Your 2022 in gaming - Highs, Averages and Lows

[ommadawnyawn2]

Here's another yearly thread where we can share our experiences in gaming throughout 2022. How was your 2022? 

Simply list the games you've played this year in a highs-averages-lows ranking (or however you wish), with an additional comment (or however you wish!). Feel free to get long-winded, or post nothing but the list if you prefer that.


Best:
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (PC, 2020) - 8, maybe 8.5 on a better PC or if the bugs are fixed (normal, 80 to 90-ish %, 20h, path: part of ice area-luma pools-rest of ice-most of sand-mouldwood-rest of sand)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC, 2000) - 8, might be 8.5 w/ newer mod packs or modded Enhanced Ed (Elbereth (Fighter/Mage multi-class (15/15), Neutral Good, Elf) w/ Minsc, Keldorn, Jaheria, Aerie and Imoen. Took about 84 in-game days)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010) - 8 (got about 80 stars)
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PC, 2017)(WB3 remaster w/ some extras) - 8 (Normal, all charm stones incl post-game one)
Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble 16-Bit (PC, 2022) - 8 (got all emeralds)
Quake II: Quad Damage (PC, 1997/1999) - 8 (normal, didn't play the expansions yet)
RC Pro-Am II (NES, 1992) - 8 (7-ish in SP, didn't use the money code but a lot of save states)

Oh yeah, while I didn't beat any games for it yet I bought a NS for my nephew for christmas and we've really enjoyed playing on it! Was a bit hesitant to give something that expensive compared to what else he got but he's been handling it with care which is nice to see.


Highs:
Aggelos (PC, 2018) - 7.5 (Normal, lvl 19, 95% completion didn't complete woodpecker's challenge)
Mega Man 10 (WiiWare, 2010) - 7.5 (normal as MM, used most items)
Half-Life (PC, 1998) - 7.5 (normal)
Magical Chase (PCE, 1991) - 7.5 (normal, used a couple of elixirs and one medicine)
Star Parodier (PCE CD, 1992) - 7.5 (normal, beat it as the bomberman and pc engine ships)
Guardians/Denjin Makai II (ARC, 1995) - 7.5 (1p, normal/default as Zeldia)
CrossCode (PC, 2018) - 7.5 (default difficulty except for one timing puzzle, beat it at lvl 59, did most side quests)
Legend of the Mystical Ninja/Ganbare Goemon (SNES, 1991) - 7.5 (1p, replay)
Unreal Gold (PC, 2000) - 7.5 (normal, didn't beat the expansion)
Aladdin: Final Cut (MD, 2019) - 7.5 (normal)
"I, Robot" (ARC, 1984) - 7.5 (didn't beat it yet)
Metal Sonic Hyperdrive (MD, 2014)(Romhack) - 7.5
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (NDS, 2008) - 7 (Normal, did about 70% of sidequests, level 37)
Mega Man ZX Advent (NDS, 2007) - 7 (normal, guy)
Dune Legacy (PC, 2016)(Dune 2 fan remaster) - 7 (qbot medium AI difficulty as Atreides)
Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PC, 2012)(GOG/Steam ver.) - 7 (Normal, fully upgraded final gear+lvl 52) - not a 7.5 on Easy due to poor balance
Shining Force CD (MCD, 1994) - 7 (normal (books 1-3), easy for the museum battle)
Shadow Complex Remastered (PC, 2015) - 7 (normal, 60-70% completion - didn't get the helmet)
Nexzr (PCE CD, 1992) - 7 (normal)
HERO (A2600, 1984) - 7
Tänzer (MD, 2019) - 7 (took the straight ahead path when there was an option during a sub level)
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii, 2007) - 7 (normal, about 83% completion)
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth (WiiWare, 2009) - 7 (normal)
Scurge: Hive (NDS, 2006) - 7
16-Bit Rhythm Land (MD, 2019) - 7 (got a good rank for the easy mode songs, got a decent rank for some hard mode songs)
Nemo (ARC, 1990) - 7 (1-player, default difficulty besides max lives, used about 8-10 credits)
Hyper Light Drifter (PC, 2016) - 7 (normal, got maybe 65% of the module keys and most money but only a few regular keys)
The Lone Ranger (NES, 1991) - 7
Dragon Quest III (SNES, 1996) - 7 (finished at around lvl 36 average, didn't optimize class progression or personalities, got about 70 medals, didn't do the bonus dungeons)


