There is still plenty of gaming to be done this decade, and it could very well be that the best games of the 2020s are still multiple years away. That being said, things have gotten off to an exciting start. What are the greatest titles to come out in the decade so far?
God Of War Ragnarok
2018’s God of War reinvigorated Santa Monica’s franchise following 2013’s disappointing Ascension, launching a new era in Kratos’ story. Ragnarok builds beautifully on the work of its predecessor. On the surface, the sequel offers more of the same, but God of War: Ragnarok expands or fine-tunes enough elements to distinguish itself from what came before.
As implied by its title, Ragnarok revolves around an event in Norse mythology that signals the end of a number of key figures. The story is epic and unpredictable, expertly blending grandiose set pieces with character nuance and growth. The combat system is satisfying and intense, being a notable improvement over the 2018 entry.
Elden Ring
FromSoftware’s latest masterpiece pushes the Souls formula to the next level. Elden Ring drops players in The Lands Between, a massive open-world divided into six regions filled with lore, items, enemies, bosses, and secrets. Unlike Sekiro, Elden Ring is very much an RPG that permits players to approach encounters in a style that matches their preferences, be it melee combat, magic, or even stealth. Character-building is an integral part of the Elden Ring experience, and the game’s commitment to player freedom greatly enhances its replayability and flexibility.
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Elden Ring is a no-brainer for any fan of FromSoftware’s previous releases. For those who tend to be put off by the studio’s penchant for difficult games, the 2022 title is slightly more accessible while still offering a significant challenge. It is still early days, but Elden Ring is a leading contender for the best game of 2022.
Cult Of The Lamb
Time to start a cult. Cult of the Lamb has a quirky sense of humor, a gorgeous art style, and addictive fast-paced combat. Massive Monster’s rogue-like puts players in the body of a lamb that decides to form a cult in honor of its god, a process that requires traveling to five regions in order to recruit animals. Once at the village, these followers can be assigned unique roles.
Cult of the Lamb is fun, and that is often enough the only thing a game needs to be. However, this title has more to offer than just a solid battle system. The story’s dark tone and the action’s tendency to inspire gore juxtaposition amusingly with the cute character models and charming visuals.
Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress has been available in some form or another since 2006, but the game only made its full debut in 2022. Consequently, the management sim is a new property with an extensive history and a dedicated fanbase that has played a role in shaping the game’s content and legacy. Dwarf Fortress is an influential indie project that casts a wide shadow over the medium, and an argument could be made that few construction games match the brilliance of Bay 12’s title.
Despite its long development cycle and simple pixel visuals, Dwarf Fortress does not feel dated in any significant way. Its open-ended gameplay, which involves managing a colony of dwarves as they try to set up roots in the world, is addictive, deep, and endlessly replayable. The game’s other modes are also worth checking out, particularly the roguelike Adventure.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
A blast from the past, Shredder’s Revenge is a love letter to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, particularly the franchise’s arcade gaming run during the ’90s. This modern beat ’em up pays homage to a classic like Turtles in Time while adding more than enough elements to set itself apart from everything that came before it. This is a great game on its own and not because it reminds people of fond memories from their childhood.
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This 2022 release features gorgeous pixel art graphics, seven playable characters (including April O’Neil), and a wide plethora of legendary TMNT villains overflowing with personality. All of these elements serve as the icing on the cake that is Shredder’s Revenge’s incredibly fun and challenging gameplay.
Pentiment
Obsidian’s Pentiment is a unique adventure game that revolves around player choice. Set in the 16th century, players must investigate a murder, and they are given the freedom to pursue leads as they see fit. Telling an ambitious narrative that stretches over more than two decades, Pentiment immerses players in a fascinating world filled with colorful three-dimensional characters.
Whodunits can produce some of the most nail-biting stories in fiction, but most games that fall within this genre have a fixed route in mind. Pentiment is an exception that permits players to decide who did it.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Monolith’s Xenoblade series has been knocking it out of the park for more than a decade, and the third numbered entry might be the franchise’s peak. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is an action JRPG set in a sci-fi world. Despite being on a relatively underpowered console, the game’s open-world is massive and packed to the brim with secondary content. This RPG can keep somebody busy for longer than 100 hours.
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Xenoblade Chronicles is known for throwing dozens of mechanics upon each other to the point of exhaustion. While by no means dumbed down, XC3 does a much better job than its predecessor of introducing its concepts to players in a timely manner, allowing the deep battle system to flourish more quickly.
Chained Echoes
Chained Echoes’ inspirations are not too difficult to figure out as the game feels ripped right out of the ’90s JRPG scene, in a good way. Along with beautiful 16-bit graphics, the RPG utilizes a turn-based combat system that will seem immediately familiar to anyone who grew up with titles from that decade; however, Chained Echoes is not happy to merely rethread worn-out ground. During battles, players need to keep an eye on a risk & reward meter, adding an element of strategy.
