2022: Games in review. 2023: Games to be
The year is quickly coming to a close, and what a year it has been in the world of video games & beyond. While I could talk about the negative things of the year, such as the Con fiasco’, questionable buys, and odd stunts people pull, I felt it better to close out the year on the game highs of the year & some of what is to come for the next.
JANUARY
A month with Sony announcing the purchase of Bungie, the New York Times acquiring Wordle, and of course Microsoft plans for Activison Blizzard. Who’d have thought the year would start with such a bang. In-between all the high dollar deals going on saw several game release to kick start the year on the less fiscal side of gaming. From God of War coming to PC (gloriously I might add), Pokémon with a legendary start to a new side series that is Arceus approved, and indie gems such as Spelunky 2, it was a good start to the year. Even Konami released not just a game, but a true simulator in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel for us card gamers, and Arc System Works closed the month out strong on the last day with fan favorite Baiken. Also the most important gaming holiday of the year is in January, the shared birthday of my son & I.
FEBRUARY
A very cold month here in the Midwest, but the heat was brought. Sifu came with hands to match it’s interesting life system, Lost Arc entered the ring MMO Royal Rumble a little soon, and Horizon Forbidden West hit the mech & dinosaur notes. While there wasn’t much major news for note, the games in my opinion had two key players. Final Fantasy VI, the game many believe to be the pinnacle of the series & RPGs as a whole had it’s pixel remaster release, and as a lover of classic RPGs as much as modern, the game is a faithful upscale that leaves me wanting the Octopath style treatment for it. Then we have the game the dominated most of the year, a game with so much hype if it failed the impact would be felt. Elden Ring : Needless to say From Soft hit a grand slam that is my call for game of the year. Be you maidenless or not in the Lands Between, easy 10 would be a disservice.
MARCH
The month that doesn’t know if it wants to be cold or not on this side of our big blue sphere. Amidst the first game conference of the year, and Embracer Group purchase of Dark Horse Media, the quest of the Elden Lords raged. Bad jokes aside March was both slow, but oddly a quick blink & you’ll miss it. Gran Turismo 7 roared into the month’s early days, followed by the likes of Triangle Strategy’s gorgeous art, a new DDR arcade cabinet, and solid upscaled ports. If I had to pick a winner for the month, I would give it to Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
Yes please!
A new Kirby game, where you are moving in more than just a straight path?
APRIL
April was a fairly slow month for news with the most eventful being MLB: the Show seeing not just it’s second non-Sony release, but the first release on a Nintendo platform. Games fared mostly the same, that being niche series releases. Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition returned to those of us who loved this game as much as I, Danganronpa back with suspense & chills, and shooters like Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt.
MAY
Embracer Group continues to lead with most subsidiaries with the announcement of intent to acquire assets of Square Enix Europe, the purchase did indeed happen later in the year. Currently in the slow parts of the year, so those looking for the AAA experience would have to hold out longer. But there was plenty to be had from the grim dark of Warhammer 40K to the therapeutic Unpacking release on PS5, Unpacking released sooner on other platformers, but I feel a game like this should be mentioned when able. Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 is keeping the series on the fast track to the next indie horror darling.
JUNE
Things haven’t looked good for E3 for a long time, with another year canceled, I hope if the show can not return they can at least retire it with grace. The games did not disappoint : Mario Strikers kicking in with solid game play even with the spotty post release drops, next gen re-release of Resident Evil’s 2 and 3 R alongside 7: Biohazard, Disgaea 6 Complete with it’s brand of story & humor was a delight, and an instant Dojo favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge with records broken galore. Special shot-out to Capcom Fighting collection and DNF Duel giving us fighter lovers so gems.
JULY
Not much in the news area, other than one big event. The announcement by Nintendo of the closer of the Wii-U & 3DS in 2023. Right in the middle of summer July had ports, full releases, and some stellar drops. Giving these games new life & a new audience to enjoy is a win-win for the makers and players. Rimworld: Console Edition, Powerwash Simulator finally getting it’s full release on more than just Steam, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came in to tie the two stories together. There was a game though that that came in to captivate & even get a Game of the Year nomination, Stray.
AUGUST
This month we see Embracer grow more with the purchase of Tripwire & Limited Run, not to mention the right to Middle-Earth video & board games. Pokémon had it’s first world championship held in Europe with London as the city to hold the show. The month started off interesting with the dating sim Hook on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim for all those killers seeking love, Cult of the Lamb a roguelike release with Twitch integration allowing viewers to join your cult, Tower of Fantasy came in strong but has many upset players, and Soul Hackers 2 gave a new entry in the Devil Summoner subseries of Megami Tensei. PC players received another gem from Sony with the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered.
SEPTEMBER
Between The Tokyo Game Show & Google announcing the shut down of Stadia to come in January of 2023, Rockstar had had a security breach releasing almost an hour of work-in-progress for a yet to be titled Grand Theft Auto game, the leak breach was confirmed by Jason Schreier by Rockstar sources. After nearly three years of early access Temtem had it’s full release, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R gave fans an updated fighter for the Joestar family, Metal: Hellsinger combined bullet hell FPS & rhythm games in a surprisingly fun way. Yacht Club Games indie darling Shovel Knight returned in Shovel Knight Dig, adding roguelike to the series already tight metroidvania style. Then we have Splatoon 3, the game that surpassed Pokemon Black and White to become the second fastest selling game in Japan, while giving the Switch another installment of what is becoming a beloved shooter series.
OCTOBER
Fandom came in the month strong with the acquisition of GameSpot, GameFAQs, Giant Bomb, and Metacritic just to name a few in the 55 million deal with Red Ventures. The 11th International for Dota 2 was held in Singapore. And after less than a year Comcast shut down G4. Fittingly the spooky month of the year had releases in that vein with the like of A Plague Tale: Requiem, Alan Wake Remastered, and Resident Evil Village’s DLC Shadow of Rose. More lighthearted releases could also be found in the likes of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, or Sackboy: A Big Adventure on PC. Persona 5 Royal released on multiple platforms as well for a new audience to have their heart stolen by. A personal favorite of mine for the year was released into early access, that being the life simulator Coral Island.
NOVEMBER
Following the purchase by Embracer Group three months prior, Square Enix Montreal which was renamed Onoma was closed. November being that massive release and sales month it is started strong and with momentum not slowing a bit. Harvestella seen another life sim game released by Square Enix that already has a fan base that love it, Sonic Frontiers gave fans of the blue blur another got to go fast entry, and the game that has showed most of the month if not the year, God of War: Ragnarok. Rogue Legacy 2 & Bendy and the Dark Revival gave indie lovers two more games added to the great list of indie titles of the year. The biggest sale game of the year and next installment in the Pokémon series dropped with Scarlet & Violet.
DECEMBER
As of this writing we have yet to reach December, so any news has yet to be. But the Game Awards 2022 will hopefully have something for everyone this year. Same as with the news, the games are yet to be. Instead allow me to point out games to keep an eye on. River City Girls 2 will kick things off the first day of the month, The Callisto Protocol bringing chills in the cold month, and RPG lovers will have their hands full with next gen releases of Witcher 3 & Crisis Core remaster. My personal pick up will be Dragon Quest: Treasures.
2023 will soon be upon us with more games new & old, older games with no life in ports and remasters, new games that could be the start of new franchises or part of established ones. So may the games you have played this year bring you joy, and may the one’s in the next.
