[Fien]

I had a terrific 2009. Not that it was a top year for adventures, although a few very good ones were released. The main reason is that I actually managed to stick to last year’s resolutions and they paid off: I didn’t buy sequels to mediocre games in the hope they would be better (Runaway, Secret Files), and I uninstalled games the moment playing started to feel like a chore (The Hardy Boys after 30 minutes; Agon: The Codex after 15 minutes).

Ten new games
Five downloaded, five boxed. Five in German, five in English. Hmmm...

Edna bricht aus (G) - I’ve said enough about Edna, I just love her.
The Path - Didn’t grab me at first, became a fascinating personal trip.
Still Life 2 (G) - The survival horror was gruesome, too many bugs, enjoyed parts of it.
Memento Mori (G) - The story with a twist, the ending and the Angel of Death made it an emotional experience for me.
Return to Mysterious Island 2 - As much fun as the first one.
Whispered World (G) - From now on, I will buy any game developed by Daedalic.
Machinarium - Lovely and cute, so why am I surprised that every single review is raving. It’s not innovative, as some reviewers claim. I guess the game appeals to basic childlike human emotions
Tales of Monkey Island - Quality and fun, although I’m not a fan of the old MI games.
15 Days (G) - The only disappointment this year. Unexpected too, because I loved MoS and Overclocked. The story is somewhat interesting and the backgrounds are wonderful, but that’s about it. I will definitely still buy any adventures by House of Tales.
Dark Fall 3: Lost Souls - Keep up the good work, Mr. Boakes!

Five older games

The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes: The Serrated Scalpel - Finally finished it in DOSbox after all those years. Enjoyable. The Rose Tattoo is much better though.
Noctropolis - Different. FMV. I love different and FMV.
Robot City - Shows its age. I got lost all the time, very annoying, but the story is good.
Dreamfall - Wasn’t expecting much after the many negative comments I’ve read and I dreaded the action sequences. I was wrong. What a game!
Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within - Another one I could finally finish. Started playing it the year it was released but a stupid gamestopping bug spoiled everything. My opinion of the GK games has changed, they are better than I thought at the time. Enjoyed The Beast very much. Community playthrough, anyone?

Four replays

The Lost Crown (AG community playthrough) and
Zork Grand Inquisitor (AG community playthrough)
Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive and Overseer.

My top ten remains unchanged but Edna and GK2 made it into my top twenty. Dreamfall and Machinarium are not far behind. That’s how good my 2009 was. And yours?

[Little Writer]

Interesting thread.

It's been a rather good year for me as well.

First I bought "The Experiment" or "Experience 112". I didn't finish it though. Got stuck at one point and just didn't feel the urge to figure it out. Also, because I'm in Belgium I got a dubbed version in Dutch which just didn't suit me. I'll probably pick it up again with a walkthrough at hand, but not in the near future.

Replayed "Gabriel Knight 3", trying to get as many of the optional scenes as possible (and trying so hard that I failed to notice Emilio switching rooms ...)

Then I re-installed "The Longest Journey" (also the Dutch version, but I stuck with it). My first playthrough ended abruptly with a hard drive crash at the "deep blue mirror" chapter, so I already knew it was a good game, just needed to finish it.

Then I finally succumbed and made a Paypal account when the special edition of Monkey Island came out. So I played that, and also "Dreamfall", which I liked very much except for the rushed ending (and I kept reloading a saved game to try all dialogue options in an attempt to rescue someone).

Got lucky and found a copy of "Sam & Max season 2" on eBay. I think I know why it's episodic - it's really bad for your health to play the entire season at once. I also got the first episode of the first season, but I just haven't felt the need to play it, and I doubt I'll be looking out for the 2010 season. I still don't know whether I like this new incarnation or not.

Replayed "The Dig". Needed something serious after S&M.

Bought "Tales of Monkey Island". Haven't had that much adventure gaming fun in years.

Replayed "The X-Files Game" while waiting for the next ToMI chapter.

