FA+
Shop
Games I played in 2022
3 years ago
General
The Hefty 'Bre has something to say!
So I played a good deal of games back in 2022 or continuing off from 2021. Gonna say what games I've played and give some short thoughts on each one. I might have more opinions over others, so hope ya like a look into my thoughts on games! I'll be scoring these as I go and these won't be in any particular order.
> Tales of Arise - Played on PS5 - 7/10 - A pretty fun action RPG with a somewhat decent story. Feels by the numbers in terms of the story department for me and some parts feel anti climatic. That or parts are pretty predictable. The ending of the game started to drag me down cause the second to last major area you visit is almost nothing but cutscenes and dialogue that goes on for more than an hour, but haphazardly tosses in a mini dungeon that doesn't prepare you for a boss fight only to then give you a ton more story stuff and then another boss fight with no dungeon to crawl through against 3 enemies that are higher level than you. It was a gripe I had with the game where I felt like the story was not done well enough in my eyes, but dragged scenes out for too long. THANKFULLY, the gameplay made up for most of this as it was fun comboing enemies with various Arts, Boost attacks, and so on. Though, in some circumstances, you have to watch yourself as certain enemy types like to be BS with their moves or status ailments heavily get in the way of fights. I would say this game is amazing overall if not for one thing: The DLC. Bandai put a crap ton of DLC into this game and sold 3 different versions of it(2 of which being digital only) that contain DLC that does affect the gameplay. Specifically certain costume sets that unlock "Titles", which in this game allow you to unlock stat bonuses and perks to each of your party members. Some of these are game breaking as well and the Ultimate Edition of the game seriously snaps the game in half with not just the bonus Titles, but weapons that make the first quarter or so of the game more of a cakewalk if you don't want to deal with early game enemies. On one hand, I do like playing with broken stuff, but on the other hand, I shouldn't need to pay a grand total of $110 before taxes to get all the DLC. I get nothing physical out of this and not even a soundtrack nor digital artbook. I say if you do want to get the DLC from the Ultimate Edition, wait for a sale. I did that and saved a great load of money. Or just buy the standard edition without any of the DLC. It's your call and GEEZ, I had more to say on this than I thought. MOVING ON.
> Pokemon Legends Arceus - 9/10 - Been a good while since I was hyped for a Pokemon game and PLA definitely was a fun start to 2022. It's an RPG, but hard to tell if it's really action or more turn based. I say it's a hybrid of both. The gameplay of going around and sneaking up on different 'Mons to catch was what hooked me the most over battling as I always felt like I wanted to keep moving. Shiny hunting in this game was pretty fun as well and hearing that shiny jingle play always got me excited. Made it worthwhile to get the shiny charm for this game and go hunt for whatever Pokemon I felt like hunting. Furthermore, the battles aren't too bad, but a bit jank due to how turn orders are handled in this game. The final real boss can certainly throw you for a loop if you came unprepared. Hope ya like deadly pianos! But I did feel like the story was serviceable albeit a bit dumb at times with what characters decide to do and whatnot. The landscapes could've had a bit more added to them, but the art style definitely made things pop to me. It was also a story I found myself somewhat captivated by as well from the various characters that are the ancestors to ones we know from the current timeline of the series. I really do hope the next game is about Unova cause I feel like Kyurem needs to be a bit more explored here. That and the full form of Reshi and Zekrom. Just saying.
> Pokemon Violet - 8/10 - This game was a blast to play thru as well and a refreshing change of pace for the series to let ya do things out of order. The story was surprising to me as well while I pressed on in each path, but the final path certainly got me the most. The music I wanna say is better than PLA to me as it is more catchy and toe tapping to some beats. Gameplay was fun as well with using Miraidon to explore the wide open areas to find and capture Pokemon. This was the second time in a Pokemon game to go shiny hunting and before I even finished the game, I found two shinies throughout the main story! Overall, this is one of Pokemon's best games yet and would be scored higher...if not for the obvious reasons. Technically, the game is a mess, textures and environments don't look too appealing, the main trainer design is odd to me, and the pop-in in some places stick out. Second to last thing wasn't an obvious thing to others, but it is my criticism with the game, but I ain't here to bash on it too hard. It gave me a good experience, but I really hope Game Freak and Pokemon decide to put more time into their next generation when it comes to the technical side of things. That and maaaaaybe not release two games by the same devs in the same year? Getting some deja vu with Sw/Sh all over again.
