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 associate editor Stephen Tailby.
5. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
I played the original of this on a creaking old laptop back in 2013, and it was wonderful. The Ultra Deluxe version is even better. The ways this game plays with the concept of interactive storytelling, all the pointed jokes about the industry, and how often it genuinely made me laugh β it is a rare and unique experience. With all the new content this version offers, The Stanley Parable arrived on consoles in the best way possible, and I loved every second of it. Certainly not for everyone, but it's definitely for me.
4. Gran Turismo 7
Historically, I've always been disinterested in Gran Turismo, and so I did not expect to enjoy, or even play, the newest iteration. Against all odds, I did in fact play it. While I've not reached the end of the single player portion yet, I can say that I've been loving Gran Turismo 7. The handling feels wonderful, realistic but not punishingly so, and the presentation is among the best in the business. Why has it clicked this time? I think its slow-and-steady progression eases newcomers in wonderfully, plus it's hard to deny its very particular charm. I get it now. Gran Turismo is great.
3. Cult of the Lamb
There have been many great indie games this year, but I think the one I enjoyed the most was Cult of the Lamb. It's just such a well-executed concept. The loop is insanely compelling β going out on rogue-lite dungeon runs to gather resources and find new followers, then returning home, where it becomes an addictive base-building game, in turn buffing you for your next crusade. The gameplay is simple but so satisfying, and it's just the right length. A jovially grim good time from start to finish.
2. Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Zero Dawn was such an incredible first attempt at an open world RPG from Guerrilla Games, and its sequel improves basically everything. The combat is seriously good fun, with multiple ways to tackle all the hulking metal creatures. I think the map is rich and diverse, offering so much to see and do as Aloy travels west. Even the characters are far better realised this time, and the same goes for the tribal politics side of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Horizon Forbidden West provides, and even though the narrative can't offer the same sense of mystery as the original, it still manages to surprise with numerous twists and turns. I'm excited to jump back in when the Burning Shores DLC arrives.
1. God of War Ragnarok
This one is hardly a surprise, but, well, I don't know what to tell you. For me, it's the best game of 2022. The sweeping adventure it takes you on, the chunky combat, the glorious art direction, the excellent ensemble cast β I love it all. It's a big, glossy blockbuster, and it's a very, very good one that builds on its predecessor in every way. I even like the slower bits that people hate β in fact, those sections are some of my favourite parts. When I reached the credits and saw all there is to see, I didn't want to stop playing. I would've happily kept going for another 10 hours. Just top drawer stuff.
What do you think of Stephen's personal Game of the Year picks? Feel free to agree wholeheartedly, or berate relentlessly in the comments section below.
Comments 56
Great list, I need to play The Stanley Parable and Cult of the Lamb. Have no real interest in GT7 as I hardly touched GT Sport (prefer arcade/kart racers) but the top 2 are both phenomenal games in my opinion and either of them could take the top spot!
For me its 1.god of war ragnarok. 2.elden ring.3.teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shredders revenge.4.sifu.5.horizon forbidden west.word up son
@residentsteven we have a new troll on the site ladies and gents
@residentsteven You can't really call it a terrible list if you haven't played any of the games. Streets of Rage 4 is great though I'll give you that, need to jump back into it myself!
Horizon FW was great, but it felt weird in the second half.
Zero Dawn was much more mysterious and about ancient evil machines/AI - I did not particularly liked Far Zenith as an enemy.
In terms of writing, Far Zenith's motivation and actions were not persuasive and honestly it all felt cheap in comparison to first game.
@residentsteven that's fair enough with GOW and Horizon. Not every game is for every gamer but I wouldn't call it a terrible list if I didn't know the games I'd look into them more and maybe discover a hidden gem/classic!
@residentsteven The list is Stephen's opinion, but you felt the need to disrespect it. I bet you expect your list to be respected though.
@Majk_SVK I loved the game but I think we could have spent more time with the Far Zenith crew to get to know them better they were pretty one dimensional.