Then of course I discovered this place and learned about all kinds of games I wasn't aware of, so now I'm basically waiting to get my hands on a good one.

My new year's resolution is playing through the entire Monkey Island franchise again. It's been way too long since "LeChuck's Revenge", and I only ever played through "Escape" once. Started a replay several times, but always gave up somewhere after Lucre.

[J.H]

As I had quite a long break from playing AG's prior to 2009 (probably like 2 - 3 years) I managed to play a lot of older games I missed out on but sadly haven't either had the time or the inclination to finish them all.

Still Life This was by far the best game I've played this year. It's atmosphere and superb voice acting and character depth made me feel like I was playing through a crime film. Although I enjoyed this I caught a glimpse of Still Life 2 and didn't even bother to buy it.

Culpa Innata I purchased this after reading about the theme and the setting, I'm a fan of conspiracy theories so I thought I'd enjoy it. The story took too long to start for me and it's clunky interface and awkward layout had me putting it on the back burner. I may play again sometime.

The Dig A really great game but I feel they could have done a lot more with the setting and story. It felt a little rushed in some places and the ending was quite generic.

Full Throttle An amazing game if only a little too short.

Loom Interesting but I wasn't as much of a fan as most people.

The Blackwell Series Not bad games but all the puzzles are conversation based and the poor graphics really did put me off.

The Shivah Now this game I loved, despite the dated graphics the theme and noir feel to it made me want to keep playing. I'd love to see this game updated, a longer version with rich 2D graphics.

Emerald City Confidential A great game but not really my kind of thing. Felt very casual.

Machinarium I really enjoyed this game to start with but the excessively hard puzzles and lack of character interaction started to grate on me a little. I'm yet to finish it.

Syberia Having heard so many good things about this game I've no idea why I never got around to playing it. I'm not very far in but so far so good.

The Lost Crown Horror/scary games have never really been appealing to me but for some reason I felt inclined to play this one. I'm glad I did it has a very interesting storyline and the graphics were very spooky. The voice acting of the main protagonist had me in stitches at times though and I felt that took away from the experience of the game. I haven't yet finished TLC but will at some point.

NiBiRu I found this to be a Broken Sword rip off although I know many others don't agree. My PC died and I lost all the saved games and didn't bother to re-install although now I wish I had to find out what happens in the end as the story was starting to draw me in.

Black Mirror Uninstalled this after about 2 hours, I'm guessing it could've been good but it just didn't draw me in.

Re-Played

Grim Fandango It get's better every time.

Broken Sword 1 & 2 Master pieces in their own right.

The Curse of Monkey Island I enjoyed this again but nowhere near as much as the many times I played as a kid.

[dekaneas297]

Nice thread. I usually don't replay older games, so I 'll stick to new ones.

Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer - I liked it. It wasn't something great but it was worth playing it

Mata Hari - I was disappointed as I expected something great and it was mediocre. The music was great

Memento Mori - Although I don't like 3D, it was a nice game with interesting plot

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis - Very good. Possibly equal to Tunguska

Still Life 2 - No, no, no

Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper - Didn't like it. Not a fan of Frogwares' Sherlock

Machinarium - The best game of 2009. No words can describe it

[AndreaDraco83]

Nice trend indeed, Fien I'll stick with only the new ones too, because, when it comes to replaying old games, I only replay Sierra titles and everyone knows I'm an hardcore Sierra fan, so no need to mention it again

Oh, and of course I'll comment only on the games I haven't reviewed for the site, since my comments on the other ones are pretty evident (I'll report the stars I gave them though)!

3 Cards to Midnight (4/5)
Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer (2.5/5)
Casebook: Episode II - The Watcher (4/5)
Casebook: Episode III - Snake in the Grass (3.5/5)

Ceville - a mediocre game in my opinion, not particularly fun or original.

Diabolik: The Original Sin (3/5)
Diamon Jones: Amulet of the World (1.5/5)
Drawn: The Painted Tower (3.5/5)

Emerald City Confidential - a nice game with a good story, easy and very accessible. I completed it in two days but I had good fun with it.

Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past (4.5/5)
Mata Hari (3.5/5)
Memento Mori (3.5/5)

Professor Layton and the Curious Village - when it comes to the DS, I like a game that it can be easily broken into multiple, briefs playing sessions, and even if the story is very light, I greatly enjoyed the quirky atmosphere and the zany characters. A must-play in my opinion.

The Legend of the Crystal Valley (3.5/5)

Time Hollow - the best game I've ever played on a DS, with a wonderful story, exceptional characters and an engrossing atmosphere. Amazing.

Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures - a mediocre series of games, not particularly fun and plagued by an horrible control system. They weren't even very well written, turning out rather dull and uninspired.

Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey (3.5/5)

Zork: Grand Inquisitor - the only old game I played this year that I hadn't played before. A marvelous discovery: the adventure is really outstanding. Perhaps this is the overall best game I've played this year.

[cwapitm]

Let's see hmm...I think I only played three games that were actually released this year: Tales of Monkey Island, Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper, and Wallace and Gromit. TOMI and Sherlock Holmes were great. Wallace and Gromit I liked ok, but not enough to get a disc copy. I thought the last episode was kind of weak actually. Oh yeah, I played Secret of Monkey Island: SE too. Was kind of disappointed with it.

Right now I'm playing Immortals of Terra. I've been playing it for months actually because I've been slacking on my gaming, but I like it so far. Not sure if I will finish by the years end.

Games I replayed were Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Escape From Monkey Island, Morrowind, Runaway: A Road Adventure, Runaway: Dream of the Turtle, The Lost Crown, Grim Fandango, Oblivion, The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time, Super Mario Kart (SNES), Sid Meier's Pirates, and some edutainment games

Other games that didn't come out this year I played

Outcry (not really my kind of game, and I didn't know what the heck the story was about)
Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches (I really liked it)
An AGS game called Adventure: An Inside Job (that one was pretty cool)
Broken Sword 2.5 (liked it, but it was way too easy)
A Vampyre Story (flawed, but generally good)

Wow, I actually played a lot. It didn't seem like I played that much.

[harald]

I'm not sure I'll be able to make a complete list, but I'll try for the sheer fun of it.

So. New games.

Tales of Monkey Island I loved this. The only bad thing was that it ended. Did hint of a second season, though.

Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures Good games. Not as special as ToMI, "just" another quality season from TTG.

Secret of MI: SE The reason I got over my Steam-ophobia. I hated the new Guybrush design.

Blackwell Legacy and The Shivah, both from Wadjet Eye. I liked them, but was a little disappointed to see that they both used the exact same puzzle idea, that of combining clues in your "inventory" and questioning people about those clues.

Machinarium I don't think it's possible to not unconditionally love this game.

I think that was all, so onwards to Old games, but new to me:

The Pandora Directive This one lasted more than six months, and I still haven't played through all the story paths. Quite possibly the best adventure I've ever played.

The Space Bar This has "lasted" since what, 2000? Found it in a bargain bin and still haven't managed to finish it. Even with a walkthrough on hand. Quite possibly the most difficult adventure I've ever played.

Blackstone Chronicles Thanks to the fine folks here at AF, I found this gem that I probably would never have tried if it weren't for the community playthrough some months ago.

Journeyman Project 2 Buried In Time and The 7th Guest I don't expect to finish them this year, but still. I started them both in November and like them.

Sherlock Holmes and the Silver Earring I started this about a year ago and left it be for a few months because it was so numbingly boring. There are no puzzles and the first segment is extremely slow. I eventually finished it; the graphics and story are very good but I still consider this one a waste of my time.

Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle Ouch. Just... pain. I didn't even like the first game much, but the graphics are so charming I couldn't resist - the screenshots make me drool regardless of how thin the story is. This was pretty painful to drudge through and wasn't worth it in the end. And I'll be damned if I won't play the third game too, just to get my mandatory 2D point and click fix.

Replays
I usually don't do this since there are so many games that I want to play. But when Tales of MI was announced I had to replay the first three games in the series.

