Keeping a ranked list of the games that came out in 2022 that I played in order to have a GOTY ranking ready to go at the end of the year. However, given that I need to have it ready for my podcast, this is actually December 2022-November 2023.
This is a classic JRPG, that should probably go down as one of the all-time greats. The developers even created items you can turn on or off to make the game easier, so anybody can enjoy it! I found myself constantly wanting to play this game. I got to the final boss and told myself, "Ok, I'm ready to finish the game." Then I went and did about 10 hours of optional side content first. The first ending really encourages you to get the true ending, which I both love and hate. I'm going to be thinking about this game for a long time.
This game is great. World Tour mode is fantastic. I spent about 30 hours on it. I'm looking forward to learning a few characters and hopefully getting good with them. I would like the arcade cabinets to have some kind of way to figure out how good the person you're going to play against is. It is really annoying to have the daily quest be "win 3 arcade matches in the hub."
Fantastic. Everything I wanted it to be. I <3 Charles. There were a number of mechanics in this game that made me go, "Why is this not done more?!" $20, ~ 4 hours to 100%
What a fantastic sequel! This game went from 2-player co-op to 4-player co-op! It even gave Marian from Double Dragon some awesome character development! The music is fantastic and there was plenty of comedy to go around as well. There were some boss fights that were annoying. This could be me not understanding what to do. The game is roughly twice the length of the first one. Towards the end of that, I was ready to be done. When I realized I was about to start the end section of the game, I felt like this was about the right length. This means they kept the pace going very well.
I do not understand all of the hate this game received. I hear it's because people were expecting it to be more like Dead Space. Not being like Dead Space is one reason I really enjoyed it. That series is overrated. It was surprisingly fun to telekinesis enemies into spikes repeatedly. It was cathartic to just stomp a defeated enemy that annoyed you over and over. I thought the story did some interesting things, but there are some things that could have been better. The stealth mechanics were only ok. The game did not do a great job of communicating the correct direction, so there would be times I wanted to explore and accidentally advanced the story.
I am absolutely shocked at how good this game is. I had sooooooooo much fun. Just an absolute blast. There are some missions where they make you search for things and it can be annoying. There are some trophies that are annoying, but I want to play the DLC so much. This and The Callisto Protocol are neck and neck.
Fantastic game. Exceeded my expectations. Game of Thrones meets Mega Man meets JRPG. Definitely one of my favorite games for sure. I absolutely love Titan's powers, because you can counter moves.
On second playthrough, this game was more like candy. Tasty, enjoyable in the moment, but fleeting in satisfaction.
I really came around on this game.. When I started, I was not really into it. I think I'm not big on samurais. Somewhere around Chapter 8 though, it really grabbed me and I was excited to play and see it through to the end. This is definitely a great LAD game.
I really enjoyed the premise of this game. I don't know how they make a sequel, but I hope that they do. Lots of fun, well executed.
A short, fun Metroidvania! Really enjoyed this. There are some flaws. I wish points of interest came off of your map once you finished them. I'm missing a key item that I cannot find anywhere, which is a bit frustrating.
Wow! This took me about an hour to 100%. It only cost $3. It was a fantastic 3D platformer collectathon. Highly recommend.
Well, they made it better than the mediocrity that was the original RE4. There are some additional side quests, but it's still held back by feeling part way between horror and action. They even added a stealth mechanic that is not great. It could have added a lot of tension and made the game better.
I quite enjoyed this story of an immigrant family to Canada. Fun to do some easy cooking.
It just felt really bland throughout. Nothing offensive. I liked that you start with the stances/items/powers you ended the last game with. It just felt like it suffers from lack of direction. Fallen Order felt like you were going to these epic worlds. Survivor feels like they wanted to slap "open world" on the box and watered down everything great.
I enjoyed some of the story, but it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Still fun to make beverages.
I had fun with this overall, but I do not see myself going back to it. There are a lot of good pieces, but the game overall was a fun, short romp.
I'm not sure what it was about this game, but it just didn't click with me. It's clearly well made and designed. I think part of it was that the abilities felt too scatter shot.
On paper, I should love this game. It's Marvel characters with Fire Emblem Three Houses interactions. In execution, I just kept feeling shorted. I kept forcing myself to play in hopes it would get better. I finished the first Act (or was it Chapter) and had to be done. I don't know why the elements just aren't gelling for me. It feels like you're a character interacting with the world instead of being a part of the world. You also cannot romance any of the superheroes. I cannot put my finger on what je ne sais quoi is not there. It's just like the Walmart brand of both Marvel and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, fine but not great. In roughly 20 hours of play, it crashed 10 times. It has a pretty good autosave system, but it got really annoying. People complained like crazy about Saints' Row (2022), which I had one crash in the whole game, but not about this.
This is the stand-in for Metroid Prime Remastered. I can definitely see how this would have blown Gamecube owner minds in 2002, but in 2023 there are so many design issues. Required items are well hidden, there are platforming issues that do not have shortcuts later, and you should just be able to fast travel between save points or other rooms. I have no issues hiding optional items like energy tanks or missile upgrades, but hiding the 12 artifacts that are required to finish the game is poor.
Watched my wife/helped my wife play this game. It was fun! She enjoyed it and got 1000/1000 in under 5 hours. Pretty great introductory action game set in an Alice In Wonderland type world.
I played through the first major chunk of the game. It was interesting, but I was not really having fun or feeling compelled to continue.
Tying the combat to the rhythm makes it feel clunky. It's a stylish beat 'em up (ala Devil May Cry) that doesn't feel cool.
A decent shooter that is missing some QoL items. It's fine.
It's fine. Gets stale fast.
This is generic af. Stay away. Would still rather play than Halo: Infinite.
Wow. I really thought Redfall was the shoo-in for worst game of 2023. This game is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring. It commits one of the worst crimes a horror game can do. It thinks it is being clever/interesting/scary/saying something, but it's not doing anything at all. This game is so boring that I am now worried the Silent Hill 2 Remake will be bad. I would still rather suffer through this than Halo: Infinite though.
