Skyrim is the game Bethesda has been trying to make for years and they've finally pulled it off here. Everything about Skyrim is well thought out, from the smallest aspects of its interface, to its level up system. From how you're able to use the power of dragons as you are the dragonborn, to how how magic has been changed to be more fun. From the smallest random side quest to the fantastic conclusion to the game. Everything feels right, even the combat which manages to be fun both when you're wasting fools with little opposition and when you're running for your life, fumbling for a health potion because you find yourself fighting dudes who are a little too strong. It's just a really immersive and awe inspiring game that I think deserves all the praise it can get.

Bastion is the complete package. Its combat is really tight and well tuned, and its story is among the best stories in video games to date as it manages to flesh out a world while staying focused on a small group of key characters, not to mention how awesome the narrator is when it comes to adding the right amount of texture to the world. All in all the game is incredibly well thought out in every respect, even beyond the narrator and the combat. From the amazing Swamp Level, to the way the Distillery, Shrine and Forge worked, everything about Bastion is perfectly executed. I can never recommend it enough.

It's odd putting a DS game no one ever heard of over Portal 2, but I have to because Ghost Trick seems to me like a goddamn revelation. Everything in it is not only incredibly well done, but everything meshes together in a way I never thought possible. It's like the story, the puzzles and the navigation are all one in the same, which I just adored. It's just a perfect reinvention of the adventure genre which I can't help but love.

It's hard to follow Portal 1, however Portal 2 did it with gusto. The writing was spot on, the new characters were used extraordinarily well, and, like Saints Row, it had a ton of fantastic moments peppered throughout its campaign. However, unlike Saints Row, I feel that Portal 2 is incredibly well polished and there are precious few rough edges to be found in the game's puzzle design, whether they be Single Player Puzzles or Coop Puzzles.

This is a game that has issues. Its frame rate isn't perfect, a lot of the activities and side missions aren't worth bothering with, and the combat, while decent by and large, can be a tad on the difficult side at times. However it is also a game where you sing along to Sublime's "What I got" and can beat mascots to death with a giant purple dildo. Its a game with so many fantastic and surreal moments throughout, from its amazing story missions to flying around a VTOL while listening to Kanye West's Power on the radio. I love this game in spite of its flaws, and think it totally deserves to be this high on my list.

Let me just say it, I loved this game, and from the start I knew I would. I loved the over the top vulgar humor, I loved the place they took it by the end. I loved how the controls felt, and how the nature of the skillshot system made every creative kill feel really rewarding and satisfying. Everything about the game just felt perfect to me, hence its inclusion in my list.

Rayman Origins' platforming mechanics simply feel right. They're the right mix of fast and forgiving that makes it a ton of fun to tear through the game's gorgeous levels, or alternatively to meander in the games' levels punching everything to get as many lums as possible. Plus the game has incredible art, both in terms of visuals and audio, and is super creative in its environments and level design. While it isn't perfect and has way too many Mosquito and Swimming levels (which I hate) the perfection of its platforming is more than enough to make this list.

It's Batman! While this game has a few nagging issues such as the fact I feel it's kind of bad at telling you what you need to be doing, the scope of the world and the feel of the combat make up for those issues easily. They made all the right additions and changes to this game in expanding out Arkham Asylum and managed to tell a pretty good story in the process, with enough surprises throughout to keep it all very engaging.

I've never been one for traditional fighting games, with my last trip into the genre, Soul Calibur 4, making the genre seem quite bad. However, I'm really glad I gave MK a shot because it did a fantastic job, not only in creating a multiplayer arena for crazy people to fight in, but also creating a really compelling suite of single player modes which I was happy to work my way through. I can't really comment on the relative quality of the fighting mechanics of the game, but I really loved what they built around them in so many ways it doesn't really matter.

inFamous 2 was a game that sounded perfect for me. The first game was the first game that made me wish I had a PS3, and this one did the same. Its focus on fast and flowing navigation as well as snappy and satisfying combat seemed to be exactly what I want, exploration, collection and pure speed. The game unfortunately had a few issues holding it back, difficulty and repetitive bosses chief among them, but I still really enjoyed its movement and its combat if only when it doesn't get too hard.