My Top 10 of 2022
by geekybadger
It's the end of another year for video games.
I initially planned to stop doing this last year. It takes a lot of effort to get things just right, and I felt like it wasn't worth the effort to share my thoughts when no one was interested in hearing them. I also happened to be in one of the worst places at this time last year. Things have thankfully changed considerably since then.
So we're back again. This time, however, I plan to keep things limited to the games that matter most. That means a full top 10 as usual along with any honorable mentions (because it's my rules and I can do what I want). There won't be any TV, film, or music chat as I don't feel I have as much to offer regarding those areas as much as I happen to enjoy them.
So - let's skip the chit-chat and get to the main event already.
Zach's Top 10 Video Games of 2022
10. Pentiment - Obsidian Entertainment - Xbox, PC
Any time you create a list or give out awards, you run the risk of recency bias. After serious consideration, I don't believe that's the case with Pentiment.
One could argue that Pentiment is a game that shouldn't exist. The core team mentioned as much, expressing that this project wouldn't exist without Xbox's backing along with Game Pass. It's a very niche passion project built by a small team at Obsidian, considering that they're actively developing several other games right now.
Pentiment is a wonderfully hand-drawn 2-D adventure game that takes place in 16th-century Bavaria. You play as an aspiring artist fulfilling work at an Abbey scriptorium while simultaneously attempting to finish your masterpiece. The dialogue, setting, and themes are extremely appropriate for the era, giving you insight into the politics and struggles of the village peasants.
That said - this game is not for everyone. There is no voice acting and it is heavily narrative-driven. However, Pentiment eventually "game-ifies" itself shortly into the story when an unexpected event occurs leading to a mystery you must solve.
While I enjoy the gameplay aspect of a good mystery, Pentiment satisfied me for other reasons.
First - the art is impeccable. It aggressively sticks to a classical art style and plays out much like an old illustrated text. When you move between scenes, pages flip accordingly on the screen. When characters speak, their dialogue appears in various scripts. High-class, regal figures speak with eloquent, sometimes overbearing calligraphy. Meanwhile, a peasant's dialogue appears as an untidy scrawl. Nothing really looks like Pentiment, and it never stops being wonderful to look at and interact with.
Secondly, I have a background in religious studies. I also have personal experience in trying to live in both a secular and religious world simultaneously. I relate to the main character Andreas, at least as I played him, respecting religious figures and ideas while also boldly decrying outdated ideas and customs. The game handles this spectacularly as it would be incredibly easy to punch down on the church, especially during this period. Instead, some of my closest friends in the game were the Abbey brothers and sisters. I had to balance my personal friendships while also understanding that the church was actively oppressing and harming the villagers nearby.
Lastly, because of the above, the game trusts the player to draw their own conclusions. The world is fully gray as is real life. The peasants make great points as does the church, yet you are expected to take sides, offer opinions, and make decisions that may never have a truly positive end. Exploring these ideas causes Andreas to ponder his place in the world, his happiness, and the meaning of it all. Sharing in his story helped me to consider the same.
I expect that many won't take to Pentiment. However, the nice side of Game Pass is that it doesn't hurt to try. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find here regardless of your background or personal interests.
9. Sifu - Sloclap - Out on everything
Sifu is simultaneously one of the most impressive yet most frustrating video games I've ever played.
It continues the work the studio started with games like Absolver, attempting to turn hand-to-hand combat into a very precise, methodical act where every mistake is deadly. The gimmick is that when your character falls, they will resurrect a year older. If you fall again, the aging becomes exponential until you are unable to complete the story.
Skill trees are available that serve to permanently teach new techniques or enhance existing ones. Likewise, you can collect temporary points each run that can offer you circumstantial boons. This makes new runs unique as certain perks may be more beneficial than others depending on damage taken or the number of years lost during a stage. It has a very minor rogue-lite aspect to it in this regard.
However, it is not rogue-lite in other regards, as the stages and enemy placements will always be the same. This proves to be essential as mastering Sifu is much like trying to master an actual martial art or any other hard-earned discipline. Therein lies equal amounts of engagement and frustration that will make or break you.
