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arachnovolt · 2 months ago

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From the Cohost Archive: ArachnoVolt's 2022 Game of the Year List

I've always wanted to try my hand at doing long form writing stuff so I might as well start the new year off by giving more detail for my annual GOTY list. Before we get into it proper, I wanna take a quick interlude for two mini segments. My honorable mention and my biggest letdown. So for the honorable mention we have...

Honorable Mention: Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

I know the base game didn't release in 2022 but the DLC did and it kicks ass. Rise is the first MH game I clicked with and Sunbreak deserves a mention for keeping the party going.

And for the disappointing one...

Biggest Disappointment: Souldiers

Now I love a good metroidvania. Especially from the indie scene. I was immediately interested in this game when I first saw it. The sprite work looked incredible, the music sounded phenomenal, and the gameplay looked great. But when I finally got to play it, my heart sank. I wanna stop and say that when it's playing nice, it's a helluva good time. This would have been on here proper if circumstances were different. But with performance issues, vicious combat balancing, noticable input lag, and incredibly sparse checkpointing, this game was a miserable experience at launch. While some of these issues have been addressed, with a consistent save crash that still persists in one late game area across all platforms that still hasn't been fixed, it's with a heavy heart that I put this game here.

Now, with the preamble out of the way... LET'S BEGIN!

10: Poinpy

Poinpy is a game that probably flew under a lot of people's radar this year. Getting a surprise launch during Summer Games Fest, Poinpy is interesting in two regards.

1: It's the most recent game from Ojiro Fumoto, creator of the hit arcade game Downwell

2: It's a Netflix exclusive

Yeah. Netflix getting an interesting exclusive game wasn't on my 2022 bingo card but here we are. Sporting an aesthetic that's the complete opposite of Downwell, Poinpy sees you bouncing and jumping up a scrolling cavern, gathering fruit to feed a cute but ravenous cat monster thing and building up high combos as you string together the fruit you collect. If you enjoyed Downwell and want something in that vein, Poinpy won't disappoint.

Moving on to our next entry, we have...

9: Islets

If you know me, you knew I'd have at least one metroidvania up in here. Developed by a team of two brothers and published by Armor Games Studios, Islets is an incredibly charming metroidvania from start to finish. The story has a very nice storybook feel to it. In the world of Islets, there's a bunch of floating islands that used to be one large connected landmass. You're one of many adventurers who's trying to put the island back together. Along your journey, you'll meet a colorful cast of characters as you traverse the world, upgrading yourself and your handy skyship along the way. I 100'd this game in 11 hours but I say that as a positive because Islets is a great game that doesn't overstay its welcome and I love that in a game.

Onto the next entry...

8: Cult of the Lamb

Ah yes . Cute and cuddly aesthetics mixed with the macabre and creepy. A surprisingly great combo. Cult of the Lamb doesn't need the kind of explanation that the last two got because everyone's either seen or played this game. Combining fast paced roguelike dungeon crawling with Animal Crossing style base management, CotL hit a very satisfying gameplay loop very quickly that snagged it spots on many peoples GOTY lists and I'm no different. And with post launch content coming next year, I'm deeply excited to get back to my Cult of the Volt.

Next on the list, we have...

7: Pokémon Scarlet/Violet

Okay. Let's get this out the way. Yes. The game's are buggy or whatever. But for me personally, if the core gameplay is fun enough and the bugs aren't that intrusive, I don't mind.

We'll just call that foreshadowing for later

In terms of Pokémon, it's been a hot minute since I've enjoyed a Pokémon game this much. Paldea is such a vast and vibrant region to explore and the new additions to the Gen 9 Pokédex are great. I mean, look at this lil guy!

But the thing that really landed Scarlet and Violet on this list is the story and its final act. I know people who have genuinely cried over the final act of this game. It's completely unexpected with how hard this story goes. And the final act has some of the most impressive music and level design I've ever seen in a Pokémon game. Absolutely stunning.

Moving on to the next one, we have...

6: Vampire Survivors

It's Vampire Survivors. What do want me to say? We knew it was going on here somewhere. It's dope as hell and free on mobile. Nuff said.

Halfway down the list, we've got...

5: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Now, I didn't grow up with TMNT like a lot of other people. My first major exposure was the 2012 CG animated series on Nickelodeon. But I will say this. Shredder's Revenge can make a Turtles fan out of anyone. It's one of the most satisfying beat em up games I've played in a long time. Boasting a roster of 7 playable characters with completely unique movesets and stats, classic characters from the original series, and probably one of the best OSTs of the year by Tee Lopes featuring Jonny Atma, Mega Ran, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, and Mike Patton covering the OG theme, this game is a phenomenal love letter to the old school Turtles beat em ups and to the TMNT franchise itself.