> Bayonetta 3 - 7/10 - For the 3rd installment to a franchise like this, in some aspects, it's great, but in others? It falls flat on its face. While I did enjoy the gameplay aspect, I did feel like the Demon Slave system does most of the work for DPS output and if you didn't go out of your way to explore the environments, you'll be left with a short experience. However, exploration is rewarding as you find a variety of things from each chapter and even have a chance at unlocking more gear or specific demons and weapons for Bayo to use. Although, despite this game having 3 total playable characters - Bayo, Jeanne, and newcomer Viola - Bayo gets much more of the spotlight in terms of gameplay and story, which is to its own detriment. To say the least, the ending was confusing in tone at some points and seriously undermines Viola as the next generation to the Bayo series. The story was poorly handled in my eyes comparing it to 1 and 2's. Story wise, this is the worst of the 3, but the gameplay could be 2nd or best of the series overall. I did wish this game gave you a better reward for getting all the Bewitchments - this game's version of achievements - as I found out you get N O T H I N G for doing all of them, which is a massive letdown to me. Made the time put into getting them wasted in my eyes. I do hope for the next mainline title in the series, it does a better job at tightening up the story and rewards players better for getting the Bewitchments. Bayo 1 & 2 at least gave you something for those, to my knowledge.
Sonic Frontiers - Played on PS5 - 8/10 - The music really slaps in this game and I felt like the open zones were the best parts of the game. I always like music that goes in on tense moments like Metal Gear Rising does or when the climax hits in other action games. As for the zones, I enjoyed going around them even if they didn't have a ton to do. The pop-in wasn't too annoying to me, but I had to get used to it being there. Most if not all enemy types felt easy-ish to beat even when I cranked the game up to Hard. Except the true final boss - which you must be on Hard mode to fight - felt like a pain and took me an hour and a half to beat. I'm thankful a game one time shows pity on me for sucking at bullet hells and gave me extra hit points after enough deaths. But other than that, the story? Definitely a fun one and I was surprised by how every character acted this time around. The voice direction was solid too as I enjoyed how everyone interacted with Sonic. I felt the most impressed from how Eggman and Amy acted in this game. Eggman for how he handled the predicament he got himself in and Amy for being more than a woman lusting for Sonic. Seriously, I felt a breath of fresh air with this game, but of course, it did have a bit of a nasty issue: The Cyberspace levels. These were pretty short and unremarkable to me. Not to mention after the first island's stages, the rest were pretty easy to get the missions done. Took me very few tries to get everything, but DAMN, I wasn't expecting these to be so easy on me. Now I just hope the updates really add a good layer of extra content to do once they start rolling out this year.
> Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - 10/10 - I can't understate how much fun I had with this game and how engaged I was with the story. Although it can feel complex at first, the story is pretty deep and explores what life means to everyone - especially when about everyone in this game is on a time limit until the end of their 20th year in life, but are born at the age of 10 to fight in an endless war. I felt drawn to about every character introduced and the side content enhanced my enjoyment of everyone. Even important quests meant to improve one of your Heroes - allies that you meet along your journey and act as your 7th party member - or gaining them are voiced to show just how important they are. Not to mention each one belongs to a colony you find throughout the game and the pretty huge landscapes. I explored about every corner of all the maps that had everything to offer - even if some landed me into death traps more times than not. And the combat felt very fun to mess around with! Having everyone being given the ability to use every class in the game allows for tons of strategies in battle. Some safe, some broken, and some that makes you feel unstoppable with the right party set up. The Ouroboros transformations really come in handy for not just dealing a lot of damage, but using them at the right time to either get the most out of said transformation or to survive an attack that could nuke the entire party. Although this game can take you into the hundreds of hours to complete, I felt like my exploration and curiosity was worth it. To see everything this world had to offer and finding the references to the past Xenoblade games in here. I fell in love with the series thanks to Xenoblade 2 and that inspired me to play the remaster on Switch when I heard the announcement years later. I still gotta finish Xenoblade 2 properly, but I should be able to do so eventually in my life. But I did take away one major thing from this game: You shouldn't let everything in life burden you. Instead, take things in stride and walk on. ...I think that's how the saying goes, anyways.