Another thing that sets Chained Echoes apart is its skill-based progression system. Rather than leveling up, characters grow more proficient as they reuse skills, which allows players to mold their party to fit specific roles. Narratively, the RPG hits the mark as well.
Horizon Forbidden West
Guerrilla Games’ highly anticipated sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn builds upon its predecessor’s foundations beautifully, offering a bigger and better package that opts to fine-tune rather than re-invent the wheel. Horizon Forbidden West continues Aloy’s story while dedicating a significant amount of time to building the rest of the world without relying too heavily on long passages of exposition. The main quest is better-paced than the first game’s story.
Filled with unforgettable sites of both natural and human-made origins, Horizon Forbidden West’s map is huge, gorgeous, and dense. The combat system is also a blast, giving Aloy access to a wide selection of tools to make battles more dynamic.
Rogue Legacy 2
After more than 18 months in early access, Rogue Legacy 2 was officially released on April 28, 2022, and the game was well worth the wait. Considering 2013’s Rogue Legacy was such a resounding success, the sequel needed to knock it out of the park to not feel like a disappointment. While Rogue Legacy 2 changes a number of things from its predecessor, including the class and weapon systems, it is still fundamentally the same core experience – and that is not a criticism.
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In this roguelike platformer, players take charge of multiple generations of warriors as they venture into dungeons. As experience is gained, new classes, weapons, and traits are unlocked, greatly impacting the gameplay.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Firaxis is well-known for XCOM, and the developer’s experience with tactical gameplay shines through in Marvel’s Midnight Suns. While incorporating some ideas from that alien franchise, the superhero-themed RPG is very much its own beast. For one, the battle system is built around cards that are randomly pulled from a deck before each battle. Although this might sound needlessly complicated, it is implemented well and allows the combat to expand naturally as the campaign progresses.
Outside of battles, Marvel’s Midnight Suns dips its toes into social sims. Cast as a new hero called the Hunter, players can develop friendships with iconic Marvel figures like Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Ghost Rider. These sequences provide a nice break from combat, even though the latter represents the game at its best.
Immortality
Immortality is not for everyone, and some might even suggest this project does not qualify as a game. Marissa Marcel, an actress, has gone missing, and the only way to solve the case is to piece together clues by watching clips from three of her movies. Each scene can be paused and interacted with, allowing players to explore the people or items that appear in the flick.
Essentially, Immortality is a puzzle-detective game with a unique presentation, very good acting, and a strong sense of mystery. An interactive film lives and dies by its story, and this release knocks it out of the park in that department.
Tunic
One of 2022’s most pleasant surprises so far, Tunic is a delightful (and challenging) throwback to classic The Legend of Zelda games. Even though it takes a fair few ideas from Nintendo’s iconic franchise, this indie game still succeeds in carving out its own identity, mainly through its robust combat system.
A confident adventure that expertly blends exploration, puzzle-solving, and battles, Tunic is a rewarding experience from start to end. The game resists the urge to hand-hold players, largely leaving them to their own devices; consequently, the early hours can be slightly frustrating, but things come together quite nicely after that point.
Kirby And The Forgotten Land
It took a while but the pink puff finally has a proper 3D adventure, and it was well worth the wait. Kirby and the Forgotten Land translates the franchise’s standard template into a wider landscape, providing all the copy abilities and charm synonymous with this pretty consistent license.
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Although not without its flaw, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is beautiful and fun, the latter of which is arguably the most important thing a game can be. Hopefully, the series continues down this route as this is a stellar first attempt at a full-scale 3D campaign.
Nobody Saves The World
An action RPG indie release, Nobody Saves the World has a pretty simple structure: complete dungeons to unlock more dungeons. Using procedurally generated levels, the game establishes a solid and satisfying loop, one that is enhanced by a deep transformation system that allows the titular Nobody to take on 18 different forms. All of these come with their own abilities, and players will need to try out most of these forms to clear out the dungeons.
Nobody Saves the World is replayable and accessible, in the sense that it is very easy to jump into the campaign for a quick session. 2022 has certainly produced bigger games than this title, but few are actively superior.
Neon White
Neon White is all about speed. Split into short missions, players are tasked with killing everyone en route to an endpoint. While this might sound simple, the twist is that cards are needed to execute actions, and each one can either be used as a weapon or a move. With finite options, players must carefully decide when, where, and how to use a card in order to shave a few seconds from their completion time.
Neon White is one of those titles that can be hard to put down as the core gameplay loop is nearly flawless. Although the story is polarizing, the visuals are pretty great.
