FULL THOUGHTS
tl;dr?
1.
Monster Hunter 3 UltimateMonster Hunter Tri was my favorite game of last year (as I only finally bought it in January 2012.) However, I was hesitant about this game. I poured hours into Tri, wouldn't I get worn out doing the same thing in a glorified expansion?
The answer is a resounding no. It's true that Ultimate is Tri with better graphics and more content, but it's also a much tighter package. The ranking structure for the village quests is changed drastically -- you're on two star quests and laying the smackdown on Jaggi and Azuros pretty much in the first hour of playing. That's a huge difference from vanilla Tri, which forced you to do all sorts of gathering and low-level monster quests before finally letting you tackle Jaggi.
Aside from that, the game just has a staggering amount of content. 50 monsters over Tri's 18, a whole new G rank difficulty, three more weapon classes, and a seemingly infinite amount of armor, skill, and weapon combinations. I've put over 100 hours into it and have only about three complete high rank equipment sets -- not even G rank yet!
However, even if it was just all that above, I'm not sure this would take the crown this year. What really sealed it, and put Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate far ahead of even my second pick, is the cross-play and save-syncing between the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game. The the Wii U version, I could play Monster Hunter in 1080p and online with friends with an amazing dual-analog controller (Pro Controller.) With the 3DS version, I could hunt monsters literally anywhere, get any supplies I needed, check off quests, and just generally keep upping my game until I got back home.
I love this game. I hear Monster Hunter 4 is the new hotness, and it certainly looks fun, but unless there's a corresponding home console port with the same save-sync functionality, I don't know if I'll enjoy it as much as this one. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate has everything I could ask for in a Monster Hunter game, in an action game, in a video game. Period.
2.
Pokémon YAlthough I had mixed feelings about the abandonment of sprites and the jump into full 3D, in the end I was impressed by the various character models. The Pokemon themselves were pretty much perfect, the cel-shading fits the series like a glove. There were higher production values all over the place too, and thankfully my fear of the framerate taking a huge hit (such as when the series transitioned to new hardware previously in Diamond and Pearl) was mostly unfounded (although there still is some hitching.)
The new Pokemon and region are in keeping with the series' high standards, even if there are fewer of the little bastards this time around. However, I thought the story was a clear step down from Black and White, which weren't earth shattering by most accounts but felt fresh and actually had a nice raising of personal (and external) stakes. Some of the music was amazing, but I feel it doesn't quite live up to Gen 4 or 5. And while Pikachu getting a proper cry sound file is great, it's disappointing none of the other Gen 1/2 Pokemon get the treatment even though they sorely need it.
All the hardcore tweaks, specifically around Effort Values, are hugely appreciated and go to show that Game Freak is aware of and cares about the metagame (if that wasn't clear a long time ago, that is. Stuff like Flame Body halving an eggs' hatch time was present in Gen 3.)
Finally, the potential of Pokemon Bank for keeping your Pokemon always safe, even if you reset or lose your game, and to always easily transfer your Pokemon en masse to future games, cannot be understated... even if the service hasn't actually launched yet.
All in all, there was a lot to worry about with Game Freak taking the series to the next level, and they definitely succeeded even if I have some minor niggles about the execution. Like Gen 3, I have no doubt this will provide a solid base to iterate and advance on in future games.
3.
Animal Crossing: New LeafI didn't want to play this game.
I didn't want to hear about it, I didn't pay attention to it, I swore to myself I wouldn't buy it. I've probably put over 500 hours into the series across the GameCube original and Wild World, but by City Folk I was so burned out I didn't play it for more than 10. I determined that unfortunately, maybe I had outgrown the series, or at the very least I had grown bored with the core mechanics. There's only so many times you can buy a Regal Dresser, you know?
But then a friend bought it. And then another friend. And then Himu. And then seemingly half of the Bore. And more and more. A week after release, I couldn't take it any more. I didn't want to be left behind!
