Putting this game on a top ten list for 2013 is a little unfair since Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward came out last year. Even more unfair is by having it here, since it pushes my list of ten to eleven. But I think I can make a good case for it. This game came out for the PS Vita and was a free PS+ game, making it a mandatory download for any new Vita owner. It doesn’t differ from its 3DS 2012 release in any substantial way, but it was in my hands and free. I'm not trying to qualify its existence on my list based on price, but VLR didn't get the exposure it deserved. By making it free for Vita I noticed it and after playing it, I can say it is worth a lot more than free. VLR is the second in the Zero escape series and does so many things well. It’s a combination of visual novel and puzzle game, but it ties those two things together so tightly it becomes something unlike anything seen before. After getting through the first ending (and there are tons of endings) the story tree is exposed. It’s intimidating and exhilarating to see the whole span of the game shown so early on. The game’s hook is the mystery and replaying certain scenes over again to different conclusions. Without giving too much away, these little differences are key and pointed out by the game through it’s constant referencing quantum mechanics and breaking the fourth wall in the most classy way. During the final ending of the game, the next installment in the series is explicitly referenced while it’s being set up. It’s bold, challenging, and brilliant. VLR blends form and content so seamlessly that it’s an experience that could only happen in a video game.
10b. Shadowrun Returns
This games shares the beginning of my top ten list since I was a pretty hefty backer of this Kickstarter success story. Since my journalistic integrity matters to me, but undoubtedly no one else, I think this is a perfect fit for Shadowrun Returns. Oh no! You got D&D in my cyberpunk. That's the basis for the world of Shadowrun and to one-up that combination the game is a turned based tactical RPG with light exploration. Shadowrun Returns offers just enough of everything to keep it interesting: classes, dialogue trees, side quests, hacking, and even cosmetic stuff. I liked the length of the campaign since it was short for an RPG. It told it's story deftly, had a little wiggle room for personal choices, and opened up the world in an interesting way with each mission; it's kind of like a snack sized RPG. Shadowrun Returns offers a custom scenario editor allowing players to make their own stories in the Shadowrun world. Of course at launch there was not a lot of user created content and I regret not checking it out more recently. Overall, it was a good little piece of cyberpunk content that needed a few tweaks here and there, but never did those areas of improvement detract from the whole.
The trouble with fighting games is to become competitive at a game requires deft finger manipulation and hefty combo memorization. Divekick throws that out the window. What started as a satirical commentary on fighting video game design has evolved into metagame made accessible. Or it’s just dumb fun. The controls are simply dive and kick. Jump and attack respectively. The basic input design allow the high level mind games of fighting games to become suddenly available to anyone. It’s not perfect as the rogues gallery of characters, lack of tutorial, and hazy gem system apply layers of murk to the clear and simple design. But it’s better than anything else for novices who want to outwit an opponent instead of out-memorize. I loved Divekick’s sense of humor and fighting game scene in-jokes along with the low rent art. It felt like a project that received a budget and used it for what the designers thought was most important. The mechanics. And cash bets with custom made fighting sticks in hotel rooms; the soul of any great fighting game. The reason why Divekick made my list was because how easy it was to just play without ever feeling discouraged because of skill.
I played this game like it was my job. Literally. Wake up in the morning and collect fruit and seashells. During lunch, sell my finds. During the night time, catch bugs for an even bigger profit. While to sane people this may seem monotonous to do everyday for 2 months, to those who get Animal Crossing, it’s enjoyable as much as it is entertaining. It’s all about the next thing in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I needed more currency so I could buy the next expansion to the house. I needed the expansion so I could put more stuff in it and each day there was new trinkets find find and NPCs to befriend. So much stuff! The new mechanic of being the town’s mayor added a touch of personal flavor and control to the town. But the best new systems were the ones that specifically utilized the 3DS hardware. Buying fortune cookies using Play Coins (a currency gained on the 3DS by taking physical steps) awarded the coolest Nintendo fanboy gear from Samus clothes to a twinkling Triforce statue. Being able to explore friends towns with them and without them made showing off all my hard earned crap even more worthwhile. Animal Crossing: New Leaf nails carrot on the stick design philosophy and pairs it perfectly with Nintendo nostalgia.
