Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2022. Today, it's the turn of staff writer Khayl Adam.
5. Tactics Ogre: Reborn
A remake of a stone-cold SRPG classic, Tactics Ogre: Reborn stands like a colossus over the genre, setting the gold standard for tactical turn-based combat when it was originally released and retaining that honour all these long years later. With an adult, complex tale of political intrigue, diverging story paths, and the choice of dozens of different classes with which to take to the battlefield, Tactics Ogre: Reborn is in a league entirely of its own.
4. Trails from Zero
Trails from Zero offers the kind of JRPG experience that reminds us why we fell in love with the genre in the first place. Featuring a charismatic cast of extremely likeable characters, an engaging and incredibly well-written narrative to get lost in, and a combat system a cut above the usual fare, Trails from Zero offers a lesser-known adventure that is well worth undertaking.
3. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Mount & Blade: Banerlord is one of the most unique games on PlayStation, a strategic sandbox experience masquerading as a medieval life management sim. It boasts incredibly large-scale battles and the kind of RPG progression that will keep you coming back again and again, giving PlayStation fans a peek at the type of experience usually reserved for PC players alone.
2. God of War Ragnarok
God of War Ragnarok sets a new benchmark for cinematic gameplay experiences that, combined with the game's crunchy action combat system, makes Kratos's latest adventure one of the most unforgettable of the year. With a level of production virtually unrivalled even within Sony's vaunted suite of first-party studios, Ragnarok is a shiny new jewel in PlayStation's already-gaudy crown.
1. Elden Ring
Elden Ring is developer FromSoftware's magnum opus, representing more than a decade's worth of iteration on the same rock-solid core gameplay loop and system of interlocking mechanics. Haunting, beautiful, and completely enthralling, the gaming world ground to a halt when Elden Ring was released back in February and will live long in our collective consciousness as an open world epic without equals.
What do you think of Khayl's personal Game of the Year picks? Feel free to agree wholeheartedly, or berate relentlessly in the comments section below.
Comments 15
I’m really enjoying how everyone has some differences in their lists instead of a complete consensus Top 3 to 5. It’s giving me some new games to look into. Never played Tactics Ogre before so it’s something I want to check out more.
Bannerlord is awesome. Hope more people check it out on PS5. Should come with an addiction warning though. 😂
@CWill97 Agree completely, some great games highlighted that are now on my list. Interest in Mount & Blade II officially piqued! I hope that once all the lists are out the PS team put them on one page for ease of reference/comparison.
Of course it's Khayl's GOTY because you meet him at the Church of Elleh, though his name is pronounced different in the Lands Between 😁. It's my GOTY too, I mean when you hear Sekiro is the same attire and katana throughout which is okay, and you look at Elden Ring which has EVERYTHING!
Several of these seem like the type of games that require mental energy and a quiet house, not really things I have after coming home from work. I’ll almost certainly play Trails from Zero at some point though
I should give Trails from Zero a try. It's been a bit since I've played a JRPG.
@JudgeDredd Maybe I’m missing something. The reviews on Push Square tell you who wrote them and more often than not, the author participates in the comments to answer questions. If memory serves, they do include a different PS member’s take in reviews for larger games, but the authorship is always clear.
@Deadlyblack
If you are looking for a solid JRPG, I highly recommend "Chained Echos"
Although I really enjoyed "Trials from Zero" I just thought "Chained Echos" was better.
AND, when you see that it was created by one person, that just blows my mind.
I highly recommend it if you are looking for the best JRPG of the year.
@Svark Oh I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the suggestion!
@thefourfoldroot1 Finally someone who echoes my sentiments! In the limited time I get for gaming after work, I prefer to play something in which I can make satisfying progress without a huge learning curve or developing muscle memory.
@vikramsingh
Lol, yes, for me it’s having to memorise anything or repeat anything that’s a big no. I’m getting a bit old and I have limited time so I need a game to respect that.
Great that all these different types of games exist though, everyone is covered.
Elden Ring is just ... sublime! The game keeps on giving!
Bannerlords has been on my radar. This pushed it to a purchase, just not yet as I have to finish too many games atm.
@Starkei I read the review and it looks awesome! Pulled the trigger but haven’t played. Will definitely get to it soon.
@rockodoodle Hope you enjoy it. It has a bit of a steep learning curve, but once you're over it it's really an awesome game.
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