I know Elden Ring is out, and God of War Ragnarök is out, and Elon Musk’s dead-on-arrival Twitter shenanigans are making it feel like we’ve lived a couple thousand years. But no, you’re still here in 2022, and we have two more months of it. What could happen in that time?
Based on recent events alone — the U.K.’s surprisingly hardy lettuce, the handful of devastating tragedies that never feel good to talk about but somehow keep the world balanced, and the new episodes of Bachelor in Paradise that are also bad but keep me balanced — I’d guess the rest of 2022 is undefinable.
But you don’t need to wonder when it comes to this year’s remaining game releases. As stressful and unbecoming as the year may have been, games will still give you something to look forward to. Here are 10 you can take a hopeful chance on.
Somerville
Jumpship — Limbo and Inside’s executive producer Dino Patti’s new indie studio — has been teasing its narrative-focused sci-fi debut Somerville for five years. According to the game’s Steam description, “Somerville is a sci-fi adventure grounded in the intimate repercussions of large scale conflict” that asks you to “navigate your way through the perilous terrain ahead of you to unravel the mysteries of Earth’s visitors.”
OK, so, that’s cryptic. As are the game’s few trailers, all wordless but buttered with cinematic swirls of piano or wind. They offer meaningful glimpses of the game, though, in a world that seems engrossing and sullen, polished, grey, and filled with beams of strange alien light. I’m looking forward to this one, so far. It reminds me of the A Quiet Place movies.
Release date: November 15
Compatible with: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Goat Simulator 3
Goat Simulator 3 offers less intergalactic sulking but at least 40 per cent more crackling belligerence. The sequel (and it is a sequel — the “3” is goat antics) arrives eight years after a raucous, ridiculous game that Steve Marinconz described for Kotaku as “hilariously broken, but in a good way.”
Considering the first Goat Simulator was thrown together in a couple of weeks, co-op sandbox game Goat Simulator 3 appears to be a Michelin star goat experience. It looks nicer and less choppy but, as is integral to the gameplay, still lets you throw around Pilgor, a goat with a fucked up face, and even explode gas stations in, I presume, a statement against big oil.
Key features, according to the game’s Epic Games listing, include seven mini-games, toilet rolls to play dress up with, “physics,” and “you can be a goat.” This one reminds me of Jackass.
Release date: November 17
Compatible with: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
I know, I know, this entry is a bit obscure. I’m not sure if you’re familiar, but role-playing games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet seem to be a big deal. The constant barrage of grave announcements, trailers displaying minutiae, and all those dastardly leaks (and one spiteful Twitch stream) tipped me off.
“Catch, battle, and train Pokémon in the Paldea Region, a vast land filled with lakes, towering peaks, wastelands, small towns, and sprawling cities,” the Nintendo store description for the games says. “Explore a wide-open world at your own pace and traverse land, water, and air by riding on a form-shifting Legendary Pokémon — Koraidon in Pokémon Scarlet and Miraidon in Pokémon Violet. Choose either Sprigatito, Fuecoco, or Quaxly, to be your first partner Pokémon before setting off on your journey through Paldea.” I like them because they’re cute.
Release date: November 18
Compatible with: Switch
Evil West
Based on its trailer, action-adventure game Evil West is Buffy the Vampire Slayer for men that think of themselves as “all-American.” Which is to say, I don’t think I’m its ideal demo. But I can still recognise that the steampunk western has compelling gameplay — the monsters you target as grumbly, square-jawed protagonist Jessie Rentier seem varied and gruesome, as are intriguing weapons like a clawed gauntlet crackling with blue lightning. With this gauntlet, the game’s Steam page instructs you simply to “eradicate the vampiric hordes […] and become a Wild West Superhero.”
Release date: November 22
Compatible with: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
Technically, Dragonflight is an expansion pack for Blizzard’s massively multiplayer online RPG World of Warcraft, but I know some of you are anticipating it.
“The dragonflights of Azeroth have returned, called upon to defend their ancestral home, the Dragon Isles,” the expansion’s website says. “Surging with elemental magic and the life energies of Azeroth, the Isles are awakening once more, and it’s up to you to explore their primordial wonder and discover long-forgotten secrets.” Or more plainly for WoW noobs like me, as Kotaku senior writer Ethan Gach puts it, “it’s all about dragons.”