Also, I find myself returning to The Neverhood every once in a while. The gameplay is nothing special but the visuals... if I had all the power over the world's game industry I'd make all games look like this. Also, the soundtrack owns. Everything.

That turned out to be quite a list, actually. At the end of 2007 I suddenly had a girlfriend, and then I spent 2008 doing my military service. After that, I was pretty starved on adventures. Now I'm a university student and single again, so there's been a lot of time to catch up this year.

[Shany]

I love those end of year lists! Let's see if I can remember everything I played this year:

Blackwell Convergence - Fun game with a strong story. While I'm happy that it answered most of the questions from Blackwell Unbound, I wanted at least some questions from Blackwell Legacy answered as well. I liked the new background graphics and most of the voice acting, but I didn't like the lack of the notebook this time around, though using the in-game internet for puzzles was also good.

Emerald City Confidential - An ok game. I liked the puzzles and most of the characters. I did not like the plot twist (part of it made sense, part of it really didn't), and I found the villains one dimentional. But my main problem was with the protagonist, Petra. Even though she was working for her own interests it seemed like she was constantly dragged into doing other people's work. And I really didn't like the fact that she was constantly angry. Sure, she had a reason, but it got annoying really fast.

Ceville - An average game that could have been much better. It could've gone really far with its idea: an evil dictator who is forced to join forces with a little girl to get his crown back, all the while possibly becoming a better person? It could've been great! Instead we mostly had stupid pop-culture jokes filling up most of the game.
The great parts of the game were when the characters interacted with each other. The last scene where all of the main characters work together to defeat the bad guy is the best part of the game. If the game stuck to its characters and setting and got its jokes from them, it could've become a classic.

Overclocked - Another game that I feel could have been better. The idea was good and I liked seeing David's character evolve. But I didn't like most of the scenes with the kids - they were confusing, and I didn't like the location they were in. There were also some things that broke my immersion like

Spoiler:

an entire bar ignoring the fact that people are threatening each other with guns, and the next day these same people are pretty much friends. Also the fact that there's only one guy working at the hotel - who also ignores just how nuts the protagonist is. Seriously, in a normal world
David would've been arrested much earlier in the game.

I didn't care much for the PDA and recording conversations. Maybe if there was an option to label them it would've worked.
I did like some parts of the game, especially the detective - sure, he was a cliche, but a fun cliche.

Spoiler:

And I loved the part where you discover his body. You see it in movies and TV all the time, but when it's in a game and you are the one to find him - very cool.

Perry Rhodan: The Immortals of Terra - I didn't like it so much. Anything to do with the graphics was great - I especially liked the part where you go to a 'scent bar' (or something like that) and you actually see how it feels.
But apart from the graphics the game was pretty dull. There was too much going back and forth, not enough hints for the puzzles, a couple of dead ends and it was generally slow and unintuitive.
Also, Perry suffers from the Selfish Protagonist Syndrome, where he will not help anyone unless it serves his own cause. There's one part where he meets two aliens in different locations which are looking for each other and he does nothing. All he had to do was say a few words.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - I heard too many good things about this game, and it is a Lucas Arts adventure so maybe my expectations were too high. I didn't hate it, but I feel it could've been better. There were too many mazes, too many things to write down, too many confusing dialogue puzzles, too much balloon landing, and definitely too much Sophia.

[orient]

Cool thread!

I had a good year of adventuring, mostly due to old games that I had yet to play - and they were:

(I'll attach rankings...)
Snatcher 5/5
Syberia I & II 4.5/5
The Longest Journey 4.5/5
Dreamfall: TLJ 4.5/5

All amazing games. As for the new games I played this year:

1112 (iPhone) 1.5/5
3 Cards to Midnight 3.5/5
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars DC (DS) 4.5/5
Mata Hari 2/5
Memento Mori Uninstalled after 20 minutes.
Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered 4/5

There are a few games I still haven't finished, too:

Secret of Monkey Island So far, really cool.
Jake Hunter Detective Story Great story & characters.
In Cold Blood Bad controls but still enjoyable.

