2013 Game Rankings List

I was playing some games this week (big surprise, I know!) and was thinking about how I'd rank the games I've played so far this year in terms of quality. I thought I'd keep a Top 5 in my head and change it around as the year progressed, and that would be my GOTY List. I was having a bit of trouble remembering all the games I'd played so far, and had an awesome idea. I could keep a ranked list of EVERY game released this year, that I play, and update it as I play more games. This would make compiling my GOTY list easier, and also lets people know which games I actually played this year. "What!? X is on your GOTY list but not Y!? Y was amazing!" "Oh, yeah, I didn't actually play Y..." It will help make sense of my opinions a little. This list will update whenever I play through a new game, so feel free to keep checking back every now and then.
EDIT: Ranking them all is too hard, I'll keep a Top 5, and then just list the other games I've played. Too easy.

I would have put Persona 4 Golden in one of the top two spots, but I did play it last year, so it doesn't really count I guess. It only just came out in Australia/Europe this year, so if you haven't imported it then consider this my recommendation to buy it :P Likewise with Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, it's a re-relase/expansion moreso than a new game. But definitely one you should play!

1. GTA V
2. Animal Crossing New Leaf
3. Payday 2
4. Ace Attorney 5
5. Saints Row IV

Other games I've played from 2013 (not in any order)
Battlefield 4
Pokemon X/Y
The Last Of Us
LEGO City Undercover
Slender: The Arrival
FUSE
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
Luigi's Mansion 2
SimCity
Dead Space 3
Battle High 2
God of War Ascension
DLC Quest
Tearaway

Mechanics and Imagery in Persona 4's Boss Battles

*CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 4 GOLDEN READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*

There's a game I've been playing lately that I've fallen in love with. That game is Persona 4 Golden on the Vita. There's something I really like about this game (well, actually, there's many things I like about it, but that's a story for another day), and that's the boss battles. The majority of boss battles in the game are what are called Shadows- manifestations of suppressed thoughts and emotions of a person that take on a monstrous form when someone denies that they're part of them. The boss battles and the dungeons they reside in contain some really powerful imagery that helps you understand the characters and their struggles better. The game’s characters face some difficult issues that you don’t see explored that often in games, and I find them really interesting. I'm not overly far in the game (I say that, but I've played for about 25 hours- it's a long game) but two of the boss battles I've encountered so far have really stood out from battles I've seen in other games- the ones with Shadow Yukiko and Shadow Kanji.