Community MetaCouncil's Games of the Year Awards 2022

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
GOTY 2022
1. Elden Ring (Steam)
2. Pentiment (Steam)
3. Vampire Survivors (Steam)
4. Neon White (Steam)
5. Rogue Legacy 2 (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
For games with really high expectations, it's always hard to actually live up to them -- and Elden Ring was one of the very few games these days I was actually "hyped" for before release. Nonetheless, it actually managed to meet, and even surpass, those expectations. While there are still a few things that I wish they would have adapted from Dark Souls 2, for the way I play and enjoy these games, ER is an almost perfect re-imagining of the formula in an open world. There are many individual episodes I recall from my play-through that were outstanding and memorable, and that's really not something a lot of AAA games can claim.

Best Old Game:
Super Cable Boy (Steam)

Super Cable Boy seems incredibly under-appreciated, at least judging by Steam metrics.
I didn't play any early access games, or anything that stood out to me as remarkably terrible.
 

thekeats1999

MetaMember
Dec 10, 2018
1,313
3,882
113
So this was a difficult one for me this year. Previous years have always been a case of one clear and distinct winner.

For most if not all of the year it was Vampire Survivors. Then I played Citizen Sleeper. I had to make a choice. Citizen Sleeper is a great great game. The story I played through was great and emotional. It managed to make me cry, something only a handful of other games have ever managed to do. However as "Recency Bias" moved away my memories where more with Vampire Survivors. The thing is, I am still playing through Vampire Survivors even though I have completed it.

Citizen Sleeper is a great great story. The mechanics behind it are great and well worth a purchase. Any other time it would have been Game of the Year. Including 10 minutes before sending in my entry and probably 20 minutes after posting this.

Oh, and if I thought it was eligable, it would have been Endwalker...

GOTY 2022
1. Vampire Survivors
2. Citizen Sleeper
3. Dorfromantik
4. Prodeus
5.

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Fun. That has been my criteria here. Fun. This is a game, it knows it's a game and trys to be nothing more or nothing less. But it is so much fun. It nows just what the player wants. Then there is the power trip. Those last few minutes when you know your choices have payed off. You are an immortal god with no monster able to come close to you. The screen is awash with numbers. The frame rate dips to single digits. Then Death comes along and oneshots you. "Just One More Run". Fun.

Ongoing:
Final Fantasy XIV Online

GOTY 2022
1. Vampire Survivors
2. Citizen Sleeper
3. Dorfromantik
4. Prodeus
5.

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Fun. That has been my criteria here. Fun. This is a game, it knows it's a game and trys to be nothing more or nothing less. But it is so much fun. It nows just what the player wants. Then there is the power trip. Those last few minutes when you know your choices have payed off. You are an immortal god with no monster able to come close to you. The screen is awash with numbers. The frame rate dips to single digits. Then Death comes along and oneshots you. "Just One More Run". Fun.

Ongoing:
Final Fantasy XIV Online

Early Access of the year:
Soulstone Survivors

Best Old Game:
Minecraft

Turd of the Year:
None

So some honourable mentions.

Marvel Snap, great game. Matches don't outstay their welcome. Generous with the cards. Doesn't appear to be pay to win. PC client isn't even barebones but works. Play on Mobile instead.

Endwalker. A satisfying ending to a story that has been 8 years in the making (at the time of release). Now, with one or two exceptions, can be played solo as one of the best Final Fantasy stories in a long time. If not ever. You just have to get through A Realm Reborn first...

Warhammer 40K Darktide. This is probably elligable for both Turd and Game of the Year. When you are playing a level the gameplay is some of the best around. High difficulty levels are great fun and just the right type of frustrating. But everything around it is either lacking polish, requires more love or just more general content. If Fatshark stay to their usual style then in a year or 2's time then this will be worthy of the Ongoing Game of the Year.
 

