Hello! It’s Justin, and welcome to the Otaku Mind where we’re here to count down the top 11 games of 2022. Just a heads up this was a tough list to make. Like I started with 25 games and had to lower it down to 11. Just for the record, Elden Ring is not on the list. I’m not really into these kinds of games so sorry if I offend any Dark Soul fans out there. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is also off this list because I haven’t played it yet and I will not put a game on this list I haven’t personally played yet. It’s like endorsing a new drug that hasn’t been tested yet. It’s wrong and I won’t do it. I’m sure both of these games are great and I look forward to playing Midnight Suns when I get the chance. With that said, I’m Justin and these are the top 11 games of 2022.
#11. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
The second game in the Warrior series and the quote-unquote sequel to Three Houses. Set in an alternate timeline, Byleth doesn’t join the academy as a teacher and we instead focus on Shez a mercenary with a mysterious power related to those who lurk in the shadows. The game’s story sees Shez join one of the three armies during the war of Fodlan. Each faction has its own story and provides us insight into the war that Three Houses mostly skipped over. The gameplay is similar to that of Dynasty Warriors, but the game takes a page from Persona 5 Strikers and adds in mechanics from the Fire Emblem games. The weapon triangles make a return, characters have special skills that only they can use, you can switch up their classes to whatever you want, and support conversations also make their way into the game to see the characters interacting with each other and learning new things about them. You can even recruit other characters to join your side in the war. Shez is a good character for the game, and they give the character a good and likable personality that’s their own. Even Byleth gets their own personality. Overall, a good beat em’ up game that was a good improvement over the previous game and I look forward to playing the next Fire Emblem game.
#10. Holocure
One guy. This is a fan game made by one guy. If you’ve played Vampire Survivor you’ll be familiar with this Hololive-inspired game. Something has corrupted the fans of Hololive and now it’s up to our idols to bring them back to their senses. You start off playing as Myth but can use points to unlock the Council, IRyS, Gamers, and Gen 0 members. Plans are already in place to add in more generations and stages down the line. Each member has their own attack, special, skills, and move set that separate them from each other. Some characters have more health, others have better attacks or a higher critical rate, or some are faster. I’m sure you’ll find a character that suits your playstyle. The game is packed with a lot of references to Hololive and you can even combine weapons to make them stronger. The best part of all is the game is free. That’s right, this game costs you nothing and the fact this game was all done by one guy amazes me. If you want to download the game, here’s the link: https://kay-yu.itch.io/holocure. Definitely give it a play when you find the chance. Even if you’re not familiar with Hololive you’ll still find the game enjoyable and fun to play.
#9. TMNT Shredders Revenge and The Cowabunga Collection
Man, we were on a turtle craze last year. Shredders Revenge is an all-new beat em’ up based off the 80’s cartoon. You can play as everyone’s favorite heroes in a half shell along with Splinter, April, and Casey (who I forgot was a complete psycho in the 80’s cartoon). There’s really not much to say here, the game is just fun and well made. It shows great respect for the franchise and felt like a blast from the past. Speaking of a blast from the past, we also got the Cowabunga Collection, a collection of all the TMNT games that came out on the NES, Genesis, SNES, and Gameboy such as Turtles in Time, the famous arcade game, and even obscured titles like their Street Fighter rip-off. The game also features drawings and artworks from the comics and shows for you to see and admire. Even after all these years it’s great to see that TMNT are still as popular today as they were when they first came out.
#8. Triangle Strategy
From the creators of Octopath Traveler, comes Triangle Strategy a game where all your decisions matter. The game focuses on a young lord whose kingdom has been invaded by a neighboring nation. He and his allies must now band together to reclaim their kingdom and discover a mystery that could change their land forever. Like I said before this is a game where all your decisions matter and will affect the story. Choose to go to this area, you risk missing a potential ally but gain a different ally in their place. Choose to side with this character and you risk another leaving your party down the line. The game has three normal endings (one that makes no sense whatsoever) and one true ending. The game has great music going for it, a good assortment of 30 characters to play as, and beautiful 8-bit pixel art that helps the game stand out from other RPGs. While this is a genre that has come a long way, it’s great to see developers still learn and appreciate the old school style. Speaking of which-
#7. Live A Live
From the director of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV along with the composer of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV, comes a blast from the past. Originally released in 1994 for the Super Famicom, this was one of the greatest RPGs to come out in the 90s that never reached the west. But now years later the game has been remastered in beautiful HD and finally got released on the Switch for everyone to enjoy. In the game, you play as seven characters from different time periods fighting against this great evil known as Odio who keeps appearing during their time. Each character has their own story and chapter that you play with. My favorites are the Sundown Kid of the wild west, Akira the psychic kid of the near future, and Cube the maintenance robot of the future. The other characters and their stories are good as well and after playing the game you can definitely see how this game would go on to impact future games such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy. Hell, you can still feel the effects of the game today with Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. It’s a testament that a game that’s almost 30 years old is still influencing games to this day. If you’re an RPG fan, do yourself a favor and play this game.
#6. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
The newest Pokémon game to come out. Based on Spain and other Latin countries, this game once again sends you on a journey to become a Pokémon master with a twist. The game is open world. Unlike the past games where you had to follow a path, this game gives you free rein to do whatever you want and go wherever you want. There are of course plenty of events for you to do that’ll keep you occupied. You can battle gym leaders in any order you want, take on giant Pokemon known as titans which gives us a very heartfelt story, and even raid camps belonging to a group of trainers known as Team Star. We also have Tera battles which are the spiritual successors to Dynamax battles and build off of them in a good way. The story as a whole, in my opinion, is the best story from the Pokémon games and the three starters are all good and I think Nemona might be my favorite rival of the bunch. While the game has a few performance and connection issues, I still consider this to be one of my favorites and can’t wait for the DLC.
