growing and growing.

So, for 2014 (i.e. the list I make December 2014 or January 2015), I'm going to be doing my list differently. I'll be making a "Top 10 Games I played in 2014" list which will include any game I played, whether it came out in 2014 or not. I just can't keep pushing back great games that I've never had a chance to play, just because I'm trying to keep up with new releases. For example, I still haven't played Uncharted 3, Red Dead Redemption, any Crysis or Metal Gear Solid game, Grand Theft Auto IV...or V, dozens of great indies that I've purchased through various Steam and GOG sales...and on and on and on...

My list below does only include games released in 2013 (because that was my plan from the beginning of 2013), but I just wanted to give a heads-up on my new plan for 2014. :)

Top 10 Games of 2013

10. The Stanley Parable

I never played The Stanley Parable mod. I did play the demo that was released on Steam prior to the retail game's release. So, I did have some taste of what The Stanley Parable was about. However, I still found almost every minute spent in the game enjoyable. I went back through it at least a couple dozen times to try and find new paths and dialogue. Due to the lack of real gameplay (besides moving forward and occasionally clicking on things), this game almost didn't make my list. After playing it, it really didn't stick with me long. However, when I thought back on my enjoyment of it and weighed it against other games I played, it ended up at my #10 spot. It's also one of the games on this list I'm most likely to replay, since the comedy will still be funny, and it doesn't take long to run through it a few times.

9. The Swapper

I'm a big fan of certain types of "puzzly" games. The Swapper, like Portal, Quantum Conundrum, and 1000 Amps,scratched a very specific itch to explore a world and challenge myself to use a specific set of gameplay mechanics and rules to make it through increasingly more complicated puzzles. I really disliked Antichamber, mainly due to the lack of truly consistent rules, but The Swapper really delivered the type of puzzle game I can get into.

8. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

I have always loved the StarCraft games. For two or three years, I followed the professional StarCraft: Brood War eSport scene. Heart of the Swarm didn't grab me as much as Wings of Liberty did, in regards to the campaign, but that is mostly because I'm not a big fan of the Zerg. The Protoss campaign has a big chance of being my favorite, since I like controlling them the most in StarCraft II. However, Heart of the Swarm is just an amazing strategy campaign with a compelling enough story that kept me playing all of the main missions and side missions, as well.

7. Gone Home

Gone Home may not have impacted me as much as other people, which is not because I can't relate to the story. As a fan of "indie" film, I think I've just seen similar stories too many times to be completely blown away by the Gone Home narrative. That being said, I had a lot of fun going through the house, looking through all of the objects, and piecing together the story. I really took my time and only missed one note. I didn't anticipate a horror story as much as others did, either, but I still fund the story arch to be pleasantly surprising in a lot of ways. I do hope we get more games like Gone Home in the future.

6. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was much more emotionally impactful to me than any other game this year. The ending (highlight to see spoiler: burying "my" brother, trudging to the end without him, and standing over his gravestone with my father) was really hard, and I truly appreciated that the game asked the player to do those things it asked at the end. The mechanics did get a little annoying at times, but I accepted them as part of the game, and they really did pay off at the end, when the mechanics helped tell part of the story.

5. Metro: Last Light

I really liked Metro 2033, and Last Light gave me more of that world with what I thought were better mechanics and mission design. I played through all of the story DLC, as well, to get more of the world and gameplay. I definitely would be excited for another sequel.

4. Gunpoint

Gunpoint is a pretty simple game, but it combines many elements I love from other games: stealth, hacking/rewiring to manipulate the environment and solve puzzles different ways, and "ghost" gameplay puzzles (i.e. it can be easier to just take someone out, but it is harder to avoid an enemy altogether). The dialogue and story was also amusing but entertaining and engaging. I really hope that Tom Francis can expand upon the mechanics and deliver another Gunpoint, because I really don't feel finished with that "world."

3. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

I was very pleasantly surprised by Far Cry 3, and Blood Dragon delivers many of the things I loved, such as possible stealth gameplay, clearing out bases, crafting, and an open world that is fun to drive or glide around in. I would take the main game over Blood Dragon, if given the choice, but the sequel offered a very funny setting, some hilarious dialogue, and a fun campaign that was a nice reprieve from the dark and gross world of the main game. I really hope more developers make similar stand-alone games like this to allow players to revisit fun, familiar mechanics in a different setting.

2. The Last of Us

I got really frustrated with The Last of Us many times. I didn't feel like every minute of the gameplay was fun. Clearing out rooms or areas filled with half a dozen to a dozen armed men...or certain types of infected "patrolling" just the right way to block many stealth attempts at taking them out...was not always fun. However, I really enjoyed the story, and many elements of the stealth gameplay and resource management was very fun. So, when I think back on this game, I can't help but put it at the top of my list.

