Yes. It's January 25th. People are well past the year 2013, and all gaming websites have given out their game of the years. Well, i'm not like most people. What can I say? I am a little on the odd side, and like to take my time enjoying things before I give my final assessment on things.
With that in mind, I have finally compiled my list of top 5 games of 2013. Will anyone care? I don't really care. This is just for my own caring. Here goes. The top 5 games of 2013 for Tim.
5) Tomb Raider - PS3, XBox 360, PC
I came into this game thinking that it was going to be another dumb Tomb Raider game. This franchise and I have had an up and down history. More down than anything else. I was so skeptical; even after the epic E3 trailer from 2011, and the gameplay reveal at E3 2012. I just couldn't believe that Lara Croft could be saved. However, I trusted Crystal Dynamics. They may not be the same company that created the Legacy of Kain games that are among my favorite games of the 5th and 6th generation, but they still had talent, so I was willing to see if they could pull a rabbit out of their hat. I got my hands on the game, on PC - Which is the only way to play this game. There is no other option. The PC version is just a beautiful spectacle to look at, and what do you know... I started to like it.
After a few hours of Lara getting her ass kicked, and her regretting the choices she was making, and all the stuff was coming together, I was starting to really like it. By the time I got about 40% through the game, I realized that I love this game and had to finish it, and I mean finish it all the way. 100%. It took me 35 hours to do it, but I did. The game amazed me, and was by far the biggest surprise for me last year.
The combat was amazing. The puzzles, while not as pronounced as in Tomb Raider games (Probably a good thing). The island I was living in, and the story all just fell into place for me. I cared about Lara Croft again cause she was actually more like a human being than a bad-ass superhero bitch.
I couldn't believe how much I loved this game, and I wanted more. Here's hoping Crystal Dynamics can blow me away again with the inevitable sequel.
4) The Stanley Parable - PC
This game is just gold. It has such an amazing sense of humor. It has a feeling of isolation that is kind of frightening, yet never bad enough that you're feeling sad. All the endings were just great. The narrator is one of the best voice acting jobs i've ever seen. The achievements are so ridiculous that they were just amazing.
How can you get better than being one guy in an office and listening to a narrator telling a story of you, only to have you do exactly the opposite of what the narrator says, which, in turn, infuriates him. Hilarity ensues as he can't figure out what the fuck you're going to do next, and sometimes he glitches the game and leads you on a 25 minute trek just to find the proper way to reset the game. You couldn't beat the smile off my face in the 7 hours it took for me to get all the endings in the game cause I was laughing so hard.
The only question I have is is Stanley related to the character in Portal?
3) The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 3DS
There has been enough said about this game on every website on the planet, that I need not go into detail on my experience with it. What else can I say? It's an amazing Zelda game. It's a sequel to one of the most cherished games in history and it does it justice like no one expected. I do prefer Skyward Sword by a hair, but that's not taking anything from this masterpiece. The only downfall to this game is the bosses were too easy.
I created my own difficulty so I wouldn't exploit the getting every item in the game right away as an advantage in all the dungeons. I only got the item when I got to a certain area or dungeon in the game and I realized that I needed it, so i'd go and buy it. The first three dungeons are just ok, but the final seven are just gold. The Thieves Den is such an amazing dungeon, the sand dungeon is so great, I played it twice just to enjoy it again, and the stealth areas were so fun.
If you truly want a great experience with it, play it on Hero Mode. It's true Zelda. You will get your ass kicked, but the sense of urgency and careful timing will make you love the game even more.
What more can I say? The game is a work of art, and almost the best game of the 3DS.... but not quite.
2) Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Stuff to do every day. Online communities. 300+ hours into this game and still going strong. This game IS the total package and is the BEST game on 3DS. I thought Pokemon would do it, but I was so in love with Animal Crossing that i've barely touched X and Y.
The amount of content they added is just insane. Customizing your town with all sorts of landmarks, being the mayor, creating your own ordinances, the island games... I could go on and on and on. This game is so packed that even at 300 hours, I haven't seen half of what is in the game yet. I JUST got Katrina to set up shop in my town - 7 months after I started playing.
If you have friends to play with, and the desire to collect all there is in this game, then expect to spend at least a year playing this amazing treat. I know that i'll be playing this game for the entire rest of 2014, and maybe even 2015. What can I say? It is the absolute total package and the best game on 3DS.
1) Gone Home
I never, ever, in a million years thought an indie game that slipped under my radar until the end of December would end up being the absolute best game I played in 2013. Quick confession - I beat this game on January 1st, 2014, but it still counts since it came out in 2013.
This game is just story telling at its finest. Proof that video games are an art form, and can stand toe to toe with any form of medium out there.
The game takes place in 1995. I was 16 when this game takes place, so I can completely relate to everything that Sam was going through in the game. Playing as Katie made me look at the life Sam was going through in the year she was gone through the eyes of an outsider looking in (Even though she is the older sister). The game is the story of Sam, not Katie. You may play as Katie, but Sam steals the show. Her ordeals of teenage life in the mid 90's is just so mind numbing to me and hit me so close to home cause I felt exactly like she did when I was 16. It actually made me remember how unnecessarily made myself sad during those formative years of my life.
The house feels so organic, and like a real house that I, or any of us grow up in. It's a little erie on the atmosphere, but once you uncover all the things in the house, you realize that this family is just like every other family - A dysfunctional family that has real issues that effect real people. There's no saving the world, or any of the other cliches that have tainted games in the last 10 years. It's just the story of a family and all their struggles.
If you ever want to know how it feels to be a teenager again, or what it's like to be a teenage girl in the mid 90s, you must play this "Game". It's more of an interactive drama. The story is so real, so full of subtle things that are organic, and real in the world we lived in then, that I kept flashing back to my teenage years and feeling like I was Katie walking through that house.
The story of Samantha is something that you must experience and you will be left satisfied after you've explored the whole house, figured out the secrets of your parents, the nature of the house, why you went on the European trip to begin with, and of course discovered the resolution of Samantha. I haven't cried in a game ever, nor have I actually cried in so many years that i've forgotten how to cry. However, that final long trek up the stairs towards the attic almost made me shed a tear.
I won't spoil a thing here. I will just say that I couldn't be happier with the ending. It was perfect, it fits the reality of the world that was in 1995, and even today in 2014 despite all the technology advancements we've made.
It is, without a doubt, the best game of 2013, and maybe one of the best stories i've ever seen in a video game. For those who have doubts about video games, or never played them, should start here, as it will put any prejudice of games you have to bed.
Perfect dialog, amazing voice acting, a fantastic story, Sam the character, the organic nature of the house and the reality of the world Katie is in makes this the absolute 10/10 for me. I never thought a game like this would be better than a Zelda game released in the same year, but it did.
Play it now, PLEASE. Gone Home is what video games are all about! It's the best game of 2013. Period.
