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For as much as the contrarian in all of us would love to be sitting here telling you, “Well, ackshually, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin was the best game of 2022” – it wasn’t, was it? No, that accolade is reserved for God of War Ragnarok, a release so finely polished you can practically see your own reflection smiling at you from Kratos’ immaculately rendered pate. Try it, we dare you!
Santa Monica Studio kept so much of this sequel underwraps that playing through it for the first time was a genuine surprise. Make no mistake, it builds on the same immaculate blueprints as its predecessor, but there’s just so much here. The story goes in directions we hadn’t expected, and the gameplay manages to remain fresh for the full 50-60 hour excursion thanks to some smart additions and refinements.
The presentation across the board is sublime, and this expands to the variety of performances from a stellar voice cast, all of whom breathe life and personality into their alter-egos. The developer carefully navigates the line between sombre, serious, and laugh-out-loud funny, with Kratos’ sensitive side and deadpan humour both thoughtfully explored throughout.
The reality is that games like God of War Ragnarok don’t come around very often. It takes an extraordinary amount of money and an even more extraordinary team to realise a package as rounded as this. The side-quests are must-see material, the pacing is pitch-perfect, and the bosses live up to the scale and spectacle of older entries in the series. This isn’t a perfect game, of course – none are – but it’s just about as close as you can get.
Push Square's Game of the Year list is primarily decided by an internal staff vote. Our community Game of the Year poll is also taken into account. Feel free to agree or disagree with our list in the comments section below.
You can check out all of our Game of the Year coverage by clicking the link.
Comments 81
The champ is here! Great pick! What an adventure and story! Voice acting and art direction are top notch! Great combat! Kratos is one of gaming’s greatest character arcs! Happy New Year!!!
I just didn't think it was that good, too much talking, too much squeezing into the next arena, and too many daft puzzles.
Feel free to hate me but there were better games this year.
Oh and happy new year x
Amazing game that delivered on every level. Got the Platinum and 100% in all the realms. Gutted it’s all over. Really hope we aren’t waiting too long for whatever they have planned for Kratos.
Sorry, while well executed this game was as safe as can be. Uninspired and with nothing new to add this was just more of the same. It did nothing to advance the medium in any way, added nothing even to the series but more story. A good time, but nowhere close to GOTY material.
I was really looking forward to it since GoW 2018 is imo the best PS4 first party game but I have given up on GoWR after about 4h.
Atreus constantly told me "Do this, do that" "You go the wrong way" etc. As someone who loves to look around, explore and especially think on my own it really ruined something that would most likely be an amazing game
GoW or ER both deserved it.
fine margins between the two.
lets just enjoy the fact both were cracking games, whichever your preference.
This game knocked so much out of the park. What really stands out to me is its genuinely intelligent script, truly outstanding performances, clever usage of the ‘one shot’ camera and stellar boss fights. An exceptional game and most importantly, a satisfying conclusion to 2018’s GoW.
@Anke I fully agree
A perfect sequel!
I love that a quarter of people voted for it to be higher on the list 🙂👍
As i said with Elden Ring i think both are more then worthy of the top spot so no complaints from me.
While it didn’t blow me away like Elden Ring and I’ve games over 30 years, I see someone like my sister who is coming from the Switch, from not playing a game since PS1 days with me, playing Ragnarok, and she is blown away. In that perspective this game is mind blowing to those with fresh eyes, and easily is the best example this year of new games and narrative done right.
Awesome game and nobody can deny it if they are being honest. I struggled with atreus's side story as i felt it was empty with not a lot to do. Other than that it was damn near perfect but #1?
I think SkillUp summed the top two up best (for me anyway) when he said Elden Ring was the game this year he admired the most, Ragnarok was the game this year he enjoyed the most. As influential as Elden Ring will be for years to come I simply didn't enjoy it as much as this masterpiece. Now, just Gna and a certain King to go...
