Games of 2022

[Prpl_Mage]

Well there you go, another year passed us by.

The world is getting better slowly and recovering from different kinds of bullshit in different places of the world. Charas still isn't an active community but we are still here. For me personally this was a year filled with a lot of life stuff happening. A few thing hitting close to home but mostly things happening in my friends' lives. And as the responsible adult I've been expected to help them sort things out and have their back. I hope for a calmer 2023.

Still, I managed to play some games, even if it ended up being couch coop and other types of coop games mostly to keep in touch with people and to do something other than just talking about things. Not sure if you're like me but my attention starts to waver after a while when expected to be a good listener and I hate going to a pub to listen (seriously, I can't even hear my own thoughts there) so having a game going on at the same time means there's a good distraction to buy time to come up with a good response etc. Man I sound weird.

Anyway, here goes. The games of 2022:

2021:
http://www.charas-project.net/forum/index.php?topic=29633.0

2022

X-Com Enemy Unknown/Within

A nice game that I only encountered briefly some 8 years back when I visited a friend and the rest of the guys hadn't shown up. I liked it in theory but the dying characters, the constant threat of things going out of hand etc put me off. I mean, I felt that Majoras Mask put pressure on me even though you can reset things endlessly. I'm a slow and steady guy so put it out of my mind. Then there was a sale and I saw it and X-Com 2, Youtube algorithm conveniently also propped me with a youtube video about game balance in which the game was used as an example. Long story short, decided to buy it. Then came the mandatory "let things lie in the Steam library for a year before playing" and I picked it up at the start of this one. I found myself having grown a lot in where I accepted the consequences of my actions almost gracefully, I didn't go back too often to my previous save or make 10 different versions "just in case". I didn't look up efficiency guides or such even if every rank your operatives make means a choice between 2 different skills. I didn't let it bother me that my crew got wounded and put in med bay, that the terror level rose across the globe because I didn't have satellites etc. And once you just accept things, the game is good fun. Keep in mind I played it on "Normal", which is one of the easiest difficulties, but I didn't want my first run of the game to be at a difficulty where I would feel the pressure to perform and really think about my options without even knowing the game. In the end, it took me 50 or so missions before I made my final raid on the aliens and liberated Earth. It was far from perfect, but it was enjoyable.

7 Days to Die (revisit)
An early access game that I got back in 2014 or something. It is still early access...
It's a first person Zombie survival with crafting elements. So if you've played ARK or Minecraft you know kinda what you got. The big selling point is the fact that every 7 days zombies will swarm you during "blood moons" and try to take you and your base out. Anyway. It's 2022, the game is still an early access game, it is in "Alpha 20.4" and the game has changed from being more action based to skillpoint/category based. It's okay but I played it for the multiplayer before and I still just play it for the multiplayer. It was fun for the few runs I had with my buddy, then we kinda maxed the stats we cared about, found some cool loot and ended up with the same realization as before. If survival is the goal then we've won. There is no end game except for "missions" that turn an area into a fetch or clear quest. Then you get some money and some random loot. Or you wait around for the next 7th day for an increasingly more difficult horde. That's it. So yeah, we moved on after that.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
So this is the Expansion/DLC for Monster Hunter Rise, the Switch title that was later released for PC and upcoming PS5 and XboxOne(?). While the base game covered Low and High rank, much like previous games, Sunbreak added the Master Rank (also much like previous "ultimate editions". The Rampage mode that was frequented in base game didn't return in the expansion. However, follower quests were added instead. The story is basic monster hunter story, but it moved away from the Asian inspired base game to a typical knight in armor setting for this one. Which is kinda weird? Anyway, lots of new monster and returning monsters that are fun to fight. And the addition of the Afflicted Monster end game thingy means that all monsters (not just the end tier) are worth fighting. Something that old games lacked but newer titles have tried to solve in different ways.
I also changed my main weapon for the expansion just to have something new to discover gameplay wise. There were some changes with added switch skills and such but all in all the weapons stayed the same.



Donkey Kong country tropical freeze
If you liked the Wii title then you will like this one. Not really gonna repeat everything said about that game but this game does all that and adds a bit more with additional buddies that join you. Still great coop fun and the treasure hunt to get all the letters and secret exits etc adds to the complexity if you want.

