By Shelsea Stark on Mashable
Next year's games have some big shoes to fill. Whether it was a blockbuster, Triple-A title or a scrappy indie game, we saw glorious examples of games reaching their full potential in 2013.
This year, games pushed the envelope in narrative, whether through a strongly written story or subtle character-building clues left in dialog. But where strong narrative stopped, great gameplay stepped in to make what we played this year some of the most fun and challenging games in recent memory.
No matter what your choice is for Game of the Year, this was undoubtedly a phenomenal year for gaming.
10. Tearaway
The Vita has been an unloved handheld console for a long time. While the hardware has innovative features, it mainly featured games that are anemic versions of their console kin.Tearaway begs you to use the Vita to its full potential. You'll poke, swipe and mug it for the camera on a magical journey in a world that is far too adorable for its own good. You'll swan-dive into a world that looks not digital, but lovingly cut from a pile of construction paper.Tearaway's real achievement is making the player part of the story in a way that isn't gimmicky. It will easily steal gamers' hearts.9. Tomb Raider
Reinventing a character as iconic as Lara Croft is a daunting challenge, even if half of the reasons she was so well-known were purely shallow. Square Enix turned the adventurer who spawned a cheesy Angelina Jolie movie into a real badass, and one who earned her place through her harrowing role.Tomb Raider shows the Lara Croft we've always wanted. Her adventures on a dangerous tropical island transform her from unequipped idealist to a daring heroine, and we're all lucky enough to be along for the ride. The game's focus on exploration as you scramble over beautiful set pieces is clearly inspired by some of examples of action-adventure games. It also doesn't abandon its roots entirely, as there's still plenty of treasure to hunt. With a "next-gen" re-release on the way next year, it's a really good time to be in Lara's corner.
I scrimped. I saved. I upcycled everything at Re-Tail. I picked fruit off every tree and chased down every bug. Finally, I could buy a stone bridge for my town.Animal Crossing: New Leaf involves a lot of this kind of decision making. But making a little town full of animal residents into whatever you want, your digital zen garden, is captivating. This latestAnimal Crossing title evokes all the series charm, but still gives gamers something unique.This game is even better as a handheld title, especially because of the 3DS' features. Playing and trading with your friends is rewarding, and seeing the new things to buy from random Streetpass encounters make going back daily hardly a chore, unlike picking all my recently grown fruit.
Saints Row IV knows what's expected of it -- the rules and tropes by which video games should abide. And then it laughs at those rules and makes up its own.This open-world franchise might as well make "over-the-top" its middle name, and the newest entry is no exception. Whether you are bounding across buildings dressed as a giant hotdog, or battling aliens with your dubstep gun while delivering some of the sassiest dialog of the year, every moment of Saints Row IV is a thrill ride. And it's not all flash and sizzle; the gameplay is fun and varied enough to provide a realm of challenges.6. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
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Emotional experiences in games don't come easily, and yet one of the most poignant games of the year can be completed in about four hours.Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons snuck into our hearts this summer without much fanfare. The fantastical journey is ambitious in its storytelling -- all the dialog is in a made-up language -- and its control-schemes, as you navigate two players with one controller, using each analog stick to guide one sibling. While none of the puzzles are particularly stumping, trying to control two characters simultaneously is devilishly brain-teasing, and something we haven't seen enough of. This is all set in a stage ripped from fairytale books, with jaw-dropping settings that the game actually encourages you to admire. The bonds you witness and create between two brothers will get you in a place few other games can.5. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
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The Legend of Zelda is a franchise we all think we know, its conventions carried from title to title. Yet handheld A Link Between Worlds boldly twists them with design decisions that take us back to the series' roots, but also fully takes advantage of new technology.A Link Between Worlds has some of the cleverest dungeons we've seen in a long time, with puzzles that delight you to solve them. It drops the pretense of holding gamers' hands too much, instead dropping them right into the action to explore for themselves. Not to mention it's full of ridiculously charming characters and settings. While it is ambitious to create a direct sequel to a 20-year-old game like A Link to the Past, it paid off for Nintendo and made it an easy choice for this list.
Mario is so familiar to gamers that it's hard to imagine big innovations in his games. Yet Super Mario 3D World is one of the best Mario games we've seen in years, blending everything we love with small, enchanting surprises in each level.It's the small touches -- like the way Mario's cat costume loses steam while climbing a wall and slides to the bottom -- that will plaster a constant smile on your face while playing. Each of the game's levels offers enough challenge to encourage more than one playthrough, especially when you add three friends to your party. The 3D environments are more lush and beg to be explored than anything in the 2D games, and you'll never see the same level design twice through all eight worlds. Super Mario 3D World is a perfect joy in gaming this year.
No game this year hit me with a sucker punch like BioShock Infinite. When the credits roll after the game's electrifying ending, it's not surprising if takes you sometime to recover from the unimaginable journey you've just experienced.BioShock Infinite is a game that looks deeply at the inevitability of our lives, and how choices might not have as much impact as we believe. It helps the wild ride is set in the whimsical-yet-menacing floating city in the 1910s, where race and class issues have been whitewashed with fantastical inventions and religious fervor. The story and world are like nothing gaming has seen or will see again. It's the kind of game you almost want to slow down so you can relish the amazing things it's trying with narrative.
Grand Theft Auto V was easily the most anticipated game of the year, but it's so refreshing when something lives up to -- and shatters -- the hype and expectations.GTA V succeeds at being dauntingly vast and yet perfectly aware of the importance of every detail. It achieved a modern game world that takes a sardonic look at our own lives that still gave players a fantasy to get lost in. The addition of the three playable protagonists that you can switch between is not just a gimmick, but an amazing way to tell three connected stories.
Fiction has explored how society will continue after an apocalyptic event. Rarely has that hopelessness, depravity and the gray areas of humanity been brought into such sharp focus in a blockbuster game than in the The Last of Us.What is truly amazing about The Last of Us is the paternal relationship that reluctantly blooms between Joel and Ellie. Joel has been irrevocably changed by the spread of a deadly fungus that turns humans into zombie-like monsters. Ellie, at 13, has never known a world before monsters and government quarantine. These aren't one-dimensional puppets created just to pull your heartstrings; these characters have histories and back stories we slowly uncover through their casual conversations during the game.But The Last of Us isn't just good story. It's well-planned gameplay that balances the difficulty in scrounging for resources, exploring a world left to rot for 20 years, and stealthily battling enemies both monstrous and human. It makes us reflect on what people will do to survive when everything has turned against them, and who is really good or bad in the darkest times.
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