It’s really been a pretty good year for gaming. I’ve played a lot more games than I thought possible, some of the smaller titles have left me more impressed than I expected, and some of the larger titles have been downright mediocre. But, in the melee for the 2022 release, there’s one little indie that stands a little above the rest — ironic given the status of this little game’s little hero.
tunic
My best game of 2022 is tunicFrom the first time I got my hands on this game (and I’m giving it five stars, surprise, surprise), I was captivated by Finji and Andrew Shouldice’s mysterious action-adventure gem.
The game — instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up on retro Zelda games, and instantly appealing to those who haven’t — is a love letter to when you played games as a kid but couldn’t The resulting mystique immediately dissects what happened. You’re thrown into a world and tasked with figuring out what’s going on. Written in its own language, obscure, accompanied by a gorgeous soundtrack, and implemented with a tilt-shift aesthetic in this toy box, Tunic will grab your eyes, your ears, and your heart, but it won’t let go. …..even after the final credits roll.
Tunic manages to evoke a sense of wonder, the kind of wide-eyed wonder that tingles your soul as a child, before you get tired of the world (especially video games). Not to be too sugary, but Tunic made me fall in love with games all over again. I played it on Steam for review, and then again on Xbox when it arrived on Game Pass. I gave it to my partner and I have sent the code to friends. I’ve become the robed preacher and preached to everyone to come and worship in my isometric church.
Oreo World
For me, the second best game of 2022 is OlliOlli World. Because while Tunic managed to tick most of the boxes I was looking for in a video game, Roll7’s 2.5D sports hit managed to tick another. Calm.
Another box is “Stream”. While Tunic’s combat is enjoyable and well suited to the game, it’s not quite Elden Ring or Nier: Automata or Enter the Gungeon, etc. So when OlliOlli World followed Tunic, the two things synced up perfectly: I had one game that gave me worlds, mystery, and intrigue, and another that gave me an almost hypnotic, Zen-like state of flow. The same flow state cost me over 1,000 hours in The Binding of Isaac.
Except OlliOlli World is harder. It requires split-second reflexes, a superhuman left thumb, a good memory, and the ability to download maps and skateparks into your brain, perfect them, and then (probably) never recall them again.
The game has been supported with various DLC throughout the year, so if you play it now, you’ll understand why this game is so playable, and you’ll get even more content. Playing OlliOlli World – I apologize in advance for your thumbs up.
Marvel’s Midnight Sun
Marvel’s Midnight Sun was my biggest surprise of the year; I’m sad that the marketing team had to sell this to the MCU’s brainy masses, because it’s a tough sell. Team up some of the biggest Marvel superheroes (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man) with lesser goths (Magik, Nico Minoru, Blade) living in Limbo or elsewhere, and have the player play cards — God forbid – no easy feat.
However, the combination of Slay the Spire’s mechanics, XCOM sensibility, some phenomenal writing, and all the great bits of the goth side of the Marvel Universe make this a special treat, on a palette like a premium Transian wines are as ripe.
Even better, Midnight Sun made me understand why I fell in love with Marvel stuff in the first place; away from the fantasy propaganda of the movies and the comics that slowly started to align with them, when I was in the late 90’s and 00’s When reading the X-Men in the early 1990s, Marvel offered something different—something that respected and borrowed from alternative counterculture and punk spirit.
Midnight Suns has the same spirit, which is a refreshing feeling after the MCU’s dreary recent years. If this is the future of Marvel games, I’m sold. Keep your cookie cutter Sony Spider-Man – I have Magik to play with.
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