I spent many hours suffering through stages. I would work tirelessly to get to the end of a stage, just to get absolutely annihilated by the boss. I love difficult games (I'm a huge fan of games like Dark Souls, Nioh, etc.), but these enemies and bosses got the best of me. What makes it worse is to finally manage to overcome a boss, only to have lost so many years of your life that continuing isn't even worthwhile.
However - like all difficult things - when you persist enough, something magical happens. All of the struggle and all of the deaths finally made something click, and I was clearing stages without dying. I knew what to do before it would happen, and I had a plan for every possible scenario. There's a sort of discovering the Matrix moment where a boss that killed you 100 times suddenly seems slow and weak. You're bobbing, weaving, and punishing. You are now the Sifu.
I was able to obtain the platinum with the hardest trophy being to finish the game under 25 years old. In your younger years, you have more life, but do considerably less damage than when you are older. Everything balances out, leaving you with hardly any room for error. I can think of fewer more engaging, tense moments than the showdown with the final boss at 24 years of age, knowing I could not die once.
Even as I raged and struggled, I think Sifu sticks with me for the same reason those other challenging games do. It forces your full engagement. You cannot passively consume this like we often do with all sorts of media today. And, when you give yourself to the game, it gives back. You consume everything about the game and make it a part of you.
Though it is not a true fighting game like Street Fighter or Guilty Gear, the journey of struggle is what I imagine to be the same. I've tried fighting games several times and fell off when the going gets tough because they require so much of you. However, the satisfaction I found here gave me a real glimpse into the reward waiting at the end and now leaves me dabbling with several fighting games once more at the end of the year.
8. Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Game Freak - Nintendo Switch
I've been a Pokemon fan since I was a child (as I think most of us are in some way).
Some of my oldest memories are taking my Game Boy to school, watching it evolve into a Game Boy Color, and marveling at new monsters each generation.
Unfortunately, Pokemon games themselves failed to evolve with us as the gaming industry rapidly changed. Sure, it can be nostalgic fun to pick up the newest game, build a team, and battle the gym leaders, but it's always effectively the same experience. And, why should it when new games follow this tried-and-true model and reach record-breaking numbers with each new installment?
I think that's why I and others were excited when seeing the first step toward an open-world Pokemon with Arceus. The problem is that the game looks graphically poor and leaves much to be desired.
That ended up being true for Arceus. Environmental textures look on the level with a game from the PS1 or PS2 era, while the Pokemon models themselves look as you'd expect. While one could blame the Switch, games like Xenoblade and Breath of the Wild show what it's capable of with careful work and optimization.
Negatives aside -
I have not enjoyed a Pokemon game this much since I was a child.
Arceus takes a different approach by allowing you to explore what a world is like when wild Pokemon run about as they actually would. Smaller pokemon panic and flee at the sight of you. Big, aggressive Pokemon will run at you and attack you personally if you invade their space. Since the Pokemon League doesn't exist, you're a true explorer and less of an aspiring champion. I think that's what I really enjoyed about it.
Instead of catching monsters to complete the Pokedex, you're given assignments for each page. While some of these tasks can be repetitive, the rewards that awaited kept me motivated to catch more and more Pokemon. Additionally, the process is made much faster by allowing you to catch Pokemon naturally without battling if you so choose. You just need to craft specialty balls to give yourself the edge you need.
For me, that's what Pokemon may have been missing. The story generally lacks in these games and the act of filling the Pokedex just didn't seem engaging or rewarding. This, it's an active part of the story, which also ended up being intriguing enough for me by the end. The town grows with you as you progress your research, while new and potentially dangerous figures also take note of your efforts.
I don't think Arceus is by any means perfect - far from it. However, this is very much the direction Pokemon should aspire to moving forward. I think we saw some new ideas with Scarlet and Violet more recently, but that game seemed to miss more than it hit for me when compared to Arceus.
I, unfortunately, don't have faith that Game Freak will ever put forth the time or effort required to make a truly exceptional game, but I can't ignore how much fun I had playing this game.
7. Signalis - Rose-engine games - Out on everything
This is one of those games that serve as a reminder that there are entirely too many games out there.
I don't mean that in a negative way. In fact, I fear that most people completely missed this game when it's one of the best survival horror games I've ever played.
Signalis is an isometric game that's a complete love letter to some of the best horror games to exist. It reminds you of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Parasite Eve, and so on. The big differentiator here is that the entire narrative is shrouded (in almost frustrating) mystery.
