Game of the Year 2022

Welcome to our Game of the Year 2022! When we say game, we actually mean games as there are just too many to not give a shout-out to.

Have a read below at what we thought deserved a highlight for our most favourite games that were released and we played in 2022!

Ben

I wasn’t going to put Football Manager in my list since it only came out a month ago. But this month of playing has been great. The new additions are fun – some are subtle, but parts like the scouting system are better, especially when managing in the lower leagues. I’m just about to start my sixth season, having taken over Truro City in the National League South in season two. Seem to have them cemented in the National League proper, now, but I’m not going to stop unit I have the first Cornish team in the Prem. For how much fun I’ve had with this challenge, FM23 gets in.

Elsewhere, Tinykin was a surprise package. I didn’t expect to enjoy that game as much as I did. Of all the review games I’ve received, this was the first I completed because I couldn’t stop playing it. I even got my review up later than planned because I just wanted to keep playing.

As a fan of Pokémon games, I was spoilt for choice this year with two releases! The choice of my favourite was easy, though. I’ve enjoyed Pokémon Violet more than I did Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It probably helped that I got the game late, thanks to the postal strike, but I haven’t seen any of the performance problems that people reported over the release weekend. My Nintendo Switch has had the most use this year on LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which feels like we’ve been waiting years for. Thankfully, it was worth the wait!

Finally, my Xbox has been pretty unloved this year. But one game stands out above all the rest – Infernax. What a game. It can be quite unforgiving at times, which just made me more determined to keep going. It deserves a lot of love.

Nintendo Switch
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Pokemon Violet
PC
- Tinykin
- FM23
Xbox
- Infernax

My Game of the Year 2022 goes to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. This is a brilliant game that was brought to us by developers Traveller’s Tales and publishers Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

I spent many hours playing this game and loved it from start to finish.

Brian

2022 has been a great year for me personally. And it’s not even finished yet with the recent release of The Callisto Protocol and the imminent release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – Reunion. Not only have we had some amazing games released this year, but I had sunk my teeth heavily into, and taken a tiny bite out of a massive genre I had only nibbled at before. I am of course talking about JRPGs.

I bought Tales of Arise early this year on a whim, played for three hours, and instantly bought another 6 Tales of games. Not only had I fallen down the JRPG rabbit hole, but it had taken hold of me as I went searching for others that didn’t have Final Fantasy in the title as I had played a lot of them already.

Six hours later…

Phew, now I have got that out of my system (I have to tell everyone about Tales of games), let’s take a look at some of the 2022 releases I have enjoyed so far. Please note that I have not played God of War: Ragnarok yet, but it is on my list.

PlayStation
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Stray
- Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins
- F1 22
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Sword and Fairy: Together Forever
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
- Sonic Frontiers
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Valkyrie Chronicles
- The Quarry

These are just some of the games released this year that I really enjoyed. I have yet to give Elden Ring and Ghostwire Tokyo a proper go. But, I can only have one Game of the Year, and that highly distinguished award goes to… A Plague Tale: Requiem. The first game was already a masterpiece, but somehow they just made it better.

This game made me feel things. I felt anger and loss to the point I just felt empty by the time I had finished with it. Did I beat the game, or did the game beat me? Either way, it hit me hard with emotions, unlike any other game on that list.

And gaming for me, in large part is about being emotionally invested in the story and the characters. I just was not ready for this game. That is why it is my Game of the Year.

Martin

So, what a year we’ve had for game releases. God of War Ragnarok, The Last of Us Part 1, Ghostwire: Tokyo, A Plague Tale: Requiem, The Callisto Protocol, and the list continues. Below are some of my highlights from 2022, I am yet to get around to playing God of War Ragnarok so that isn’t on his list below. However, he’s sure it’s fantastic and will be playing it soon!

Xbox
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Trek to Yomi
PlayStation
- Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5)
- Martha is Dead (PS5)
  - Elden Ring (PS5)
- SIFU
- The Callisto Protocol
PC
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Honey, I Joined A Cult
Nintendo Switch
- Pokémon Legends Arceus

For me, my Game of the Year 2022 goes to The Callisto Protocol. It’s a cracking game from Tango Gameworks and KRAFTON (Subnautica, PUBG: Battlegrounds) which was released in December 2022. This is a very late entry into my games list and my Game of the Year nearly went to Ghostwire: Tokyo.

The Callisto Protocol was a day-one purchase for me, it had to be done. I was a huge fan of the Dead Space series and the fact Glen Schofield (Co-creator of Dead Space series) directed The Callisto Protocol then I had to have a piece of this pie. Do I regret a day-one purchase? Do I heck.