It's been pretty stellar for me. I've had my high highs and low lows with Elden Ring and I'm really doubtful I'll finish the game at this point, but those highs were super awesome and the lows were more of a "I'm just not enough of a gamer for this game" vibe than actually disliking what was going on.
Meanwhile, Horizon Forbidden West did everything I wanted from a Horizon sequel gameplay wise (a few questionable decisions were made, but nothing immense) and delivered a truly bonkers narrative that might've failed in its tentpole moments but shined awesomely bright in many, many, many small character moments. Much like the previous game, it's a pre-emptive game of the year candidate that nobody else wants to talk about anymore because of another game, but unlike 2017 I can say I've played both and I'm not just running blind here - it's true!
Elsewhere, Gran Turismo 7 has had a dismal launch for the lifers and car obsessives out there but a pretty enjoyable one for the casuals who never expected to have every car they ever wanted after a month (this Reddit thread is a great example of the split) and as I fall in the latter camp, I can say I've nearly played more hours of Gran Turismo 7 than Elden Ring at this point and I'm really enjoying it. The endgame is far from perfect but it's also hard to judge how much I care considering A) most days, I just want to log in and run some races for a half hour so I can get my roulette ticket and move on and B) trying to win the Ferrari race in Barcelona with the GTB '75 was more engaging, white knuckle and relatable than any one boss in Elden Ring and will likely be one of my most memorably successes of 2022.
In cleanup mode, it was nice to see Cyberpunk 2077 functioning and functioning well on a PS5 after the exceptional performance of the PS4 version at launch, and I'm excited to eventually see this game come to PS+ in a year or two (The Witcher 3 was once a PS+ game and CDPR is still in PR mode IMO) so I can experience it fully. Likewise, I beat Returnal twice and only fell off my third and final completion due to other games, and the expansion looks great. I replayed Zero Dawn in preparation for Forbidden West and, while a little rougher around the edges than it seemed my second go around in 2019, it's still that combat so it starts at perfect and goes from there.
I beat Yakuza 3 and 4, and have so far gotten into the second arc of Yakuza 5. I'm not finding this section of the franchise nearly as fun as I did Zero through Kiwami 2, but moment to moment it's still quite charming and a nice, low stakes hang. The Matrix Awakens was a wild thing to see on my TV, it turns out GTA V is still a really, really good video game (and while I've come around to seeing the benefits of 60 fps, proves that I'll still always prefer "realistic" looking games running at 30 fps so they look more like cinema than soap opera) and now MLB The Show 22 is out and my life will settle into its usual routine of no-lifing Diamond Dynasty for 12 hours straight on every day off and slagging off bars and general social activities in favor of binging podcasts and TV shows while I slap doubles into the gap in pursuit of my favorite legends of the game...just like last year...and the year before...and the year before...
Call me McDonald's, I'm lovin' it!
Log in to comment