Mids: 
Kingdom Hearts (PS2, 2002) - 7 (got maybe 75% of chests, didn't beat sephiroth or other hidden bosses)
Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (GC, 2004) - 7 (got maybe 75% of collectibles)
Battle Axe (v1.1)(PC, 2021/2022) - 7 (1p, easy & hard (no normal))
LostWinds (PC, 2016) - 6.5 (got maybe 85% collectibles)
Fallen Haven (PC, 1997) - 6.5 (Easy (default) as humans)
Super Punch-Out! (SNES, 1994) - 6.5
Rocket: Robot on Wheels (N64, 1999) - 6.5 (got maybe 90% of all tickets and tokens)
Gradius II (PCE CD, 1992) - 6.5 (normal, third weapon setup)
Mr. Nutz (MD, 1994) - 6.5 (max lives and HP)
Bomberman 64 (N64, 1997) - 6.5 in SP (normal, only tried battle mode for a bit)
Duke Nukem II (PC, 1993)(Rigel Engine ver.) - 6.5 (normal)
Konami Wai Wai World (NES, 1988) - 6.5 (1p, level order was something like goemon->goonies->donkey kong/city->CV, hell, etc.)
Mortal Kombat: Arcade Edition (MD, 1992/2022)(Hack) - 6.5 (as Scorpion)
Cadash (PCE, 1991) - 6.5 (1p as the ninja)


Lows: 
Scooby-Doo!: Night of 100 Frights (GC, 2002) - 6
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King (GBA, 2005) - 6 (got most collectables)
Strider (NES, 1989) - 6 (no collectables or difficulty options)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (GBA, 2003) - 6

Didn't beat:
Bunny Must Die: Chelsea and the 7 Devils (PC, 2006) - 6
Pitfall: Mayan Adventure (MD, 1994) - 6
Cauldron (C64, 1985) - 5 (maybe a 6 w/ unlimited lives)

[spanky]

I'm looking at what I beat this year, and this probably has the highest percentage of replays I've had...ever. I also played very little new games, and a good proportion of those "new" games are remakes, reboots or ports (Pocky and Rocky Reshrined, TMNT Cowabunga Collection). I'll just one entry for each of the High, Mid and Low categories

High - Metroid Dread was probably the best new game I played this year. Some of the most thoughtful design I've seen in this genre.

Mid - TMNT Shredder's Revenge was a game that on paper should be one of my favorite games ever, but the end experience left me a bit cold. You ever receive exactly what you asked for and end up being a bit disappointed by the result? This is how I felt about this.

Low - Two Point Campus is a game I really, REALLY wanted to like but the PS4 version is beset with all kinds of bugs that were never resolved during my time with it.

[dsparil]

Compared to last year, my completed number of games and time spend was down a bit. That was pretty much all do to looping PCE shooters and writing blurbs about PCE games plus playing other versions of them for comparison. In late 2020, I had considering doing a series on the Game Boy RPGs after playing Sword of Hope since it was #2 chronologically, but decided that was way too ambitious. The PCE shooters seemed much more manageable once I got a ways into it informally. After the American exclusive games, I wonder if I should try to do as much of the rest of library as possible since I'm already about 20% through it.

Best

Live A Live - I doubt anyone anywhere is going to say the Live A Live remake is the best game of the year so I will! The HD-2D graphics and voice acting really put this over the top for me, and it can not be understated how much Cube and Sundown’s scenarios in particular benefit from the new presentation.

High

Earthbound Beginnings - Finally got around to actually playing this through despite putting in some time to the original leaked game and the Wii U VC version. It’s a little archaic and probably frustrating without a walkthrough, but it’s okay with one.

Front Mission 1st: Remake - The original campaign is so-so and I assume held back by space limitations. The second campaign added in the original PSX remake is much better. The new remake is decent, but a certain amount of charm is lost without the pixel art. On the other hand, the new instant movement and battles cut out so much dead time.

HunterX - Despite the ultra generic name this is actually a very good Metroidvania. It strikes a good difficulty despite outright copying most of Dark Souls’s mechanics, and you have such a huge amount of mobility towards the end.

Immortals Fenyx Rising — A New God + The Lost Gods - I’ll touch on the main game below, but A New God is the good dungeon content the main game lacks. The Lost Gods is a good mostly independent game and should have been released on its own as the gameplay is radically different.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - HAL tried and failed to make a 3D Kirby years ago, and they finally succeeded with this one. I wish there were more abilities, but being able to upgrade them takes a bit of the sting off.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga - Probably too ambitious for its own good, and it was a mistake to cover all nine main movies in one game. However, the free exploration is excellent and makes good use of locations that are kinda dumb in the movies.

