-- first group --
The Last Story
Let's get the negatives out of the way first: the game is a technical mess and probably too ambitious for the Wii, and the first two hours can be a bit annoying with the gameplay segment - short cutscene - gameplay segment - etc thing. And the story is typical JRPG fare.
The positives: everything else basicaly. It's my kind of RPG: it's (fairly) short at 20 hours (which just means it has no filler at all - quite the opposite from Xenoblade Chronicles), the battles are fairly short but can be quite strategic if you "get" the battle system, the music is great,... Anyway, someone else said it better than me (it is his job after all). I agree with him all the way - for me it's one of the best JRPGs this generation, together with Lost Odyssey (quite surprisingly also a Mistwalker game!), and of course easily one of the best games released in 2012. I own the limited edition, and it's easily one of my most prized gaming treasures. It's been quite a while since I finished the game, but writing about it made me eager to play it again.
Dishonored
I heard about this game long before it came out, it was on my very short "hmm, might be something I'd enjoy" list. When I heard it was out I checked some reviews and impressions, and it really did look like it was something for me. And it was! People describe it as "Bioshock vs. Thief", and they're mostly right, but it's also its own thing. Take the best thing about the game: the heart. Point and "shoot" it at people and locations and it will tell you secrets. Not really important for the gameplay, but cool to learn more about the world and its characters. I really love stuff like this, it's a more subtle approach to exposing the world which I vastly prefer over long cutscenes and walls of text.
And it's not that gameplay is bad either. I went through the game twice, once doing the no kill approach, the other doing a quicker, more direct approach (though I admit I still used stealth most of the time). Both were fun, and had an impact on the story
FTL: Faster Than Light
Man I hate this game. I started 33 games so far, won none of them. In only four of them I actually reached the last boss. And I'm playing on easy. I suck at it so much.
On the other hand, I can't stop playing it. Steam says I played it for 18 hours so far, and I'm still not bored of it. I WILL beat this game some day, and I'll consider it one of my greatest gaming achievements.
Anyway, the reason why I come back to it: every game is different, and luck definitely has something to do with it. I have so many war stories to share, I could make several long entries about how some of my games went. Actually someone did it already.
The music also helps; it's easily one of the best soundtracks of 2012, in my opinion only rivalled by Journey and Hotline Miami (you can listen to it on Ben Prunty's bandcamp). Lastly, if you have any imagination you can turn every game into your favourite sci-fi tv show. FTL has elements of Star Trek (some of the random events), Star Wars (rebel scum!) and Battlestar Galactica (jump!), and you can even name your crew. I tell you, you will swear when your Picard and Riker die in a fire!!
So really, it's one of the best gaming experiences I had this year. Yet this image from RPS sums it up nicely:
Journey
Yes it's only 2 hours long, and there's no action apart from jumping around a bit and avoiding floating thingies. But what an experience it is. You know what (and you can quote me on this): it's my favourite multiplayer experience this gen. I mean, it's not strictly a multiplayer game, but there is quite a difference between going solo and playing it online. I went through the game three times, and the last time I did most of it alone, and it just doesn't have the same impact. The game is at its best when you have the same partner from early on, it makes the event at the end more meaningful.
And yes, I admit it, the first time I finished the game, it made me a little emotional. Or I might have had something in my eye, I don't know. Anyway, it's a game I can recommend to anyone, it doesn't require that much effort or thinking (good for the more casual player), but it does have secrets and collectibles (of sorts) which means the obsessive gamer will enjoy this as well.
Again I'd like to link you to an article - I don't really care about the "games are art" debate but there are some good points here.
