DmC - even if it wasn't a classic Devil May Cry, it was still a fun action game in its own right.
Prince of Persia 2008 - beautiful platformer with solid performances that encouraged exploration. A 'death screen' would've been counter to that. Did you fall? Well there ya go, you just failed. But the game decides to not waste your time when you're going to try the same thing again anyway but just dropping you back where you last were standing.
Bioshock Infinite - Great world, great performances, beautiful design, hectic and brutal combat, awesome story that could've closed off the Bioshock universe for good.
Tomb Raider - Uncharted in only some moments. But instead actually involved the player with some exploration, and was willing to be as brutal as it needed to to make the whole thing feel like kind of a horror game in a way. Gunplay felt great.
Skyward Sword - It has major pacing problems, but it's got a ton of cool stuff too. Beautiful design, charming characters, some solid dungeons and puzzles.
Syndicate - It was just fun. Had a good feel, some cool future guns, and some really fun co-op.
Enslaved - Not great combat, but it had a cool world, and some really cool moments.
Arkham Origins - I agree, it's a cover of the Rocksteady games. But it puts Batman back in the mysterious vigilante role, its art was less "try-hard" compared to the Rocksteady games, I like the Christmas setting, and even with the fallback on the Joker, it had a better story. Arkham City is like Hush - it's cool to see a ton of villains show up but then you realize how fucking nonsensical it is once you're done.
ME3 - Again, has its problems. But it has plenty of good too. Had more customization than ME2, combat was further refined, looked great, some solid endings to multiple arcs throughout the series.
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