1. Tomb Raider

I'm as surprised as anyone to see Tomb Raider at the top of my list. Based on reviews I read or podcasts I listened to, the fact that I've never played a Tomb Raider game before may be part of it. I came to this game with fresh eyes on what Lara Croft could be.

I was very disappointed with the conclusion of the Tomb Raider story. I really wanted to see a realistic conclusion, not just "magic," but I just found all of the gameplay so fun. It is one of very few games in which I searched for hidden collectibles and even went back to the game after finishing it to collect some I missed. I also went back to the game several months later to play the DLC tomb, though it was very short.

When it comes down to it, I just had more fun, consistently, for longer with Tomb Raider than any other game this year. So, yeah, it feels weird for me to say so, but Tomb Raider turns out to be my #1 Game of the Year for 2013.

Best Older Game I Played This Year

Fez

If Fez had come out in 2013, it would be my Game of the Year this year. I played it for the first time this year, since it was just released on PC. However, for this list, I couldn't count it as a 2013 release. Next year, I will consider older games like this in my Top 10. For this year, though, I just have to note it.

I didn't "100%" Fez, because I just didn't have fun figuring out the number system or translating all of the text in the game. However, up until that point, I absolutely loved going through the world and completing the puzzles. The world felt fresh with just enough mystery, and the puzzles were imaginative and challenging without being frustrating (until I met my match with the number system).

Honorable Mentions to My Top 10 Games of 2013

DmC Devil May Cry

I really liked Devil May Cry. I never played any of the other games in the series, so I was not attached to the design of the main character in the previous games. I found Virgil more compelling than Dante in the new game, but what really made me like this game is the imaginative levels/areas as well as some of the great boss fights (such as the Rapter News Anchor, Bob Barbas). I'm not a big fan of the gameplay when I start having to learn combos. So, the Virgil DLC got to be much for me. However, even when I had to turn it down to "easy," I found it fun to just go through the levels the developers designed.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

I really loved Ni no Kuni for many hours. It just got to be too long, and I really hated the grinding I had to do at several parts. If the game was half the length and didn't talk down to the player as much, it would have been very high on my list. However, given what the game became, it just didn't make the list...

Games I didn't get to this year that, based on reviews, could have possibly made it to my Top 10 Games of 2013...

• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
• Puppeteer
• Remember Me
• Rogue Legacy
• Saints Row IV
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
• State of Decay
• Zeno Clash II

Addendum

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

I haven't finished Black Flag, yet. I put it down to play Batman: Arkham Origins (I wanted to play Arkham Origins around Christmas). However, even if I finished Black Flag (which I eventually will), I don't think it would have made my Top 10 list. While there are a lot of things about Black Flag that I do like, I think I'm just too burned out on the Assassin's Creed series, right now. I didn't think I was before starting this game, but after putting in about 10 hours to Black Flag, I just really ran out of steam running around, collecting things, assassinating, eaves dropping, et cetera. Also, even though I like the ship gameplay, I don't think it grabbed me as much as other people. I have found the ship combat to be frustrating and/or tedious most of the time, and I just get a little tired of sailing around. I had the same problem with Windwaker, to be honest.

Bioshock Infinite

I really disliked the combat in Infinite, and I found the story very unsatisfying. I am one of the people that was expecting a lot out of the social issues portrayed in the early game. However, I was extremely disappointed when it didn't follow-up on that in a satisfying way. I just found Infinite to turn into a generic action game with a beautiful art style and fascinating backdrop (i.e. the general state and nature of that world). I found the Luteces to be very interesting and entertaining, and I liked how music was used to show the potential effect of people using multiple realities to their own ends. Too bad the story arc I was playing didn't match my appreciation of those things.

Papers, Please

I only played about a half-hour of Papers, Please. I still want to go back to it, but I just never got to the point where I felt compelled to keep playing in the same way I did with others on my Top 10 List.

Final Thoughts

I have to say that despite thinking 2013 was a great gaming year while I was going through it, looking at my Top 10 Games of 2012 list, I have to say that 2012 was a much better year, in my opinion. That list was much harder to put together and much harder to rank due to the incredible games that were released.

We'll see how 2014 goes... As I said before, I'm going to be playing a lot of backlog games this year and almost assuredly playing less new releases... That being said, I'm going to be playing Bravely Default, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and the new Thief in the next couple months... I can't believe how stacked spring is already! I guess we'll see what other new releases can distract me from my backlog, as well. ;)