Märchen Forest - My first major completion of the year is still one of my favorites and I kinda wish that I had paid full price because it is such a good game. This is technically a remake of an Android/PC game that redos the graphics, adds in voice acting and includes the third episode in English for the first time. The first episode is a brief adventure game, and the second is a short-ish dungeon crawler with a good plot. The third episode is the real meat of the game and is such a huge advancement over the gameplay of the second episode.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus - Proto-SV really but it has some of it’s own features that didn’t get carried forward.

Pokémon Scarlet - A shame at how buggy the game ended up, but it luckily didn’t affect me much aside from some minor glitches. The gameplay is the best in the series, and hopefully subsequent games built on this foundation.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - A good follow up after VIII, but it tries to include some of VIII’s mechanics too which don’t make sense in a city. It’s interesting that this is basically a superhero game in the guise of a fantasy game.

Medium

Assassin’s Creed II trilogy - Okay, but the climbing is a bit rough compared to future games.

Astalon: Tears of the Earth - The general Metroidvania gameplay is good, but it has some intentional design choices that I didn’t like.

BioShock Series - Really runs the gamut from high to low. Burial at Sea Episode 2 is the real Thief III we never got, and Minerva’s Den adds some fun new stuff on top of 2. The other Rapture set games/DLC are okay as FPSes, but they each have individual issues holding them back. Infinite is basically as bad as everyone says.

Daemon X Machina - Seems to pretty much require a Pro Controller unless there were some control fixes between release and when I returned to it. Gameplay is good in concept, but missions start to lack variety towards the end.

Danganronpa + 2 - I had too many problems with the story in the first game. The sequel is mostly an improvement, but it also feels padded out.

Dark Souls Remastered - I can say I soloed Dark Souls although that wasn’t entirely by choice. The Switch player base doesn’t seem the largest so you also can’t do invasions much or defend against them. It also goes on for too long, and gets weirdly easy with a Zweihander and heavy armor.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes - The alternate universe version of The Avengers where Marvel still had the film rights to all their series. It’s standard TT Lego, but the main city is a bit weak.

Metal Max Xeno Reborn - A really random play for me since I barely knew the series aside from it existing, but the release timing lined up for me. Fun concept with the tank gameplay, but there’s zero difficulty once you have tanks for everyone.

Monochrome Order - A pretty good RPG with real multiple endings that’s mainly held back by being a low budget Kemco game. I’d still recommend it overall, but temper your expectations.

Saints Row IV: Re-elected - I liked this in theory, but there’s so many unfixed bugs especially a distressing number of crashes during loading.

Sonic Origins - Such classic games deserved better. It could have been worse, but there’s a sloppiness to the whole collection. Bugs aside, the overarching story mode is supposed to be the main addition, but its cutscenes are microscopic.

Low

Immortals Fenyx Rising + Myths of the Eastern Realm - There was some potential here that was mostly unfulfilled for various reasons. Part of it being that the all the actually good dungeon content seems to have been held back for DLC, but really it comes down to the AC: Odyssey team biting off more than they could chew. MotER has promise, but the size of the DLC and the base gameplay in general keep it from reaching its full potential.

Nier: Automata — The End of YoRHa Edition - There are some high points, but like quasi-successor Astral Chain, the gameplay is flashy but boring and the story isn’t that great overall.

OPUS: Echo of Starsong - I was really looking forward to this and ended up fairly disappointed. I love a good super advanced lost civilization plot, and for once a game is absolutely filled that. Except that strand of the plot is fumbled so hard at what should have been a huge culmination.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin - Worse than the first game all around. Story is blander, monsties are poorly balanced, and equipment peaks too early.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - I’m the odd one out here considering all the awards. I found the story bland and too padded out. The new class system was interesting in theory, but there are some issues with the implementation.

Worst

Sports Story - This wasn’t even finished when it was released, not by a long shot. No amount of patching can turn this into even a decent game.

[windfisch]

Atm I can only think of one game that stood out to me last year: Warioland 3. Golfing mini game aside, I loved it, definitely a high point for the series and the exploration-puzzle-platformer genre.

[JoeQ]

Leaving out a bunch of games I can't think of anything interesting to say about.

---

HIGHS:

-Armored Core 2 (PS2): I've had this series in my backlog for years and finally got around to it. It didn't disappoint, exactly my kinda thing. Looking forward to playing the rest.