You play as an LSTR unit, a model of robot that serves as a technician, who is affectionally referred to as Elster. After waking aboard your ship and checking its functionality, you get an eerie memory/message about fulfilling a promise. You then begin to move underground and explore a mysterious facility that's crawling with horrifying monsters. Much of this horror is less zombie-like and tilts more to otherwordly Lovecraftian nightmares, so much so that The King in Yellow plays a role in the lore.
It's difficult to talk about the narrative for two reasons. One, it's a mystery that's meant to be unraveled; like trying to remember something that the character clearly forgot. Second, the writers do everything in their power to avoid concrete explanations. Some will definitely find this style of writing frustrating as it can feel cheap or unsatisfying to more or less say, "It means whatever you interpret." However, I do think there is intentional purpose throughout even if some things aren't meant to be fully understood.
That's what enraptured me so much about this game. There's something dreadfully exhausting about the setting, yet it refuses to let your attention wander. Even when you're managing a very limited inventory and counting your bullets, you're less scared as you're soaking in every detail you can find. Survival feels less important because what is real and what isn't feels obfuscated.
The only real negative here is that the old-school style of gameplay can make combat feel a little stiff. However, the monsters seem to behave accordingly, so you never feel like you're at a terrible disadvantage. You're also limited to six inventory slots, which I found added to the game. You need to consider what to take, what to leave, and whether or not it's worth revisiting a past room knowing that enemies are likely waiting. Puzzles are also plentiful, but never feel so complicated as to deter overall progression.
If you love survival horror, particularly from the older generations, Signalis is a must-play. What makes it stand out is that while some of those classics often fell into cheesy territory with their writing, Signalis is deeply thought-provoking. Even months after having played it, I still find myself looking back to see if I can make any further progress into its mystery so that I can really know what's going on in this world.
6. Overwatch 2 - Blizzard - Out on everything
It's unsurprising that Overwatch continues to be one of the best team shooters ever.
I played a lot of the original Overwatch, but not nearly as much as some I know did. Nevertheless, the fact that I ever picked it up in the first place is a testament to how fun and inviting the game can be. I struggle with shooters, and I especially struggle with team-based games. The original managed to make me ignore that and find a ton of fun anyway.
I wasn't too excited about Overwatch 2 initially as it looked remarkably similar to the original with the addition of a few new maps. What I truly underestimated is how different the game would play and feel with the shift from 6v6 to 5v5.
2 is much more fast-paced and aggressive. At first, this made the game more intimidating until you realize everyone was on the same playing field. With fewer tanks and fewer shields on the field, it's easier to create space and make important plays. Each player on the team feels more important and has the ability to shift matches in important ways. Supports are more valuable than ever and the serious amount of damage tanks can do when played well is fully on display.
The new characters so far have been excellent. Junker Queen isn't my favorite and could probably use some tweaking, the concept of a bleed character is a lot of fun. Sojourn, in particular, feels immensely satisfying to play with her fast movement and devastating railshots. Though she's certainly a higher-skill character with her headshotting kunai, Kiriko is a must-play and might have the best ultimate in the game. In addition to this, her E ability is currently the only ability that I can think of that purges negative effects from your teammates. To top it off, Blizzard once again killed it with their animated shorts, and hers is a must-watch.
The events so far have been more enjoyable than what I remember in the original. However, all other seasonal modes appear alongside it, providing a ton of different content to enjoy at different times of the year. The most recent character Ramattra feels absurdly fun to play even if he wasn't tuned to perfection on release. I like the idea of some characters having different stances for different situations, and it feels great to jump in on teams and beat them down with your fists.
Obviously, I'm not a high-level player nor an expert, but it feels like I've already put more hours into Overwatch 2 than Overwatch. While some feel like it isn't enough to call it a sequel, I argue that those people do not understand how drastically the game changes with the new format. Plus, previous modes exist in the game with new maps returning, newly optimized for 5v5 play.
The real determiner of how good this game is will be decided when the single-player mode arrives. I think they've already shown that there is tremendous potential in storytelling for the game. I just hope that they come up with some really interesting scenarios and gameplay that differentiate themselves from the seasonal cooperative modes.
