SpeakableCassie’s Top Ten Games of 2022! – Part 1
2022 has been an exceptional year for gaming. We’ve seen a wide selection of memorable titles grace our consoles and computers across these past twelve months, ranging from absolutely mind-blowing AAA blockbusters to mesmerizing indie experiences of all shapes and sizes! With the pandemic that shook the world through 2020 and 2021 no longer affecting game development (though sadly still lingering as something to be wary of), we’ve been lucky enough to play a vast number of highly polished, varied and interesting titles throughout the course of the year.
And now —with 2023 just over the horizon— the grandest event in gaming is about to take place once again! The Golden Joysticks award show has come and gone (as has Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards), meaning that it’s time for gamers everywhere to pit their own voices against each other and stand tall as individuals.
“I didn’t vote for that to win,” they cry out in unison, “Why did that deserve an award when my favourite game wasn’t even nominated?!”
You see, the voice of the critics and the majority have already been heard, leaving a huge number of lowly voices like mine to provide some alternative perspectives on 2022’s best and brightest. There are always a number of titles that everybody can agree stole the show in any given year, but each and every one of us has our own thoughts and feelings about what makes a game stand out from the rest. That is what feels special to me: Hearing everybody else’s opinions as the year comes to an end and discovering plenty of hidden gems in the process.
So perhaps fighting robot dinosaurs in Horizon: Forbidden West simply wasn’t for you? Perchance you feel that following in the footsteps of Elden Ring’s ever-brilliant Goldmask didn’t deserve the accolades that it received? Maybe you believe that knocking junk off of shelves as Stray’s little ginger nightmare cat was the moment that made your year? Or is it possible that a little pink blob named Kirby stole your heart all over again?
These are all totally valid opinions, of course, and that’s what I find so great about them. There are no right answers, just plenty of joyous memories and impactful moments to go around! So I hope you’ll join me for this little show and tell, where I get to talk about my personal favourite games from throughout the year. Each one of them pulled on my heartstrings and took me on countless meaningful adventures, so rest assured that there’s plenty of positivity to come!
It’s time sit back, relax, and enjoy: My top ten games of 2022!
Honourable Mentions
No top-ten list would be complete without a small selection of honourable mentions to start them off. These games all have their moments of brilliance and deserve plenty of recognition, so please don’t let their honourable mention status fool you; Just because they didn’t make the cut of my actual top ten list doesn’t mean that they weren’t good enough in any way, shape or form. It merely means that I found the titles in my top ten to be more enjoyable on a deeply personal level, plain and simple.
So, without further ado…
3 – Saints Row 2022
I didn’t have particularly high expectations going into the Saints Row reboot earlier this year. Hell, I don’t think anybody did, really! Giving a fresh take on the series’ traditional levels of mayhem —albeit through the eyes of a younger generation— Saints Row 2022 split the player base quite heavily.
Some fans anticipated a return to the more grounded gang-based violence of the first two games in the series, whilst others hoped for more of the over-the-top ridiculousness seen in the third and fourth entries. A few voiced concerns that the series was “going woke”, (as if Saints Row wasn’t inclusive already, or that it would be a bad thing for it to become more so), yet many worried that it wouldn’t feel authentically relatable to younger players, no matter what direction it took.
Ultimately we received a content-rich open-world action game with the same humour and activities that bolstered the series’ popularity in the first place, yet with most of the territorial gang-based gameplay gone, the player base remained divided. Some loved it, some hated it, and it received extremely mixed and middling reviews as a result.
Thankfully, I adored my time with Saints Row 2022. It was the exact sort of upbeat mindless entertainment that I was hoping for — providing me with an expansive playground to mess about in, without relying on any offensive humour to get by. I don’t know where the series will go from here or if it will even continue at all, but I’ll certainly be hoping for more, no matter what direction it takes!
2 – Nightmare of Decay
Proving that nostalgia-fuelled horror games are still alive and well, Nightmare of Decay was a delightful surprise from this year’s Ominous October Spookathon event. It functions as a deliberately dated tribute to the very best games of the Survival Horror genre, with countless references, Easter eggs, and subtle nods along the way. All wrapped up in a ‘Dementium: The Ward’ flavoured package. It’s a very brief experience —understandably so when you take its £3.99 price tag into consideration— yet it was so lovingly crafted that it ended up feeling extremely worthwhile regardless of its length!
