Best of 2013
The year of our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen was a ridiculous and amazing year for videogames. One of the best, I’d say.
The idea of narrowing down this year to ten games seems crazy, doesn’t it? But, after much deliberation, we’ve done just that. Chances are that one or two of your favorites for 2013 are not among our top ten nominees for 2013 Game of the Year. I know how you feel. The entire Destructoid staff knows how you feel. There were just that many good games.
Kentucky Route Zero
Kentucky Route Zero evokes the feeling of old ghost stories told around a campfire. There’s the familiarity of friends and family around a warm, man-made fire, but with it comes the unnerving tale of the strange and unusual. Kentucky Route Zero is beautifully bizarre and perfectly poignant, and most of all, deserves your attention.
If you’re a lover of games that require you to put in before you get out, and you recall the glory days of the Eastern RPG, where experience points were the lifeblood and the grind was king, you have literally no decent excuse for not finding a way to play Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. A classic of the modern age, built entirely from classics of the past, it’s advised you get comfortable, cancel all your plans, and prepare to enjoy a game that will dominate your life for the next few months.
Fire Emblem: Awakening
While Fire Emblem: Awakening may not turn the notch up to 11, it’s everything that’s right about strategy RPGs. Whatever options you choose to go with at the beginning of the game, it’s either one of the most accessible strategy games to date, or one of the most difficult.
It’s a brilliant design that will pay dividends for Nintendo in the long run, as it will convert plenty of new fans. If you’ve been itching to get into a Fire Emblem game, this is a great place to start. If you’ve been playing them all along, you’ll feel right at home.
Read the full Fire Emblem: Awakening review.
The Last of Us
There is more to The Last of Us than just combat and “emotional” story tropes. To touch on its setpiece moments, to detail its beautiful changes in pace, would be to spoil too much. It cannot be said enough, however, that Naughty Dog’s new best creation is complete, and when I say complete, I mean it to pay the highest of compliments. I do not want more from The Last of Us: I do not need more. As the last line was uttered and the credits ushered in the close, I was done. The Last of Us had achieved everything it needed to achieve in order to provide me with everything I wanted.
And it ended perfectly.
Read the full The Last of Us review.
Super Mario 3D World
There was a moment where I was taking in the beautiful soundtrack, hovering over a tricky jump as cat Peach, and watching the glistening water below where the game really came together. It was then that I realized that Super Mario 3D World had achieved a level of platforming design that’s close to perfection, and there was almost never a moment where I didn’t have a smile on my face. This is the unequivocally the best Mario game since Galaxy 2, and it shows up anything the “New” series has ever done, and then some.
Good work, Nintendo.
Read the full Super Mario 3D World review.
Guacamelee!
Right from the start, Guacamelee! offers up a sugar skull-covered playground to delight in and devour with mucho gusto. It’s a game I’ll be playing and replaying again for some time to come.
Read the full Guacamelee! review.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
The result of all this is a deep and well crafted premise in a somewhat shallow game. Blood Dragon is well made, and thoroughly entertaining to lovers of the eighties, but in many ways, it becomes a victim of its own success — the core ideas are so fun, so lavishly crafted, one aches to see them in a game equal to their quality. Blood Dragon is a good little game, and I highly recommend checking it out, with the caveat that it’s one of those games that does a few things well enough to inadvertently highlight its own flaws.
Read the full Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon review.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider could so easily have gone wrong, and its opening gambit looks like it’s heading down a most erroneous path. It starts off with some ambushing QTEs and absolutely pummels Lara Croft into the dirt to such a degree, you’d almost suspect the developers were getting off on it. This first impression is an awkward obfuscation, however, one that soon erodes to reveal a savvy, thoughtful, and above all, immensely enjoyable game. In fact, I’m happy to go on record as saying this is the best Tomb Raider game I’ve played. Tightly produced, competent in both its puzzling and its combat, this is one reboot that manages to be unequivocally superior to its predecessors.
Read the full Tomb Raider review.
BioShock Infinite
As a game, BioShock Infinite has its successes and its falterings consistent with any suitably complex piece of interactive entertainment. As a story, as an exercise in drawing the player into a believable and relevant world, as proof of exactly what a videogame can mean to a person …
Well, I already said it. BioShock Infinite is damn near perfect.
Read the full BioShock Infinite review.
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V is both a reflective and deflective game, diving into the heart of the GTAseries with more than a few subtle things to say about itself. Michael is tired, and old, and wants to change, but he can’t, and eventually he grows to accept and even enjoy that. Franklin is smarter than his surroundings, dreaming big but held back by old fashioned ideas. Trevor is hilarious, surprising, and a disgusting degenerate. All three characters, in their respective ways, feel representative of the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole, and contribute to making GTA Vwhat it is — the ultimate culmination of Rockstar’s beloved and despised series. Personally, I think that’s a fine thing to be.
Read the full Grand Theft Auto V review.
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Congrats to all the nominees! We’ll be announcing the official winner on Monday, December 24.
Here’s all the other nominee categories we’ve revealed so far:
- Nominees for Destructoid’s 2013 Game of the Year
- Destructoid’s game of the year 2013 community choice poll
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 portable game
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 PC exclusive
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 console exclusive
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 multiplatform
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 visuals
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 story
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 platformers
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 shooters
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 role-playing game
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 action game
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 fighting game
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 strategy game
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 adventure game
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 racing game
- Nominees for Dtoid’s best of 2013 competitive multiplayer
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 co-op multiplayer
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 character
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 soundtrack
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 add-on DLC
- Nominees for Destructoid’s best of 2013 original concept
Which game do you think will join BioShock (2007), Left 4 Dead (2008), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), Portal 2 (2011) and The Walking Dead (2012) as the next prestigious winner of Destructoid Game of the Year?
