Something went wrong. Try again later

willin

This user has not updated recently.

1430 458 5 14
Forum Posts Wiki Points Following Followers

Game of the Year 2022

This year has been a bit of a disappointing year. Between the Series X and PS5 still being challenging to find and multiple big games being delayed, 2022 seemed like the kind of the year that was kind of... meh? A few big games were released this year, but that’s it: only a few big games. In other years it’s banger after banger, but throughout most of the year, we did not see a lot of triple-A or even big indie games. I was convinced in August that there would be at least two games on my list that I did even really like. Thankfully, I found ten games I enjoyed, so I am putting together this list and special awards for the first time ever.

Before we start, a shoutout to all the games I did not play this year, including Stray, Neon White, Cult of the Lamb, Gotham Knights, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Goat Simulator 3, Session: Skate Sim, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, Triangle Strategy and Dwarf Fortress.

List items

  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is my favourite type of game.

    It is a game with an extensive emotional story with a cast of lovable characters that you want to see succeed and win. It is a game with a large open world with many different side quests and areas to find. It is a game with a deep combat system you can completely get yourself lost in. It has a varied musical score that makes you tear up just listening to it. It is a graphical showcase with a massive scale and extreme details. It has cat girls and bird girls.

    I don’t really have a favourite genre, but I have a favourite game type: adventure. A game that takes you to a world and allows you to explore and experience everything the world has to offer, whether that’s the landscape, the people, the story and even the mechanics. It’s the same feeling I got playing games like World of Warcraft, Morrowind and Breath of the Wild. It is a game I always want to play and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 gave me that experience and then some. It is my Game of the Year, and it is well-deserving.

  • I have a weird relationship with Elden Ring. It came out on February 25th, and about a day or two later, my town was severely flooded. I couldn’t get to my workplace, the Internet was down, and all major roads near my house were inaccessible. So, I played Elden Ring. A lot. Like 10 to 12 hours a day a lot. I finished 95 hours of Elden Ring in a week. That is not a typo. Elden Ring will always be that game that kept me sane for that week. It helps that it is one of the best open-world games ever made, on top of having incredible art direction and excellent boss fights. Even though I am 100% sick of FromSoftware’s Souls games, this was their best.

  • Nightmare Reaper is my happy place. Here is a randomly generated level with a bunch of monsters, and here are some weapons that are entirely fucked up. It doesn’t have a great story, the soundtrack is more annoying than enjoyable, and it has the single worst upgrade system I have seen in years, but its core shooting is top-of-the-line superb. It is a game that continually surprises you, and you always want to keep moving forward. I am going to be playing Nightmare Reaper until I get Nightmare Reaper 2.

  • Nirvana Initiative is an excellent example of an improved sequel. They crafted a wonderfully bizarre and somewhat confusing story. That was a given. But they also made a much better playable character with Mizuki, completely rehauling the Somnium sections, making them fun to play, and giving the player more to do in the investigation sections. It also has the best dance number of the year, again. AI: The Somnium Files - Nirvana Initiative is a crazy, wild, and fun rollercoaster ride to Weirdtown.

  • Look, I know I said Blizzard is a terrible company that makes bad games in my awards section, but I will give credit where credit is due. Dragonflight is great. A massive beautiful land to explore with many secrets to find, new reputation and crafting systems that make me want to engage with it and Dragonriding, the best mechanic added to World of Warcraft since Transmogrification. Dragonflight will be my go-to night game until Blizzard almost assuredly fucks it up.

  • MORE GAMES NEED TO TAKE PLACE IN OVERSIZED BEDROOMS AND HOUSES. There I said it. Tinykin harkens back to the days of Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie, where all you need to great controls and solid level designs, and you got yourself a video game. Tinykin takes it one step further by using the ‘small person, big room’ aesthetic and running with it. With the excellent level design, inventive platforming mechanics and a weird but pleasing character design, Tinykin was a wonderful surprise to find this year.

  • I honestly don’t even know what to type here. Vampire Survivors is just a dopamine hit on a Steam page. Vampire Survivors seemingly came out of nowhere and became the most prominent indie hit since Among Us. Its extremely simple concept and execution means anyone can pick up, play and get addicted. It is a game I will always have on my PC and always just boot up and play for hours.

  • Teardown is just a super cool thing to mess around with. The campaign is not great and having to unlock items is a pain, but the destruction technology on top of best-in-class mod supports means I don’t even need the campaign to enjoy Teardown. Just give me a replica of the Statue of Liberty, a gun that shoots mini-nukes and a PC with an excellent CPU, and I can make dozens of hours slip away.

  • Perhaps the most creatively weird game released this year, the humour is not for everyone but with solid shooting mechanics, gorgeous visuals and the most creative boss fight in years, High on Life is the kind of game I wish more studios and publishers took risks in developing. I look forward to whatever Justin Roiland and Squanch Games do next.

  • Rogue Legacy 2 continues its simple yet refined formula of Rogue-inspired platformers without changing the formula too much. But the changes they do make create a better version of the original with more traits to get, a more significant focus on exploration and more secrets to poke an oversized sword at. Rogue Legacy 2 will be installed on my computer for a long time.
Load Comments