Games I played in 2022
Its been a long while since I've played enough games within their release year to have a top 10 - so this is mostly a way of reflecting on what I did end up playing in 2022.
List items
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I finished this in January 2022 - Amazing game. One of the best. If you enjoy exploration and an incredibly refined crafting/progression system this is the top of its class.
There is just the perfect amount of story, horror, excitement and beauty.
The cyclops is arguably the coolest vehicle realized in a videogame and I desperately wish we get more of this kind of gameplay in future adventure sims. I'd love to see a spaceship version where my vessel exists as a fully rendered entity in the game world - I'd sacrifice whatever visual fidelity is needed to make that happen.
Nothing but good things to say about this one - check it out if you haven't.
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Roadwarden is an amazing videogame - an incredibly detailed and beautiful world where you roleplay as a DnD Ranger tasked with protecting a remote, dangerous peninsula. Like many of my favorite narrative roleplaying games this one provides plenty of opportunity for you to express how you think or feel about events; not all of these really amount to anything but there is something poignant about building your backstory in the game itself rather then in the isolation of your own head.
If you're looking for a branching visual novel with a strong atmosphere and more complicated choice/gameplay mechanics then a branching binary route do check this out.
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What a pleasant surprise this game was - a nice mix of wonderful strategy and some delightful story/leveling mechanics.
Each hero plays in a unique way I felt was true to their character and there is just a nice measured drip of new cosmetics, systems and abilities to collect and experiment with.
I find I get time to play a round of cards, explore the Abbey Bioware style and have just the right amount of conversation and story in the hour or two I have to play once the family is asleep.
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I love narrative games and this is a great narrative game.
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I did find a PS5 this year! I really liked Miles Morales - it'd been a few years since I played Spidey PS4 so the parts of that game that overwhelmed and burnt me out the first time around had faded and I was able to enjoy this really concise, fun little episode. I found Miles' venom moves to be a fun solution to the more complicated enemies that inevitably show up in these games and I wasn't as bored by them as I was in its predecessor as the hours ramped up; I even downloaded the PS5 upgrade to Spidey PS4 and played through the first quarter of that again! Really solid game.
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After repeated attempts to play this over the years but giving up out of frustration with the controls I finally played Astroneer long enough to overcome my own intuitive assumptions of the control mechanics and learn its decidedly unique and unintuitive interface. I think its controls are its weakest aspect, at least on console but what's there is a fun little exploration game with some fun progression at a decent pace.
As I slowly build my own off the grid cabin setup in real life I'm a sucker for generating power via wind or solar in any medium! ...I just wish my batteries were as resilient to cold and deep cycling as they are in this game!
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I watched the entirety of Tammy and the T-Rex on a virtual couch while a legless bountyhunter offered dry, dark commentary.
If you have game pass and enjoy Justin Roiland's humor this is an all around good time. The solid, arcadey gameplay (with a weird touch of Bioshock Infinite?) holds up well enough you can shoot and stab your way through encounters and onto the next joke before any one piece overstays its welcome.
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A really fun sort of 4X city management game with cool lore and neat Not-Roguelike mechanics. I played a number of matches with it before putting it on the shelf to mature a bit more in early access - I think it'll be a really special, polished release when its out of the oven.
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Started a survival mode playthrough of Fallout 4 with the idea I'd get to the DLC for the game I never played on the first time around.
Fallout 4 has some good bones. I have a lot of criticisms but its bones leave me feeling optimistic that maybe Starfield will yield something really special. I feel like that game will just end up being "Pretty good."
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I never finished it but I enjoyed the first half of the game - I think I'm forever pining for the old Bioware days and while I've not really enjoyed the end result of Spider's work I'm really routing for them. Having played there games backwards from release I was surprised to find out that this game was my favorite. Its story and world was the most interesting for me to explore - that is until its combat gets so completely unfun with its sponge like enemies that I eventually put it down.
I really hope to return to a gameplay loop of doing a small mission and conversing with interesting allies again one day. Thankfully Midnight Sun is scratching that itch - maybe Dragon Age 4 wont suck?
Really hoping Spiders breaks into the AAA space like CD Projekt Red did back in the day - though I dont think they've produced anything close to the chops of the OG Witcher yet so they have some way to go.
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Most of these chose your own adventure novels can hardly be called games or really roleplaying experiences but thats a criticism I cannot lay at the feet of Choice of Magics. This game allows for an satisfying level of player expression and choices, items and stats do play a meaningful role in the story; of which has a staggering amount of branching paths and chapters - with a completely different middle narrative depending on your choices in the prologue and opening chapters.
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My son turned 3 in 2022 and its been a slow journey for him to achieve videogame competency. I have nothing but the utmost respect and accolades for this game - its excellently implemented child controls, its totally killer levels and sound track and its ease of use for family fun.
I've really enjoyed playing a quick 15 minute circuit with my wife, son and daughter if everyone brushed their teeth and got in PJs with enough time before bed time lol.
I'm pleased to report my son went from needing every assist and somehow still taking an extra 3 minutes to finish after us to being assist free and finishing solidly in the middle of the pack. He also destroyed Astro's Playroom on first try so much like Super Mario World for me as a kid it seems Mario Kart 8 has done the same for him. Curious where he'll end up in another year.
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I bought this so I could make easier levels for my kids - ended up getting lost down a rabbit hole of channeling my inner Super Mario World Fantasies and forcing my wife to "experience" them with me.
Fun game.
Also I just want an HD Port of Super Mario World.
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Lots of people seemed to really like this game in 2022, I'd count myself among that number thought once I achieved my first unkillable super malestrom of chaos that didnt end until I decided to go make dinner I felt I'd seen all that I cared to with the game. For the couple bucks I spent on it it has to be the highest dollar/entertainment factor for a videogame since I purchased the original Mass Effect in High School (I've played the shit out of that game in the last decade +)
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God of War PS4 was one of my favorite games of last generation. Loved it. I'm not sure what I was expecting with Ragnarok but I didnt like what I ended up recieving. The opening with Bjorn and Thor was fantastic and I guess I was hoping for bombastic over the top violence and set pieces reaped upon this new thoughtful and remorseful Kratos. Instead I felt like there was an even more bloated re-hash of the exploration parts of the previous game without any of the patience and wonder I felt while playing it. The novelty of the Mjiolnir like Leviathan Axe was over and I found myself tired of the combat almost immediately. With the story beats few and far between more combat arenas I put the game down and didnt return to it - with my limited Dad time if a game doesnt speak to me I just cant stay awake enough to play it. I'm hopeful I'll take another crack at it one day and will push passed the slow onboarding to what I have to imagine is the bombastic conclusion I was hoping for.
TLDR; I did not like this game. Really bums me to say it.
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Deathloop came to gamepass the same time i received by PS5 so I played it on Xbox. I really enjoye some parts of Deathloop, mainly the immersive sim aspects I enjoy in all of the Looking Glass games but the core mechanics of the game grew frustrating and tiresome for me eventually. There was no suspense or horror and the atmosphere I come to for in these games was abused by the number of times you visit them. I found myself becoming more and more Bill Murray ground hog day as the hours went on and not in an endearing way and without the cathartic enlightenment that ol' Bill arrived at at the end of that movie.
TLDR; I dont like this game. Really really want Prey 2.
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