Saying that though I love the series and can't wait for Burning Shores and Horizon 3π
1. Elden Ring
2. Horizon Forbidden West
3. Steelrising
4. God of War RagnarΓΆk
5. Syberia The World Before
(not counting TLoU) would be my list.
HFW and GOWR for me.
1. God of War Ragnarok 2. Witcher 3 3. Gran Turismo 7 4.Horizon forbidden west
I really hated the story of H:fw and especially the ending.
Is Horizon Forbidden West such a great game? I havenβt played it and itβs a looker, for sure, but I hear mixed opinions about it. From the reviews I read, I got the impression that itβs like a 100 quids triple meat triple cheese burger menu with lots of chips and salad, delicious but neither memorable nor especially original at all.
@Max_the_German I can obviously only give you my personal perspective. I have my gripes with the story. However, the engaging gameplay, the world design and atmosphere simply completely blew me away. Some of the side content is also very good. But you'll find a lot of your typical fetch quests, too. Plus, and this is very individual since not a whole lot of people seem to use it, the gyro aiming is close to perfection which is a huge deal for me and I wouldn't nearly enjoy the game as much without it.
@Max_the_German everything about it is better than the first game, I enjoyed the story but it's 50/50 whether you'll like it or not. it suffers from being the middle part of a story!
I'm sad that I haven't played Forbidden West yet (or Cult of the Lamb for that matter) but I still need to finish Zero Dawn π¬
But Ragnarok was my favorite game the entire year. In a year where I thought nothing would top Elden Ring, God of War said "hold my beer"
@Max_the_German if you read reviews you would have seen it scored an 88 on metacritic with the majority of reviews praising it profusely so. I mean thereβs a reason itβs been nominated for goty at almost all the big gaming sites and any other year like last year for example it would have won the majority of the goty awards
@MightyDemon82 yeah I loved HFW my second favorite game of the year behind GOW and I will say the present day story with the tribes was great unlike the first horizon
@dschons I actually donβt remember it having too many fetch quests if at all
Iβd struggle to name 5 games I played that were actually released this year but my top five games Iβve played are:
1. Elden Ring (by a mile)
2. Returnal
3. Diablo 3
4. Hollow Knight
5. Fortnight
Yesβ¦ I knowβ¦ theyβre mostly old games now.
Nice list, @Quintumply. I need to get on GT7 already. What are your thoughts on Elden Ring? If you didnβt play it yet, why not?
@Max_the_German The story is not nearly as good as the first game. The main character is overly angsty and borderline annoying in the second game as well.
Combat, exploration and graphics are still top notch.
@kyleforrester87 Elden Ring was a tough one for me. I've previously really enjoyed FromSoft's games, Dark Souls passed me by but I got on board with Sekiro, which I really liked, and I had a great time with Demon's Souls on PS5 as well. So I was definitely interested in Elden Ring, and I happily played it for a long time, slowly chipping my way through.
I reached what I think is about half-way, though, and I hit a brick wall in difficulty. Part of me wanted to push on and see the game to the end, but ultimately I threw in the towel. I realised I had stopped having fun, and with that epiphany I figured I didn't have much of a reason to stick around. Why play something that's just making me feel so deflated?
I think it's a highly commendable game and deserves its success, but I think the open world structure and some truly obtuse design eventually did me in. It's a seriously impressive achievement, just too broad, and I guess too tough, for me.
Pretty great list, it had a bit of everything
My Top 5 would have to be:
1. God of War Ragnarok
2. The Last of Us Remake
3. A Plague Tale Requiem
4. Ys 8 Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4/PS5)
5. Dreamlight Valley
Honorable Mentions: The Quarry, Dying Light 2, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Cuphead DLC, Ghostwire Tokyo, Stray, Sifu & TMNT Shredder's Revenge
YES I know Ys 8 Lacrimosa of Dana released back in 2016, but I only FINALLY got my hands on a physical copy on PS4 (and again on PS5 just 3 days ago), because finding a decently priced brand new copy was damn near impossible, and since the PS5 version did release this year... I'm counting Ys 8 as a 2022 game (I'm aware I'm cheating but Ys 8 deserves the love).