Overcooked 2
It's like Overcooked, the perfect coop game. Well not the perfect one, but y'know. Each stage has dishes to make, some obstacles and recipes to keep in your head. As a team you will work together to grab ingredients, prepare them, dump them in the correct cooking method, not let it burn, deliver it and take care of the dishes. The stages qiuckly escalates in this one however, with new fancy mechanics being added and difficult stages as well as hidden levels. I guess this one expects you to finish Overcooked 1 first.

Unepic
It is what it sets out to be really. A metroidvania kind of game with rpg elements and a 4th wall breaking(ish) story. It's made by nerds for nerds and there are some gold pieces of satire in here as well.
The game itself is kinda straightforward with mostly melee weapon that are differently effective against certain enemies and spells etc that are unlocked as you progress which gives you the means to defeat the newer enemies.
The last stretch of the game ended up being a bit too much of "use the right spell" for my taste which didn't really lean into the design element of leveling up your stats and different weapon types. But hey, the game is really cool!


Horizon Zero Dawn (+Frozen North)
I've had this for some time and started this a couple of times, but being a parent and having responsibilities and such kinda means that I only play it for a couple of hours a time. Now, bear with me - open world games are great for people with a lot of free time, like teenagers, who can really immerse themselves in the world, follow their whims and remember where they've gone and what they've done. HZD helps you out here, but it's both a blessing and a curse. For the measly price of 1 ms you can buy a map that marks the approximate location of the world's collectibles. And while I really enjoy this, being able to set a marker and go seek 'em out etc. it also means that I will never explore the areas with nothing marked on them. It was an interesting lesson to learn as a player.
Still, great game with some cool mechanics, different difficulty modes that can make the game play the way you want it (although based on the game's mechanics and abilities etc, there is an intended way to play). You level up and get more hp as well as points to spend on a skill tree and you can collect animal parts to unlock bigger ammo bags for your myriad of weapons. It's just a bit of a shame that weapons mostly come in tiers and are all unlocked one tier at a time white > green > blue > purple. And then you can't really make them because you need to progress the story to encounter specific enemies. Still, I like it even if I haven't tried the dlc thingy yet.

Slime Rancher
This year has been a bit of an eventful year, so I've been looking at a bunch of challenge runs trying to get some inspiration to play more games. I encountered this youtube channel simply known as "the backlogs" with a guy doing challenge runs, mostly things like X Com and Dark Souls but still. During one of the live plays he played Slime Rancher. Inspired by that (and the autumn sale, Black Friday/ whatever) I decided to give it a go, it seemed like a straight forward game.
It's a low threat game where you collect and mix and match slimes in order to get "Plorts" which are sold for cash. Use the cash to expand your farm to earn more cash. Explore the world to find different kinds of slimes as well as hidden goodies etc.
There is also a "Lab" you can unlock and use your plorts with, and if you get tired of your infinite game you can try Rush Mode in which you instead only have around 5 days to earn as much as possible instead of the game being an eternal loop of managing your farm.

Warhammer 40k Darktide
Not having the time to play longer game because of life I tend to set time aside for meeting people instead. But that's me. As such, most of the games I play these days are mission based. Warhammer 40k Darktide (Or y'know, just Darktide) is such a game. Darktide uses a similar formula to Vermintide, and that's the problem really. In advertisement they have presented this as a new Vermintide 2, and while it solved the "use range" problem of that game pretty well it messed up some others. Such as classes being limited, and there only being 4 to choose from. That the story is focused around your silent protagonist type etc. However, they really captured the feeling of the 40k universe and the game got an amazing soundtrack and perfect voice actors. Good game, but the content could use a few updates to flesh out.

[Apex]