I have more that I haven't even started yet. Ah well, that's what 2010's for

[J.H]

Originally Posted by orient

There are a few games I still haven't finished, too:

In Cold Blood Bad controls but still enjoyable.

Wow I remember playing this years ago on the Playstation. Thanks for reminding me I may play again as I never completed it.

[orient]

Originally Posted by Mapoco

Wow I remember playing this years ago on the Playstation. Thanks for reminding me I may play again as I never completed it.

I bought the PC version from GOG.com. I'm not sure if the PlayStation version has this feature, but on PC you can save anywhere at any time. If it wasn't for that then I doubt I would've played this game for longer than ten minutes. I like it a lot; I have soft spot for Resident Evil-like, PS1-era games, but the controls do lead to frequent deaths.

[Trunkyo]

Would anyone believe I've actually kept track of all the games I've played since 2007?

These are the ones I finished in 2009, the games I enjoyed the most are in bold:

The Moment of Silence (started in December 2008)

Crime Stories (Martin Mystère)
Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual
Aura 2: The Sacred Rings
Scratches: Director's Cut
Everlight: Of Magic & Power
Ankh
(These six titles make up my longest streak of games played without using any external hints. )

Paradise - Beautiful visuals, frustrating gameplay
Myst IV: Revelation - Even more beautiful visuals, very difficult (I lost count of how many times I used the in-game hints! )
Myst V: End of Ages
Keepsake - Ack! So much running back and forth!
The Lost Crown - The game arrived after the AG playthrough ended, but I still enjoyed this game immensely (despite the infamous criticisms) and went back to read through the discussions and theories others had about the plot.
Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals - Very short game, tons of timed and death sequences, but somehow still satisfying (maybe because I'm a big Enki Bilal fan? )
Secret Files: Tunguska
Jack Keane
Darkness Within - Apparently, I missed all of the easter eggs and found only a few of the hidden items.
Art of Murder: FBI Confidential
Outcry - This game came highly recommended by colpet, now I understand why! The surrealness of it all, and oh, that ending!
(And David Lodge, who played the Professor, is a well-known anime voice actor!)
Art of Murder 2: Hunt for the Puppeteer
Atlantis Evolution
Secrets of Atlantis
The Legend of Kyrandia
Missing: The 13th Victim - I had to resort to a walkthrough to finish since I wasn't receiving any more e-mails )
Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy - Just finished this game last week with a score of 351, checked a WT to get 367 points. Has anyone gotten a perfect score yet?

Replayed:
Zork: Grand Inquisitor (AG playthrough)
The Blackstone Chronicles (AG playthrough)
Dreamfall (just because)

Still playing: See my signature below

Started and put on hold, may or may not return to them next year:
Post Mortem
So Blonde
Simon the Sorcerer 4

[terhardp]

I've allready mentioned what I've played trough the year in my other posts, but this detailed report from you guys inspired me, so here's my 2 cents.

Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer

The usual recipe from CI, attractive graphic but cliched story, weak puzzles and the main character who is not as funny as she thinks.

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis

All said about CI games also apply here, but SF games are IMO more eye candy and more entertaining.

Still Life 2

While I was hugely dissapointed with the graphic, I must say that I even enjoyed playing this game. I've never watched those trashers and slashers that obviously inspired this title, so I found the story and atmosphere pretty interesting. I've also liked playing forensic.

Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper

Like in all SH games I've played so far, I liked the puzzles the most. The atmosphere was also pretty good.

Return to Mysterious Island 2

Everything I loved about the first game is here: charming world and characters, interesting puzzles, nice blend of cartoon and modern graphic and very good sound.

Memento Mori

I was somewhat dissapointed with this game, despite the fact that many people praise it's story. To me, the whole thing was kind of sterile.

Mata Hari

Similar experience as the abovementioned game. Rather weak story and puzzles, but great voice acting and especially the music.

Secret of Monkey Island SE

I'm absolutely thrilled that this came out, because I've never played the original (and I probably never would if this beautiful remake didn't came out).

