Journey

I did not like TWD. Boring characters, one of the worst voice acting ever from the little girl and those famous choices everybody is so crazy about was nothing more than a pyramid of choices that all ended the same way. Your choices really didn't have any kind of impact on the story.

That's so wrong, yea the beginning and end were the same no matter what you choose but everything in the middle was totally different.

Have you seen the choice map? It's minor differences between the choices.

For an example: The first episode when you can decide if you want to save Duck or Shawn, the outcome is exactly the same. Shawn dies, Hershel says fuck off to the group and Kenny then offers Lee a ride to Macon.

I don't know what to call it, it's like a mock execution. A mock choice if you will.

It does matter wheter you save Shawn or Duck. Not too much in the episode 1, but it has an impact through the rest of the game. I do admit that the "every choice matters" -claim was partially false (it's kind of a utopic thought anyway), but for a monthly released episodic game it did very well with it's choice system and storytelling. Saying that the choices don't matter AT ALL, however, is simply not true.

Journey on the other hand is... A beautiful game, it's like playing in a painting. It doesn't offer too much storytelling, but perhaps that's not the point. It's more like a visual and musical, dreamlike experience. A journey, properly named a literal piece of art, unlike anything else.

However, I simply cannot recognise Journey as the best game of 2012. It is unique and enjoyable, yes, but it's over in such a short period of time. Even if you take your time to explore and admire the world around you, it still doesn't take longer than 4 hours. Besides, the only objective in the game in the end is to... Well... Go from point A to point B.

I played through Journey thrice. I came back to the game to find the collectibles and to get the white cloak, but after that I only return to Journey in... Once a year? Outside that, Journey stays there in my PS3 harddrive, untouched.

The Walking Dead is also just a "one time experience", but due to it's length, characters, choice-making, storytelling and ability to appeal to the player's emotions, it rightfully deserves The best videogame of 2012 -award.