The expansion “will unleash players upon the Dragon Isles and let them roll as a new playable dragon race called the Dracthyr,” he writes. “And of course you ride some of the dragons too.” Sounds fun, albeit missing seatbelts.
Release date: November 28
Compatible with: PC
The Callisto Protocol
Sci-fi title The Callisto Protocol, is a grisly survival horror from Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield. I think it will be a game that makes me say “hell yeah” when I play it. That, or “oh no.” Or maybe “ah!” It looks gross.
“Fight to survive the horrors locked within the walls of Black Iron Prison in this immersive, next-generation take on survival horror,” its website says. Its State of Play trailer from the summer reveals zombie experiments, faces covered in lumps and worms, and lots of bloody goo. Hell yeah.
Release date: December 2
Compatible with: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Like Pokémon, I’d put turn-based tactics game Midnight Suns in the “cute” category, and maybe even the “handsome” category, just by virtue of all the superhero catsuit butts.
“Set in the darker, supernatural side of the Marvel Universe, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a tactical RPG from the creators of XCOM. As the Hunter, a legendary demon slayer with a mysterious past, you’ll lead a team of legendary Marvel heroes as they attempt to stop the Mother of Demons from completing an ancient prophecy and summoning her evil master, Chthon.”
Though I’m not fully convinced of Marvel’s ability to tap into its “darker side” — the media franchise seems to get more sterile and shiny every minute — I am glad Midnight Suns is free from its indefinite delay. I think I had a dream once about an XCOM: Hulk Edition and now believe I have Matilda’s powers.
Release date: December 2
Compatible with: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Dragon Quest Treasure
We’re back to Nintendo, so you already know this shit is cute. This new spinoff on Dragon Quest’s 36-year-old role-playing game franchise zeroes in on blue-haired siblings Erik and Mia’s globe-trotting trek for treasure.
“With the vast world of Draconia to explore and tons of tantalising treasure to find, Erik, Mia, and their cute companions will need some help,” the game’s Nintendo page says. “The team soon befriends and recruits a veritable variety of well-mannered monsters. By making use of these monsters’ magical visions of hidden treasure and their unique treasure-hunting abilities, our heroes will race over open fields, scale cliffs with a single bound, and glide over gaping chasms.”
With its bubblegum approach to combat and item collection (the trailer shows a popsicle-coloured “Iconic!” bounce on the screen when you pick up an expensive statue), this feels like the closest I’ll be to collecting seashells on the beach this winter. Good, clean fun. Cute wins again.
Release date: December 9
Compatible with: Switch
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion
Oh, Reunion? What I meant to say was Square Enix’s re-release and remaster of 2007’s RPG Crisis Core. This Reunion is guaranteed to be mostly, exactly as you remember it — the new additions are slight things like updated graphics and voice acting, but strolling memory lane can be convenient.
“As someone new to this whole Final Fantasy VII phenomenon, I’m very much looking forward to every piece of media encompassing the franchise getting remade for modern consoles at some point,” Ian Walker wrote for Kotaku. “I don’t want to bother with the originals if it means digging my poor, neglected PlayStation Portable out of whatever dusty box it’s been confined to for years.”
Release date: December 13
Compatible with: Switch, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5
Blacktail
Fantasy medieval game Blacktail, Krakow-based studio The Parasight’s debut, lets you play as folktale witch Baba Yaga in her bow-and-arrow-carrying youth. You command her fate, if she’s a good witch or a bad witch, depending on how you navigate the magical, dangerous forest she roams.
“When living memories of her past return as foul, walking spirits,” Blacktail’s website says. “Yaga is faced with no other option than to hunt them down in hopes of unravelling her own mystery.”
I’m excited by Blacktail’s premise — I’m a former little kid with vivid imagined memories of Baba Yaga’s gnarled hands and battered cabin in the woods. Though, I am a little annoyed that Yaga’s voice actress sounds British despite the character growing up isolated from everyone except, like, early Belarusians. I’m hoping the game’s story is so mythic and compelling that I’m distracted by the Anglo-Saxon intrusion.
Release date: December 15
Compatible with: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
What 2022 game release are you most looking forward to? Or are you keeping your sights set squarely on next year?
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