Engadget's Favorite Games of 2022

What a year for gaming! While 2022 may not have had as many AAA releases as previous years, those that weren't delayed in 2023 were stellar, and the indie development scene more than made up for the lack of big-ticket titles. budget. Some of our favorite releases this year have come from small, ambitious teams coming up with new ideas. As tradition dictates, the Engadget team has come together to extol the virtues of our favorite outings from the past 12 months.

Bayonetta 3 is a delightful amplification of the series' most ridiculous themes. It indulges in absurdity without disrupting the fast-paced combat or Bayonetta's unparalleled sense of fashion and wit. Bayonetta 3 is joyful, mechanically rich and action-packed, plus it allows players to transform into a literal train from hell in order to take down massive beasts bent on destroying the multiverse. Bayonetta elegantly dances through battles, dropping one-liners and shooting enemies with her pistol shoes in an instant, and transforming into a giant spider creature the next.

The Bayonetta series keeps getting weirder, but that doesn't mean it loses its sense of satisfying gameplay along the way. In the third installment of the franchise, Bayonetta is powerful, confident, and fun-loving; she's a drag queen in a universe loosely held together by sorcery, and the chaos of that combination is truly magical. – Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter

Of course you've played Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Hades and The Binding of Isaac – but what if you could play them all at once, in one adorable demonic pack? It's Worship of the Lamb, baby.

Cult of the Lamb is part social and farming simulator, part dungeon crawling roguelike, and part fantasy game. After being sacrificed and resurrected, a tall, dark deity asks you to create your own cult, manage worship services, farming, cooking, weddings, deaths, and more. You must also venture into the desert to fight demons and recruit more followers. Keep in mind you're a lamb, which makes this all exceptionally cute.

Cult of the Lamb is a brilliant balance between satanic dungeon crawling and cult sim, offering more action than Animal Crossing and farming mechanics more casual than Hades. Cult of the Lamb is incredibly satisfying, and it's rich in gameplay, story, and environments. Above all, it's cute as hell. – J.C.

There would never have been a version of this article that didn't include Elden Ring, FromSoftware's big push into open-world inspired sword and sorcery Berserk .< /p>

Yes, there's something to be said for previous, more linear Souls games, forcing players down a path of increasing gloom and difficulty (discover the signature squealing laughter of an NPC who seems to know precisely how fucked up you are), how the inevitability of this experience allowed the developers to create a bespoke gameplay loop of trepidation, frustration, discovery, and the eventual reward of mastery. I love this stuff! But Elden Ring tried something new, effectively playing a shell game with these four player states, and making discovery the new initial draw.

My big "ah!" there were times in Dark Souls 3 or Bloodborne where I had finally spotted a shortcut or discovered a boss's hidden weakness. Elden Ring picked that up. But what really got the good brain chemicals flowing was just… wandering. Reach the top of a lava-covered mesa. Or finding a way to a seemingly inaccessible islet. The grandeur of the settings and knowledge of FromSoft wouldn't make me work for a slice of geography devoid of treasures to loot and dudes to hack, it was worth it.

Some fans love Sekiro's limited palate which basically tells players, "git gud or stop". Call me a bad player (accurate) but I prefer the maximalism and flexibility that Elden Ring brought to the table. Want to grind until every boss is trivial? How about a run of all memories with no hits? Either, and everything in between, is valid. Enabling challenge and accessibility makes Elden Ring a beautifully executed twist on the formula FromSoft has been perfecting for nearly 30 years. – Avery Menegus, News Editor

Sometimes games you've been really looking forward to playing sneak past you at launch. That's definitely true for Ghostwire: Tokyo, a game from Tango Gameworks, which also created the underrated horror game The Evil Within and its sequel. .

Ghost Movie: Tokyo...