I feel like a lot of the lauded changes are superficial. Ooh, I can put a bridge here! It's both decidedly inconsequential yet fairly enjoying. In general, a lot of the Mayor stuff seemed cool but also like they ran out of ideas and were pandering to longtime fans (which I appreciate on some level, as a longtime fan myself.) It's basically just giving more customization options to a series that never really needed them. Yes, they're neat, but not a revolution.
In fact, I hesitated to put this game so high on my list, considering it's not really that much of a different game. But my ranking reflects how much fun I had with a game, not necessarily how revolutionary or improved it was. (That ties into my fourth pick too, actually.)
No, what made this game so much fun to play was the online multiplayer. For the first time in a Nintendo game, I felt connected - even if I wasn't in someone else's town or vice-versa. The Best Friends menu that showed who was online, the Dream Suite that allowed to to visit copies of friends' towns, and the robust (for a Nintendo game) chat system made me want to open up my 3DS every day after work just to see who was on. "Oh, Sonic's on! I'll message to see if we can go to the island together..."
More than the mayor stuff, more than the island, more than any of the cosmetic frivolities that they added to this game or will add to future games - the online community is now the most important thing in the series to me, and New Leaf delighted and surprised me with its implementation.
4.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HDI bought and loved Wind Waker when it was first released. In fact, I was excited for months before it came out. Everywhere I looked, Triforces, Master Swords, boats! And boundless adventure!
Its amazing opening cinematic has stayed with me through all these years.
But I never beat it. My younger sister, who had a habit of copying my older sister's and my own save files, deleted it just before I was to face Ganon. And so, over the years, I forgot about the game. When the remake was announced, I was excited. All I remember about Wind Waker was loving it, but otherwise it would be a whole new game to me!
And it basically was as if an entirely new console Zelda had come out. I remembered some of the story beats, but the dungeon layouts, characters, and side quests were unknown. The graphical update was impressive (even if it leaned slightly too heavily on the bloom), and the smattering of orchestrated tracks were a pleasant surprise.
In fact, my complaints mainly deal with what wasn't changed. I always knew the updates would be minimal, but I'll always pine for that "completed" Wind Waker. The one with two more dungeons, and a longer stretch between Hyule Castle and Ganon's Tower. Even coming from Skyward Sword, the game feels insubstantial for a Zelda game - but I know I'm spoiled from Twilight Princess.
Speaking of, where's my remake of that, Nintendo? It could easily top my list with barely any content changes. In my opinion, it's Twilight Princess that needs to be redone with a fresh coat of HD paint - Wind Waker will always look good as-is.
5.
Super Mario 3D WorldA good, safe Mario game is still worth putting on my list. However, I can't put it much higher than this. I'd be more forgiving but I played 3D Land just last year, so this is like a multiplayer continuation of that. The level design is really, quite good, but I'm not a big fan of the isometric perspective, and the story is annoyingly threadbare even by Mario standards. Some will argue that's a good thing, but I feel like even Mario 3 had better framing and context than this game. The music, while thankfully not recycled (nor does it contain those wretched "bah bah"s) wasn't memorable to me at all.
The game also made an unfortunately poor initial impression on me. When I booted it up for the first time, I launched into four player multiplayer, which can be generously described as a "clusterfuck of epic proportions." The New Super Mario Bros. games can be a little annoying when a character goes way off to one side stretching the camera out, but here the camera barely zooms out at all. Worse, it's never clear who the camera will follow and who it will bubble. Throw on top of that the questionable decision to give a crown to whoever gets the most points in a level, and you have a recipe for players deliberately outrunning the screen so they can get the most points, or even players accidentally going ahead and forcing the rest of the players to leave Green Stars, stamps, or powerups behind.
I get what EAD Tokyo was going for, but this might just be the worst console Mario platformer (I haven't played Sunshine.) Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 1/2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii/U were all better, I feel. Still, the game earns its place on my list with tight controls and solid-to-great level design.
Honorary Mentions: Fire Emblem: Awakening, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (which I need to play more of), Crashmo, and ATV Wild Ride 3D (which I put a surprising amount of time into.)
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