From a first-person perspective, Nightmare of Decay places you in that most iconic survival horror locale: An eccentric mansion in the middle of nowhere. Within it, you’ll encounter a small but memorable number of distinct enemy types and bosses, which you’ll prevail over by using an excellent arsenal of classic horror weaponry. You’ll solve plenty of puzzles along the way of course, and there are tons of traditional back-tracking sequences on offer, which will allow you to pad out your limited number of resources.
Honestly, I don’t know what more I can tell you about it! It’s a love letter to survival horror through and through, and an excellent one at that. It consistently impressed me with its passionate understanding of what made the genre great, and if you’re a fan of this type of horror, then what more could you really want for the price of a single cup of coffee?
1 – Immortality
Full Motion Video games —or FMV games for short— have been making a bit of a comeback over the past five years, especially in regard to horror. We’ve experienced plenty of psychological complexities in The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, we’ve investigated a murder mystery of epic proportions in The Shapeshifting Detective, we’ve listened in on a late-night radio show with a penchant for the bizarre in Dark Nights with Poe and Munroe, and even slogged through a re-release of the delightfully dreadful Night Trap, for better or for worse!
Yet no FMV game has impressed me quite as much as Sam Barlow’s Immortality, which serves as a spiritual successor to two of his prior titles: Her Story and Telling Lies. There’s just something about the way Sam creates these titles that makes them unbelievably captivating! The acting, the extremely personal way in which each character is filmed, and the subtle details that make each storyline come together to form an experience even greater than the sum of its parts… They always have something to offer that makes them stand out from their competitors to a substantial extent.
Immortality is a passionate celebration of cinematic history, a frank look at sex and sexuality, a painful examination of 60s and 70s misogyny, and a well realised investigation into what it truly means to catch your audience off-guard. It takes each one of these concepts —and so many more— and builds upon them extensively within the confines of a truly fascinating mystery. Then, once you’re already hooked by its excellent theming, it reels you in further with some genuinely phenomenal acting and a large number of deeply unsettling secrets, all hidden in plain sight.
To say it’s a sight to behold would be a massive understatement. Immortality is a breathtaking experience that subverts your every expectation and keeps you at the edge of your seat from beginning to end. It’s scary, emotional, and remarkably intelligent, and I honestly can’t bring myself to say anything more about it for fear of spoiling even the smallest of details. I think you should just do yourself a favour and give it a shot because I can almost guarantee that you’ll find yourself enamoured with the experience in no time at all!
Alas, that just about sums up the honourable appetisers of this year’s meal, but we’ve got a ten-piece main course ahead of us, so I really hope that you’ve left yourself some room! It’s time to begin the countdown itself, with…
10 – Eternal Threads
Eternal Threads came out of nowhere back in May and absolutely blew me away with everything it had to offer! I actually wrote a full review of it quite recently, which can be found right here, though I suspect it conveys the exact same opinions that I intend to voice in the upcoming text! To sum it up simply, Eternal Threads is something of a puzzle game: It’s about finding the right combination of decisions throughout a large number of scenarios, in order to achieve the best outcomes possible for a number of individuals… To sum it up in more complex terms: Time travel goes brrr!
Seriously though: At its heart, Eternal Threads is an emotionally driven narrative based around a small cast of characters. You play as Agent 43, an employee of the Second Chance Project, who has been tasked with travelling back in time to a houseshare in Northern England, 2015. Whilst there, you must save the lives of six housemates —Linda, Raquel, Tom, Neil, Ben and Jenny— by altering their decisions in the week leading up to a large-scale fire, indirectly causing them to avoid getting caught in its blaze.
It’s something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, y’see. Discovering time travel caused time itself to break, so we needed to then discover time travel in order to fix it… Or, uh, something along those lines? The broader details are admittedly a tad unclear, but the consequences of such an event aren’t exactly subtle.
Thousands of minuscule decisions throughout history have been altered due to a vast amount of chronal radiation leaking into the timeline — a direct side effect of time travel being discovered. As a result, a lot of things that were supposed to happen: Didn’t, and a lot of things that weren’t supposed to happen: Did. That’s where the Second Chance Project comes in — an organization from the distant future dedicated to sending agents like yourself back through time in order to change these minor decisions for the better and ultimately repair the timeline.
