Each year the PSU staff takes some time to look back on the previous year’s gaming, and 2022 delivered more than its fair share of amazing titles on PS5 and PS4.
Here is our full list of all the categories from our individual Game Of The Year 2022 Awards posts, and all the winners and runner-ups.
PSU’s Game Of The Year 2022 Awards
Game Of The Year
It was a close call, but Sony Santa Monica Studio’s God of War Ragnarok bagged the GoTY gong at PSU for 2022! With its scrumptious visuals and compelling story, Kratos and Atreus’ latest adventure is a winner on every level, from the crunchy combat loop to its unforgettable cast of Norse-flavoured characters. Simply put, God of War Ragnarok is everything a sequel should be, and more.
You can read our full God of War Ragnarok review here.
Runner-Up: Elden Ring
Best Indie
The cat-focused narrative adventure was truly able to capture so many small details any cat-loving person would appreciate, on top of telling an emotionally charged story anyone playing could understand.
And to make things even more interesting it all happened within a cyberpunk dystopia, absent of any humans.
Make sure to check out our review of Stray and find out why we loved it so much.
Runner-Up: OlliOlli World
Best FPS Game
Infinity Ward’s return to the fray is this year’s top choice for truly reinvigorating the franchise after a much poorer showing with the last mainline COD. The improved multiplayer, on top of a whole new Warzone 2.0 make this year’s Call Of Duty a tough one to beat.
Runner-Up: Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
Best Racing Game
It somewhat flew under the radar due to lack of marketing, but Need for Speed Unbound is an absolute corker of a racer and ultimately our winner for Best Racing Game of 2022. Featuring a striking aesthetic and super-slick driving mechanics, Criterion Games‘ adrenaline-pumping racer is a must-have for any fans of the genre or the series as a whole.
Read our Need for Speed Unbound review here.
Runners-Up: Gran Turismo 7, F1 2022
Best Platformer
It was Sonic who took the crown for Best Platformer with the open world Sonic Frontiers. Yes, it takes the series to new heights, but the Blue Blue’s platforming roots are very much still the beating heart of the experience.
You can read our Sonic Frontiers review to find out more details.
Runners-Up: Sonic Origins Collection, Salt & Sacrifice
Best Action/Adventure Game
There was a bit of a ruck between the top contenders, but in the end, Kratos emerged victorious – God of War Ragnarok took the crown.
You can read our God of War Ragnarok review here.
Runners-Up: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Horizon Forbidden West
Best Horror Game
For 2022, it was Signalis that came onto the scene and absolutely reinvigorated a love in retro-inspired horror, while being one of the most atmospheric titles to appear in the industry in a long time.
Make sure to check out our review to find out what we loved about Signalis so much.
Runner-Up: The Last Of Us Part I
Best Fighting Game
It’s more than fair to say that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge caught players by surprise with just how quickly it brought everyone back to the arcade and those old days of side-scrolling brawls that inspired Tribute Game’s latest.
Shredder’s Revenge is able to capture the feeling of the older titles fans loved while still bringing the side-scrolling beat-em-up fighting genre very much into the modern day ecosystem, with new playable characters, more graphically detailed animations, and plenty quality of life improvements from the old arcade days.
And while you can have loads of fun with Shredder’s Revenge on your own, everything just gets way more hectic and fun when you add in more players to the mix
All of which makes it no surprise that Shredder’s Revenge is the PSU team’s choice for 2022’s Best Fighting Game.
Make sure to check out our review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge to find out what we liked about it so much.
Runner-Up: MultiVersus
Best Role-Playing Game
The obvious main contender is Elden Ring, and unsurprisingly, FromSoftware’s fantasy epic stole our staff vote. It was almost a clean sweep for Elden Ring, with little in the way of competition.
Be sure to read our Elden Ring review to find out why it’s an absolute must-have RPG.
Runner-Up: Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong
Best Puzzle Game
Tunic is more than just your average puzzle game. Everything about it is a puzzle to be solved.
It’s an incredibly layered experience that is not only plenty of fun to play and solve, it’s a gorgeously designed game with a better soundtrack to boot.
Tunic was such an influence on the PSU team that it was the unanimous choice, with no runner up.
