Without a doubt, my favorite game played in 2022 was Elden Ring....and it wasn't even close. I've never really gotten into the Dark Souls games, mainly because at this point in my life, I really dislike being frustrated while gaming. I never got anywhere in Dark Souls (or the Remastered version) and therefore never even tried the sequels. However, I did manage to play through Bloodborne and really enjoyed it and it wound up as my #2 game in 2019.

Given my sketchy past with this style of game, I was a little hesitant to take the plunge on Elden Ring. And even after a few hours of playing it, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Don't get me wrong, the game was top quality right out of the gate, but I wasn't sure if I would actually stick with it. But I kept playing...and playing. And by the 10 hour mark, I was hooked.

Most open world games bore me after a while because they have repetitive quests / missions with one-dimensional NPCs that talk about all sorts of things I don't care about. They tend to be bloated for the sake of boasting a long play time and, well, in case you couldn't tell, I don't really like them. But this open world was incredible. Elden Ring showcases its story more than Dark Souls or Bloodborne seemed to, but the emphasis was still mostly on the gameplay. That means traversing the open world was less about fetch quests for characters I don't care about and more about exploring new areas, finding new enemies to fight, and discovering hidden treasures.

The map in this game is HUGE and quite intimidating at first. I spent over 70 hours in the game and feel like I explored a large amount of content, but I know there are many areas I didn't visit for one reason or another. But the exploration was never boring. I was constantly discovering new stuff. The enemy and boss variety was amazing. Heck, the sheer number of bosses was staggering and was well over 200 total.

With an open world, I was able to explore at my own pace and it allowed me to keep the difficulty in check by giving me options to improve my character and gear without feeling as though I had hit an insurmountable roadblock (i.e. boss). This sense of progression was so welcoming and had me glued to my TV for the entire playthrough.

I rarely play games twice and it basically never happens if it's more than say 40 hours, but I gave another playthrough of Elden Ring some serious contemplation. We'll see if I ever go back to it, but even if I don't, this will still go down as one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.

Okay, I know I just railed on open world games and then put two of them at the top of my list...but hear me out. While Cyberpunk 2077 isn't free from the open world issues I described above, it still did a great job of providing a wide variety of tasks for me to complete. Sure, there was some overlap between quests, but it didn't feel quite as cookie-cutter as most open world games I've played.

Cyberpunk 2077 is much more story-driven than Elden Ring and while I enjoyed the story for the most part, it wasn't quite as epic as I thought it might be during the early build-up. The characters were mostly good and interesting, but I did start to get tired of dealing with them towards the end.

The combat was really fun in this game and felt sort of like Borderlands with the massive amounts of loot and at times, it was almost too much. There are all sorts of abilities you can learn to customize your play style and most of the ones I tried were pretty fun to use. I didn't quite understand all of the concepts in the beginning and thought perhaps the game could've done a better job of easing you in, but there was some enjoyment by just figuring it out at my own pace too.

I know this game had a rocky launch, but I played it nearly two years after its release and things were pretty smooth for me on PC. I had a glitch with the map that seemed to resolve once I reached a certain point in the main story, but otherwise, it ran like a dream. The graphics were incredible and the production values were off the chart.

If you've been holding off on this game due its premature launch, I would urge you to give it another look.

I finished the first scenario of this game (known simply as "Shining Force III" in North America) back in like 2006 or so. The other two scenarios were never released outside of Japan, but there have been English fan translations released in recent years and I finally had the chance to play the final chapter.

There's not much I can say about this game other than if you like the Shining Force games, and in particular the other two Shining Force III scenarios, then you will absolutely like this game. It doesn't really do anything unique within the context of the series, but it doesn't need to. The Shining Force games are awesome and well worth your time if you enjoy tactical RPGs.

This one did take me about 10 extra hours (about 46 total) compared to Scenario 2 and a decent chunk of that was dealing with the final battle. It wasn't quite as long as Scenario 1, but then again, that was my first Shining Force game, so I'm sure I had some time in there just to learn the ropes.

