Games of the Year 2022: God of War Ragnarök

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It's interesting when I can see that a game has a lot going for it but fails to connect with me personally.  God of War Ragnarök is extremely polished and has incredible production values.  I can absolutely see why so many people love it so much.

But, for me, the game failed to click.

The parts I enjoyed were the story and performances.  Unfortunately, the core gameplay mechanics weren't doing it for me.  The traversal puzzles wore out their welcome almost immediately.  They weren't ever hard, they were just annoying.  And the combat left a lot to be desired.  It felt very hack and slash.  I'm wondering if Elden Ring spoiled me and now I just expect more from my action combat systems.

There's a ton written about God of War Ragnarok, so I'm not going to go deep here.  You can find tons of reviews of this game around the internet.

In my personal Games of the Year list, this one actually lands fairly low down in the bottom fourth of my list:

  1. Elden Ring
  2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
  3. FFXIV Endwalker
  4. Citizen Sleeper
  5. Marvel Snap
  6. The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
  7. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  8. Horizon Forbidden West
  9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
  10. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
  11. Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition
  12. Cult of the Lamb
  13. Neon White
  14. Halo Infinite
  15. Vampire Survivors
  16. Gotham Knights
  17. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
  18. Playdate Season 1
  19. Immortality
  20. Cyberpunk 2077
  21. Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels DLC
  22. Triangle Strategy
  23. Mario Strikers: Battle League
  24. Multiversus Pre-Season
  25. Stray
  26. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
  27. Nobody Saves the World
  28. Unpacking
  29. God of War Ragnarök
  30. Kaichu
  31. Tinykin
  32. Splatoon 3
  33. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
  34. Shovel Knight Dig
  35. Total War: Warhammer 3
  36. Tunic
That was one of the last few curveballs that may have thrown off the top of my list.  At this point, the top 10 entries are looking fairly solid.  The only game I'm currently playing that may bump them around is Marvel's Midnight Suns, but I honestly might not play enough of it by the end of the year to add it to this list.  That may qualify for my next year's list instead simply due to it's release date and how much of it I still want to play.

This is essentially a near-final list.  We're almost to the end of the year!

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