I'm sorry Elden Ring lovers there's a new boss in town. You might be the best game ever on other consoles but on PlayStation we have GoW Ragnarok as the best as well. I'm sorry I couldn't help it. If this was as biased as some were saying then Elden Ring would be 4th, 5th or 6th on this goty awards not 2nd so be thankful it got 2nd slightly ahead of HFW cause HFW deserved 2nd place as well. Gamers are the real winners here cause we got to play all these great games this year
Great game to watch but a rather underwhelming game to play. I guess thats where things are moving with games, towards movie like experiences.
This is the true game of year 2022 I’m surprise pushsquare give it to God of war Ragnarok instead of Elden ring.
Worthy winner. And I'm just glad that Elden Ring can be put into a 2022 shaped box now and everyone, media and gamers, can move on from the hysteria it generated. 👍
@Mega-Gazz What was it supposed to do? GOW18 already done what you wanted with Ragnarok just expanding and improving on the formula, its a part 2/direct sequel so it was always going to play more or less the same.
@Beerheadgamer82 no need to apologise. For me elden ring is my goty but i loved ragnarok almost as much..both brilliant at what they do but i felt i got more content for my cash from elden ring (£15 cheaper too) but ragnarok won out so i'm good 👍
@WallyWest there’s some weird thing being ER fans knocking Ragnarok for nonsensical reasons. I saw a reviewer on one site say that if Kratos is a god why can’t be just over small ravines. Like, there’s spaces in games that can’t be reached at all. Every game has boundaries no matter what. I dunno, just seemed like something very petty to put into an actual site review.
@mariomaster96 for some reason that only happens frequently in the first few hours after they will barely offer a peep
GoW:R deserves the top spot imo. Truly a masterpiece. HFW was close but the story cant match GoW!
To think that players are greeted with Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarök, Gran Turismo 7, Elden Ring, Stray & others all in just a single year, I don't think we'll ever see PlayStation emulating this kind of output ever again.
Or maybe not in the nearest future. (Please prove me wrong PlayStation)
These two games will go down in history has one of the best in gaming history. They are so perfectly complementary of each other and the story that’s told across those 80 to 100 hours is so well written,heartfelt,funny,shocking,sad and truly epic that other similar games will be judged against them. SSM take on Norse mythology is so cleverly subverted,written and connected that they have provided one of my favorite takes on Norse myths like seriously I feel bad for any other developer that tries to do a take on Norse mythology.
50-60 hours? 30 and dip more like, pointless filler after that
The thing that connected with me most was the relationship between Kratos and Atreus. It felt so genuine. Kratos wanted Atreus to have a better life and he didn’t want to revert back to being the hate-fueled person he used to be. He wanted to be a better person to set an example for his Son and not to repeat the same mistakes of the past. Atreus meanwhile does what all kids do and sets out to find his own path - even when that means disobeying his Fathers orders. And although they don’t fully agree to begin with, it was touching to see how Atreus still respects his Father and even tries to mimic him. I laughed so hard when Atreus tries to punch open his first chest (Kratos style) and fails lol. It’s the little details like this that raise the game to another level and GOW:R is full of them.
Yes god of war ragnarok is 2022 best games.kratos the g.o.a.t. 🐐 👑.word up son
As much as Elden Ring is more my sort of game, it definitely isn't for everyone. I've not got around to Ragnarok yet, but it strikes me as a game that most people would enjoy. I think that's why it's the winner. I'm looking forward to playing it.
Well, my beloved Gran Turismo 7 didn’t make the top ten, but at least the even better God of War Ragnarok won the whole damn thing. Richly deserved.
I honestly don't understand why GOW:R is regarded as this pinnacle of gaming this year when it's at best a mediocre sequel.
Great game, well deserved. I'd have given the nod to Elden Ring myself, simply because we've played GOW before and its clearly a game design based on last gen. But it was a great experience, and you could argue it deserves to be on top through compelling story and acting alone... I think its been a great year for games 😀
I haven't played this and don't plan to anytime soon. 2018 was a great game that really defied my expectations. Ragna just looks like more of that game, which while I assume is also great, doesn't excite me.
I'll grab it when it's $30 or less.
Not sure about this. The game is brilliant but at the same time the award could go to God of War (2018) since it's exactly the same game with a different story. Well deserved, but also not... I guess they raised the bar too high for themselves.
