Top 10 Games of 2022

Another year has come and gone and it is time for one of my absolute favorite times of the year and that is for our annual Best Of event. We get to celebrate all kinds of things from the past year, including our biggest article of the year, our Top 10 Games of 2022!

This year, I have to make something clear and transparent up front or else my comment section will be filled with questions or objections. 2022 could easily be described as "A Tale of Two Games" as pretty much every outlet has made the top spot be a thrown down between God of War Ragnarok and ELDEN RING.

"Here's the thing... I did not like Elden Ring."

I did not enjoy it. Its style is just not my cup of tea. I do not like souls-like games. I tried it; it wasn't for me. So all the Elden Ring fans out there, I'm Sorry; we get it. You loved it. It won GOTY at the Game Awards. It is many major outlets pick for GOTY. You are all very vocal about this game, and plenty of other outlets will give you lists with it at the top for your liking.

If it helps you, pretend this is "Besides Elden Ring, what are the Best Games of the Year" article.

Also, I play a lot of games each year, and we really heavily support indie titles. Each year I debate merging it or making it a AAA only list, but each year I decide I like my strategy. I want to support Indies, I have many AAA I love, and I want a traditional top ten list. So this list "leans towards" AAA in an effort towards keeping it under 10 and mainstream. I try to keep my indie picks to top 2-3 on here. Because I play and love a lot of indie games, I make a whole separate list for Top 10 Indie Games. If you want more indie picks, check that one out.

Game Infinite's Top 10 Games of 2022

Watch our full video on Youtube or scroll down for the complete list and discussion!

RULES:

Also note, that Game Infinite follows a similar year to the Game Awards in order to not give an unfair disadvantage to games releasing in December. Our qualifying year is December 1, 2021 - December 1 2022. Games releasing after Dec 1 can qualify for next year's list. This allows me to not have to rush December games. In order to qualify a game must either be completely new, a 1.0 release, or an early access in 2022. Games that have a major cultural impact in 2022 such as being "discovered" by the masses are allowed. Games that originally launched on a limited platform but received a major port are allowed. Games that saw a launch in a region outside the US but came to the US in 2022 are allowed. Remasters and ongoing games in general are not allowed and get their own list.

10. Overwatch 2 - 8/10

Overwatch 2 has dropped and been re-added from this list multiple times. I debated, should it just be an honorable mention? Does it deserve its spot here? It's not bad, It's almost like a DLC filled remaster masquerading as a sequel. I said in my review it is one of the hardest games to review. On one side, it has many reasons to kick it off this list. It had a terrible hilarious launch. Its launch content was pretty sparse. It's "newness" often feels stale. BUT on the other hand,...IT IS SO FUN. It is still at its core the GOTY 2016 of the original. They added more than they took away...

It did what the 2's job was in that it brought me back. Plus, even if it's execution is on this idea of the "pseudo sequel" is not great, it still had a fantastic idea for how the era of live services can do sequels. It should get some credit for inventing this style of sequel. Bring all the collected characters and skins with you, but add new stuff. Apex and Fortnite and others can learn from this idea. It is just brilliant and solves for the problem that many live services face if they ever want to do a sequel.

Did it justify the 2? Maybe not. Did the 2 work? Yes. I asked myself...could a game that I will keep playing a lot of in 2023 really be kept off this list? It may not be the "best" but it is one of the "most fun" games of the year. It is probably unfairly taking the position of another game that is "technically" better, but it is being very heavily weighted by its fun factor and nostalgia. It's hard to keep it off, when it's still one of my favorite plays of the year. Fun factor has to have equal wait to technical execution, right? At the end of the day, I know there might be some more deserving games for this 10th spot, but I loved Overwatch 2 too much.

9. Dying Light 2 8/10 - GI BEST CO-OP 2022

Dying Light 2. This was a game that came out the same time as Horizon and Elden Ring so you are forgiven if you forgot this game existed. This is a game that I feel like is a victim of its release window as it just released next to two gaming giants this year. I *almost* did not play this game. It was getting middling reviews, and it was a massive long game demanding my time when I thought two other also really long games were going to eat up my time. I really didn't want to spend 180$ on three massive open world games, only to barely make it half way through one before the other two inevitably received discounts. The irony is between Horizon, Elden, and Dying Light 2 the only one to make my list is the one I almost skipped. I hated Elden Ring and found Horizon to be a beautifully ok game. Those games rank highly on other outlets, and that's fine.

