It’s fair to say that Microsoft are losing one key battleground in this generation’s console war: exclusives. Xbox Game Pass is a huge selling point, and has revolutionised the way that millions of people experience games, but even with this wealth of content there’s relatively few experiences that you can’t get elsewhere or that won’t traipse onto rival consoles a few months later. Things should start to change in 2023, but for now, many Xbox owners will have spent the year playing games that their Nintendo or Sony-owning chums can too.
That’s not to say that there haven’t been console exclusives, and the close of the year in particular has seen the arrival of some high-profile titles including comedy shooter High on Life. It’s missed out on a spot here though, with a deserved winner taking the cup thanks to its innovative gameplay and unique visual style.
The elevator pitch for Pentiment must have sounded like a video game reboot of Cadfael, a murder mystery that takes place across the decades, but set in medieval times where you didn’t have the crutches of modern police work. Instead, the job of solving this crime, and the mysteries behind other events that befall the small Bavarian town of Tassing, fall to Andreas Maler, a character that starts the game as an apprentice in a scriptorium.
This character background that goes hand in hand with the game’s wonderful art direction, taking the style and palette of medieval illuminated manuscripts and animating the characters within. There’s superb authenticity to illuminated manuscripts here, giving this game an utterly distinctive look and feel.
And there’s a similarly distinctive tone to the stories that the game tells and how you engage with them. You’re forced to make decisions while investigating with time restrictions on your hunt for clues before you need to reach a conclusion, and long-lasting ramifications to who you decide should be implicated for the crimes. You’re not given a right or wrong answer, leaving you with an ethical and moral quandary. Even if this year had been packed with bigger budget AAA first party titles, the manner of its storytelling would have kept Pentiment right in the running, and as it is, it’s our Best Xbox Game of 2022.
– Stefan L
As Dusk Falls – Runner Up
Story telling and freedom of choice is increasingly important in video games, and maybe it’s because I’ve been stung by poor examples of the narrative adventure in the past that I warily stepped into the world of As Dusk Falls. What I ended up experiencing was a gripping tale that hooked me from start to finish. A tale with real consequences that made you look within yourself for the choices you make in life, it’s a real thought provoker and a story well executed. There’s no illusion of choice here, you are in control and it’s your story to craft. The guys over at Telltale can learn a thing or two from INTERIOR/NIGHT, who have definitely nailed this genre, hands down.
– Nick P
Grounded – Runner Up
All children of the 80s know that Honey I Shrunk the Kids was a cinematic juggernaut. Its premise of miniaturised children cast out into the now-terrifying landscape of their backyard was a much-lauded spin on sci-fi staples, revealing an alien world that’s incredibly near at hand. Grounded is basically the digital rendition of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, without all of that pesky licensing malarky to deal with.
This child-friendly survival game sees you trying to stay alive despite an array of huge, and often slightly sickening, insects and bugs who seem to dislike the very sight of you, almost like they recognise you from that time you stamped on a few of their cousins. The fact it boasts cross-play and cross-save with the PC version is an excellent boon, and whether you tackle it on your own or with others, it remains an awesome adventure.
Runners Up (in alphabetical order)
- High on Life
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- Scorn