Hopefully after this & Spiderman 2, Playstation can pull their finger out & create some fresh new experiences again like they used to. Ragnarok was a solid 7-8/10 game. The way people crap on about the story & acting more than anything makes me think it should've been a Telltale or Quantic Dream title! Haha imagine that😅
Paw Patrol Grand Prix was robbed
I am shocked beyond belief that a playstation centered site chooses a PS exclusive as their #1 GoTY
26% voted it should be higher than number 1 on the list. I think that pretty much sums up the PushSquare crowd.
Great game though, for sure.
@ErrantRob
Yeah I do believe Ragnarok has more mass appeal than Elden Ring and is better at letting all types enjoy it. That doesn't make it the better game to me, even slightly, but there is value in that absolutely. It's awesome to see people new to the hobby being able to jump into Ragnarok alongside the 30+ year veterans.
I can't say I agree with...well almost any of the write up besides the great production value but regardless congratulations Santa Monica and I'm glad the game resonated with so many folks!
But seriously Elden Ring is the actual #1. 😉
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge was my Game of the Year, but this was no. 2. It's phenomenal and a very deserving winner.
To the PushSquare staff, great work on the GOTY content as usual.
I’m 15 hours into it right now and nothing I’ve experienced thus far has given even the slightest hint that this game isn’t GOTY material.
25% of people polled feel like this should be higher than #1 on the list… so like, #0.5? How does that work? 😂
Is it possible to be higher than 1, or is it just a default option for all games? If it's the former, is there another game you have higher than #1, like #0 — according to Bleach, in the Arrancar arc, the number 0 is the highest of them all.
i hope sony drops some multiplayer exclusives next year
Well, at least it wasn't Sonic.
@nomither6 I never thought I'd say that but I agree.
@mariomaster96 right! This is my only strife with the game. Otherwise, I have been immensely enjoying the game so far.
Probably game of the gen already
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@Mega-Gazz
Hope you say the same stuff for Elden Ring because it's just an open world without map icons souls game, which is not a bad thing, just like gowr isn't bad for not changing what's not broken.
Both game of the gen contender games. I would put HFW up there too.
I think a lot of people during this gen won't be capable of grasping what a sequel to a video game is, and I think it's because games taking long to make, that they expect the game to change its genre. Or they might change it, but won't like it. Can't win either way.
Ha! Nailed the #1 since #10 was announced, in the comment posted there. Not that it was highly unexpected or anything : )
It's a very good game, one that never outstays it's welcome, and leaves you wanting to play more at the end of it - the best kind there is. Bravo SMS!
Here's to many more releases of this caliber this year, to satisfy every gamer!
A happy new year, with health an prosperity to you all!
@Mega-Gazz It’s completely unrealistic to expect them to reinvent the franchise with every single entry, if games that “don’t advance the medium” are not even worth to be considered Game of the Year then you’re basically saying 90% of games are trash, for me any game’s main goal should be to be fun, and Ragnarök is tons of fun with its gameplay (much more than Elden Ring) while also having one of the best narratives ever in a videogame, so if that’s not worth of being considered for GOTY then nothing is…
2018 and this raise the bar imo. Extreme polish, excellent narrative and acting, deep, rewarding and crunchy action. The talent at SSM is tippy top tier. I've enjoyed it very much. Let's go to Egypt or South America next for the God of War. Kratos has become one of the most iconic video game characters of all time.
Well deserved. Any of the top 3 would’ve been fine with me. I have both HFW & GoWR virtually tied. And I respect/enjoyed Elden Ring even though I haven’t finished it yet. Ragnarok was splendid. The side quests felt meaningful and not filler. Characters were lovable & nicely developed (and some hatable HEIMDALL). Story kept me intrigued until the end. Worthy of GOTY. Amazing experience on the PS5.
My top 3 are..
1_gow Ragnarok
2_hfw
3_
4_
5_elden ring
🤭🤭😂😂
@LN78 Not that it really matters, but it’s “that surprise”, not “not surprise”. Fun use of that Iago quite, though!
I do prefer ER by a pretty wide margin, but I expected this result. I will say the whale moment/story point in GoWR was really neat; just discovered it during post-game cleanup.