-Blazing Chrome (PS4): Excellent homage to classic Contra, with a dash of Metal Slug in the mix.

-Blood: Fresh Supply (PC): A classic Build engine FPS from the nineties. Aside from the cultists being assholes and the bad boss fights it was great and I can see why many consider it the best of the Build games.

-Bone Appetit (PC): A delightfully openended amateur metroidvania. Lots of crass humor and jank, but it has a ton of heart.

-Cruelty Squad (PC): A bizarre "immersive sim" about being an assassin in a corporate hellworld that hides deceptive depth behind it's deliberately hideous aesthetics. An experience like no other.

-Deus Ex (PC): Speaking of immersive sims, I finally played one of the classics of the genre. A great example of a whole being greater than the sum of it (mediocre) parts.

-Elden Ring (PS4): Unrivalled Game Of The Year and probably the best game FromSoft has ever made (though I still like Dark Souls 1 the best). This game was everything I wanted Dark Souls 3 to be.

-Front Mission 4 (PS4): Excellent mech based tactical RPG.

-Killer7 (PC): Replayed for the first time in over fifteen years and it did not disappoint. Obtuse, mystifying, psychedelic and incredibly stylish, this is still Suda51's masterpiece. Steam port is excellent too and the definitive way to play the game now.

-Monolith (PC): A fusion of a shmup and room-based roguelike that keeps ramping up the challenge to extremes that rival the bullet helliest of bullet hells, yet it never feels unfair. Excellent pixelart graphics and music too.

-Okage: Shadow King (PS2 via PS4): A mechanically simplistic and mediocre JRPG that makes up for it's shortcomings by being incredidly charming and funny. Being relatively breezy helped too.

-Sonic Mania Plus (PS4): The best Sonic game ever made. A crying shame we are unlikely to get Mania 2.

-Stephen’s Sausage Roll (PC): An absolutely devious block pushing puzzle game about cooking sausages. It's puzzles and mechanics start simple, but as the game continues to build on them it becomes insanely complex. A bit too complex for me at times, I admit.

 

---

MIDS:

-The Disney Afternoon Collection (NES via PS4): An uneven collection of Capcom's Disney games for the NES, ranking from good to bad with Darkwing Duck being the clear star of the collection. All of them suffer from being too short and easy though.

-Gobliiins trilogy (PC): A trio of French point'n'click adventure games with emphasis on visual gags and moon logic puzzles. Not classics, but they improved with each entry.

-Gunstar Future Heroes: A rare misstep from Treasure. It's not bad and does some neat things like the story changing depending on difficulty, but overall is clearly worse than the original game.

-Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition (PS2 via PS4): One of the classics of the farming game genre. It's super repetitive and tedious, but also oddly compelling. Biggest problem is the game being about twice as long as it needed to. Even playing unoptimally you'll easily have seen and done everything the game has to offer before you hit the halfway point.

-James Bond: Everything or Nothing (Xbox): A decent licensed game that tries to capture the essence of the rollercoaster ride of Bond movies. Unfortunately the majority of the time this means playing a mediocre cover shooter. In many ways a very typical game of the early 2000s.

-Panzer Dragoon: Remake (PS4): A very faithful remake of the original Panzer Dragoon. Unfortunately it's fancy new graphics lack the charm of the original and it was a very simple game originally compared to even the rest of the series. I still hope they continue to remake them too though.

-Prisoner of War (Xbox): An okay stealth game tasking you with escaping a series of Nazi POW camps. The main gimmick is it's openended maps with timed schedules for each prisoner and guard. Definitely one of those games that deserves to have it's ideas revisited.

-Receiver (PC): A roguelike FPS with focus on realistic gun handling. Great dreamlike athmosphere and music too. Sadly it's held back by technical issues and just not having enough meat on it's bones. I've heard the sequel improves a lot, need to play that some day.

-Sonic Advance (GBA): A 2D Sonic game with good controls and physics, but it falls short because of it's increasingly frustrating level design. Special mention to the awful special zones.

-Unreal Gold (PC): Another classic FPS from the nineties. Still looks good too. It's biggest shortcoming is the few but incredibly bulletspongy enemies, which are a pain to fight and make all your weapons feel too wimpy.

---

LOWS:

-Castlevania I-III (NES via PS4): A big dissappointment. I won't deny the influence of the original trio of Castlevania games, but they definitely have not held up (aside from the music). Stiff controls and frustrating level and boss design. Special mention to CV3, which wins my worst game of the year award.

