My Top 40 Games of 2013, 20 - 11: A METAL GEAR GAME DOESN'T GET NUMBER 1???

Written By: Tyler Selig

                It’s New Years Eve and I’m sure that you all are going to go out or stay in and have a good time with friends and/or family. But until you celebrate or try to forget this past year, why not bore yourself to death with the next ten picks in my wildly popular “Top 40 Games of 2013” series? You’re welcome.

20: Neverwinter

                There’s some hate for this one, but I think it’s one of the better MMOs that I’ve played. It’s been a while but I do remember the micro-transactions being a little high. However, I don’t think you have to grind too much (a little grinding is expected in free-to-play) and though it doesn’t do anything that original within the genre, the combat is satisfying and the Foundry – where you can create your own quests for people to do – is the selling point for me. This is an underrated MMO.

19: Resogun

                It’s short but it’s intense, and seeing as how we used to get games like this back when I was a kid, there’s definitely that nostalgia factor kicking in… that desire to play these types of games. This is a really gorgeous side-scrolling shooter with amazing music.

18: Two Brothers

                Not to be confused with Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (a game I’ve only played briefly), this was a retro-inspired – most specifically Gameboy – tale where you’re trying to bring colour back to the world. It’s filled with memorable characters and fun action. It’s also slightly open-world.

17: Saints Row 4

                It feels weird putting Saints Row 4 at 17 because I love the Saints Row games. They’ve come a long way from their beginning as a Grand Theft Auto clone. You’d hardly recognize the series at this point if you’ve only played the first one. The reason for this being that the series has gone completely off its rocker. You literally play as the President of the USA with superpowers. While it does run the risk of being just too much for some players, it’s a lot of fun to jump high in the air or shoot people with your super powers.

16: Galah Galah

                Jake Clover returns with this odd adventure, a series of unfinished games thrown together. What this means is that it’s pretty confusing but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun because it’s a short, but incredible experience.

15: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

                Any time a core Metal Gear title gets released, it’s my favourite game of the year. This isn’t a core title. It’s a spin-off starring Cyborg Raiden. As an action title it’s fantastic as Platinum Games are basically kings at this kind of thing. As a Metal Gear game, it has a bit of the charm of the Metal Gear universe but it loses a little something because it’s so light weight in that sense. The core titles are a nice mixture of gameplay, emotion and humour, with so many memorable moments I could literally make a list just of those (not a bad idea)… whereas this is just you being a badass Raiden. Fun, but not nearly as inspired or important as Metal Gear Solid.

14: Year Walk

                I try to play a few mobile games each year but this year I slacked hard on that. Year Walk was one of the few I played and it was the only one I loved. I hate touch screen controls, but since this is just an adventure game, I’ve found that that genre works on mobile. This has a great ending and gorgeous visuals to go along with its intriguing story.

13: Pikmin 3

                Pikmin on all accounts could be a Top 10 game, so this just comes down to preference. This was my first step into the Pikmin world and I was surprised by how intense it was. Yes, intense. You are given a time limit each day to move your cute little Pikmin around, solve puzzles, scavenge for food and beat bosses, so you always have to think. Pikmin sold some Wii Us, but it’s great enough that it should have sold more.

12: Bombermine

                This is a very simple idea: take Bomberman multiplayer, and grow it. I believe there are a thousand people playing in one game at any given time. I have always been a huge mark for the Bomberman series, and to see it lifted to such grand scales makes me smile just a little lot.

11: Beyond: Two Souls

                And so I end this entry with a controversial one. You either love this game or you hate it, because David Cage and his crew offer experiences that other major studios do not. You’ll see games within the indie community that are light on gameplay and focused almost entirely on story, but you won’t often see a AAA title that does that, for what I feel are obvious reasons. Beyond: Two Souls has the most actual gameplay of any of their titles, but it’s still basically gameplay-light. You come here for the story, and except for a few hiccups, the story is well told and interesting.