Best of all - it's now free to play. I know that that immediately turns a lot of people off, but I've honestly come around that it's the ideal game model for certain genres (looking at you, fighting games). You don't have to spend a dollar, but you can spend a small amount (usually $10) to support the game, get a bunch of rewards, and get missions that further incentivize you to check in, play, and improve. Or, you can ignore all of it and just play when you want and leave it at that. The fact that a game as quality as Overwatch is now free is a positive thing. They just seriously need to lower skin prices or make it a little easier to earn rewards a la Multiversus, Marvel Snap, etc.
5. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak - Capcom - Out on everything
Though it was Monster Hunter World that took the world by storm, it was Monster Hunter Rise that actually gripped me the hardest. I appreciate the more simplistic approach of getting a quest, hunting a monster, and building new gear without ever having too much of a grind. Having the Palamute along with the Palico also makes you feel like you've got your own little party at all times.
The wirebug mechanic is particularly awesome and pretty much alleviates all of my complaints about the slow, muddling movement in all other Monster Hunter games. You are still heavily punished for obvious mistakes, but the ability to wake up quickly and get back to your feet feels infinitely better than the standard. As a hammer/great sword user, it also always feels awesome to fly into the air and dunk down on a monster's head for a part break. Though there still isn't much of a "story," the final showdown with Narwa feels very cinematic and makes the final boss more than just any other hunt.
Sunbreak pretty much took everything I enjoyed about the base game and multiplied it exponentially. I know it's small-time compared to veterans, but I sunk probably 150 hours into the game completing every mission, farming for multiple gear sets, and crafting the best jewels. There's also the addition of companion quests, which allow you to hunt monsters with various NPCs from the story.
Pretty much every new monster addition is a banger. Garangolm is a huge stone ape that prompted my move from great sword to hammer. Lunagaron is an ice wolf that looks cool as hell, but was particularly troubling to fight. Astalos, from the demo, is one of the cooler-looking dragons in the series and allows you to craft even cooler weapons. I'm not as big of a fan of using other species as reskins, like Blood Orange Bishaten or Aurora Somnacanth, but I suppose it does help add to the world in the sense that some species have variety.
Aside from new monsters, it was my first opportunity to fight monsters already present in the series like Gore Magala and Espinas. Design-wise, the final boss was likely the most disappointing. But, like Narwa, it features more of a cinematic, story experience complete with the awesome theme Proof of a Hero.
The endgame offers a ton of content through Anomalies. These are monsters that you've fought throughout the experience but are now afflicted by Malzeno's crystals. This makes the monster exponentially more aggressive and more deadly. However, you need to remain equally aggressive as this will temporarily beat the affliction out of them and leave you with a huge window of opportunity. These monsters drop special materials that further enhance your gear to the next level.
This is honestly the best time to start Monster Hunter Rise. I happily played every hour on the Nintendo Switch, but it is now available on everything and at a cheaper price than I paid at launch. Rise is an exceptional game that made me a real Monster Hunter fan, and I'm only jealous that new players can enjoy it on more powerful hardware.
4. Neon White - Angel Matrix - Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, PC
Neon White is an absurdly fun video game. However, I love it for the opposite reasons that I typically love any other type of video game.
This is an arcadey-ass video game. The story is absolutely whatever and is borderline cringe anime silliness. However, you don't really need to pay attention to any of it to understand the masterwork of gameplay on display here.
In this game, you play as an assassin that must defeat X amount of targets, while completing each level as quickly as possible. Along the way, you'll find cards that grant various abilities that can kill targets in a variety of ways. One card is a standard pistol, while another allows you to lob bombs that detonate after a second. The trick is to utilize these cards not only to eliminate targets but to actively propel yourself faster through the level.
While getting fast times isn't a requirement, it does allow you to unlock little rewards and extra scenes for each character. This adds a bit more to the story and gives you context regarding the various relationships. Plus, it just feels good to get the platinum medal for every level.
I typically gravitate away from games like these. I'm bad at them. I watch GDQ every year and marvel at how people can destroy video games and make challenges trivial. But, I'll never have the skill or patience to do it myself. That is until I played Neon White.
