Games of the Year 2022: Xenoblade Chronicles 3

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Xenoblade Chronicles 3 blew me away in a completely unsuspecting way.  I love a good JRPG but had previously bounced hard off of the first two games in this series.  This one looked like it had some good quality of life improvements and the story hook was more interesting than the previous games, so a few friends were able to convince me to give it a shot.

I'm so glad they did.  After about 70 hours and rolling credits, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is currently sitting as my runner up game of the year right behind Elden Ring:

  1. Elden Ring
  2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
  3. FFXIV Endwalker
  4. Citizen Sleeper
  5. The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
  6. Horizon Forbidden West
  7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
  8. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
  9. Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition
  10. Cult of the Lamb
  11. Neon White
  12. Halo Infinite
  13. Vampire Survivors
  14. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
  15. Playdate Season 1
  16. Immortality
  17. Cyberpunk 2077
  18. Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels DLC
  19. Triangle Strategy
  20. Mario Strikers: Battle League
  21. Multiversus Pre-Season
  22. Stray
  23. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
  24. Nobody Saves the World
  25. Unpacking
  26. Tinykin
  27. Total War: Warhammer 3
  28. Tunic
I loved the story, combat system, class system, open world exploration, setting, premise, and so much more about this game.  I'm not sure if I'll go back to the previous entries that I already bounced from, but I'm definitely a convert and will be excitedly awaiting any future Xenoblade Chronicles games they make.

My running GOTY list isn't intended to be full on reviews, otherwise all my thoughts about this one would take up way too many words.

Instead, I'll just say... if you're a JRPG fan, I can easily recommend this one to you as a game I absolutely loved!

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