#5. Gotham Knights
Originally thought to be a sequel to the Arkham games by Rocksteady, Gotham Knights is instead its own story set in a different world. The game starts off with Batman dying and leaving Gotham in the hands of the Bat Family. While investigating Batman’s last case, the group stumbles upon an even bigger mystery that threatens to destroy all of Gotham. The game allows you to play as Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Robin (Tim Drake) with each character having their own playstyle and skills that separate them from each other. Nightwing is more agile, Batgirl has better gadgets, Red Hood is a heavy hitter, and Robin is great at stealth. It’s fun to bounce around between each character and see which one you like the best. I thought I would like Nightwing the most, but instead, Robin was my favorite. The game allows you to explore Gotham, stop crimes, and of course, tangle with Batman’s rogue gallery along with other side missions and challenges. My favorite part throughout the game was seeing these characters interact with each other. Their interactions are good and feel natural like real siblings. I especially like seeing a more human side to Batman and these characters working through his death in their own way. While the game is good solo, it’s at its best when you play with a friend and having them watch your back. A good game that shined the spotlight on the Bat Family and showed everyone that a game around them can work.
#4. Sonic Frontiers
The new Sonic game was meant to be a hard reset on the franchise and I think it achieved just that. This game feels like what would happen if you crossed Sonic with Zelda. Two games you never would think to join together, but surprisingly not a bad combination. The game is open world as you’re allowed to explore the islands as much as you want, uncover mysteries, fight enemies, solve puzzles, gain powerups, and take on stages. I like how the game fleshes out Sonic’s fighting style. It’s not just the homing attack anymore. He can throw punches, kicks, parry, and overwhelm opponents with speed. I also like how the game makes references to past Sonic games. Sonic’s interactions with Tails, Amy, and Knuckles are easily some of the best moments I’ve seen in the Sonic games and honestly, what I’ve always wanted to see. The new character Sage is the first character in a long time to get an emotion out of me. The stages are nice and challenging but forgiving as well and the music is always great to listen to. Lastly, the boss battles are epic. These are without a doubt the best boss fights I’ve played in any Sonic game. I really don’t have complaints about this game. The graphics look great, the game makes you feel like Sonic, and the controls for the combat and running work excellently. They even fixed the rail grinding mechanics. Does everything in this game work? No, but they got a good chunk of it to work (I say 90%) and it’s one of the best Sonic games I’ve played in a while. So I’m calling this a win.
#3. Horizon: Forbidden West
The sequel to Zero Dawn. Taking place months after the first game, the planet’s ecosystem is out of order and a blight has appeared that threatens to destroy the land. Alloy must now journey to the Forbidden West to solve this problem before it’s too late. First off, the game looks beautiful. There’s this one scene where we go to Las Vegas and it just blew me away. Second, the story is much better this time around. The first game’s story was good but it took me a while to truly get invested in it. Here, you’re invested in the story from the get-go. Third, I do like how we get to explore more of this world, see other tribes, and how they govern themselves. The game once again does a great job of making you feel like a hunter as you go up against new and more dangerous machines that present a worthy challenge. The game also increases your arsenal as there are a number of new weapons for us to use. From bows to ballistic launchers to even setting up traps to take down enemies. Without giving too much away, the new enemies and allies we meet in this game are pretty shocking and keep you guessing what’s going to happen next in the story. All I can say is the game ends on a good note and sets the stage for the third and probably final game in the franchise.
#2. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Scarlet and Violet weren’t the only games Gamefreak released last year. An experimental new game in the franchise, Arceus was a big hit and gave us the innovation we’ve been wanting to see for years. The game sees the player travel to the Sinnoh of ancient times where you’ve been tasked to capture and study Pokémon while also helping solve the problems happening in the area. As far as innovation goes the game allows you to capture Pokémon without having to battle them and while we have battles the game is more concerned with you exploring the region and discovering new things. Players were having so much fun playing this game that they spent days being stuck in just the first area. We were having so much fun exploring that first area that we didn’t want to leave. The other areas are fun too and each one has its own set of Pokémon you can capture and study. This game also holds a special place in my heart as it’s the first time I completed the Pokedex. Something I’ve never done in any Pokémon game up until this point. I was having so much fun with the game that I wanted to capture every Pokémon in it and complete the Pokedex just for the hell of it. A huge and welcomed success. Hopefully, this isn’t the end of the Legends series and we get to see more of these games in the future. Perhaps Celebi next?
And number one. . .
#1. God of War: Ragnarok
I tried to think of a game better than this, but I couldn’t. No game came close to sucking me in as much as this game. The sequel to the 2018 God of War, Ragnarok seems to be the final chapter in the franchise’s story. Ragnarok is coming and an older Atreus is determined to figure out what his role in it is. Against the wishes of Kratos, Atreus sets off on a mission to save the world with Kratos hoping to find him before something bad happens to him. A lot of the promises and build-up made in the first game get paid off here. We get to explore all nine worlds, we get to see Thor and Odin (who are a lot different than what we’re used to seeing and I welcome it) as well as the Norse gods. While the first game was all about Kratos, this game is more focused on Atreus and him moving out from Kratos’s shadow to become his own man and Kratos learning to let his son go. Once again the game looks incredibly beautiful. The landscapes are so well put together, the fights are so satisfying to play, and despite their bickering, there are some really good and touching scenes between Kratos and Atreus. Kratos realizes that these could be the final moments he gets to spend with his son and he wants to make them count no matter what. If they make a sequel I’m not sure where they could go from here, but if this is the end then it was a great note to end on.
And that’s my list. What was your game of the year? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.