Arc

MetaMember
Sep 19, 2020
2,644
10,035
113
GOTY:
1) Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (Steam)
2) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Xbox Series X)
3) Elden Ring (Playstation 5)
4) God of War: Ragnarok (Playstation 5)
5) Tactics Ogre Reborn (Steam)

Short motivation for GOTY:
While giving GOTY to Monster Hunter feels almost like giving Madden a GOTY nod, Sunbreak did a 180 and turned Rise, my least favorite Monster Hunter game, into what is possibly my favorite game in the series. Sunbreak adds lots of new content, removed things that didn't work in the base game, has tons of quality-of-life fixes and an endgame addiction loop that, while not perfect, helps motivate me to continue playing. Most importantly, the game feel is the best Monster Hunter has ever been. You can argue it is too easy as there are many combat tools at your disposal compared to other games, but I'd rather have an easier game that is more fun to play and interact with.

Modern Warfare II is an odd choice for runner up, but I highly value games that I can easily jump into and play for 30 minutes or 3 hours depending on my mood. MW2 shares a lot of DNA with Monster Hunter Rise in that it fulfills that quick fix while also letting me play for long sessions if I desire. The guns feel satisfying to shoot and most of the maps are well designed. I'm not a huge Call of Duty fan, but it's a well made game.

Elden Ring is an excellent game, but I wasn't as enamored with it as others. I'm a fan of the Souls formula and it did a good job transitioning to an open world game, but the world is not the most exciting thing. For better or worse, I kept on comparing it to Breath of the Wild and found myself preferring Zelda's world.

God of War: Ragnarok is your typical Sony AAA roller coaster spectacle. I knew exactly what to expect when playing the game and got exactly what I wanted.

I never played the original Tactics Ogre, but Reborn did an excellent job of engrossing me in its gameplay and story. The combat nearly always feels fair and challenging. The story, while confusing at points, was engrossing enough that I kept on wanting to know what would happen next. And unlike Triangle Strategy, the story sections are more terse and do not drag nearly as long.

Ongoing Game of the Year:
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Turd of the Year:
The Callisto Protocol
 

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,447
4,656
113
I wasn't going to make a list this year mainly due to only having played 2 games worth mentioning, but that damn Jessica Alba gif on the steam thread got me... Damn you Le Pertti!!!!

GOTY 2022
1. Elden Ring (Steam)
2. Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Elden Ring seems to be the culmination of From's growth that happened over the last decade. It's in equal parts a familiar experience and a refreshingly new one, not only of their own formula but also of game design as a whole. It proved open world games can be much more than endless fetch quests, that the world is a character and not just window dressing and that you don't need cinematics every 10min to have a captivating story. It's a masterpiece and a landmark of game design that I'm hopeful a lot of people in the business will learn from.

Ongoing:
Rimworld (Steam)

Early Access of the year:
The Wandering Village (Steam)

Best Old Game:
Golf Club Wasteland (Steam)

Might I suggest we delay the next GOTY vote for a few months, till the end of march for instance? I'm sure I'm not the only cheap bastard here that waits for good deals on games which usually happen >6 months after their release, meaning the beggining of the following year is usually a good time to get and play those games. It probably would make some list more interesting. Just a thought.
 

Arsene

On a break
Apr 17, 2019
3,271
8,290
113
Canada
Yeah ill swipe in a last minute entry.

Game of the Year
1. Neon White (Steam)
2. Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak (Steam)
3. Elden Ring (Steam)
4. Splatoon 3 (Switch)
5. Sonic Frontiers (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY
Not really much to say here, I'm a sucker for speed run games. 100%'d it in a weekend and couldn't put it down until I did. The dreamcast-like visual style and Machine Girl soundtrack were also fantastic. Dialogue was terrible so I skipped all the cut scenes but that didn't stop me from absolutely devouring the rest of the game.

Best Ongoing Game
Final Fantasy XIV. Though I spent a lot of time with Destiny 2 this year as well.

Best Early Access Game
Gloomwood

Best Old Game
Judgment - Played this for the first time since it came to PC finally and its probably my 2nd favourite RGG game. But I wanted to keep my GOTY list to 2022 games so it goes here.

