Top Ten Games of 2013

Guess what folks! It’s time for that end of the year “Best Games OF 2013” list. I held this list off as long as I could to make sure I could fit in all the best games I could in here. Getting as close to the end as we could, we might still be missing a few titles, but that’s largely due to a lack of money, a lack of technology (I don’t own all the consoles after all), or due to a lack of free time. That said, here are my top ten games of 2013. Take it away, myself.

#10 – Volgarr The Viking

 - Somewhat of a late entry for 2013, Volgarr was a kickstarter project that is built like and old school Genesis or SNES game but plays on the PC as one of the most challenging indie games I’ve played in a while. The game is simple. You’re a Viking off to seek treasure and kill things. As you kill things, you pick up bits of armor that extend your life (the number of hits you can take) by one in addition to giving you alternative ways to attack (minor ways). The numbers of enemies is endless. The level design is challenging, but fair. The overall feeling is that I’m playing Dark Souls for an older console on a high-end PC and I love that weird sense of irony. It looks great, plays great, and there’s little more I ask from games anymore since good writing seems to be unimportant to most developers (just kidding). Volgarr gets a recommendation from me, but don’t be upset if you find yourself pulling your hair out during a playthrough of this.

 #09 – Tomb Raider (2013)

 - It’s going to be weird for me to complain about this here when most of the entries on my top ten have a similar issue. But the problem with Tomb Raider is that while there is supposed to be a story, you have no agency in that story as the player. Your actions do not dictate what happens, only that your actions allow the story to progress around you. It’s not that Tomb Raider is bad enough for me to say this is an issue. But throwing insane amounts of QTEs, taking away control to give me a cutscene, and to give the illusion of openness and freedom when it’s all just one linear path irks me off a bit. But it’s all presented well. The gameplay (when you are allowed to play) does work perfectly fine. Even if this game did cost more than it should have to make, everything works good enough to make the top ten. That said, I’m retroactively disallowing Tomb Raider (2013) Definitive Edition to make my top ten list for 2014 simply because it’s merely re-releasing the same game with slightly shinier graphics for what is now the current gen of consoles. In fact, I was half-tempted to retroactively take this award away and give it to Deadpool for that kind of stupidity.

 #08 – The Stanley Parable

 - Leaving the triple-A games and going back into the indie crowd again, we now bring you the Stanley Parable. Also completely different from Tomb Raider in the sense that it’s more focused on delivering a story and letting the player actually have control over how the story goes. Not only that, it’s kind of funny on how it does that as well. Not like some games such as Deadpool where it tries to be funny and only manages to pull it off maybe a quarter of the time. I can’t go too deep into The Stanley Parable without ruining all of the best parts of it. Needless to say, if you like story and you support games as art, this is a game you must try. It’s comparable to Walking Dead, just without the intense emotional weight Walking Dead comes with.

 #07 – Dust: An Elysian Tail

 - If there’s one thing that this game has over every title on this list, it’s that this game looks beautiful in damn near every frame. Tomb Raider can boast about graphics all it wants, it looks dirty, brown, and drab nearly half the time. Dust is full of color and some of the best animation I’ve ever seen in a 2D game. And given that I don’t normally talk about visuals when discussing a game, it just goes to show how impressive they are. The story isn’t as stellar, but it’s functional. The gameplay can get repetitive, but it can be pretty fun to just murder waves of dudes with a mixture of combo attacks and magical projectiles. Though the game ceases to be a challenge on the lower three difficulties. If you desire a challenge, play the highest difficulty and whack yourself in the genitals every time you die. That’s certain to be a challenge. And if not, hopefully you put it on youtube and you’ll be an internet sensation… probably. I know I’ll enjoy watching you suffer.

 #06 – Trials Evolution Gold

 - For you Xbox blokes, this was released over a year ago, which will probably cause some of you to ask why this is getting included on a “Best of 2013” list. Well, for those of us who decided that an Xbox wasn’t a worthwhile investment and got bitchin’ PCs instead, we had to wait a bit. Damn near a whole year in fact. But we got what was essentially a GOTY edition for Trials Evolution, complete with all the content of the first game Trails HD and all the DLC (as far as I know). It’s still Trials at its core, which is a fun little moto-bike platforming game with hints of it being something like a racing game, but it really takes more cues from platforming. It’s fun. It’s fast. It’s frustrating. It’s definitely a worthwhile game that you will literally spend hours playing just to get over a small gap and miss one hundred times until a friend does it their first try by sheer luck and you decide to slit their throat… next…

 #05 – Super Mario 3D Worlds

 - This game’s ranking and it’s even being here are probably all somewhat biased, and not in the “I love Mario games” sense. After all, I’m a Sonic fan to the end. But more in the sense that I enjoyed this game because I got to play it with not only my girlfriend, but a good group of close friends as well. Both times were fun, hectic, chaotic, and goofy. Is this the best Mario game in the franchise? I don’t really know. My issue is more that Mario feels like it has to be this needless 4-player co-op game to even be fun anymore because I don’t think I’d ever enjoy Mario as a solo experience again. Not after richer solo experiences that deliver deeper stories and more complex gameplay. Not that Mario can’t be fun alone, but I just don’t think it can deliver on that aspect in the way it used to. But, whatever, any game where you can wear a catsuit deserves some kind of recognition, even if it’s really dumb recognition.

