10 Best Video Games Of 2022

2. God Of War Ragnarok

Certain risky choices with pacing and overly hand-holdy tutorial NPCs aside, God of War Ragnarok is the sort of game that elevates the entire medium of gaming with its presence.

The sort of narrative that fundamentally means more to those who've grown up with 17 years of Kratos already, and a continued miraculous reframing of one of gaming's most one-dimensional characters, into someone we're genuinely rooting for, and love playing as more than ever.

The entire first half is a carefully played hand, designed to make you long for that key relationship between Kratos and son Atreus to return. Once this finally happens, Ragnarok's framing of fate and destiny belies a meaty dissection of manhood; fatherhood, teaching, trust, forgiveness, and exploring that parental notion of letting go, just hoping you did your best.

Other games on this list have higher consistent bars of quality, but God of War Ragnarok's character moments, boss battles, narrative peaks and what this story means to its own lore, create a slew of individual scenes that are themselves, the greatest highs of the year.