I only got this game honestly because a close friend of mine wanted to play it. He was super excited for it, and I always enjoy gaming with this friend as much as possible so I got it anyways. Turns out, this game is a phenomenal experience when played CO-OP. I think a lot of the reviewers had to have played this alone, and the developers missed the opportunity to really market this the way it is best experienced.

Alone, I could see how this game could be pretty average. However, playing Co-Op this game is STUPID FUN. Running around this massive open map with a friend, goofing off, breaking the game by giving each other overpowered weapons, surviving a zombie apocalypse with a friend. As a co-op game this could be the best "not walking dead" game ever done. I think the developers really missed the best part of their own game. They focused so much on the "branching story impact" that was the main marketing hype, and failed to realize the golden part of this game. This game needed to be a It Takes Two style co-op only game. It's just more fun with a friend. Honestly I didn't care much about the actual story or branching narrative. Instead of all the branching story, they should have doubled down on the co-op and social features. I just want an open sandbox to survive with my buddies in the zombie Apocalypse. The developers, marketing department, and the big outlet reviewers all missed the games best selling feature.

Find a friend, buy this together, and make a plan to just play it together, and it could be like the golden days of Halo co-op campaign of your childhood. I owe my friend a drink for this recommendation, and dragging me into one of my favorite games of the year.

8. The Quarry - 9/10

Supermassive Games is like an Ex that I've given too many second chances to. While yes, The first few nights of our romance with Until Dawn was phenomenal and exciting. Until Dawn will always be a beuaitful memory, but our dates since then have been terrible. Man of Medan, House of Ashes were abysmal. Why I answered the late night WYD text of Supermassive Games is beyond me, I listened to the promises that this date would be more like Until Dawn and not the terrible Dark Picture dates, and it turns out The Quarry was a wild one night stand that almost made me forgive them for their past terrible deeds.

"Dear Super Massive, Please give up on the Dark Picture Anthology and do more of these!"

Jokes aside, The Quarry is fantastic and makes up for the terrible Dark Picture anthology series. Until Dawn was fantastic because it is a full experience. The Dark Picture anthology are AA low effort and feel smaller and cheaper. Instead of giving us a full AAA experience, they chop up these stories into smaller packages and less was not more. The best part of Until Dawn and The Quarry is the visual impressiveness of the games and that can only be done with the full AAA experience. Quarry is a return to what made Until Dawn so great.

The Quarry tells a story of a bunch of teenagers in a camp in the woods being hunted by mysterious creatures and people. The story is so trope filled on purpose that it works in only a way that Super Massive can pull off. The game is tense, scary, beautiful, and so well done. The characters are unique enough that you care about them and their survival. I am so happy to see Supermassive return to form and hope they continue with quality of over quantity like this in the future.

7. Call of Duty Modern Warfare II - 9/10 - GI BEST ACTION GAME 2022

"Call of Duty IS BACK!"

Honestly I became very disappointed with the Call of Duty Franchise as of late. Last years Vangaurd came and went with such a whimper with even some of my hardcore friends going "Wait, they released a new Call of Duty?". Vanguard in my opinion wasn't even nearly as terrible as Cold War. I hated Cold War as it felt like a Sports Game level of copy and paste with a terrible campaign. After two years of disappointment I was really hesitant to trust Call of Duty again. I was unsure if they could course correct. 2019's Call of Duty MW reboot was fantastic so the reboot sequel has promise.

I would be willing to say that this campaign is top 5 all time for Call of Duty. If you haven't played the campaign, you are definitely missing out this year. Not to mention, the main way to play Mulitplayer really feels like MW+ not just a copy and paste job. In addition, Warzone 2.0 and DMZ are integrated so much better that it feels like a part of the game instead of this disjointed "other". Call of Duty MW2 won't win any GOTY awards from anyone, as this is the MCU Avengers level of game making to others more artistic Gamer-Oscar baits. However, This was still a fun game with massive scale and quality.

I think that the major outlets are really snubbing Call of Duty, and maybe rightly so after the last two; however, MW2 is simply one of the best games of the years. The multiplayer experience is top notch, and the campaign is one of COD's best! It is better than the 2019 MW, so if you liked that one, this one will please.

6. Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga - 9/10 - GI BEST FAMILY GAME 2022

I love Star Wars. I have never played a Lego video game for more than 5 minutes.