                Be safe tonight, and make sure to battle your hangover long enough tomorrow to check out the final ten games of 2013.

The Gamecepticon Awardicons -- Misc. Video Game Awards

Written By: Tyler Selig   

These are my Miscellaneous Awards, where I give awards based on things such as music, multiplayer, etc. You’ll notice that there’s not a lot in terms of negative awards, and that’s mostly because I believe end of the year awards should celebrate the good because the bad makes me want to kill myself. With that said, I will cheat death again and include a couple negative awards.

                This will be a long post, and yes I may have a lot of “Other Nominees,” but this is my blog and the end of the year is important to me so there you have it. It also only includes games I’ve played so, sorry, no Battlefield 4 – from what I hear, nobody can play it anyway – or Grand Theft Auto 5. 

               Winners are in bold, let's do this.

Best Soundtrack – Starbound

Other Nominees

The Last of Us

Bioshock: Infinite

Animal Crossing

Super Mario World 3D World

Beyond: Two Souls

Monaco

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

                Starbound wasn’t technically released this year, so maybe it shouldn’t count, but the soundtrack was given out to people who pre-ordered it. And let me tell you something, this soundtrack is special. It’s so emotional and beautiful that it hurts. Try listening to Mira and not feel something. The Starbound soundtrack will be even better in context of the game, but even solo it’s incredible.

                If you don’t want to count Starbound, then I’d give it to The Last of Us, which is brilliant enough by itself with songs such as Vanishing Grace… but when you see the game in action combined with the music it’s a whole different ball game.

                Bioshock returned with another great soundtrack of old tunes and original content.

 Animal Crossing is a completely different type of OST compared to the others, but it isn’t any less effective in creating tone and mood. It’s just not something I listen to a lot of outside of the game, outside of a song or two, which isn’t a criticism so much as a comment on how ingrained in the game it is.

Meanwhile, Super Mario 3D World had some of the finest music Mario has ever had, with a mixture of original content and remixes/remade versions of the songs we know and love.

Beyond: Two Souls had a wonderful OST that compliments the themes and storylines of the game perfectly.

Austin Wintory can add this to his list of achievements. After almost winning a Grammy for his work on Journey, he released another great soundtrack – that isn’t quite as good as Journey – that perfectly fits being a thief.

It’s hard to argue with Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch from a musical standpoint, because it is quite an accomplishment. You’ll see this nominated on most sites that do these awards, and there’s a reason for that because it’s one of the better RPG soundtracks of recent years.

Best Multiplayer – Killzone: Shadow Fall

Other Nominees

Super Mario 3D World

Path of Exile

Anarchy Reigns

Bombermine

                Killzone wins because it’s my online shooter. It’s the same as a Call of Duty fan giving the award to Call of Duty. Whenever one of these games come out, I absolutely adore it. It doesn’t do a whole lot new, except having shields and whatnot, but it’s another amazing Killzone experience.

Super Mario 3D World is a great game by itself, but it becomes even more fun and chaotic when you introduce another player or three. It gets nuts, and for that, the game should be praised.

                Path of Exile isn’t anything new, I just like playing the ARPG genre with a friend.

                Anarchy Reigns is probably the more original of all the nominees, offering a brawler experience combined with things such as death match, capture the flag or even a rugby mode. Except you fight, y’know. Unfortunately the online community is probably non-existent at this point, but it does allow you to use bots.

                Bombermine is Bomberman but on a large scale. I’ve always considered Bomberman as one of the amazing multiplayer games, and it’s nice to see it so big.

Most Memorable Moment – Dat Moirai Ending

Other Nominees

The Last Of Us – The giraffes

Year Walk – The “Fake” Ending

Bioshock: Infinite – The end part where everything ties together

                Admittedly I often forget great scenes in things I like, so it’s kind of a poor showing on my part here, but these are the four that popped into my head.

