Discover the definitive gaming experiences of 2022 with expert analysis, strategic insights, and practical playing recommendations
Introduction: A Landmark Year in Gaming
2022 represented a watershed moment for interactive entertainment, delivering an extraordinary range of gaming experiences that captivated players worldwide. Our team has carefully evaluated these titles to bring you the definitive ranking of the year’s most impactful releases.
As we approach the conclusion of an exceptional gaming year, it’s crucial to reflect on the titles that defined this period. While 2023 promises exciting new releases including Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Dead Island 2, the current holiday season presents the perfect opportunity to experience the standout games you might have overlooked during the year.
This remarkable year showcased gaming’s incredible diversity—from epic mythological sagas to military shooters, from revolutionary open-world adventures to intimate narrative experiences. The industry demonstrated its capacity to deliver both blockbuster spectacles and innovative indie creations that pushed creative boundaries.
Our comprehensive evaluation process involved multiple gaming specialists analyzing each title across gameplay mechanics, narrative depth, technical achievement, and overall player experience. Here are our definitive selections for the best games of 2022.
Honorable Mentions: Games That Defined Genres
10. The Quarry: Interactive Horror Excellence
Interactive narrative games reached new heights in 2022, with titles like The Dark Pictures Anthology and New Tales From the Borderlands offering cinematic experiences where player decisions directly shape character destinies through branching storylines.
Supermassive Games, creators of Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology, delivered their finest horror experience yet with The Quarry. Drawing inspiration from iconic slasher films including Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, the game places players in control of teenage counselors during their final night at summer camp when mysterious forces begin hunting them.
Strategic decision-making determines whether your characters survive until morning or become casualties in this terrifying ordeal. The experience balances tension with player agency—you can meticulously protect your charges or deliberately guide them toward gruesome fates. Pro Tip: Pay close attention to environmental clues and character relationships, as these often provide critical information for survival decisions. Sam Smith, Games Writer.
Read our review of The Quarry here.
9. Overwatch 2: Evolving Team Strategy
Overwatch 2 faced significant challenges at launch, particularly regarding its replacement of the original game, which proved difficult for many dedicated players to accept initially.
The 20 best games of 2025
2025 video game release calendar
The 25 best PS2 games of all time
Despite these initial hurdles, Overwatch 2 secured its position through incredibly addictive gameplay. It serves as the ideal title for quick gaming sessions tackling daily challenges or competitive matches, while equally supporting extended playthroughs thanks to its diverse hero roster and meticulously designed maps.
The transition to 5v5 matches initially surprised veterans, but the design successfully emphasizes coordinated team play and strategic Tank utilization. The updated seasonal content model, despite some imperfections, provides consistent incentives for regular engagement. Common Mistake: New players often underestimate the importance of team composition—ensure you have balanced damage, support, and tank roles rather than stacking one type. Lloyd Coombes, Games Editor.
Read our Overwatch 2 review here.
8. Disney Dreamlight Valley: Cozy Gaming Revolution
Disney Dreamlight Valley masterfully blends farming simulation with life management elements, combining adventure mechanics with beloved Disney enchantment to create the perfect relaxing experience for cozy evenings or stress relief sessions.
Despite its early access status, this title has captivated the gaming community through consistent content updates, charming characters, and active developer communication. Each major update introduces fresh questlines that maintain player engagement, while core activities like cooking, farming, mining, and crafting provide sustainable entertainment for various player types.
This represents precisely the type of experience where hours disappear unnoticed while maintaining your desire to continue playing. Disney Dreamlight Valley contains all the essential components for success and, despite its recent release, has already demonstrated remarkable achievement. Optimization Tip: Focus on unlocking character friendships systematically, as higher friendship levels unlock valuable recipes and crafting patterns. Jessica Filby, Games Writer.
Read our Disney Dreamlight Valley review here.
Genre-Defining Masterpieces
7. Stray: Emotional Storytelling Excellence
During a particularly chaotic year, the gaming community clearly needed an experience as serene yet compelling as Stray proved to be.