This game made me ask the question: is it that I'm not good enough, or that other games don't incentivize me to get better? Neon White never feels ridiculously hard or challenging. The gameplay feels so fluid and the shortcuts feel so logical that it naturally makes you feel like a high-skilled player. It can still take many tries to nail the perfect run, but it never feels frustrating even once. It's hard to put my finger exactly on what the team did right to make the game challenging, yet make anyone of any skill level feel great while doing it.
The levels also feature global leaderboards, incentivizing players to keep going for better times. While I was satisfied to platinum every level, there's still so much more room to improve. Check YouTube and see how players can basically skip entire levels in ways I never even considered.
It's always a pleasant surprise when games you almost skipped actually end up making such an impact. For pure, raw gameplay, Neon White is one of the best I played all year.
3. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Monolith Soft - Nintendo Switch
Now that we're in the top three, we're making some very difficult decisions.
JRPGs are probably my favorite genre of video games. Final Fantasy was my introduction to video games, and I've grown to love countless others like Dragon Quest, Chrono, and so on. Even franchises I've yet to play like Wild Arms or Breath of Fire naturally speak to me. That's why I ended up buying a Nintendo Wii just to play Xenoblade Chronicles back in the late 2000's.
The original game was a very good, probably great RPG. It has an interesting style in that it's basically a single-player MMO in terms of combat, questing, and exploration. Probably the most impressive part of this whole series is how Monolith manages to achieve these massive worlds consistently on outdated hardware. The original has great moments, but having replayed the original with the Definitive Edition, it doesn't really crack my list of top games. That isn't to say it's bad, but parts of the story just don't resonate with me as well as others.
Unfortunately, when Xenoblade Chronicles 2 rolled around, I wasn't nearly as positive. That game has a similarly breathtaking world, great (yet a bit confusing) combat, and cool story ideas. But I remembered walking away from that experience feeling particularly let down by the narrative. I never really gravitated toward the characters or the plot, which makes it challenging to get through a 100-hour game. The biggest highlight is the cutscene at the very end which clearly shows that
Still, I was really optimistic and hopeful when Xenoblade Chronicles was announced. This was especially true as the turnaround time from announcement to release was incredibly quick.
They roped me in almost immediately with the tone of the trailers and the story premise. It takes place in what appears to be a merging of the worlds from the first two games. If you played both, it's easy to pick out landmarks as you move through this transformed world. In this universe, all people live for a total of ten years (at most). They're not bred or born, but instead, come to exist as children that are trained in combat from day one. They then go on to participate in a neverending war between the nations of Agnus and Keves.
Most will die long before hitting ten years, but those that make it then achieve the honor of sacrificing their life energy to their nation's queen. Specially-designated figures called Off-Seers play a haunting melody that releases the life energy from their bodies. It's a funeral ritual called Homecoming, and the flute melody never stops rocking your soul. The two main characters from each faction happen to be Off-Seers, which plays a significant role throughout the story.
The twist happens when groups of three from both nations are sent on the same mission for their respective sides. They encounter an old man (which in this world doesn't exist) who explains that they're making a mistake fighting each other and ignoring the real enemy. The two groups become wanted in death by their nations, being called Ouroboros.
You already have an interesting party dynamic as the groups are raised to hate one another. Yet, they have to work together to live as they are no longer wanted by either side. This naturally leads to the journey of learning what Ouroboros is, why the nations are actually at war, and what their lives really mean.
In other words, I had two games in back-to-back years that made me think long and hard about the meaning of life. The characters learn to help one another, appreciate their unique struggles, and finally start to consider that maybe life is worth more than the eternal struggle of war. You get to experience amazing stories of characters that fear loss, are perpetually plagued by grief, but yet others that find beauty and joy in each moment despite the grim outlook of their lives. It's not necessarily new territory for an RPG, to be given an unchangeable fate only to defy it, but here it simply hits right. The build-up to the end of Chapter 5 in particular had me captivated and my emotions at an all-time high.
Gameplay-wise, you'll find more of that single-player MMO feel. However, this is absolutely the best iteration of it. Not only do you control your six party members, but you eventually gain the ability to make two partners merge into an Evangelion-looking robot. This gives you unique abilities, increased health, and adds a bit of strategy that can turn the tide or save party members in dire moments. The chain-attack mode appears once more (a super-attack that pauses the enemy and allows your entire group to perform combinations) and it's never been easier and more satisfying to use. It's great the combat is such a joy as you'll be doing a lot of it.