In regards to the core events of Eternal Threads — a house fire was indeed supposed to occur, but all of the tenants living there were supposed to survive it. Due to the chronal radiation, however, their decisions in the week leading up to the fire were altered, resulting in all six of them perishing amidst the flames. Your job is to change the decisions they made throughout that week to ensure their survival, without getting discovered in the process.
To that end, Eternal Threads is filled to the brim with “choice and consequence” gameplay, in the style of any given Telltale Games series or even the Life is Strange franchise. The distinct quirk is that each decision can be changed multiple times right up until the credits roll, allowing you to experiment with different pathways and find the best outcome for each individual character.
All of this narrative framework —alongside the complex and gripping puzzle of the core gameplay— is expanded upon and improved in every single one of the 200+ scenes that Eternal Threads has to offer. The housemates are all well realised individuals with an awful lot of personality and multiple interlinking storylines, each portrayed with authentic and immersive voice acting as they go about their daily routines. So much passion and emphasis has been worked into each character’s strengths and imperfections that it becomes nigh impossible to avoid caring about them, even from a very early point in the game.
Tying all this together into a flawlessly neat package is the additional foundation of the house itself. The lived-in rooms and burned-out halls of this humble abode provide a treasure trove of immersion and atmosphere, just begging to be explored. It’s a tiny environment when compared with the majority of other puzzle games out there, yet it’s so densely populated with riveting details that it feels like a character in and of itself.
Several documents found throughout the building are context-sensitive: Containing alternate details depending on the decisions you make. One particular phone, for example, can contain aggressive and desperate texts towards other people when you first examine it. But, if its owner is given proper care and support over the course of the week, it will contain a single calm and collected text instead; Setting up an appointment for the owner’s first-ever therapy session. It’s small details like this that bolster the decision-making and help you feel like you’re really making a difference.
In the end, there isn’t any singular aspect of Eternal Threads that makes it feel so special to me. Rather: The sum of its perfectly executed story, framework, gameplay, and atmosphere makes for a pristine experience on the whole. I’d happily play countless other games within this universe, and if that’s not a good sign, then I don’t know what is. I may have enjoyed several other games to a larger extent this year, but I can’t think of many titles so deserving of a place on this list.
9 – The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me
The Devil in Me is yet another cinematic horror experience by Supermassive Games which had me enthralled from start to finish. I swear: It’s starting to feel like each of their games are hand-crafted with me specifically in mind! They consistently hit all of my favourite horror tropes, feature several of my favourite actors, and manage to subvert all of my expectations with every one of their stunning and effective plot twists.
Admittedly though, placing this game within my top ten list was quite a difficult decision, as it was up against a direct competitor in the form of The Quarry: Another Supermassive Games horror experience that also released this year… Unfortunately, due to its abrupt ending and subsequent lack of epilogue closure: The Quarry never managed to meet the extremely high quality of the Dark Pictures series, on the whole, feeling somewhat lacklustre in its final hour. Don’t get me wrong. It still proved to be a high-quality game in just about every way that matters; It just didn’t quite stand up to scrutiny when viewed side-by-side with The Devil in Me.
Having already experienced true terror aboard the haunted SS Ourang Medan; Survived heart-wrenching flashbacks in the abandoned town of Little Hope, and fought for my life amidst the cavernous ruins of the Akkadian Empire: I was quivering with anticipation to find out where the Dark Pictures series would take me next. Each game’s setting has proved to be unique in the most unexpected of ways, and I’m pleased to say that The Devil in Me is no exception.
This fourth instalment of the series is heavily based around the true story of Henry Howard Holmes, America’s first and arguably most prolific serial killer, from back in the late 19th century… Utilizing the shifting, trap-filled hallways and rooms of his infamous ‘murder castle’, Holmes was confirmed to have killed 1 individual and suspected to have killed eight more, though he confessed to the murders of 27 people whilst he awaited execution. Over the many years since his death, it has been theorized that he ultimately killed just over 200 people, based on missing person reports from the time.
More specifically, The Devil in Me was inspired by this disturbing quote from his death row confession:
“I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing. I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since.”
Suffice it to say that it’s a deeply perturbing premise, only made acceptable by the passage of time and the lack of proven details, much like any media featuring Jack the Ripper. Thankfully, The Devil in Me distances itself from feeling too true to be enjoyable by basing itself around the actions of a copycat killer in the modern day rather than the true story. Playing as a varied cast of five main characters —each with their own skill sets and traits— you have been lured under false pretences into the copycat’s very own murder castle and must act carefully if you want to survive long enough to solve the mystery of the killer’s identity.