-Metroid (NES via GBA): Another hugely influential NES game that's just a huge pain to play these days. Floaty controls, health and ammo farming and bad bulletsponge bosses. I was actually fine with mapping out the world... until the game expected me to start bombing random floors and walls to proggress. At that point I gave up and just got a guide for the rest.

[Snake]

Highs: Gunner's Heaven, Little Samson, Lords of Thunder.  Easy, if kinda challenging, straight forward action.  Impressive graphics, not much brain power needed.  Castlevania is always a cherished classic.  Warrior Blade - a cool, quick arcade scroller follow-up to Rastan.  I really enjoyed the pace and the sprite work on this one.

Mids:  Arcana - I find it charming, but it's grindy repetitive.  I wouldn't recommend it, except to hardcore RPG fans of the era. Exile - Interesting set up, globe trotting quest with a bit of time travel thrown in.  While the ending seems a bit somber, the sequel pleasantly surprises in a way that betrays this game's aftermath. 

Lows:  Annette Again(Futatabi) - Cheap Final Fight wannabe clone.  Last game in the trilogy starting with Earnest Evans and El Viento, the gameplay feels kind of cheap.  Story and cut scenes are the only thing driving any motivation to see this one to the end.

[excelsior]

Wasn't quite sure where to draw the line here. I've listed as high for anything I liked unreservedly. Mid will include games I had an overall negative opinion of if I found some enjoyment in them along with games I thought were solid but unspectacular. Lows are just games I didn't really enjoy at all.

Highs:
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templar's Directors Cut - Definitely would like to pursue this series further. Really interesting. Plus it was developed locally so that's a plus.
No More Heroes 2 - Lacks some of Suda's flare and personality but still a nice time.
Monster Hunter Stories 2 - Aimed at younger players really, but I enjoyed the unique combat system.
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X - I basically like all the classic entries a lot. 
Global Defense Force - Completely silly and runs quite poorly, but that's part of the B-movieesque charm
Street Fighter Alpha 3 - PS1 version so tonnes of characters. Would have liked more variety in the endings though.
Portal 2 - Really nice co-op puzzles if that's what you like. Enjoyed the humour also.
Cruis'n Blast - Hard to recommend to others since it's less of a racing game and more akin to a theme park ride. Lots of silliness and spectacle.
Ratchet & Clank - Nicely put together 3D action-platformer. I enjoy how the stages loop back to the start and feel connected. Too much action gameplay in the late game though.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade - Didn't quite finish because I worked myself into a corner, but I had a really nice time with it.
Shin Megami Tensei V - Probably the best Pokémon game on Switch. Didn't care for the story though.
Danganronpa v3 - Nice ending to this series. This is another of those games with tropey writing and characters so you'll either find that enjoyable or offputting.
Astalon: Tears of the Earth - Nice Metroidvania.
Battle Chef Brigade - Good cooking based puzzle-action hybrid.
Bomb Chicken - Nicely put together action-puzzler.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Top notch JRPG with fantastic characters and soundtrack.
Streets of Rage 4 - Great beat-em-up and a worthy successor.
Katamari Damacy - Simple, silly fun.
Winds of Thunder - Fantastically presented shooter that's more aimed at newer players than advanced.
Ikaruga - Cleverly put together puzzles in this shooter.
No More Heroes 3 - Nice finale for fans of the series.
Metroid Dread - Metroid is back!
Shadowverse: Champions Battle - Fantastic card game play wrapped in a silly JRPG.


