Topic: 3DS Game of the Year

Such a hard choice! I'd probably pick Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds but other games really weren't far off so many fantastic games this year on the 3DS.

I ordered Awakening near its release with the intention of playing it, but have yet to get around to playing the game because of how little interest I've had in continuing 3DS games throughout the year. I don't want to force myself to play the game at the moment when I have little confidence that it'll keep me interested.

@I-U if you like turn based Strategy RPGs, don't mind the feetless characters and like hard games(though it only gets really hard in Lunatic mode) I bet you'll like Fire Emblem Awakening. but it's really a matter of personal tastes no way to be sure you'll like it unless you play(note that the game allows you to do barely nothing until completing chapter 3)

That would be TLoZ: A Link Between Worlds. But I already really enjoyed Animal Crossing: New Leaf (I'm still playing it at least once every week) too! And what about Pokémon X/Y, Etrian Odyssey IV (although not finished yet) and upcoming Bravely Default? Those are great games too! Another awesome year for the 3DS. Too bad we won't be getting any really big games for this system next year.

I'm just starting with the 3ds system, so I wouldn't know. But zelda does seem to be the number 1 for a lot of people. So I guess I'm starting out okay

3DS games I've bought and played this year that could potentially contend: Gates To Infinity, Luigi's Mansion 2, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokémon X. Every other game was either solid but not fantastic in my eyes/I didn't get very far in them. Strangely, I thought this year's games were great but I didn't have much incentive or want to return to any besides Animal Crossing and Pokémon. Maybe because those two are such big timesinks.

The solid winner is Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Pokémon is a very close second, but there were more lost oppurtunties I saw in Pokémon. I feel like New Leaf is jam packed with almost every good idea they could get and that they copped out a bit with Pokémon just so that they could have obligatory yearly Pokémon game and make Z what X and Y should have been. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing game and New Leaf is not perfect, but PokéX could have gotten a lot tweaked and improved too, which I don't see that much in Animal Crossing. I'm still playing Animal Crossing as well, I think by vitue of being the most played game on my 3DS over Uprising, OoT3D or anything else that it instantly wins my favourite game of 2013 award(oops! Haven't played SM3DW yet). Animal Crossing's multiplayer and replay content are also more interesting to me.

Luigi's Mansion and Gates To Infinity are both amazing titles too, but I don't think that they hold a candle to the other two since I don't really feel like replaying them much, and they had more noticeable issues. To be fair, I just started getting back into GTI and I haven't beaten it yet, but I'm having a great time with it. Even though it's not the same as the Rescue Team and Explorers games and I really think it needed to keep some aspects from those that it got rid of. Also, the low amount of playable Pokémon in the game is painful. I hear that the game is also kinda short which would stink. LM2 just gets kinda repetitive... I've posted about that before...

So basically New Leaf, Pokémon X is second place, and LM2 and GTI are tied for third.

Oh yeah and ALBW? I agree with BenAV on this one. It actually gives me a lot of Phantom Hourglass-esque vibes more than anything, but to be honest I feel like I'd have more fun if I just replayed PH and ST. Something about this game isn't clicking for me. I hope that it picks up soon, but I can't really get myself into it.
As for Fire Emblem and Dream Team, I enjoyed my time with those games but never ended up getting far into them. Awakening is next on my to-play list when I get through Gates To Infinity, then Dream Team.

Either Shin Megami Tensei IV or Pokemon X and Y.

Probably the former.

Lugis Mansion 2, Pokemon Y, Zelda A Link Between Worlds and Fire Emblem Awakening are all top tier games imo and there's Bravely Default still to come but I'd go with Zelda.

What about Smash Bros, Monster Hunter 4 and New Yoshi's Island?

and Kirby! don't forget Kirby!

And maybe Fantasy Life too if it does get a Western release.

Tough choice. 2013 was such an incredible year for the 3DS

My vote probably leans towards Fire Emblem: Awakening, but not by much.

Other honorable mentions:

Zelda: ALBW
Pokemon Y
Animal Crossing New Leaf
Luigi's Mansion DM
M&L Dream Team
Steamworld Dig
SMT IV

@I-U I was playing the game (Awakening) until October and I got the day after release.

GOTY:

• Fire Emblem: Awakening - While it's true that it's the only retail game I've bought this year (don't have much money for gaming, currently), it still earns it's spot. Beautiful art direction, surprisingly gorgeous set pieces, solid strategy gameplay, some nice political intrigue, memorable characters, and loads of content make this a can't miss title.

HM:

• Gunman Clive - This came out this year, right? Whatever the case, it's a very charming love letter to the 8 & 16 bit eras of gaming, with nods to Mega Man, Contra, DKC, SMB2, Bionic Commando, and more. Best of all, it's the most fun you can have for $2.
• PicDun 2: the Witch's Curse - It's a great introduction title for those looking to get into dungeon crawlers like EO, with a simplified battle system & loads of floors to cover (with the incentive to cover the entire floor being that it completes a picture). It may be too simple for some though, and some of the clues as to how to get through a certain puzzle can be infuriatingly obscure.

The only other games I played this year that I would consider for the title, actually came out in years prior (Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Crimson Shroud, Super Metroid, & Oracle of Seasons).

ALBW? Game of the Year? Although its great, its simply not GotY material.

Personally I'd give it to Call of Duty Ghosts. I mean, interactive fish! Next gen stuff!

But seriously, MH3U, brilliant game.

smt 4

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
3. Mario and Luigi Dream Team

It's got to be either Zelda: A Link Between Worlds or Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for me, both titles have sizzled and really helped me to bond with the 3DS as a whole. I know my playing Super Mario 3D Land in 2013 doesn't make it a new game but all in all nothing has compared to my experience with it and this game is the one game I'll remember most from my 2013 gaming moments. But if I had to pick 2013 as a release period only than my choice goes to Zelda with Luigi's Mansion trailing close behind it.

My GOTY's (or is that "G's OTY"?) are "Pokémon X" and "Legend of Zelda: a Link between worlds", but of the two LoZ:ALBW wins out for successfully playing on 20 years of Nostalgia...