Top 5 Games You Shouldn’t Overlook In 2022

With the new year well underway and the relatively dead period for video game releases nearly over, it’s time to look ahead to all the notable titles that will grace our consoles and PCs in 2022. In February alone, we get Dying Light 2, Sifu, OlliOlli World, King of Fighters XV, Horizon Forbidden West, and Total War: Warhammer 3. Oh, and a little-known game that I think is called… El Den Ring? The title must be Spanish, which makes sense since I heard it’s a collaboration between Guillermo del Toro and Hideo Kojima, or something like that. I think it means “That Guy with the Ring” but I can’t say for certain since my Spanish is barely good enough to order off the dollar menu at Taco Bell.

Anyway, as obscure as that last game may be – it looks cool and all but I haven’t seen hardly anything on the internet about it – there are plenty of other obscure games that may not find a super wide audience amidst the releases of Gran Turismo 7, Forspoken, Saints Row, Starfield, God of War Ragnarok, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Splatoon 3, and the Breath of the Wild sequel whose name alone is apparently too much of a spoiler for us to know it yet. (Side note: Nintendo, if the title alone gives away too much, have you considered that it’s maybe a bad title? You know people will still buy it even if it isn’t called “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2: The One Where Ganondorf and Zelda Are Link’s Mom and Dad” right? Also, that’s both a terrible title and a terrible idea. Please don’t actually do that.) And with so many good games (hopefully) releasing this year, it is worth taking stock of the more promising games that might otherwise fall through the cracks. In fact, there are so many this year that in addition to the top 5 and the honorable mentions below, I’m going to give you four bonus games right now to keep your eye on: roguelike golf puzzler Cursed to Golf, super chill management sim Bear and Breakfast, hippie environmental strategy game Terra Nil, and interactive French watercolor painting adventure Dordogne.

Oh, and just a reminder before we get on to the honorable mentions, I am sticking to new games on this list, so no remasters, remakes, re-releases, or other words with the prefix re- attached to them. Or DLC for previously released games, for that matter. That doesn’t mean those games aren’t worth buying or playing, but I want to focus on new experiences we should look forward to in this new year rather than opportunities to relive older experiences.

Honorable Mentions

All the Games I’ve Previously Written About

Hey, did you know that I did a list just like this at the beginning of 2021? I did! And did you know that not all of those games were actually released in 2021? They weren’t! But pretty much all of the games that didn’t release last year still look good, so it’s worth going back to look at the ones that you should continue looking forward to even if I’m going to pick a bunch of new games to talk about on this list rather than lazily recycling the ones from that old article and sprinkling in a few new ones to fill out the list. Besides, you can’t improve on perfection, and I’m pretty sure we can all agree that I nailed it on that first list. Oh, and I also wrote about games that were previewed at E3 2021, many of which are still upcoming and some of which might actually come out this year. Check that one out too.

Tunic

Yes, I just said I wouldn’t rehash anything I’ve previously written about, yet eagle-eyed readers will note that I referenced this game on my list of games you shouldn’t overlook from last year’s E3, but three things about that: 1, I only mentioned it when I was talking about Tails of Iron; 2, it’s only an honorable mention on this year’s list; and 3, it’s my freaking list, Jim, I don’t need your constant criticism, just let me do what I want! Ahem. Anyway, Tunic is basically a lost Legend of Zelda game with a fox in the role of Link made by indie developer Andrew Shouldice and published by Finji. It looks super fun but also low-key challenging. And hey, after being announced in 2015 and originally scheduled for release in 2018, it’s finally got not only a release window but an actual release date of March 16th. That alone should be cause for excitement.

Stray

I’m too much of a dog person to put a cat game on the list proper, but even I have to admit this game from developer Blue12 looks incredibly charming while also sinister and dystopian at the same time. That’s a neat trick to pull off, as the playable cat and its little robot buddy look downright adorable compared to the bleak alleys and its cyberpunk-esque inhabitants that look to make up much of the game’s world. Plus, the developers have promised to provide a wide array of cat behaviors, both the useful slinky stealth skills and the annoyingly inscrutable quirks that make cat “ownership” such a perplexing experience. So I’m going to assume that this game is a sort of gritty near-future spiritual sequel to Untitled Goose Game, and I look forward to meowling incessantly at these faceless robo-humans and stealing their various gardening implements or whatever the equivalent is in this techno-futuristic urban hellscape.

Shredders

It’s been a rough decade for snowboarding fans since the SSX franchise reboot was released to relative critical and commercial success. Sure, there was Steep in 2016 that was moderately successful at scratching that itch for extreme winter sports fans, but for many the thrill soon wore off as the always-online open world and somewhat fiddly control scheme failed to offer sufficient inducement to keep coming back no matter how visually impressive the game was. Plus, that game’s lack of focus on pure snowboarding, muddying the waters with wingsuit flying and paragliding, left fans wanting more, and Shredders looks to pick up the ball that game dropped. With the tagline “for riders, by riders” developers Foam Punch promise to deliver the kind of devoted snowboarding experience fans of the classic 1080, SSX, and Shaun White games should be very excited for. Originally scheduled for release in December 2021 and slated for Xbox Game Pass, we hope to hear more in the near future about this game’s development and when we might get our hands on it later this year.

Now to the top 5!