If you've never played a Shining Force game, I highly recommend this one, though obviously you want to start with Scenario 1. All three together will give you a solid 100+ hours of tactical goodness. I know we've had a resurgence of sorts within the genre in recent years, but they just don't make 'em like this anymore.

I'm old enough that I played Kirby's Dream Land shortly after its release and I LOVED it. It was (and still is) one of my favorite Game Boy games. I've played a fair number of games in the series over the years and they've all generally been pretty solid. Despite my love for the character and the lightheartedness the series exudes, I've always felt like the Kirby games were on a tier just below the Mario games. But with this one, I think Nintendo closed the gap a bit and they delivered arguably the best game in the series.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land changes the formula up by using a perspective similar to Super Mario 3D World and allows you to explore the levels in a different manner from previous titles. The core gameplay of gaining copy abilities is still here and HAL went even further by giving you options to upgrade the abilities to make them even more powerful and useful.

I ended up doing everything in the game and even though I had to replay levels multiple times, it was still really fun. It took me almost 22 hours to complete everything, but I was never bored. By comparison, the most I had ever spent on a single playthrough of a Kirby game was a little under 8 hours for Kirby Star Allies back in 2018. The fact that I was engaged the entire time is a testament to the superb design in this latest adventure.

If you've never played a Kirby game, this is a great chance to jump on board. The difficulty did still skew on the easier side, but it wasn't a complete pushover like some previous titles. This is just a solid platformer and really seemed to breathe new life into the series.

I always seem to have some sort of farming / life simulation game in my Top 10 and 2022 is no different. I had only briefly played Stardew Valley once back in 2016 and I kept saying I'd get around to it...but I never did. I had become a little spoiled with modern Story of Seasons games and I found it difficult to get excited for a 2D game like this.

Even though it might not be in 3D, Stardew Valley is loaded with content, charm, and a very addictive gameplay loop. If you've played a Story of Seasons or Harvest Moon game, then you know exactly what Stardew Valley offers. You have a farm where you can plant seeds and raise animals so you can make money...then you buy more seeds and raise more animals. Along the way, you'll meet all sorts of characters, explore the town a bit, participate in different festivals (with mini games), catch fish, cook food, visit the mine, fight some monsters...and more!

I finished my 44 hour playthrough after completing the Community Center and getting married, but there was still plenty I could do if I wanted to truly complete everything. I struggle with playing games in an open-ended manner, so it's better for me if I can have a definitive "end", even if the game doesn't offer one. I really enjoyed my time with Stardew Valley and it's one of the best games in the genre I've ever played.

Oh man, when I was a kid, I LOVED beat 'em ups! My neighbor had TMNT II: The Arcade Game and I had TMNT III: The Manhattan Project for the NES. I also played TMNT: Turtles in Time a lot in the arcade (and then later on the SNES once I had one). All of those TMNT games were GREAT and Shredder's Revenge takes that gameplay style and sprinkles in some modern touches to produce one really awesome retro game.

I haven't followed the Turtles in something like 30 years, but back in the late '80s and early '90s, I was a big fan. So for me, I'm still kinda stuck on that era...even though I know they've had multiple iterations since then. Shredder's Revenge seems like it's targeting old farts like me and they did a great job of it. This game hit me in the nostalgia feels for sure, but with the ability to upgrade your characters and a fair amount of side content, it goes beyond what most games in this genre were back in the day, which was often a watered down port of a superior arcade game.

The main story mode is quite short and overall the game seemed easier than most of the beat 'em ups I played 30 years ago, but I had fun every single second of my playthrough. Bring on the sequel!

I was a big fan of the first two Resident Evil games, but for whatever reason (probably because I was hooked on the Dreamcast!), I missed out on the third game when it was first released. As the years went by, I pretty much abandoned the franchise, aside from the remake that was released on the GameCube. I didn't like the direction Capcom took with Resident Evil 4 (mostly because I'm really bad at the game, haha!) and I didn't get back into things until Resident Evil VII: Biohazard.

