Here we go, my favorite soundtrack, the best 2012 game I played in 2103 and my top 10 games of 2013 are here.
Please enjoy!
Best Soundtrack of 2013
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
I’m still finding myself humming tunes from the 3DS game. It’s a mark of a fantastic soundtrack if it manages to burrow itself deep into my brain. Every time I recall that Lorule theme, I want to pick up my 3DS and revisit that game.
Runner ups: FarCry 3: Blood Dragon, Guacamelee
I’m not a connoisseur of Indie games. I don’t purposely seek them out. I pay attention and check out those that people sing praises for. Fez was one of those long awaited Indie titles. I wanted to play it because I found the pixel art charming and the rotating of the world to be an interesting mechanic. I was attracted to Fez on a superficial level and I enjoyed it for that alone.
It’s been long time since I’ve seen pixel art efforts like Fez. There were so many little details such as wildlife, flowers and cryptic graffiti throughout all the levels. I was impressed with the density of the details. Remember, there were four sides to each area and all of it was meticulously crafted. Gomez’s idle animation also filled me with nostalgic joy.
I didn’t play many 2012 releases until the waning months of the year. It wasn’t due to the lack of time; it was because I felt the “good stuff” didn’t drop until then. Mass Effect 3 was the only major release that I chose to pick up early on. I let many titles go by but even with that in mind, I somehow managed to play enough (or see enough) 2012 games to assemble a Game of the Year feature.
The 2012 Game I Wish I Bought & Played in 2012
Winner: Fez
I didn’t just want to play Fez in 2012; I wanted to experience Fez during its release window. There was something more to this 8-bit styled platformer and for a while its unraveling dominated my Twitter feed, podcasts and forums. Online centric games always warrant a day one purchase but it’s rare to see a single player game kick up so much fervour from the gaming community.
Runner-ups: Mark of the Ninja, Dead or Alive 5
Similar to Echochrome, Fez relies on perspective. Fez is also quite similar to Sega’s Crush puzzle game for the PSP, but the camera and platforming action in Fez appear to be more free flowing.
Anyways, check out the gameplay video.