One of these things is just like the other
2013 was one of the most important years in gaming's history. For one, it saw the launch of the next-generation of consoles--which is pretty huge, considering it took forever to get there. Besides that, it had more huge, fantastic AAA releases than any year in recent memory. Eventually, when we run out of Top 7 ideas and re-do the Top 7 best years in gaming's history, 2013 will likely slot in the two or three slot. It was that good. But despite being stellar, it was fairly tropey.
Watching after someone because it's your job
No, you're not related to that youngin. Some people might look at you and say, "that your kid?" and you'll be all like, "Nah, just lookin' after her." Maybe you're protecting them because it's your job (note: you're probably protecting them because it's your job), or maybe it's because you feel an attachment not unlike that of a parental bond (note: there's probably an attachment not unlike that of a parental bond). Either way, you're watching after 'em until the credits roll.
Swimming in blood
Gross. Super gross. Blood is gross, you guys, for a bunch of reasons. A) it's a sign that someone died, which digs into your hard-coded psyche to cause you to feel uncomfortable and icky, and B) it's potentially full of diseases, and if dirty blood gets inside of your viens, you could get that disease, too. That's why swimming in blood, which happened in not one, but two games in 2013, is so gross.
Troy Baker musical numbers
Troy Baker is the voice of gaming in 2013. The actor's mouth noises were featured in two of the top 10 games of the year, and could also be heard in a slew of other games. But we've seen that before when Nolan North appeared in every game from 2008 to 2011. What made Troy Baker's role in 2013 more interesting was how musical it was.
Selfies
And no, we don't just mean games where you can take pictures--we mean real, full-blown selfies. Three different games this year gave you a camera and let you turn it around on yourself to take a real, Facebook/MySpace/Google+? selfie. This trend didn't hit until later in the year, but once it started it felt like it would never end. And the weird thing? It... all sort of made sense, even though the games it appeared in couldn't be more different.
Sea shanties
Go back in time a year and tell me that three games in 2013 would feature fantastic, memorable sea shanties and I'd hit you over the head with a bone and steal your time machine. But after I've pillaged ancient history and explored the robot-ruled future I'll come back, do a double take, and tell you I don't believe you. And yet, here we are in December, and I'm listening to a 57 minute-long YouTube video of all of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag's shanties on repeat and singing "Bully in the Alley" over and over again.
The tutorial child
The first ten minutes of every action game is basically identical: you walk, you jump, you crouch under a thing, you aim, and you do all of the other basic actions that, for some reason, need to be retaught every time you pick up a controller. Sure, they'll dress it up in different ways (crumbling building, jungle, calibrating your helmet) but it's still a trope that the last generation relied on super heavily. This year, two different games took a slightly different approach by putting you in the shoes of a child, which lets you learn these things in an interesting way.
Bows, bows, and bows
Last year was almost the "year of the bow", but then stuff got delayed. The result was that 2013 inherited the title with the release of a number of different games that had protagonists ditch guns in favor of arrows. It makes sense--bows and arrows allow silent, one-hit kills that rely on more skill, meaning you'll be able to grow and learn throughout the game. Plus, what's more satisfying than watching an arrow fly 200' into the head of an enemy?
