2022 Looks to be a much stronger year overall for game releases. Here are 10 or so games releasing in the first half of 2022 that we're looking forward to.
Starting with number 10, "Tiny Tina's Wonderlands." We've talked about this one already quite a bit since it was just announced a few months ago. Essentially what this is a big blowout of previous "Borderlands" DLC that played with this whole concept of Tiny Tina, the zany side character, doing her kind of fantasy adventure tabletop game. So here, what you have is a new "Borderlands" game set in a completely different environment with a kind of medieval, weird, mystical fantasy vibe to it. The weapon types seem different. The enemies seem different. Just the overall flow and loop of the game and the map seems to be different and more fantasy RPG-focused. And it already looks like it's gonna be fun. If you're a "Borderlands" fan, you're probably digging what you're seeing. If you're not a "Borderlands" fan, the humor might still rub you the wrong way, but props to them for doing something different here. As of right now, "Tiny Tina's Wonderlands" is releasing on March 25th, 2022.
Next, over at number nine, we have "Gran Turismo 7. Yes, Polyphony Digital is working on another one. It's been quite some time. They very much take their time. But it looks like "Gran Turismo 7" is continuing the trend of just really upping all the stakes: more cars, crazier graphics, more options, more details overall, more fine-tuning. And we love to see it. Honestly, we're always excited when a PlayStation console gets graced with one of these awesome games. These are, if you haven't played them, more hardcore simulation-focused, so don't expect a lot of personality and fun and doing crazy jumps. No, this is hardcore realism, real car stuff. So while there is a world for arcade racers, we have a blast with stuff like "Forza Horizon" and all that, the Gran Turismo series takes things a bit more seriously, so if you're a hardcore car enthusiast, hopefully, you'll be happy with this one. So far, it's looked pretty good. As much as some of the updates sound like small things, it could just make for a really good, fun, gorgeous car game. And you know? That's all we're looking for. That's releasing, as of right now, March 4th, 2022.
Next, over at number eight, we have "Pokemon Legends: Arceus." I think that's how you pronounce it. I'm bad at pronunciation. But this is the big one, folks. If you've been looking for a Pokemon game where you can run around a big 3D open world and catch Pokemon and battle, here you go. I mean, granted, they've kind of dabbled with it before, but this is the blown-out, crazy one. There has been criticism already for its graphics. For me, I just look at that as kind of like the limitations of the Nintendo Switch. Still, to have a fully 3D Pokemon game on the Switch is pretty exciting. The possibilities are high, especially considering this serves as kind of like a prequel story. It's in an older era of the Sinnoh region, and it's called something different. It was called the Hisui region, so it's kind of got this weird, kind of old-timey Pokemon feel to it. You're still a guy or a girl with a cool hat and a jacket, but there's a slight ancient vibe to it, and it's cool. We're gonna be seeing new Pokemon, new trainers, new ways to fight, and most importantly, new ways to explore. There's a lot more going on in this one. If you're a diehard Pokemon fan, I suggest diving deep because some of the info we do have is pretty cool for how it shakes up the formula other than just it's 3D. But thankfully, we won't have to wait too long to see how it is. As of right now, it's released on January 28th, 2022.
Next, over at number seven, we have "Sons of the Forest." This is the long-awaited follow-up to "The Forest," which was a survival game with some hardcore horror elements to it and just some good stuff. "Sons of the Forest," interestingly enough, is hotly anticipated by "Forest" fans, but we don't know too much about it. It does look to be like a kind of new spin on the original setup. You're once again stranded, you're using items, you're building shelter, and you're defending yourself from really creepy forest creatures. I like that they haven't shown off this game too much. I prefer the kind of less-is-more style, especially for a game where you might already be like, yeah, I'll check that out regardless. Because they've been so dark for so long and so quiet, I'm hoping that they took the money from the original game and went hard here and are gonna give us something amazing. That's, of course, just me armchair speculating, but there's some cool potential. And we'll find out if that release date holds because right now, it's set for May 20th, 2022.
Now, next over at number six, we have "Sifu." This is my personal most anticipated pick, just because of how cool it looks. I love games like this, especially from developer Slow Clap. These are the people behind "Absolver," which was a pretty intense game with a hand-to-hand fighting system and a lot of challenges. This seemingly takes that gameplay framework, that combat system, and applies it to a different style of game. There seems to be this mechanic where every time you die, you come back older, but just what they have going on here with the fight scenes, the way you can grapple and counter and fight enemies and use objects in the environment or use the environment itself to win seems so, so satisfying. If you've played "Absolver," you know that combat system hits. Even if the rest of the game was just kind of like eh, that combat system is top-tier, so for them to use that again and hopefully expand on it makes me just absolutely bet on this game.
