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The 30 Best Games of 2022 - Paste Magazine

icerock

icerock

Member
Topher said:
I have no idea how asking you what games on the list you have played equates to assuming you don't play "Indies/AA games". But you seem upset so I'll let stew in peace.
Click to expand...

How are you this dense, surely being deliberate. The first response to my post was from someone claiming I haven't played any of the games on the list apart from ER/GoW. And, your reaction on the post is telling too.

Anyways, this is such a childish debate. I am not upset, just annoyed how folks on a forum still assume a lot of things. If I prefer one game over the other, it naturally means I haven't played the game or hate it. Likewise, if I critique a hardware/publisher, it means I don't own the said hardware/hate the publisher. It's playground logic.
 
Orta

Orta

Banned
adamsapple said:
www.pastemagazine.com

The 30 Best Games of 2022

Paste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover your favorite albums and films.
www.pastemagazine.com www.pastemagazine.com

Top 10:

10: Tunic
9: Vampire Survivors
8: Live A Live
7: Neon White
6: Signalis
5: Elden Ring
4: Pentiment
3: Immortality
2: Citizen Sleeper
1: NORCO


They gave Ratchet and Clank #1 last year for reference.
Click to expand...

I've heard of Tunic and Eden Ring, the rest I haven't a bloody clue.
 
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DaGwaphics

DaGwaphics

Member
Little Chicken said:
Incredible list.

10: Tunic
9: Vampire Survivors
8: Live A Live
7: Neon White
6: Signalis
5: Elden Ring
4: Pentiment
3: Immortality
2: Citizen Sleeper
1: NORCO

Seven of the Top 10 alone are on Game Pass :messenger_fire:
Click to expand...

Facts! GP is where the good games are.

Seriously though, whoever is curating this for MS is doing a great job. They get the more noteworthy smaller games on there and skip most of the shovelware. Which is impressive since a lot of these games get added at launch when they don't have a reputation yet.
 
Bragr

Bragr

Banned
This triggers me, a publication creating a list with indie games, and gamers loving it because it's "unique".

I played almost all of them and apart from Neon White, Vampire Survivors, and maybe NORCO, it's a pretty weak list. A lot of story does not mean a good story. You can't possibly convince me that Citizen Sleeper have a good story. Signalis is cool with some good art and some great scenes, but it's too sauntering and the gameplay is mediocre at best. NORCO is also one of the more pretentious games I have ever played.

Putting Immortality third is like putting Saints Row first. It's a beta test.

This is very clearly the type of journalist that only play indie games and feels proud to not play AAA. It's the sort of journalist who put Unpacking as GOTY because it had a cool premise. They have Trombone Champ in their top 30, the most generic game of the year.

This is worse than the Time magazine list, but because it comes off as "unique", people wanna latch on to it and support it because they want to be among the cool kids. Reminds me of art movies, where you got some people who laugh about anything charting and only watch abstract movies not understanding that they missed the point.
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Bragr said:
This triggers me, a publication creating a list with indie games, and gamers loving it because it's "unique".

I played almost all of them and apart from Neon White, Vampire Survivors, and maybe NORCO, it's a pretty weak list. A lot of story does not mean a good story. You can't possibly convince me that Citizen Sleeper have a good story. Signalis is cool with some good art and some great scenes, but it's too sauntering and the gameplay is mediocre at best. NORCO is also one of the more pretentious games I have ever played.

Putting Immortality third is like putting Saints Row first. It's a beta test.

This is very clearly the type of journalist that only play indie games and feels proud to not play AAA. It's the sort of journalist who put Unpacking as GOTY because it had a cool premise. They have Trombone Champ in their top 30, the most generic game of the year.

This is worse than the Time magazine list, but because it comes off as "unique", people wanna latch on to it and support it because they want to be among the cool kids. Reminds me of art movies, where you got some people who laugh about anything charting and only watch abstract movies not understanding that they missed the point.
Click to expand...
Post your top 5.
 
Lunarorbit

Lunarorbit

Member
Little Chicken said:
Incredible list.

10: Tunic
9: Vampire Survivors
8: Live A Live
7: Neon White
6: Signalis
5: Elden Ring
4: Pentiment
3: Immortality
2: Citizen Sleeper
1: NORCO

Seven of the Top 10 alone are on Game Pass :messenger_fire:
Click to expand...
Fuck. I'm a Sony /Nintendo guy and I didn't recognize a bunch of these games. Honestly I hadn't heard of the top 3 which is super embarrassing for me. I just figured those were steam games (I guess they are technically).

