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Well, 2013 has been over for just over a week and I have yet to see any thread like this. So here goes.

I'll start with mine; without a doubt:

This game was something that I had been pumped for for a long time. The sequel to my favorite and first FPS game I ever played, Bioshock (did not play Bioshock 2, heard it wasn't as good as the first). And i'll say this, it did not disappoint; in fact it blew my expectations out the window and sent my ass on a ride.

The game was, in my mind; both by far the best looking game of the year and best level/area design to boot.

OH…MY….

….DAMN!

both working together to make the maps feel big (the skylines add to this too), beautiful to look at, and immerse you in such extraordinary detail that you want to explore every inch of them. The tone itself made me the most excited I have ever been about where I was going to go next in a game then I have ever been.

(old propaganda has always been a guilty pleasure of mine)

Mechanics were top notch and a wonder to behold. Though some removed, (hacking, carrying an arsenal with you, and buying different kinds of plasmids); the introduction of new ones more than balances it out. For instance, though being a walking armory is certainly fun, a two weapon limit presents interesting choices. "What am I going to need?", "How often will I see this weapon again?", and, though none of the weapons are "bad"; Reliability V.S HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME!

(Pictured: Reliable)

(Pictured: HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME DIDYOUSEETHAT!)
This is a fire-shotgun, it shoots lead death and flames. Nuff said

(Pictured: The best of both worlds?….)

This allows the player to play in a verity of different ways. Giving room for lots of experimentation and greatly adding to gameplay fun and replay value.

As for the Vigors (Bioshock Infinite's plasmids) just because you only get the ones the game gives you, (8 in total) does not mean that they aren't as useful, fun, diverse, and interesting as in the first game…..

EAT FIRE!

EAT LIGHTING!

EAT YOUR OWN LEAD!

EAT BIRDS!

EAT TORNADOS!

The restriction to 8 vigors also allows for creative and useful combos. Who doesn't like flaming flesh eating crows?

As for the completely new mechanics, both knock em' outta da park.

The skylines are quite honestly one of the best aspects of the game entirely. Serving as a means of transport throughout the arena like maps, creating new areas for attack, and often meaning the difference between dying and a narrow escape.

Look out below!

Also, in turn they make the maps feel larger, more complex, and enforce the excitement filled action packed flow of gameplay. Reminding you that you're right in the middle of the party…and the party is you.

WHEEEEEEEEE!

And now the last major mechanic, Elizabeth and her tears.

Tears, two words: Environment Manipulation.

Need a turret?

Need higher ground?

Need some cover?

The list goes on and on.

As for Elizabeth, when there are no tears nearby is still helpful and enjoyable as a character and as a NPC, bringing you health, ammo, salts, and even money whenever she can.

And lastly, but unthinkably the least we have Bioshock Infinite's story, one of the best stories that I have seen in a very long time. Now I won't describe it in detail, as I would be end up writing an essay the size of "War and Peace" describing it, interpreting it and fawning over it.

[SOMEWHAT HAZY POTENTIALLY REVEALING DESCRIPTION!!!]
To summarize here's this: with a cast of wonderful intriguing characters, ranging from the quirky, funny and mysterious Lutece "twins" to the "glorious" prophet Father Comstock, and even the city of Columbia itself describes the life, choices and consequences of one man, Booker DeWitt. Exploring the two types of destruction that come from such choices; inner destruction and outer destruction, and how each effects the man and the world around him.

[CAUTION REALLY PUSHING THE LINE]

While also dabbling in the idea of "choice" and the effect it has; creating a sea of possibilities, an ocean of worlds. All the conflict, all the turmoil, all the problems, stemming from that one choice.

[REALLY VAUGE DESCRIPTION OVER]

Whew. Well that was a bit lengthy. Anyway, hope it's not TL;DR for ya; but don't let that stop you! Don't think many responses will be as long as mine, but i'll be glad just to hear your opinion on your
2013 GOTY!

I'm guessing we're speaking of 2013 releases, right?
In that case, mine might just be XCOM: Enemy Within or Grand Theft Auto V (I'm currently entrenched in the former but the latter would probably be a better choice for long-term satisfaction and how much I got from it back when I initially got it and how I'll likely view both in the future) but I lack the confidence to say for sure.

I really have wanted to play Bioshock Infinite, but I just haven't gotten to picking it up yet. I'm trying to play through Bioshock 2 first, and while it's not quite as good as the game that preceded it, it's still an entertaining game on its own merits.

