Games I Played in 2022
My yearly wrap-up of games played; both finished and unfinished. This year I started using Backloggd and it has made this process an absolute joy, especially if you’re a spreadsheet-type person.
This list is in chronological order. This list also exists over on Backloggd.
MORROWIND
Playtime: 124 hours (completed)
I started playing Morrowind in mid-December 2021. I had played it twice before, but never to completion. I decided this would be the time, found an excellent mod resource (OpenMW), and saw it through. I kept a journal of the adventure and was completely immersed from December to March. I’d still like to complete the expansions one day as I became so immersed in the lore, that I named my new dream thrash music project after a location in the game.
EARTHBOUND
Playtime: 30 hours (completed)
I had been playing Earthbound alongside Morrowind, mostly in bed before I fell asleep. Obviously a cult favorite, I had never played it before and it was always highly recommended. It was a bit tough playing through the game and it honestly lost me at some points. I think I wanted to like it more than I did, but I have huge amounts of respect for what this game was doing back in the early 90’s.
MOTHER 3
Playtime: 25 hours (completed)
A friend from the local game development community got wind of me playing Earthbound and gave me a physical copy of Mother 3 with the fan translation, so naturally, I had to play it too. I enjoyed this more than Earthbound, especially the chapter-based narrative. Had I played this when it came out (2006), I think it would be an all-timer for me as I was at a transitional point in my life and figuring a lot out.
IRON LUNG
Playtime: 1 hour (completed)
There were a couple of weeks where everyone was talking about this game and I can’t pass up a 1–2 hour experience; especially in the horror genre and especially if it deals with underwater and sea monsters. This game is definitely a small gem of the year for me. A slow mechanic that leans heavily into dread, I loved every minute of it. Big recommend for a night where you have an hour or two to burn.
CASTLEVANIA II: BELMONT’S REVENGE
Playtime: 2.5 hours (completed)
I wanted a small bite-sized game after wrapping 3 large rpg’s in a row and wanted something action-based. Enter pre-SotN Castlevania! This plays a lot like the NES versions and was a real mind-massage to play. The final boss fight is a decent challenge, too.
THE THING
Playtime: ~5 hours (did not complete)
I bought a physical copy of The Thing for PS2 years ago as I’m a big fan of the movie. It starts pretty strong and has some cool mechanics with your squad’s psyche and keeping them sane or else they turn. But around the 5-hour mark, the game got pretty bland and I realized that as a whole, it’s pretty rough.
THE BLACK IRIS
Playtime: ~1 hour (did not complete)
This game was recommended through Polygon’s newsletter and it has some real Panos Cosmatos vibes. Definitely unsettling and other-wordly, I’d like to come back and finish this soon.
GOLDEN SUN TRILOGY
Playtime: GS — 28 hours, GS: TLA — 39 hours, and GS: DD — 33 hours (completed)
Golden Sun was the first game I picked up when I bought my GBA SP back in 2002 and it has always held a special place in my heart. I figured this would be the year that I’d finally play the entire trilogy as I had never played the sequels. The original still hits the mark the best for me, but I was pleasantly surprised by Dark Dawn as it has some serious quality-of-life improvements and the low-poly NDS graphics are lovely.
DETENTION
Playtime: 4 hours (completed)
I wanted to play a couple of spooky games for October and this one came recommended by a friend. The first half is strong and establishes some solid expectations. But the 2nd half of the game has a huge tone shift and while it isn’t bad, it doesn’t quite fit up with the rest of the game. Good experience tho and I enjoyed my time with it.
STRAY
Playtime: 11 hours (completed)
As I got closer to the end of the year, I realized that I should probably play a few games that came out this year. Stray had been high on that list and I had a good time with it. The art direction is tops and exploring the city is fun, but the mechanics definitely dry up a bit halfway through the game. Around that part, I pushed through to see the story to its conclusion. My favorite aspect of the game was how there were prompts to take a cat nap in certain locations. When you did, the camera would slowly pan out and nice lo-fi music would kick in. A really nice touch.
METROID: ZERO MISSION
Playtime: 7 hours (completed)
A re-telling of the original Metroid, I had never played this and would sit down with it every night before I fell asleep. It looks and moves wonderfully, and gosh it’s always nice to visit the lonely world of Metroid. The “addition” to the end of the game was a bit odd but I can appreciate it.
CORE KEEPER
Playtime: 4 hours (did not complete)
I picked this up to play a few co-op sessions with a friend and I enjoy hopping into survival/crafting-type games. I love learning new recipes, learning the world, and exploring. Core Keeper has a nice pixel-polish feel to it and I will more than likely come back to it soon. It’s a neat little world.
NI NO KUNI
Playtime: 22 hours (did not complete)
This one hurts. I was very excited to play this game, even going as far as purchasing the hardcover player’s guide. The world and art are beautiful but I just could not get on board with the game’s combat. I found myself getting more and more upset as the game went on to the point where I had to admit and say out loud, “I am not having fun and should stop playing this”. It takes a lot for me to step away from a game as I commit pretty hard to finishing them. I won’t be picking this up again and it’s a bummer honestly because it seemed like the type of magic I love.
RUNE FACTORY 4
Playtime: 15 hours (ongoing)
I wanted to open myself up to the idea of having an “ongoing game”, or something that I always came back to and didn’t worry about finishing. RF4 fit in nicely here as I sometimes struggle with life-sim games as I like a narrative and RF’s mechanics ultimately support a narrative. This is another game that I’d play every night before bed, usually getting through one in-game day and then passing out. It’s laid-back and perfect for this play style. I imagine I will wrap it one day but I’m in no rush and okay with putting it down for a bit and coming back to it later.
GROUNDED
Playtime: 6 hours (did not complete)
Another game that was recommended by a friend where we played online co-op. Essentially “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” The Video Game and I’m into that. I’m hoping to throw some more hours at this as the narrative drives pretty hard and I like that.
MOONBREAKER
Playtime: Many (behind the scenes)
I work on this game! This year I started as a Producer for Unknown Worlds working on Moonbreaker which is currently in Early Access. I’d love it if you snagged it and gave us feedback. We have solid core gameplay and are really starting to build atop it and player feedback is crucial at this stage. Ok shameless self-promotion over!
SIGNALIS
Playtime: 13 hours (completed)
Similar to Stray, this was at the top of my “To Play” list for games that came out this year. I cut my teeth on RE1 and Silent Hill way back when, so this felt pretty natural. The art direction is phenomenal and especially so coming from a two-person team. It opened up with some themes which I hoped would carry through the game but didn’t. However, that didn’t detract from my enjoyment as this was solid all the way to the end. Big recommend.
BLASTER MASTER ZERO
Playtime: 8 hours (completed)
My second playthrough of the remake from my favorite franchise. A solid action game with a feather-light anime story alongside it. There are two more games in this trilogy that I was hoping to follow up with, however, I started playing another game that might eat up my time for a while.
ELDEN RING
Playtime: 30 hours (ongoing)
You know I thought I’d make it thru this year without playing Elden Ring but here we are. I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's playing this and just getting absolutely immersed in this world. I won’t be putting it down anytime soon and will write about it more next year when I do the 2023 review. But gosh, what a game.