Featuring an emotionally resonant narrative, breathtaking visual design, and an utterly charming feline protagonist, Stray captured the affection of gamers (and their actual pets) across the globe. The game expertly immerses players in a world blending affection and sorrow as they guide their character toward the ultimate objective of returning to safety.
This remarkable journey, despite its approximately five-hour duration, beautifully captures narrative complexity, emotional depth, and distinctive personality—consistently evoking powerful emotional responses without relying on spoken dialogue.
Ultimately, Stray arrived at the perfect moment, delivering beautiful aesthetics, clever design, and an outstanding creative achievement from BlueTwelve Studio. This comforting yet thrilling adventure provided an impeccable demonstration of innovation and unconventional thinking. Pro Tip: Take time to explore every corner—many of the game’s most touching moments and world-building details are hidden in optional areas. Jessica Filby, Games Writer.
Read our Stray review here.
6. Pokemon Legends: Arceus: Series Evolution
While Pokemon Scarlet & Violet introduced the main series’ inaugural genuine open-world environment this year, January’s spin-off Pokemon Legends Arceus truly captured the authentic experience of being a Pokemon Trainer exploring wilderness areas.
Set within feudal-era Sinnoh (known as the Hisui region), players received the assignment of completing the original Pokedex by investigating diverse environments and participating in intense Pokemon encounters, all progressing at a significantly more fluid pace than previous series entries permitted.
This spin-off’s exceptional appeal stems from how vibrantly each Pokemon behaves—for the initial time in core series history, players could observe wild Pokemon within their natural ecosystems, capture them during exploration without initiating battles, and even experience attacks from more hostile ‘alpha’ Pokemon variants.
Despite somewhat underwhelming visual presentation, Legends Arceus delivered the mature Pokemon experience that long-term enthusiasts had anticipated for years, substantially refreshing the established formula and reigniting that sense of childhood marvel we experienced during our first Pokemon adventures. Common Mistake: Don’t underestimate the importance of crafting—regularly create Poké Balls and healing items to maintain exploration momentum. Daniel Megarry, Senior Writer.
Check out the full Pokemon Legends: Arceus review here.
5. Marvel Snap: Card Game Innovation
While Hearthstone essentially pioneered the enormously popular digital card game category in numerous respects, Second Dinner’s Marvel Snap has introduced this genre to an entirely new audience demographic.
Thanks to rapid-match rounds and compact decks containing only twelve cards, Marvel Snap has established itself as the preferred mobile game for relaxation during brief intervals. Completing numerous matches within limited timeframes might suggest repetitive gameplay, but the implementation of three randomly chosen locations and multiple viable deck construction approaches ensures each confrontation feels distinctive.
Combined with the extensive (and expanding) collection of Marvel characters, Marvel Snap possesses the longevity potential to match Hearthstone’s enduring presence. Optimization Tip: Learn to recognize when to retreat—conserving cubes in losing situations is crucial for climbing ranked tiers efficiently. Lloyd Coombes, Games Editor.
Read our Marvel Snap review here.
Blockbuster Titans: AAA Excellence
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: FPS Perfection
Our Modern Warfare 2 assessment noted certain deficiencies in specific areas (particularly technical polish), yet the Dexerto Gaming team evidently found the experience overwhelmingly engaging regardless.
Featuring an international campaign delivering substantially greater excitement than Vanguard or Black Ops Cold War, alongside the customary progression systems and reward structures that maintain long-term engagement, Modern Warfare 2 ascended our rankings with impressive velocity.
With additional content scheduled for release and seamless cross-progression integration with Warzone 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 represents our preferred series entry in recent memory. Pro Tip: Master the new movement mechanics like diving and ledge hanging—these can provide crucial advantages in multiplayer engagements. Lloyd Coombes, Games Editor.
Read our Modern Warfare 2 review here.
