My Top 5 Games of 2013. I don’t care if you disagree.

5. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Perhaps the best thing about Blood Dragon is the fact it came out of nowhere. About a month before it was released, it was teased in a vague viral marketing campaign, including a very Geocities-esque website and a grainy VHS trailer.

Actually, scratch that. The best part is how Blood Dragon is a “spin-off” (I guess) of Far Cry 3, which I absolutely hated, so I was able to use this wonderful experience to wash the taste out of my mouth. FC3 had its moments of glory (burning down a marijuana field comes to mind), but overall it just didn’t sit right with me and I much preferred the lonely chaos found in Far Cry 2.

Blood Dragon, put simply, is badass. It puts the solid, over-the-top action gameplay from FC3 (its only redeeming quality) in a more suitable environment and tosses in a few layers of top-notch 1980s actioner parody. Bravo, Ubisoft.

4. DmC

Sorry Devil May Cry fans, but this Ninja Theory reboot is the best in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the original games (especially the third installment), but they lacked an identity. Dante’s character kept changing with each new entry, but he was never truly interesting. DmC, meanwhile, has a pulse and personality. The new Dante is cocky, funny and just an all-around more bitchin’ version of his predecessor. It’s sad that we’ll probably never see a sequel to this gem.

3. Dragon’s Crown

This was another surprise for me. Before Crown, I had only played one other Vanillaware title – Muramasa Rebirth. I can’t say I liked it. In fact, I can’t even say that I found any of it appealing, unless you count the gorgeous art design. However, those visuals were wasted on mediocre, boring gameplay. Crown, on the other hand, worked beautifully from every angle.

Perhaps the reason the formula worked here is thanks in part to its roots in the old Dungeons & Dragons arcade games, which were two of the best beat ’em up/hack ‘n slash games back in the day. Indeed, it’s not surprising that the man behind at least one of those Capcom classics conceived this gem.

2. The Last of Us

Boy oh boy do I love me some Naughty Dog. I still maintain that I have yet to play a game that has delivered a narrative strong enough to rival the best in cinema, television or literature, but ND came very close with their The Road inspired masterpiece The Last of Us.

Frankly, I don’t believe it’s incredibly important for games to strive to be like other mediums – it’s more important that they focus on what makes them stand apart – but it’s always nice to see an effort that attempts to achieve this be so successful. Don’t change ND, seriously.

1. Papers, Please

Glory to Arstotzka.