The soundtrack is also one of, if not the best this year. From heart-pounding battle tracks to heart-wrenching boss themes (yes, boss themes), I simply loved all of it.
One thing that will disappoint fans is that I would argue that 3 does not do a great job of rounding out the overarching lore of all games. This is particularly a bummer as the studio touted this as the end of the trilogy. Still, the central story here is so enjoyable that I didn't really feel cheated. I felt very fulfilled by the experience and the ending was satisfying. I still have lots of questions, but we know that another huge DLC is coming in late 2023 similar to the Torna DLC for 2.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is unquestionably the best in the series and one of the very best games on the Switch. Though some can be daunting by long play times, I would honestly recommend this to anyone who likes video games. You don't need to play the first two games to appreciate the story, and I really think you'll grow to feel for and love these characters the way I did.
Though awards don't matter to everyone, I was extremely happy to see this nominated for Game of the Year. It deserves it.
2. Elden Ring - FromSoftware - PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X, PC
In so many ways, this probably is the actual Game of the Year. In fact, it's indisputably already a game of the generation and it's only 2022.
FromSoftware is a studio that's only improved with each game it makes. I greatly enjoy Demon's Souls despite its many flaws and was happy to see a successful remake with the launch of PS5.
They solidified their reputation with Dark Souls and then the masterpiece Bloodborne. Sekiro, while similar to their other games, showed their ability to create different combat systems that are still immensely satisfying. In fact, Sekiro might be the best combat I've experienced in video games.
Elden Ring had a mysterious announcement so many years with a figure simply forging a weapon. We learned that George RR Martin of Game of Thrones would help write the lore, the first time the studio used outside influence to shape their games. This was a dream for me as I love both creators' visions and felt that a Thrones-inspired world drenched in the macabre of Souls would be incredible. And they nailed it.
In a lot of ways, Elden Ring is a cheat code for FromSoftware. It takes all of the very best ideas from each of their games and superfuses them into one, MASSIVE experience. It feels like in a time where everyone wants to be Breath of the Wild, this studio said, "We can do that easily," and just did it.
In this game, you get the best of both worlds. You get a sweeping, beautiful open world that's dripping with the trademark FromSoftware lore and atmosphere. However, you also get Legacy Dungeons which are dedicated locations not unlike what you are accustomed to in their past games. You could explore huge sections of Limgrave and then move toward Stormveil Castle, which is a sprawling location filled with loot and enemies all on its own. It's a bold choice as their design style already frustrates some with unclear directions. Yet, this game doubles down, asks you to clear an area, and then asks you to continue with very little assistance. Instead of checking out different paths, you're jumping on horseback and taking on the daunting task of finding areas of importance through a gigantic map.
It smartly helps the player out without giving too much information, though. More sections of your map don't actually appear until you find map fragments throughout the world. Thus, when you open your map, you only see the sections you're aware of. This incentivizes you to explore nearby locations without leaving you feeling overwhelmed about how much is left ahead.
For me, Elden Ring ought to help inform the industry of what an open-world game should be. If you are going to make a game of this size, it needs to feel engaging and rewarding at every step. When I think of my time playing Breath of the Wild, I remember spending a lot of time walking or climbing with no real direction, only to find shrines that weren't very interesting or rewarding. In this game, I constantly found crypts with very worthwhile rewards, NPCs that could sell me useful weapons or spells, locations or ruins that added to the lore and mystery, and even high-level bosses that you could encounter at any time, any level.
To this day, what really blows my mind about this game is that the player can miss most of the content in the game. To progress through the main scenario, you only really need to defeat two core bosses. You can then start accessing golden path areas and move forward to the end without realizing it. There are countless more important bosses that play huge roles in the story of what happened in Limgrave. I completed a lengthy PVP sidequest to encounter an optional boss, only hours later to find out there was an alternative path leading to a huge legacy dungeon I would have completely missed. There's not necessarily one or even two ways to access content, but many others that you can find if you seek them.
The developers either trust the player to engage with the game and discover this content, or simply are comfortable making peace with the fact that players need not see it all to have a rewarding experience. This sort of confidence in the game they crafted feels apparent from your first steps and never once let up throughout my 130 hours of playtime.
