Power Pros Forum

I might as well make a poll about this. We haven't had one in a while anyways. So as the title states, what is your 2013 Game of the Year? I realize most of us posted in the general chat, but this could be a place to explain your decisions. After thinking about this during Film class, I think I have a final list

1. The Last of Us
This was easily my favorite experience of the year. It had a great story, and I especially liked the Fall and Winter sections. The gameplay was good, nothing great though. The partner AI was pretty weird, with the fact that they can't be spotted. However, once I realized it was a design choice and not a glitch, I eventually stop realizing it. Presentation was excellent, with beautiful settings and character models, along with fine details everywhere. The multiplayer was pretty solid too, better than I expected at least. Naughty Dog rally hasn't made a poor game yet.

2. Assassin's Creed 4
Maybe I'm placing it a bit high just because I finished it last night, but it really was a great game. Pirates are interesting and badass, and provide an awesome historical era. The attention to actual details about the supporting characters was great, with little spins on each of them to relate them to Kenway. The pacing was a bit strange, most tailing missions ranged from frustrating to tedious, and the present day story was pretty meh. But the ending really made me feel feels in a similar manner to Red Dead.

3. Grand Theft Auto 5
I really didn't know where to slot this. I felt like it could have challenged for number 1, but sometimes I felt is was barely number 5. The three character design was neat, but nothing special. I didn't hate any of the characters, but I didn't really care for them much either. The story was okay, but it took way too long to really understand exactly why the FIB was so constantly involved. Shooting felt poor, but the driving was great after a bit of practice. The huge world was fun, even if most of it was just wilderness. I can't comment on GTA Online, because due to all the issue, I just sorta gave up on it.

4. Tomb Raider
If I wanted to sum this up short and sweet, I'd say this feels almost exactly like Uncharted. The platforming feels identical, the gameplay is bit better and more violent, and it centers around ancient history, ruins, and relics. Where it is different though it in its story, but not in a good way. The story was lacking overall, starting with a bunch of 2D supporting characters who really didn't add anything to the story. It makes a big deal out of Lara killing for the first time before mercilessly killing another 400+ over the course of the game. It's also not really Tomb Raider, just am action game featuring Lara Croft. I don't think that's a bad thing, but it's worth noting. And the multiplayer is shit, in case you cared.

5. Bioshock Infinite
I was all over this game back in April, but looking back, it isn't really that elite game I thought it was. The story and gameplay were both good, but nothing excellent. The story was all over the place, going from a piece about rebellion and morals, to just science fiction. The twist was way out there, and it seemed like they were just trying to replicate that shock factor from the original. Gameplay was just hallway after hallway after enemy. The only thing that set it apart were the vigors. And I felt like the setting was way underused. You're in a city in the sky, yet most of the game was set instead. You'd just think you were in a regular city.

I just realized that most of these sound a bit harsh, but don't let that fool you. They were all excellent games that grabbed my attention from start to finish. Unless you're someone who only plays sports games, I would recommend giving all of these a try.

TL/DR Zombies and Pirates are cool

Also, if anyone in interested, here is a list of every GOTY winner, as picked by both major media sites, and readers choices from some of them too

I don't think GTA V should even be top 5, the frame rate constantly dipped below 25 for me and I drove into trees that hadn't even been rendered numerous times, other than that it was a decent game, hopefully the PC port will be good and help my rating of it.

My GOTY is Europa Universalis IV. Not sure how to describe how I thought it was so good, search up a review of it if you want to.

I say GTA V. The flick shooting was a great addition, as well as the huge, arse map. Storyline was good and the ability to switch characters made it even better. Of course, it has its flaws. Flying was a pain in the butt as well as the stupid AI. But I can live with that.

Probably Fire Emblem: Awakening, if you don't count the Japanese release which was in 2012. Second would most likely have to go to Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. Unless I'm forgetting something, those were pretty much the only games I found enjoyable that I could look at objectively and still consider them good games. There is NHL 14, but I think sports games really shouldn't count towards something like this, especially when they're pretty much just a roster update, and also the NHL series is frustratingly buggy as hell, so it shouldn't be considered for that reason as well. MLB 13 is better as a sports game, easily, even though hockey is much more interesting as an actual sport, Diamond Dynasty is a game mode about a million times better than Hockey Ultimate Team.

