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What games did you miss in 2022?

16K View2023-01-01
2023 is here, but we’ve still got a couple of weeks before we start getting many big game releases in the new year. That means this is prime time to look back and figure out what awesome gaming experiences you missed out on last year.
I’ve scoured various game of the year lists, and while there’s lots I didn’t find time for in 2022 that I wish I had, these are the ten games I’m most sad that I missed and most excited to find time for between all the new stuff in the year ahead.
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I loved Horizon Zero Dawn when it came out back in 2017—so much so that I bought this sequel the day it released. That’s right, I have a PlayStation 5 copy of Horizon Forbidden West sitting right next to my console...and I haven’t put it in and played it once yet. Shameful, I know. I blame Elden Ring, which came out just a week later and ended up consuming all of my gaming time for months.
Anyway, I absolutely still intend to play Forbidden West and can’t wait to find out what happens during the further adventures of Aloy and the robot dinosaurs that she hunts.
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Who doesn’t love a good Kirby game?! From everything I’ve heard, the latest from Nintendo’s adorable pink guy is one of his best, with brilliant 3D platforming level design and a ton of content. This will be my 2023 stand-in if Nintendo doesn’t finally announce a Super Mario Odyssey sequel.
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The 16-bit era was when I fell in love with Japanese role-playing games generally and the output of publisher Square specifically. But one SNES RPG I never got to experience was Live a Live, due to the fact that, well, it was never officially translated into English. Until 2022!
This fantastic-sounding, anthology-style RPG remake makes use of Square’s beautiful HD-2D style, as seen in the Octopath Traveler games. It’s also supposedly shorter than most JRPGs, coming in at a reported twenty to thirty hours. I have to find time for it soon!
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Marvel’s Midnight Suns (NS, PC, PS4, PS5, XB1, XBS/X)
I’m a superhero comics and card game dork who also loved Firaxis’s excellent XCOM games, so it didn’t take a lot to sell me on Midnight Suns. The only reason I haven’t jumped in yet is because it just came out this month, and I had a ton of end-of-the-year gaming to take care of right here on TapTap. I’ll be picking this up as soon as possible.
Mothmen 1966 (NS, PC, PS4, XB1, XBS/X)
This is probably the most obscure entry on this list, but boy, it REALLY looks like my kind of game. Described as a “pixel pulp” visual novel, this game uses Apple II-style visuals alongside a creepy cryptid story reminiscent of The X-Files. It’s one of those rare cases where just watching the trailer is enough to convince me that I’m going to dig this.
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Norco (PC, PS4, PS5, XB1, XBS/X)
2022 was full of great adventure game releases, and from all the glowing reviews I’ve read, Norco seems to have been one of the best. Set in a familiar yet eerily different take on Louisiana, it boasts stunning art and a story that has received comparisons to 2019’s brilliant Disco Elysium. Norco seems like the ideal way to spend a lazy winter weekend.
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Return to Monkey Island (NS, PC, PS5, XBS/X)
Speaking of great adventure game releases, Return to Monkey Island saw series creator and video game industry legend Ron Gilbert return to his beloved series for the first time since the early ’90s. And according to a great write-up from my colleague @JB, that return was a rousing success, even if the new art style raise some eyebrows. I’m obviously overdue for another adventure with the pirate hero Guybrush Threepwood.
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Rogue Legacy 2 (NS, PC, XB1, XBS/X)
As a huge fan of roguelites, the original Rogue Legacy ate up dozens of hours when it launched in 2013. Somehow the sequel completely fell off my radar, and by the time I realized it was available, it had actually already been out for months. Oops! It sounds like developer Cellar Door Games did a fantastic job building on the DNA of the first game, so I can’t wait to try out this follow-up. I’m just a teensy bit scared of how much time I’m going to spend with it.
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Stray (PC, PS4, PS5)
It’s embarrassing that I missed this one, because I’m a huge cat guy. I’m fostering my third cat right now, and I’ve been sold on Stray since the very first trailer I saw. I even purchased PlayStation Plus Premium specifically because I knew Stray was included as part of it! If only the cute furry friend from Stray would bug me like my IRL cat, I’d have no choice but to play.
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I have a good excuse for being late to the party on this one! I absolutely fell in love with the first Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii all the way back in 2010, but when Xenoblade Chronicles 2 hit in 2017, I just didn’t have the time or energy to engage with such a massive, lengthy JRPG. I played about five hours of it and enjoyed that time, but put it down and never went back.
Now of course, I could just skip to Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The stories in this series are lightly connected, but not to the point where I wouldn’t be able to understand what’s happening in the third game without having finished the second. The only problem is...I’m an obsessive completionist and can’t bring myself to skip entries in franchises like that. It’s a huge character flaw I know!
So now I not only need to find time for one absurdly long RPG in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but also time for the second game and its stand-alone DLC as well. Sigh. This one might have to wait until 2024...
💬 Well, that’s my list! Now I want to hear from you. What games did you miss in 2022 that you want to play as soon as you possible can? Leave a comment below!
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Comments
Terra
Terra
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1

most of the major releases of 2022 I missed lol. I only got forgotten land & splatoon 3

2023-01-04

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Kef
Kef Author
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1

Those are good gets though!

2023-01-04

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Tfs Destroy
Tfs Destroy
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4

I think project blood strike because it was the closest to warzone mobile

2023-01-03

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lyndonguitar
lyndonguitar
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Ragnarok and Forbidden West for sure.

2023-01-04

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alvin conde
alvin conde
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art of war 3 and ml

2023-01-03

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