Turd of the Year
Gotham Knights - Really disappointing, I love Red Hood so I was hoping this would pull through and deliver a decently fun experience but its just a lot of meh, Even excluding the games god awful technical issues. The only real enjoyment I got was because I played with a friend and we screwed around a lot.


Would have loved to include Pokemon Scarlet in my list because its the most fun ive had with a Pokemon game like, ever lol. But the performance issues are INSANE. Having to reset the game every hour because of memory leaks is unacceptable from the biggest gaming franchise in the world.
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
113
Downunder.
GOTY 2022

1. Trails from Zero (Steam)
I've written quite a bit about Zero over the years, having made two OTs for it, both the Geofront and NISA releases. I'd say I enjoyed it a lot. :flare_lmao:

2. Witch on The Holy Night (Switch)

It's a great coming-of-age story, with an extremely high production values. Sadly the localisation. while “serviceable”, it is less polished than what I would expect from such a high-profile release. Despite that, it is still one of the best Type-Moon VNs I've ever read. The character writing is strong, the world-building is multi-layered, and contains many references to other T-M VNs which are easy to miss. Much like Tsukihime, it's a deeply personal story, and a nearly brilliant one at that.

3. Romancing SaGa ~Minstrel Song~ Remastered (Steam)

I didn't get a chance to finish the game on PS2, but the remastered version is much better in every single way. Turbo mode, lots of QoL adjustments, improved NG+, etc. It's also still as tough as nails as I remembered it. I definitely recommend it if you like a challenging turn-based RPG where positioning matters, look no further than this.

4. Pentiment (Steam)

A wonderfully thought-provoking outlook on the nature of history and the human condition. It's a rarity, considering the history of the developer and the publisher. Even if one dislike the artstyle, or have no interest in history, I still hope that they will give this game a chance, since it's simply too good to be missed.

5. The Excavation of Hob's Barrow (Steam)

A short horror story in the Lovecraft tradition of the madness of the unseen. Hob's Barrow doesn't rely on jump scares or body horror, but rather a subdued and unsettling atmosphere. It tells the player that something has gone wrong, but nothing can be done to alter the fate of the characters in it. It's a rather enjoyable adventure that doesn't stray too far off the norm, but still expertly told.

Best Old Game:
Final Fantasy IX (Steam)

I didn't have the chance to play FF IX way back when, but I finally have the chance to finally play it this year. The story can be quite whimsical at times, but the character dynamics and writing are great, and perhaps ahead of its time. Final Fantasy X is probably still my favourite, but FF IX is definitely isn't too far behind.


There are several other games that sadly didn't make the cut, but I enjoyed a lot. For example, Soul Hackers 2 and Star Ocean 6. SH2 is ultimately flawed, but I wonder if things could be different if Atlus had given the development team a proper budget. Personally, I'd rather see more Devil Summoners game than a new Persona game, but what can you do.

I haven't finished with Star Ocean 6 yet, but I like its gameplay. The traversal is fun, and the ARPG mechanics afforded a limited customisation, but I still enjoyed it a lot.
 

Dandy

Bad at Games.
Apr 17, 2019
1,515
3,753
113
GOTY 2022
1. Pentiment (Steam)
2. Return to Monkey Island (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Ron Gilbert released Return to Monkey Island in 2022... That is a statement I never imagined could be true! The Monkey Island games were hugely important to my childhood, one of my favorite series of all time, and Return was amazing! And Pentiment is my GOTY. It's a game that I couldn't stop thinking about. I rambled about it to a very kind co-worker for 30 minutes breathlessly. It is unique, and gorgeous, and immersive, and surprising... and and and. I loved it.

Ongoing:
No Man's Sky (Steam)

Early Access of the year:
Coral Island (Platform)

Best Old Game:
Disco Elysium (Steam)

Turd of the Year:
Gotham Knights (Steam)
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,028
25,776
113
Let's do this, shall we?

