#12 Syberia played on PC, released 2002

One of the best adventure games. Syberia features an engrossing well written story of discovery. There is a great sense of wonder all through out the game. The artstyle and architecture are amazing. Characters are all well realized with great voice acting. Your automaton companion Oscar is a great travelling companion. Benoit Sokal manages to bring him to live as well as Pixar can.
All the locations are fun to explore. The only disappointmemt comes when the game is over, you don't want it to end.
Syberia 2 is good too, although some of the initial sense of wonder is gone and it is over again far too soon.
Hopefully Syberia 3 will still see the light of day. It was planned for pc and ps3 in june 2010 with some interesting cross format cooperative play but now it's not even sure if its still coming to pc alone.

List

12. Epic Mickey

It's possible this may not be a popular choice this far into my list, but I don't care. Epic Mickey is a flawed game, and it's important to make that distinction straight away. The camera was less than perfect, but it was manageable with patience, and then you had the repetitive 2D sections that you had to play through to move between each area of the game, so any moment where you had to go back and forth and play that same 2D section over and over again was a little tiring. But despite all that, I love this game. I loved exploring the various areas, and I actually felt for each of the characters as you see what damage Mickey's actions had done to their homes, and I loved the use of paint to create/restore or thinner to destroy, which gave the game something different from other similar games before it. There's been rumours of a sequel, and if that does go ahead and they can iron out some of the flaws, then we could be looking at a truly fantastic experience.

SPOILER ALERT!

I think I know at least 4 of your last 12 games.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance at number 12. Here was a game that i bought out of curiosity and that completely blew me away. Some games are a great surprise, and this was one of them

#15) Minecraft (PC)

It's more immersive than most adventure games. It's scarier than most horror games. It satiates your creative appetite better than a box full of Lego blocks. And if you're okay with playing just for the sake of playing, without trying to accomplish a specific end goal, it might possibly have more replay value than any other game on God's green earth.

12. inFamous 2 (PS3)

Sucker Punch definitely delivered an amazing game. inFamous 2 improved upon the original and so it became my GOTY 2011.
(well, there was one game I liked more in 2011, but that's a remake and it's on my list a few places higher ;))

14.

Ahhh the first game that actually made me think to play. First game to make me feel like I was someone in a game and any decision I made actually mattered. Nowadays most games do this but I always love the one that did it first. I spent tons of hours walking through halls into rooms I have been in many times looking for more. Game actually created fiction in my head.

14. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)

I was a little disappointed with Metal Gear Solid 2 and so I didn't bother playing this one immediately. After it went platinum I purchased it and realised I had missed out on an amazing game. It retained the gameplay that made Metal Gear Solid great, but evolved it for the new jungle environment. It also got rid of the radar and added a camouflage system due to the older technology in its cold war time period. The graphics as well were some of the best on PS2 and when played on an upscaled BC PS3, are still superior to a good number of early HD titles (let alone in the new MGS HD collection).  

However, what really pushes this game to no. 14 is the storyline and the bosses. A common theme in Metal Gear is the relationship between mentor and student and here we learn of the relationship between Naked Snake (soon to be Big Boss) and his mentor The Boss. The ending is one of the most emotional I've seen/played in video games but also opens a range of questions for MGS4 whilst explaining some of the questions posed in MGS 1 & 2.

MGS boss fights are always spectacular, and MGS3 doesn't dissappoint. For this though, all I'll say is "The End" and "Ultimate sniper battle!".

13. Portal 2 (PC, also on 360 & PS3)

What to say about a work of pure genius? The original Portal was fun. Short, unpretentious and pure gaming fun. Portal 2 could have just continued with the same, but instead added some fantastic new ideas, more mind-bending puzzles with some hilarious characters and great humour. The story mode alone really was comedy value and could have justified the asking price alone. Steve Merchant was great and really helped set the tone at the start of the game with comments like

"Most test subjects do experience some, uh, cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension. Now, you've been under for quite a lot longer, and its *not* out of the question that you might have a *very* minor case of serious brain damage! But, don't be alarmed, alright? Uh, although if you do feel alarmed, try to hold on to that feeling because that is the proper reaction to being told that you've got brain damage."  

The added co-op mode though really added to the value, although I have yet to complete it. What I have played though has been pure gaming bliss.

12. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC, also on X-box)

It seems fitting I place this here when Star Wars: The Old Republic is officially released today.

Bioware make great RPGs. Mix Bioware and Star Wars and you get the greatest Star Wars game ever created (although The Old Republic may dethrone it). The game was pretty much an entire Star Wars trilogy wrapped into a single game and even with its own lil' "I am your Father" shock moment. The story was superb, the characters were deep and interesting but still quintessentially Star Wars. The relationship between you and the other characters was still player influenced as with older WRPGs, but were given a new level of polish due to the focus on story and the new graphical hardware available.

Being set 5000 years before the original Star Wars trilogy helped by giving the game greater freedom in comparison to other Star Wars games; not trapped by the original storyline but still balanced within the greatness of the Star Wars universe with lightsabers, force powers and space fights. The sequel didn't make my list this year but is also a great game if unfortunately a little rushed.