Ah, the week between Christmas and New Years - that special time when just about everyone, regardless of what holidays you observe, sigh a collective “Eh, good enough” for the year and coast into the new one.
Perhaps the last thing you want to see in your otherwise barren inbox during this time is something related to your work (or is work-adjacent). Worry not, this barely qualifies: In the spirit of declining productivity, my gift to you is a (mostly) non-work email to read over - a quick overview of my top gaming picks for the year. Given that my opinion on these matters means next to nothing (I’m no critic), I’ll attempt to keep us somewhat on topic by outlining why these titles are notable even for those of you who aren’t avid game players.
Without further adieu, my top 5 picks for the year (and why you should care, maybe):
#5 Cult of Lamb: Despite innumerable outward signs to the contrary, I’m a grown person with a number of time-consuming commitments. As such, I place a high degree of value on my leisure time, even more so as it pertains to games. If a game doesn’t grab me within an hour or so of play, I’m unlikely to give it much more time.
As such, when a debut IP from an indie developer not only passes my “one hour” sense-check but completely takes over my free time for a week until I play it all the way through, it feels notable. Cult of Lamb from Massive Monster/Devolver combined an ultra-cute aesthetic with gallows-humor and satisfying combat/progression loops that just immediately click.
“I don’t play games, why should I care?”: Those who are less familiar with the gaming landscape have at least a cursory knowledge of the big publishers/titles, but realistically some of the best games out there are being made from the long-tail of developers (one estimate points to well over 40k developers publishing through PC gaming hub Steam, accounting for at least 40% of the units sold through the platform). The development surface area of gaming goes well beyond expensive productions like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, which lends towards considerable room for innovation given relatively low barriers of entry for publishers.
#4 God of War: Ragnarok: Let us move on to a hotter take - one of the most anticipated titles of the year, which has accumulated innumerable accolades, barely scratches my top 5. To those lighting their torches and gathering their pitchforks, I’ll say three things: First, fun is subjective and over-the-shoulder brawler games don’t really click for me, so, like, relax. Second, in terms of direct, narrative-based storytelling this series is second to none (there are more than a few tear-jerker moments, particularly as a father to sons myself). However, third, that story was really the only thing that stood out for this entry - otherwise, from both a technical and gameplay standpoint, this sequel to the 2018 franchise reboot did very little that was new.
What I am not speaking to is the semi-controversial discourse of reused assets in the game, so much as the fact that it was functionally/mechanically the same game that was released 4 years ago. To be clear: That’s OK, both are very good games. The appeal for me was the outstanding storytelling, which was more than enough to notch this title as one of the best I played this year, just not quite in my top 3.
“I don’t play games, why should I care?”: As noted, the main draw here is the story. The acting and pacing of which is very cinematic, perhaps so much so that the recently announced TV adaptation of the series has already declared that they will stay very close to the source material. With all due respect to the showrunners and equal levels of due credit to God of War developers Sony Santa Monica: Good. I doubt there is much that the showrunners could do to improve on an already well-told story.
And yet, the God of War adaptation is just the latest example of the blurring lines between traditional/Hollywood storytelling and that which is done in games, which I’ve expounded upon here in addition to my recently published piece in AdWeek (this whole entry is pretty indulgent, what more damage could a shameless plug do?). More specifically, the fact that the quality and quantity of adaptation are increasing is partially due to better adherence to the source material. However, while God of War is an exemplar in cinematic-style storytelling, the unique way in which the consumer interacts with gaming allows for a multitude of ways for the story to be communicated that don’t necessarily translate to passive viewing, a point that is exemplified by my top pick for the year (spoilers!).
#3 Horizon: Forbidden West: The torch-and-pitchfork crew around God of War might call me a hypocrite on this one. Like God of War, this is a sequel to a Sony exclusive franchise which largely adopts the core gameplay from its predecessor. However, while the core gameplay is basically the same (shoot big robo-beasts with arrows), the scale of the gameworld, complexity of the combat and terrain traversal mechanics, and mind-blowing graphical fidelity all felt like a massive step forward for the series (if not the entire genre). Indeed, Horizon was the first game I’ve played in the latest console generation which actually felt and looked “next gen” (just one example for those of you unfamiliar with the game), while weaving together extremely tight gameplay with a beautifully tragic story about the fall of humanity.