But those were all the major games I fully beat from last year to memory...OH RIGHT.
> Sonic Unleashed - Played on an Xbox Series X - 9/10 - THIS is a childhood classic of mine I completely forgot to talk about. I now the Werehog sections aren't perfect, the music in his battles gets annoying after a while, the repetition you need to do to 100% the game can be irritating to some, QTEs can suck when they're present almost all the time, story is a bit too simple for its own good and somewhat predictable, and Eggmanland is one of the hardest Sonic stages of all times. So...why a 9? Get this: I'm not too phased by all this. I am a guy who played 06 without realizing it was a shit game cause I had no idea what the internet was like growing up and I talked to no one about my gaming life. Unleashed was my introduction to Sonic as a whole and although the years have been rough on the Blue Blur, this game was the spark of my life. It's fun blasting through stages at speeds so high it makes the game hard to handle, but for the most part, I enjoyed my time with it. And the Werehog? I love his stages, actually! It became far more fun to play as him when I found out several things about his stages: You can run by literally most enemy encounters in stages, there are more shortcuts to find and use, combat becomes RIDICULOUSLY easy once you know knockdown and guard piercing hits are busted as hell, and the biggest thing of them all? The night time stage themes are wonderful. Hell, the OST is great as a whole minus the blaring Werehog battle theme. I listen to the Holoska Day and Night village themes every time the winter season hits as those songs perfectly fit in with the time of year. Give them a listen to sometime if you can! But other than the OST, this game was great to play again cause I found out SO MUCH more than when I originally played this game. It is a long Sonic game, but sometimes, you gotta think outside the box and get curious on things. You'll be rewarded more times than not like how I was when researching stuff to 100% this game. Though, don't do the DLC maps. They may be a grand total of $10 for extra stages, but those things are NOT to be fucked with if you're a casual. They WILL kick your ass if you aren't careful.
But that is all the games from last year. I know I exed Kirby & The Forgotten Land from the list, but I technically haven't fully finished that game yet. BUT I do plan to stream the remaining part of the game where I last left off at some point. Other than that, what do you guys think of the game I managed to beat? Let me know any thoughts on any of these games I mentioned and until next time...
> Tales of Arise - Played on PS5 - 7/10 - A pretty fun action RPG with a somewhat decent story. Feels by the numbers in terms of the story department for me and some parts feel anti climatic. That or parts are pretty predictable. The ending of the game started to drag me down cause the second to last major area you visit is almost nothing but cutscenes and dialogue that goes on for more than an hour, but haphazardly tosses in a mini dungeon that doesn't prepare you for a boss fight only to then give you a ton more story stuff and then another boss fight with no dungeon to crawl through against 3 enemies that are higher level than you. It was a gripe I had with the game where I felt like the story was not done well enough in my eyes, but dragged scenes out for too long. THANKFULLY, the gameplay made up for most of this as it was fun comboing enemies with various Arts, Boost attacks, and so on. Though, in some circumstances, you have to watch yourself as certain enemy types like to be BS with their moves or status ailments heavily get in the way of fights. I would say this game is amazing overall if not for one thing: The DLC. Bandai put a crap ton of DLC into this game and sold 3 different versions of it(2 of which being digital only) that contain DLC that does affect the gameplay. Specifically certain costume sets that unlock "Titles", which in this game allow you to unlock stat bonuses and perks to each of your party members. Some of these are game breaking as well and the Ultimate Edition of the game seriously snaps the game in half with not just the bonus Titles, but weapons that make the first quarter or so of the game more of a cakewalk if you don't want to deal with early game enemies. On one hand, I do like playing with broken stuff, but on the other hand, I shouldn't need to pay a grand total of $110 before taxes to get all the DLC. I get nothing physical out of this and not even a soundtrack nor digital artbook. I say if you do want to get the DLC from the Ultimate Edition, wait for a sale. I did that and saved a great load of money. Or just buy the standard edition without any of the DLC. It's your call and GEEZ, I had more to say on this than I thought. MOVING ON.