Some may scoff that I chose Moirai over heavyweights like The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite, and believe me… it was a difficult choice. I chose Moirai because – spoiler alert – when you find out that the conversation you previously had was impacted by the player before you, that’s a “holy shit that’s cool” moment. It’s not that emotional, it’s not complicated, it’s just really, really neat and plays with the medium in interesting ways. I chose it at number one for that reason and that reason only, even though all of the other nominees are more powerful and conventionally memorable.

                That’s not to say that the other nominees aren’t also fantastic, because the giraffe scene in The Last of Us was the prettiest, saddest, most beautiful moment of the year. I just sat there and watched them walk as Vanishing Grace played over it. It’s such a simple moment that ends up being so much more.

                Year Walk had a fake ending, and when “I don’t love you anymore” flashes up on the screen, that’s an incredibly melancholy and tragic moment as well.

                The whole last bit of Bioshock: Infinite is memorable because up until that point, you’re playing a great FPS, but it’s not much different than the others in the series. Then, all of a sudden, things start getting messed up and weird, and somehow all three games are connected. It goes from fun to mindfuck pretty quick.

Best Character – Peck from Animal Crossing

Other Nominees

Bioshock: Infinite – Elizabeth

Bioshock: Infinite – The Lutece Twins

The Last of Us – Ellie and Joel

Batman: Arkham Origins -- Batman

Beyond: Two Souls - Jodie

Killer Is Dead – Mondo Zappa

            I like when award shows/articles have their own identity, and I like to think mine often do. That’s not to say every pick of mine is original by any means, as there are a bunch of awards that I need to follow the grain. However, the joy of doing these are discovering your own oddball choices, and Peck is probably one you won’t see anywhere else (unless maybe on an Animal Crossing forum or something).

                I love Peck because I cared deeply about Peck. I cared about all my townspeople, but I was sad when I was away from Animal Crossing for a while and when I came back he was gone. He made me laugh, and he gave me a picture to remember him by. Animal Crossing is great because even though they’re all AI, you build a bond with them. There was no one else in the game that I built a bigger bond with than Peck.

                The more I do these awards, the more I realize that Bioshock: Infinite is a complete and utter mammoth when it comes to everything plot or character wise, so that’s why I put both Elizabeth and the Lutece Twins in here. Elizabeth is obviously a more straight-forward important part of the game, but the Lutece Twins swoop in there in their own little way and end up being memorable… just more confusingly so.

                Ellie and Joel are one person to be in context of these awards because they are so important to one another. Joel is the grieving father, Ellie is a young girl in need of guidance and support. They fulfill the needs of each other (ew, I didn’t mean that way fanfic writers).

                Batman is on here because regardless of how many times he shows up, he’s still fucking Batman.

            It’s a good thing that Jodie from Beyond: Two Souls is a good character because the game is so story-based and Jodie is obviously the center piece for it. Also, Ellen Page gives a powerhouse performance and brings the character to life in ways most games can’t.

                Mondo Zappa isn’t complex, but I have a thing for weird badasses, and Suda51 often populates his games with interesting characters in that sense. Like Asura from Asura’s Wrath in years past, he’s just fucking cool and that’s why I pick him. Not every character worth remembering has to have incredible depth.

Best Story – Beyond: Two Souls

Other Nominees 

Bioshock: infinite

Shin Megami Tensei IV

The Last of Us

The Wolf Among Us Episode 1 -- Faith

                Beyond: Two Souls is focused on story, and it succeeds. There are a few moments where it gets off the rails a bit, but ultimately it ends up being an extremely satisfying paranormal story.

A good story isn’t just about the pacing and depth of the plot, the characters and their relationship are a crucial aspect of it sometimes. Nowhere this year is that more apparent than in The Last of Us. It’s a simplistic, but well told story.

                Or do I go for the more confusing, intriguing tale that you get in Bioshock: Infinite? Yes, Bioshock has that mindfuck element to it that appeals to me, and it does create a world that’s fun to explore and learn about.

