Peter Brown, Editor Follow

Outside of a few notable games such as Dishonored, I barely had the time to play most AAA games that landed in 2012. As such, my favorite games of the year list will probably look quite different from my fellow editors', omitting games like Mass Effect 3, Halo 4, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, simply for lack of exposure. Even so, there has been no shortage of amazing games that I have had the chance to play, many of which won't soon be forgotten.

7. Trials Evolution

Try, try, try again. Repeatedly attempting to execute perfect runs in Trials Evolution can be quite frustrating, but it's also amazingly addicting. The controls and physics never get in your way and you only have yourself to blame when you eat it in the same spot for the 18th consecutive time. In the back of your mind, that little voice tells you to try just one more time, every time. With such demanding and creative levels, I usually oblige.

6. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a definite guilty pleasure. It's simple to play and light on content, but its witty presentation of Final Fantasy's most memorable characters and themes is like gold to anyone with a fondness for the series. There have been numerous instances where I turn on my 3DS with the intention of playing through a song or two, and what happens? I spend the next two hours tapping my stylus along to classic Final Fantasy tracks, that's what. I suppose I enjoy relishing my memories of 50-hour RPGs from twenty years ago. For having such an amazing back catalog of songs, it's slightly disappointing that the majority of them are relegated to DLC at $ 0.99 per song. Still, I find myself playing the included songs over and over again for the occasional shot of nostalgia, and in that regard, Theatrhythm never fails to deliver.

5. Black Knight Sword

After proving their aptitude in the side-scrolling shooter genre, Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture returned only months later with a platforming tour de force, the gloomy Black Knight Sword. It's like the product of a fictional tag-team consisting of Terry Gilliam and Edgar Allen Poe. The presentation is nightmarish and gory, and it's backed by a soundtrack filled with disturbing "songs" I'm convinced were created to induce a sense of impending doom. Having personally spent hours trying to complete single levels only to give up and try again the following day, I know it's not a game for the faint of heart, impatient, or weak willed. You need skill and the reaction time of a mouse to stand a chance of reaching the ending, even on normal difficulty. You could play on easy, but where's the satisfaction in that? Black Knight Sword even ups the ante by rewarding players that manage to reach the ending without health or skill upgrades. It harks back to the days of challenging platformers like Ghouls'n Ghosts or Castlevania III, but absolutely trumps those classics with a horrific sense of humor and punishing level design.

4. Journey

Journey may be the game that does the most by saying the least. I'm always impressed by thatgamecompany's use of light and negative space to lead the player along. By distilling interplayer communication down to a series of monotone chirps, Journey momentarily forces you to retrain the way you listen to others. Journey's goals, your abilities, and the solemn atmosphere aren't delivered with a heavy hand, but communicated through subtle yet meaningful nudges. It's a short-form experience that leaves a long-lasting impact and we absolutely need more games like Journey to keep the artform of games moving forward.

3. Dishonored

Arkane Studios has come a long way since releasing Arx Fatalis a decade ago and Dishonored marks their first full-fledged game since 2006's Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. You'd be forgiven for ignoring them in the past, but they've officially earned a place on the map with Dishonored. It's such a masterful combination of art, writing, and design that in many ways, it surpasses the likes of its influences, Bioshock, Thief, and Deus Ex. Tackling challenges in a variety of ways exemplifies the flexible level and mission design, created not to limit, but to empower players to get creative with pathfinding and skill selection. My only regret is that I still haven't been able to complete a non-lethal, low chaos run of the entire campaign.

2. Fez

The melding of 3D and 2D is Fez's primary mechanic, and it works, but there's a whole lot more going on in this inventive little gem. It's backed by a beautifully composed soundtrack filled with haunting melodies and uplifting ditties, accentuated by evocative dashes of light and color. The repeated use of shapes and motifs inspires handwritten notes and friendly discussions rife with theory pitching and head scratching over cryptic puzzles and passwords. Attempting to decipher the clues strewn throughout Fez's sprawling world can be a baffling experience, but nothing is more satisfying than having that revelatory moment when you finally unravel its mysteries. Fez successfully combines intelligent game design, charm, and expression into a work of art that shouldn't be missed or overlooked.

1. Sine Mora

Successful collaborations require balance and compromise. In the case of Sine Mora, the relentlessly brash mad scientists at Grasshopper Manufacture teamed up with the folks at Digital Reality to create a modern, story-driven, side-scrolling shooter. The plot--an element usually downplayed within this particular genre--pulls no punches. Mature topics including rape and slavery rear their ugly heads, so it's probably for the better that the characters are anthropomorphic rabbits and buffalo rather than proper human beings.

There's more to Sine Mora than captivatingly dark themes, thankfully. Within its genre, Sine Mora is as well designed and balanced as they come, but the introduction of a fascinating time manipulation mechanic elevates it to future-classic status. So many shooters confront your character or aircraft with targets that don't require elimination. Typically, they'll appear on screen and either fly past you or simply drift off-screen. It's not until you arrive at a boss that you're truly required to go on the offensive. Not so in Sine Mora. You're allotted an amount of time at the start of every level that's constantly counting down. You can add to your remaining time by dispatching enemies or by collecting more generous bonus pickups. Sine Mora is an example that the hitherto stagnant side-scrolling shooter genre is still ripe for innovation. Luckily, there are still developers who can create interesting, challenging, and captivating stages as well.