GOTY 2022
Klonoa Collection (Steam)
God of War (2018) (Steam)
Shin Chan and the Professor (Steam)
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Steam)
Triangle Strategy (Steam)

Short motivation for GOTY
It's like meeting an old friend again after two decades, it literally feels like this. I have extremely good (and perhaps sad?) memories playing Lunatea's specially and the fact that we got this collection 20 years later feels surreal and brings joy to my heart. Moon IS my game of the year but as it released mere few days before 2022 I decided that Klonoa will be my GOTY here in MC and I'm extremely happy about my choice.

Best Old Game
Moon RPG (Steam)

Disappointment of the year (turd?)
Ghostwire Tokyo (Steam)
 

fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
9,632
25,847
113
GOTY 2022

1) Elden Ring
2) Neon White
3) Grindstone
4) Stray
5) Hitman 3
6) Olliolli world
7) Vampire Survivors
8) Tinykin
9) A Memoir Blue
10) Tunic

Ongoing:

Apex Legends

Early Access of the Year:

Satisfactory

Best old game:

Firework

Turd of the year (more like a dissapointment for me):

God of War: Ragnarok
 
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Aaron D.

MetaMember
Jul 10, 2019
966
4,541
93
I'm not going to submit an official ballot as 3 of my Top 10 games are Early Access.

And Dwarf Fortress...I don't even know where to start with that one. :p

But I'd love to share my write up this year either way, Spoilered below.



#1 - Taxinaut


If you enjoy free-roam sandbox titles with a nice level of technical complexity on the side, Taxinaut is for you.

It manages to hit that sweet spot of Zen map traversal and gameplay subsystem management. It's a great balance that's both relaxing and engaging, much like the best traversal sims out there such as Euro Truck, etc.

Presentation looks simplistic in screenshots but is actually quite charming in motion. Nice variety of biomes from planet to planet.

Taxinaut is another fine example of that labor-of-love vibe that feels mostly exclusive to solo devs (in this case) or small teams of 2 or 3 individuals where you can really feel the singular vision captured on the screen. A pure distillation that isn't drowned out by dozens of design by committee voices common in larger productions.

Taxinaut is an absolute steal at the asking price. A legit gem with a satisfying gameplay loop and a vast galaxy to explore.

Big thumbs up.



#2 - Dwarf Fortress


It's quite amazing how a simple graphic pass and mouse-driven interface can completely blow the game wide open for a broader audience. (Being cheeky here, I know the Steam Edition took years of dev time.)

These accessibility features have opened the door to a game I've wanted to experience for years. I'd previously experimented with tile sets, video tutorials and more. But I just couldn't crest that learning curve.

I honestly think the mouse interface is more vital to accessibility than anything. Coupled with the mouseover info textbox popups, DF suddenly feels digestible and manageable where mechanic's secrets are surfaced by simply exploring menus, tabs and buttons with mouseovers. (Much like the killer embedded popups in recent PDX releases CK3 & Vicky 3.)

I learned a lot about colony management with RimWorld. I'm finding a lot of crossover with DF (zones, build orders, etc.). And with the new interface I'm suddenly finding myself able to apply those concepts to DF with little friction, making on-ramping a relative breeze.

Man, this Steam version is just going to stay installed on my hardware builds forever, isn't it?




#3 - Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum

Stealth infiltration action with terminal entry coding and a subversive tone.

It's a nice hybrid on command line hacking and real-time stealth/action map traversal, two gameplay styles you don't often see fused together. If you hang back from mobs within a level player has plenty of time to set up engagements. Hacking cams & computers, daisy-chaining across a level from within the matrix setting traps, disabling security and granting physical access. But you have limited hacking "points" so you can't just shut down a level's security from outside the building and just waltz in like you own the place. You have to think strategically and pick your battles, many times sacrificing easier routes for sustained efficacy further down the road.

Feels a lot like chess in that way where you consider moves, deploy "3 moves ahead" strats and then enter the fray. Amazing weapon variety as well that carries across contracts, allowing for quiet or Rambo-esque infiltration.

Love the minimalist presentation, Caves of Qud fans will feel right at home here. Writing is really spicy too.

Deadeye is a novel haxxor stealth-action hybrid that doesn't sacrifice either side of the coin in delivering a unique gameplay combo that feels like an incredibly fresh genre mashup.




