2022 was a bit of an adventure this year, in terms of gaming. I feel like even as long as this list is, there's probably some that I've forgotten about already. I don't normally play this many games, but... I needed some distractions.
Super Nintendo
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Easily one of the most nostalgic games on this list and one of the first games I remember ever specifically asking for by name. Perhaps if the game had been released today, I wouldn't consider babysitting a screaming child my idea of a good time, but the visual presentation, the music, the controls... it all has such a charm to it that I think every single Yoshi game released subsequently has simply failed to even attempt to match up to it. Still a great game, honestly.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time: Another very nostalgic one, and one that can be completed in a couple hours at most. Just a fun beat-em-up that I used to play with my family all the time. The music is still fantastic.
Chrono Trigger: This is a game that I'd been meaning to play for awhile. I didn't expect it to be as cute and upbeat as it was, but I really enjoyed it. I can see why it's considered one of if not the best RPG's not just on the Super Nintendo but of all time.
Final Fantasy VI: I was reluctant to start this one, since I already had so many RPG games on my list this year, but I'm happy that I did. It's easily become one of my favorite games on the system. I remember a few criticisms levied towards the game along the lines of "big and epic for the sake of being big and epic" and I... simply don't agree. While the scope of the game is indeed quite large--and perhaps fourteen protagonists is a tad excessive--the core of the narrative still largely centers on small, intimate interactions, rather than enormous, exciting quests. I wouldn't want every Final Fantasy entry to follow in this game's footsteps, but I think they did an excellent job with what they did manage to accomplish.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: This is another game that has been on my bucket list for years that I can't possibly fathom why only recently did I get around to it. I think
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is the slightly better game, but I still enjoyed this one quite a lot.
Mega Drive
Phantasy Star II: Extremely grindy even for the standards of a typical turn-based JRPG, but it's also one that requires a greater deal of strategy to stand a chance even at higher levels. The localization leaves a lot to be desired, but I still enjoyed my time with it.
Phantasy Star IV: Generations of Doom: I skipped the third entry because it's bad. Anyway, Phantasy Star IV is easily the best RPG on the Mega Drive and one of the best RPG's of the 16-bit era in general. The visual presentation, the music, the battle system. It's challenging, but is extremely fun. The localization, while rough in places, is also considerably better than the previous entries as well.
PlayStation 1
Dino Crisis 2: The original
Dino Crisis is perhaps my favorite horror game of all time (as someone who doesn't normally enjoy horror games), but I knew even before I played that the second was not going to live up to those expectations. While the original could be accurately condensed to the summary of "Resident Evil but with dinosaurs," its sequel is a more linear, action-oriented game. For what it's worth, it's fine for what it is. I had fun. I hate Dylan, though. Seriously, someone get the man a proper hairdresser.
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile: Oh my gooooooosh Klonoa just oozes with charm. It's not the most competently put together game and has aged in some aspects, but it's so easy to look past its flaws with the host of cute characters, story, and music and sound design that are just an all around delight. I really had a lot of fun with it.
Final Fantasy IX: I have a bit of a complicated history with the PlayStation Final Fantasy games, which I'll spare you for now. But to make a long story short, this was my first Final Fantasy game, and while I enjoyed it at the time, I expected to return to the game, be nostalgic for a bit, but then concede that it hasn't aged terribly well. But instead, I was emotionally invested from beginning to end and it is now in one of my top-ten favorite games of all time.
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete: The localization for this game is... not good. But it's still a very good game. Probably one of the best on the system that doesn't have Final Fantasy in the title.
Threads of Fate: It's cute. As far as Action (non-turn based) RPG's go, it's kind of mediocre, but it's worth going through once. I love Mint.
Grandia: It's pretty good! I think the second disc is a bit of a let down compared to the first one, but it's still an overall great game with fun characters. However, the PlayStation version is the worst version on the basis of visual presentation alone.
Game Boy Advance
Final Fantasy IV: There seems to be a bit of divide in the fandom between this game and the aforementioned Final Fantasy VI. They're both good games, but I enjoyed VI a little bit more.
Nintendo DS
Final Fantasy III (3D remake): It's okay! Nothing about it is bad, but nothing about it is particularly good, either.
Nintendo Switch
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: I love the Ace Attorney series, but I've felt that it has consistently failed since the forth entry to reach the heights of the original trilogy. For that reason,
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a such a breath of fresh air. I still think it doesn't reach quite the same emotional levels of the trilogy, but nearly every single case is fantastic. And the character development and world building is some of the best I've seen in awhile.
Metroid Dread: Very good! Definitely worth the fifteen year wait, though I admit I'm not entirely sure what exactly--beyond visual presentation and music--they couldn't have achieved on the DS, or even the 3DS if they had to delay it for so long.
NieR:Automata - The End of YoRHa Edition: One of my favorite games of all time. A game that, in my opinion, sort of loses its power if you only view its larger text, which I understand can be a point of criticism in its own right. I'm also not a particularly big fan of Adam and Eve, though Square Enix villains in general are always hit-or-miss for me. It's a game that is emotionally devastating at points, but I felt strangely good at the end.
Bravely Default II: I was actually surprised when I finished playing this game and found that it was rather divisive among the fandom. There are many criticisms towards the game that I do more or less agree with, but as to the extent that they weaken the experience is where I'm conflicted. It's not the best RPG to ever grace the Nintendo Switch, but it's still a very fun--if a tad generic--classic JRPG experience.
PC
Final Fantasy VII: So... have you ever had the experience where a piece of media will be so lauded and praised that it becomes absolutely impossible that it will live up to the expectations set before you? This is the exact opposite of the problem I had with Final Fantasy VII. As I stated previously, I have a bit of a difficult history with the PSX Final Fantasy games, but this was one I played a bit as a child, but complications ensued. By the time I became an adult, the narrative around the game began to shift, and people began to describe the game as criminally overrated and actually mediocre when held up to even the slightest scrutiny. Not helped was the fact that I had watched the Advent Children movie and played Dirge of Cerberus and, because those two things were (in my opinion) not very good, that anything associated with Final Fantasy VII was also not very good. So when I finally sat down to replay this game after many, many years, I expected to enjoy it as a turn-based RPG, but find it otherwise unexceptional.
But no, it's sincerely a great game. No, it hasn't aged well, of course. And that snowboarding mini game was abysmal even in 1997 and is even worse in 2022. But the plot, the characters, the Materia system, the emotional impact of it all... I couldn't believe how much I was enjoying it. Like Final Fantasy IX above, it's quickly become one of my absolute favorite games, and I can't believe I had convinced myself that it wasn't deserving of that praise for so long. Even its weaker moments are filled with so much heart and sincerity that I can't really hate them. I still find most supplemental material related to FFVII to be, at best, mediocre. But the original game is just... so special.
Final Fantasy VIII: I want to say that it's a decent game, but every time I try to talk about it, I find something else I remember hating about it.
Deltarune (Chapters 1 & 2): Like the original Undertale, these two chapters are great. Wonderful sprite work, infectious music, hilarious dialogue, and a plot that leaves me hungry for more.
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure: It's cute, but I honestly struggle to think of who I could recommend this game to. The controls are an absolute mess and the visual presentation is bland, but it has its charms for people who still look fondly back at PlayStation 2 era games. The music is really quite nice, though.
I wish this music would play every time I went shopping in real life.
" for ones in-between.
When I get around to Rescue Team DX I might try for further completion, but I didn't feel like risking it here.
= beat but didn't 100%, 
= repeat (something I've beat before)
