2022 Wrap-up January

In lieu of doing something maybe more productive (haha), I'm going to spend each day out of January trying 31 different games from 2022 (to varying degrees of first impressions length) that I've yet had the opportunity to sample.

1 - Really good swell vibes. Really skater adventure time radness that feels good, and just nice and relaxing to get lost in. Doesn't have a lot of longterm stuff like TH Pro Skater in terms of what you can do (at least as far as I got) but I enjoy it! Def recommend
2 - Holy shit!!! Platinum is Back!! Genuinely restored my faith in the developer team with how wonderfully crafted this entire mechanical shmup is. The aesthetic is total 'mush' to me but dramatic mode lets me ham it up. ABSOLUTELY recommend. One of the best of this year for sure
3 - Very lovely cute vibes. There's tons of these zelda like games but I really appreciate this aesthetic moody fusion. Reminds me of Link's Awakening a lot in a good way. Kind of title that feels very "discovering games for the first time", in the sense that you popped the game into a console you just got, and just a whole new world opens in front of you. So mystifying and a little awe-striking. Maybe a little overexaggerating of what this is (simple explory and vibey fun) but idk it really got to me! Good stuff, def recommend.
4 - Took my breath away. Such painful melancholy here, enrapturing this hollow and crumbling vision of life. People here are trying within this failed system, clinging to what, who knows, faith? maybe. So much discordant yet intensely structured wording to look at livelihood left under the shadow of conspiracy and factorial reign. Dystopic as much as it is a ride with an end that changes nothing.

Best of all of these by a significant margin so far.
5 - pretty good! As roguelites stand I'm definitely a fan of this sort of brutal shump scroller. I think shmup roguelites in general are kind of cool in the sense that you're ultimately being onboarded for a literal 1cc. But like, revenge enemies in second area, revenge bullets, different kind of environmental hazards that require great micropositioning! Only real issue is that it's buggy with controller AND keyboard support if you have both in. This only effects people like me but omg so many errors i hit >.> Def recommend
6 - A little disclaimer: I started playing this with co-op AND a really good high, so I might've come in with the perfect mood possible. And oh my gosh did playing this feel GOOD. Touching down on Mesagoza lifted my spirits so much, just complete pokemon magic. They really took advantage of the scale to sell the region, I can honestly forgive the performance for it! Wish this wasn't limited by Switch hardware ;w; But really it was an awe-struck blast, was so fun to go picnicing out and vibe in the university! One of the best experiences I've had with the series. I love Pokemon!!!
8 - Extremely cool, feels good, albeit a bit held back in a sense. The aesthetic of it is the realest component and it kind of overwhelms me with the extent of options (that feel all important, which is so good, but also gosh my head). The rest, hmm, not quite flowing through the head well. Lot of that might be early game, the strongest thing i felt was the literal body dysmorphia in the first 20 minutes and everything isn't really getting close to that high so far. Systemics of it all feel muted, if that makes sense, partly intentional but also partly hm, missing some secret sauce to make the things real special. Perhaps part of that's the general moment to moment writing with characters, which in all honesty, feels so lacking in voice that I'm very disappointed. Still def recommend tho

3 Comments


1 year ago

great idea
may i suggest Ctrl alt ego and Commonplace?
Commonplace looks cool sure!!! Ctrl alt ego idk if I can fit but I'll consider ^^

1 year ago

based commonplace enjoyers


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