@Anke I agree, I wish I liked it as much as many seem to do but I just don't. The level of polish can't be questioned but gameplay wise it doesn't do anything for me. Since getting it I've finished 4 other games whilst my GOW save file sits at around 6 hours with me having no real desire to go back to it
@Anke
"there were better games this year" Can name them please?
Elden Ring was the only game that was on the same level and even that game had tons of issues just like GOW.
After playing the Last of Us Part 2 I thought I’d never play a game as good. God of War Ragnorak came close. What a masterpiece, and a well deserved game of the year.
Disappointingly predictable... But then we're trusting Sammy's tastes here so, it makes some sense...
@Jimmer-jammer "What really stands out to me is its genuinely intelligent script, truly outstanding performances, clever usage of the ‘one shot’ camera and stellar boss fights"
See this is my problem with the whole "New" GoW hype. It's great because, screenplay, acting, photography, and, oh yeah boss fights. It's never praised primarily for being an exceptional video game, it's praised for exceptionally emulating film while also being an acceptably competent video game if not as actually fun as earlier games in the same series. Reminds me of the Square Enix CEO quote about how "some people play games to have fun." 😂
@LN78 RIP Gilbert Godfrey!
@PenguinLtd I agree. GoW, Jedi Fallen a order and FFXV I'm particular make me want to scream with the crawl space thing. Just put the load screen up.
@Hoovesforhands " I guess thats where things are moving with games, towards movie like experiences"
That's just a Sony thing for the most part. It's good and bad. For fans of that it makes PS the best thing ever. For older PS fans..... That's not the things that brought us aboard, and seems we're replaced for a different customer.
Otoh with the online service push the new movie game customers and us old gamey game customers will be cast aside together and can wallow and grumble as one.
But you're not alone here in that opinion. There's still 22% of us that voted it should be lower! Players like you and me and @Ichiban may not be the most numerous voices in the post PS4 "everything must be naughty dog" pantheon but there's still plenty of us around
@UnlimitedSevens You know what games new gamers could jump into alongside veterans? GoW1, 2, 3, Chains of Olympus..... Much more fun video games. And 2 is even directed by Cory too...hmm....
@NEStalgia i prefer the crawl space thing as it dosnt break the immersion factor for me..ratchet and clank did the same thing albeit in a faster more glitzy way but its the same..nobody complained about that..
@Mega-Gazz why does it need to "advance the medium"? Surely if the game is good that's all that matters.
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Well deserved, superb game, it was a joy from start to finish with a satisfying ending 👍
@Ah-Void I think I played about 70 games this year, I thought Need for Speed Unbound was a highlight, Dying Light 2 was good, Plague Tale was too, as was WRC Generations. I could name many more, all more fun and more entertaining for me.
Each to their own remember.
@carlos82 judging from your avatar we probably like similar games too
@PenguinLtd it really got super-obvious after a while didn't it? You could just see the next gap approaching from afar and know exactly what was on the other side.
@PenguinLtd The squeezing between the walls is less about loading screens and more about preventing you from running through the game skipping all the battles. But I wish they would be more varied in ways of stopping you doing this rather than the tight sections.
Definitely my favourite game of the year, but haven't played Elden Ring yet. Wonderful to have two entirely top quality different games, with different markets and areas of expertise duking it out in the same year.
What blew me away about Ragnarok was how many areas it excelled in. Yes it's a bit safe at times, but it's a sequel so that was no surprise. Yet it still managed to surprise and exceed my expectations. Truly a heroic effort from all at SSM.
@Mega-Gazz Sure it did, it added a brand new weapon, a new playable character, new enemies, new bosses, new locations and environments, you can traverse all of the nine realms now. There's plenty new in this sequel outside of the story. God of War 2 didn't reinvent the wheel when it came out. It was just more of God of War 1 but refined. They already reinvented the franchise with GoW 2018, there was no reason or need to go back to the drawing board so soon
@NEStalgia In this case, I think Ragnarok is both, really. I never felt that its cinematic endeavours ever took away from its ‘game’ side or vice-versa, and were integrated into a pretty satisfying whole. It’s not my personal pick of the year but I can’t deny the great time I had playing it or the great game that it is. I mean, it’s very ‘gamey’, isn’t it? Moreso than some of Sony’s other first party output. My only real niggles with it are some overly confusing environments to navigate (especially in achieving the platinum), and what I personally thought was a step in the wrong direction when it came to equipment and upgrading. I don’t know, man, it’s a pretty great game.
