I had the same experience. I have always preferred parser-based IF (though not necessarily ‘traditional’ text adventures – I like a good story). But this year my favourite was Creatures Such as We, a ChoiceScript-based game. It made me realise that non-parser based games really can work as well as parser-based ones as games, not just as ‘static fiction with a bit of interactivity thrown in’. (Though I guess this isn’t the best example, as there really aren’t any puzzles to speak of in this game, nor a way to lose.)
I was also surprised at seeing a Quest game that was really good (Jacqueline, Jungle Queen!). It would have worked just as well as an Inform game, of course, but Quest does have some nifty features, like the compass rose (showing which directions/exits could be taken) and the auto-map. I loved the auto-map!
The best games are ones that uses the strength of their media (PataNoir from IFComp 2011 could only ever work as a parser-based game, for example), while avoiding their weaknesses. I really liked The Contortionist, but I think it, interestingly, would have worked better as either a parser-based game or as a graphical point-and-click adventure!
A few games had excellent writing, but didn’t really work as games. In Following Me there were too much text, and too little interactivity (that actually makes a difference in the outcomes), in my opinion. Perhaps it could have been written as just a short story? But interestingly (and I think a reviewer noted this), even if the choices you make eventually doesn’t matter, and you end up with the same ending, the story (and the single ending) feels very different depending on which choices you made.
Missive had another interesting design. You could either 1) play it as an interactive short story, and avoid (or never notice) the puzzles, 2) play it as an interactive story with a single (human relationship) puzzle, or 3) play it as a game with many small puzzles (and a final murder mystery) that you have to solve. (I have written more about this in another thread on this forum.)
BTW, remembering last year’s ‘indescribable hat’ meta-puzzle, did anyone find something similar this year? The only thing I noticed was that there were three games with a globe you could spin, but this could very well just be a coincidence.