Forums > News > What was the favorite game you played in 2022?

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Plok (204746) on 12/29/2022 6:32 PM · Permalink · Report

As we do at the end of every year, let us reminisce on all the games we've played over the past 365 days and share our impressions.

As always, the games themselves need not have come out in 2022 necessarily, all that matters is that you played them and they left a mark on you.

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Plok (204746) on 12/29/2022 6:46 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

In alphabetical order this time:

  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall - my prior attempts at giving this series a shot failed, but Planetfall hit me right where it needed to. While I loved Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth even when few others did, AoW: Planetfall admittedly does everything better. Diplomacy makes sense, combat is detailed and engaging, the factions have a lot of love and soul put into them. The turn limit may be comparatively low, but the pacing of the civilizations' progression is adapted to that, so there's basically no dead air.
  • Cities: Skylines - probably the last person on Earth to have never played it prior, this city builder is light years ahead of anything SimCity has ever put out. The staggered unlocking of features and abilities was a little suspicious at first but later turned out to be a sound game design decision, i.e. not giving the player way too many tools even though the game is sandboxy by nature, making their unlocking meaningful. Looks great, plays fantastic, but runs like ass due to Unity being a bloated and inefficient engine on default environments - something the folks at Colossal Order should focus on instead of DLC #1,000,003.
  • Divinity II: Developer's Cut - in the latest episode of "Plok Discovers RPGs", Divinity II leaves me nearly speechless on the wonderful atmosphere, fantastically-aged visuals, great gameplay flow and soothing music. The storyline twists help, too.
  • Dune: Spice Wars - someone obtaining the Dune license after Herbert Jr. snubbed the entire video game industry ages ago came as a surprise, and Shiro Games knocked it out of the park with a 4X-RTS hybrid that you can still play with a cup of coffee, meaningful neutral areas, management mechanics evolved from their gorgeous Northgard, all on their speedy and visually pleasing Heaps engine. Deep respect to these guys.
  • Northgard - speaking of Northgard, this is a cozy one! The Settlers III combined with Stronghold, with each villager making a difference, very deep economy, and each DLC faction bringing something new to the table. There's always something to do - either improve the resource output, or balance production during winter, or tackle random events. Cute chunky Viking characters are just the icing on top (pun not intended).
  • OpenTTD - finally got the hang of this one. I'm normally the one to struggle with games without a clear objective, but here I realized it is not much about an end goal, but how one approaches a gradual infrastructure buildup.
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Sgoc (523) on 12/31/2022 5:03 PM · Permalink · Report

Sonic frontiers. Amazing game

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goldenxp (3020) on 1/12/2023 1:54 PM · Permalink · Report

Same here. Sonic Frontiers blew my mind in ways I couldn't have anticipated.

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Leahi84 on 12/31/2022 5:20 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Spider-Man Remastered. It is so much fun, just swinging around the city. I never thought I'd see another game like Spider-Man 2 from back in the 2000s. Just so much fun. Vampire Survivors comes in 2nd.

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vedder (70685) on 1/1/2023 12:27 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Memorable games (in order played):

  • Slipways - A fun space managerial/puzzle game.
  • Heaven's Vault - A fantastic puzzle/adventure game.
  • Psychonauts 2 - A solid sequel to the cult classic.
  • Yoku's Island Express - Enjoyed it much more than I would've expected.
  • Inscryption - A great game that throws away all the rules for card battlers and is full of cool surprises.
  • Grounded - I wasn't expecting to like a survival game, but this one won me over.
  • Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye - A superb addition to one of the best games of the last 10 years.
  • It Takes Two - Had a blast with my significant other.

Honorable mention to Civilization VI and Fall Guys which I played most last year according to Steam.

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Wendell Schwartz on 1/4/2023 2:28 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

2022 I have played a lot of online games but it seems that only subway suffers is the best I can find, no need to plow, high entertainment, and especially it can be played online without downloading you can play it [url=https://izigames.net/]here[/url]

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Sciere (927263) on 1/4/2023 7:13 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

I really liked:

  • Northern Journey for the wonder, exploration and a bafflingly brilliant soundtrack;
  • Stray for the exploration, atmosphere and playfulness;
  • Vampire Survivors for the dopamine and item combos/progression, but stopped quickly because it is very addictive and time consuming;
  • Blade of Agony, Hrot, Postal: Brain Damaged, Prodeus and Project Warlock II for the doses of retro shooting.
Also enjoying Return to Monkey Island, but still not very far.

Tunic and its puzzles should have been my jam, but I found the combat frustrating (or I'm getting old).

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MobyReed (324) on 2/22/2023 6:15 AM · Permalink · Report

Vampire Survivors is so well tuned. I've played some clones that look better graphically, but mostly made me want to play Vampire Survivors.

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GTramp (81965) on 1/5/2023 12:55 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

Games I really enjoyed playing in 2022 (in chronological order):

  • Front Mission 2 (PS) - had to use a combination of unfinished English patch + a translation of the game's script, it was an interesting experience. Much like growing up with games imported from Japan and zero knowledge of the Japanese language;
  • Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (GEN) - amazing music and gameplay;
  • Axelay (SNES) - a very innovative shmup visually;
  • DiRT Rally (Steam) - very difficult, took me a lot of time but I won all the championships;
  • New Super Mario Bros. U (WiiU) and New Super Luigi U (WiiU) - Mario games are always fun. These we beat in co-op;
  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) - another very fun game for co-op;
  • Metro: Exodus - Sam's Story [DLC] (GOG) - the story is bollocks as always is the case with Metro games, but the world and the atmosphere are unparalleled;
  • Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - another very fun family-friendly game.