Elden Ring also motivated me to want to undertake multiple playthroughs immediately. In past games, I usually just go with the best/coolest sword and do my thing. In this, I kept finding so many incredible spells, items, and weapons that I felt like I needed to try it all. Dedicated builds like bleed or frost look not only cool but are very effective and allow you to smash bosses that might otherwise give you trouble.
This leads to why I think Elden Ring is so masterful. While I don't FromSoftware's games are impossibly difficult like some (I'm not that great at games, after all), I know that they deter many players. Elden Ring invites all types of players without compromising what the studio does best. Thanks to this incredibly huge, enticing world, players can visit the areas they're comfortable with, discover better equipment, and proceed at the best that feels right to them. There is no difficulty selection at the beginning because the player can naturally choose their difficulty by going in any one direction at any time. If that boss feels impossible, it's not a big deal. There's so much game to explore, and you'll eventually find a point where you feel powerful, making the idea of revisiting that boss exciting, not terrifying.
While I honestly think that Bloodborne is still my favorite game from the studio for several reasons, I think Elden Ring is a game that will shift the industry once more. Its impact is simply undeniable as it is the only FromSoftware game to reach as many players as it did. Many who quit previous games persevered through Elden Ring for all of the reasons I mentioned above. The difficulty is one argument, but building an open world that's actually worth the player's time is no longer debatable. We don't need more checkbox games, we need more Elden Ring's that make us remember why we love playing video games in the first place.
1. God of War Ragnarök - Sony Santa Monica - PS5
Ragnarök had the impossible task of following up the beloved God of War (2018).
Back then, I was very loud about my passion for that game. I was not even a fan of the franchise during the PS2/PS3 era but simply felt the game looked interesting as a new PS4 title. It immediately dared to show its differences with a much older, more subdued Kratos that now had to raise a son in the wake of his past. It managed to make me care deeply about Kratos without having played a second of past games, while also making me understand and feel the weight of the past as if I had been there all along.
Thankfully, the sequel is more than worthy of being called a successor.
Gameplay-wise, this game sticks fairly faithfully to what we loved about the previous title. It's a perfect example of the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," being entirely accurate. We do, however, get some awesome new skills for the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos, and even get a brand-new, story-important weapon along the way. Some new additions are an amulet, which progressively allows you to stack boons for passive effects as well as the ability to modify your combat skills slightly. The actual feel of the combat remains what I remembered from years prior, and that works perfectly well in this game.
But, in truth, I'm here to talk about the story.
The game actually starts roughly 2 years after the end of the first game. Fimbulwinter is now fully in effect, and Kratos has had the time to process the prophecy of his death from the end of the prior title. Instead of picking up right where we left off, we actually see an already-softened Kratos that is making more of an effort to be a healthy father for Atreus. The problem is, Freya still actively wants his death in exchange for the death of Baldur.
I'm not sure what I expected initially. Perhaps Kratos would start where we left off and still need to experience some more pivotal events to truly become the man he wants to be. Instead, we get some incredible dialogue that happens not in cutscenes, but as you play and fulfill errands with Atreus. Mimir even remarks to Atreus at one point, "he just wants to spend time with you lad while he still can." It actually felt more effective to me to skip those extra steps and show us a different Kratos, one that we would be with now as we work to the end of this story.
My prediction also was correct as we end up playing large sections of the game with the two apart. This gives Atreus more of an opportunity to develop as his own independent character while letting us explore more of how Loki will shape the world and its potential end. It's the next logical step for a parent, first learning how to be a father, then learning that they will inevitably have to let go at some point.
Modern social issues definitely were in my mind as I played this. In fact, you can find small-minded edgelords online who cry for the "old" Kratos that would just rip and tear his way through any problem. The type of toxic male anger and violence that led to his initial fate to begin with. It's as if everyone happily ignores the entire point that Kratos is equally, if not more responsible for his life than those who wronged him.
Instead, this game boldly decides to allow Kratos to be an actual man and role model. He recognizes his anger, realizing when it is wrong and negatively impacting his son and companions. This comes through in gameplay mechanics, particularly when you unlock Spartan Valor. This amplifies the idea of anger is a valid, useful emotion when directed at solving worthwhile problems not used for vengeance. Kratos can coexist as a frightening God capable of beheading enemies while checking in with himself to ensure he's fighting for the right reasons, even if it makes him do the difficult thing of putting his son in active danger.