Mids:
Pikmin 2 - More action than environmental puzzles which is not so much my thing.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - Garbage story and unforgiving map design. It's fun until it becomes too much. Mid-skilled players were left in the cold with this round of games.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas - There's a good game and ideas in the middle but heavy interference from terrible story missions and a lack of polish or content.
Shantae - Feels very dated and unforgiving but there is some decent platforming.
Batman Vengeance - Nice visual design does much of the work. Stages are a mixed bag. Unfortunately terrible sound mixing means I can't hear the wonderful voice casts lines.
Eternal Darkness - Interesting premise that often leads to middling gameplay. Disappointingly not scary in the slightest.
Super R-Type - Frustrating game but thankfully save states are here to save the day.
Puzzle Quest - Really liked it in it's day but the combat design is flawed. Too much time spent waiting around for the CPU as they grant themselves free turns.
De Blob 2 - Generally solid platformer but, like the original, there's no ability to return to oversized stages and digest them in parts.
The Outer Worlds - Starts off strong but tapers out. You can get everything this game has to offer within its first segment.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga - Strips down the battle system of SMT into something less interesting. Ends up as a solid JRPG with quite a bit of frustration.
Ys III - Enjoyed it for what it was, but difficult to recommend.
ARMS - Pretty nice beat-em-up concept that doesn't have the depth that's needed for lasting appeal.
Monster World IV - Disappointing action-platformer that really doesn't enjoy the same Metroidvania style design as its predecessor.
Felix The Cat (GB) - Nice enough platformer. Solid.
Mario Kart: Double Dash - Enjoyed it well enough. 
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Dispair - Bit of a disappointing follow up for me. Characterisation was all put to the side segments and the pacing is a real issue. When its good it is very good though.
Kingdom Hearts 2 - Significant improvement on the original due to stripping down much of the ambition.
Samurai Shodown IV - Easiest entry for me. Decent mechanisms but doesn't exactly shine in single player.
Pokemon Legends Arceus - Better than it should have been given how bare bones it is, but there's big room for changes and improvement should a sequel come along.
A Short Hike - Cute and enjoyable relaxing game.
Dragon Quest IX - Decent Dragon Quest game with nice short stories. The lack of real characters in your party does hurt it for me.
Mega Man Legends - Not quite as good as I was expecting really. A bit limited, but there's some enjoyable dungeon crawling.
Kid Dracula (NES) - Nice platformer but peaks at the start.
Gradius Advance - Good entry but I thought that it was too hard. Visuals were changed from other entries a bit too, likely for the sake of the small screen.
Cotton Reboot - Enjoyed it, but it's not really exceptional.
Shantae Risky's Revenge Director's Cut - I liked this one. It is short, but I appreciated that, personally.
Snow Bros Special - Enjoyable arcade fun in 2 player.
Pokemon Black - Solid, breezy, Pokémon game.
Warioware Get It Together - Solid addition to the series although the idea of varying controllable characters feels limiting compared to its predecessors.
Sonic Colours - Nice but inconsistent platformer.
Shantae and the Seven Sirens - Nice Metroidvania.
Turtles: Shredders Revenge - Good beat-em-up but not a scratch on Streets of Rage 4.
Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Better than expected turn-based-strategy that suffers from some random elements undermining the puzzles.


Lows:
Beach Spikers - Where the camera moves around constantly so you can't see what you're doing. Ridiculous.
Mashed - Offensive dialogue on top of a surprisingly bad Micro Machines game.
Pokemon Heart Gold - A slog of a JRPG.
Sine Mora - A less than good shmup that constantly interrupts with dialogue and story. 
Samurai Shodown I - It's the first entry and feels pretty dated.
Shantae Half-Genie Hero - A Shantae that tries to shed the Metroidvania world whilst also have the backtracking. Bad from a conceptual standpoint.
Persona Q2 - I play a lot of JRPG's but this is the one that comes to mind for too much inane dialogue. It never shuts up.
Wulverblade - Everything done in this beat-em-up is seen in the first stage. The levels are too long also. 

Jan 3, 2023 9:50:26 GMT -5 dsparil said:

Compared to last year, my completed number of games and time spend was down a bit. That was pretty much all do to looping PCE shooters and writing blurbs about PCE games plus playing other versions of them for comparison. In late 2020, I had considering doing a series on the Game Boy RPGs after playing Sword of Hope since it was #2 chronologically, but decided that was way too ambitious. The PCE shooters seemed much more manageable once I got a ways into it informally. After the American exclusive games, I wonder if I should try to do as much of the rest of library as possible since I'm already about 20% through it.

You really are writing a book, aren't you? Just be sure to let us know when we can pre-order  . 

Daemon X Machina absolutely was designed around the pro controller. There was a reason they put this out:

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

I'll try to keep it short.

GOTY

Splatoon 3 - Yeah, no fucking shit. But seriously, this is my favorite game of 2022 (I played like 5, to be fair), and I got more out of it than I was expecting. The game's balance is very different from S2, the new specials and "meta" (to whatever degree that might apply outside of the competitive scene) breathe some new life into the game, and it's as good as time as any to retry some weapons, rethink my approach to abilities, try to get into the modes I was never really into, etc. I'm definitely taking the game more seriously than ever, but there's some flaws with the ranking system in this entry that makes tracking your progress a bit frustrating. But ah well. In case it wasn't clear, Splatoon is pretty much my favorite series, and I'm glad this new entry is a bigger update than it might've appeared at first. I even got good at using the E-Liter, a weapon I hated with a passion in S2.