3. Horizon: Forbidden West: Technical Marvel
Following its release approximately concurrent with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017, it’s regrettable that Horizon didn’t receive the recognition it genuinely deserved due to Link’s exceptional Switch introduction.
Advancing five years forward, similar circumstances applied to the sequel, Forbidden West, which launched simultaneously with Elden Ring. Nevertheless, Aloy’s subsequent adventure claims a position on our list because it constitutes an astonishing technical accomplishment featuring premier third-person combat mechanics, alongside narrative development that enhances its characters beyond what the original achieved. Common Mistake: Don’t ignore the weapon upgrade system—fully upgraded gear makes a massive difference against late-game machines. Lloyd Coombes, Games Editor.
Read our Horizon: Forbidden West review here.
2. Elden Ring: Open-World Revolution
Elden Ring transformed FromSoftware’s renowned Dark Souls framework by expanding it into open-world dimensions, introducing multitudes of newcomers to the demanding pleasures that have captivated Souls enthusiasts since 2009’s Demon’s Souls. The game additionally provided an innovative and challenging interpretation of the open-world category, delivering unprecedented freedom that enables players to investigate the Lands Between at their preferred tempo while permitting diverse character configurations that reward experimental gameplay approaches.
Elden Ring supports solitary adventuring, or participants can enlist fellow Tarnished combatants to assist their mission to overthrow divine rulers, attain Elden Lord status, and reshape reality according to their vision. Exercise caution however, as you’re not the sole individual pursuing this ambitious objective, with the narrative incorporating multiple unexpected developments that compel players to make difficult decisions affecting the conclusion, their protagonist’s destiny—and the destinies of surrounding characters. Optimization Tip: Invest in Vigor early—survivability is more valuable than damage output when learning the game’s mechanics. Sam Smith, Games Writer.
Read our Elden Ring review here.
Game of the Year: God of War Ragnarok
1. God of War: Ragnarok: Narrative Perfection
Dexerto’s Game of the Year distinction belongs to God of War: Ragnarok. How does one enhance the 2018 reboot that provided such profound character depth? The solution, apparently, involves expanding the collection of Norse deities that Kratos and Atreus encounter, with each presenting intricate emotional landscapes, desires, necessities, and additional complexities.
Naturally, combat maintains the satisfying impact expected from the franchise, and the visual presentation remains spectacular, but Ragnarok’s storytelling captivated my attention completely throughout the evaluation period.
God of War: Ragnarok guided me through an expedition that consistently delivered surprises and revelations, demonstrating numerous aspects of both new and established characters that I hadn’t anticipated. This constitutes a sophisticated exploration of sorrow, vengeance, and carving personal pathways regardless of consequences. Pro Tip: Don’t rush through the main story—take time to explore the nine realms thoroughly, as side content contains some of the game’s most memorable character moments. Lloyd Coombes, Games Editor.
Read our God of War: Ragnarok review here.
Looking Forward: What 2022 Taught Us
What were your preferred games of 2022? Please share your perspectives with us on Twitter @dexertogaming.
2022 demonstrated the gaming industry’s remarkable capacity for innovation across all genres and scales. From intimate narrative experiences like Stray to expansive open-world adventures like Elden Ring, this year proved that compelling gameplay and storytelling can manifest in countless forms.
The successful evolution of established franchises like God of War, Call of Duty, and Overwatch shows that sequels can meaningfully build upon their predecessors while introducing fresh mechanics and perspectives. Meanwhile, new IPs like Marvel Snap and Disney Dreamlight Valley proved there’s always room for innovative concepts that capture player imagination.
As we look toward 2023’s upcoming releases, the bar has been set extraordinarily high. The diversity, quality, and ambition displayed throughout 2022’s gaming landscape ensures that players have an incredible library of experiences to enjoy for years to come.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Dexerto’s Best Games of 2022: Elden Ring, God of War & more Discover the definitive gaming experiences of 2022 with expert analysis, strategic insights, and practical playing recommendations