This past year was quite interesting in my personal life. I've opened up my thoughts to the internet in an organized way and in the spirit of organization, here are the Games of My Year for 2022. These titles didn't all come out this year, but I played or replayed them enough so that they left a significant impact on me and on my work. In no particular order (except for the last):
Tokyo Jungle
My surprise hit of 2022! An addictive and quirky game about survival in Tokyo during a post human world. The animals now roam free and it’s a Darwinian nightmare (utopia?). How’s a Pomeranian supposed to stand paw to paw with a lion? By mating, passing on its genes and getting the freshest gear! Tokyo jungle is a race against time and all about eating and making babies. Another lesson in letting go, giving in to the forces of nature and playing your part in your time.
God of War Ragnarok
A solid AAA title with all the trappings of a large studio and an amazing story to tell. While I was hooked on the gameplay, the story went a little long in the tooth. For the first time since Mass Effect, I felt like a second game in a series (or whatever, you know what I mean) needed a third. Ragnarok is over produced, giving a lot visual candy but few manageable landmarks. You’ve seen one corner of a realm, you’ve seen them all. But the story has a very satisfying ending and it’s definitely worth your attention. Combat is fun and varied with weight behind every punishing angry dad hit. Between the quick character development, prophecies and scene changes, I wish there was more time to breathe and take it all in.
Primordia
This game has changed my mind about point and click adventures. It’s challenging enough to make me think outside the box and has an amazing story to boot. The artwork is top notch, and while I wish I could have been a better fit for touch controls (dedicated in screen buttons for instance), it makes for a very satisfying experience. Primordia gives you just enough narrative to keep you asking questions, but doesn’t overstate. I’m looking forward to Hibernaculum !
Monster Hunter Rise : Sunbreak
It’s always exciting to ride the wave of zeitgeist and be part of an active multiplayer experience. Sunbreak offered a very interesting single player experience and a very flashy entry into the Monster Hunter universe. As fun and damn cool as it was to pull off the visually striking movesets, I found the game really lacking the teeth that past titles had and the never ending post game ground my time with it to a halt. But I can't deny the fun I had with it!
Risk of Rain
My favorite pick up and play title this year. Although there’s no online multi anymore, having cross saves on m my Playstation 4 is a huge bonus. Local multiplayer is still available for some couch co-op. The scaling difficulty makes the challenge ever present and the range of playable characters keeps gameplay fresh. My vita lives a full life thanks to this. I'm looking forward to Risk of Rain Returns coming soon!
Project Zomboid
This game hit at the right time in all the right ways for me. I was looking for the right kind of survival game that had a level of absurdity and granularity I could really sink my teeth into. As a Mac user, there aren’t a lot of options to begin with, but I was surprised by how difficult, lonely and frankly desperate the game made me feel at times. Multiplayer is the real highlight (it’s always fun to survive together) but this is as close as I can get to my post apocalyptic rebuilding of society that I would never sign up for in the real world. I’m looking forward to playing more in the coming year, living for more than a week in game, and hopefully some improvements to their multiplayer!
Mini Motorways
What started off as a time killer on my Apple Arcade subscription became a part of my daily routine. I would start a game on my commute home and pick it up on my Mac later that night. It’s a great palette cleanser and a tool I use to center my thoughts before taking on larger personal works. Find your own zen in the entropy!
Monster Hunter World : Iceborne
After the disappointment I had walking away from Sunbreak, Iceborne felt like a return to form. My first playthrough felt like a mad rush to catch up to the other players, grind out gear as quickly as I could and left me without a sense of accomplishment. Since then I have been reading more into the lore, less about the meta and this has led me to an appreciation of the narrative themes that are severely lacking in Rise and Sunbreak. It was a good reminder that the role of a Hunter is to bring balance to the ecology, support their fellow hunters and master their weaponry. Taking my time this year, preparing, gathering and working on my own skillsets with each weapons has given me a deeper appreciation for the series and brighter hopes for its future. There’s more to the myriad of systems than I realized and a subtle message that resounded with me deeply. It's good to be back on the hunt!
Journey
I came to Journey this year after not playing it for about a decade. My first experience was the cohost of the Nowhere To Go podcast, Mike D, brought his giant playstation 3 to my house and sat me down to play, traveling hours to do so. I was just about ready to head out to Japan for the first time for a year and he regarded this as a must play experience. It was novel then, but my memories were a bit clouded by the much grander “journey” to come. When I played it recently, it sparked something within, a real need to speak on the game. The game doesnt deserve praise, it demands analysis. Journey is epic in its poetic use of visuals, its sophisticated take on multiplayer cooperation, and subtle yet masterful expression of core themes. This game is for the thoughtful, the amateur, the critic and the skeptical. It was a strong enough experience that compelled me to pick up the pen and shout my thoughts into world. Read my review on Journey here.
Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots
I’m a bit of a fanatic when it comes to the Metal Gear Series. The story really captured me in high school and for better or worse I’ve been a hostage to the series ever since. This year was particularly difficult and sometimes fortuitous for me as I contracted Covid-19 and was bedridden for about 2 weeks but also bought a PS3 a week before. In a haze of pain, drugs and nano machines, I broke through the illness all the while seeing Solid Snake to his end. Even being a Super fan, I had only completed MGS4 once and this was the perfect time to dedicate all my attention to it. It’s a masterpiece in stealth, and a near perfect blend of camp, self seriousness and immersive gameplay. Where MGSV left the player with open expanses as most open world games do today, it was refreshing to walk through active, bespoke battlefields and manipulate them to my will whenever it suited my needs. MGS4 lives up to all its hype, even if its story requires a significant buy in from the audience. There was never a stealth experience so well tuned, and with the trends since, there may not be. MGS4 is my game of 2022, even if it’s 14 years too late.
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