Best of 2022: Elden Ring and Alex’s other GOTY picks

undeniable elder ring is the best game of 2022. By the way, this is my choice. In fact, I think anyone who chooses anything else needs to shake their heads (of course, I respect their opinion and recommend aspirin for a bumped head).

But at the same time… omg, there are some games this year that I really appreciate.have vampire survivor, with all the frenetic energy of a 90s classic.have surprise snapshotwhich somehow dragged me back into the world of trading card games, against all odds, alongside an improved digital version of Pokemon TCG.

I can go on. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a top-notch JRPG that happily uses genre tropes without shame or embarrassment — and it works. repentance

It’s the game the industry needs to make more of. midnight sun Continuing the consistent style of Firaxis, that is, only making the most popular games, there is no other way, and it has always been a garbage game. immortal very smart. And, God— sonic frontier Let Sonic… be a little… ok? again? What the hell is going on?

But, it’s all about Elden Ring.Anyway, there’s only one thing that really comes close to it for me, and that’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a game that is both very good and very exciting because of how exciting it is to think about it in the context of the rest of the Pokemon series. Legends Arceus should mark a sea change for the series, and as a Pokemon fan, it’s the game I’ve been dreaming about since I was 12 years old. It’s great. Any other year, it would have won.

But Elden Ring. Oh oh oh, the Ring of the Ancients. I had a hunch it was going to be good, but I never thought it would be this good. What’s great about it, I think, is that it’s simultaneously the deepest and most accessible Souls game. This is a studio that’s never built an open-world game, and seems to have just casually abandoned one of the most natural-feeling and engaging open worlds ever.

It’s really not the same thing, really. That’s everything. I can point to a lot of games this year that do better than Elden Ring in individual, specific ways – but I can’t point to any one this year – or any year back to 2017 and Breath of the Wild – everything Where did it all come from combined into such a cohesive, unstoppable whole.

I’m not even one of those soul fanatics. I’ve always loved these games, but Elden Ring was the first one to grab me in this way. This is the first one that made me watch an extremely long lore deep dive on YouTube. This is the first time I’ve felt the need to play more than two times.

What a game. Cheers to next year’s expansion — good luck to all the new games coming out in the neighborhood.