2022 was a year I had a lot less time to play games just because of work related changes, but it was such an incredible year that finding 10 games I would recommend was light work. In another year, any of my top 3 would be an easy number 1.
Ragnarok was a surprise for me, I loved 2018's God of War but there were so many games I loved this year I didn't expect Ragnarok to blow past all of them. But it really built on everything the first game set up, and then took it even further. Improved combat, story, and a larger open world that lets you explore every realm this time around.
Also probably the best character performances I have seen in any game to date, hats off to every single voice actor that worked on this one.
Horizon: Forbidden West is a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time, which probably never needed to be made. I was skeptical about this one, because Zero Dawn was such a complete package and already answered all the big series mysteries, I didn't see how Forbidden West could justify itself.
I was very wrong, because Forbidden West finds new mysteries to explore, and improves on the weakest aspects of the first game: namely the present-day political intrigue. Add to that an expansion of the game's very robust combat systems and you had one of the few games I continued playing after earning my platinum trophy.
It is no surprise this is on my list, WoW is easily my most played video game of all time and every entry has made my list.
Dragonflight is an entry all about exploration, with the major feature being on a revamp of the game's flying. A revamp, by the way, that has single handedly changed the way I move around in that game. I have not used my hearthstone or teleports once because I just enjoy traversal too much now.
On top of that, there are tradeskill and profession revamps, and a rework of the game's reputation systems. All of these are engaging mechanics that give players a lot of optional content to work on.
This may change, wow expansions need to have a long shelf life, but Dragonflight has been a joyous tribute to where the series came from and is strongly recommended to anyone who has taken an expansion or two off.
This is especially the Biotech DLC release for Rimworld released this year, couldn't find it in the wiki.
Rimworld Biotech is an expansion to my favorite video game ever made, and one I have really enjoyed the additions to.
Biotech is much more mechanics focused than earlier DLCs, and mostly hinges around the new genetics systems that allow you to splice together different gene lines to improve or mutate your own colonists in interesting ways. There are a few other mechanics added like the new mechanoid systems or reproduction systems, but the crux here is that genetics system.
I would recommend Ideology to most players coming to the game fresh, but for anybody with thousands of hours in the game that are looking for just a little bit more, Biotech offers that.
A much smaller scale game than others on my least, Citizen Sleeper is set in a future capitalist dystopia where people scrounge to get enough money to pay for another day alive.
This game is extremely narrative focused, so you will know right away if that is something that interests you. Gameplay occurs mostly by spending dice you roll at the outset of each day on different tasks, with higher rolls giving you a higher chance of success.
The only issue I really had with Citizen Sleeper is that the difficulty curve skews towards the early game. Halfway through all resource scarcity was defeated and I was only pushing through the game for the story, I always had more than enough dice to do anything I wanted.
Citizen Sleeper is a really enjoyable and tightly made package, clocking in at about six hours for my playthrough. For fans of RPGs that may not have the time to commit to their usual 50-60 hour playtime, this is a really refreshing change of pace.
Stray is an adorable little indy game with really good cat mechanics. Honestly that is about it, it's an adventure game with some puzzle mechanics where you control a cat.
There is enough story here that I teared up near the end, which is an impressive feat for a pretty short game.
Vampire Survivors is an interesting title, it is basically a flash game that nails the roguelike loop so perfectly that it is easy to lose hours upon hours into it.
All you do in VS is move and try to survive for 30 seconds. You pick up an array of powers as time moves on, but all powers and weapons are automatic. It sounds extremely simple but everything is balanced out so well that it just seems like the perfect culmination of this genre.
Also it costs like $3, so give it a try.
FFO is a game I didn't expect to like. It is a Final Fantasy take on my least favorite genre of video games ever made, Soulsborne action games, but it actually makes some clever design choices that From Software could learn from.
The biggest thing the game does is add variable difficulty modes. You can play it on harder difficulties if you want that kind of frustrating challenging, but for people who just like the mechanics and story there are Normal and Easy mode options too. This can be freely changed from mission to mission too, making the game even more accessible. I can't imagine ever trying a Soulsborne game without this kind of feature ever again.
At first glance the story here seems ridiculous, but as an alternative retelling of FF1 it is actually kind of interesting as well. Though ultimately you are coming to this one for the gameplay. Still, long time FF fans will find some really interesting revelations in this one.
This is for the Steam release of DF released this year.
Dwarf Fortress might be the game with the most development time of any video game, not fully released yet after over 20 years of development time. It is also easily the most complicated video game ever made.
It is, however, maybe one of the most important video games ever made. Spawning such giants as Minecraft, Factorio, or Rimworld.
The steam release makes it...somewhat more accessible. It's still something you'd want to spend hours watching tutorials first, but it actually has graphics and sound now (the base game is all ASCII based graphics).
Cult of the Lamb skyrocketed to my top 3 this year when I first played it, combining a Binding of Isaac roguelike combat system with survival-base building mechanics and an adorably dark art style. The loop had me just wanting to do "one more run" for hours on end.
Unfortunately, the amount of content in the game simply doesn't match the game's length, and by the time I finished 3 of the game's 4 areas I was kind of done. I had maxed everything else in the game, and was just going through the motions for another 2 or 3 hours. If about 4 hours had been cut from the game, this would probably be 3 or 4 on my list.
Honorable Mention.
I have not finished it because it came out so late this year, but it would probably make my list if I had. A throwback JRPG that was crafted with an obvious amount of love with a fan from the genre, but one that holds up to modern narratives and storytelling.
