Woah did you know that some games came out this year? And I even played some games. Some of which not even coming out in 2022. This isn't every game I played obviously. P
Game of the Year: It's Elden Ring:
I know it's probably everywhere. It's just hard to compete. It's hard to understate how every single aspect of the game filled my head as I would discover new things and talk about it with other people. The idea of just wandering around and finding new weird things. It's probably the most straight forward souls thing that isn't like Sekiro, but because of how the world works it then changed the mystery in the realm of discovery. It's the most forgiving of the souls games which is not a knock on it. Souls games always had stuff to help you through the difficult parts (Sekiro is the only one that is the exception), but here they added more options then even to help you through your dangerous adventure. Anyways enough about this game. I'm sure you are sick of hearing about it on every list. All I want now is the sound modding to become easy so that I can ruin this game I love with various goofy sounds and mods.
Runner up: Signalis:
God this game. I really really wish I didn't play Elden Ring this year because otherwise it would be Signalis. Someone took Silent Hill 2, Eva, RE1,+1 gay, etc and put it in a blender and it came out great. Really amazing game. Looks great, oozes style, it's gay, it's sad, it's sad gay. I cried multiple times at the ending. If you like sad gay, get this game. If you like Eva, get this game. If you like horror, get this game. You should get this game.
Other games I played:
Baroque (PS1):
Probably my fav game discovery when playing all these old retro games. Thanks to the recent English translation I got to enjoy it in it's original form. Just a really great rouge-like from an era where that wasn't all the rage. The weird designs, the obtuse story, the amazing soundtrack all combine to provide a great experience even today. The Wii/PS2 remake kinda looses a lot of this charm. While the story is still the same, the style is lost. The 3D graphics doesn't give it the same feel, and changing the soundtrack to buttrock totally ruins that style. Also they changed the gameplay to be 3rd person. Anyhow if you are into older games, give Baroque a shot.
Live A Live: A lot of time these square remakes don't do too much. Live A Live is not that though. It is a really great remake of an RPG not a lot of people in the west got to play. I can see why people who did play it sung it's praise. Each story is like a mini RPG with some sort of varying mechanic. Some you don't even fight, or level up in the normal way. Just well written, and fun throughout. It also ties the stories together in an interesting way. Ifyou haven't Live A Live'd you should!.
Shin Megami Tensei V:
The adventures of thembo through the wasteland. Basically the same as normal ShinTen combat though this time they added a super meter basically. As always amazing music, atmosphere, etc. Story is engaging throughout. The "Law" side has interesting twists I like. It doesn't go the way you expect. Probably overall weaker then then ShinTen4, but the changes to the overworld and basic flow are worth it. Maybe one day Atlus will let us be a girl again in these games, but at least we become a genderless god.
Splatoon 3:
It's more Splatoon. You either like that or hate that. You are either a kid or a squid.
Vampire Survivors:
Really addictive game. Dangerous in that aspect. I will say def is a game to wind down to. I found myself falling asleep if I played it too late.
Most disappointing: Soul Hackers 2
Similar in some was to the Baroque remake. Soul Hackers 2 loses all of the charm. Soundtrack is meh, it looks ok, the story is at least serviceable. It's very much an OK game. Which begs the question why did they do a Soul Hackers 2 then? Espeally in an era where Atlus very rarely puts out ShinTen games every many years. If you like ShinTen combat it has that going for it, but I found myself not being engaged all that much.