Monday, February 10, 2014

Year in Review 2013: Game of the Year

It has taken a long time to get to this point, but we are finally at the very end of Silver Bit's Year in Review 2013.  To end off this month long journey is the most prestigious award of any year, the Game of the Year.  There were many Game of the Year caliber games that released in 2013.  Tomb Raider, Rayman Legends, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Super Mario 3D World were all in top contention for this writer's pick for Game of the Year, but they were all beat out by one game.  Released very early in 2013, this game could not be dethroned as the best video game experience of 2013 in my humble opinion.  I easily dumped well over one hundred hours into this game and could easily dump hundreds more.  This game is Fire Emblem Awakening.
What have I not already said about Fire Emblem Awakening?  While Awakening might not be the 3DS's killer app (that title easily belongs to Pokemon X and Y), it is the greatest game released for the handheld to date.  Fire Emblem Awakening easily combines the past, present and future of the series in one game.  There are tons of nods to older entries in the series even allowing you to battle and recruit characters from past Fire Emblem games.  Awakening takes on the present with key refinements to the core Fire Emblem mechanics to create some of the most superb tactical gameplay found in any game.  The future of the series comes in the drastic improvement of the support system from boosting stats in battle to even marrying other characters (along with the results of the marriage) and the game's incredible StreetPass and SpotPass functionality.  On top of all the great mechanics, there are hundreds of hours of content packed on Awakening's 3DS cartridge from sidequests to extra skirmishes and even more to download from SpotPass or the Nintendo eShop.  Although all the Fire Emblem games are all excellent games in their own right, Fire Emblem Awakening is hands down the greatest game in Nintendo and Intelligent System's storied strategy series and the 2013 Game of the Year.

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