My Top 10 most anticipated games (2023 has too many games for just a Top 5)
1. Spider-Man 2
2. Resident Evil 4 Remake
3. Persona 4 Golden
4. Silent Hill 2 Remake
5. Star Wars Jedi Survivor
6. Dead Space Remake
7. Forspoken
8. Hogwarts Legacy
9. Final Fantasy 16
10. Dead Island 2
Honorable Mentions: Atomic Heart, Wild Hearts, Persona 3 Portable, Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake, Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores DLC & Tales of Symphonia Remastered
@dark_knightmare2 Oh, you're right. They aren't fetch quests like mats farming and such. I should have said generic side quests instead. My grandma went to pick berries and she hasn't come back. You track her down, find her corpse and the enemy that caused her death, defeat it, go back and bring the bad news, lol. Too many of those for me.
@Quintumply you completed Sekiro but Elden Ring was too hard? Damn, Sekiro broke me π I didnβt find ER to have many brick walls really, since there were so many opportunities to go elsewhere and come back stronger. But in hindsight I did spend too much time levelling up my character instead of just gitting gud. As a result, too many of my memories are grinding the same loop, which is a bit of a downer, really.
I actually don't have a single one of these games in my top 5! π€£
But fair enough. Different folks different strokes.
Cult of the Lamb consumed me for the twenty odd hours it took to platinum. Phenomenal game.
@kyleforrester87 I think I could've done it if I stuck with it, but I just grew so weary of the struggle. Especially when I learned I wasn't even close to the end, and that the second half is a potential slog. For what it's worth I really did enjoy most of what I did play, particularly when I discovered the whole underground zone by accident, and working through Raya Lucaria β it's an incredibly enchanting game in places.
@MightyDemon82
Yeah this just made me buy Cult of the Lambs at full price lol damnit...
Downloading right now, excited to play it!
@Max_the_German the gameplay in Forbidden West is better and itβs a fun game to play. But the story is really disappointing imo. If Zero Dawn was The Matrix. Forbidden West is like The Matrix Resurrections. I feel like it could have been a good story but then it all gets a bit silly.
Great list! Glad to see Cult of the Lamb in your top 3.
Glad to see Stanley Parable get some representation!
@BoldAndBrash I'll get it at some point next year. Got to get through the ever expanding backlog.
Good to see Cult of the Lamb in this list, I had a lot of fun with that one too.
Excellent picks. Iβm gonna have to check each of them out for sure. Especially the Stanley Parableβ¦it just looks so much more different than anything Iβve ever played
If Cult of the Lamb gets a good discount in the end of year sale, I may succumb.
I've actually not played any of these games yet. Plan to get around to all of them at some point though.
Most of my gaming time this year has been playing the fantastic gt7 with bits of last of us part1 recently and bit of grid legends so I haven't honestly played 5 games this year to make a top five list which for me is quite strange but gt7 had me by the short and curlies ,great game ,there are some imperfections that need addressing but I'm loving it overall as I love motorsport anyway
Good list I have yet to play gowr. My game of the year is elden ring 280 hours in I'm still enjoying it. Also loving cyberpunk and have just downloaded bloodborne old hunters dlc years after beating the game 7.99 on ps plus. Keep up the good work merry Christmas to all.
This from a Fromsoftware advocate (that was frustratingly disappointed in Elden Ring). Ragnarok is my game of 2022 and Horizon FW a close second, Sony are just industry leading when it comes to IP, there's no denying it. Played some great indies this year too, Mortal Shell EE, Disco Elysium, Thymesia, appreciate these didnt all release in 2022, but its been an excellent year for PS5 Players.