But I will take the time to gush about The Last Of Us. It takes every mechanic from other survival-horror titles, and not only makes them excel in every possible way, but seams them with mechanics from more recent titles flawlessly. The story is absolutely amazing, and it was so well told and acted that I'm torn as to if I want a sequel to continue the story or if the game should simply stand on its own as a self-contained masterpiece.

Boku no Pico: Shota Squad fighters.
I snagged an english hack when I was at youmacon. Shit's legendary.
On a serious note: DOTA 2.

My GOTY is GTA V. I loved the story, loved the characters, loved the new Los Santos, loved the killing, loved the driving, loved just about everything with GTA V. I even had a blast with GTA Online and my favorite character was Trevor Phillips.

Extreme Russian Roulette. You play with an M16.

Honestly, I've played a lot of games in 2013. I'll have to think about it.

Mine would probably be Pokemon X and Y, but then again I'm a Pokemon fanboy so I'm kind of biased. I liked Bioshock Infinite too, although the story made almost no sense to me.

Can anyone talk about Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, out of curiosity? I want to know what people thought of that.

Farm Simulator Titanium Edition

Well usually i buy games the year after because they're cheaper and i get a lot of money after Christmas there is a couple of Exceptions.

Going through the ones i have I'd say Rogue Legacy (I'm still playing from when I got it on on sale).

But a close 2nd was GTA V but mainly for GTA Online and that I couldn't't get into storymode was one of the deciding factors.

The Stanley Parable. I, sadly, didn't get a chance to play Bioshock Infinite. If I did, it would probably be my Game of the Year.

Ride to Hell: Retribution

I was going to say The Binding of Issac Rebirth, but it hasn't come out yet.

Hurry please master McMillen..

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Yep a 2012 game manages to be my 2013 game. But guess what? It's God-tier OST, revamped G1 theme, awesome ways to play per level, Breath taking animation sequences, and best of all: Metroplex

Really, how can you not like the bot?

Fire Emblem Awakening, hands do-

Okay, Ace Attorney Dual Destinies was about just as good. n_n;;

You're joking right?

And it flew right over your head. :^>

I was considering mentioning Aliens: Colonial Marines in the same vein, but I actually didn't think the game was nearly as bad as people said it was.

Ball in a cup master race.

Puny PS4 graphics can't match ball in a cup. It's like your actually playing it in real life- oh wait. You are.

Seriously, I pick GTA 5. I got it in August and there still is shit I haven't done. That plus great graphics and good controls, make it one of my favorite games.

Now, I could write out a big fancy pseudo-review thing on why I liked this game so much and why I chose it in this thread, unfortunately it's way to late for that kinda thing (5:10am at the time of posting), so instead, have this thing instead…
I'll list of a few points that made this game iconic for me…

1. That OST, holy shit man, slamming a Ray into the ground and then slicing its arm off all to the screams of "ROOOLZ UV NAYTCHAAA!!" I mean

And then you have those boss themes too all of which are equally epic and very fitting for the game itself and the pace. The immersion you get off that sorta mix can get you stoaked, fast

2. The characters themselves, each of the Winds of Destruction being an individual and very memorable character in their own right not forgetting to mention the infamous Senator Armstrong,. Taking a quick glance at fanart you'll see that people have taken a massive liking to the cast. Keeping inline with MG tradition the Winds are also a continuation of the specialized soldier chain idea, Foxhound, Dead Cell, B&B Corp etc.

3. A few memes came out of it too…

"Nanomachines, son" the Rules of Nature goes with everything thing. That's always good, I think

4. At least it actually was released, so I'll give a point just for the simple fact that it didn't all into obscurity after its first cancellation and was instead picked back up and finished

5….damn, I dunno, all out of steam. But seriously this game, just everything about it from gameplay mechanics, to the OST to the (albeit simplified) but alright storyline and then the epic characters involved. It made for a brilliant and refreshing break from the Solid series and presented a whole new take on how to experience the universe of Metal Gear, that being in the form of a 60fps hack 'n slash

Only down points I really have are..(I find it easier to slander at this time than to praise)
It could have been longer. If I just sat playing it and didn't touch the Codec at all I'd probably be able to speedrun it in a very short sitting…

The DLC's. Jetstream Sam's additional chapter was very good, it gave you some insight into his reason behind joining World Marshal and a little backstory on his morale alignment…but his moveset wasn't great, his light and heavy attacks didn't flow into each other very well and most of his moves relied way too much on charged attacks. His moves overall were also slower than Raidens however this is more of a new play style if anything, you'll see what I mean when you try to spam parries and get dominated over and over again. (Protip: Don't actually bother parrying with Sam, just dodge, seriously his dodge move is incredibly good, way better than Raidens by a mile)

