Now that 2023 is less than a week away and The Game Awards have been handed out to their respective winning developer teams, it’s time for our team to throw our top choices for 2022. There were a lot of great titles released this year and it was difficult to choose which ones are the true top choices, but after some thought, discussion, and a poll within the team, we’ve picked our choices along with our picks for the top indie games for this year. So, here is GameTyrant’s official top 5 game picks from 2022!
Game of the Year: Elden Ring
Our team was excited to see that our Game of the Year choice for this year lined up with the official game awards as well. Bandai Namco and FromSoftware did an amazing job creating Elden Ring and with it, they provided a new experience for fans of the Souls-like level of challenging gameplay. Adding an open-world element to this style of game opened up the variety of play styles that their player base could utilize and learn to conquer the game with. This new level of freedom really pushed this game to become one of the most memorable, well-liked, and positively reviewed games of 2022.
Elden Ring is available now on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
God of War Ragnarok
A game that nobody is surprised to see make it on the top titles of 2022 list is God of War Ragnarok. The Santa Monica Studio team did a tremendous job with this sequel title and, just as it was for the game awards, it ran in a very close second place to being considered the game of the year. Even so, this game deserves all the recognition we can give it as it managed to be just as phenomenal, if not even better than, the first game in the series. Its mixture of adventure and intense combat was something everybody can enjoy experiencing and is ultimately what brought it to be so well loved.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Changing up the gameplay for a series is a bold move, but The Pokemon Company and Game Freak managed to pull it off in a way that fans were excited to play in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Providing a first-of-its-kind experience and taking players back in time to the historical days of the Pokemon world, this Pokemon game not only introduces players to new and classic Pokemon but it’s created in a way that is friendly for both new and returning players. The inviting atmosphere of the game itself has earned it plenty of positive reviews and is why this game managed to make it on our top titles of 2022 list.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Total War: Warhammer 3
The next chapter in the Warhammer 40K-themed real-time strategy series, Total War: Warhammer 3, is some of the best work from Creative Assembly and SEGA yet. This game is the culmination of almost 8 years of fantasy strategy where the developers took the time to work with the community and introduce new parts of the Warhammer universe. This long-awaited trilogy finale brought the best of every game and improves upon the worst. This is how it managed to be so well-reviewed and why it landed on our top games of 2022 list.
Total War: Warhammer III is available now on PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and PC Game Pass.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
After a very successful debut launch, Asobo Studio and Focus Home Interactive released the sequel title, A Plague Tale: Requiem. Bringing improved gameplay, tons of backstory lore for the series, and a memorable journey between a brother and sister in dark times, this game managed to improve upon the first. There is really a lot to love about this game and it shows in the positive reviews from the player base.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is available now for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and in Cloud Version on Nintendo Switch.
Honorable Mentions
Of course, with how many games were released in 2022, it was hard to bring it down to just a Top 5. Here are some of the choices that were considered, but ultimately didn’t make the final list:
