Our Games of the Year 2022 - Guilty Pleasures

As a team, we felt like 2022 was loaded with great games. There were of course plenty of big titles that dropped that garnered the majority of the 'Best Game' conversations; but what about those titles that simply tickled our fancies? Which games did we find ourselves coming back to not because they were necessarily the best-made AAA titles, or had the most outstanding visuals or gobs of content but because... we simply enjoyed them? Here's what the team weighed in with.

Susan - Recipe for Disaster

Sometimes a game becomes a guilty pleasure for reasons that we cannot explain. This year, that game is Recipe for Disaster which is a restaurant simulation game. You get to design a restaurant, craft a menu, and hire staff to run the place. Originally, I played the game in Early Access where it had some strange quirks that eventually were improved upon for the full release. I found myself playing in the restaurant simulator more and more. In fact, I almost had a massive disaster because the kitchen caught on fire, the bathroom toilets clogged, and my staff freaked out. To save the situation, I gave them all raises and closed the restaurant early once I dealt with the issues. Miraculously, I saved the whole playthrough by reacting that quickly. Needless to say, it has become one of my guilty pleasures for 2022.

Pierre-Yves - Dying Light 2 Stay Human

On a whim, Izzy and I played Dying Light together. Not knowing if it would be either of our thing, it was all we did for a few weeks straight if I wasn't reviewing anything else. The best part? We played Dying Light just in time for Dying Light 2.

Once again diving into this zombie apocalypse based world, there were now new twists, turns and tools to help you survive. It took a lot to put this down for other titles that I needed to cover. Unlike Elden Ring that I was able to put away after the platinum, with new content continuing to be released, there's nothing stopping Dying Light 2 from continuing to be a Guilty Pleasure to sit down to.

Richard - 7 Pirates H

Shut up, it's fun. Yeah, the "physics" may be...unique and the stages a little small, but it was surprisingly fun and the soundtrack was good...Don't judge me.

Nick - Capcom Fighting Collection

This is a spot that seems to usually go to the NBA 2K series, but I wanted to go in a different direction this year. And while NBA 2K23 is probably still the game I’ve put the most hours into since it released, Capcom Fighting Collection was yet another trip down memory lane for me that I found myself coming back to time and again. Some of these titles were new to me, but most of them were favorites from years (decades) past. Maybe it’s the holidays, but my sentimentality for games of old definitely hit different this year for me.

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Games of the Year 2021 - Guilty Pleasure

Moving on from our disappointments for 2021 we now move into a category that is always an interesting one as while we do tend to cover a lot, sometimes there are titles that just make us keep wanting to go back for more. Welcome to our guilty pleasure category for the year!

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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Pierre-Yves: Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town

I mean come on, do I even have to say why for this one? The latest entry was not only a pleasure, and a guilty pleasure at that, to sit down to in order to cover but it was just an overall pleasure between the smooth farming simulation and the adorable graphics as you got to raise your moomoos. Yes. Moomoos.

Check out our full review of Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town by developer Marvelous Interactive Inc. and publishers XSEED Games, Marvelous for the Nintendo Switch.

Pierre-Yves (Bonus): Resident Evil Village

Ok I realize that this is cheating a bit but I did put everything together so that's my excuse to add another guilty pleasure as looking at my list I was thinking to myself, something's missing. It's not that my entire list is just about Indie based titles for this year, but there was one title that just blew me away in a fun and guilty fashion. That title would be the latest in the Resident Evil series that I was ecstatic to cover even if it meant plowing through Resident Evil 7: Biohazard which scared the living hell out of me.

So with that, I'm also adding in the wicked well paced and designed Resident Evil Village as my second guilty pleasure which once again stars Ethan Winters as he hunts down those that supernaturally split his daughter into multiple pieces. Also staring long time veteran Chris Redfield, things go everywhere from the depths of a a mad genius' lair to the soaring heights of the internet's favorite super tall lady that will shred you in two if she catches up to you.