Through this game, Kratos completes his journey by becoming a God worthy of the title. As much as he does not want to be involved in Ragnarok, he steps up to do what is right for everyone - not just his son and friends, but for innocent people of Midgard that will be affected by what's to come. Running from a problem never solves it, but simply allows the wounds to fester.
Finally, I will admit that this game likely affects me more personally than others. I don't have parents, and I've certainly never had a father that exhibited love or devotion to me the way Kratos does for Atreus. In fact, even those with fathers clearly lack love and support in many scenarios, which is why we end up with the various characters in this series who experience pain and turn it into hate, self-loathing, and outward anger. The game reminds us that it takes infinitely more bravery to open up your wounds and allow yourself to care for others even knowing that it can and will hurt you eventually.
And, spoilers:
Honorable Mentions
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
My first Kirby game! This was an absolute delight and I hope they continue in this direction for future games. It's a very fun little collect-a-thon that gets absolutely bonkers silly by the end of it in the best way.
Diablo 2 Resurrected
I never played this game back in the day, so I finally picked it up while it was on sale. It absolutely still holds up, even if the quality of life isn't the same as the newest title. The re-done cutscenes are also incredible and worth watching alone.
Live a Live
This is a remake of a JRPG classic that never actually made it outside of Japan. I had never heard of this game until they announced it for the Switch, and I knew I wanted to play it immediately. It's basically a better Octopath Traveler that came out way, way earlier. Though the gameplay is a little simplistic, it was really fun to play through each character's story and see the different styles of gameplay mashed into one title.
Marvel Snap
I love this free-to-play card game as much as it infuriates me. It started out amazing as everyone is more or less on an even playing field as you unlock cards. They say it remains even as you will always play opponents who are in the same card "pool," as you, but it doesn't actually play out that way in actuality. Sure, I'm in the same pool, but when none of my reward crates provide me with new cards to keep up, I'm going to lose more than I win. It's just the nature of the game when certain cards are considerably more powerful than others when using already small card decks. Still, it's very fun, the art is amazing, and there's still room for it to change and improve.
More Progression on my FromSoftware Platinum Quest!
I made it through Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin for the first time and got the platinum (I played the original version on release). That leaves Dark Souls 3 as the only platinum to get out of all of their Souls-like titles.
Other Games Beaten in 2022
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Dark Souls Remastered (PLAT)
Death's Door
Nobody Saves the World
Horizon: Zero Dawn (REPLAY)
Horizon: Forbidden West (PLAT)
King of Fighters XV (Story Mode)
Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise
Ghostwire Tokyo (PLAT)
Gran Turismo 7
Borderlands 3 (PLAT)
Kingdom Hearts 3 (PLAT)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition (PLAT)
Diablo Immortal (At least initial release)
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge
Cuphead
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
Escape Academy
The Artful Escape
Xenoblade Chronicles 1: Future Connected
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna, the Golden Country
Stray
As Dusk Falls
Cult of the Lamb (PLAT)
Thymesia (PLAT)
Splatoon 3
Metal Hellsinger
Steelrising
Shovel Knight: Dig
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Resident Evil 8: Shadows of Rose
Pokemon Violet
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core Reunion
Arcadegeddon
The Callisto Protocol (PLAT)
Ongoing Games I Played
Rainbow Six: Extraction
Windjammers 2
Fortnite
Final Fantasy XIV
Evil Dead
The Cycle: Frontier
Multiversus
Genshin Impact
Destiny 2
Resident Evil: RE:Verse
Pile of Shame (Games I own, but didn't get to...)
Mario Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Marvel Midnight Suns (played for a few hours)
Digimon Survive
Tactics Ogre: Reborn
Sonic Frontiers
Most Anticipated Games of 2023
One Piece Odyssey
Dead Space Remake
Hogwarts Legacy (Or not? What a dilemma =/ )
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Street Fighter 6
Diablo 4
Final Fantasy XVI
Baldur's Gate 3
Spider-Man 2
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth (Absolutely getting delayed...)
And... that's it! Thanks so much for reading! What were your favorite games this year?