Game of the Year 2022
As my gaming year ends, I can’t help but think that despite a number of people I listen to in the industry telling me it was a dire year for gaming (admittedly this did seem to drop off towards the end of the year), I was almost continually enthralled and often overwhelmed trying to get to new games, while in quieter periods, getting to some older games that I’d been meaning to. The big thing for me this year with my top 10 was, could I put this down? The answer for most of these games was a big no, they were games I needed to get through and I’d often put aside other games and forms of entertainment to get through them.
Previous Year Lists: 2008 (Braid), 2009 (Dragon Age: Origins), 2010 (Mass Effect 2), 2011 (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim), 2012 (Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward), 2013 (The Last of Us), 2014 (Dark Souls II), 2015 (Bloodborne), 2016 (Inside), 2017 (NieR Automata), 2018 (Yakuza 6: The Song of Life), 2019 (Outer Wilds), 2020 (Final Fantasy VII Remake), 2021 (Psychonauts 2)
2021 Games – Because I only got a PS5 this year:
Returnal – I’d heard this was good but never really got the sense that I’d love it as much as I did, would have easily made my top 5 last year. I almost considered adding it to this year’s list given the new content but it wasn’t substantial enough…though it was really good.
Deathloop – After some of the mixed things I’d heard about this game, I wasn’t really sure how to feel about it and while I found myself sort of skimming over some of the deeper story elements, that Arkane gameplay is just too damn great. It’s no Prey, but that’s a high bar to clear, would have hovered around the bottom half of my top 10 last year.
Disappointment:
Rollerdrome – Looking for something to play on my new PS5, I’d heard some good things about this from people I trust and other than the feel specifically focusing on my love for pre Star Wars 70s Science Fiction, the gameplay just did nothing for me and I quickly gave up.
Honourable Mentions:
God of War Ragnarok – This game nails the landing, almost to the point that I forgot how damn bumpy the ride was. While I can’t fault a lot of the game design and combat here (though I had my issues there) I just found myself largely unengaged through so much of this story, it wasn’t a ‘need to play it’ for me and I'd often find other things to do rather than play it.
Scorn – Oh Scorn, why did your combat infuriate me so? It says a lot about how much I generally liked this game that I’m even talking about it here. Hell, I got up to the “last boss” and realised I didn’t have a key weapon from earlier in the game…so I had to go back through some extremely frustrating sections of the game to get it. I still did it and in general, I still feel somewhat positive about the game despite all those frustrations.
AI: The Somnium Files The Nirvana Initiative – Tokiko Shigure, she’s the reason I’m even talking about this game. It’s so damn frustrating that the rest of this game is bland and cringe inducing because Tokiko Shigure as a character is an absolute triumph and the game knows that too. Because of her, it almost made the list.
Vampire Survivors – If I had a Steam Deck and a lot of time to kill, it might have made the list, but I don’t and didn’t really. I do like the depth but it’s now at the point where I know I need to set aside over 30 minutes to play the game and may have no success which killed the buzz a little.