Check out our full review of Resident Evil Village by developer and publisher Capcom for the Sony PlayStation 5.

Richard: Neptunia Virtual Stars

It's a Neptunia game featuring some of my favorite VTubers. Yes, I'm a kaigainikki. Yes, I support my Hololive and Indie VTuber scene. Shut up, go away. I mean, it also helps that the gameplay was a pretty fun 3rd person shooter style with some cool mechanics, and was pretty much ragging on egotistical social media users. Actually though, while not the best in gameplay or presentation, it was legitimately really fun, and it was great seeing some of my favorite VTubers getting more traction here in the West.

Check out our full review of Neptunia Virtual Stars by developer Compile Heart and publisher Idea Factory International Inc. for the Sony PlayStation 4.

Susan N.: Timberborn

I’m all for colony management simulators, especially against games like Banished (a challenging game even for the seasoned veteran in the genre). Add Canada’s national animals to the mix, and I’m immediately sold on it. After watching some of the gameplay of a prominent YouTuber, I decided I wanted a bite at the game. Once I streamed the game a few times, I found that Timberborn is a game I enjoy playing both on stream and off. I have a save for both instances, yet somehow I managed to survive through the second drought - but only barely! I had two beavers left and needed to recolonize. It was a long process, but somehow I managed to save my colony of beavers. Now, if that doesn’t tell you how difficult Timberborn can be when players fail spectacularly, I don’t know what does. Needless to say, I really enjoy this game way more than other management sim games - even the coveted Cities: Skylines. Am I guilty for enjoying chomping down trees without a care in the world? Absolutely. It’s something I can sink my teeth into!

Nick: NBA 2K22

I almost could have put Genshin Impact in here as well. Sure, it released last year, but I didn’t get my review for it written until this year ( https://chalgyr.com/2021/03/review-ps4-genshinimpact.html ), and it’s a large, ‘living game’ that is still seeing major content updates and probably will for years. That being said, NBA 2K22 gets the slight nod from me this year, as it and Genshin are both games I log into pretty much daily. I have ground out all but a few of the trophies in NBA 2K22, still hop online to compete against others (or with online friends) and alternate between my 3-and-D point guard and athletic, bruising center just depending on my mood that day. NBA 2K still has plenty of room to improve on the new console generation, but despite its flaws – I keep coming back for more.

Check out our full review of NBA 2K22 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K for the Sony PlayStation 5.

Robert: Star Citizen

Few games can sell a dream and really nail it- some, like No Man’s Sky can start way too big for it’s britches, only to then grow into a fine game, to others like The Ascent or Tales of Arise just hit the ground running and nail it out of the park from the get-go.

My 2021 Guilty Pleasure is something of a juggernaut in the independent game development world, with upwards of 500 employees and a massive project underway, Cloud Imperium Games’ Star Citizen managed to do both- be too big for its britches while nailing it right out of the park. Few games can give the sense of scale and awe that Star Citizen brings to the forefront- stunning visuals, interesting locations, a supportive and impassioned community, and on top of it all … pure, unadulterated joy.

From the moment you first step out of your hab (your apartment/bedroom), Star Citizen is shown in excruciating detail- from working lighting modes for your hab to beautiful vistas overlooking the frost-covered domes of New Babbage on Microtech, to a cave system deep within Daymar’s crust, Star Citizen is brimming with detail, and in turn, with life. I have spent more time (and money) on Star Citizen than I have in many, many years- the closest likely being World of Warcraft back from about 2004 to 2007, and I still have not experienced all that this supposed “tech demo” has to offer.

My advice? Take a minute to hop into the game during one of its regular Free Fly events (where you don’t even have to pay for the game in order to experience 100% of what’s currently offered), or if you’re an old backer that’s not been around in a while? Spend a couple hours one night and dig into the Verse- it’s surprisingly vibrant, rich in character, and an absolute bounty in detail.

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