                Shin Megami Tensei IV gets a nod here because I like how it mixes a bunch of different elements and genre to make an experience that isn’t unique, but is different from the other games this year. Samurais in the modern world, with the supernatural? It’s told well.

                Faith is also focused on story, and being able to change how it goes a little bit definitely made me consider it. It goes for similar things that Beyond: Two Souls does, but I just think Beyond: Two Souls is more emotional and well done.

                

Best Visuals – Killzone: Shadow Fall

Other Nominees 

Super Mario 3D World

The Wonderful 101

The Night of the Rabbit

Crysis 3

               

It’s important to note here that when I say visuals, I don’t just mean what is the best from a pure, technical, graphics standpoint. A game like that can certainly win, but I am more biased towards interesting art-styles and visual design.

                Killzone has an interesting world and the technical prowess to back it up. Normally I tend to go towards more original art-designs, but I’ve always loved how Killzone looks, and the fact that it’s a little more colourful sets this apart from other games in the series.

                Super Mario 3D World is the first of two Wii U games. I know the Wii U can’t manage some of the more technically demanding games on the levels that other systems can, but tell me that this isn’t beautiful Mario. It’s good looking in a different way because it nails the art-style so perfectly.

                Which is the same for The Wonderful 101. It does a fantastic job of offering a silly, colourful comic book/superhero world. It accomplishes what it sets out to do.

                The Night of the Rabbit is the only game on this list I haven’t played, but have watched, and I really enjoy the style.

                Crysis 3 would probably win had I been able to play it on a high-end PC. I couldn’t, I had to play it on 360, so that’s why Killzone beats it (though to be fair, I enjoy the art-design more in KZ than Crysis anyway).

Biggest Disappointment – Ni No Kuni

Other Nominees 

Sacred Citadel

Dust 514

Dead Island: Riptide

Fuse

Project X Zone

               

I’m not sure if there’s a game that has pained me so much to be disappointed by. I’m not even saying it’s a terrible game, because it’s not. I rate it a 7 or a 7.5, so you may be wondering, “then what the hell? How are you disappointed?”

                I’m a JRPG guy, always have been, and this was supposed to be an insta-classic, basically, but I just couldn’t get as into it as I wanted to. I went into it expecting to sing its praises, and there are great things about it, but I just don’t think the game stands-up to my own expectations, even if I didn’t give it a crappy rating.

                Sacred Citadel almost won because I love Sacred, but I also knew that it wasn’t Sacred 3 and it was a different experience so while I expected quite a bit, my expectations were tempered a bit. Now, if Sacred 3 ends up being average? That could easily win this.

                Dust 514 is an interesting case for me. The first day I played it I thought it was a 9, but then the game started to fall apart. It’s a disappointment because within the first twenty-four hours, it was going to be one of the games of the year. I had heard of Eve Online and loved the idea, and this game has so much potential it hurts. The fact that it ended up being a 4.5 for me is a tragedy. The only reason this doesn’t beat Ni No Kuni is because the FPS is not near and dear to my heart like the JRPG.

                Dead Island: Riptide is an okay game. The first one wasn’t a masterpiece but it was a helluvalot of fun, yet flawed. All they had to do was polish the first game, add a few things, and Riptide could have been awesome. But they didn’t. It has the same flaws and bugs. Why???

                Fuse is a disappointment because even though it just looked like a third-person shooter, I love the developers and their penchant for giving us odd and crazy guns. There is an interesting gun or two here, but while Fuse is a solid game, it should have been more.

                Project X Zone is a game that has gotten great reviews, and with the crossover appeal I should have loved it. Unfortunately it is the only RPG that I played on 3DS this year that didn’t leave me in awe.

Best Rehash of a Game Year Over Year – DRAW!!! CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ASSASSINS CREED 4: BLACK FLAG

                This is the only co-Award I give out. My brother and I each picked a game – I picked CoD and he picked Assassin’s Creed – and so this is the first ever Draw in the few years I’ve been doing this.

