Video game specialist on Couleur 3, Stéphane Laurenceau gives us his top releases for 2022. Whether French, English and even Swiss, it is above all independent productions that have seduced him this year.
“Elden Ring”
The prize for the biggest release of the year 2022 is attributed to a very inspired action game that offers a feeling of freedom and impressive graphics. Steeped in role-playing, “Elden Ring” takes place in a universe ofheroic fantasy, in which the player takes on the role of a fallen demigod who returns to the Underworld Realm to become Lord of Elden. A feeling of freedom and impressive game design.
Carried by the Japanese studios From Software, and the pen of Georges Martin, the author of “Game Of Thrones”, this game is a real phenomenon which obtained an average of 96 out of 100 on the review aggregator MetaCritic and which has was the winner of four prizes at the Game Awards held in early December, including the top prize for Game of the Year.
Without being particularly complicated, “Elden Ring” nevertheless remains one of the most difficult games to play that we can find.
> To watch, the trailer of “Elden Ring”:
>> To read: “Elden Ring”, a beautiful and very demanding video game
Disponible sur PlayStation, Xbox, PC, PEGI 16.
“God of war Ragnarok”
Second big favorite of the year, one of the most impactful sequels that we can imagine. Four years after the release of the fourth chapter in the “God of War” video game series, the story of “God of War: Ragnarök” picks up where it left off. Developed by the Californian studio Santa Monica, this episode mixes cinema and video games through spectacular graphics and elaborate narration.
At The Game Awards, the game received six awards, including Best Story and Best Action Adventure Game. “God of war Ragnarok” is nevertheless intended for an informed public who is used to holding a joypad.
>> Watch: The trailer for the game “God of War: Ragnarök”
>> To read: “God of War: Ragnarök”, a video game with spectacular battles and scenery
Available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, PEGI 18
“Tinykin”
“Tinykin” is a small 3D platform game developed by the Montpellier team Splashteam. We embody Milo, a young miniaturized scientist who finds himself in a big house. He’ll have to get help from zany little characters called tinykins to find his way back.
Very pretty and very simple to play, “Tinykin” offers reflection and a lot of exploration.
Available on all consoles and on PC, PEGI 7
“Stray”
First game from the French BlueTwelve Studio, “Stray” allows you to embody a lost cat in a futuristic city whose only inhabitants are robots who no longer know why they are there and why there are no longer any human beings.
Visually, “Stray” is a splendid game with very little action. The story is fun and the soundtrack is wonderful. A real hit when it was released, “Stray” was crowned best independent game at the Game Awards.
Available on Playstation 4 and 5 and on PC, PEGI 12
“Sifu”
The second game from independent French studio Sloclap, “Sifu” is a third-person action game set in the world of Kung-Fu. In this fighting game, the player embodies a young apprentice who must avenge the death of his master, who died in battle.
Visually speaking, the bias, which is directly inspired by cinema, is excellent and the system of confrontations very original. The game is nevertheless demanding on the fingers and requires perseverance and concentration.
And the icing on the cake, an alternative ending is triggered if you know how to be lenient with the nasty end-of-level villains.
Available on Nintendo, Playstation 4 and 5, PEGI 16
“Weird West”
“Weird West” is an action, adventure and strategy game still produced by French people, including the founders of the Lyon studios Arkane, Raphael Colantonio and Julien Roby, which is a guarantee of quality.
A well-written indie game with well-oiled mechanics, “Weird West” is played from above and takes players to the American West among cowboys, bounty hunters, vampires and werewolves.
Available everywhere except Nintendo Switch, PEGI 16
“Far: Changing Tides” et “The Wandering Village”
Two Swiss productions find their place in this top of the year: the excellent “Far: Changing Tides” and “The Wandering Village”.
The first, signed by the Zurich studio Okomotive, is a contemplative game in the form of a dreamlike journey that allows you to discover the remains of a submerged civilization, in the company of a boat.
>> To see: presentation of the game “Far: Changing Tides”
Also from Zurich, but from the Stray Fawn studio, “The Wandering Village” is a management and strategy game that sends players on the back of a huge creature, in order to build a colony there and learn to live in symbiosis with nature. ‘animal. A very original game.
“Far Changing Tides”, disponible sur PC, Nintendo, Playstation 4 et 5, Steam et Xbox, PEGI 3
“The Wandering Village”, disponible sur PC et Xbox, PEGI 3
“Two Point Campus”
We stay on the independent with “Two Point Campus”, a university simulator developed by English. A game full of humor in which we have fun with dozens of variables such as: teachers’ salaries, training budgets, purchases for the rest room, heating in the dormitories… All very well integrated into this game that has 12 scenarios.
Available everywhere, PEGI 3
“Grounded”
Another game that is out of the ordinary, “Grounded”, which offers a video game version of the movie “Honey, I shrunk the kids.” A collaborative survival game that propels a gang of teenagers to the bottom of the garden and which, unlike many games of this type, does not leave us in the lurch, without any scenario.
On the program: a very great adventure during which the player will learn to combine resources to defend themselves against red ants, spiders, and everything that hangs around in the garden. A game in a very well done “cartoon” spirit.
>> To see: presentation of the video game “Grounded”
Available on PC and XBox, PEGI 12
“Plague Tale Requiem”
And finally “Plague Tale Requiem”, a game in which you play a young woman and her little brother who fight against rats during the Black Death, in a violent medieval France.
This French adventure narrative game, which garnered a salvo of good reviews when it was released, offers superb settings, beautiful writing and original mechanics.
Available everywhere. PEGI 18
On-air subject: Stéphane Laurenceau
Web adaptation: Andréanne Quartier-la-Tente