It is time once more to talk about the best games that have come out over the past year. As the case has been with previous years, this list of games only includes the titles that I have personally played to some degree. In addition, the games on this list are games that were released in 2022 unless otherwise stated for some specific reason.

As I am the only one posting content on the site, this is as much a "Total Gaming Network Game of the Year" as it is my personal Game of the Year selection. As it's still technically a holiday break I'm going to try to keep this one as short as possible.

Screenshot from Elden Ring showing a player character sitting in a throne.

Game of the Year – Elden Ring

This game really left its mark on me and is, without a single doubt, the best game of 2022. It's the first FromSoftware title that I felt a sense of awe in multiple times. The sheer scale and magnitude of the game world was incredible, and then you realize there's essentially an entire second game world below the surface. It's also the first FromSoftware title that I loved enough to earn 100% completion on (until they release DLC).


Runners-Up

A power washing tool is being used to clean a purple dinosaur slide at a children's outdoor play area. The ground is a multi-colored rubber map. There are monkey bars, short towers, and another slide seen in the background.

PowerWash Simulator – This is an extremely chill game that you can play at your leisure. Beneath the dirty exterior is a wild storyline involving a missing cat, corruption, and the end times. I'm super not joking about any of this.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands – Spin-off games don't typically work out too well for established franchises. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is the exception. It offers an enjoyable story, fun gameplay, and just the right amount of comedy. However, the DLC is very, very much not worth the price of admission.

Death Stranding Director's Cut – I first played a good chunk of the original Death Stranding when it made its PlayStation 4 debut in 2019. I never finished it. Though I remember enjoying it at the time, there were just other games I wanted to play more. The PC release of the Director's Cut came out in March 2022 but it wasn't until December 2022 when I decided to sit down and play through it all. I'm glad I did. I finally understand why the game won so many awards over the years. I also quite enjoyed the added quality of life features and additional content the Director's Cut added. Bring on Death Stranding 2!


Honorable Mentions

Image showing three children (2 boys and a girl) looking out over a wall at a medieval town. A large coliseum can be seen on the back edge of the town and beyond that rocky hills make up the landscape.

Teardown – A fantastic heist focused game where you utilize a variety of tools to forge your own path through levels. You can destroy literally everything in the game thanks to the game's use of voxels.

Metal: Hellsinger – I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan of the genre, but the music choice paired so nicely with the high-octane action. I even found some new favorite songs from this game.

A Plague Tale: Requiem – Requiem served as a wonderful sequel to one of my favorite games of 2019. You should absolutely play A Plague Tale: Innocence before this. Yes, this one is just as emotionally hard-hitting as the first game.

Vampire Survivors – This action-roguelike will sink its claws into you if you aren't careful. Unlock new characters, maps, item combos and more as you mow down thousands of evil monsters.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade – This one didn't hit Steam until June 2022, which is when I finally got to play it. I love where this game went with the story, even though some fans hate what Square Enix did. Looking forward to the next part to come out in 2023 or 2024.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – I know nothing about Warhammer aside from there being rats at some points and big space marines that shout "Left Tennent" a lot at other points. Darktide is just a really fun co-op game that my friends and I have enjoyed immensely.

High on Life – This one surprised the hell out of me. I wasn't expecting to like it but like it I did. Based on some reactions across the Net, this one surprised a lot of people with how much they liked it.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – It's nice to have Call of Duty games back on Steam. I've played through the campaign and have enjoyed the game's various multiplayer modes both on my own and with a group of friends. I'm not as good at Call of Duty games as I used to be when I was younger, but I still have fun.

Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons – This expansion took me back to one of my favorite places from the first Guild Wars, the continent of Cantha. It's also the expansion that got me back playing Guild Wars 2 on a regular basis. The Guild Wars games will always hold a special place in my heart and I am looking forward to where the story goes next.