This is how I went into one of the best games of the year. It is hard to believe that the first game like this we got for Star Wars was actually a lego game. The saga spanning, massive open-multi-world, multi character Star Wars game just makes so incredible sense that it is an absolute shame it hasn't been done before. It makes me want a traditionally rendered game just like this one.

That being said, in a way, the Lego aspect not only didn't take away from the game I say I really want, but it added to it. For the first time in my life, I got to experience a story I have watched a 1000 times and it felt fresh. There were little nods and jokes and tweaks that were enough to make such an incredibly familiar story feel new. It did this without diminishing the original either. That is a balance I am so surprised they pulled off. They added combat and puzzles to new scenes, and humor at the right moments that just made the whole experience fun. I loved exploring familiar planets and locations from across the Skywalker Saga! It was also great just the wide diversity of characters you could play as!

I was also impressed at the wide appeal this could have for the player, for anyone who may think "Lego? Really? Isn't that just for kids". This game doesn't have to be so simple and easy that it is boring. It kept me engaged.

My only caution is that game is what I would call a "pseudo-co-op", as if you wanted to play this will a fellow gamer friend who regularly plays games like you; this is not the best. There were many places where the co-op character felt like a useless helper that would be boring to play. There are pivotal scenes recreated where there is the definitive "hero" and they write in a less important character to be there (who wasn't in the film" in order to force the co-op. This would be fine if the written in character didn't feel like someone you would give to a child to make them feel like they're helping. However, I played this game solo so I just don't recommend co-op.

5. Entropy Centre - 9/10 - GI Best Puzzle Game 2022

Entropy Centre is a game that the moment I first saw it, I had to play it. The moment I first played the pre-release demo, I had to buy it. It is BEYOND me HOW this game is not on every outlet list. In fact, sadly, I haven't seen the major outlets even talking about this one! This game proves to me that the major outlets only ever play the same few indie games their friends talk about because this is fantastic. This game is proof the same 7 indie games are played by the likes of IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, etc... because this game is one of the best games of the year! This game proves the necessity of smaller platforms like Game Infinite to showcase more indie games. No offense to some of the common indie appearances this year, but Entropy Centre is FANTASTIC.

It is a portal-like, with that CLASSIC wake up in an abandoned science lab premise. However, instead of a portal gun, this gun rewinds an objects entropy. Rewinds it in time essentially. This game is just beautifully done. The endless science lab is on the moon and just incredibly well done. This game is affectionally referred to as the only Portal 3 we are ever going to get. The voice acting and story is terrific. The puzzles start of easy but get hair pulling difficult. Gosh there's this one puzzle I must have tried 37 times before I eventually just youtube'd it. If valve were smart, they would buy this developer and give them a huge budget and team to make Portal 3 and watch it print money.

The entire purpose is to repair the stations power in oder to save earth which is in the process of disintegrating and exploding. Watching the Earth explode, shoot a laser at it, and watch it rewind? It is a phenomenal watch. This game is a MUST PLAY.

4. Vampire Survivors - 9/10 - GI INDIE GOTY 2022

Vampires Survivors is a game that is a testament to the benefits of GamePass. I support indie games all the time, but every now and then I come across a game that I only would have tried because it was on GamePass. I remember exactly my first reaction to Vampire Survivors. I heard people talking about it, and it was getting some buzz, so I checked it out and I judged the book by its cover for sure. I remember making a face, mentally going "EWW" when I saw it. I'm sorry to the .00001% chance the developers see this but my first impression was this game looked UGLY.

And to be honest...I still think it looks ugly. Pixel art and retro games can be done in a way that is still visually appealing. I don't hate games trying to be retro...this just did it poorly in my opinion. Retro and Pixel can be pretty. This is not it. This game's looks remind me of browser based games I played on my childhood school computers that were made of beige plastic. I remember clicking on the game's page and looking at it and going NOPE.

But...it kept getting more and more praise, it started making early lists, it got Game Awards nominations. I finally gave it a chance; it was free with game pass after all.

To say that this game is an absolute Trojan horse of fun is an understatement. I absolutely expected to hate it and loved ever second. It is perfect for long game sessions or short ones. I also really dislike roguelites so the fact that this one sold me only speaks to its quality. This is a game that really surprised me. It has everything I hate. It is an autoplaying game where all the attacking is done automatically, and I always hate that. I hate the visuals, I hate roguelites. I usually hate everything this game is except the fact that I love this game. I can't explain it either...it's just fantastic and our pick for INDIE GOTY 2022!

