The following are my favorite gaming experiences of 2022. These games may not have necessarily been released in 2022, but I played them in 2022 and enjoyed them tremendously!
Looking at my 2022 list I think this is my year of CRPGs. I had to cut more than a few games out of this list that I enjoyed because the games I really found a profound amount of love for in 2022 were CRPGs and I want to talk about them.
CRPGs Section
Baldurs Gate
Nearly 25 years after this game was released and in honor of understanding the world of Baldur’s Gate 3, I committed to playing it… and I finished it. I usually struggle with returning to older games due to quality-of-life improvements built into games over time. This game was so good I was able to look beyond it. I really enjoyed the story, the graphics are atrocious by today’s standards, but not really fair to grade it on graphics. The gameplay is great, and the systems work and make sense (except THAC0). I really enjoyed my time with this game and was one of my favorite experiences of 2022.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access
Hands down the best early access experience I’ve had. Watching the development and playing Baldur’s Gate 3 early access from the initial EA release date of October 2020 and playing off and on, a majority in 2022, I completely got swept up in this game. I put in just over 40 hours in early access in advance of being able to play the game for the final release in 2023. Early access only contained the first act, and I had a blast. This early access experience made me incredibly excited for full release.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
As a non-tabletop game player, I found Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (and more so Kingmaker) relatively obtuse to engage with and required a fairly steep learning curve to build and grow a character. The developers created avenues to make this easier with pre-built characters and development paths, though I wanted to go my own route so I brought a little pain to myself by doing so. The arcane nature of character building and some poor choices in difficulty spikes are the worst aspects of this downright phenomenal game. The rest isn’t perfect (I’m looking at you, crusade mode…) but I got swept up in the adventure and absolutely loved this game. I spent over 90 hours in this game playing different characters and having a blast (with some frustrations due to my lack of knowledge meaning making bad builds). This is an amazing CRPG with some caveats, but still amazing.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
I wanted very much to get into Divinity: Original Sin, I played the first 10 hours probably 3 or 4 times. I just kept falling off for various reasons, primarily that it just didn’t hook me. Divinity: Original Sin 2 came along, and it completely hooked me. I’ve played a few different characters (I’m very tired of Act 1 at this point at over 90 hours of playtime) and I think this game is amazing. No CRPG in my experience hits without some caveats that cause frustration because it’s not well communicated, this game has them as well (i.e. don’t play a character without speaking with animals ability, ensure your elf eats people remnants for interesting story beats). Up to the end of 2022, Divinity Original Sin 2 and Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous were the best CRPGs and I can completely understand why and agree after spending so much time with the game.
Solasta Crown of the Magister
After playing DIvinity and Pathfinder, going to Solasta was a bit jarring. Solasta is based on the D&D 5e ruleset, which wasn’t that big of a deal to adjust – though the production values between Solasta and the other titles aren’t fairly comparable. Solasta is the first game from the French studio Tactical Adventures, there’s a lot of heart in this game and they found the fun for gameplay but it is not a $100+ Million game, if you can accept that you will have a good time. The strengths of this game are quality-of-life moments for CRPGs (i.e. a fun take on auto-looting) and the combat. Weak or mediocre points are writing, voice acting wasn’t the best, sound effects weren’t amazing, and graphical fidelity and design weren’t phenomenal. I spent about 40ish hours going through the campaign and had a great time playing.
Non-CRPGs
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
I’m a Marvel comics mark. I’m a turn-based action mark. Combine the two? They had me. I rarely pre-order anything, but I pre-ordered this. I even bought the expensive edition that had all of the DLC included. I was excited to start playing… and I loved the gameplay. The writing? I really did not enjoy it. The more I’ve thought about it, the writing – specifically the character interactions – felt like it was geared toward a 10-year-old. Honestly, it’s a Marvel Comics property. I can see why they did that. I didn’t enjoy the choice. There were also plot issues as the game ended that had me yelling at the TV expressing my frustration at the writing quality. Unfortunately, I hit a fairly severe bug which was resolved in the first patch. Though by then I had moved on, I wouldn’t pick up the game again until 2023 (it was released in December 2022). I’ll be talking about this again in my 2023 list.