 #04 – PayDay2

 - Another game that is multiplayer focus, but this is of the online variety, not the local party game variety. And you know me and my general dislike of online gaming. But being a co-op game AND being a co-op game that makes the co-op actually have a purpose (unlike Borderlands) it’s the kind of online co-op game I can actually sink my teeth into. Plus the added bonus of playing as a criminal stealing money, robbing banks, cooking meth, breaking into armored cars, and many other horrid things is just more fun experiences I could never enjoy in real life due to those all being crimes and me not wanting to go to jail simply because I thought robbing a bank in a clown mask would be fun. It’s found ways to finally outdo Left4Dead in the online co-op market by adding more variety to the missions beyond “kill all the dudes” to complete the game. Hopefully Valve will take some cues for that once they learn to count to three.

 #03 – Pokémon X/Y

 - Pokemon has been a series that I’ve traditionally loved, but have had moments where I just can’t agree with decisions made with the development. Generation 5 suffered the most, in my opinion, when they opted to cut away from all the old Pokemon and force players to only use Gen 5 Pokemon during the course of the main game. I appreciate the attempt to make us like the new ones more, but that’s something you can’t force. Liking a Pokemon is something that just happens through us seeing a design we like or a move we want to try. That and Generation 5 felt that railroading a story for us and not letting us explore freely during the course of the main game was worth our time. But Generation 6 fixed most of those problems with flying color and added several things to streamline and vastly improve issues I’ve had with the series up until now. The only exception being HMs, which is something I don’t think will ever be improved, thus leaving a big black stain on the franchise’s otherwise very clean attire. If you’ve never played Pokemon or haven’t played in years, this is a great game to jump into because it gets you into the game quick, it’s not difficult in any way, and the new designs are some of the best in the series since generation 2. Overall, solid effort by GameFreak and they should be proud of themselves for all their effort this time around. Also, I liked Team Flare better than Team Plasma. Neither are Team Rocket, and no one ever will be, but Team Flare is the closest we’ve gotten in years. Good on them.

 #02 – Killer is Dead

 - Killer is Dead is a weird game where the plot and dialogue don’t make a lot of sense for the most part, but they make just enough sense where you can at least deduce who everyone is and the role they play, which is enough to get a semblance of a story. And while that would normally force me to rank this lower, this game is saved by one very redeeming quality. The action and combat in this game is probably the best of any game of the entire year. I’ve never played an action game where the combat flowed smoother than a glass of jazz and laxatives. The combos also leave room for some variation, which is great to keep the game interesting over the several hours of gameplay it offers. It’s also very bright and colorful, but it’s also cel-shaded which explains why it looks so unique and cool all at the same time. Overall, it’s just fun. Yes, it has some creepy side-game in which you seduce women to get weapon upgrades, but those didn’t detract from what made the game itself so solid. This is certainly on part with games like Bayonetta and more fun than Devil May Cry. This is certainly one of my most recommended games of the year… though it isn’t really tuned to everyone’s taste.

 #01 – Saints Row IV

 - This generation of gaming introduced us to the Third Street Saints, a gang that started off as a cheap GTA knock off and almost nothing more. But it grew from that into something much larger and, in my opinion, much better. But that’s a matter of taste. Do you want something darker, more serious, and brutal or do you want something that’s more fun, colorful, and quirky? If the former, GTA is probably more your speed. If the latter, Saints Row offers just what you’re looking for and in an era where grim, gritty, and dark are the terms used to describe most blockbuster films and games, I’m always looking for something that isn’t so damn serious about itself to spend my free time with.
 - Saints Row IV is still not to the level of Saints Row 2 but the series is so far gone, that I don’t think we’ll ever be able to go back to those days. That said, this game is still above and beyond my expectations. Yes, it’s easier at times and the driving around seems pointless when you can fucking fly, but using the powers is fun in a large sandbox filled with squishy people. The goofy weapons are a joy to scroll through and use, the dubstep gun being just a riot. But, most importantly, the set pieces that scatter this game to make mockery of other games and tropes within this generation of gaming were some of the best scenes to watch. In short, a game that can make me laugh and keep the laughs coming with a variety of good jokes and visual gags is already doing a great job. And one that’s fun to play beyond that serves to only make it better. Saints Row IV is my game of the year because of all that and more. So play it, love it, embrace it, and go kick some ass.

If your favorite game didn’t get mentioned, assume I either didn’t play it or didn’t like it. In the cases of games like Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite, I didn’t play them largely because of budget and time. And in the case of Walking Dead Season 2 or even Wolf Among Us, I’m saving those for 2014 (if they end up being as good as they started) because we only got ONE chapter of the FIVE they intend to do. I’m open to the idea that other games from this year could have easily made this list if I had given them a chance, but I couldn’t play everything. That’s okay though. I hope YOU enjoyed this list and enjoyed 2013’s roster of games as much as I did. Have a good end of the year!