To each their own, but IMO GOW is everything wrong with modern games. An on-rails linear set piece that feels more like an amusement ride than a game. The experience takes player autonomy away and forces a bloated, generic narrative upon you while sprinkling in empty filler in the forms of ‘puzzles’ and shallow RPG elements that don’t really make a difference in the player character development, they’re just natural progression unlocks that the developer decides when to unveil in the story… and everyone has the same exact experience.
God of War is technically very impressive, but it’s just another AAA game that has little replay value because underneath the shiny paint job it’s not doing anything interesting. It will be forgotten about once the sizzle wears off because there’s no substance to keep players coming back.
@Jimmer-jammer Speaking generally about the Norse saga as I can't comment on specifics of Ragnarok yet, I agree it's more "gamey" than some other modern Sony offerings, though, I think we really mean "at least it's not Naughty Dog" lol. But to me, SSM has become merely the lesser of the two evils following that interactive movie direction.
I still think, at least for 2018, the gameplay is merely competent, but not particularly special, and the cinematics are the entirety of the hype. It's a long corridor slasher on rails but without any of the bombast of it's predecessors, with decent combo driven combat, but a long way away from what Platinum or Capcom does in the action genre, closer to a beat em up except lethargically slow and repetitive, with window dressing RPG elements and irritating simple puzzles to break it up.
It's not that it's a bad series as a sort if popcorn flick gaming comfort food, like a western Musou, but to me the hype around the series as inevitable goty material astounded me in 2018 and astounds me again now.
Don't get me wrong I'd rather gow than tlou, at least gow remembers it's supposed to be a game, even if it thinks it's a PS2 game albeit a joyless one unlike it's actual PS2 forbears consistent with the demands of modern joyless emo pop culture consumers
This alone is worth the price of my PS5 almost, it's that good. It has been a sublime 2022 for the system. Looking ahead to Final Fantasy later this year, looks like it could be best one since FF10/X
@NEStalgia For what it’s worth, I’d say that Ragnarok comes much closer to, and arguably exceeds, the bombast of the original trilogy at times. When the rubber hits the road, I prefer my action games in the flavour of something like Nioh II, but I really did enjoy Ragnarok and think it’s a great game.
@Jimmer-jammer That's a somewhat hopeful thought. To be fair from the gameplay trailer they released a few months back the combat did look a little more like gow of old and less sluggish.
In the new $70 era I don't buy games until they go under 45 unless it's something super special (or Nintendo), and my backlog doesn't make me mind the wait. I still have to finish up the 2018 game. After talking about it here I went back to it again last week, and it was less boring than I remembered..... But.. After an evening of that I quickly went back to working on getting further through HzD since I already bought the sequel, so GoW will have to wait a while. Realistically I'll probably get to it in 2025 given the massive big games on all 3 systems coming out this year plus backlog. Hogwarts will have to be the Christmas "light hearted" game, starfield on gp will devour me as a big Bethesda fan, and botw2... Well my avatar says it all there.....
.... And I've detoured into elden ring and can't pull myself out, despite hard noping out quickly from every other soulsborne. Elden seriously gives me Zelda 1 vibes with the cave mini dungeons. Which.. Again given my avatar..... There goes my existence for 10 years. Hopefully Chris Judge can keep thanking people for the next 5 years until I get to Ragnarok 😂
@NEStalgia 😂 …Chris Judge…yeah, I’m finding it hard to get through all the games these days. I’ve been thinking of picking up a Series X for the likes of Starfield and whatever else eventually comes down the pipeline from that deal, but with PSVR 2 on its way, well, it’s getting a bit hard to realize all of my gaming ambitions. Anyway, hopefully Elden Ring sticks the landing with you. I thought it was one of the best games I’ve played. BotW 2 should be a safe bet so here’s hoping you enjoy that too!
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