5. Moss Book II

There may well be more obscure games out there – developer Polyarc’s 2018 original Moss was met with positive reviews, was nominated for several end-of-year awards, and seemingly sold decently well, but the fact that its sequel is also a VR exclusive means that if you don’t already own a VR headset for your PlayStation or PC, this one may fly completely under your radar. That is a real shame, because although I seriously question whether this game couldn’t be reworked for a standard controller/mouse and keyboard control scheme, this game should be pretty much must-play for anyone with access to VR – it looks fantastic and promises to be a strong single-player fantasy game on a manageable scale for anyone who isn’t necessarily looking for the next Dragon Age or Elder Scrolls. One of the interesting features from the original that appears to be carried over to the new game is that you don’t actually control the mouse character Quill – instead, the player is a disembodied reader of the storybook in which Moss‘ adventures are recorded, and it is your job to guide her through the dangers of this world by solving puzzles and opening new routes for her to traverse the fantastical landscape. The visual style of the game and unique approach to gameplay would make it an easy recommendation if it weren’t VR exclusive, but it’s also hard to imagine anybody running out to buy a PSVR headset just to play this game. So it’s likely to be overlooked not just because of a lack of awareness that the game is set for release sometime this spring, but also because only a fraction of the people who are aware of it will actually be able to play it.

4. Somerville

If you ever played Limbo or Inside, Somerville probably looks kind of familiar to you. And that’s no surprise – Jumpship was co-founded by one of the co-founders of Playdead, the developer behind those earlier games. If you haven’t played either of those games, first of all, just do it already. They’re hauntingly beautiful, horrifically messed up experiences that linger in the mind of anyone who’s played them, and they are among the best indie games out there if you like atmosphere and mystery with minimalistic storytelling. Somerville looks to be a fairly similar experience – the trailers don’t give away all that much except some sort of cataclysmic event has occurred and it is your job as the player to guide a family of survivors to safety. There is a sense of dread that permeates the action, which is absolutely in keeping with the style of indie horror platformer that this game seems to be drawing inspiration from, and the family has a dog so you know it’s going to be heckin’ stressful trying to keep that good pupper safe from whatever alien threat is bearing down on you throughout the game. Somerville is scheduled for release sometime this year exclusively on Xbox consoles and PC.

3. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

I love a good nonsense video game title, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to get Bomb Rush Cyberfunk on this list. Thankfully, it also looks like Team Reptile will back up their gonzo title with some solid gameplay. The comparisons to Dreamcast-era games are obvious and not accidental – the gameplay and graphics of the new extreme sports-focused Cyberfunk are clearly inspired by the urban parkour/rollerblading classic Jet Set Radio, and composer Hideki Naganuma, who provided the soundtrack for the Jet Set franchise, will supply new music with a similar vibe. In addition to the familiar inline skating as a means of traversing the cel-shaded city, you will also have the option of using a skateboard or BMX bike to get around, giving the player a variety of options to land trick combos and reach otherwise inaccessible areas to find secrets and locations to tag with graffiti to claim territory for your crew. The game is slated for PC and Nintendo Switch, and the devs state they are “going in hard” to have the game ready for release in 2022. For anyone with nostalgia for the Dreamcast and/or ESPN’s X Games, however long the wait may be will hopefully be worth it when this slice of Y2K-era comfort gaming is available for purchase.

2. Venba

Narrative games don’t often have cooking mechanics built in, and cooking games don’t often have an overt narrative, so Venba is a bit of an unusual combination right out of the gate, but it’s that very uniqueness that makes it look so promising. Visai Games presents players with a part-empty recipe book and encourages players to discover more about the game’s cast of characters while filling in the missing ingredients and cooking some delicious-looking Indian food. The game’s art style is the right mix of cartoony and realistic – the human characters have a sort of big-eyed, brightly-colored papercraft feel to them, but the dishes themselves look good enough to make your mouth water. The narrative promises to focus on the tension between immigrant parents trying to assimilate to a new culture and their desire to pass on their cultural heritage to their child who will be growing up with no direct knowledge of where they came from. While an Indian-Canadian indie cooking game set in the 1980s isn’t likely to do Call of Duty numbers in terms of sales, it should definitely get more attention given the quality of its premise and design. If the inclusivity and diversity don’t grab you, maybe the promise of learning how to make some tasty new dishes will.

1. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals

Real talk: the original Oxenfree is one of my absolute favorite games of the last few years, so of course I’m unreasonably excited for the sequel to be released finally this year. And yeah, if you missed the original, you should definitely go back and check it out before Lost Signals releases…sometime this year, probably. But even if you haven’t played the first game, the new entry in the franchise should be accessible as developer Night School Studios has announced it is set in the same universe but brings an entirely new cast of characters. There is still plenty of supernatural mystery involved, and the dialogue system that distinguished the original appears to be intact, giving you the option to time your responses to either chime in at just the right point or cut off another character mid-sentence. The retro vibes and distinctive art style also return, and the promise of deepening the series’ lore should be plenty of enticement to both new and old players. Seriously, the first game had aliens (probably?), temporal anomalies, phantom radio stations, and all sorts of other craziness, so widening the scope of that story and potentially adding to its scale is bound to take the series to heights of crazy hitherto untold. You can tell it’s serious because I just used the word hitherto. That’s a serious word for a seriously wild game that looks seriously awesome. If you’re bound and determined to overlook every other game on this list (which you shouldn’t be but hey, it’s your life), at least make sure not to miss Oxenfree II.

So those are the games that are (probably) coming out this year that might fly under your radar but shouldn’t. Thank you for not overlooking this list and taking time out of your gaming schedule during the busy month of February. Make sure to give us a follow on Twitter @FilmIronic and check out the rest of our pop culture content right here on FilmIronic.com – if you want more gaming goodness, check out our list of the most overlooked games from last year, or why not check out the latest from the world of movies or TV? Game on, gamers – here’s to a great 2022!