Game of the Year 2022: Community Choice

When it comes to Game of the Year 2022 and, mainly, the holidays, one thing matters more than most: family. And while our community is considered our family (with its few fair of Town-based outcasts), it’d be awful of us to keep our little family private at this time of year, so we polled the best of the best to find out what they’ve been enjoying this year.

Rather than me just bang on about how much I adore our Discord and Patreon-based community (and get a cheeky advert for both in, no less) I’d rather just say a bit thank you to them all for their friendship and constant support. And then, well… let’s get on with the show!

Nick Harrington-Lewis: Elden Ring

I always wanted to like the Souls games and their brethren. However, my previous experience with FromSoft titles often ended when I reached the first boss. Not so with Elden Ring.

Can’t beat a particularly tough enemy? (I’m looking at you Tree Sentinel!) Bugger off somewhere else and come back when you’ve got better equipment or skills. The freedom to go where you want, when you want with almost no limitation was like nothing I had ever played before.

Every nook and cranny held a secret or a challenge (and often both.) Sometimes the surprises weren’t nook sized at all – remember the descent into Siofra River for the first time? Quite literally FromSoft had built a whole world beneath the massive world I had already put 30 plus hours into exploring.

I’m not blind to its faults – the story is opaque, and I suspect without access to post-release guides I would have struggled (more) in some areas. But, for hour upon hour of mouth agape moments, nothing comes close to Elden Ring in 2022.

Asim Tanvir: God of War Ragnarok

An improvement of the 2018 game in pretty much every single way, it’s not an exaggeration to say God of War Ragnarok is (quite simply) a masterpiece. If the astounding visuals, stunning audio or meaty gameplay don’t get you, the engrossing story will. 2018’s game highlighted Kratos as one of the best characters in gaming, this sequel establishes that statement with immense confidence. Epic, uplifting and emotional. What. A. Game.

Steven Chambers: Session

Providing what is arguably the most realistic skateboarding experience in a videogame to date, Session has excelled at providing an open world full of creative opportunity & technical challenge.

This is a game without stats. Your hands and muscle memory are what level up. The feeling of finally being able to perfectly dial in a nollie impossible or 360 flip each and every time is just dopamine at it’s finest.

This is my comfy game. Stick on a podcast, choose a spot and keep on trying for the most perfect looking line you can produce. Before you know it, a few hours have flown by. I can’t see a time where I’ll ever stop playing this, as there are always new spots to find and tricks to perfect.

Game of the year? Nah mate. It’s up there as a GOAT

Richard Langridge: Deathloop

It has replayability and an interesting story, and I love the dialogue between the main characters!

McPoo: Pentiment

Pentiment is a dense game, and while it’s admittedly a little slow to start, it successfully goes on to tell the most compelling story of the year: a 16th century murder mystery whodunnit that spawns conspiracies, spans 25 years and will keep you guessing until the end.

Visually, it’s beautiful, whether you’re looking at the wonderful and rich backdrops or the illustrative marginalia you see when you zoom out of the book it’s set in. The medieval era soundtrack consistently hits the right notes, especially during the more ominous tracks that complement the darker twists in the story.

But if there’s one thing I love most about this game, it’s the text. The way it animates and forms on the screen delighted me every single time throughout the 12 hours I played. Peasants struggle with spelling and their writing is scrappy, monks write in a wonderful script style, and the printers family have their dialogue pressed into their dialogues, splattering ink when distressed or with words fading when they’re unsure. I’ve not seen any game say so much through font and typeface before and it stayed with me long after finishing.

So yeah, GOTY.

Ciara: God of War Ragnarok

The constant action and captivating story never left me bored. I adored the depth put into each character. The different realms were all beautiful (except Alfheim, I hate that gaff), I would often just stop and take in the scenes every so often.

Usually games don’t tick all of these boxes, so because of that my Game of the Year goes to God of War Ragnarok.

David Ayres: God of War Ragnarok

It’s just awesome from start to finish. The game is filled with moments that make gaming what it is and the most unique way to tell stories. Ragnarok has possibly the best story ever(!) in a video game and with the games that has come out in the last few years it’s certainly a statement to say that.

Dane: Citizen Sleeper

Despite having plenty to play at the time of release, this game pulled me in immediately and demanded my full attention for the few nights it took to reach the sad (but incredibly satisfying) ending I achieved. One of many, possible endings.

The best story I experienced this year with the most memorable characters and world building, brought to life through the wonderful writing.

I wanted to help everyone, finish all of my tasks and progress the many branching stories – but I couldn’t. Decisions had to made due to the limited time/resources available and some of my favourite stories remain unfinished. Another play through? Certainly.

If you want to be a part of this article next year, head over to Patreon to find out how!