The Bladewolf DLC on the other hand was…it was..was..pretty shit. Good points were that it gave some more background on Mistral and introduced a new character, Khamsin. It also fleshed out Bladewolfs past too. Unfortunately this is all outweighed by the most important part, gameplay, you basically backtrack the levels found within the main game, there literately isn't anything new when it comes to level design, seriously that virtual reality platforming section was horrible and very tedious, just unnecessary overall. Bladewolfs moveset isn't great either and is practically empty when it comes to combos, his heavy and light attacks just don't mix with one another, you either do a heavy combo or a light…I mean why…believe me, when you have movesets like this the game can get boring real quick especially when you're just spamming the same combo because its the only thing the character is actually capable of performing fluidly…..my biggest point though is this, I spent the whole DLC thinking "so when does this fast forward to a point where I get to play as the badass Bladewolf"

Well that point never came, I mean I know it was pretty important that Bladewolfs background was expanded upon but for fuck sake, man. To think that you spend the whole damn DLC as the prototype and not that badass instead really burns, I mean it just really annoyed me. You play the crap part of Bladwolfs life basically…

More of a improvement idea this but here goes. If the story was so short then why not include something similar to that of Bloody Palace from the DMC series, playing the same mission over and over just for the sake of wanting to chop up some cyborgs isn't great and yeah I know the VR missions kinda make up for that but they definitely do not stand in place for a survival mode. The replayability of something like Bloody Palace is endless, the satisfaction of being able to just sit and slaughter hundreds of enemies without the need to keep pacing out missions is great. Still to this day I occasionally head back to DMC4 to take on the Bloody Palace all because of the simplicity in it. I pretty much think that any hack and slash game like this should at the very least have a survival mode of some kind.

In conclusion, an awesome and very welcome addition to the universe's fiction with a fresh approach at presentation and style that is fitting with the high speeds of cyborg ninja combat.

I give it a 10/nanomachines

Best damn game of 2013 for me. No doubt 2014 will be claimed by The Phantom Pain

Probably Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, but considering it's a "DLC" I don't know if that counts. If it doesn't, Monster Hunter 3U would be it for me.

I really loved GTA V, The Stanley Parable, Assassin's Creed IV, Don't Starve and Dead Space 3 (does Dota 2 count?).

But my overall favorite is Bioshock Infinite. Great story and gameplay, everyone should give it a try, even if you haven't played other Bioshocks.

I would like to say my favorite DLC/Expansion was XCOM: Enemy Within, it just added so much to the game! And my favorite game from another year is Dishonored which I got in the last Steam Sale.
My only regret is not playing The Last of Us. (NoPS3.avi)

My game of the year may seem like a weird choice, but seeing how I'm a person who tries to squeeze as much activity out of a game as possible, this makes the most sense.

Rune Factory 4 for the 3DS is my game of the year. As with other Rune Factory games, RF4 is a spinoff of the Harvest Moon games, keeping the farming elements of the source material, but adding dungeon crawling and monster taming into the mix as well. I chose this game because it's the only game from 2013 that isn't Pokemon that I'm still playing right now. In fact, I wouldn't even say that I'm close to attaining the New Game + data for my first file. The game starts with your character losing their memory in a fight and then shortly afterwards being appointed as prince or princess of a small province by its matriarch, a powerful dragon named Ventuswil, who also gives you a plot of land that is part of the castle so that way you can farm, thus replenishing the runes that the land needs. As the story progresses, you start exploring dungeons and helping people who have cursed themselves in order to protect the land. The story is divided into three parts, the last and final part triggers at random. As prince/princess of the land, you have a lot of opportunities to improve it by issuing festivals, attracting more tourists, and inviting new merchants to open shop. That, along with the various skills you can level up, such as medicine-making, craftmaking, blacksmithing, and cooking, the game offers several hours of gameplay, which I really like.

Papers Please. It was just so damn perfect. Seriously just go and buy it right now i'll wait. Also GTA V

GOTY ALL YEARS

On a more serious note, The Last Of Us is my personal game of the year.

For me the choice ultimately came down to how long I played it, and am I still playing it. With 350+ hours invested and only 1/3 of the games content explored I can safely name Animal Crossing New Leaf as my game of the year.

Anyone Play?

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