#4 - Hardspace: Shipbreaker


I'm really glad I picked PowerWash Sim as my #2 last year as it doesn't have to go up against Shipbreaker this year. These two titles proved an incredibly successful departure from the Mundane Job Simulator subgenre. Much like Viscera Cleanup Detail before it, we're seeing more & more creative Job Sims going left of field in a traditionally more structured market (i.e. Euro Truck and Farming Simulator).

Hardspace hits that perfect sweet spot of relaxing Zen gameplay loops coupled with a more cerebral puzzlelike elements where you have to pay attention to what you're doing to avoid catastrophe. It's meticulous work in a fresh setting.

Bonus points for the biting commentary on the worker exploitation of late-stage capitalism. It's not in your face but rather delivered in a dry & smart manner.

There's tons of Job Sims out there with sadly very few of ultra-high quality. Shipbreaker ranks among the absolute best.



#5 - The Ditty of Carmeana


In the world of amateur micro-indies, it feels like the line between treasure & trash can be razor thin.

With so many cynical, low-effort asset-flips & joke games flooding the channel, it can become a sort of background static seemingly unworthy of any attention at all.

But occasionally a title worthy of note rises to the surface.

Carmeana is pretty threadbare by most accounts, but man does it have a lot of heart. There's a surprising amount of content on offer with lots of writing and the vast majority of it lands. There's legit comedy and smart wit going on here.

I genuinely love folk-art games like this. Titles that look like complete disasters on the surface, but are propelled to greatness through raw earnestness and offbeat verve.

Fans of Candice DeBébé, Dominique Pamplemousse, My Summer Car, etc. take note.



#6 - Rail Route


Rail Route has you playing as a subway dispatcher controlling the coming and going of trains in an increasingly complex network of lines. It's also a tycoon game where you research, build & expand. Automation tools come further down the line to help compensate for that growing complexity and it's finely balanced where you're always challenged but rarely overwhelmed.

Presentation is absolutely ace with a clean, slick & modern motif. It's simplistic but man it's a hell of a look in motion. Extra points for also modeling real-world subway lines.

RR is the perfect "Sunday morning with a cup of coffee." chillout experience.



#7 - Signalis


It's Kafkaesque. It's Lynchian. It's anime. It's paranoid. It's mysterious. It's glorious.

Modern throwback games can be quite hit & miss it seems. Simply giving something "retro graphics" is not enough. It takes a deeper understanding of the source material. Layering in modern sensibilities on top is even tougher.

Signalis feels like sci/fi Silent Hill in the modern age. Reminiscent in tone & presentation, but not a slave to either.

Playing through it drives home how difficult it can be to successfully pull off a pastiche project. A remarkable artistic achievement.



#8 - Circus Electrique


Electrique is truly something special. Like strongly pointing to landing in my Top 10 this year kind of special.

The visuals are simply arresting with a unique style and sense of place. It can look busy on the surface but the language is parsing a lot of info to the player in an intelligent manner, all with convenient mouse-over info pop-ups.

You can just tell there was a lot of thought & TLC put into it. Like how the tutorial is spread over the initial hours of gameplay, not throwing everything at you all at once, but rather getting the player comfortable with the myriad of systems a bit at a time. Unlocking & introducing new concepts only after the previous have been test-driven for a bit. Plus there's a fully fleshed out Codex explaining all the nuances that you can access anytime in-game complete with cool "Fallout Valut-Boy"-like animations on each page. Even that little magnifying glass on top-left opens a full infographic explaining unique concepts of whatever screen your currently on.

There's just so much going on between circus management...upgrading facilities, recruiting & upgrading performers (15 unique classes!). Setting up daily circus acts and synergizing performers for better payouts. The board game-like map progression where you cruise nodes in divergent paths to main quest goal markers. The way time of day & weather affects the battle system kinda like Divinity: OS. The VN cutscenes between battles with legit great voice acting and character art. All that and I haven't even unlocked all the circus facilities yet, lol.