HIGH

Shin Megami Tensei V - I started this in 2021, but finished in 2022. It has great combat, enough difficulty (I played on hard, tbf), a great OST, and it's my introduction to all the different demons in the SMT universe. Won't be my last experience with the series for sure.

Etrian Odyssey V - I didn't get as into this one as IV or I, but it's still an addicting time. I still have to finish the 5th stratum and do the post-game, but I will soon. It's not much of an improvement over EO4, but it's also not much worse or anything.

Kirby - Forgotten Land was really fun, and a good first foray into 3D, and I beat Amazing Mirror for the first time. Both turned out to be two of the strongest entries in the franchise, so it was a good Kirby year for me (mostly).

Peggle - I got really addicted to this for a week or two. Good game to chill out to when you're sick with Covid.

Spelunky - I've played this countless hours over the years, but 2022 was the first time I managed to beat the "real" final boss and escape Hell with my life. Once you've done it, it's not too difficult to repeat the feat, but the road to get to that point is difficult (and very very fun).


MID

Pokémon - I really enjoyed my time with both Legends Arceus and Violet this year, but it can't be denied that both are held back quite badly by Game Freak's inability to handle HD development, big environments and releasing two mainline-ish titles in one year. Hence why they're here in MID. Violet is the worst performing/most buggy game ever released by Nintendo, and Arceus, while running better, is still quite ugly. Neither is my idea of the perfect Pokémon game, but both are a huge step up from Sw/Sh, and it was fun to see all the new critters in Violet.


LOW

Kirby Mass Attack - I didn't finish it. I think it's the only game I started in 2022 that I dropped. It's fine, but it feels quite overlong, and the stakes are too low.

SSBU: World of Light - This was honestly pretty fun, but the whole idea behind spirit battles is kind of flawed, and it goes on and on and on and on. I'm still glad I finally experienced it, even though I basically spent 20+ hours playing this just to unlock the last bits of music I still needed (it has always bothered me that I didn't have all tracks unlocked). I'm putting it in LOW because relative to everything else this game has to offer it's pretty lame, but I didn't mind playing through it at all.

[alexmate]

Highs: Best (all 8/10 unless listed):

Bioshock Remastered on PC.

Despite the fairly bad combat (weak weapons even with power ups, spongy) I think the game delivers in every other area especially atmosphere graphics and sound/music design.

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (PlayStation 1)

Second best game on the list, incredible sound and music, enjoyable story and missions, big levels and impressive combat system that is both rewarding and fun. Love the cheesy dubbing as well. Only letdown is mediocre graphics for 1998 and camera angles.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (PlayStation 1)

Another legendary, critically acclaimed PS1 title. Very little to not recommend it if you like Crash Bandicoot. Better graphics than its predecessors and equal in variety and fun to the second game. Only letdowns are the tedious motorbike sections and boring cutscenes. It wasn't reinventing the wheel, but it is a solid title.

Bushido Blade (PlayStation 1)

Original and brilliant one on one fighter. In my opinion not as good as Soul Edge or Tekken on PS1, but still a great game.

Broforce & Expendabros (Windows/Steam)

I'm probably going to play these again. A really fun game with sound mechanics. Deffo for Run & Gun fans. Only real letdown is rock hard bosses towards the end and could probably use some more checkpoints or continues.

BioShock 2 Remastered (Windows/Epic)

A graphical upgrade, but a lesser game than the first. Only real improvement is the dual wield system which is so genius it makes you wonder why it wasn't in the first game. Still delivers on every aspect including storytelling and design, but not as good as the first.

Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble (Windows/Steam)

More of the same, but still a great game if you like the original.

N2O: Nitrous Oxide (PlayStation 1)

Actually a real surprise was going to be in medium section, but it is great in places. Shoot bugs with a thumping soundtrack. Letdown by repetition and being too long. I doubt most people will finish it. 7/10

Helltaker (Windows/Steam)
In my opinion a must play for indie game fans. For me it's not a great game, but it is very good. 7/10

Left 4 Dead 2 (Windows/Steam)

This was originally going to be medium, but it is a darn good game. Everything is right from the combat to the checkpoints. It doesn't do anything the original doesn't and the graphical upgrade is minor. I recommened skipping the first one and getting the GOTY edition of 2 as it includes most of the first game's levels. 7/10

Medium (7/10):

Wild 9 (PlayStation 1)

This is the most disappointing as with just a bit more polish this could be one of the best games on system of its type. The voice over quips are also annoying and unfunny.