Special Mentions

Screenshot from Battlefield 2042 showing near future soldiers in various states of movement while explosions from tank rounds, attack helicopters, and more blow up parts of a large cube-shaped building, Another cube-shaped building further in the distance has a huge plume of smoke coming out of it and a transport air vehicle is seen flying in the sky.

Battlefield 2042 – This one has come a long way since its release in 2021. Is it perfect now? God no. Is it a lot better than it was at release? Absolutely. This game had the best "glow up" in 2022.

God of War Ragnarök – I did not play this game enough to put it in a "top" spot for Game of the Year. I watched someone else play through it at launch as I did not have a PlayStation 5 and I didn't much feel like playing it on a base PS4. Thanks to my kind family, I was surprised with a PlayStation 5 for Christmas. As that was less than a week back, I simply haven't had enough time with Ragnarök to make a judgement outside of "it's pretty good so far."

Days Gone – I never finished Days Gone when I reviewed the 2021 PC release of the game. I restarted it this year and played it through to completion. I had a pretty great time with it even if the pacing was still dreadful for a not insignificant amount of that game.

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut – This game first came out in 2019 and I ignored it because I didn't think I'd like it. I was wrong. I haven't finished this one yet as I'm taking my time with it and some other games right now. However, what I have played makes me sad that: 1. I didn't play it sooner and 2. There are still ongoing legal battles between the creators of the game and the company they co-founded.

Ghostwire: Tokyo – This is the "best of the worst" right here. The gameplay was super repetitive. There were far too many collectibles. It was also nothing like I had hoped the game would be based on its initial reveal. Still, I liked it enough to play through it. I liked the idea of a game focusing on demons and ghosts from Japanese folklore, but the execution was severely lacking. Also, you can pet the dogs.


BONUS SECTION: Biggest Disappointments of 2022

The games that were the most disappointing for one reason or another. This list wasn't large enough to warrant its own article. Like the games above for Game of the Year, this list only includes games that I have actually played. This means you won't see games like Saints Row (shoutout to the Epic Games Store buyers for beta testing this and other games for the future Steam release), Babylon's Fall, or Gotham Knights because I was/am either waiting for a Steam release still or I frankly knew I wouldn't like them based on others' impressions.

A man in a futuristic space suit shimmying through a narrow, rocky passage.

The Callisto Protocol – This game can't decide if it wanted to be an action game or a horror game. Ultimately, it failed spectacularly at both. The combat, specifically the melee combat that the game focuses so much on, is just horrendous. It wasn't scary. It wasn't fun. You fight the same boss four times. The story was very formulaic. There were SO MANY narrow passageways you had to shimmy through. The only good thing were the game's visuals. I was relieved when this one was over.

Scorn – I love puzzle games. I love games where you walk around and soak in the environment. Scorn has a lot of this. I can excuse the lack of any sort of upfront story telling in Scorn. Sometimes, less is more. I also initially enjoyed the art style that took obvious inspiration from H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński, even if the areas started to look the same after the first level or two. What I cannot excuse here is the fact this game features combat. The combat is so clunky, so slow, and just so damn frustrating. Plus, when I played it, the game had some of the worst checkpoints I've ever seen in a modern game release. The annoying combat coupled with bad checkpoints just made me angry. This might be the first game I rage finished, not quit, finished. I wasn't about to let this trash beat me, so I forced myself to endure the four or so hours of torture until it it was finished. If the game had zero combat, it would have been about a hundred times better. For a game that I was looking forward to since its announcement in 2014, this was the front-runner for biggest gaming disappointment in 2022 until The Callisto Protocol came out.

Overwatch 2 – It's Overwatch but worse. This is essentially just a big update for the original game that removes a player from each side, changed the time of day in a few older maps, and added in a lot of bugs that forced the temporary removal of various characters. Battle pass progression is a slog, characters are locked behind said battle pass, and the predatory microtransaction prices are a joke with some skins costing $20 or more.