I actually kept a list of games I beat for the first time this year:
Castle of Illusion - GG
Metroid Prime 2 - GC
YS Books I & II - PC Engine
Land of Illusion - GG
Castlevania Rondo of Blood - PC Engine
Ristar - GG
Final Fantasy VII Remake - PC
Nuetopia - PC Engine
Resident Evil Village - PC
Metal Gear Solid - Twin Snakes - GC
Monster Hunter Rise - PC
Dynastic Hero - PC Engine
Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages - GBC
Wario Land - GB
Resident Evil Code Veronica X - DC
Elden Ring - PC
Sword of Mana - GBA
Mario Land 2 - GB
Parasite Eve 2 - PSX
Kirby's Forgotten Lands - Switch
Final Fantasy XI (base game only) - PC
Golden Axe Warrior - SMS
Panzer Dragoon Orta - Xbox
Parasite Eve Chrysler Building EX Game - PSX (I've beaten the base game many times before)
Knuckles Chaotix - 32X
Paper Mario Color Splash - Wii U
Panzer Dragoon Saga - Saturn
Dynamite Headdy - GEN
Omori - PC
Sonic Triple Trouble Remake - PC
Alex Kidd in Miracle World - SMS
PC Genjin - PC Engine
Sin and Punishment - N64
Bowser's Fury - Switch
Spark the Electric Jester 3 - PC
Xenogears - PSX
Super Princess Peach - DS
Sonic Colors - Wii
Banjo Kazooie - N64
Castlevania Chronicles - PSX
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - SNES
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Wii
Super Contra - NES
Persona 5 Royal - PC
Star Ocean- Divine Force - PC
Sonic Frontiers - PC
Resident Evil Director's Cut - PSX
Resident Evil 2 - PSX
Resident Evil 3 Nemesis - PSX
Bayonetta 3 - Switch
Persona 5 Strikers - PC

I played a few other games this year, but they were ones I've beaten before. I grabbed a 3DO and a Wonderswan Crystal, and I'm hoping to get some mileage out of those this year.

[Moosetroop11]

What I played last year:

Dwarf Fortress (And Dwarf Fortress Premium Edition since it's been out)
Secret of Mana
Pokemon Scarlet
Caves Of Qud
The Witcher 3
Minecraft
Age Of Empires 2 Definitive edition

Same old, same old : p At least I've given some time to bigger blockbuster games like the witcher rather than just constantly playing the old time sinks. AOE2 continues to be played by my friendship group though we don't do that as much as we used to : ) And actually a bit of Smash Bros and Street Fighter 5 now I think about it. I got a snes specifically to play secret of mana for the first time which was good fun.

[Osmose1000]

I don't keep track of everything I play but my favorite game of the year was definitely Neon White. Highly recommend.

[Archem]

2022 was a hectic and busy year for me, so I didn't play quite as many games this time around. Still, I managed to finish a few, so let me talk about them.

February

Bye-Bye BoxBoy! (3DS)

Hey, remember when I played BoxBoy! and loved it (December 2015)? And remember the sequel BoxBoxBoy! and how it was more of that, and I loved it (June 2017)? Well, sticking with tradition, Bye-Bye BoxBoy! is just more of that goodness. I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said the last two times: You do a bunch of box-based platforming puzzles. It's good. I'm excited to start playing BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! (maybe this year?), so I'll pre-emptively review it and say that it's the same game again, and I love it.

April

Sigil (Everything that runs Doom)

John Romero (who famously threatened to make us his bitch) decided that he wanted to make a semi-official new episode for the first Doom, but with the benefit of modern mapping tools and decades of experience. What we got was a very good doom MegaWAD that has all the usual things Romero's mapping was known for: lots of tough monsters, devilish traps, and detailed environments in every map. The game also featured two different but excellent soundtracks. The first one is a MIDI soundtrack that was distributed with the free (and complete) version of the MegaWAD, while the second was included with the paid version that you can get on Romero's website, and it's just a big collection of music by guitar maniac Buckethead (though, as I understand it, only one song is an original piece with the rest being hand-picked from his incredibly extensive catalogue). Either way, you're gonna get some cool tunes to listen to while wading through Hell for the millionth time. Doom just doesn't really get old.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GameBoy Advance, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

I love the Castlevania series. My first exposure was with Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the DS, and it was instrumental for me becoming so attached to metroidvanias in my teenage years. I never had this Castlevania game as a kid, so when I picked up the Castlevania Advance Collection, I was eager to jump in and try this game out for myself. What I found was a clumsy first attempt to make a fully-featured Castlevania game for a handheld, but not one without its charm. Visually, it's not quite as impressive as later releases on the platform, but it still looks very nice. The biggest shortcoming was how running was done. You have to double-tap a direction to start running, and letting go stops your run, even for turning around if you don't change directions quickly enough. This is a great way to accidentally run into traps, mess up jumps, and get hit by enemies by mistake. Really weird design decision.

