Favorite Video Game Experiences of 2022 (Patreon)

It’s list making season! Which is much less about ranking things and more about spreading recommendations and finding out whatever you may have missed out on! But whenever I do my best of the year movie list I always do it around the Oscars because I try to see as much as possible. But with video games? I’m not curating releases and I’m definitely a casual player (even though I put a ton of hours into it). I also come to a lot of things late (as you’ll see). But I still thought I’d share what I really enjoyed this year!

Honorable Mention: Hades - This was my favorite gaming experience of last year, but the whole point of its inclusion is that I’m STILL playing it some weeks. It’s just a perfect object. I would probably keep playing it for years if Hades II wasn’t coming out. Just put it into my veins!

The Top 10!

10. Cult of the Lamb - Wrote about this one and the fun / unnerving juxtapositions of Cute Horror https://www.patreon.com/posts/cult-of-lamb-71934104 . It has some problems with the stacking of various mechanics it’s borrowing, and I kind of wish the final base-building and endgames stuff felt more satisfying, but this was still one of my favorite little indie highlights of the year. You will have a fun couple weeks with it for sure.

9. Final Fantasy 14 - This MMO made up a lot of my last winter and it was sort of a weird emotional experience. I really love a lot of it - and when I was in it, there was this weird addictive nature to the fetch questing and leveling and dungeon raiding. I was really excited to get all the way through it. But alas, I think I just ended up really feeling the glut of slow story content over time. I never even got up to Endwalker :/ And once I got out of it I kind of felt like this weird relief of release from the cycles. It’s kind of a hard game to jump in and out of? I don’t know. I might still come back though if I’m feeling it!

8. Minecraft - So THIS is what the craze was all about!!! It was one of those games I always wanted to try and I’m finally glad I did. Truth be told, I think if I ever got into it when I was younger it would have taken over my entire lego-minded life. But it really is something spectacular. I built a big castle and did a lot of cave raiding, but in the end there was a kind of solipsism in it that was both a relief and weirdly haunting? I think I like my solo games more story driven? I dunno, I just ended up gravitating to more social stuff this year.

7. The Oregon Trail - I wrote about the remake here https://www.patreon.com/posts/75587618 , but many oh man did this scratch a really particular itch. It wasn’t just about the nostalgia bump, it was the way it highlights history and nature and so many other things that I just really love. I think it’s a really special remake and sincerely recommend it if it’s your jam. But speaking of retro inclinations…

6. Retro Gaming on Switch - I absolutely adore the NES / GENESIS / SNES / N64 options that come with Switch Online (PS - anyone know where I can play Final Fantasy I? I have the biggest urge to go back and play, but I only have mac / PS4 / Switch). But it’s such a fun way to time travel because it’s like, hey remember Altered Beast!!??! I also used it to go back and replay stone cold classics this year like Mario 64, Mario Tennis (Landon, I’ll always beat you), A Link To The Past, and now I’m doing Ocarina of Time. But above all, my favorite thing on here was a game I discovered for the first time…

5. Pokemon Snap - I wrote about this a few years ago, but the whole Pokemon thing was something I just COMPLETELY missed out on, because I was at that perfect just-too-old high school age for me to be completely disinterested in it. Then I went back and played Pokemon Go a few years ago and I was like “oh this is adorable and great.” But whenever I heard about this particular game I was like… you… you just take pictures? How does that even work? And it TURNS OUT IT WORKS GREAT!!! It’s kind of thrilling and tense even. Yes, I snapped em all and it was a delightful little journey (here’s a little twitter thread on it https://twitter.com/FilmCritHULK/status/1571229650923429891 ). But I have to say, Professor Oak’s arbitrary grading system takes into account NONE of the aesthetic and symmetrical beauty I was often aiming for! What a philistine!

4. Cities: Skylines - This was the year that I finally figured out how to play this game! It was always a huge interest to me. Because I was a huuuuuuuuuge SimCity2000 guy. But honestly the initial on-boarding of this game is borderline incomprehensible. I know they didn’t to bog you down in tutorial land, but oofa doofa. Even after watching a bunch of youtube tutorials to make it all make sense, I had to do a trial first city where you mess everything up and make mistakes. BUT after that learning curve I was like HOLY CRAP THIS IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED. Especially with the endless add-on content. The variation in your design abilities are something else. But truth be told it’s one of those games where I’m reallllllly feeling the limits of being a console gamer (as I always say, I need a couch after being on my computer all day). Not just because the game is begging for mods (only 9 squares of space??? REALLY!?!?!), but because it’s just so absolutely designed for that mouse system. Even with those limits, I adore it and keep playing it and finally have a nice thing to throw in with my endless zone-out-and-built-a-society CIV 6 itch.

3. Fortnite - I said it earlier and I’ll say it again, “So THIS is what the craze was all about!!!” Yes, I have finally discovered Fortnite. But is anyone else playing this game? I kid, I kid. And I know it’s only been a week so there’s probably recency bias, but honestly I get why it’s the most popular game in the world, especially after the introduction of zero build mode. It’s fun, bright, colorful, easy to pick up and put down. The mechanics are utterly fair and yet there’s enough randomization in luck / advantages in getting the drop on someone that you always have a decent chance against players who might be much better than you. Above all else, it’s free. So it really feels like one of those perfect objects.

2. Destiny is Bestiny - Another game I’ve been playing for a long time, but finally wrote about this year (https://www.patreon.com/posts/destiny-is-69061117 ). The highlight of it though has been playing with my clan (and getting Landon in on it) and getting to enjoy the different rhythms of play. Because that’s the whole thing about it, so often it’s a great low-key way to catch up with friends, run a few of the weekly events, and maybe even bake cookies for holiday friends in the tower! But then you can also gear up and get ready for the big challenges (because this game is sooooooo good at the different difficulty challenges). And I have to say, us finally beating the Deep Stone Crypt raid is honestly right up there with my huge gaming achievements. Felt amazing. Take that Taniks!

1. Elden Ring - It’s weird. In some ways, this is probably my least favorite FromSoft game, but that’s like saying “my least favorite completely awesome thing.” For it is, undeniably, a stunning achievement. To be clear, the main appeal of FromSoft games for me is getting a hyper-curated experience that’s all about learning move sets of combats and mastering the loops of areas you are in. And having a big open world where you can just go anywhere sort of nullifies that - BUT FromSoft brought all that expertise into the incredible, massive world building arena and filled every nook and cranny with something interesting, terrifying, and beautiful. Which is not without its own MASSIVE design challenges. To wit, I wrote about how I spent 173 hours platinum-ing the game here https://www.patreon.com/posts/69359514 and that speaks to how much they really made it sing. But by far, my absolute favorite thing is how Elden Ring seems to have brought so many new players (who bounced off of the normal FromSoft difficulty thing) and who are like “ohhhh I get it now!” and have been able to go back and play the others. Because getting used to the combat systems is a huge part of it, but it also is a great way of baby stepping into the boss approach and so much more. I really truly adore Elden Ring.

All hail FromSoft!

<3HULK

PS - Outside of Elden Ring, I didn’t really find a great story driven game this year, if you have one please recommend!