by frontman12
Last year I switched things up, and decided to simply list the best ten games I'd played the previous year regardless of release date. I felt overwhelmed by the number of new games I was interested in checking out. However, by prioritizing things a bit differently this year, I was able to play pretty much every 2022 release that I felt would be a candidate for this list.
Additionally, I've realized that I never replay anything. There are just so many new games that I'm interested in getting to that I just don't make the time to replay older games. However, I do think it's a worthwhile endeavor to replay your old favorites - it's interesting to see how these games might hold up, how your tastes might've changed, or simply to spend time doing something you know you'll enjoy. To be more intentional about this, I've chosen two favorites from 10 years ago, two from 20 years ago, and two from 30 years ago to replay this year. Although I didn't finish most of them, I found this to be a worthwhile endeavor and one that I'll likely repeat in 2023.
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1992 Favorite #1 (1992 GOTY list #1) I actually suspected that Link to the Past might not have aged well for me. When I've tried more recent games inspired by it, I've found myself bouncing off of them fairly quickly. Although the lack of direction and confusing dungeon design were not much of a problem when I was younger, I quickly tired of it in 2022. For a time in the 90s, A Link to the Past was one of the very few SNES games I owned, and I also had a lot more free time to wander around in it (not to mention a well-worn physical strategy guide). I remembered that Link would need to hookshot across a river during my recent playthrough, mostly because I remembered the frustration of being stuck at this exact point in the game in the 90s. I still don't understand how anyone just arrives at that particular solution in order to progress. I also found the combat in the game painful, from the endlessly respawning enemies to the interminable low health chime. While I'm still glad I had a Link to the Past to keep me busy during my childhood, I didn't finish my recent playthrough and doubt I'll revisit the game any time soon.
1992 Favorite #2 (1992 GOTY list #2) Super Mario Land 2 was much easier to finish, as it only takes around two hours to complete. It was a relatively easy journey, with the exception of a few sections in the final stage that seemed to require superhuman reflexes. With "save state" capability and infinite attempts, however, I was able to push through. I found some of the zones in the game quite creative - the "Space Zone" has lower gravity and puts Mario in a spacesuit, while the "Macro Zone" shrinks him down to tussle with ant enemies. Lastly, I liked the game's use of Wario over Bowser as a final boss! As I don't much prefer 2D platformers these days, I can't say I loved the time I spent with Super Mario Land 2 - however, it was definitely a blast from the past.
2002 Favorite #1 (2002 GOTY list #7) I was still a teenager when Terminal Reality released BloodRayne, so I was part of the target demographic for the game. Although the combat was solid enough (albeit a bit messy), I do think the jiggle physics and orgasmic feeding noises added something to the game for me at the time. Unfortunately, playing it in 2022 as a grown man, it was difficult to stop cringing at these aspects of the experience. Even so, I might've played the game to completion if I didn't start getting lost in these enormous Nazi bunkers. I have no idea how I figured out where to go when I first played this game! I have to give Bloodrayne credit though, as it ignited my love for third-person action games with super-powered protagonists (a love that is still strong today!).
2002 Favorite #2 (2002 GOTY list #1) I purchased a GameCube copy of SoulCalibur II in the hopes that I'd be able to revisit it this year, but alas, it was not to be. Unfortunately, I only have one friend that still owns a GameCube, and he had a very busy year. However, I do remember playing Soulcalibur II many years after release at a friend's bachelor party. At the time (and even now), I remembered the button presses that produced my favorite moves, and my Astaroth wiped the floor with everyone else at the party. Although I have tried many of the sequels (including 2018's SoulCalibur VI), none have had the balance of the second iteration, and I feel confident in saying that SoulCalibur II would stand the test of time.
2012 Favorite #1 (2012 GOTY list #1) Outside of Super Mario Land 2, Mark of the Ninja is the only other game that I replayed to completion. And to be honest, it didn't feel like an inconvenience at all to do so. Mark of the Ninja remains a perfect stealth game, not only providing excellent feedback to the player but providing a number of tactical options that allow players to approach levels in their own style such as alternate costumes, various techniques, and numerous attack and distraction items. It's clear when the player is visible and when enemies are alerted, as well as how much sound you're making or how much sound the use of an attack item will make. While I will admit that it's difficult for me to be rational in light of my affection for the larger experience, I also feel that Mark of the Ninja's story was better than it had any right to be. Mark of the Ninja is easily one of the top 10 games I've ever played.
2012 Favorite #2 (2012 GOTY list #7) I ended up putting almost two hours into Hitman: Absolution. I liked what I played this year, but couldn't shake the thought that Absolution was just an inferior version of the Splinter Cell games that came out in that same era (Conviction and Blacklist). Absolution is more about using your environment than Splinter Cell, but doesn't have all that many environmental hazards or objects to interact with. To some degree it's also about using enemy uniforms, but here it absolutely pales in comparison to the modern Hitman games, which see 47 penetrating secure area after secure area through careful escalation of disguises. Absolution isn't bad, but all of its gameplay elements have now been done so much better elsewhere. Even so, I still think that the "Contracts" mode is ingenious and wish that my friends and I would've created more challenges for each other to attempt back in 2012.