I don't know if I'll buy an Xbox ever but I'm really happy that game pass is giving so much value. $300 isn't that much to get a Xbox series s. If I got it as a holiday gift I'd be stoked.

Now I gotta educate my ass about this list
 
K

Kvally

Banned
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Gold Member
Lunarorbit said:
Fuck. I'm a Sony /Nintendo guy and I didn't recognize a bunch of these games. Honestly I hadn't heard of the top 3 which is super embarrassing for me. I just figured those were steam games (I guess they are technically).

I don't know if I'll buy an Xbox ever but I'm really happy that game pass is giving so much value. $300 isn't that much to get a Xbox series s. If I got it as a holiday gift I'd be stoked.

Now I gotta educate my ass about this list
Click to expand...
If you actually like indie games, it's pretty dang amazing. There's more noteworthy ones too I haven't even tried yet like Hardspace Shipbreaker, etc. Whoever is doing the curation is picking some great stuff. And with no reputation, a lot of it is stuff people may not be convinced to buy. Only had GP since 2021 E3 but it's been worth it so far.

Immortality is very overrated on this list, but it's definitely extremely interesting and worthy of some recognition for an extremely niche audience. I'm glad I completed it, and also glad I didn't have to buy it. It's probably in my top 20, but it's barely a game; it's an interactive movie clip collection you sift through to see unique stuff. For some people it will click hard; but tons of people will hate it.
 
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Bragr

Bragr

Banned
icerock said:
This list reeks of pretentious, edgy, psuedo-intellectuals getting onto a call and deciding what lesser known games they can prop up the list. And, likewise shovelware/indie lovers will claim it to be the best and "unbiased" list.

Scream personal tastes/opinions all you want but I find it hard to believe there are 30 games better than Ragnarok which came out this year. Not to mention Elden Ring just cracking the Top 5. Absolute hogwosh.
Click to expand...
Don't bother, these people will cry about a publication putting something like Gotham Knights at the top 10 and praise a game like Immortality at the top 3. It's just a clown story all the way.
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Bragr said:
1. Elden Ring
2. God of War Ragnarok
3. Neon White
4. Vampire Survivors
5. Total War: Warhammer III
Click to expand...
Dunno about that GOW:R one but the rest...

Robert Redford Nod GIF
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Punished Miku said:
3 out of 5 of your games are on their list lol. Not all bad then. Their list doesn't match mine fully either.
Click to expand...
Yup...

If I had to list mine right now:
1. Elden Ring
2. Vampire Survivors
3. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
4. Cult of the Lamb
5. Bayonetta 3

Honorable Mention: Marvel Snap

Waiting to see if Callisto does anything interesting and it seems Midnight Sons isn't shit.
 
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Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Gold Member
Interfectum said:
Yup...

If I had to list mine right now:
1. Elden Ring
2. Vampire Survivors
3. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
4. Cult of the Lamb
5. Bayonetta 3

Honorable Mention: Marvel Snap

Waiting to see if Callisto does anything interesting and it seems Midnight Sons isn't shit.
Click to expand...
I still have to play Mario Rabbids, forgot I even bought it. Haven't gotten Cult of the Lamb yet either but it looks awesome. I can't play everything I want. Don't understand people that say there's nothing this year.
 
J

jaysius

Banned
tommib said:
Then you'll love NORCO from the 1 hour I played today. I love that we're getting these super atmospheric text-heavy games lately written like novels in their attention to detail. It's like a reaction to all the AAA Marvel-like writing we're getting from the big boys.
Click to expand...

Britney Spears What GIF




I was interested in that game, but wow... Marvel-like writing is a POSITIVE... wow some people's taste is way the fuck out of wack or you've never read a novel that is competent.

Guess you've saved me some time, now I know the type of people that game is written for.

EDIT: Too early in the morning

Eat Your Words GIF by Cake FX
 
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J

jaysius

Banned
Quordle(more than 4 wordle's is dumb)
Wafflegame(only the bluest)

Wordle belongs closer to one on that shitty list.
 
tommib

tommib

Member
jaysius said:
Britney Spears What GIF


I was interested in that game, but wow... Marvel-like is a POSITIVE... wow some people's taste is way the fuck out of wack or you've never read a novel that is competent.

