CandidlyKen: Ken's Top 10 Games of 2022
Hey, I’m Kendal, but you can call me Ken! 24, queer, Taurus, from Midwestern US. I love my dogs, musicals, witchy stuff, internet culture, D&D, embroidery, and baking. Always been a big fan of content creators, decided to give it a go myself. Join me on this wacky journey!
10. The Quarry
I had *such* high hopes for this game. After Until Dawn blew me away when I played it back in 2017, I’ve been desperate for Supermassive to wow me again. After their Dark Pictures Anthology series left a lot to be desired, I was so excited to see what they could do with the game they were deeming the successor of Until Dawn. And it even started off strong, the first half hour of the game is fantastic. And then.. it just gets worse and worse. Character choices don’t make sense, graphics are buggy, and the branching paths from player choices don’t seem to impact the story at all. It has all of the problems that Until Dawn had.. but had a full 7 years to do better. The actors did a great job, and are honestly the only thing carrying this story along.
9. Bugsnax
This one caught me by complete surprise. It was free on gamepass and looked like one of those cozy games a la Viva Piñata. It was.. not.. that? At least, not entirely. I loaded it up expecting to play it once or twice as essentially stream “filler episodes”.. and then I played it for 3 weeks straight. This game is so cursed and yet so endearing. The objectives are simple: collect little food-themed creatures, and rebuild a community of odd little beings called “Grumpuses”. But it’s so much deeper than that. Each of the NPCs have strong personalities that are truly brought to life by their voice actors. I challenged myself to complete all of their side quests -somewhat to the dismay of my community, who were dragged along as I ran into some actually challenging environmental puzzles to catch these little bugs. I was rewarded with surprisingly earnest storylines and a real feeling of accomplishment. That being said, the main storyline loses the plot during the endgame for me, and while the majority of the play through was fantastic, the last 20 minutes soured it a bit.
8. Firewatch
If you mention enjoying any heartfelt, story-heavy indie game, people are going to recommend this game. And honestly? It’s so close to being what I wanted it to be. This game has some really cool dialogue and story happening in an absolutely beautiful environment. But somehow it ended up doing too much and not enough all at the same time. The majority of the gameplay is walking around in the forest and completing tasks/exploring as a story plays out (mostly without player choice interference) and I don’t mind that, I can get behind a well-told story in the form of a walking simulator. But similar to others at the bottom of this list, I kind of lost the plot toward the end. I understand and love an open-ended narrative. But this just ends up feeling.. messy? Underexplained AND overexplained? Still a gorgeous game. And if you like this type of game, it’s still definitely one I’d recommend. Maybe you’ll find what I didn’t within it.
7. A Short Hike
There isn’t a whole lot to say about this game, if I’m honest. It isn’t particularly challenging, the puzzles and quests aren’t story rich or even all that engaging.. but, for some reason I smiled through my entire playthrough. It’s just SO wholesome. The environment is beautiful despite, and maybe even *because* of, its simplicity. Everything feels familiar even though the game’s foundation is exploration. This game gives me nostalgia for something I’m not sure I’ve ever actually experienced, and I adore it.
6. It Takes Two
I am *begging* game devs to make more couch co-op games that aren’t party games. My partner and I adore a story-rich co-op, and there just aren’t enough of them out there. This game, while imperfect, certainly makes me hopeful for the these kinds of games in the future. The character designs are so charming that it almost -almost- makes me look past the somewhat cringey storyline and extremely irritating secondary character (you know the one). That being said, the mechanics actually make you work with your partner to complete tasks, and it doesn’t feel contrived in the same way that other co-op games sometimes feel. These devs also made A Way Out, which is dramatically different in tone but the other standout co-op game that I’ve played. With these two under their belt, I’m really excited to see what Hazelight does next.
5. Valheim
This is one of those games that my partner really had to convince me I’d like. I’m not much for survival games, and after trying and failing to enjoy The Forest last year, this wasn’t even on my radar. But this game is truly something else. With building and survival elements that surprisingly made sense to me, plus a feeling of adventure ingrained into the mechanics, I put more hours into this game than I’d care to admit. A key aspect is playing it co-op with a few friends. We had our assigned little duties within our adventuring guild, and despite many trials along the way, we were always coming back for more.
4. Dark Souls 3
Alright. Okay. So this was the year of FromSoft for me. DS3 was my second soulslike game (my first was Bloodborne.. more on that later). I never thought I’d be one for these incredibly difficult, smack your head against a wall over and over, “get good” games. I always considered myself a story game kind of gal, but despite not understanding even a fraction of the lore throughout this game, I absolutely ate it up. Nothing feels better than defeating a souls boss you’ve gone up against multiple times.
3. Elden Ring
Here we are with another soulslike. This one honestly could’ve tied with DS3 for me, but I’m giving it an edge just for the absolute wonder and beauty contained in the Lands Between. The areas are so diverse and range from mystifying to mortifying. Also, JUMPING? A gift from the gods. Though I’ll admit by the end my only attack plan was absolutely whaling on enemies with a double-uchi jump attack. I couldn’t tell you WHY I was doing what I was doing the entire time.. but I sure was having fun doing it. The lore was really difficult for me to follow, and every NPC being named something with syllables starting with Go-.. Ma-.. Mo-.. Ra-..? certainly didn’t help. That being said, it was a fun romp. Once I recover from accidentally giving myself the wrong ending (y’all.. don’t forget what a summon sign looks like..) I’ll be ready to do it all over again!
2. Bloodborne
My first entry into the soulslike universe: the bane of my existence, and the wind beneath my wings. I swear I’ll never feel a rush quite like the first time I successfully parried an enemy in this game. After trudging through what felt like years of the blood hunt, something eventually just.. clicked. Suddenly running into the same fight over and over again wasn’t a chore, it was a labor of love for my own ego. I’m a prideful person at heart (that’s what I get for admiring Marty McFly too much as a kid) and nothing has made me feel as powerful as defeating every single boss in this game has. The only downside? No other souls game is quite like Bloodborne, and learning the way these games usually play was an uphill battle after parrying and regaining life all the way through the streets of Yharnam.
1. Outer Wilds
Wow. This game. What is there to say that won’t either criminally simplify the gameplay or critically undermine the ethos of the story? I’ll say this: go in blind if you can, overcome your fears, and let your curiosity be your guide. This game is an experience unlike any other, and your experience will be unlike those that came before you. Oh – and toast a marshmallow for me.