I was going to ask about this yesterday but I never thought of it while I was at my computer, so thanks @Nightgaunt for pinging @Brooski, and Brooski for taking the time to manually count the votes, that’s quite the undertaking and it is much appreciated.
My votes are as follows.
- Tactics Ogre Reborn I’ve played this game through at least three times but played it far enough to get to the final act four total times for sure and it continues to be one of my all time favorites. I flip-flop between this and Final Fantasy Tactics but with Reborn this is now my definitive, tippy top SRPG of all time. Of course, on Feb 2nd there is a big Final Fantasy Anniversary Show/Stream that is going to be announcing Final Fantasy Tactics and if they remaster/remake this it could well shot back on top again…
- Elden Ring Not much more to say here, I was entrenched and obsessed with this game for a full month after release, and I’m still even as I type this thinking it’s been long enough to jump back in.
- Chained Echos This came out of nowhere but was a damned delight. It made me feel like a college kid playing Final Fantasy III on the SNES again. What a cool freaking game, and it takes some real swings with the story that landed for me, to boot, while boasting a wonderful combat and character progression system. Incredible stuff.
- Persona 5 Royal (Switch) I’m super LTTP on this, but holy shit did it click for me - I loved this game and enjoyed all 100 (!) hours I got before I finally saw the credits. What a goddamned achievement, making me enjoy a game and it’s gameplay/story/characters for over 100 hours in a JRPG. Just wonderful.
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns This kind of surprised me as well, the game seemed neat and of course it’s the XCOM/2 guys so I knew it would be fun, but I was unprepared for how much I loved this game. Some may debate if they abby/non-combat section was good or annoying (I’m mostly on the “good” side, as evident that it made my top 5) but few would argue the combat wasn’t really a powerful motivator to put up with whatever else the game was trying to do - just an outstanding card battler/strategy hybrid and I for one am excited for more.
I ended up with 12 games of 2022 to pick from and it was kind of hard to pare it down to just 5, honestly. Warhammer 3 would under normal circumstances not just made the top 5 but probably the top 3, except there were so many great gaming experiences I had (that were also new and interesting), it’s hard to put a game I’ve technically been playing for six years up. But the beta for the Immortal Empires dropped in August and while being a “beta” was almost immediately what I had wanted, and it’s only gotten better from there. So, to shine a light on maybe some other games that deserve a glance and a look, here are my 6-12 spots!
- Total War Warhammer 3 - As I mentioned, this is seriously a great strategy game - it looks and plays amazing and it’s already in “I don’t really like other RTS games now” territory.
- The Last of Us Part 1 (PS5) - I love The Last of Us and this was my third play through, but by far the prettiest - holy shit did they do a mind blowing job on this game. I played it back to back with Part 2 and the entire 70 or so hours of gameplay the two experiences provided were one of my favorite of all time.
- Vampire Survivors - I grabbed this on a whim in early access and loved it, so I’m glad to see it is doing really well. A great example of how a simple/cheap game can be super fun without feeling like a mobile cash grab, if nothing else. At this point just about everyone has tried it so there isn’t much to say, but if you still haven’t dropped $3 to play it (maybe thinking “this “bullet hell” stuff isn’t for me!”) then don’t think about it, just play it, it’s a freaking blast.
- Triangle Strategy - I was super excited for this and I was not let down, though I do wish it had more in the way of combat. The gameplay loop being strictly defined as “combat/explore/story” was a strange choice to me, but I appreciated what they put together here and thought combined with the visuals they did some really wonderful gameplay and incredible tactics to boot. Character progression was excellent, and the branching tale is something I’m eager to return to. In a land of great SRPGs this is for sure in my top 4 of all time (it lands just above Fell Seal in the third place for me, personally).
- Master of Magic Remake - Really tihis ended up being exactly what I hoped for, and I had a blast with it. Some have decried the idea that it didn’t push things far enough (see Tactics Ogre Reborn for an example of remade games done right, imo) but the developers have stated they are going to move in that direction now the base game is out and available, so we’ll see. For my part, I got a solid 40 hours of strategy fun playing this in the beta and a few runs at launch, and the only drawback to it is I miss the cute pixel art of the old game, though this looks fine.
- Citizen Sleeper - This was on a lot of GOTY lists I saw during the Steam sale so I grabbed it and started playing it one Saturday morning and finished it about 7 hours later on a Sunday - it was an incredible, fun experience, sort of like an interactive short story just drenched in world building. Very cool, and I’m looking forward to another play through to see more of it.
- Dwarf Fortress - I never got into this before the Steam version, and I didn’t play this very much even then, but what I did play I really enjoyed and can see myself getting lost in it. The difference between this, however, and the other games that didn’t make the list I’ve played but not (yet) beat, is this game really has no end, so that’s not (to me) a requirement.
Speaking of, honorable mentions must go to two games I’m actively playing that I’m absolutely loving but I haven’t completed yet (not even close in likely both games’ case) but would have definitately made the list if I’d been able to before creating it.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
God of War Ragnarok
Okay, that’s where I’m at, at least until I remember something I forgot!
I really need to try out Slice and Dice, it’s right up my alley, but I keep forgetting about it since it’s not on Steam yet. Ack.