Guess you've saved me some time, now I know the type of people that game is written for.
Click to expand...
Different tastes, dude. I can't stand anything Marvel-like. Do stay away from NORCO! They even reference William Faulkner during the game!
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
icerock said:
How are you this dense, surely being deliberate. The first response to my post was from someone claiming I haven't played any of the games on the list apart from ER/GoW. And, your reaction on the post is telling too.

Anyways, this is such a childish debate. I am not upset, just annoyed how folks on a forum still assume a lot of things. If I prefer one game over the other, it naturally means I haven't played the game or hate it. Likewise, if I critique a hardware/publisher, it means I don't own the said hardware/hate the publisher. It's playground logic.
Click to expand...

My reaction was due to you making this about two games and dismissing the rest because of your assumptions of it being from "pretentious, edgy, psuedo-intellectuals". And now you are throwing insults at me and yet you "are not upset".

jennifer lawrence ok GIF
 
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Topher

Topher

Gold Member
jaysius said:
Britney Spears What GIF


I was interested in that game, but wow... Marvel-like is a POSITIVE... wow some people's taste is way the fuck out of wack or you've never read a novel that is competent.

Guess you've saved me some time, now I know the type of people that game is written for.
Click to expand...

I think you misread tommib tommib . He wasn't saying the game had "Marvel-like" writing. I read it as the opposite.
 
tommib

tommib

Member
For everyone shitting on NORCO, this is the reception it has on STEAM:
QNPlWZX.png


What a bunch of sad/pretentious STEAM users, right? All for vanity points. Maybe, just maybe there's a world beyond your industrial graphical powerhouse built by 1000 worldwide devs.
 
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icerock

icerock

Member
Topher said:
My reaction was due to you making this about two games and dismissing the rest because of your assumptions of it being from "pretentious, edgy, psuedo-intellectuals". And now you are throwing insults at me and yet you "are not upset".

jennifer lawrence ok GIF
Click to expand...

It is ironic how you keep missing the point. I played a lot of games on that list to form that opinion, I was being dismissive because of the fact I had experienced many of the said games to realize they don't belong on that list.

It is you and the others who made an assumption that I am stating my opinion solely on back of playing two games. Calling you dense is not an insult, I've repeated myself in several posts why I am arriving at the opinion I am, you're just being deliberately obtuse. Anyways, this has been a waste of my time.
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
icerock said:
It is ironic how you keep missing the point. I played a lot of games on that list to form that opinion, I was being dismissive because of the fact I had experienced many of the said games to realize they don't belong on that list.

It is you and the others who made an assumption that I am stating my opinion solely on back of playing two games. Calling you dense is not an insult, I've repeated myself in several posts why I am arriving at the opinion I am, you're just being deliberately obtuse. Anyways, this has been a waste of my time.
Click to expand...

Again, I made no such assumptions which is why I explicitly asked the question: "How many games on their list did you play?" If you are going to point to being obtuse then start there.
 
Markio128

Markio128

Member
tommib said:
I'm a bit intimidated by Tunic by how esoteric it seems. Anyone was able to finish without heavily using walkthroughs?
Click to expand...
I got pretty far into the game, but because I’m a stubborn sod, I gave up because I literally didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to be doing and I hate referring to guides - that is my biggest complaint with ER - I applaud the lack of hand holding, but at least give us a clue.

In short, yeah, it’s satisfying and bewildering in equal measure. Not to mention bloody difficult at the best of times.
 
Chukhopops

Chukhopops

Member
tommib said:
I'm a bit intimidated by Tunic by how esoteric it seems. Anyone was able to finish without heavily using walkthroughs?
Click to expand...
For the normal ending you can do without any walkthrough although it requires a bit of observation and looking for clues in the manual.

For the true ending it would take a lot of effort to figure everything, I used a walkthrough and I think I would never have managed on my own.
 
Bragr

Bragr

Banned
e0n said:
Bruh you put a slightly more interactive idle game in vampire survivors over Bayonetta 3.
Click to expand...
That's likely my sixth game of the year. Vampire Survivors is a bit overrated, but it's the sort of game you can pick up now or in 8 years and it's still gonna work just as well. It's like a mobile tower defense game, it got that feeling of getting stronger and mowing down thousands of enemies down to its basic form. I am done with it for a while, know I am gonna get addicted to it next year at some point too. Even though you can argue some of its spin-offs are better.
 