P.S I even enjoyed blasting through AC Unity for a fiver haha
Didn't play too many games on ps5 this year. So I guess my top 5 will be across all consoles.
(Honourable mentions: Nobody Saves the World, Citizen Sleeper, Shredders Revenge)
5. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Eunie!
4. PokΓ©mon Legends Arceus
One of the best campaign games I've played in the series. And I've played them all! There are some things I disliked but overall what an exciting game that was for me! I will definitely return to it!
3. Neon White
Most overlooked game of the year. Platinumed every run and got every gift and beat every side mission.
2. God of War Ragnarok
Gow is a classic series. One of my all time favourites and Ragnarok, despite a few complaints I have and some boring parts, is a excellent game worthy of the name.
1. Elden Ring
I don't know how from software keep outdoing themselves!
Some here have posted their most anticipated too so:
5.Stellar Blade
4. Tekken 8
3. Armoured Core 6
2. Silksong
1. Tears of the Kingdom
I wish i liked God of War Ragnarok as much. Got bored to tears playing as certain character.
It's nice to see someone not afraid to leave Elden Ring off their list. I feel most people list it and rave about it so much so they can seem cool and edgey π I bought it and think it's a load of *****! I love Demon's Soul and Bloodborne btw!
@Quintumply discovering that underground by chance was one of my most memorable gaming moments! It really was just a spectacular reveal!
I'm going to encourage you to pick it back up though, because that's why the game is so good, and worth seeing through, the discovery and exploration, and you can do any of that whenever you like if there is a bit you are stuck on. No need to even grind to level up, as there's so much to do.
Also, you could always adapt your build to get more enjoyment out of it, I was totally new to souls games, and a mix of melee and incantations was super fun, and at times quite boss melty π and another of the best things about the game is helping others in boss fights, with there being so many first time souls players, like me, once I had a boss I knew I could assist on, I would, and it was just pure fun (I must have put an end to a certain someone's plans to devour the very gods a hundred times with people who didn't know to use the spear π) And I knew if I ever got stuck I could call on some other player to guide me, although I only ever did it for those b****** twin gargoyles πΉπΉ
A momentous game, you have to see it through π even if it means you get people to assist on your quest if your build has a weakness to certain bosses or areas, it's all part of the game and the community is awesome.
@Zemo55 More like you wanna seem cool when you say you don't like Elden Ringπ. How do you like BB but can't like ER, when the latter basically contains the former. You want linear, go roam in Stormveil, Raya Lucaria, Caria Manor, Caria Study Hall, Volcano Manor etc. I can get BB type attire in ER but can't vice versa. It's just facts is a masterpiece and not some bandwagon rave. I mean Tree Sentinel's design alone just makes other supposed terrifying enemies in other games look ridiculous, so unique, so majestic.
Well said @Ravix.
One of my GOTY 2022.
Youtubers Life 2 PS4
@Quintumply couldnβt have summed it up better myself! I finished Raya Lucaria academy and tapped out. I much prefer the linear style of previous Souls games, managing the open world was the hardest part of the game for me.
@PlayStationGamer3919 wtf are you talking about ?
Haven't really been able to game much this year due to health issues so Horizon is the only one on this list I have actually played. I need to catch up.
@dschons Interesting you have steelrising at 3. I've really wanted to get that but was put off by negative feedback.
No, this list is wrong. It is different to mine.
Haven't got around to the big hitters yet so my list would be:
1. Pentiment
2. Tinykin
3. Ghost of Tsushima
4. Tunic
5. Citizen Sleeper
@Sequel the best Soulslike there is for me.
Excelent list. The 2nd and the 1st are my picks too!!
@Toypop I'm curious as to how you're defining "practically DLC", which you're excluding from that, and whether you've played all the games in question.
Forbidden west blew me away. GT7 blew me away. Really enjoyed modern warfare 2. And planet coaster. Best game for me is GT7
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