And. It. Is. Terrifying.
There’s something about the threat of being a regular guy in this title that makes it feel far scarier than any prior game in the series. This grounded, down-to-Earth, distinctly un-supernatural (or, y’know, natural) situation causes each scenario to chill you to the bone. Struggling through the darkness of the shifting hallways with nothing but sound to guide me, is easily one of the most effective, discomforting gaming moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of enduring!
The entire game is, of course, made even scarier by the startling sight of the copycat killer’s mannequin dioramas, the Saw-esque designs of his numerous kill rooms, and his intimidating nature if he chooses to pursue one of your characters directly. It’s a masterwork of atmosphere and intensity that rivals many beloved slasher flicks, but with the added terror of interactivity making it even more daunting to experience.
There are so many other things about The Devil in Me that I could praise to no end. The performances, the characters’ relationships with one another, the execution of the jumpscares, or the way that each scene’s intensity is designed to make you overlook subtle details on how to survive any given trap…
Yet the fact that this entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology is so legitimately scary and captivating as horror games go, is reason enough to recommend it so highly. If you’re already a fan of horror then you should try out the Dark Pictures franchise as soon as you can; And if you’re already invested in the series then you’re guaranteed to love this latest game every bit as much! Just go for it.
8 – Ghostwire: Tokyo
As a huge fan of The Evil Within 1 & 2, (Tango Gameworks’ only other games), I went into Ghostwire: Tokyo with high expectations that bordered on feeling unfair, yet every single one of them ended up matched or surpassed by the final product! Nevertheless, Ghostwire still managed to catch me off-guard in more ways than one, not least of all because of its genre, which turned out to be completely different from what I had expected.
Initial trailers for Ghostwire: Tokyo showcased a city shrouded in darkness and fog —the majority of its population having been spirited away— with the streets now haunted by countless ghosts and ghouls from traditional Japanese folklore. These trailers were fleeting and fast-paced, filled with unsettling monsters who would constantly lunge at the camera from every direction imaginable. As trailers go, they certainly weren’t informative when it came to the core gameplay loop, but there was one thing that they told us with certainty: This was undoubtedly a horror game.
Except… It wasn’t?
I’d heard some choice words getting tossed around in the lead-up to Ghostwire’s release; Open-world, combat-focused, Role-Playing Game, adventure, etc… Yet I purposefully steered clear of any definitive details, hoping to retain a sense of surprise for when I finally got my hands on it, whilst dismissing what I’d heard as misinformed hearsay. Consequently, I felt absolutely baffled when the eerie horror game I’d been anticipating turned out to be a somewhat upbeat escapade with fantasy game inspirations, complete with magic-focused combat, lots of quests and collectibles, ample skills to unlock, and a generous helping of humour to top it all off.
Saying that it wasn’t quite what I had pictured would win me every award in a “top ten understatements of the year” list. All of the things I had been looking forward to were included, just not in the ways I’d assumed. Plenty of creatures from Japanese mythos were on offer here, from Rain Walkers to Shine Dancers; With Kappas, Kuchisake and Tanukis… However, they didn’t exactly stalk me through the streets as I had envisioned, opting instead to face me head-on in frantic ranged combat reminiscent of a first-person shooter.
Traversing the abandoned alleyways of Tokyo also felt different. Rather than sneaking from hiding place to hiding place in fear of getting spotted, I was sprinting around corners whilst charging my spells, fully prepared to face more Yokai at a moment’s notice. If I needed to make a quick exit, I’d never need to run for my life. Instead, I could use my magical tethers to grapple onto the Tengu flying above me — leaping high into the sky and gliding amidst the skyscrapers! An oppressive and isolating atmosphere still made itself known from time to time, but only when I became separated from my disgruntled sidekick KK, who would keep me company for the majority of the adventure.
Despite the unexpected direction that Ghostwire: Tokyo had taken, I still had an incredible time with it. The first hour may have offered a bumpy first impression as I readjusted to the distinct lack of horror, but I still found myself impressed right away by its tonal consistency. Balancing its horror theming against a story that is anything but scary —with a world that felt hopeful in spite of its seemingly bleak atmosphere— feels like something that patently shouldn’t work. Yet Ghostwire still managed to find a way at each and every turn.
