Topic: GOTY 2013 discussion

Etrian Odyssey Millennium Girl.

2013's been a good year for games. For me there have been three standouts; Ni No Kuni, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. My personal GotY at this stage would be BioShock Infinite. Brilliant setting and excellent story, and tight, exciting combat. It also kept me thinking about it after I had finished it, which is rare.

Pokemon X/Y will probably get the gold, but Ni no Kuni's probably my Game of the year, followed by Etrian Odyssey IV.

Rayman legends, hands down

I'm honestly not as optimistic for this year as most tbh. Most of the OMG amazing games you apparently must play that I haven't played are games I honestly don't have much interest in tbh. 2009 and 2010 were the real standout years of modern gaming imo (2011 too if you ignore Nintendo dropping the ball).

2014 looks so much better, especially for Nintendo.

I agree about Ni no Kuni (my favorite game so far this year) pity its not mainstream enough to have a chance.

Fire Emblem Awakening is the only answer.

Fire Emblem Awakening.

I hadn't played any of the previous games, I'm not even particularity into J/SRPGs. Regardless, that game was is the best I've played that was released this year. .

Ah yes, forgot about Ni No Kuni. I'm not very far into it so I can't say how I'd rank it for this year, but the little I've played I've enjoyed, and I can tell it's going to get really good.

On the note of website awards: On most mainstream sites, it'd have to be either The Last of Us (to suit the "artists" even though the game is far from high class...) or GTAV (to keep the dudebro gamers from ripping their freakin' heads off). There's a chance Beyond: Two Souls will win on a few sites (though I think Quantic Dream is finally getting the criticism they deserve). But on Nintendo sites it'll probably be Zelda or Mario, as per usual, while Pokemon gets the user GOTYs (because obviously no other games on Nintendo consoles deserve any sort of acclaim).

Seriously, I'm surprised people even care about those silly popularity contests. It's always whatever gets the most sales and advertising that wins.

Luckily this thread is more about our personal GOTYs. I just had to get that out of me.

Either Fire Emblem or Animal Crossing for me.

Hear Hear

So for my opinions...
Fire Emblem Awakening is easily my GOTY. Unlike some other GOTY candidates, this game focuses primarily on gameplay, with the solid graphics, amazing soundtrack and interesting (albeit cliché) story, just on the side. The games best stories come from play; from near-misses to lucky breaks to tragic losses. This was a rollercoaster of emotions, scripted and unscripted, and one that will truly stand the test of time.
My runner up would be Last of Us. Yes, its ultraviolent, yes, it's dark, yes, it's incredibly scripted, yes, on the surface its a "dudebro" but yet the story compelled me like few other games, and the gameplay was brilliant. (And the presentation... drools...) To be honest, I am starting to think that some of you criticizing the game haven't played it, but that is a rant for another time.
In terms of other candidates, Pokémon X and Y were solid, but the easy difficulty, wonky framerate and inconsistent 3d show that work needs to be done. Bioshock Infinite had only an amazing story, with mediocre gunplay comprising too much of the gameplay. The Stanley Parable I am currently playing, and it is looking likely to topple last of us. I mean, the humor, and the commentary on the nature of gameplay is unmatched. Animal Crossing was a very fun experience, but very grindy and repetitive.

Is there an elephant in the room here???
Well, GTA will get its own post. ATM I am currently censoring the rant I posted on another forum for this site... That will take a while.

Let's see...My game of the year...I gonna go with Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon. Such a great game! I still haven't gotten Fire Emblem Awakening, but I plan to soon. My game of the year might change though. I still haven't played Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, SM3DW, or Zelda ALBW.