Our staff's best games of 2013!
Over the years, Shigeru Miyamoto has fathered many beloved franchises, but almost all of them have been adopted by new caretakers. During the GameCube era, Miyamoto dreamed up a brand new franchise which he has yet to hand over despite his enormous responsibilities at Nintendo. His love for Pikmin has always been apparent, especially when he, in a moment of excitement, prematurely announced the third game of the series at a Developer Roundtable during E3.
One of the great shames of Nintendo’s botched launch of the Wii U is that so many people are missing a brilliant sequel to the franchise Miyamoto is so passionate about. With the dozens of tiny creatures scurrying about the landscape, the HD presentation really allows the game to shine. Not to mention the vastly improved controls offered by the Wii Remote and its pointing abilities.
Outside of the compulsory Story mode, Pikmin 3 brings one of the most memorable experiences of the year – co-operative missions. Offering varying goals, two players can team up to best enemies, tear down walls, and collect all of the goods within demanding timelines. Expanded via DLC throughout the latter part of the year, this unique offering has just continued to get better over time.
For those without a partner in tow, there’s no question that you’re in for a treat by just completing the Story mode and trucking solo through the mission mode. Exploring the various levels and devising plans to collect all of the loot is consistently entertaining and only made more convenient thanks to the persistent map on the GamePad.
It should come as no surprise that such a well-executed game from the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto was an easy pick for our top five games of 2013.
It's interesting to see two Wii U exclusives on your list given the year the console has had overall. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come for the system as a whole. I'm not sure if i'll ever purchase a Wii U but i'm sure we'll see better sales this year. More competition is only ever a good thing for consumers.
Anyway, funnily enough and beside the point, I have played zero of your top 5 and I still thought it was a great year for new games.
Well, A Link Between Worlds was one of the best games that I played this year. I devoured it over the course of a week. I probably could have done it in a day but whenever I set my 3DS down for a minute my brother snatched it up.
The one other game that totally surprised me this year was Tearaway. It was the best 3D platforming experience I have had since Super Mario Galaxy 2.(I haven't gotten around to playing 3D Land or World yet.)
I like that 3 of the games on the list are Nintendo games.
It's interesting but not surprising. This community has a lot of gamers with no brand loyalty. We play games, not favourites.
As I've already said out of the new or newish consoles out there the Wii U is the only one that has any games I give a rat's rectum about.
Maybe if I ever have some spare cash again I'll get one.
Pretty spicy list, I like it.
Pretty cool list. I haven't played any of them yet, but I've already read a lot of good things. At the very least I'll snag a copy of A Link Between Worlds when I have the opportunity.
So can't wait to play Pikmin 3.
Nice list! BioShock Infinite was my Game of the Year but I haven't played any of those others yet. Hoping to get all of them though. A Link Between Worlds sounds like a great choice. My 3DS was used almost constantly all year long and that will probably be a similar story this year.
It's great to see Zelda get some love after so many games in the series have been pushed aside due to "been there done that" syndrome. ALBW is the only game on your list that I've played, and it's incredible! The hype is true, people, so please get this game because Zelda needs more love!
Last of Us has been on almost every favorites list I've seen, but none of them actually taught me something by prompting a Wikipedia search for "cordyceps."
According to their "in popular culture" section of that article, those Pokemon crabs, Paras and Parasect, had a form of cordyceps on their backs. The source they used is bulbapedia.
And Nick's appraisal of Link Between Worlds and complaints against most modern 3D Zeldas read very similar to EgoRaptor (Aaron Hanson, Game Grump)'s appraisal of Link to the Past and complaints against most modern 3D Zeldas.
I guess I just got used to the 3D Zeldas, growing up with them, and don't mind them as much.
Nice. I played A Link Between Worlds and Bioshock Infinite. They are great games.
dammit I haven't played any of these. But I will soon, I promise.
This is a damn fine list! 2013 has been a great year all around, and I love that the awesome Nintendo titles of this year are getting some love! You can't get more disparate gaming experiences in terms of tone than The Last of Us and A Link Between Worlds, but they both sure as hell deserve their spots on this list.
Now this is a real award show! F U Polygon and giving Gone Home GOY? 
Comments