User blog:Itsjieyang/End of Year Reflection: Jieyang’s Favorite Games

Hey! Jieyang here and I’m the Senior Community Manager for Gaming at Fandom! I only joined a few months ago but have been able to help out on a few cool projects like bringing Discussions and ArticleComments to Gamepedia Wikis. It’s been great getting to know the community and I look forward to more stuff in the future.

Anyway, 2022’s been a pretty good year for gaming! Coming off the back of a whole bunch of delays due to… life circumstances, it’s nice to see games finally making it out the gate. I played quite a few games this year, both old and new, but these are my top five most memorable ones, in no particular order, spoiler-free:

Citizen Sleeper


Despite being stranded on a space station located on the far edges of known outer space while also being on the run from your past, there’s something incredibly… comfy about this game. There’s no wild heart-pounding shooting mechanics (you’re rolling dice for decisions) and no mocapped Oscar-worthy performances (it’s all excellently written dialogue). But none of that is sorely missed as you try to survive and find your place in a futuristic, capitalist hellhole of a world.

God of War Ragnarök


Yeah, you already knew that this would be on the list. I absolutely loved the 2018 game, and Ragnarök is it, but massively turned up to the next level. Which is all I could ever ask for and more. The sublime storytelling, incredibly satisfying combat, expanded accessibility options and wonderful characters all make this one of the best games to finish off the year with. Santa Monica had an almost impossible task of following up their previous game but, in my opinion, they hit it out of the park.

Horizon Forbidden West


This is… probably the best-looking game of this console generation? Look at the grass, look at the water! Look how the waves crash onto the rocks at the beach. Anyway, the Horizon universe definitely ranks as one of my favorite gaming ones of all-time. I first played Zero Dawn during a very difficult period in my life and because of that, it holds a special place in my heart… and Forbidden West easily stands alongside it. I know the gameplay can be polarizing, but I dig it and the story immensely.

Elden Ring


Wow, the winner of the 2022 Game of the Year at The Game Awards is on this list? No way, no way! In all seriousness, I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest Soulsbourne fan (I suck at parrying; I did not finish Sekiro) but this game was definitely something special. The transition to an entirely (well-populated) open world with a more approachable and forgiving combat system (I think I rolled credits at level 160) hit all the right buttons for me. And while I’m not going to say I understand the entire story completely, it still captivates me and is a whole ton of fun.

A Memoir Blue


This one might come as a surprise for some. It’s a short (I think no more than two hours), interactive story game. Hear me out: the protagonist is a pro superstar swimmer and I used to swim competitively (not on the same level, but you get it). Additionally, unless I’m mistaken, the story is very Asian-coded, with themes about family and filiality. And I am very Asian. So, you can kind of see why- on an emotional level- the game really resonated with me. It’s a bittersweet story told through beautiful visuals and a sublime soundtrack.

Games I'm looking forward to in 2023
Next year is shaping up to be an excellent year for gaming. While there are at least a dozen games I am looking forward to diving into, here are three that I’m most excited about:

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores
I know this is DLC, but we’re going to Hollywood, baby! The Frozen Wilds was an excellent addition to Zero Dawn, so I have extremely high hopes for this one.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Since we have a locked-in release date, I feel like I can safely say I am excited to dive into this next year. BOTW was a phenomenal experience (wanna see me ride a tree trunk across the lands?) and I’m fairly confident in this one being a banger of a game as well.

Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac are, in my opinion, probably one of the best gaming studios out there right now. And their Spider-Man work (both 2018 and the Miles spinoff) is some of the best in the history of the character, ever. Not just gameplay-wise but also narratively. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of the mainline 616 comic over the last few years. This is probably one of my most anticipated games of all-time if I’m being honest.

What I look forward to doing for the community in 2023
Games aside, in 2023 I’m looking forward to getting to know the gaming community here even better than before! With next year shaping up to be a wild one for gaming, it would be cool if we could link up some studios with their passionate communities here on Fandom. There’s so much passionate, high-quality work being done here on our platform that it only makes sense for that effort to be seen. And who knows, maybe we can all hop into a game lobby one day and play some games together too.

See you all in 2023!

Leave a comment below or find me at itsjieyang#4016 on Discord!