#10 I feel that Saints Row was a bit unfairly maligned by reviewers this year. As soon as you launch the game, you know you're in for a good time. My co-op partner made both of his character's arms and legs into metal prosthetics and used tissue boxes for shoes. The game features fun combat and takedowns, meaningful gun upgrades, interesting perk abilities, and brings back my old favorite activity, insurance fraud. The game's map is sprawling and well-designed, and it's a cinch to get around with fast-travel points, the ability to call in a vehicle, and your wingsuit. The game is also hilarious - the culmination of a story arc about LARPing made me laugh until my head hurt. Although there are certainly some side activities that are quite boring (hidden histories and photo hunts come to mind), my main strike against the game (and the reason it isn't ranked higher) is the game's stability. There were multiple times that my character bugged out - sometimes I couldn't shoot my weapon, and other times I would spawn stuck in the ground and missing parts of my body. Completing challenges, which was necessary to earn perk points and unlock combat abilities, often didn't work for me in co-op - the things I did just didn't count. Though the stability issues certainly didn't sour my time with the game completely, they are absolutely worth noting.
#9 Research and Destroy is a co-operative, turn-based (but also real time) third-person objective-based shooter. Your teams of super scientists are attempting to stave off an incursion of "supernaturals" into our world. Initially, Research and Destroy seemed HARD. Although I took out some of the enemies that spawned as I rushed to objectives, I thought that perhaps I'd be able to outrun others. Research and Destroy does not play that noise, and you'll get wrecked if you try it. At all times, you'll need to be focusing on enemy spawns to keep from getting overwhelmed. Once I got the hang of it, I loved it. The game featured very creative weapons and support items, but only allows players one of each to spread between their three super scientists. At times I found this limitation annoying, but it very much encouraged me to try everything at least once. Some of the items, like the time bomb, are ingenious within the framework of the gameplay. The game also encourages a lot of coordination between players to keep things clear, and you'll develop a protocol for which enemies to prioritize relatively quickly. The boogeyman is another ingenious stroke by developer Implausible Industries, an enemy that only one player can see. You'll need to communicate well to take him down! My main gripes with the game include the upgrade system (which isn't quite as impactful as you'd hope), the campaign map (I'd prefer it if the game were simply linear), and the fact that enemy damage over time effects somehow transcend the turn-based system and damage characters on your turn, even when those characters are not in use. Even so, Research and Destroy is great - I've never played anything like it.
#8 The first thing that strikes you about Hellslave is the fantastic art style - the macabre animated characters and the forlorn world. The only way for your character to survive is to briefly ally with one of the Lords of Hell, and so this is what you do. Your choice of Lord will bestow upon you specific strengths and abilities, and you'll learn as you progress through the game that each has their own personality. However, at its core Hellslave is essentially a dungeon-crawling, turn-based action RPG, so you're here to create a build. And boy, does Hellslave gives you the tools to do so. Not only do you have all of the item slots you're used to seeing in an ARPG (with the addition of a "Relic" slot), but the items themselves are interesting and powerful. You'll also have multiple skill trees to play with, various fighting "postures" to switch between, and "momentum" effects that you can choose between that activate at certain intervals during fights. At the end of my time with the game my character had 17 abilities to choose from, with wildly differing effects and different cooldown logic, and you'll develop an ideal rotation and prioritization based on what you're fighting. Your build will need to be good, as Hellslave definitely brings the noise. There were numerous fights where I just decided I'd have to try again another day with a "fresh set of eyes" after so many failures. However, if you like creating builds in ARPGs, you'll like this.
#7 I have a particular friend that I’ve played a lot of escape room video games with. There aren’t too many that we regret playing, but each has its own flavor of jankiness. In some, it’s difficult to physically see the item or apparatus you’re supposed to interact with. Some are overly fiddly, and feel more like doing math homework than playing a game. In some, the logic just doesn’t connect with us – we’re not sure what we’re supposed to be doing or what we’re supposed to be interacting with. In almost all, there is a pervasive low-budget feel. In many, myself and my co-op partner are just represented by disembodied torsos of different colors. However, Coin Crew Games’ Escape Academy is just solid throughout - the rooms are creative, and challenging without being illogical. The rooms are even connected to a larger story that, while not particularly memorable, represented something new that we had yet to see in the genre. Lastly, I appreciated the fact that even when playing online the players are given a split-screen view. While I balked at this at first lamenting the lost screen real estate, it became invaluable when collaborating to solve the game’s puzzles. This was the best escape room game I’ve seen, and I’m sure my co-op partner and I will pick up the season pass to play the DLC in the near future.