3 Up, 3 Down – December 2022
December ended up being a really good month for video game releases, especially considering that almost nothing comes out in the weeks surrounding Christmas. Most of the major releases scored in the 70-80 range. And there was a larger volume of games that had good, but far from great scores. The Three Best (and Worst) Video Games from December 2022 are:
The Good
Chained Echoes
***click here for our review***
Chained Echoes is a JRPG, made by a one-person development team, that is full of homage to genre classics from the Super Nintendo and PS1. It has lots of gameplay and interface modernizations, but its core is very traditional. Our reviewer clouded their review by writing “Hopefully Chained Echoes is a success, and we can see future projects from its creator.” Any fan of JRPGs has to play this unexpected masterpiece.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
***click here for our review***
It turns out that a Marvel-themed version of X-COM is a sight to behold. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a tactical RPG, with lots of upgrades to its X-COM base. The narrative is really strong and it’s fun to create your own Marvel hero. It takes a while for the game to get going, but once it does, it becomes incredibly addictive. If you’re a fan of the gameplay, our reviewer found that “fighting alongside Marvel heroes never gets old.”
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition
***click here for our review***
The Witcher 3 is one of the most beloved video games of the last game generation. When it was announced that PlayStation and Xbox owners would receive free PS5 and Xbox Series upgrades, we all assumed that the differences would just be minor graphical and performance adjustments. It turns out that those adjustments are massive, and there’s even a plethora of mechanical upgrades! But maybe most importantly, there’s new DLC content based on the Netflix Witcher series. Our reviewer concluded : The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt update breathes new, exciting life into a genuine classic.”