Bragr

Bragr

Banned
Punished Miku said:
3 out of 5 of your games are on their list lol. Not all bad then. Their list doesn't match mine fully either.
Click to expand...
I didn't say all of their listed games are bad, I even praised some of them, I think half of their top 30 should be found on most top 30s.

But what triggers me is that indie games get concessions based on their indie status.

Criticizing a game is supposed to be the withering down of subjectivity. We all have our biases and opinions, but you are supposed to argue for why you feel that way, and through those arguments, come to a conclusion that has a more objective grounding than personal preference. Something like that.

Take Immortality, the game I was complaining the most about, I can perfectly understand why some would love it, and coming across these little devil clips in the footage, is a cool idea. But too many people will completely miss the point of the game, and too much of the game consists of scrubbing through everything for a hidden clip you might have missed. The game struggles with directing the player to the point where it wants the player to be, meaning, putting the player in a position where you are nervous about uncovering the devil in the film. Most players won't get that experience, most will just scrub through and wonder what a hell is going on.

That is a big enough problem, I think, to where it should not hit the top 10. I am not gonna cry about it hitting a list here and there, but half of these games on this paste magazine list follow the same pattern, indie games with flaws. And considering how absent triple-A games are from the list, you have to ring the hipster alarm on this.
 
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Gold Member
Bragr said:
I didn't say all of their listed games are bad, I even praised some of them, I think half of their top 30 should be found on most top 30s.

But what triggers me is that indie games get concessions based on their indie status.

Criticizing a game is supposed to be the withering down of subjectivity. We all have our biases and opinions, but you are supposed to argue for why you feel that way, and through those arguments, come to a conclusion that has a more objective grounding than personal preference. Something like that.

Take Immortality, the game I was complaining the most about, I can perfectly understand why some would love it, and coming across these little devil clips in the footage, is a cool idea. But too many people will completely miss the point of the game, and too much of the game consists of scrubbing through everything for a hidden clip you might have missed. The game struggles with directing the player to the point where it wants the player to be, meaning, putting the player in a position where you are nervous about uncovering the devil in the film. Most players won't get that experience, most will just scrub through and wonder what a hell is going on.

That is a big enough problem, I think, to where it should not hit the top 10. I am not gonna cry about it hitting a list here and there, but half of these games on this paste magazine list follow the same pattern, indie games with flaws. And considering how absent triple-A games are from the list, you have to ring the hipster alarm on this.
Click to expand...
Sure thats your opinion. I had some complaints about Immortality as well. What I think you miss is that a lot of people give the highest marks to things that are original and innovate. That used to be the only time I saw 10/10s back in the day is stuff like Ocarina of Time where they actually invent something new. Its so uncommon these days that I think people forgot that a lot of people still feel this way. Its not about being a hipster but just that maybe they think differently than you. Innovation and originality is what pushed my Pentiment score, as well as Bayonetta 3. Both innovate and do new things I've never seen.
 
Bragr

Bragr

Banned
Punished Miku said:
Sure thats your opinion. I had some complaints about Immortality as well. What I think you miss is that a lot of people give the highest marks to things that are original and innovate. That used to be the only time I saw 10/10s back in the day is stuff like Ocarina of Time where they actually invent something new. Its so uncommon these days that I think people forgot that a lot of people still feel this way. Its not about being a hipster but just that maybe they think differently than you. Innovation and originality is what pushed my Pentiment score, as well as Bayonetta 3. Both innovate and do new things I've never seen.
Click to expand...
Innovation is easy, it's not hard to do things that no other game has done. What is hard is making it into a good game. You can't value innovation for the sake of innovation. That's the art movie argument.
 
T

touchfuzzy

Member
tommib said:
For everyone shitting on NORCO, this is the reception it has on STEAM:
QNPlWZX.png


What a bunch of sad/pretentious STEAM users, right? All for vanity points. Maybe, just maybe there's a world beyond your industrial graphical powerhouse built by 1000 worldwide devs.
Click to expand...

"Sad/pretentious" and "Steam users" go hand-in-hand I'm afraid.
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
touchfuzzy said:
"Sad/pretentious" and "Steam users" go hand-in-hand I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

Based on what? This list? I'm looking at the top sellers on Steam and I see many of the same games that sell well on consoles. So where does this generalization come from?
 
Ghost of Caelid

Ghost of Caelid

Banned
This the kind of list I like...cause I know this person games. Norco at #1 and immortality at 3? I don't agree with the order but I respect the hell out of the list. Anyone who clowns this list didn't play these games cause any of these are viably goty quality games.
 
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