I tried playing this game a few times, but I never managed to get anywhere. After replaying the first two games (for the umpteenth time), I decided to buckle down and play this one. And, well, I'm not sure what took me so long! This game feels very similar to the first two, though it felt a bit more action-oriented at times.

In terms of timeline, this game actually takes place prior to the events of Resident Evil 2 and helps flesh out some of the destruction seen at the beginning of the second game. Bring Jill Valentine back as the main character was a great choice by Capcom after the second game introduced an all new cast.

The biggest change in this game is with Nemesis and the way he relentlessly tries to attack you. I had mixed feelings on this and although it certainly added some tension, I thought it deviated from the more atmospheric style of horror that I personally prefer. Obviously jump scares and action sequences have been a part of the series ever since players walked down "that" hallway in the first game, but those moments weren't quite as prevalent as they seemed to be in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Overall though, this is a solid slab of survival horror and remains well worth playing if you're at all interested in the roots of the series.

The only true RPG I owned on the NES was Dragon Warrior. In fact, the first Final Fantasy game I ever played was Final Fantasy VII in 1997. Over the years, I've tried out some of the older games in the series, but this is the first time I've actually finished one.

If you're not familiar with the Pixel Remaster series, it was a way for Square Enix to re-release the first six games in the series in a consistent format. The graphics have been touched up a bit and some modern conveniences such as being able to speed up (and automate) the battles have been added.

The main thing you should know about this game is that it's more or less still the same Final Fantasy that was released 35 years ago in 1987. The graphics and sound are noticeably better though and to me, the game remains very playable and considering I have no nostalgia towards it, I would say this is the definitive version to play.

I do think you need to go in with a certain mindset though as the game plays like a 35 year old JRPG because, well, that's exactly what it is. There are lots of random encounters, the battle system is rather simplistic, the story and character development are both very limited, and if you're like me, you'll need to spend some time grinding for experience. The game is relatively short though, especially if you utilize the auto / speed battle options and it only took me about 11 hours to complete. But it was an enjoyable adventure and it was pretty cool to see the foundation laid out for a future powerhouse franchise.

This is another game that I had tried playing multiple times over the years and could never manage to get anywhere in it. The Metal Gear Solid series has never shied away from lengthy cutscenes and this one is loaded with 'em. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I think that's why I could never get hooked on it before...it just took too long to get going.

Interestingly enough, the reason I even decided to play this game was because I played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on a whim and I thought it was AWESOME! I wanted to go back and play this one though before venturing further into the series and I'm glad I did. This game does feel a little clunky nowadays, but the stealth and survival mechanic still provide some fun gameplay. The wild story and characters help keep things interesting as well.

The first Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite games of all time and after being disappointed with the sequel (it was a good game, but nowhere near as good as the first), I thought this one helped right the ship a bit. I wish I hadn't taken nearly 20 years to play it, but oh well!

I had never played an RTS game until 1998 when my family first purchased a PC. While exploring this glorious new world of PC gaming, I stumbled upon games like WarCraft II, StarCraft, and Age of Empires...and I was hooked on the genre from that point forward.

But for some reason, I had never really played any of the Command & Conquer games. I played a few minutes of Red Alert and Tiberian Sun back in the late '90s, but otherwise, I don't think I've touched the series at all. I randomly decided to play the first game as part of the Remastered Collection and I really enjoyed it. This game felt a lot more fast-paced than some of its peers (like those mentioned above) and it took some adjusting to get used to it at first. I also found the missions to be fairly simplistic with little variation, plus the game features no unit upgrades and I found the build mechanics a bit clunky at times.

I know what I just said probably sounds really bad, but ultimately the game is just FUN to play. It's also important to remember this game was released in 1995, just before WarCraft II shook the genre up. So what if the missions didn't have all sorts of objectives like future RTS games? I still had a blast blowing everything up...especially with the awesome soundtrack playing while I did it! The goofy (and very '90s) FMV sequences were enjoyable as well.

As I mentioned before, I played this as part of the Remastered Collection, and I'm sure that helped since it provides some nice quality of life improvements. If you're a fan of the genre, this is definitely still worth playing and I'm looking forward to trying out another entry in the series.