Next, over at number five, we have "Forspoken," which is a Square Enix action-adventure RPG that looks like a gorgeous tech demo but is starting to reveal itself as a full game. At the time of making this video, a bunch of new gameplay videos has dropped and it seems interesting. It's still a bit too early to tell, but the concept of you just kind of being a regular girl thrust into this weird fantasy world and using these cool powers, it's kind of almost like "Infamous," but you're a mage casting magic, seems pretty cool, not to mention the fact that just the visual style, the dialogue, the music, the art direction, all of that seems to be top-tier, big-budget, AAA stuff. We're just hoping that the actual meat of the game, the gameplay, the exploration, and that story, can live up to what on the surface looks pretty cool. "Forspoken" is released on PC and PS5. As of right now, the news reports that it is a two-year PlayStation exclusive, and we'll be playing that on May 24th, 2022.
Next, over at number four, we have "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl." Now, the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." series is a legendary PC series. It's what a lot of PC gamers think of immediately when you think of the early 2000s games and just how it pioneered open-world, survival-horror, resource management stuff in a fun post-nuclear-disaster world. And it seems like they're doing it again, but this time, with a crazy budget and sick graphics. Recent videos with this thing running in Unreal Engine 5 look insane. We've seen little glimpses of gameplay with some combat versus human and mystical, otherworldly things, including weapon attachments, using items. And if this is anything at all like the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, it should make for a really tense experience, and now thankfully, it has the graphics and the mood and the atmosphere to fill in the blanks and sell what made the original game so special. There's still time to play the originals if you never have, but we'll know for sure if this one is legit when we play it on April 28th, 2022.
Next, over number three, of course, you know we were gonna mention it, "Dying Light 2." After so many delays, it seems like they finally got it locked in, and the long story short, the reason why we're excited for "Dying Light 2" is that we like the original game so much. Not only was it just a good old, solid, adventure open-world game that kind of took the zombie formula and spun it on its head, but it was also supported with a ton of cool post-release content, and it was like the game gift that kept on giving. Now, with "Dying Light 2," it seems like it's taking that fun core gameplay framework with the parkour and the action and the violence and adding a lot more RPG and story elements to it, you make decisions on how to help out these micro-civilizations that have cropped up after the viral outbreak. It looks like it's very much trying to do ambitious things with your decisions and whom you help and what you do will change how the societies or these factions work. Not to mention the parkour move set has also been upgraded, and there are only melee weapons. There's no emphasis on guns because we're so far past the original outbreak that things are kind of broken down now. We're pretty pumped. We've talked this one to death, and thankfully, hopefully, we'll finally be playing it on February 4th, 2022.
Now, down to number two, we have "Horizon Forbidden West." Now, this just looks like an absolute blowout compared to "Horizon Zero Dawn." It looks like they're taking everything, but making it bigger, worse, and crazier. As you can see here, the combat and the action look stunning. The amount of destruction, the amount of destruction to the enemies, the enemy types themselves, the speed of it all, seems cool, not to mention the beauty of the world. It's Aloy on a new adventure, new regions, new cultures, and apparently, more of an emphasis on questing and towns and RPG stuff that we love. NPCs are gonna be much more interesting this time around. I liked "Horizon Zero Dawn" quite a bit, but I didn't love it head over heels. This one seems like it's gonna take it to the next level. Thankfully, we won't have to wait too long, either. It's released on February 18th, 2022.
Now, finally at number one, of course, it's "Elden Ring." What more can you say about this long-anticipated game from FromSoftware, the people behind "Demon's Souls," "Dark Souls," "Bloodborne," "Sekiro"? This is their next big thing, and it's very much taking the Soulsborne formula and framework and putting it in an open-world setting. And from what we've seen so far, it doesn't look like they're half-assing it. It doesn't just look like "Dark Souls," but in an open world. The way they've talked about how they're designing the bosses and how the flow works from the open-world into dungeons seems to be pretty creative and also freeform, giving you a lot of choices. There's a jump button now, which is insane and changes things up. The summons looks cool. Everything about this game looks cool. If you're a fan of these games, if you're a fan of FromSoftware, there's really... I can't say anything. There's nothing that you don't already know or there's nothing else to get you excited. You either know, or you don't know. You're in, or you're out. Fingers crossed there are no more delays on this one and every single other game in this list. But "Elden Ring" is released for all the major consoles on February 25th, 2022.
