Now that we are in the new year, I wanted to look at some of the upcoming games that are scheduled to release this year in 2022. I am keeping it to games that are coming out in the early part of 2022 since I wanted to avoid the obvious picks they everyone is going to pick like the sequel to Breath of the Wild or God of War: Ragnarok. So with those parameters out of the way, let us look at some games that are gonna kick off 2022!
Windjammers 2 (1/20/22) PS4, Switch, Xbox One (Game Pass), PC
I might be more hyped for this then anything else on this list just because I never thought they would make a sequel to Windjammers. For people who don’t know (and that is most people) Windjammers is a Neo Geo arcade game that is a mixture of Pong and Ultimate Frisbee. You choose from six playable characters, all have a different speed/power rating and their own special throws.
After the original was finally ported to modern consoles a few years ago, a new one finally got developed by Dotemu, who has done a lot of port work for other classic Data East and Neo Geo titles in the past. This sequel adds four new characters to the original six, plus more fighting game style things like EX moves and more in depth attributes.
Windjammers is a great, easy multiplayer game to pick up and I am so excited to finally get an updated version with new stuff.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus (1/28/22) Nintendo Switch
This game is a prime example of something that I don’t think will be good, but I am excited for it to come out anyway. This is the first Pokémon game to deviate from the tried and true formula since Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for GameCube. In Arceus, it seems to be a more open world and you are working on building the first Pokédex.
From the trailers that they have put out, this game has already been getting comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I don’t think it will be ground breaking the way that game was and I don’t think it looks amazing. The reason I am anticipating this is that hopefully Pokémon Legends: Arceus does well enough and is okay enough to warrant a second stab at it and shows GameFreak that they should try new things.
Sifu (2/8/22) PS4, PS5, PC (via Epic Games Store)
One of my standouts from Sony’s State of Plays in 2021, Sifu is being developed by Sloclap, who were the developers of multiplayer martial arts game Absolver. It follows the story of a kung fu student who is going after the five assassins who murdered his family. It has a very interesting premise in that if you die, you get resurrected and aged a specific number of years, till the talisman that you wear eventually runs out of magic and you die permanently. It sounds like it is going to have some rouge-like elements to it, like bringing skills from run to run and having a “detective board” to help solve the mystery. From what other people have said that played the preview event in late 2021, I feel like this could be a big indie breakout hit of 2022.
OlliOlli World (2/8/22) PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC
This is the third OlliOlli game and the first one to do it in a 3D art style. OlliOlli was one of the first games that I played on PS4 when it launched. It did such a good job of making the skateboarding through levels interesting and easy to learn but hard to master.
I am super interested how the formula for OlliOlli gets updated and changed with the move to 3D. It seems like there is going to be some new physics that they can do now that they are not doing pixel art anymore. It also seems that the new 3D art style is inspired by Jet Set Radio.
Grid: Legends (2/25/22) PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC
After F1 2021 made my 2021 Top Ten GOTY list, I have been so excited for Codemasters next diving game Grid: Legends. I have never played a Grid game before but some of the new stuff they seem to be trying seems interesting. One of the new things is a new version of a story mode similar to the F1 Netflix series Drive to Survive, called Driven to Glory. They are using the same technology that Disney + show The Mandalorian to make virtual sets.
If Codemasters can nail the story, I know they can make the racing fun then this could be a fun racing game different enough from the more sim style racers like Gran Turismo 7 and the next installment of Forza.