Nintendo / PC / PlayStation / Xbox

VG247's Games of the Year 2022 (by Dom Peppiatt)

What’s in your top 3?

Dom Peppiatt picked his games of the year for VG247. There are only three in the list but here’s his #1:

My Game of the Year for 2022 is Tunic. From my first interaction with the game (where I granted it five stars, surprise, surprise), I have been besotted with Finji and Andrew Shouldice’s mysterious action-adventure gem.

The game – immediately recognisable to anyone that grew up with retro Zelda-like games, and instantly appealing to those that didn’t – is a love letter to the sense of mystery you got when you picked up games as a kid and couldn’t immediately parse what was going on. You’re dropped into a world, and tasked with figuring out what’s going on. Written in its own language, obscure to the point of intrigue, dressed up with a gorgeous soundtrack, and realised in this toybox, tilt-shift aesthetic, Tunic will grab hold of your eyes, your ears, and your heart and it won’t let go… even after the final credits roll.

Tunic manages to summon a sense of wonder, the same sense of wide-eyed wonder that would prick your soul as a child, before you became jaded with the world (and with video games, specifically). Not to be too saccharine about it, but Tunic made me fall in love with games again. I played it on Steam for review, then did it all again on Xbox when it arrived on Game Pass. I gave it to my partner, I have sent codes to friends. I have become the Tunic evangelist, preaching to all to come worship at my isometric church.

I remember Wired calling Tunic “the game of the year that no one’s talking about” and some people criticising the game mechanics. Either way, it’s a coveted game and one I’ve not played so you won’t hear any opinions from me (you’re welcome!)

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