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TheGamer Game Of The Year Editor's Pick, 2022 - Joshua Robertson

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TheGamer Game Of The Year Editor's Pick, 2022 - Vaspaan Dastoor

I’ll save you the time, there’s no 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elden Ring here. I’m one of the few freaks who never got around to playing it this year, mainly because I was too busy catching up on all the games I was meant to play in 2021. I’m pretty surprised I even played enough games to participate this year, and they still let me make a lis💜t! I l🔜ove my job.

So, if you were dying to find out what the Game of the Year is to someone who avoided all the obvious games of the year, then you’re in luck. Here are my favourite games I played in between trying to complete 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Outer Wilds and starting my seventh 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Age: Origins playthrough.

Related: TheGamer Staff's Most Anticipated Games Coming In 2023

Sonic-Origins-Knuckles-Tails-Multiplayer-Local-Coop

Sonic Origins

While it probably flew under most radars in favour of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sonic Frontiers, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sonic Origins unexpectedᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚly came along and showed the older games the most love they’ve seen since the release of Mania. While this compilation title🥂 should have gone a lot further, it still packages the best versions of four classic Sonic games, tying them together with adorable animated shorts. It may be a bit too simple, and it had some ridiculous, inexcusable DLC, but it’s the new best way to play older Sonic games. Hopefully, the rest of the series will be given the same attention soon.

Steven Universe blocks an attack from Tom and Jerry while Superman attacks Shaggy

MultiVersus

While not as engaging as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Smash Bros. Ultimate, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:MultiVersus brings enough to the genre on its own that it doesn’t have to live up to that inevitable comparison. It’s fun, it’s full of charm, and it was well-supported after launch. It understands what a platform fighter should be, and areas where the genre can be improved. While it was never my main game to focus on, it’s clear that the future's looking bright for MultiVersus.

new characters overwatch 2
via Blizzard

Overwatch 2

I wish I could put this higher, I really do. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Overwatch 2 is the most fun I’ve had in an already fantastic team-based shooter in years. The new characters, 5v5, the fine-tuning - it’s all perfect. But I cannot justify praising the game any more than this when its terrible monetiza🉐tion actively ruins your experience with the gameplay. As it stands, it is mechanically some of the most fun I’ve had this year, it could have just been so much more.

Trainer in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Nothing pushes the limits of how far you can get by on fun alone than 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Legends: Arceus. With one of the most satisfying game loops of any title on this list, there’s nothing better than booting up Legends: Arceus to mindlessly catch a bunch of ‘mons I’ve already got 20 times before - and still get rewarded for it. Legends: Arceus proves that Game Freak 𒁏should be brave. The games that stray from the traditional Pokemon formula are the ones winning players over in recent years - look at Unite and New Snap - and Legends: Arceus proves that Pokemon can be up there with ꧂other RPG series.

Scorn

Scorn

Scorn is a frustrating, agon💟izingly slow endurance test of a game, and I am so glad it exists. It’s no𝓡t fun, it’s not marketable, and it will probably be a huge flop. But goddamn, do I feel better for playing it. The entire world feels alive, vile, but strangely inviting. The invisible direction of the game almost effortlessly guides you around the world without the need for a map or any obvious directions, barring its incredibly weak opening. When Scorn finds its footing though, you’re treated to some of the most interesting and refreshingly unique game design choices out there, and I’d take that over formulaic franchise hits any day.

Metal Hellsinger songs ranked Blood and Law pounce

Metal: Hellsinger

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Metal: Hellsinger combined two genres and executes them both with ease, being among the greats in both categories. Throughout your short jaunt through hell, you follow the titular Hellsinger and her Troy Baker-voi𒈔ced companion, blasting your way through levels that look straight out of Doom. Unlike D꧟oom, however, there’s nothing more important than keeping the beat, which is complemented by one of the best soundtracks we’ve heard in a game this year. There may not be too much beneath the surface with Metal: Hellsinger, but it’s a treat to see every aspect of a video game working in perfect synergy like this.

Sonic looking out at the Chaos Islands in Sonic Frontiers.

Sonic Frontiers

Sonic, my sweet, misunderstood, bullied blue baby. You did it. You did a video game. And by God, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Frontiers is the most video game-y video game in existence. You run around an invisible walled map to collect items, then collect more items to unlock minigames that help you collect the items you actually need. There are also some other items that can make getting the main item a bit easier. There’s no arroganc💃e in Sonic Frontiers, just an understanding that Sonic running fast should be f🐈un. It’s a bold first step into something new for the series, while still feeling uniquely ‘Sonic’ in a way other open worlds can’t manage.

Pentiment

Pentiment

Obsidian is just showing off now. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pentiment is like nothing the studio has done before, but it shows how effortlessly its writing can fit other genres, diving into the culture and society of a small medieval town with grace, and far more depth than any of us expected. It's a true testament to Obsidian’s writing that some of the tensest moments this year came from Pentiment, as I discussed the ideas of Martin Luther in the company of monks. Even without any voiced dialogue, you can feel the hatred and fear in the air. Better yet, even with a somewhat linear premise, every playthrough feels unique, as you soak up the world of Pentiment in the way that you want to.

Gerda And Liva

Gerda: A Flame In Winter

Don’t let the visuals fool you, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gerda: A Flame in Winter is one of the most brutal games of the year. There is no winning, only survival. There is no strategizing, only hope and luck. Taking place in a German-occupied village in Denmark, you play as the titular heroine, Gerda, tasked with surviving and protecting your loved ones. There’s no combat because thi🦩s is not a game about empowering you to live out a hero fantasy. The gameplay actively disempowers you, in fact. If you want Gerda to use a stat in conversation, you lose a point. She is an ordinary human being and will exert herself. She’s not made for this. Gerda might survive the trials she’s put through, but it’s up to you to see if her conscience will. Or if your values will make it through unscathed, for that maಌtter.

#1 pick - rhi

Citizen Sleeper

I feel like a better person for playing 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Citizen Sleeper. It is the perfect balance of hope and hopelessness, and a story about humanity in a world that feels hellbent on snuffing out any trace of compassion. Less than an hour into his wonderfully crafted text-based RPG, I knew it would have to be my pick for Game of the Year. In its remarkably simple gameplay, you wake up every day and roll the dice, quite literally. Each🔜 roll determines how many tasks you can complete, and how ཧdifficult survival will be that day. With all the different ways gaming has tried to portray the horrors of capitalism, there’s something beautiful about seeing it explored so simply, but also with so much care. Citizen Sleeper’s themes, story, and mechanics flow together seamlessly, telling a story that will stick with you long after you put it down, making it the best game that 2022 had to offer.

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