I really enjoyed the game, but it's definitely short. Unless you're big into score attacks, I don't know if I'd recommend this game for $60.

I am not aware of any situation where content originally built as part of a game was sliced off and released as DLC. It may feel that way from a consumer standpoint, but I am highly doubtful of any backroom dealings where someone said, "Hey, you know what would be great? If we cleaved off 10% of this already complete product and sold it for a few extra bucks!" It frankly is not that simple to slice up code like that. It's not a pizza that you can cut into as many slices as you wish. :)

Personally, I usually don't purchase DLC because:

1) I find most DLC, even the very well constructed stuff, always feels bolted on and not part of the core experience.

2) I'm a huge fan of game narrative, and for obvious reasons DLC usually doesn't advance the core narrative.

3) Unless it's out on day one, I frankly won't get to it. There are so many games to play that I rarely spend time revisiting the ones I completed a few months ago.

My top 10 games of the year:

#10: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
The gameplay is pretty simplistic, but playing One Winged Angel on expert is one of the most sublime experiences I've had this year.

#9: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
I hadn't played Stranger's Wrath before, so I took its HD release as an opportunity to experience it for the first time. It's another inventive game with great world-building that's really worth checking out.

#8: Dishonored
Although Dishonored wasn't perfect, the city of Dunwall was an incredible experience and the combination of action/stealth gameplay was expertly crafted.

#7: Hitman: Absolution
There are a lot of things wrong with Hitman: Absolution. A LOT. I actually felt insulted by the story beats in this game. But it actually manages to overcome these problems with its awesome gameplay and the sheer volume of content.

#6: Dragon's Dogma
I don't think anyone had particularly high expectations of Dragon's Dogma, but just before the game released it began to pick up a lot of buzz and I suspected we might be about to receive something special. Sure enough, this game is way better than it has any right to be, and I'm thrilled to see Capcom is planning to spin it into a franchise.

#5: The Darkness II
The Darkness is one of my favorite games of all time, and despite a different art style and a new studio, the sequel completely lived up to my expectations as a story-driven FPS.

#4: The Walking Dead
Although The Walking Dead's gameplay is quite limited and it has significant technical issues, the core storytelling and direction are so worthwhile that it's easily one of the can't-miss games of 2012.

#3: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
This is, in my opinion, the best game collection since The Orange Box. I had never played Metal Gear Solid 3 before I picked up the Collection, and the way that game wraps up is one of the most incredible experiences I've ever played.

#2: Sleeping Dogs
I was completely caught off-guard by how great this game is. It's the GTA game I always wanted: one where I could actually relate to the characters.

#1: Mass Effect 3
Disclaimer: I am a BioWare fanboy, and I work for Electronic Arts...but in my (likely biased) opinion, Mass Effect 3 was easily the best game released in 2012. A lot of people hated the ending, but I absolutely loved it. It hit all the right emotional notes for me, provided the closure I wanted, and still left a degree of mystery and the unknown that is often seen in science fiction. And that doesn't even get into the surprisingly popular multiplayer. I don't think people realize the tremendous achievement BioWare has accomplished with Mass Effect: it's the first complete trilogy I can think of in video game history. It's the Lord of the Rings of video games.

DISCLAIMER:
For what it's worth, here are some of the major contenders I haven't played yet:
Asura's Wrath
Binary Domain
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Chaos Rings II
Diablo III
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Far Cry 3
Fez
FTL: Faster Than Light
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Gravity Rush
Horn
Okami HD
Persona 4: Golden
The Unfinished Swan
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Thirty Flights of Loving
Torchlight II
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

HONORABLE MENTION:
Although it was technically released in 2011, I highly recommend everyone play To the Moon. It has the best storytelling I've ever seen in a videogame.

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. In case anyone else is struggling with the same decision, I think I'm going with FES. I watched portions of the intro videos for both FES and P3P, and everyone was absolutely right: a LOT is lost with the removal of the cutscenes. For anyone else trying to decide between FES and P3P, I highly recommend YouTubing the opening videos from both versions to see the differences for yourselves.

Altus just put the Portable version on sale for $9.99. :)

Any more opinions one way or the other?

I really enjoyed Dear Esther, but bear in mind that's it's not exactly a game. It's more like an interactive art experience.

It's only about an hour long, and is devoid of all gameplay mechanics except walking. That being said, the story is somewhat thought-provoking, despite being quite simple and short. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous.

If you're one of the following, pick up Dear Esther:
-someone who enjoys unusual, novel experiences
-someone who especially values story and immersion

But if you're looking for an actual game, Dear Esther isn't for you.

This is truth. That's why I've beaten that game several times. :) But I'm hoping to discover some crazy obscure JRPGs that're almost as good.

I work for EA SPORTS and I'm a huge fight fan, so when EA SPORTS UFC was announced I literally jumped out of my chair.

I've gotten into the habit of listening to podcasts while gaming. Some games don't lose much when you play them on mute. :)

Generally I listen to gaming podcasts, such as IGN's, Destructoid's, Giant Bomb's, etc. When it comes to music I currently have those Carly Rae Jepsen and Gotye songs stuck in my head. Yes, I have terrible taste in music.

Although I'm really interested in the Walking Dead games, I'm personally holding out. I understand the appeal of the episodic model, but nothing breaks immersion more than having to stop play for a few months. I'll wait until the entire series is out and then pick up the season pass. Hopefully they merge all the episodes together.

I've been looking to get into the Persona series for awhile now, and I'm really torn between playing FES on my PS3 or Portable on my Vita. Both seem to have their pros and cons.

For me, the most important elements of an RPG are story and immersion. It sounds like you lose anime cutscenes and in-game cinematics if you play the Portable version.

My question to Persona fans who have played both versions: which one am I better off with? If I go with the Portable option, am I really going to lose out on anything important, or are the concerns overblown?

Since the release schedule has slowed down at the moment, I'm taking the opportunity to put a dent in my backlog. Right now I'm working on Rayman Origins, among other things.

Since I have awhile before the crazy fall releases, I'm thinking of getting started on Persona 3 - but the time commitment scares me.

I really can't pick just one...but that being said, I just finished Metal Gear Solid 3 and was shocked at how much it affected me emotionally. Especially the ending.

Some of the other greats, in my mind, are:

-Chrono Trigger
-The Darkness
-Diablo
-Doom 3
-Final Fantasy IV/VI
-Grim Fandango
-Half-Life 2
-The Longest Journey
-Mass Effect 1-3 (can't pick a fave)
-Unreal Tournament

It seems this was added as the Retire feature! Thanks so much! It works great!

I see on the Stats tab that you can view the top 10, but I'd like to know if there's a way to get the entire list (or at the very least, the top 100).

I'm looking for suggestions on new games to play and would love to tap the community to get some ideas.

Well, for one, it gets the item out of my backlog. :)

From my perspective, the backlog is a place to keep track of what you want to play in the future. A to-do list. If it's cluttered up with games I've given up on and have no intent of returning to, then the backlog really isn't a backlog anymore.

From someone else's perspective, it'd be super valuable to know what games people have given up on. If, for example, I saw that a game had a 100% completion rate, I'd be much more inclined to play it than one with a 20% completion rate.

Right now it appears you can only "complete" a game. I'd be interested to see a feature where you can "give up" on a game.

For example, I'd like to record that I spent 3 hours on a game, but gave up before I completed it. I'd also like to see similar stats from other people.

RIght now, the closest option I can see to this is deleting the game from my backlog, and I'm assuming that doesn't record my play time. That seems like a waste of some really interesting data.

What do you guys think?