Elden Ring
In 2021 I found appreciation for souls-like video games. I tried Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and a handful of other Souls-like games. I appreciated and respected them, but I wouldn’t say I really enjoyed them. Elden Ring was released and I was willing to try it. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Definitely not perfect for me, though I had fun with it. What really surprised me is that with the pivot and change in direction that the Legend of Zelda series has taken in the last 5 to 10 years from a dungeon-crawling exploration game to a sandbox crafting game with some dungeons and puzzles thrown in it really struck me how much Elden Ring is my favorite Zelda game of the last decade.
Elden Ring has the exploration and discovery, needing certain items to advance. It’s difficult to describe, but this game gave me the feeling of an older Zelda game I’d been missing.
Psychonauts 2
I never played the original Psychonauts. I attempted to play it before jumping into Psychonauts 2 and almost immediately fell off of it. I usually struggle going back and playing games from 10+ years ago and this was no different. Psychonauts 2 hooked me from the first hour. I was impressed with the writing, the performances were great and the gameplay was fun. Psychonauts 1 would give more context to the characters, but I didn’t feel lost playing 2 without playing 1. I’d recommend this game as a fun, smart escapade which is pretty casual.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
I have a history with Ratchet and Clank, in that I love the games, they’re fun and absolutely beautiful and I detest the final boss fights. Rift apart is no different. Fantastic story, and amazing performances including series newcomer and absolute video game legend Jennifer Hale. I had a great time with this game, but man the end boss fight was so long and frustrating I didn’t finish it (same with the reboot Ratchet and Clank 2016). I think people of all ages would enjoy this game and would recommend it for the eye candy alone, the great gameplay is a bonus that kept me coming back.
Sifu
Sifu is hands down the best representation of mapping martial arts to a video game I’ve ever experienced. This game is not for everyone, I’d honestly say it’s for very few percentage-wise. I’m definitely one of the people this game is for and I love it. The structure of the game (if you die, you age, but can only age so much before the game is over) is smart. The controls/feel is great. It’s mechanically complex – this feels like where most of the development focus was, which was a good choice. There would be no game if the controls were off even a little bit. The graphics, performances, and sound are all fine. Great experience and a game I’d recommend to anyone who wants an in-depth fighting mechanics-focused game.
Persona 5
I have a history with this game. I struggled to engage with it on its terms. In 2022 I got further in the game than I ever had before (last or second to last stage). I think I’m done with the game at this point. My personal battle with this game aside and some of the issues I had with it, there’s a reason I kept coming back to it. It’s hands-down the most stylish game I’ve ever played or seen. Great gameplay battle mechanics, and music are among if not the best I’ve heard for a video game. I’d be conflicted recommending the game unless you’re a turn-based JRPG or artistically minded individual. I had a fantastic time with it with some frustrations that can be read about under the history link above.
Powerwash Simulator
Creating a sense of accomplishment in something as imaginary as a video game can be a tricky proposition. Powerwash Simulator luxuriates in the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in something so simple as just cleaning something. I spent multiple hours and finished Powerwash Simulator, loving every moment. Casinos have allegedly spent a lot of time and money working to trigger base human reactions to make playing their games enticing. Powerwash Simulator does its addictive gameplay loop so well. I’ve lost hours playing it and felt very addicted to the gameplay loop without the pesky side effect of losing hundreds if not thousands of dollars. This game is an easy recommendation to anyone.
Vampire Survivors
Similar to Powerwash Simulator, Vampire Survivors has an incredibly addictive gameplay loop. The gameplay is as simple as ‘don’t get hit by the bad guys’ – you don’t even fire your weapon it’s on a timer. And it feels great. The sole developer of this game is (or was) a full-time casino game developer and the sounds in leveling up take the enticing nature of walking a casino floor to play a game and make you feel great for winning. Also similar to Powerwash Simulator, you can play this game for 20 hours or as long as you want (personally I have 40 hours in it) and not lose a tremendous amount of money. I think I spent $2 on this game. If I’m remembering that right… it’s 5 cents an hour for entertainment. This game is easily worth $20 or more and is one of the best games of 2022.
Chorus
While attending High School and College, I really loved playing games like the Wing Commander series, Tachyon the Fringe, and Freelancer. I loved those games and they really sparked my imagination. Chorus is a game that is made in the same style as those older games, and I loved it. Some of the production values weren’t the highest and unfortunately, the game did not meet its sales targets which is such a shame. The game is a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who likes space combat adventures.