This game isn't actually about outwitting the enemy AI in a turn-based strategy battle, it's about making people fall in love. Fire Emblem: Awakening has some of the best writing and characters while simultaneously having forgettable characters and an inscrutable story. By pairing troops on the battlefield, relationships form between two characters. I found myself tailoring my tactics based on who I thought would be a good fit for each other. In other words, tactics be damned. Fall in love first then finish the fight. I was enamored by the journey the characters took to fall in love or become close friends and it more than made up for whatever dumb catastrophe was going to end the world. The characters themselves were cookie-cutter, but it was their interactions with each other that truly elevated them and made them interesting. Especially later in the game when their children fell out of the future to fight alongside their parents. These kids were not only based on the personalities of their parents and inherited their parents skills; once again rewarding following the relationships to their end. Fire Emblem: Awakening is one of the best Tactical RPGs because by self-imposing restrictions on strategy the game mechanics transcend their own design.
Games that come out very early in the year are easy to forget, but not DmC: Devil May Cry. The series reboot by a different developer is one of the best Stylish Action games yet. I’ve never cared for the previous DMC games and there is no going back after this one. The fast-paced hack and slash gameplay is perfected by the Angel Mode and Devil Mode allowing for an almost endless string of combos governed exclusively by the player's skill. It’s made easier by simplifying the weapon possibilities, mostly though the aforementioned modes, and by giving the player the critical linking moves at the start of the game. The world channels Matrix grunge but mirrors it with the putrid Limbo realm. This contributes to some of the most striking parts of the game. When platforming Limbo, the real world tears, twists, and distorts like a funhouse while Dante is traversing through it. The story and characters are bland, but designed well and they contribute to some of the most memorable boss fights of the year. The most well designed moments are found in the boss battles as they test the player's skills gained so far instead of fabricating a never used mechanic simply to add challenge. I had a great time with the game and have a newfound respect for the series since the games before were used as a solid foundation. DmC: Devil May Cry was the hottest piece of action in 2013.
Zelda games can be a little same-y. A Link Between Worlds simultaneously pays homage by faithfully recreating many people's favorite Zelda world from A Link to the Past while upending the mechanics tea-table. You can buy all the items right away, so there isn't a set order to the dungeons. Devoted fans may be screaming "Heresy!" to the design choice, but it makes for a more interesting game, while honestly, not changing a lot. Renting the items right away grants almost complete access to the map, but I still found myself tackling one dungeon at a time and not stopping until I cleared it. All items are governed by one magic power meter too. That means not worrying about saving arrows or bombs and consequently adding a layer of strategy when using items for combat. A Zelda veteran might think this would cause a problem with having too much cash when not having to sink it into new bags and quivers, but it is solved by allowing the player to buy the rented item at a high price. This secures the item after death and allows it to be upgraded by collecting pink, baby calamari friends...yup. But these collectibles were giving a counter with location breakdown, allowing areas to be cleared without having to resort to a faq. I haven’t even touched on the game’s main mechanic: subverting expectation. While it is rehashing the memorable dungeons of LTTP, it turns them on their ear by granting Link a new power. You can become a painted figure on the wall and travel a 2D plain until there is an obstruction or the magic meter runs out. That mechanic is used in different ways during different dungeons and boss fights and even puzzles in the world. For example, the speedy runner guy in Kakariko Village can be outrun. He sets his back to a wall and takes off when he sees you approach. The solution is to morph to the wall and pop out behind him to catch him. This theme of nuanced change is continued throughout the game to great effect.
Its all about the ending. Bioshock Infinite drops you en medias res and lumps the mystery on heavily to the biggest pay off. I loved the breathtaking classic sci-fi twist. It stumbled a bit throughout the game but the tried and true shooting mechanics keep the game intense and interesting. With cool powers and weapons and zipping around robust levels on on the Skylines, Bioshock Infinite was never dull. By taking the element of exploring the aftermath of a city gone to hell defined by the previous games and twisting it to be a world literally fraying at the edges, Bioshock Infinite broke new ground for the genre. Everything was in service of the ending and I’m afraid to say more. All I keep coming back to is that it was worth it.