AI: The Somnium Files – Nirvana Initiative
The sequel to 2019’s AI: The Somnium Files does not deviate too far from its predecessor’s blueprint, a decision that pays off beautifully since the first game was and still is fantastic. Nirvana Initiative delivers another tightly scripted murder mystery, this time revolving around a spree of deaths known as the Half Body killings. Told from two perspectives, Nirvana Initiative weaves a tale filled with intrigue, shocking turns, and, most importantly, memorable characters.
While primarily experienced as a visual novel, Nirvana Initiative includes a couple of puzzle sections that task players with traversing the minds of suspects in search of clues. These passages are enjoyable enough in their own right and serve as a welcome change of pace whenever they come up.
Total War: Warhammer 3
The sequel to 2017’s Total War: Warhammer 2, the 2022 entry caps off Creative Assembly’s trilogy in a grand fashion. Warhammer 3 delivers a complex and epic campaign that should hit the mark for longtime fans of the series.
Total War is not the easiest license to get into for newcomers, but Warhammer 3 features one of the franchise’s finest tutorials, making the title more welcoming to people unaccustomed to real-time strategy or tactics games. With a lengthy single-player campaign and a robust multiplayer scene, Warhammer 3 is the full package.
Halo Infinite
The debut of a new Halo game is always a cause for celebration, but there was some trepidation surrounding Infinite due to the franchise’s divisive recent entries. Although not a flawless game, Halo Infinite is a significant step in the right direction for Microsoft’s legendary FPS shooter, with the single-player campaign being a substantial improvement over Halo 5: Guardians’ story.
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The free-to-play multiplayer retains the core gameplay loop that has cemented Halo as a trailblazer in the online scene for roughly two decades. It comes with a few neat twists, but it doesn’t depart too greatly from what has worked for the series.
In comparison, the campaign is a mix of the familiar and the new. In the main story beats, players still control Master Chief in a string of linear levels with tight and precise gameplay. The “new” comes in the form of open-world sections that split up the linear missions; these segments allow players to explore Zeta Halo.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope
An unexpected sequel to a surprising success story, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope proved that Kingdom Battle was not just a happy accident. The Nintendo Switch exclusive is a turn-based strategy game that loosens the grid-based shackles synonymous with some entries in the genre, allowing its combat to seem more free-flowing than its predecessor’s system. Sparks of Hope’s improved gameplay goes beyond just its battles since the game also emphasizes customization and encourages players to try different builds.
While the story is nothing to write home about, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope gets by on the strength of its iconic characters. Nintendo’s legendary mascots bounce hilariously off Ubisoft’s Rabbids, bringing out the best of both worlds.
Forza Horizon 5
By this point, it has become a tradition for Playground Games to release the best arcade racer on the market whenever they drop a new Forza Horizon. This time around, Mexico serves as the Horizon crew’s sandbox, and the country has proven to be the ideal choice due to its diversity in locations.
Forza Horizon 5’s huge map comes packed with all sorts of challenges, ranging from standard races to death-defying jumps and the gloriously over-the-top showcase events. With a huge collection of cars to unlock and an active ecosystem, Forza Horizon 5 will probably be the definitive arcade racer until its sequel releases.
Metroid Dread
Following a forgettable 2010s, Metroid wasted little time in getting the ball rolling for the next decade. Metroid Dread is a welcome return to the influential franchise’s 2D roots, and it barely sets a foot wrong. At its core, this is a “classic” Metroidvania, one that expertly blends exploration, combat, and flashes of storytelling to craft a constantly excellent campaign.
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With Metroid Prime 4 in the pipeline, the 2020s could be Samus Aran’s decade, something that has been a long time coming.
Psychonauts 2
Fans had to wait a long time for a sequel to 2005’s Psychonauts but few will argue that Double Fine failed to meet expectations. Raz is welcomed into the Psychonauts as an intern, a role that gives him free access to explore Motherlobe, the sequel’s impressive hub area. With the identity of the mastermind behind Truman’s abduction still unknown, Raz sets out to piece together the Psychonauts’ history.
Psychonauts 2 is a rare example of a platformer with a prominent and effective storyline. The gameplay is not ground-breaking, but Raz’s Psi-Powers allow for some freedom on how areas are approached. The levels themselves are expansive, creative, and visually mind-blowing.
Bayonetta 3
Bayonetta 3 brings back PlatinumGames’ beloved Umbra Witch, and she is not taking this journey alone. Boasting the developer’s trademark hack and slash combat, Bayonetta 3 stacks mechanic upon mechanic as it throws a wide variety of weapons, summons, and ideas at the player. Although this franchise lives and dies by its gameplay, this entry’s story also goes for broke, delivering lengthy cutscenes that piece together a multidimensional narrative that seeks to serve as a fitting conclusion to Bayonetta’s narrative (although a sequel should be coming).
