Games in 2022
Chaos Galaxy II hasn't been added to the wiki yet.
Iron Lung hasn't been added to the wiki yet.
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I don't know where to start with this one. My partner has never played a souls game (or an open world RPG) and they played through Elden Ring. It was a joyous thing to do as a couple.
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HighFleet was a game I very nearly picked up right at launch and instead held off on it until the very end of the year. I quickly found myself poring over the manual and community-made guides for this game and, like a couple other games on my list, it was a big part of the start of 2022.
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Absolutely loved the initial demo they put out to announce this game. When the prologue demo came out, though, I was greeted with two chapters of overlong exposition and monologues. I don't think they needed to do *that* much to set the stakes for the world. Once I got through to the point where you fight in a tournament, everything seemed to relax a little. The game stopped worrying about overlong lore dumps and you were given more space to engage with the world's complicated political structures and delicious tactical combat at a less glacial pace.
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I liked the previous OlliOlli games fine, but found they were a little too finnicky about their inputs. I love that OlliOlli world kept some of the score-chasing leaderboard stuff but made that feel a little more friendly to new players. Unlocking a wide range of cosmetics for your character and the individual parts of your board is deeply satisfying.
Somehow this game nails what Trials was trying to do by adding tricks to the mix better than Trials did. I do think some of the later levels are just technically demanding from a platforming perspective, so chasing scores might be beyond my ability, but there's so much to love about OlliOlli World that it's hard to get too mad about that. I loved Trials Evolution, but there were some later levels in that I was just glad to complete, nevermind get gold on.
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I was always more partial to vertical shmups, but it's so hard to deny the appeal of Drainus. The absorb shield mechanic adds a nice little bit of tactical depth and above all that, the art direction is just tremendous.
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Specifically the Layer Section & Galactic Attack S-Tribute version that came out in 2022.
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Not out in NA yet :(
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I finally managed to get a flip grip for my Switch this year and went on a massive shmup bender as a result. Ikaruga continues to absolutely rule. Here's some other bangers I played:
- ZeroRanger (PC)
- Bullet Hell Monday Black (mobile)
- Danmaku Unlimited 3 (Switch/mobile)
- Deathsmiles I & II (Switch)
- Raiden V Director's Cut (Switch)
- Crimzon Clover World Explosion (Switch)
- Space Moth: Lunar Edition (Switch)
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It is hard to overstate just how satisfying it is to peel apart all these increasingly complex ships. That Hardspace: Shipbreaker has a great story connecting all of that is just a tremendous achievement. Many developers would likely have backburnered the story after nailing the basic gameplay loop and some special care was taken to connect that loop to a well-told, thoughtful story about our relation to manual labour and the exploitative practices that can make industrial work so dangerous.
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I played through most of FF7R when it came out. Was excited to come back to it on new hardware and (finally) be able to experience the new chapter they added for PS5.
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Didn't get this until the very end of 2021 and really only got into the meat of the game in early 2022.
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Picked this up entirely based off how fucking weird the demo was. It has not disappointed so far. Absolutely a PS2-ass game on modern hardware and I love it for that.
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Actually managed to get a PS5 this year, which means I was able to check out Returnal. As a Housemarque, er, mark, I really enjoyed the vibe of this game. Being able to suspend cycles and come back to them means that Returnal is actually something I can fit into my life now.
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Sunbreak expansion coming in 2022.
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I didn't pick this up until the very end of 2021. Given the pretty quiet release schedule to kick off 2022, this occupied a lot of my free time.
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2023
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2023
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2023?
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2023
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2023?
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