Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted November 24, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted November 24, 2022 It's been a good year for games again as we've had some really great releases this year in pretty much every spectrum/genre you can think of. Whether you're into puzzle-solving or open-world gaming there's been a good release to keep you engaged. Here are some of my picks for this year's best games and of course the one that rules the roost for me this year. The Good Elden Ring (Multi-Platform) - Supremely engaging game which added a lot of small niceties to the already difficult world that FromSoftware crafted with previous games. This isn't to say this game doesn't have bugs/flaws but overall I found it a much nicer experience and quite nice in terms of how many layers they managed to pack into this game. Have a Nice Death (PC) - If you like rogue-like games this one is superb. It's quick and to the point, and offers some great platform combatting as well. Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) - Top-tier game. On the surface it looks very childish but the more you get into it, the more you realize how good this game really is. You can breeze through levels and get past bosses but if you actually try and get stronger on the way to make the end better you'll find yourself struggling with some challenges that are very basic but become impossible the more you play them. This is my Switch GOTY. Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? (PC) - Great game and reminded me a lot of the games that were made in the early 2000s where you had to drive a narrative. Quirky humor on top of it all just adds to the experience. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (PC) - This for me was one of the best multi-player beat-em-ups of the year. It's great alone too but once you play it with friends that's where this game truly shines and gives a good shoutout to Konami's original TMNT game. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch) - I have spent quite a few hours in travel on this game and I really like it. If you've played it previous two iterations I highly recommend this one and Nintendo have a good package deal to get them all three at once. Bayonetta 3 (Switch) - Easy recommendation for GOTY. It's over the top, its a hack-and-slash at its heart and the characters are just bat-shit crazy. If you own a Switch this is a must-have. River City Girls 2 (PC) - Another beat-em-up that I thoroughly enjoyed playing this year. If you have seen the older ones you'll love this one too. Their fight mechanics are a bit weird but once you understand them its all about unleashing chaos on the NPCs. A Plague Tale: Requiem (PC) - Superb from start to finish and a good successor to the first game put out by Focus Entertainment. If you haven't played the original I suggest you do that as well because its a great game. God of War: Ragnarok (PS5) - There was some discussion in the gaming thread about this one and I have to agree with the sentiments posted there. This game is great, dont get me wrong, and you should play it because Santa Monica studios have a winner on their hands with Kratos and Norse Mythology but it does get a bit cheesy and overbearing at times. However, this my Playstation exclusive GOTY. Enough said and there's lots of literature on the internet to catch you up on it. The Bad King of Fighters XV (Playstation) - As a fan of the original SNK/Neo-Geo movement when this game came out I thought I'd give this a try and having played it, its god-awful. For a game that had such great team-up fighting rosters which could unbalance competitive games to this pile of garbage was a huge downward turn. Ghostwire: Toyko (Playstation) - When the first screens of this game were shown I thought it had a lot of promise but its terribly clunky and really too repetitive to call it anything but a good experiment. The Not so Great Horizon: Forbidden West (Playstation) - Alloy gets tedious after a while and even with all the beautiful landscapes, the engaging fights between you and mecha it fell a bit short imo. Maybe it's time they moved to another franchise and gave this one a rest and I keep thinking that they should revive Killzone but that's never going to happen. Also, FromSoftware took a total dump on Sony when this came out. Gran Turismo 7 - Polyphony Digital have never really strayed from their formulaic racing simulator engine and maybe with the new one coming out soon we'll see something better but this can't compare to what Microsoft has put out in Forza. Is it terrible? No. But its not as nice as its competitor. Ikai (PC) - I like horror games so when I saw this on Steam I figured it would be great. Turns out its not as good as it was hyped to be and while the reviewers gave it a high score I found that a lot of things just felt buggy. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Switch) - Standard gameplay and while its fun if you like the series there's nothing to write home about. Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course (PC) - Considering how good the first edition of this series was I had high hopes. And, it wasn't particularly bad but its the same formula with a little rinse and repeat. More fun with two players than one. Stray (PS5) - Cute game with some puzzle solving and you get to be a cat which is weird at first but the more you progress into the game the more fun it gets. There are so many other games I played this year but really these were the top ones that stuck in my head as I was writing this. I purposely omit things that EA does with sports franchises or remakes/remasters because those games have had their time in the sun and really don't need to be discussed. My pick for GOTY "Elden Ring" FromSoftware pushed a different kind of boundary with this game. It's not every day that you kill a bear five times your size only to turn a corner and get jackknifed by a falcon with swords for talons (where they dream this stuff up I'll never know). This game keeps you on your toes. It's relentless and there is no level at which you're truly safe because the entire environment is out to get you. The bosses/mini-bosses have issues that would make a psychologist question themselves and it's not for everyone but if you give it a try I doubt you'd be disappointed. The last thing to mention here is how varied the skill tree and more importantly the accomplishment factor is. Roaming the land to grind can produce some of the best fight moments in gaming leaving you to decide how you want to attack a boss and there are more than a 100 ways to skin a cat in this game. I know a lot of people will go for Kratos and his journey in the media but that game really is the same engine (a lot of it) and a great story, it never felt challenging at any point and it doesn't allow you to be as expressive in your gaming style as Elden Ring. What were some of the games you played this year that you really liked? Were there any indie games that caught your attention that you really enjoyed? Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Hewitt Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 I think the only 2022 games I actually played was Turtles: Shredder's Revenge and Pokémon Arceus. I suppose Football Manager Mobile 23 as well, but we'll ignore that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 3, 2022 Author Subscriber Share Posted December 3, 2022 On 24/11/2022 at 15:15, Bluebird Hewitt said: I think the only 2022 games I actually played was Turtles: Shredder's Revenge and Pokémon Arceus. There were so many hoardings for the Pokemon game when I was on holiday in Bangkok and I genuinely wanted to get into the craze but then I said there are more games to finish when i get home that I skipped it haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Hewitt Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 9 hours ago, Mel81x said: There were so many hoardings for the Pokemon game when I was on holiday in Bangkok and I genuinely wanted to get into the craze but then I said there are more games to finish when i get home that I skipped it haha. Fair enough. Arceus is actually quite decent. A bit rough around the edges but I like that it tried something new and that parts of it could be taken into the main series if they can be arsed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Viva la FCB+ Posted December 6, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 Great list as always Mel. I've actually played none of them so I cant really offer much.. im still working on backlog of older games I would ask you about Elden Ring, I get the hype, Ive seen alot of gameplay and it looks absolutely gorgeous. BUT personally Ive never played a "Dark Souls" style game, i would consider myself more then a casual gamer and probably above average but im not sure those type of games are for me is why I ask I suppose. The one hit idea has always put me off just on the surface to basically never try them, but what says you!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 6, 2022 Author Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 16 minutes ago, Viva la FCB said: Great list as always Mel. I've actually played none of them so I cant really offer much.. im still working on backlog of older games I would ask you about Elden Ring, I get the hype, Ive seen alot of gameplay and it looks absolutely gorgeous. BUT personally Ive never played a "Dark Souls" style game, i would consider myself more then a casual gamer and probably above average but im not sure those type of games are for me is why I ask I suppose. The one hit idea has always put me off just on the surface to basically never try them, but what says you!? I say take the plunge. This is a Souls game for everyone imo. It's not all one hit if you play your cards right and explore the land. It gets a bit tedious at parts but my only advice is dont give up and take some time and seriously roam the land. There is so much to do and so much that will improve your skill bucket no matter what your build is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted December 6, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 I think I haven't played a single 2022 game, to be honest. The only new one I got this year is Ballads of Hongye, but I haven't played it yet, either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 6, 2022 Author Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 2 minutes ago, nudge said: I think I haven't played a single 2022 game, to be honest. The only new one I got this year is Ballads of Hongye, but I haven't played it yet, either Backlogs are beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ Posted December 6, 2022 Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 Just now, Mel81x said: Backlogs are beautiful. My backlog is so huge, two lifetimes wouldn't be enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 6, 2022 Author Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 1 minute ago, nudge said: My backlog is so huge, two lifetimes wouldn't be enough That means you're doing it right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 6, 2022 Author Subscriber Share Posted December 6, 2022 2 minutes ago, nudge said: My backlog is so huge, two lifetimes wouldn't be enough I'll show you my browsing history but my backlog is strictly off-limits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted December 18, 2022 Author Subscriber Share Posted December 18, 2022 Elden Ring took GOTY at the Game Awards this year. No surprise really even though Santa Monica put out a great game with GoW. I feel like the gaming development community are going to look at ER a bit more closely now and start to take elements of its open world gaming and bring them to other games which I think is going to be refreshing to see. We don't need a rouge-like death crawler as that will alienate the casual gaming community, but I do feel like world roaming and farming are the death of a good open world game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird Hewitt Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 12 hours ago, Mel81x said: Elden Ring took GOTY at the Game Awards this year. No surprise really even though Santa Monica put out a great game with GoW. I feel like the gaming development community are going to look at ER a bit more closely now and start to take elements of its open world gaming and bring them to other games which I think is going to be refreshing to see. We don't need a rouge-like death crawler as that will alienate the casual gaming community, but I do feel like world roaming and farming are the death of a good open world game. Meh. It only won because Russia blowing up Ukraine delayed the true GOTY, Advance Wars Reboot Camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 I didn't play that many new games this year. I think the only one I can say was definitively a 2022 game is the game I've most recently started playing. It's really good, I'll give it my 2022 game of the year award Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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