To go into quick reviews over all the notable releases I have experience with:

Fire Emblem: Awakening: To put it simply, it was extremely addictive, it took a long time for me to finish the first time and I didn't even hesitate before starting a new game and going in again. Story and such was okay, not great.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon: Pretty good, it's hard for a sequel released so long after the original to live up to the hype, but this game was arguably even better than the original after all that time. Story wasn't really all that important, as you would come to expect from Mario and Luigi based games, to be perfectly honest I can't even remember what the story was, that's how little it mattered. The thing that struck me as odd in this game was the decision to incorporate jump-scares into a Nintendo game obviously intended to be child-friendly. And a couple of the bosses really sucked, but the main levels made up for those.

The Last of Us: I really enjoyed playing through it when I was caught up in the hype, but after I was finished, I began to consider it from an objective standpoint, and what it really was was basically just a game with average gameplay and a below average story. Graphics were really the only shining point, but that was more of a negative to my experience as my old PS3 struggled constantly with managing such a thing and ran absurdly loudly as a result, it made it pretty annoying to play the game for extended periods of time.

Bioshock Infinite: Didn't play it for that long, it was a game free with Playstation Plus I wasn't too invested in. I probably would have quit after 10 minutes, but the game had such a reputation I stuck it out a bit longer, wound up quitting about an hour in. It wasn't worth it. I don't get what the good points of the game were supposed to be at all, I couldn't take away an aspect of the game that was even average, let alone good. It was just painful to try to play.

You quit Infinite after an hour? No wonder you didn't like it. You hadn't done anything yet. I'm not even sure you met Elizabeth at that point

I thought that Bioshock Infinite had a great story but the gameplay itself was actually pretty boring to me.

Other because I only play sports games - I suppose NBA 2K was my game of the year.

Wait, I just realized something. Aren't you like 12?

I can confirm that he is 12/13.

This matters why?

It is GTAV.....

That should explain what he meant

P.S. I am not trying to start anything, I am just saying this as a father, that doesn't want their son playing a game with strip clubs in it when they are 12.

I try to avoid those as much as possible. I've walked in on my bro while he's been in the strip club though.

lol

My game of the year is probably Fire Emblem Awakening as well, definitely the one I've put the most time into. I bought it on a whim one February day so I would have something to do if the power went out in the impending snow storm. Almost a year later, I've played through 7 or 8 times with 170 hours put into it. I just started a new file last night, actually.

A Link Between Worlds would be second. I never really got much into Zelda. This game changed that. I loved the Ravio stuff with buying any weapons or items you needed, allowing you to do the dungeons in any order. Plus the dungeons were challenging but not frustratingly so. The wall mechanic was pretty cool too.

Next would be Telltale's Walking Dead game. Lee was awesome. Clem was awesome. The decisions were tough... Plus that ending, hot diggitiy

Bioshock Infinite. I really enjoyed the game a bunch (plus Troy Baker's in it, so that's always a plus <3). The Luteces and Elizabeth were the bright spots, and I found the combat pretty fun. I'm not one for FPSes, so I don't have much to reference the gunplay against, but it was fun nonetheless. I really loved the twist too. Cool stuff.

The Last of Us. Objectively one of the better games ever made. Great presentation, great voice acting (TB <3), great graphics, well traveled story but told very well, Ellie was a lovely character, and an ending that was (correctly so) not very neat. I cranked through it in like 4 days. I really liked the inventory system too, that was pretty awesome.

tl;dr

1. Fire Emblem Awakening
2. A Link Between Worlds
3. The Walking Dead The Game
4. Bioshock Infinite
5. The Last of Us

The Walking Dead was last year though

EDIT: not last year, but 2012. That's what I meant

er

oopsies

disregard that'n