3. Marvel Snap - 9/10 - GI BEST MOBILE GAME 2022

Marvel Snap is a game that I am surprised I even gave a shot let alone loved as much as I do. Like Vampire Survivors, it is a game that is everything I usually hate; and yet can't stop playing. In my review I said it had every red flag to me being a free to play mobile card game with a major IP license. Usually that screams low effort, cash grab, pay to win, predatory garbage. Plus, it's a CARD GAME... *shivers* How they took one of the most boring genres imaginable and made it this fun is beyond me. These developers are wizards. Marvel Snap surprised me in every way. It is fun, addictive, and incredibly well made. The A list heroes casual fans know most are not gate keeped behind predatory pay walls with over powered abilites. I got Ironman and Hulk for free and they are pretty effective! But even the lesser-known heroes can be really fun and useful. It forces you to evolve over time to overcome new heroes and make new decks. Cards that were very powerful become less so as you rise the ranks and have to try new strategies.

There is so much replay value, and each battle only takes a few minutes so it can be done when you only have a few minutes. I love how the game has sparked my curiosity on lesser-known heroes. Heroes I don't know much about, but enjoy in the game, I want to know more about them. Let's also talk about the absolutely fantastic character art. I am constantly enjoying the card variety and deck building.

I will say that this game has become part of my daily night routine. Brush teeth. Lay Down. Play my wordle. Google "gaming news" for the 15th time that day. Play Marvel Snap. Sleep. Had it not been for the next two games on this list, I could easily see this being my GOTY. It almost was, as I debated my top 4 heavily. I feel like the top few this year are closer than ever before. If someone had told me one of my favorite games this year was going to be a mobile license card game, I would have never believed them.

Honerable Mentions:

It is always very hard to narrow this list down to just 10. That's partly why I cheat and make a Top 10 Indie Games list. Often times, the last few spots I go back and forth on quite often. It is hard because there are some games on my list that I felt were more fun but technically inferior to some missing on my list. For example, I strongly considered Horizon Forbidden West for my list, and it almost took Overwatch 2's spot. I think it is a technical marvel and a fine game. I really have no complaints about it at all other than the fact that I sort of got bored with it. I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I'm starting to get a little bit of fatigue with Sony's tried and true template. It's pretty, but it grew repetitive in a way that I didn't keep playing. For some it might be a 10/10 GOTY contender, and I can't blame them. I have no problem with people who think It is top 3. I just enjoyed the games on this list more.

Wordle is another game I extremely considered for this list, as it has made itself a daily part of my routine. I featured it high on my indie list, but it is so simple it felt unfair to take the spot of much more complicated games. That was just "too much fun factor" and not enough technical excellence. It became a workplace sensation, the talk of the water cooler. It was an incredible game that almost made this list. If it wasn't for it's simplicity, I may have pulled the trigger. If the developer hadn't sold the game to New York Times who has does nothing with it other than maintain, they could have easily taken a top spot. In my humble opinion they should have used the fame to raise money to make an app. There could be an official app, with multiple modes and multiple daily puzzles, and such. I would pay for more puzzles each day. This had SO MUCH potential, and instead of building it into something more, they just sold it.

Two other games I really enjoyed but were just edged out were Plague Tale Requiem and Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Kirby honestly should be on this list, but I feel like it is just hindered by it's hardware and budget. This could be a fantastic game, IF it were released on PC or other consoles (which I know Nintendo would never do) but the aging Switch made me feel like I was playing a N64 game. Nintendo chose to skip making a Switch Pro...and that decision is hurting them now with their aged hardware. Nintendo needs to release something that can compete with modern consoles or at least the steam deck. If a new Pro Switch would just have upscaling 4k for TV's and a 1080p mobile screen it could be night and day difference. Playing a Kirby game that I was really excited for, all blurry on my TV just lessoned my experience. The game is great, the platform is it exclusive to no longer is.

Plague Tale Requiem is a game that maybe would have more promise...and there's definitely a great game there. To me it just didn't have enough to hold my attention. Its performance on PC was terrible I had to switch to my Series X, and even there it didn't run great. It had frame rate stuttering, pop in, and the foliage and hair look bad. It is a game that feels like it is struggling to run. it is also a stealth simulator for the most part just walking and hiding. It was ok. I fail to see how it was a GOTY nominee at the Game Awards. I just think there were better games.