I've read some criticisms like that story is flat or circus event planning can feel grindy. So it's not like GOAT(!!!) or anything. But man, as a $20 package it feels fresh as heck and dense with content. I think the setting goes a long way as well. I punched up Darkest Dungeon for a quick moment just to compare/contrast my thoughts. And while there's not doubt DD is masterclass in this tactics subgenre, it was so freakin' bleak & dour, the whole vibe just felt nihilistic & depressing. In contrast Electrique is like a Skittles color explosion while oddly still having a bit of bite with that Victorian London steampunk thing. Feels kinda Burtonesque, kinda We Happy Few. A more welcome balance of grim & fantastical was my quick takeaway.

Man, what a hidden gem.



#9 - Bear and Breakfast


B&B is the most charming management sim you'll play in 2022. If you think the screenshots pop, you have to see it in motion. The character animations are sublime.

An interesting twist on B&B is that you directly control your character with the WASD keys. A rarity in a genre that is traditionally mouse-cursor driven. Makes for quite a hybrid vibe where the game feels like both an adventure title as well as a management game. Story beats that carry you through the lengthy campaign add to this hybrid tone. I guess if you've played Dragon Quest Builders 1 & 2 you get a sense of general feel.

Feel-good gaming can feel like a bit of a rarity in a medium so utterly obsessed with grim self-seriousness. Bear & Breakfast proves a nice balm to all that chaotic urgency.



#10 - Keplerth


Keplerth feels like Terreria crossed with RimWorld presentation.

Colony builders of this nature are pretty common these days so it can take a lot to make one stand out. Keplerth does just that with awesome combat design and deep, deep, DEEP character customization. Seriously, this was gonna be 2022's slam dunk for "Caves of Qud"-lite levels of character morphing through gene splicing until RimWorld released Biotech DLC to level the playing field a bit (Keplerth is still deeper in this regard). And there's pets!

Direct character control makes you feel a bit more connected to the gameplay loop and it has satisfying feedback whether though combat or simple resource grinding. It just has a great feel about it (which honestly has really soured me on otherwise well-designed productions).

I absolutely love that this genre has exploded in the past number of years. With all manner of titles influencing each other we're seeing higher and higher quality productions as a result.

......................................

LTTP 2022: Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

Nabbed Amalur on a Humble Bundle recently and have poured dozens of hours into it since. As a first time player I had no idea how much it would scratch that Bethesda sandbox RPG itch. Pretty floored at how much content is on offer here as well. Much like Halo: MCC and Mass Effect: LE before it, being able to enjoy Amalur all res'ed up at a blistering 120 fps is just icing on the cake. Damn what a fine production.

DCL of 2022: RimWorld Biotech

Seen as a bit pricey at launch, Biotech raised some eyebrows. But after people got their hands on it those concerns quickly evaporated. Between mechanoids, children & gene splicing, Biotech could easily be 2 or 3 standalone content drops. We're finally seeing custom creature-type generation in the vein of Caves of Qud-lite. And it's blowing the doors wide open for unique story generation. I've been kinda mid on the first 2 RimWorld DLCs (Ideology being the much stronger of the pair), but Biotech is the REAL deal.

Happy New Year, all!
 

TioChuck

More Yellow 🤷‍♂️
Dec 31, 2018
1,719
4,300
113
37
I didn't play much new stuff this year, but there is only one game that deserve all the awards IMO:

GOTY 2022
1. Vampire Survivors (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
This game is good.
 

FeedMeAStrayCat

When you see me again, it won't be me.
Sep 19, 2018
389
1,406
93
Pennsylvania
GOTY 2022
1. Vampire Survivors (Steam)
2. Monster Hunter Rise (Steam)
3. Immortality (PC via Game Pass Ultimate)
4. Scorn (Steam)
5. Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
It's simple, it's sweet, it's addicting as fuck.