Bayonetta 3 is the easiest game in Platinum’s trilogy, which might be disappointing to some fans. Nevertheless, there are very few hack and slash titles on the market that come close to matching this release’s brilliance; consequently, Bayonetta 3 is arguably the best game of the 2020s in its respective genre.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Although Demon’s Souls and Returnal came close, Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was arguably the first PS5 game to truly come across as a next-generation project. Gorgeously animated and making good use of the DualSense controller’s features, Rift Apart is a blockbuster of an action-platformer that delivers thrilling gunplay, precise movement, and lovable characters.
Fans of Sony’s long-running series will get a kick out of this new entry, while those entering the Ratchet & Clank universe through Rift Apart might feel tempted to go back and play the previous games.
Monster Hunter Rise
Following the success of Monster Hunter: World, Capcom opted to cater to the Nintendo Switch’s audience for its next two releases: Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. The latter spin-off should delight fans of creature collecting games, while the former is a fine-tuned entry in the franchise’s main series.
Monster Hunter Rise retains the enjoyable gameplay loop that put the series on the map, and the combat is as strong as ever. The Switch game is also the most accessible entry in the mainline series.
It Takes Two
Specifically designed with co-op in mind, It Takes Two is an ambitious platformer that constantly shakes things up throughout its 10-hour campaign. Taking control of two parents who are trapped in dolls, players have to guide Cody and May through a wild journey that seeks to test and heal their fractured relationship.
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It Takes Two’s story is satisfying on an emotional level, while the gameplay is precise and evolves throughout the campaign as new abilities are unlocked in each chapter. At the moment, It Takes Two is the best 2020s co-op game.
Half-Life: Alyx
It might not have been the Half-Life release people have been anticipating since 2007, but Alyx is comfortably among the best VR games of all time. Set prior to the events of the second game and featuring Alyx Vance as the protagonist, Half-Life: Alyx is a fully realized entry in the iconic first-person shooter franchise. The game makes expert use of virtual reality to completely immerse players in City 17, and the controls are precise and easy to master.
Half-Life: Alyx is the type of game that justifies the hype surrounding virtual reality. Hopefully, the 2020s will be filled with VR games that match Valve’s success.
Hades
Supergiant Games’ Hades is a roguelike that utilizes the subgenre’s conventions to enhance its story. The game finds Hades’ son, Zagreus, trying to make the trip from the Underworld to Mount Olympus, a journey that entails taking on a number of the Greek Pantheon’s powerful warriors.
Hades’ combat is frantic, smooth, and flexible; each weapon frees up a world of possibilities and playstyles, magnifying the game’s replayability. While roguelikes are not generally known for their narratives, Hades’ story and characters develop beautifully as Zagreus repeatedly tries to leave behind the Underworld. All of these things combine to make Hades one of the best games of the 2020s.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator is not for everyone. However, if someone is searching for an ambitious flight sim that offers the entire planet as its map, then they can’t possibly find anything better than Microsoft Flight Simulator.
This title is jaw-dropping in its scale; while the sim does come with ready-made flight plans that players can take on, pilots are also free to plot their own course and travel the globe. Visually stunning and mechanically complex, Microsoft Flight Simulator is a reason to own an Xbox Series X or a high-end PC.
The Last Of Us 2
Perhaps the most highly anticipated sequel of recent years, The Last of Us 2 is a challenging experience in terms of gameplay and narrative. Lasting well over 20 hours and featuring multiple protagonists, The Last of Us 2 moves away from the core relationship that defined its beloved predecessor, opting to focus on a story dealing with revenge, grief, and self-destruction.
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The gameplay is visceral and, at times, discomforting, two traits that complement this universe’s grounded and unforgiving nature.
Doom Eternal
Id Software’s sequel to 2016’s Doom didn’t have to do anything but deliver more of the same; however, Doom Eternal went the extra mile. While the gunplay remains largely unchanged since there is no way to improve on perfection, Doom Eternal expands Doomguy’s movement options, including a dash and the introduction of the Meat Hook.
An aggressive FPS that manages to make the player feel extremely powerful and simultaneously vulnerable, Doom Eternal is a cathartic masterpiece with few peers in its genre.
Dreams
A slightly different entry, Dreams makes the cut due to the potential it represents. Media Molecule crafted a system that takes the process of game development and opens it up to a wider audience. While the majority of the currently available games are little more than extended demos, Dreams represents a shift towards accessibility in an industry that can be very difficult to break into, particularly on consoles.
Dreams should remain relevant for the entire decade, and its games will only improve as users master the system’s tools.
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