*Portions of Jeff Bakalar’s list were outsourced to his next of kin.

**While it didn’t come anywhere close to making my list this year, I just wish to say “Atomic Heart” out loud.

10. Viewfinder

9. Ghostrunner II

Hey I didn’t play Ghostrunner I, and I can’t even explain to you why I decided to play Ghostrunner II at all. Its demo caught my eye and after I blazed through it, I realized it was doing something for me that I hadn’t experienced in a while. The game performs incredibly well and plays so smoothly, it feels like you’re putting on silk gloves or something. I like being able to play something that makes me believe I’m actually a good gamer™, and I spent hours with Ghostrunner II this year because it made me feel good, and goddamnit, I deserve to feel good every now and then.

8. Lies of P

Since now I really like FromSoftware games I need to have my itch scratched for these kinds of games every year. And because I’m shallow, I was perfectly happy to let Lies of P fill that void with something that is, in many ways, a From knockoff. Is it weird that I didn’t realize Lies of P was Pinocchio bullshit right away? Whatever, I’m not embarrassed to admit it. Lies of P also captured me with its unsettling presentation and weirdo marionette puppet horror. I spent a surprising amount of time with this one and it found a way to keep its top 10 spot as the year progressed.

7. The Finals

The most recent game to find a spot on the list is The Finals, which seems like it’s primed to absolutely explode onto the esports circuit, or at the very least, become a streaming goto. Somehow this casino vomit factory doesn’t come off as annoying as it should on paper, and instead is a damn joy to play with friends.

6. Cocoon

Oh my god, bugs are the absolute worst, but Cocoon, you forced me to look beyond all that. Every year there’s a smart puzzle-y isometric joint that finds its way onto my list. Cocoon is cleverly designed, and demonstrates a personality through that unspoken language. It’s a warm and cozy feeling I get. And for that, Cocoon, I thank you. Still hate bugs though.

5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

4. Resident Evil 4 Remake

Best fucking remake I’ve ever played, hands-down. RE4 set the tone for contemporary survival horror, and to see it get to take a victory lap in this fashion all these years after its original release is the perfect way to celebrate such a classic game. And despite having played RE4 on almost literally every platform in existence, it perfectly demonstrates what kind of life a masterful remake can breathe into an older game. This is as close to a perfect remake as you could ever hope for, and with expectations well beyond normal for this one, the whole package is a damn miracle.

3. Marvel's Spider-Man 2

2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

1. Alan Wake II

Roaring straight from the “very-much-my-shit” department, Alan Wake II is on a very short list of titles I’ve played that just get me. Horror? Heavy metal? Abandoned amusement parks? Weird masks? Fuck me right up, please! Not only is AW2 a triumph in storytelling, it’s also one of the best-looking games to ever exist. It introduced wildly smart ways to tell and reinforce narratives, nailed the balance between FMV and in-engine cinematics, and introduced arguably the best overall cast in a game. I’ll also shoutout– cause I’m a weirdo– some of the best graffiti work and the most accurate depiction of an NYC subway ever seen in a game.

What can I say, I’m a mark for the spooky shit.

Dylan Bakalar's Top 10 Games of 20223

If you're viewing this in the forums, the Soundcloud embeds will not work.

Check out the article version here.

How cool! Good stuff, Dylan and Dylan's Dad!

Not sure if this is on my end or not but the embeds don't load up in firefox at all for me(ad/tracking blockers are off). Loads totally fine in Edge, however, with the same blockers on or off.

@paradigmdream: Weird. I'm on Firefox too, but the article version works. When I received his list to put into the CMS and saw a bunch of HTML, I was afraid this might happen. lol

probably on my end. firefox has been broken for me for a while and i just can't figure it out for the life of me =\

Dan still sucks!

A shame that this Jeff guy has to ride Dylan's coattails.

Ganon ganon ganon 😊

Roblox at #6, Jerf is losing the war

absolutely loved this

@marino: FWIW I'm on Safari and they weren't loading until I disabled 1Blocker's Annoyances extension. No clue why it thinks SoundCloud is an annoyance, but that's definitely the one that was causing issues.

Same goes for a lot of the images on this site as well, actually. No clue if the extension is simply way too aggressive or if there's something funky going on with how they're coded here.

Whenever big Bakalar retires, just have Dylan take over GB.

Hell yeah Dylan!

Dan SUCKS. With a bullet.

The ongoing feud between Dylan and Dan continues to be very funny to me.

Dan has finally found his nemesis.

This is very sweet, and Dylan is like the coolest lil dude.
Also, both these lists rock.

I don't care which games are on this list, this is the best list

Great lists Bakalars but going to have to give the nod to Dylan's list over Jeff's list as the winner due to Dylan making a very compelling argument with the "Dan sucks" point.

Dylan's Viewfinder overview tells me everything I need to know. And I'm over here listening to 3 hour podcasts like a sucker.

Thank you, Dylan. You rock!

@paradigmdream@marinoFYI I figured out how to get the Soundcloud embeds working on Firefox - it's the same trick you need to do to have the video player load correctly:

1. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page
2. In the fine print links in the footer, click Do Not Sell My Personal Information
3. In the popup element that appears click Allow All
4. Dismiss the window and reload the page
5. Enjoy your embeds

This is with all my blocker/tracker extensions disabled.

@marino: What is Dylan's #7? Tren?