2. Lost Ark - 10/10 - GI Best MMO 2022 / Best Character Creator 2022

WHY IS LOST ARK NOT ON EVERY LIST OUT THERE? The only explanation I can think of is maybe it is being written off on a technicality? This game's release window is complicated as it technically released way back in 2019, but only came to the west in 2022. I say so what to that. I don't live in Japan so this was my first year to play this. We include "major cultural impact" as a broad term to include previous years that make an unusual enough splash in current year. I think the North America release in this year should qualify it. Another explanation I can think of is this game released next to ... ELDEN RING. While every single IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, employee was playing Elden Ring... maybe they didn't have time for Lost Ark.

Well contrary to what you might think, despite launching so close to 2022's obvious biggest game of the year, Lost Ark also set Steam Records. It became the second highest played game on Steam EVER. It had over 1.3 Million concurrent players. It was so popular they had to delay the free to play launch because founder edition players were still trying to get in. Every one of my friends were playing Lost Ark.

Lost Ark is popular enough to warrant itself a a spot on the list of these outlets, but I think they forgot about it. February 2022 was just oversaturated with Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, and Dying Light 2. Despite being one of the most popular games of the year, I think I saw ONE review of it while the major outlets mostly covered the other three.

Well I for one want to make the case for Lost Ark besides its popularity. This game is DENSE. To be honest, the vast inventory system is still too much for me and I've beat the whole main game. There are so many random potions and chests and fantasy macguffins that I still don't know what they do. I beat the main game, and yet I feel like I have explored so little of the world, as I zoom out and see all these places to go. I feel like I have enjoyed a small island on a massive alien planet the size of Jupiter.

Let's also talk about the combat. I typically really don't like top down style games like this. I'd much rather play a first or 3rd person game. I really don't usually like this format. And usually I feel like it's done to hide lower resolution game assets. It makes the game easier to make. However, this feels untrue. It feels like it was an artistic choice as all the assets and environments are just as detailed and high quality as they would be if the camera wasn't zoomed 10 feet above characters heads. This heavily view of your character gives you a fantastic view of the battle field, and it just works for combat. You always feel like it is you versus 20 enemies, executed in a way better than most games. You feel unstoppable as you mow down countless enemies. There are also just so many ways to attack! While most fantasy action games limit you to a light and heavy attack with a few combos and magic powers, this is a game that gives you like 8 right away, and you can evolve and change them. My character was a Death Blade assassin, and you would think that there's only so many ways to swing a sword but you would be wrong. The combat always feels incredible. The story was a little simple, but in line with a fantasy MMO. The visuals and combat really sells this game.

I love this game so much, that I heavily considered it for GOTY, however, even at number 2, it is a must play for any fantasy or MMO fan!

1. God of War Ragnarok - 10/10 - GI GOTY 2022

God of War Ragnarok needs little introduction, as I 've said this was 2022: The Tale of Two Games. Just because Elden Ring failed to interest me like it did so many of you, Ragnarok is just as fantastic as everyone says. I didn't want to pick it just because I felt like I "had to". Before finishing the game, I was worried I was going to be destroyed in the comments for picking something else. After all, my opinions on Andor were definitely not appreciated. I really loved Marvel Snap and Lost Ark, and I was worried that I was going to be peer pressured into liking God of War Ragnarok. My first impression was the game felt a little slow and nothing different from the first game. It was "just another" God of War. You have to push through the first 8-10 hours, trust me.

I pushed forward and was treated to an absolutely evolutionarily improved game. While the story starts a little slow it absolutely builds to an Endgame level climax. It provides so much new enemy, weapon, and companion variety over the first game. The set pieces and scenery in this game is just fantastic. There are a few narrative twists that you won't see coming that just really solidify this game as a fantastic story.

I have a few nit-picks about the story and control options, but it really is a near-flawless game that delivers a 10/10 experience in every category: fun factor, narrative, combat, world design, audio design, actor performance. Again I must apologize to the hard core Elden Ring fans who believes that game deserves top spot, but for me it had to be God of War Ragnarok.

THANKS!

Thanks for reading our Top 10 Games of 2022 Article and stopping by our Best of 2022 Event! Come back for more top lists and other end of year celebration content!

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