Dishonorable mentions:

  • Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - Deluxe Edition (Steam) - this game is literally a guide how to make a terrible metroidvania;
  • Tomb Raider: Chronicles (PC) - it began as a fun and promising game but unfortunately degraded to incomprehensible broken game design, quicksave tactics and game-breaking bugs;
  • The Incredible Crash Dummies (GEN) - licensed piece of crap.
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piltdown_man (232926) on 1/10/2023 1:07 PM · Permalink · Report

2022 was an interesting year for me. I catalogued most of my games and had them listed using STEAM with different shelves holding different kinds of games, I'd even set up STEAM links that directly ran my DOS games. Then STEAM decided not to recognise any of my groupings at all and I logged in one day to find a couple of thousand games in an 'Uncategorised' heap so a large part of my gaming year has been spent trying different library options and, to be honest, that's been quite satisfying.

I started 2022 playing Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms just about every day but eventually that fell out of favour. It's a good game that I have no hesitation in recommending but I got to the point where it was becoming a chore so I stopped and also, thanks to STEAM, I had other things to do.

During the year I've been looking for something new and I've played a variety of visual novels and casual games. My STEAM stats for the year have Pixel Puzzles Ultimate as my second most played game of the year, but the clear winner is Fallout Shelter. I discovered this in October 2022 and have played it more or less every day since. It just eats up time! There's something about making dozens of micro decisions and surviving radscorpion attacks with no casualties before, or instead of, breakfast that is very addictive.

Other games I'm playing right now are Filament - where I've stuck for a couple of weeks, and Return To Monkey Island which I got for Christmas and so far would class as 'good but not great'.

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Pseudo_Intellectual (66274) on 1/10/2023 8:02 PM · Permalink · Report

it's a bad sign when even an idle game is too much of a chore

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piltdown_man (232926) on 1/12/2023 10:45 PM · Permalink · Report

To be fair to the game it was classed as a clicker game but has developed into a 'formation strategy' game, i.e. having the right champions with the right support in the right slot to complete a challenge.

It has depth and it's still being enhanced and developed. I liked it a lot.

I reviewed it but that's not on the database, will try to work up a new one

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Cavalary (11445) on 1/10/2023 4:03 PM · Permalink · Report

Just five games played this year (not counting a few odd games of Epic Pinball), but the favorite has to be King of Dragon Pass (the original one), which I managed to win after finally getting myself to give it another try, seven years after last giving up. It has its problems, randomness plays way too much of a part, the writing could be better and there are some bugs as well, but quite a work of art there. In truth, better if seen as an art form to experience than game to play, all that lore (again, could have been better written), creating the story of your clan and even having it accessible outside the game, that's a nice touch, the graphics, the music... And satisfying when it does work out, even if it may be after plenty of save scumming.
Other than that, The Stuff Fairy Tales Are Made Of (review) was good enough for a free RPG Maker game, and Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Christmas Chronicles was just a quick thing to get through, and platformers really aren't my thing, but went with it just to at least add a 3rd finished game quickly. As for played but not finished, Diggles can keep you playing but eventually tends to get tedious, though I have quite a long list of both pros and cons, the AI and limitations in what you can make diggles do being major issues, as is their limited learning, which is messed up. And Fate of the World: Tipping Point is just an exercise in frustration, with the situation realistically hard to fix (though in fact slightly less hard, being based on old data when things weren't as bad as they currently are), people realistically unwilling to accept the solutions, but not really given the tools to enforce the needed measures, what black ops and force cards exist being far from what'd be necessary.

Anyway, KoDP is leagues above the others, despite its issues.

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Patrick Bregger (298879) on 1/13/2023 8:47 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

1) Final Fantasy XIV / Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward: In early 2022 I became completely hooked on this MMO and it directly managed to took over from Skyrim as my most-played game on Steam. I also started the second expansion, but I need a long break.

2) The Forgotten City: An almost perfect time-loop game.

3) Enderal: Special Edition: I already played this excellent Skyrim mod multiple times before, but last year I have beaten it for the first time.

4) Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection: This is the best retro game collection I have ever played because it's an interactive museum made with love.

5) Mafia: Definitive Edition: One of my favorite action games of the early 2000s has received a remake (not remaster!) and I loved it. My view is definitely influenced by nostalgia, but I think the story and gameplay holds up.

6) Persona 5 Royal: A very good JRPG, but too long.

7) Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana: I'm not really into the combat system, but it has very enjoyable exploration and a nice story.

8) Professor Layton and the Unwound Future: It's a Layton game. I like Layton games.

9) Song of Farca: I didn't like the (few) puzzles and the ending, but the story and aesthetics hooked me. I played through almost the whole game in one sitting.

10) The Last of Us: Remastered: Yes, it is the first time I played this acclaimed game. The beginning was a borefest, the action is meh, but the interaction between the two protagonists made up for it. I don't think it is a masterpiece, but still worth playing.

11) Fire Emblem: Three Houses: It's bland, it talks way too much and the exploration of the monastery got old quick. I still enjoyed it.

Honorable mention:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero: It was officially released in English this year (and I played it), but I played a fan translation before and it already was on one of my older favorite-year-lists. Otherwise this would have reached the top spot easily.

Dishonorable mention:
Thi4f: This year, every year.

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MobyReed (324) on 2/22/2023 6:07 AM · Permalink · Report

Dwarf Fortress (Steam)

Runner Up: Slipways