This game is also probably the hardest metroidvania-styled Castlevania game, as every enemy seems over-tuned in some way, and leveling up is very slow. It's so strange to see this game come out after Symphony of the Night, but disregard so many of the things that it nailed the first time. Still, it's a lot of fun, and has a very interesting card system that could have used some better explanations on how to use it (I just searched a guide online). It basically combines two different card types with each of the sub-weapons to give a unique ability. It's pretty rad, and some of the effects are downright broken. Anyway, it's a good Castlevania game, but I'm not sure I'd call it a great one.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GameBoy Advance, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Now this one is a great Castlevania game. I'd played in years ago, but got stuck for ages before giving up. I was excited to get to this game the most because of how much I love the music. All Castlevania music is excellent, but I particularly like the songs in this game. Visually, it's prettier than Circle of the Moon, but the sprite for Juste (the main character) seems a little too colorful and stands out as almost cartoonish. Also compared to Circle of the Moon, this game is much easier. It's not too big of a challenge, but it has its moments. The big gimmick is switching between two alternate dimensions of the same castle (kind of a twist on the upside-down castle idea from Symphony of the Night). I like some of the puzzles it hides away that require the player to figure out how to weave a path between the two versions of the castle, thought I admit it can be confusing. Good game.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GameBoy Advance, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

The prequel to my first Castlevania experience, this game is absolutely no slouch. The prettiest of the three GBA offerings and the most polished release, I wouldn't fault anyone for saying this was the best of the three. This game features a soul-stealing mechanic where killing any enemy (even bosses) can cause you to steal their soul and gain a new ability. Some are passive, some are persistent, and many of them grow more powerful the more copies of that soul you've collected. It's really impressive that they have a unique soul for every one of the enemies in the game, and most of them feel useful. This game definitely deserves an +A for that alone. I had also played this game years ago but never finished, so it was nice to finally get a bit of closure after all these years.

July

OlliOlli World (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)

Much like how Bye-Bye BoxBoy! was more of what I had experienced with the earlier entries in that series, OlliOlli World is very much just more OlliOlli. This is a good thing. The game decided to go with a decidedly Adventure Time-inspired aesthetic this time around, with an imitation of its art style and humor. If this had been done a few years back, it might have felt fresh and fun, but this particular brand of quirky has been done to death and has had so much of its soul stripped out from it becoming the "safe" corporate fun look. This game also lacks the high-quality writing that makes Adventure Time entertaining while it's being goofy, so OlliOlli World just comes off as though it's trying too hard to be likeable. But looking past all the zoomer-isms, at its heart, it's still OlliOlli.

The challenges are a bit more involved, and the levels encourage exploring alternate routes way more. It does feel like it's more forgiving with its gameplay (you don't bail as easily, and landing sketchy is completely removed), but it feels like there's a looseness in the gameplay that necessitates that. Sometimes, things don't quite work the way you want to, and some timings make certain challenges far more frustrating that they should be. The jump to 3D also has led to some physics weirdness that has caused a lot of failed runs, and that's pretty irritating. There also seems to be a change made to grinding where, often times, you're punished for doing grinds perfectly (or at all) as it can cause you to lose speed. This goes counter to the previous games, and it often contradicts the game's level design. I don't know if this was a deliberate choice, physics weirdness, or just an oversight, but I hated it. It's OlliOlli, so I still had fun, but man, it's definitely not my favorite game in the series.

August

Axiom Verge 2 (Switch, PS4, PS5, PC)

Axiom Verge is a very well-liked metroidvania that draws heavy influence from Metroid. This game is its sequel, and tries to step away from that influence and make its own identity. I don't think I liked it as much. The world is much bigger, and most areas are enormous, but it spends a big chunk of the game making you fight with melee weaponry. After the first game, I just wanted more cool guns. It also doesn't really feature boss fights, just big enemies that you can mostly ignore. This de-emphasis on bosses and flat-out avoidance of guns made combat feel like it wasn't a focus this time around, which is nice if you ignore how hostile everything in the game is. I think it was a bit of a misstep. You eventually do get some upgrades that make combat less annoying, but I don't think it ever really gets to the point of being good. Exploration is cool, though. The mobility that you get towards the end of the game just opens the world up so much, which is always a joy when it's done correctly in a metroidvania game.

This game also features a sort of parallel dimension mechanic similar to the one mentioned in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, and this game makes finding secrets necessary for progression and also just makes figuring it out way harder. I think the biggest focus of the game is navigation puzzles where you have to find very specific parts of the environment that you're meant to poke at to progress, but I find that it's not always where the game was naturally leading you. I kept getting stuck because of how obtuse this game was about where to go next. The dimension-hopping makes it all pretty confusing at parts, and the game makes getting around pretty obnoxious in some places with one-way areas and tedious movement in some areas. It reminds me of how older exploration-focused games would do things, but it doesn't feel like it was designed quite as well. It's still pretty good, though.