Easily the most fun I had playing with friends this year. Nintendo’s leap of faith by allowing their golden child game to go online and out from under the protective wing of LAN only MADE this game. They made Gary Oak is a real person to me. In previous Pokemon games, you are constantly dogged by your rival. He would show up and challenge you at every turn. Now, with online, Gary Oak is waiting to yell “smell you later” every second. I would evolve my starter buddy and be excited for my friend to battle me online. We would battle at every major milestone and trade just as much. Having that constant connection to a friend was so unique to this game. Pokemon X/Y also saw improvements across the board in the form of making catching them all easier by providing a feature rich trading platform. It also changed things up by throwing in a new type and doing some re-balancing for veterans. Experience Share was a godsend; an item that made all Pokemon level up outside of battle created the opportunity for more experimentation with the new guys. And Mega Evolution allowed old favorites to take on renewed life in the series. Pokemon Y consumed almost 100 hours but felt like a flash since it married the old nostalgia so perfectly with much needed new innovation.
The Last of Us advances the artistic nature of video games as well as general design and philosophy more so than any other game this year. It's simply the best game this year. Its story of a broken man in a broken land with everything to lose is felt at every encounter and every cutscene. The characters felt real thanks to the phenomenal acting and every action carried weight. The adventure laced with depression was made tense by scarcity of resources and ever changing stealth gameplay. I loved taking in the derelict landscape and stumbling upon hastily scrawled notes each telling a micro-narrative, subtly. The Last of Us did so much with so much. What I appreciated most about The Last of Us was the design choice to tell its own story. No moral choices, good guy bad guy meter, no multiple endings dependent on how I played. I was playing the story of two extremely well defined characters. They had growth and an arch and not a typical happy ending. But I relished the culmination of it all and enjoyed a what could have been another boring zombie video game.
Ni No Kuni is magical. It broke my PS3. I played Ni No Kuni so incessantly that my console overheated. And then I played more. First of all, Ni No Kuni is flawed. Severely. It’s combat leaves a lot to be desired and could have benefited with a pause mechanic and more control over the characters. Then again, that could be because I didn’t want to grind levels and replay battles. It could have also benefited from a Tales like skit system of character interaction when outside the main story. I'd have really enjoyed some more banter when traversing the huge world. That out of the way, Ni No Kuni was the most fun I had in any game that came out this year. The vivid landscapes and cohesive world you are dropped into is amazing. Lush with color and life and diversity, I was never bored even when backtracking through old dungeons and towns. Ni No Kuni is a classic JRPG by design; a hero journey buffeted by trials and ultimately a happy ending. Essentially Star Wars but with Pokemon. Does it out Pokemon Pokemon? No. It does much, much more. The tale of Oliver is one of braver and friendship, baked right into the gameplay. I had a wonderful time restoring the broken hearts of the people. That mechanic of scooping the overflowing traits of NPCs and delivering them to others never got tedious and tied in so brilliantly to the ending. Ni No Kuni also had collectible monsters. By fighting enemies and seducing them to join my team and then evolving them down multiple paths filled a hole in my heart. The designs were cool but controlling them left me wanting. Thankfully, there was an easy setting. Ni No Kuni is hard and I had to drop it down a level of difficulty to keep going. Sure this is a flaw, but also very telling that I would do anything to see the journey to its end. The voice acting was awesome at every moment and the game. It especially hooked me midway through when an unexpected stand-up comedy bit and El Shaddai style level sprung up from nowhere. Ni No Kuni gave me goosebumps when the music kicked in as I climbed aboard the dragon and flew around the map. I loved the side quests that awarded stamps to buy perks like increased movement speed and better capture rates for monsters. I can’t say there was one thing that made this game so perfect for me. Oh wait, I can. It was the menu. Zooming into pages and being quizzed on my ability to decipher the wizarding tome totally did it. Crafting, stats, collectible monsters, side quests, beautiful Studio Ghibli art, and a charming story made Ni No Kuni my favorite game this year. I understand if you don’t agree. There were better games but if you love JRPGs and ever find yourself thinking Eastern games are dead you are a fool. Ni No Kuni is the game that I wanted and the game I loved more than any other this year.