                These games don’t change. They’re yearly and you know what to expect. It’s kind of a complaint but it’s kind of not. You know what to expect.

Best Free-To-Play Game – Path of Exile

Other Nominees 

Neverwinter

Sluggish Morrs: A Delicate Time in History

Will You Ever Return: in da hood

Resogun*

                Path of Exile is an accomplishment in the free-to-play world. It’s legitimately an awesome game, and it’s not pay-to-win. Some of the prices are ridiculous, but they’ve crafted such a wonderful game for free… it’s hard to hate on it.

                Neverwinter may just be an MMO, but the idea of making your own quests for people to do is what makes me like the game as much as I do. It’s got issues, and I’m not a huge MMO guy, but it’s one of the better ones I’ve played.

                Sluggish Morrs: A Delicate Time in History is a short freeware game, and it’s one of the best free games of the year, period, if you want a quick, weird, surreal, odd adventure.

Will You Ever Return: in da hood is the same type of deal. I’ve loved the other WYERs, and this is great too.

Resogun was/is (I haven’t checked) free if you get Playstation Plus, which you have to if you want to play online anyway. It won’t be free, but when I played it, it was still free so I’m including it here. It’s a wonderful, beautiful action-packed side-scrolling shooter.

Biggest Surprise – Anarchy Reigns

Other Nominees 

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Shin Megami Tensei 4

Shadowrun: Returns

                Anarchy Reigns is not the best game in this category, but it’s the biggest surprise to me because I had no idea what to expect and actually got a game that will end up being in the discussion of “most underrated games” for years to come.

Van Helsing was a game I expected to suck for whatever reason, but it ended up being a solid action RPG.

                Fire Emblem: Awakening is only a surprise to me because I never actually played one before so I was blown away by how good it is. The reason it doesn’t win Biggest Surprise is because it’s not the type of game that comes out of nowhere like Anarchy Reigns did. It may be a better game, but not a bigger surprise.

                Same with Shin Megami Tensei 4. I managed to try out two cult-classic series that I only knew existed, and I loved both.

                Shadowrun: Returns is on here because I’m surprised it even got made. It’s not as good as the SNES classic, but after a disastrous foray into the first-person shooter world, Shadowrun has, um, returned to goodness.

The Official 'Don't Play This Game, It sucks... You Suck" Award For The 5 Worst Games of 2013 

5: Dust 514 – There isn’t a game I’ve thought about this year more than Dust. It just… it sucks. It isn’t there yet. Maybe someday it will be, but not now.

4: Apocalypse One – I hate picking on indie games, especially when they were quickly made but this just wasn’t fun at all and was buggy.

3: One Night at the Space Opera – This is a decent idea that didn’t pan out.

2: Tekken Revolution – This just reeks of bad free-to-play. This is the reason people hate that term.

1: Dark – Should have been great considering it’s a stealth game where you play as a vampire, but nothing about it works.

Best System – 3DS

                I won’t list all the other nominees because obviously it includes every other system in existence. The 3DS wins because during the year it has amassed a great collection of games – especially RPGs – and it really wowed me.

                If you want a first-person shooter, I wouldn’t go here. If you are an RPG nut, this machine is a monster. It has other great games in other genres, but I used it mostly as a way to play great RPGs (and Animal Crossing).

                The Xbox One and PS4 aren’t on here because they just launched so they haven’t had enough time to build their libraries. The Wii U has started on the comeback trail but it’s not there yet, and the PC had another solid year… but nothing impressed me as much as the 3DS.

             And that's it for these awards. Next year, if Gamecepticon is around, I may try adding more of a comic flair to these awards and at least give them funny names, but the end of the year came up on me pretty quickly (may have been the drugs, I dunno).

             Starting probably tomorrow, or at the very least the next day, I will be counting down my Top 40 Games of 2013, then I will disappear into the darkness where I came from.