Tales of Monkey Island

Absolutely fantastic, what else can I say. With Runaway 3, this is to me the best adventure of the year.

Runaway: The Twist of Fate

Beautiful instalment of what became one of my favourite adventure series. Instantly recognizable graphic, humor, original and funny characters, great voice acting and music, puzzles and story.

I've only played the two new games outside the adventure genre this year: Velvet Assassin and Batman: Arkham Asylum. The first one was a decent fun, though with lot of flaws, while the other came to be one of the biggest (pleasent) suprises among games for me. This is the game that I can put next to the my favourite game series outside adventures (Hitman, NOLF, Tomb Raider, Max Payne and Commandos).

I would also like to mention Broken Sword 2.5 which I've finally played, tough I thought I will wait until the english voiced version come out. But despite the fact that I appreciate the effort of the people who created this tribute to BS, I was mostly dissapointed, though the graphic and the music are certainly worth mentioning.

[replicant]

AGs I played in 2009:

New ones:
RUNAWAY 3 - In my opinion best of the series, it has great 2D hand drawn backgrounds, excellent story and this time around they avoided most of the things that bothered me in first two games(pixel hunting, illogical puzzles)
SHERLOCK HOLMES VS JACK THE RIPPER - I love frogware S. Holmes series, it is well written and they always get the atmosphere right.
STILL LIFE 2 - Great story, characters and atmosphere, but bad interface, illogical puzzles and fist full of bugs make this game really big disappointment.
TALES OF MONKEY ISLAND CHAPTER 1-5 - Too simple for MI game, story is OK but many elements feel out of place(like they don't belong to MI universe). But I hope that good sales will bring LucasArts to make full lenght MI 5.
MACHINARIUM - Game of the year!!!!! Puzzles in this game are refreshment considering that many Agames go to easy and/or casual route.

Old ones:
SINKING ISLAND - like Syberia excellent adventure game, but lacks interactivity(50% of the screens don't have a single hotspot!, but they are at least eye candy)
REALMS OF THE HAUNTING - one rare action-adventure that has both segments done right, and it has much loved(and hated) live-action FMV

Replayed(all are coincidentally in my top 10):
TEX MURPHY 4: PANDORA DIRECTIVE - Classic
LOOM - short but sweet
GABRIEL KNIGHT 1-3- epic storylines like in this series you can't find even in literature.

[My first post! YaaY! I'm AG veteran with almost 150 Agames under my belt. And AdventureGamers.com is my first choice in all things "adventure"!]

[Little Writer]

150?! Wow, you must've played everything there is

When I count the ones I played and finished, I only get up to 60 or so.
Add a dozen or so more which I started playing at one time or other but never finished.

[orient]

I must have only played around 25 adventure games. Not that many compared to most people on here, I'm sure. Unfortunately, the majority of adventures that get released nowadays I have very little interest in due to most of them having poor English translations, bad dialogue, boring/clichéd characters and mostly terrible voice acting. There are exceptions to the rule, but they're not nearly frequent enough.

In any other genre these things wouldn't bother me, but these are adventure games we're talking about here. It's gotten to the point where some RPG's are providing better narrative experiences than adventure games, but Heavy Rain should sort that out for us

[J.H]

Originally Posted by orient

I bought the PC version from GOG.com. I'm not sure if the PlayStation version has this feature, but on PC you can save anywhere at any time. If it wasn't for that then I doubt I would've played this game for longer than ten minutes. I like it a lot; I have soft spot for Resident Evil-like, PS1-era games, but the controls do lead to frequent deaths.

I had no idea that it was released for PC thanks I think I'll have to purchase it. The PS version had save points if I remember correctly, very frustrating.

[renna]

I must say while I didn't keep track, I know which game sticks out in my mind as my favorite this year - Lost Crown. I liked it so much that replayed it immediately after finishing it. I also play a lot of Big Fish Games - my favorites are the Mystery Case Files including Dire Grove and Return to Ravenhurst Manor.