Textorcist, The: The Story of Ray Bibbia (Windows/Steam)

A lot to recommend it from the humour to the writing. Satisfying "combat" system and a fair challenge.

A Short Hike (Windows/Epic)

Don't get me wrong this is still a very good game and very charming, but not really my thing.

Emily is Away Too (Windows/Steam)

I still love the series, but it's more of the same. Doesn't add anything new compared to the first game which is free.

Kabuki Quantum Fighter (NES) / Shatterhand (NES)

Two fun Nes Bionic Commando style games. Graphics and music are both great, but nothing I haven't played before and worse than Bionic Commando, Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania etc.

Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)

A lot to recommend, almost a great game, but just lacks something.

Postal 2 (Windows/Steam)

The notorious game. I think there is something fun in it and I know it's a troll game, but the missions are tedious, combat is only ok. Makes up for being unique in the saturated FPS genre and some excellent voiceover work.

Lows:

Pandemonium 2 (PlayStation 1)

I rated it 7/10, but it's really 6.5/10. Impressive graphics in places, good music and even the cutscenes were decent. Just way too long and not as fun as Spyro, Crash etc.

Secret of Evermore (SNES)

Another which is bordering 6.5/10. Lots of great bits and a unique crafting system for the time, likeable character and great boss design, but just too many tedious bits to make it fun.

Not Completed:

Lego Harry Potter 1-4 (PC/Steam)

Really annoying as it glitched out halfway through after I had put in about 8 hours.

Leisure Suit Larry 5 (Dos via GOG)

Just couldn't get into it.

[ommadawnyawn2]

I gotta say it's really cool how diverse these lists are. Putting together a bit of a "to play" list here based on everyone's highs.

alexmate With ninakoru's balance mod is how I like to play Secret of Evermore now, I recommend trying that if you revisit it. Some of the mazes can still drag a bit though.

[personman]

Pretty nice year, mostly just a big retrospective and emulating stuff. I'll keep it half way brief and in no particular order.

Highs

Paper Mario
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
Mega Man Legends 1 & 2
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice
Dark Souls III
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Soul Blazer
Bucky O'Hare
Rocket Knight Adventures
AM2R Return of Samus
Lunistice
Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies
Batman: The Video Game (NES)
Bloodborne
Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Kirby's Adventure
Wild Guns
Axelay
R-Type III: The Third Lightning

Medium

Lunar Knights
Ace Combat 2 & 3
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Tiny Toon Adventure's: Buster Busts Loose
Firepower 2000
Congo's Caper
Disney's Aladdin (Gen & SNES)
Earthworm Jim Special Edition & 2
Super Mario Bros. (All Stars)
Blackthorne
Air Zonk
Trip World
Xexyz
Cyber Sled
Batman: The Video Game (GB)
Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand
Raiden V: Director’s Cut
Smart Ball

Lows

Dark Souls II Scholar of the first sin
Kirby's Dream Land 1, 2 & 3
Super Star Wars trilogy
G Darius HD
Bonk's Adventure
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (All Stars)
Aero Blasters
Air Combat
Boktai 3: Sabata’s Counter Attack
Captain Skyhawk
HyperZone
Mega Man Xtreme 1 & 2

[kaoru]

Best:
13 Sentinels

Highs:
Great Ace Attorney Collection
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Project Zero 5
Vampyr
Tokimeki Memorial 4
Alien Syndrome
Devil May Cry 4 SE
Persona 5 Strikers
What Remains of Edith Finch
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Shadow of the Colossus
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
Tales of Berseria
SOMA
Nancy Drew: Ghost of Thornton Hall
Beyond Blue
Mythic Ocean
Sonic Mania
Pokemon Violet
Survival Kids 2
Persona 4 Dancing
Rime

Mids:
Space War Attack
Zombie Attack
Zombie Virus
Splatter Master
Yakuza Fury
The Tairyou Jigoku
Mega Man X8
The Last Guradian
Sonic Forces
Uncharted
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 3
Uncharted 4
Resident Evil 7
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: Machine for Pigs
Man of Medan
Alan Wake Remastered
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Koudelka
Tales of Arise
Silen Hill Play Novel
Sonic: Triple Trouble

Lows:
Mega Man X7
Party Girls
Paparazzi
Here They Lie
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
Monster Bass
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
Outlast
Outlast 2
Daze Before Christmas