> Pokemon Legends Arceus - 9/10 - Been a good while since I was hyped for a Pokemon game and PLA definitely was a fun start to 2022. It's an RPG, but hard to tell if it's really action or more turn based. I say it's a hybrid of both. The gameplay of going around and sneaking up on different 'Mons to catch was what hooked me the most over battling as I always felt like I wanted to keep moving. Shiny hunting in this game was pretty fun as well and hearing that shiny jingle play always got me excited. Made it worthwhile to get the shiny charm for this game and go hunt for whatever Pokemon I felt like hunting. Furthermore, the battles aren't too bad, but a bit jank due to how turn orders are handled in this game. The final real boss can certainly throw you for a loop if you came unprepared. Hope ya like deadly pianos! But I did feel like the story was serviceable albeit a bit dumb at times with what characters decide to do and whatnot. The landscapes could've had a bit more added to them, but the art style definitely made things pop to me. It was also a story I found myself somewhat captivated by as well from the various characters that are the ancestors to ones we know from the current timeline of the series. I really do hope the next game is about Unova cause I feel like Kyurem needs to be a bit more explored here. That and the full form of Reshi and Zekrom. Just saying.
> Pokemon Violet - 8/10 - This game was a blast to play thru as well and a refreshing change of pace for the series to let ya do things out of order. The story was surprising to me as well while I pressed on in each path, but the final path certainly got me the most. The music I wanna say is better than PLA to me as it is more catchy and toe tapping to some beats. Gameplay was fun as well with using Miraidon to explore the wide open areas to find and capture Pokemon. This was the second time in a Pokemon game to go shiny hunting and before I even finished the game, I found two shinies throughout the main story! Overall, this is one of Pokemon's best games yet and would be scored higher...if not for the obvious reasons. Technically, the game is a mess, textures and environments don't look too appealing, the main trainer design is odd to me, and the pop-in in some places stick out. Second to last thing wasn't an obvious thing to others, but it is my criticism with the game, but I ain't here to bash on it too hard. It gave me a good experience, but I really hope Game Freak and Pokemon decide to put more time into their next generation when it comes to the technical side of things. That and maaaaaybe not release two games by the same devs in the same year? Getting some deja vu with Sw/Sh all over again.
> Bayonetta 3 - 7/10 - For the 3rd installment to a franchise like this, in some aspects, it's great, but in others? It falls flat on its face. While I did enjoy the gameplay aspect, I did feel like the Demon Slave system does most of the work for DPS output and if you didn't go out of your way to explore the environments, you'll be left with a short experience. However, exploration is rewarding as you find a variety of things from each chapter and even have a chance at unlocking more gear or specific demons and weapons for Bayo to use. Although, despite this game having 3 total playable characters - Bayo, Jeanne, and newcomer Viola - Bayo gets much more of the spotlight in terms of gameplay and story, which is to its own detriment. To say the least, the ending was confusing in tone at some points and seriously undermines Viola as the next generation to the Bayo series. The story was poorly handled in my eyes comparing it to 1 and 2's. Story wise, this is the worst of the 3, but the gameplay could be 2nd or best of the series overall. I did wish this game gave you a better reward for getting all the Bewitchments - this game's version of achievements - as I found out you get N O T H I N G for doing all of them, which is a massive letdown to me. Made the time put into getting them wasted in my eyes. I do hope for the next mainline title in the series, it does a better job at tightening up the story and rewards players better for getting the Bewitchments. Bayo 1 & 2 at least gave you something for those, to my knowledge.
Sonic Frontiers - Played on PS5 - 8/10 - The music really slaps in this game and I felt like the open zones were the best parts of the game. I always like music that goes in on tense moments like Metal Gear Rising does or when the climax hits in other action games. As for the zones, I enjoyed going around them even if they didn't have a ton to do. The pop-in wasn't too annoying to me, but I had to get used to it being there. Most if not all enemy types felt easy-ish to beat even when I cranked the game up to Hard. Except the true final boss - which you must be on Hard mode to fight - felt like a pain and took me an hour and a half to beat. I'm thankful a game one time shows pity on me for sucking at bullet hells and gave me extra hit points after enough deaths. But other than that, the story? Definitely a fun one and I was surprised by how every character acted this time around. The voice direction was solid too as I enjoyed how everyone interacted with Sonic. I felt the most impressed from how Eggman and Amy acted in this game. Eggman for how he handled the predicament he got himself in and Amy for being more than a woman lusting for Sonic. Seriously, I felt a breath of fresh air with this game, but of course, it did have a bit of a nasty issue: The Cyberspace levels. These were pretty short and unremarkable to me. Not to mention after the first island's stages, the rest were pretty easy to get the missions done. Took me very few tries to get everything, but DAMN, I wasn't expecting these to be so easy on me. Now I just hope the updates really add a good layer of extra content to do once they start rolling out this year.
> Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - 10/10 - I can't understate how much fun I had with this game and how engaged I was with the story. Although it can feel complex at first, the story is pretty deep and explores what life means to everyone - especially when about everyone in this game is on a time limit until the end of their 20th year in life, but are born at the age of 10 to fight in an endless war. I felt drawn to about every character introduced and the side content enhanced my enjoyment of everyone. Even important quests meant to improve one of your Heroes - allies that you meet along your journey and act as your 7th party member - or gaining them are voiced to show just how important they are. Not to mention each one belongs to a colony you find throughout the game and the pretty huge landscapes. I explored about every corner of all the maps that had everything to offer - even if some landed me into death traps more times than not. And the combat felt very fun to mess around with! Having everyone being given the ability to use every class in the game allows for tons of strategies in battle. Some safe, some broken, and some that makes you feel unstoppable with the right party set up. The Ouroboros transformations really come in handy for not just dealing a lot of damage, but using them at the right time to either get the most out of said transformation or to survive an attack that could nuke the entire party. Although this game can take you into the hundreds of hours to complete, I felt like my exploration and curiosity was worth it. To see everything this world had to offer and finding the references to the past Xenoblade games in here. I fell in love with the series thanks to Xenoblade 2 and that inspired me to play the remaster on Switch when I heard the announcement years later. I still gotta finish Xenoblade 2 properly, but I should be able to do so eventually in my life. But I did take away one major thing from this game: You shouldn't let everything in life burden you. Instead, take things in stride and walk on. ...I think that's how the saying goes, anyways.
But those were all the major games I fully beat from last year to memory...OH RIGHT.
> Sonic Unleashed - Played on an Xbox Series X - 9/10 - THIS is a childhood classic of mine I completely forgot to talk about. I now the Werehog sections aren't perfect, the music in his battles gets annoying after a while, the repetition you need to do to 100% the game can be irritating to some, QTEs can suck when they're present almost all the time, story is a bit too simple for its own good and somewhat predictable, and Eggmanland is one of the hardest Sonic stages of all times. So...why a 9? Get this: I'm not too phased by all this. I am a guy who played 06 without realizing it was a shit game cause I had no idea what the internet was like growing up and I talked to no one about my gaming life. Unleashed was my introduction to Sonic as a whole and although the years have been rough on the Blue Blur, this game was the spark of my life. It's fun blasting through stages at speeds so high it makes the game hard to handle, but for the most part, I enjoyed my time with it. And the Werehog? I love his stages, actually! It became far more fun to play as him when I found out several things about his stages: You can run by literally most enemy encounters in stages, there are more shortcuts to find and use, combat becomes RIDICULOUSLY easy once you know knockdown and guard piercing hits are busted as hell, and the biggest thing of them all? The night time stage themes are wonderful. Hell, the OST is great as a whole minus the blaring Werehog battle theme. I listen to the Holoska Day and Night village themes every time the winter season hits as those songs perfectly fit in with the time of year. Give them a listen to sometime if you can! But other than the OST, this game was great to play again cause I found out SO MUCH more than when I originally played this game. It is a long Sonic game, but sometimes, you gotta think outside the box and get curious on things. You'll be rewarded more times than not like how I was when researching stuff to 100% this game. Though, don't do the DLC maps. They may be a grand total of $10 for extra stages, but those things are NOT to be fucked with if you're a casual. They WILL kick your ass if you aren't careful.
But that is all the games from last year. I know I exed Kirby & The Forgotten Land from the list, but I technically haven't fully finished that game yet. BUT I do plan to stream the remaining part of the game where I last left off at some point. Other than that, what do you guys think of the game I managed to beat? Let me know any thoughts on any of these games I mentioned and until next time...