Ongoing:
N/A

Early Access of the year:
N/A

Best Old Game:
A Summer's End: Hong Kong 1985 (Steam)

Turd of the Year:
N/A
 

Shantom

Junior Member
Mar 17, 2021
101
372
63
GOTY 2022
1. Final Fantasy VII Remake (Steam)
2. Neo: The World Ends With You (Steam)
3. Pentiment (Steam)
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (Steam)
5. Vampire Survivors (Steam)

FFVIIR - This was always going to be a tricky game to remake given the weight of expectations but Square did a surprisingly good job of funneling that weight into the game's themes and making something that felt fresh. Oh, and it has the best JRPG combat system of all time.

NEO TWEWY - The original game was completely unique, made excellent use of the DS and had an incredible soundtrack that was very 2000s. Given all that, it's astonishing how good a sequel this is, it doesn't feel like there's been more than a decade between the games at all.

Pentiment - I was gifted this for Christmas and am glad I played it straight away. No idea why I didn't buy it myself, it captures a slice of history beautifully.

Trails from Zero - (I played the fan translation back in 2020.) After the slog that was Cold Steel this is a much tighter game that benefits from taking place in a small region, enabling Falcom to focus on building up the character of the city.

Vampire Survivors - Yes, I got a Steam Deck.

Honourable mention: Seventh Lair

Best Old Game:
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - I'm not really a Marvel fan but like the GOTG films. However I did play Telltale's GOTG and that's up there with the worst game I've ever finished. Combo of that and Avengers meant I wasn't going to play this on release, but it truly is excellently written.
 

prudis

anime occult member
Sep 19, 2018
10,229
26,760
113
The Kingdom of Beer and Porn
twitter.com
fuck :eek:

i was too late :riggedblob2:
posting it anyway :drinking-blob:

GOTY 2022
1. Prodeus (Steam)
2. Chained Echoes (Steam)
3. Not for Boradcast (Steam)
4. Moon RPG (Steam)
5. Elden Ring (Steam)
Honorable Mentions:
6. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (Steam)
7. Cult of The Lamb (Steam)
8. Weird West (Steam)
9. Patrick's Parabox (Steam)
10. Judgment (Steam)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
One of the best and most tight boomer shooters i played in recent memory with unlimited potential thx to map editor. .

Ongoing:
Dwarf Fortress

Early Access of the year:
Fabular: Once Upon a Spacetime (Steam)
Honorable Mention: Song of Conquest (Steam)

Best Old Game:
Enslaved Odyssey to the West (SteamDeck)

Turd of the Year:
Resident Evil Re:Verse

This was really hard to put into small list , i would say i played tons of titles that could easily fill the Top 10 spots interchangeably if thought of the list on different day with "SteamDeck effect" heavily infuencing my thoughts i enjoyed immenstly
stuff like Pentiment, P5R, Neon White, Midnight Suns ,Teardown , Rogue LEgacy 2, Dwarf Fortress , Vampire Survivors, Wonderputt Forever, Golden Light, Shotgun King and some i cant think of today .... Overall amazing year for not just deckable games
 

BO7AMMOOD

Lucas isn't sure what to do anymore
Apr 18, 2019
642
1,947
93
36
Would I be allowed to sneak in a ballot now as well? I can do a quick one in 10 minutes :face-with-stuck-out-tongue-and-tightly-closed-eyes:
Oh well, I went ahead and done it anyways, for posterity's sake at least if it's too late to be eligible now. Thanks for taking the time to do this in any case Le Pertti :cat-heart-blob: :cat-heart-blob:




GOTY 2022
1. Persona 5 Royal (Steam)
2. Return to Monkey Island (Steam)
3. Elden Ring (Steam)
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Steam)
5. Dragon Quest Treasures (Nintendo Switch)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Shin Megami Tensei generally speaking, and its popular spin-off series Persona specifically, is one of the best JRPG series around. In fact, it's even arguably the best one! And Persona 5 Royal is a shining example of why that might be the case. A Huge meaty story, fantastic turn based battle system, and a soundtrack that will be stuck in your head forever. A must play for any JRPG lover!

Ongoing:
Crypt of the NecroDancer (Steam)

Early Access of the year:
Little Witch in the Woods (Steam)

Best Old Game:
Dragon Quest (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Turd of the Year:
Overwatch 2 (Battle.net)
 
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OP
Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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