And for number four, we have...

4: Sonic Frontiers

So about that previously mentioned foreshadowing...

I've been a Sonic fan for as long as I can remember. From the early DS days of the Rush series to the very rocky Sonic 06', I've always been a fan of the Blue Blur. So when Sega announced that the big new open world Sonic game was coming to Switch day and date with the PC and other consoles, I was cautiously interested. I was expecting a decent, if janky, Sonic experience. What I got was a janky but incredibly promising look into the future of the Sonic series. The last time I felt that rush of speed that Frontiers offers was Sonic Generations. From the linear Cyber Space stages harkening back to the traditional levels and the open world letting you cut loose to run fast and beat some ass, Sonic Frontiers is the most exhilarating game in the series so far. This game also boasts an OST that deserves far more credit because it goes HARD. And Ian Flynn brings a surprisingly interesting tone shift to the narrative that felt serious without going overboard into Shadow the Hedgehog levels of angst. While there's definitely a few hiccups here and there, it's a very enjoyable experience that I still pick up every now and again to race across the Starfall Islands.

Moving into the top three, we have...

3: Soundfall

Okay. So as Cult of the Lamb showed, I really like top down hack and slash games. Now I discovered this game over a year ago while it was still in development because the premise was so unbelievably intriguing. A top down hack and slash looter game... where you hack, slash, dash, and bash to the beat of the music. On paper, that sounds like one of those things that's awesome in theory but kind of a mess in practice. Soundfall completely shattered my expectations and became one of my favorite hack and slash action games of the past few years. The story follows a barista named Melody who's pulled from Earth into the world of Symphonia, the source of all music. It's up to her and her allies to take up their roles as the Guardians of Harmony and save Symphonia.

What makes Soundfall such an interesting game is it's gameplay structure. Instead of something like Diablo that takes an open world approach or something like Hades that has you going room to room, Soundfall is broken up into multiple worlds with multiple levels in each one. Each level is built around a single song with each world being themed around different genres of music. The starting world has a very upbeat pop vibe while my most recently completed world was all about those techno beats. While all the player characters can use most of the same gear, each of them have a unique primary attack and super themed around their personality to give them something to make them feel distinct. And with the PC version having the ability to add your own music into the game to play to, I can imagine myself spending quite a bit of time kicking it in Symphonia.

And now for the penultimate entry...

2: Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Oh my sweet pink child. I've always loved Kirby. Ever since the DS remake of Super Star Ultra, I've been a fan of Kirby so when this was announced, I was beyond ready. When it launched, I fell in love immediately. The music was breathtaking, the visuals stunning, and the gameplay was just as fun in 3D as it was in 2D. With a hefty post game and loads of adorable in game figures to collect, I had a blast playing through the Forgotten Land and getting that 100% completion.

And finally. My favorite game of 2022 is...

# 1: Pokémon Legends: Arceus

You know how earlier I said it's been a hot minute since I've enjoyed Pokémon as much as Scarlet and Violet? Yeah. Well, when I played Legends Arceus, I hadn't enjoyed a Pokémon game like that since I was a kid. Everything about Legends Arceus was refreshing coming from the perspective of someone who had only started playing Pokémon again with the Switch games. The Agile/Strong style and the hordes made battles feel brand new in a way that didn't just feel like a new gimmick. You could just use trade items on trade evolution Pokémon and they'd just evolve. Being able to just throw Poké Balls at wild Pokémon without having to initiate a battle made catching new Pokémon so much quicker. The ability to change your Pokémon's moves at any time was thankfully a feature that got carried into Gen 9. And the biggest praise I will sing for Legends Arceus...

Filling out the Pokédex was fun. In every Pokémon game I've ever played, including Scarlet and Violet, filling out the Pokédex always felt like boring busy work. Sure, it's something you needed to do for the shiny charm in later generations but until that, all you got was "a sense of pride and accomplishment". In Legends Arceus, the Pokédex was the plot. Your main objective was filling that out but it was so much fun, I actually felt motivated to get Research Level 10 on every Pokémon. I hope the future games try to make filling out the Pokédex as fun as it was in Legends Arceus. While I do enjoy and still play Violet, I deeply hope that Legends Arceus is the framework that Game Freak looks at as they take the Pokémon series into the future.

And that's all for my GOTY list! If you stuck through a my rambling, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed reading that. Hopefully, I'll have more stuff to write about in the future.

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