Guacamelee
I played this on the Vita, which by the way feels like the perfect system for small little Indie Games. It's one of those games that are being qualified as a metroidvania type, which is a game where you gain abilities throughout your quest that let's you explore previously unexplorable areas. In this game for example, early on you come across some areas you can't get to because they are blocked off by a red block, you find an ability shortly thereafter that let's you break through these blocks. I love these types of games when they're execute well, which Guacamelee definitely does. To pair with the metroidvania gameplay is the Luchador themed character and heavily Mexican themed world. Both work pretty well and are definitely unique in the games I've played over the years. Nice refreshing change and definitely a fun game. Short and sweet (about 5 hours to finish) definitely worth playing.
Gone Home
This game was completely differnent than anything else I played in 2013. I've heard it described as a new take on a traditional point and click adventure and I think that was a pretty good description. You play as a young girl and the story unfolds, from a first person perspective, as you explore her family's house. You get all the information you need from letters left behind by your sister or messages left on your answering machine. Essentially anything you can dig up in the fairly expansive house. It's definitely a fresh game and different than 95% of what you would play. I don't share the same exuberance that other people seemed to have for the game but it's definitely worth playing and it's a pretty short game so check it out if you can.
Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons
Another short game I can check off my list and another superb experience. This game follows the story of two brothers searching for some medicine to help their ailing father. In the game you play both brothers at the same time. One side of the controller for each brother, the analog sticks move them and the triggers perform the context sensitive actions. The bulk of the game is spent solving puzzles using both brothers skills. The older brother is stronger and can move things the younger one can't, while the younger brother can fit into spaces the older one can't. The story was also able to elicit an emotional response which added to the whole package. Another game worthy of a couple hours of your time.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
I'll admit I'm not the biggest Zelda fan, but I do enjoy the ones I play. Out of the series I've really only played through Wind Waker on the GameCube and Phantom Hourglass on the DS. Both were great experiences and I had a great time playing through them. For some reason though the other games in the series never interested me, or at least I didn't have the motivation to play them. I really liked this game though, and I think the portable platform is my preferred venue for the Zelda series. At least the games made for the platform. The main twist in this game is Link's (or in my case Cooklin) ability to merge with surfaces to make it to places that are in reachable by your 3D self. Nintendo also introduced the ability to rent items like the boomerang or the bow and arrow or bombs. They let you do this from the get go so almost any area is open for exploration, except for the areas that require special abilities that you discover later in the game. I really thought the dungeons were fun and I liked what the merge ability allowed for environmental puzzles. Really a great game and I'm looking forward to the next Zelda game that will put another twist on the classic game.
Spelunky
I hate Spelunky for its unrelenting difficulty and the out of nowhere deaths. I love Spelunky for its unrelenting difficulty and tight controls. I played Spelunky on the 360 and I enjoyed it, but I wasn't obsessed with it like I am on the Vita. Another game that makes me super excited for the possibilities for the platform as a the best channel for indie platformers. I'm super excited to play Rogue Legacy on this thing.
XCOM: Enemy Within
The expansion pack to my favourite game of 2012, so I was definitely excited to play it. So far it seems like it adds some new augmentations, a new class and new mission types. The game seems to start the same way as Enemy Unknown but introduces gene modifications and the MEC class pretty early on. I'm liking the gene augmentations so far, adds some nice health regen abilities and additional aim bonuses. I also threw one of my squadies into the new MEC class and I'm not a huge fan so far. It's very similar to the heavy class which I didn't use in Enemy Unknown. I'm going to give it some time but we'll see if I stick with it. One of the new mission types has you send one of your agents into a country that has had extremely high panic levels because of a rebel group, called Exalt, causing trouble. Once the agent completes their mission you send in a squad to thwart the Exalt and to extract the agent. Seems like it's going to be a great time and I hope I can sink a few more hours into it.
SpeedRunners
I played this with a few good friends and it's really the only way to play it. It's a four player racing game where you're racing with people instead of cars. The game is played like a side scrolling 2D running game. Similar to a kart racing game there are items you can use to help you or to hurt your opponents. There are also boosts and obstacles littered throughout the levels as well as grappling hook points. Your runner is equipped with a grappling hook that can move you quicker than running and also allows for some very skillful grapple points to quickly change your momentum once you've had to switch which direction you were running. The game is super fun and should only be played with friends on a couch.
Samurai Gunn
Played this with the same friends as SpeedRunners. We didn't spend too much time with it because SpeedRunners stole the show but I did enjoy my time with it. Maybe I'm getting old but it was a bit hectic, a lot going on and a lot to keep track of. I would definitely like to try it again, but we'll see if anyone else is interested in playing it.
Tomb Raider (2013)
Another game that had a lot of good buzz throughout the year and another game I had on my backlog. I'm a few hours into it and I'm loving it. It feels a lot like Uncharted in terms of the traversal elements of the game. The combat feels better and the bow and arrow are a lot of fun to use. The redesigned Lara really gets beat up in a lot of sequences and it's a super gritty experience but I've been having a great time with it so far. I look forward to finishing it off and hopefully it stays super high quality all the way through.