Hmmm, the games I've given up on or just stopped for GOD knows what reason are: Nancy Drew Seven Ships, Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy, Art of Murder: FBI Confidential, and Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon. Although, I would like to finish them some day.

I replayed URU and the Path of the Shell. Was feeling nostalgic for Myst Online community that's no more.

I'm getting ready to replay Scratches but I may play Barrow Hill instead.

[colpet]

This past year I started playing Casual Games, and they made up most of the time I spent on the computer.

Adventure Games 2009:
Outcry - The best game I played this year, and the first relatively new game to break into my top ten. Outstanding both in story and puzzles.
Ghost in the Sheet – I liked the quirkiness of this game, the wry humor and the puzzles.
Fool's Errand - a must play for puzzle lovers
Nancy Drew White Wolf of Icicle Creek - standard ND fare, good puzzles
Zork Grand Inquisitor - a replay for me, lots of fun, great humor
Nancy Drew Castle Malloy - as always, good puzzles.
Dracula Origin - this was boring
Rhiannon - not always sure what I needed to do, but once I got the hang of it, a good long game.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - my first ever console game. I wasn't disappointed, the puzzles were great and provided me with hours of entertainment
Beyond the Spirit's Eye - enjoyable game, nothing too stenuous for the brain.
In summary:
Best Adventure - Outcry
Adventure highlights - Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Fool's Errand, Zork Gran Inquisitor, and Ghost in the Sheet.

Casual Games 2009
Azada
MCF Ravenhurst
MCF Return to Ravenhurst
MCF Madame Fate
Treasures of Mystery Island
Treasure Seekers Visions of Gold
Serpent of Isis -
Flux Family Secrets -
Escape from Rosecliff island
Sherlock Holmes Persian Carpet
Hidden Expedition Amazon
Secret Missions Mata hari
Enlightenus
World Mosaics 2
Treasure Masters
James Patterson Death in Scarlet
Alabama Smith Escape from Pompei
Treasure Seekers 2 Enchanted Canvas
Vampire Saga Pandora's Box
3 Days Zoo Mystery
Cassandra's Journey Legacy of Nostradamus
Curse of the Phaoroh Tears of Sekhemet

[Ariel Type]

Ок, I take the challenge.. Although I played most of them because I had to:

Edna & Harvey (R - means Russian) - very good. The most interactive adventure in years.

Rhiannon - boring as hell. Please, don't tell me there's a sequel in mind.

Memento Mori (R) - weak plot, weak puzzles, weak Hermitage. Just weak.

Diabolik: The Original Sin (R) - garbradge. Throw it away and don't read comix.

Gobliiins 4 (R) - might be much better. Not a failure, but it surely miss Muriel Tramis.

Ceville - not bad, has its moments. But not enough for a good adventure.

Emerald City Confidential - loved every minute of it. Very well written. But too casual.

Art of Murder: Hunt for the Puppeteer - stop.. doing.. those.. adventures.. City Int!

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust - Kill

Mata Hari (R) - Uninspired and casual. What the Hal?

Still Life 2 (R) - mediocre or even worth. I don't like Saw movies, that's it.

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis - no fun.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper - the best from Ukraine. Or the best Sherlock game from Frogwares.

Tales of Monkey Island - it was allright. Better than expected, but not as good as it might have turned to be. Ok, return Gilbert.

Return to Mysterious Island 2: Mina's Fate - I enjoy most of Kheops adventures, like this one. Or that one.

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - what a shame. Only the 2nd episode was more or less enjoyable. Americans, please, don't touch english humour.

Three Cards to Midnight - what was that?

Legend of Crystal Valley - switch it off! Oh, wait, it already came to an end. Pathetic.

Machinarium - much, MUCH improved after Samorost games. Real adventure with real puzzles and story. Little masterpiece.

Runaway 2 - THE best adventure of 2009. Best in everything, including sound!

CSI: Deadly Intent - nothing special.

Dark Faul: Lost Souls - not as good as I hoped, though I haven't finished it yet.