This all culminated in a game that I was truly smitten with, as opposed to the disappointment that one might expect from something so juxtaposed with my initial hopes and wants. Spellcasting has never before felt so intrinsically satisfying, especially when used against such interesting and varied enemies. Exploring the beautifully rendered Tokyo Metropolis was fulfilling in countless ways, whether I was helping spirits with their unfinished business or searching for Jizo statues to make myself more powerful. And last but not least, the story offered a delightful tale of heroics and revenge, with a colourful small cast of characters enhancing it at every turn.
Whilst I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Ghostwire: Tokyo is a flawless game (and I fully understand that some people were genuinely disappointed by the lack of horror), I must admit that I’m pleased it turned out to be so different. It still managed to surpass the expectations I had for it, but also offered something wholly unique and unexpected in the process, which I welcomed wholeheartedly. In fact: Though the game works perfectly as a standalone experience, I certainly wouldn’t say no to another foray into this concept via a different locale, as the framework could easily be expanded upon through mythos from other cultures.
For now, though: A girl can dream.
7 – Princess Farmer
Whilst I am a huge fan of puzzle games, I’ll be the first to admit that they’re a bit niche. A lot of people don’t like the idea of playing games purely to do some problem-solving, as they have plenty of that to deal with in their day-to-day lives. And you know what? That’s fine! That’s totally valid, and I completely understand the mindset! My only real issue with that perspective is that it makes it exceptionally hard to explain why Princess Farmer is so dang good.
Princess Farmer is a match-three puzzle game in the same vein as Bejewelled, Candy Crush or Puzzle Quest. I can already feel a huge chunk of my audience rolling their eyes in synchronicity, but please: Hear me out… This type of game may not be for everybody, but Princess Farmer, in particular, does a lot to vary up the moment-to-moment gameplay — introducing plenty of new mechanics as you progress through its story.
Playing as the titular Princess Farmer, you must navigate multiple stages of farmland plots. Here, you will hoist up entire rows of different vegetable types, matching three or more veggies in any direction in order to harvest them. Some tactical thinking is introduced by the core idea of having to uproot the vegetables from above rather than being able to swap them around directly, like in other match-three games, but the majority of Princess Farmer’s complexity is found within the aforementioned mechanical variety.
Some levels require you to collect a certain amount of specific veggie types in order to progress. Some have strict requirements wherein you are not allowed to collect too many of a specific vegetable type whilst harvesting to reach a score threshold. Others give you free reign to harvest what you’d like but only allow you to match veggies together in vertical and diagonal lines, with horizontal pairings disabled.
Several levels even pit you against other farmers in head-to-head battles, where collecting a certain amount of specific vegetables quickly enough will flood a row of your opponents’ plot, restricting how much space they have to harvest. There are lots of different goals on offer here, far more than the few that I’ve listed, and they’re all deeply enjoyable to play through!
Furthermore, Princess Farmer is a deeply accessible game, catering to several different play styles to make sure it feels right for you. Do you prefer to swipe wildly in the hopes of scoring quickly and seeing lots of bright lights without putting in too much thought? Action Bunny mode is here for you. Do you want an even more strategic experience than normal, where careful planning is required if you want to attain victory? Try Puzzle Bunny mode! Or perhaps you’d like to play endlessly without worrying about any goals at all? Then worry not, because Princess Farmer has you covered there, too!
Okay, okay, so that’s all well and good, but what makes the game so special that I deemed it worthy of seventh place? Well, that would be a mix of its story mode and overall tone. Princess Farmer is a deeply relaxing game in every aspect of its presentation. Its colourful and vibrant pixel art is simply to die for, made even better thanks to its wide array of excellent character designs. The gorgeous soundtrack is very easy-going too, blending chilled-out lo-fi beats with pleasant chiptune melodies, always keeping things positive and tranquil in every part of its atmosphere.
All this suits the story to a T. It’s a laid-back and low-stakes journey to plenty of different locales, using magic, making friends, and trying to solve a fun little mystery within the woods that you’ve sworn to protect. You’ll be accompanied by Mother Gaia — a nurturing mentor figure who wants nothing more than for you to succeed, Rowan the Shopkeeper — a shy bunny who hides their excitement within a magnificent alter ego, and BunBot — a sentient robot designed specifically to help you farm. And that’s just a few of the friends you’ll spend time with, as there are many more waiting to support you throughout the main story!
