I Hope 2022 is Better Than Last Year, Gaming Edition

Happy New Years

1. Elden Ring
   • After Dark Souls 3 I was excited for Seiko like everyone else, but I am more than ready to return to a more traditional Soul’s experience. If they can add some new amazing lore and the open world works, then GOTY for me.
2. Breath of the Wild 2 (I hope!)
   • BOTW is one of the best Zelda’s there is unquestionably, so I think if they are able to improve anything or give us a better story than you’ve got a great game.
3. Starfield
   • Even after everything, I still trust the house that brought me Morrowind and Skyrim. Two RPGs I’ve sunk thousands of hours into. I liked Fallout 3 too and Fallout 4 is okay. Maybe Bethesda hasn’t had the hottest last few games, but I am hopeful the new setting will kickstart some creative ideas. At least, it’ll probably do better than Fallout 76.
4. Marvel’s Midnight Suns
   • Marvel + XCom = : )
5. Total War: Warhammer 3
   • Total War: Warhammer 2 was really good. This one will probably be really good.

1. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
   • I love Lord of the Rings, but I can think of literally 99 characters I would rather play as in Middle Earth before Gollum.
2. Strangers of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins
   • Just not sure what this game will bring me that the other recent Final Fantasy’s haven’t.
3. Pokemon Legends Arceus
   • It looks like its trying to be Pokemon’s Breath of the Wild, but without any of the commitment or confidence.

I love me some Switch ports. Something about putting a semi-modern version of a console game on a handheld feels great. It also has a knack for getting me to play games I’ve already played again. For example, this year, I played Skyrim, despite my promises not to when I had a long plane flight. Going back to it on Switch was a good enough reason for me to sink 30 hours in it again so far. The other port I have particularly enjoyed this year is Dark Souls Remastered. It doesn’t look great on Switch, but it runs well and is still one of the best games I’ve played. But the Switch has a long history of amazing ports (Hellblade, Stardew Valley, Doom, Final Fantasy X), but we could always use more.

Some additional games to be ported that come to mind are Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Dark Souls 2, SMT Strange Journey, and pretty much any other game. Wind Waker HD is something I would really love, but they will likely save that for another system, I believe.

Xbox’s First Party Studios Continue their Momentum

Xbox has always had problems with compelling exclusives aside from Halo and Gears. However, after a flurry of studio purchases in the last decade, this seems set to change.

It may be more accurate to say it already has started to change. The end of 2021 saw Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo Infinite all come out. While none of the games are perfect, they were all well-received. Additionally, if you have Gamepass, you get them all for free. While Gamepass has seemed like a good deal the entire time I have had it, it really kicked ass in the later half of 2021.
Next year could be even better. Ninja Theory is working on Hellbalde II, the follow-up to their fantastic action game, Bethesda is finishing Starfield, and I’m sure Obsidian will get one of the four projects they’re working on out.

Gamepass and Playstation Pass Play Nice

One of the hardest parts gaming with actual friends are making sure you have the same game and can play wiht eachother wiht you respective counsils. This has gotten easier over the years as PC, Xbox, and Playstation all have imiplemented crossplay. Now, I can play Fortnite on my Switch with my friend on his PC. But that still leaves the issue of owning the same game, especially if that game isn’t free-to-play.

But finding games you can play with friends ccould be about to get way easier. There are rumors of Playstation intorducing its own gamepass competator. It is obvious that Playstation will have its own exclusives on there, but the third-party games the services share in common could be a huge deal.

Resolutions

Write More Articles

This year I think I only got out three articles for TAY, my goal was twelve. Whether it was writers block or whatever I just didn’t have much motivation to pump out articles. I had lots of ideas, and even a few half started drafts, but few final products.

This year I really hope I can write more about the games I play, even if they are short articles. I play plenty of games but writing about them really helps crystalize my thoughts about a game. One of my regrets is not writing about Elder Scrolls Online while I sunk about 3 months into it earlier this year. I remember enjoying it, but also noting it had some problems, but its all kind of fuzzy now. Hopefully I’ll be able to memorialize some of my gaming memories better from now on.

Play More Genres

I’ve never really tried to get into a racing game or a rouge-like, or a fighting game. I play a lot of RPGs, a good amount of actions games, a fair number of strategy games, and a handful of sports games. Hopefully I can change this.

Game More with Others

Maybe its because I am in my late 20s and less of my friends spend time gaming then ever. Maybe its because, as I mentioned earlier, I seem to gravitate towards single player focused genres. Or maybe its something else, but I sure don’t play online with others as much as I used to. I’ve moved away from many of my friends I hope I can reconnect with some of them through gaming. If not, then maybe I can make some new ones the same way. Next year I hope to jump back into more online gaming even if its just to confirm that I like playing by myself.

That’s all I have folks. Happy New Years!