November

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Switch, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC)

Eh, it's more Assassin's Creed. This game added controllable assassins (which were pretty cool and sometimes way too powerful). I found most of my memories of this game invovled me wrestling with the movement controls, which often just didn't feel like doing the things I was trying to do and preferring to have me jump of a cliff or something instead. Fun when things were working, endlessly frustrating when they weren't.

December

Supraland (PC)

My surprise Game of the Year over here. What I saw was an indie game on Steam that looked like a cheaply-made asset flip, but it was getting overwhelmingly positive reviews. It also kept getting recommended to me, so I was seeing it pop up a lot. This goofy little game has you playing as a colorful stickman character in what is meant to be a child's sandbox, but why is it so special? Well, it went on sale and I decided to give it a spin. Almost immediately, it clicked with me. The gameplay is very simple and basic throughout, but its focus on puzzle solving and exploration meant that I was constantly being stimulated, and the amount of upgrades and collectables meant that I was locked in a "just one more" loop. The game quickly revealed itself to be more of a metroidvania-type game, as while a lot of the early upgrades were basic things like more damage and being able to hold more coins, once you started getting new weapons (most of which also functioned as tools for puzzle solving) and abilities that expanded your ability to explore, it all started expanding rapidly. The game is also paced really well, and while the world is massive, it always felt like the game was pushing you in a certain direction.

The game is very forgiving with failure (most of the time), so messing up a puzzle can easily be fixed, and death is rare. While there is combat, it's not the focus, and it easily feels like the least fleshed-out part of the game. Hit enemies with your sword or use some of the other tools or abilities, and they fall over dead. Most enemies just run at you in a straight line or stand still while using ranged attacks that can be easily dodged. Nothing too special. Enemies do respawn, however, and it can be a little annoying to constantly clean up these guys when you're trying to figure out a particularly devilish puzzle. Without spoiling things too much, this becomes a non-issue once you get far enough into the game.

Finally, the writing for the game is that perfect level of simple, silly dialogue. There are a number of little references to video games and pop culture, but it never feels obnoxious. The story is pretty simple and almost feels written for children, but I find this aids the fun, light-hearted tone of the game a lot. Things starts to get pretty insane with the level of mobility you have access to, and moving around starts to become so trivial that your ability to explore is limited only by your desire to find all of the (surprisingly well-hidden) secrets. And for anyone who wants even more game (and a more rigid progression with harder challenges), there's a pretty fun DLC for the game that gives you a pretty meaty second adventure that remixes the rules in some very clever ways. I do think it's a bit too rigid for its own good, but it's still an excellent add-on.

There's a sequel that came out in 2022, and I'm excited to play it. There's also a demo for the first game if you don't fully believe that it's for you. I absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for something a bit slower paced and an itch for something more exploration-focused.



As a bonus, I finished Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Switch, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC) shortly into 2023. It felt like AC: Brotherhood, but smaller in scope. It had stickier movement that kept me from accidentally falling as often, but prevented me from moving in ways I wanted to as easily. It also seemed a bit more buggy, so it felt like a DLC that got pushed into being a full release, but it got rushed out before it could be properly fixed up. The smaller scale and more straight-forward missions and side quests helped it feel more focused, but it was all kind of forgettable. Bomb making was okay, but most of the combinations were so situational that they felt useless.

[Momeka]

According to Steam Replay I played:
- V Rising
- Divinity Original Sin 2
- Project Zomboid
- Valheim
- Warframe
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Jedi: Fallen Order
- Zombie Army 4
- Apex Legend
- Return to Monkey Island
- Xanadu Next
- Secret of Monkey Island
- Vampire Survivors
- Transiruby
- Monkey Island 2
- Path of Exile
- Half Life Opposing Force
- Shiren The Wanderer
- Ninja Village
- Cult of the Lamb
- Hero's Hour
- Half Life Blue Shift
- PowerSlave Exhumed
- Kenshi
- Stray
- Terraria
- Stardew Valley


Also played this a ton, since I've been working on it for the past 2 years 

[Prpl_Mage]

Also played this a ton, since I've been working on it for the past 2 years 

I saw the announcement and was partly hyped and partly suspicious since every game has been something new, but hey now I know it's in good hands and is worth picking up.

[Apex]

The GBA Castlevania games are wonderful. If you haven't tried the DS ones already, you should Archem. More of a good thing.