“I don’t play games, why should I care?”: The similarities to God of War I note above don’t end with the gameplay experience - Horizon is yet another narrative-driven game being adapted for TV (with none other than metaverse maven Matthew Ball as one of the Executive Producers). The emphasis on graphical fidelity might seem nit-picky to someone who is not wholly interested in gaming, but the call-out reflects an issue with modern games made for consoles. As things stand, developers are heavily incentivized to make their games available on both the current and last generation of console hardware (the PS5/Xbox Series X&S and PS4/Xbox One, respectively). This is partially a reflection of console availability, where even a year out from release the latest consoles are still difficult to find in store (due to supply chain issues from the pandemic, shortages on microprocessors, etc.) and therefore not quite at the scale of the previous generation. The result is that the “next gen” feels anything but at this point, while carrying the side effect of creating additional problems for developers who need to shoe-horn their games into outdated hardware (we’ll return to this point momentarily).
#2 Vampire Survivors: Now, let’s look at what is essentially the complete inverse of God of War or Horizon: Low budget, indie, basic graphics, highly novel mechanics, and basically no story to speak of - yet it is awesome. The simplistic controls, misleading depth, and juicy slot-machine aesthetic leads to an insanely high “just one more round” factor. The small maximum time allotted per round (typically capped at 30 minutes before the game kills you…until you figure out all the ways to literally beat death) make it ideal for on the go gaming, where it was routinely the top game played on the Steam Deck portable PC platform and a natural fit for mobile gaming with its recent iOS/Android release. In short, Vampire Survivors represents everything going well in gaming right now: Flexibility to play when/how it is most convenient, in a way that is highly accessible, and just pure fun.
“I don’t play games, why should I care?”: Many of the same truisms regarding Cult of Lamb and the indie game scene apply here, only more so given that the game was originally developed by a single person (a not uncommon though rare/painful phenomenon for stand-out indie games, such as Stardew Valley). Moreover, Vampire Survivor represents bucking one trend in gaming (affordability - part of the appeal for the game was the fact it was merely $2 to purchase) while leaning into another - flexible monetization mechanisms such as advertising for mobile deployments (wherein they use a form of rewarded video advertisements to either boost your rewards post-game and/or provide an extra life).
The long tail of high-quality indie games adopting alternative forms of monetization (such as advertising or sponsorships) is where much of the surface area for marketers in gaming will occur. As such, one can make a direct connection between the proliferation of indie gaming and expanding entryways for businesses into gaming that are relatively turnkey.
Honorable Mention: Cyberpunk: 2077: Before our top pick, let us take a moment to discuss the gaming comeback story of the year. As a quick refresher, the launch of this much anticipated new IP from acclaimed developer CD Projekt RED (of The Witcher fame) was so fundamentally broken that Playstation took it off their digital storefront and the stock of the company dropped ~75%. Among the more glaring problems was the fact that the game barely worked on older consoles, despite multiple assurances of cross-generation compatibility. Cyberpunk became the exemplar of cross-generation console development problems we identified during the discussion of Horizon, the only difference is Guerilla Games (developers of Horizon) got it right.
Why discuss all of this in a best-of list for 2022, given that this particular game was released in 2020? In an alternate reality, 2022 is probably the year Cyberpunk should have launched, and for the most part this is the year where the game is largely considered to finally be playable having addressed a lengthy list of issues which were patched-out the past few years. The game thus experienced a triumphant return in 2022, with an added boost from the tie-in anime show on Netflix (which, as discussed previously, represents the potential future of Hollywood and the gaming industry).
As such, like (apparently) millions of others, we can just pretend that Cyberpunk: 2077 released this year, and in its current form it is one of the best open world games out there. The “world” itself is notable insofar that the setting of the game, Night City, both feels alive and an active actor in the events of the story.
“I don’t play games, why should I care?”: We can once again nod at the increasingly strong bonds between Hollywood and the gaming sector with this example, but the most enduring legacy of Cyberpunk: 2077 will almost certainly be the botched launch as a cautionary tale for the rest of the gaming industry. Delays in game releases are pretty common, because making games is incredibly difficult. Dozens of high-profile games have been delayed over the past few years since the release of Cyberpunk, and while development challenges stemming from the pandemic are a likely cause, both fans and corporate suits alike are seemingly giving developers a bit more leeway on delays given that neither camp (with occasionally competing interests) wants another Cyberpunk.