It’s a delightful, wholesome, and LGBTQ+ inclusive cast of characters who always made me feel explicitly welcome and supported as a real-life transgender woman. Not only that, but playing as Princess Farmer —the character, not the game— also allows you to take on the humorous role of a ‘disaster lesbian’, a character who will flirt and blush in just about every conversation yet is so timid that she’ll never be forward with others about how she really feels. It’s that special type of adorable that warms your heart and makes you, as an individual, feel safe and cared for.
As I mentioned before: There have been so many astonishing games across these past twelve months, but in the midst of a gaming generation almost exclusively built around mature, serious, and gritty storylines: Princess Farmer stands out from the crowd as a very special and meaningful experience indeed. It doesn’t stand alone, of course, as the community of wholesome indie game developers grows larger and larger each year, but to me personally: No game has personified that community more than Princess Farmer itself. It’s absolutely lovely!
6 – Martha is Dead
Last but not least, for part one of this year’s list is Martha is Dead, a game that couldn’t contrast more with Princess Farmer if it tried! I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence here if I didn’t begin with a big disclaimer: So allow me to state clearly for the record that I received a copy of this game free of charge from developer ‘LKA Games’, in order to write a review of it for SassyGamers.
Now, I completely understand that my thoughts on Martha is Dead could be viewed as biased as a result. I, too, am wary of reviews from writers who receive their products for free, so I do acknowledge and accept that you may not value my opinion on this title. All I can really do is state that I tried my best not to let it affect my feelings on the title, that I endeavoured to be objective in my original review, (which can be found here), and that my high praise of the game is purely due to the content it provides. Make of that what you will.
Anyway, on with the show! Martha is Dead is an unflinchingly brutal look at themes of guilt, loss, mental health issues, and a longing for attention, set against a backdrop of Tuscany in 1944. It tells the tale of Giulia, daughter of a high-ranking general of the unified army of Nazi Germany, as she faces a large number of intense struggles following the sudden death of her twin sister, Martha.
Dealing with countless layers of trauma, Giulia’s mental well-being begins to suffer, making the lines between reality, memory, and imagination despairingly fragile. To that end, she must suffer through numerous complex encounters of both a personal and political nature and attempt to navigate the consequences of her past actions and determine who she wants to be at this pivotal moment in her life, all whilst investigating the finer details of Martha’s demise.
It’s not a typical horror story by any means, throwing tangible threats to the wayside and opting to focus on the much more terrifying fears found within one’s own mind. It discusses delusions, psychoses, sickness, and madness —all to great effect— as it aims to evoke discomfort and despair within the player at every opportunity it gets.
Martha is Dead is a harrowing journey that made me feel lost, disgusted, anxious, and afraid in ways that no other horror game has managed to conjure up. But more apparent than anything —which I spoke at length about in my full review— it made me feel a unique sense of guilt by association toward my character’s actions. A feeling I have never experienced before in response to any narrative. If you play it, it will immerse you without restraint, it will get inside of your head, and it will make you feel really, really bad.
I cannot in good conscience recommend Martha is Dead to anyone. I’m willing to say without hesitation that it’s one of the most genuinely upsetting pieces of media I’ve ever experienced; across games, television, books, movies, or music. I wouldn’t want to expose anybody to that —regardless of their consent— because it’s just so relentlessly depressing. But, at the same time, I can’t help but appreciate it.
The effective ways in which Martha is Dead crafts its narrative experience (even if the results are deeply perturbing) are remarkably impressive. Carefully designed theming, graphical fidelity, and sound design all come together to create an oppressive atmosphere like no other, and the gameplay variety it offers (amidst its core walking sim content) only serve to enrich the story further. I adore this game, truly, despite every bit of heartache it put me through… It is a perfect example of video games as art, and one that I’ll never be able to forget.
Conclusion
With that though, we’ve finally come to the end; At least, for now…
Be sure to stick around here at SassyGamers, as Part 2 —featuring the other half of my top ten games of 2022— will be released a little later this month and will certainly be worth reading! There are plenty more excellent games to talk about, so be sure to keep your eyes out for it!
In the meantime, though, be sure to check out TheThousandScar and all the hard work he’s been doing, giving his own takes on this year’s greatest titles. He’s already got two articles discussing the best Early Access games of 2022, another taking a look at some hidden gems from throughout the year, and plenty more Game of the Year-related content still to come throughout the month! So go ahead and take a look at his author page, found here, for all that and more. It’ll be well worth your time!
See you all soon, over in part 2!