#1 Elden Ring: I recognize it is almost trite to go with The Game Awards “Game of the Year” pick, if not the topper for a majority of the various “Best of” lists this year…and yet here we are. As much as I’d like to toss another “hot take” in here, the spot is well earned.
The pedigree for Elden Ring comes from a long line of “Souls-like” games developed by From Software, which includes titles such as Dark Souls, Demon Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Bloodborne. The shared mechanical aesthetic of these games is second only to the unifying trait that “Souls” games are brutally difficult, but are highly rewarding to masochists who take the time (and lumps) to develop the know-how and skills to persevere.
I, like many others, have never really invested time in Souls games for this very reason (I can appreciate this style of game, but I don’t find constant failure particularly relaxing). And I, like many others, was coaxed into what was essentially a traditional Souls game blown out in every imaginable way by the immense buzz that Elden Ring created. Unlike other open world games (including God of War, Horizon, or even Cyberpunk), Elden Ring gives little direction to the player on what to do, or how to do it. You’re unleashed into a world stricken by a lonely sadness to find your way, and punished brutally for a misstep. The community around the game filled in these daunting gaps in a way that was (and is) very special.
Twitter, Reddit, and other conversational hotbeds of the internet were ablaze with spoken-word accounts of powerful enemies, items, peculiarities, or other discoveries. It reminded me of the pre-internet days of gameplay, where tips and tricks had to be shared from friend to friend rather than simply looking up any number of YouTube videos to talk you through a solution. Moreover, the occasionally sadistic deviousness of the developers was only offset by the unique message system (which had previously appeared in other Souls games) where other players can leave behind (heavily structured) hints/taunts/jokes. Many a time a potential ambush was thwarted by a kindly “First off, left” or “Didn’t expect strong foe” message. Many a time the occasionally depressing setting of The Lands Between was offset by a confident declaration of “Dog.”
The unique social community that developed in and around the game provided a kind of ambient structure and support where none-existed. The narrative of the game itself has a very similar feel - very little is told directly to the player, but must instead be pieced together from small pieces of narrative, scenery, or otherwise from the game world. The scripted, direct narrative of games like God of War or Horizon are completely absent here, yet I found myself just as compelled by the story told within Elden Ring, conveyed in a way that can only really be done through the medium of video games.
In case it wasn’t abundantly obvious from the prevalence of open world games in this list, to the extent that you put stock in the Bartle taxonomy of game player types, I’m very much in the “Explorer” camp (those who find enjoyment in learning about the virtual world they inhabit). Elden Ring allowed for exploration and wonder on every level in a way that hasn’t been captured in a game since the original Legend of Zelda.
“I don’t play games, why should I care?”: If many of the previous entries are notable because of their ties to Hollywood, Elden Ring is the foil - a story told in a way that is just as compelling as any film, yet can only be experienced. In the same way that Vampire Survivors combined many of the most powerful trends in gaming to create one of the best games of the year, Elden Ring does the same in a slightly different direction: Creating a massive world which does not easily reveal its secrets, yet has formulated an enduring sense of community. In other words, while some games may be notable due to inherently fun mechanics or aptitude for translation to other mediums, Elden Ring is now the exemplar of an experience which is unique to gaming and just as poignant as any film or TV show.
And there we have it - it may not be perfect, but you cannot argue that it is a list. Like any list of its type there will be flaws, not the least of which is the fact that there were a number of exclusions. Some were excellent titles that didn’t quite grab me as much as those above (Neon White, Tunic), others were those that I could see the appeal yet I haven't invested enough time into as of yet (Marvel: Snap, Stray).
In any case, what is notable about these games is that they represent the best of what gaming has to offer, from mechanics that tap into the powers of gaming to representing the type and scale of stories that can be told within games. The (admittedly) heavy nods towards the potential influence of these titles on other forms of media is, in my mind, perhaps the biggest trend in gaming we will see accelerating in 2023 (where some combination of The Super Mario Brothers movie or The Last of Us will create a bit of a break-out moment). Entertainment is changing, as are the old business models and sensibility around them. As such, how we engage with consumers is changing, and titles like those above are the ones leading the way by ushering in new forms of experiences.
Out with the old, in with the new, as it were. Catch you in the New Year.