Make sure to check out our review to find out why we loved Tunic so much.
Best Remake/Remaster
This vote was pretty tough, but we ultimately went for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, which while technically a remaster, really does a lot more than just polishing up some textures.
You can read our Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion review here.
Runners-Up: The Last Of Us Part I, Sonic Origins Collection
Best Family Game
LEGO games have always succeeded in being excellent games to play with friends and family, and developer TT Games latest is no different, with LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga being PSU’s choice for the Best Family Game of 2022.
There’s more Star Wars fun to be had in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga than in all previous LEGO games combined it seems, and more playable characters than ever, which truly lets you get into the fun of playing out the most famous moments from the Star Wars saga.
Make sure to check out our review of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and see why it was the PSU teams first choice.
Runner-Up: Disney Dreamlight Valley
Best Strategy Game
It’s time to put your thinking caps on for a good old fashion strategy game, and for us at PSU, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the one to beat. Combining the iconic superheroes of the Marvel Comics with strategic card battles, Firaxis has delivered a compelling title that ranks as one of the most underrated titles of the year.
Read our Marvel’s Midnight Suns review here for more details.
Runners-Up: Tactics Orge: Reborn, Crusader Kings III
Best PlayStation Exclusive Game
Well, it was (unsurprisingly) massive victory for God of War Ragnarok, Sony Santa Monica’s epic god-slaying sequel that brings the curtains down on the series’ Norse saga.
Read our God of War Ragnarok review here.
Runners-Up: Horizon Forbidden West, The Last Of Us Part I
Best PSVR Game
Moss: Book II is the PSU staff’s choice for the Best PSVR Game in 2022. It truly was the best swan song that the PSVR could’ve asked for, on the heels of PS VR2.
In fact, Moss: Book II was a unanimous choice for the team, meaning there are no runner-ups to highlight in this case.
Make sure to check out our review and see why Moss: Book II truly won our hearts, as a final send-off for Sony’s first generation of VR gaming.
Best Developer
When we see studios that are capable of consistently delivering games that can be looked towards as an shining example of the industry’s best, it’s a wonderful thing.
And with this team’s latest release proving once again that they are more than a force to be reckoned with, Sony Santa Monica Studios is the PSU staff’s choice for Best Developer in 2022.
Runner-Up: FromSoftware
Best Local-Multiplayer Game
This year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is the perfect example of fantastic local multiplayer, which is why it won our vote in our annual Game Awards. Cowabunga, dude!
Read our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge review for more details.
Runner-Up: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Best Sound Design
Sony Santa Monica Studio once again prove they can weave their magic in just about every major aspect of a game, with the team’s sumptuous work on sound design impressing us for God of War Ragnarok despite some stiff competition from fellow PlayStation first-party exclusives.
Read our God of War Ragnarok review if you still haven’t figured out why this game is an absolute must-have.
Runner-Up: Gran Turismo 7
Best Narrative
Yep, it’s another win for Sony Santa Monica Studio, with God of War Ragnarok‘s tale of Kratos and Atreus braving the chilly Fimbulwinter captivating us to the end credits. That’s not to say we didn’t get some other great stories this year – believe us, it was tough competition – but God of War Ragnarok wins out.
Read our God of War Ragnarok review here for more details.
Runners-Up: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring
Best Direction
- God Of War Ragnarok
While the all-one-shot effect is cool, it becomes all the more impressive when you consider how well directed every moment of the game is, and how well executed the narrative is with that limitation on the camera.
Runner-Up: Elden Ring
Most Anticipated Game For 2023
When looking ahead, the PSU staff couldn’t be more excited to know that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is officially slated to arrive next fall, which made it an easy choice for our Most Anticipated Game For 2023.
The first of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games left a huge mark on every PlayStation fan, and Miles-Morales was an incredible way to kick off the PS5’s launch when it released in 2020.
Now with a mainline sequel on the way, and plenty of questions still left unanswered, like will there be co-op between Peter and Miles? Will we play as both of them in the course of the narrative? How will the back and forth work?
And how does Venom fit into Insomniac’s Spider-Man world?
These and more are questions that still keep our staff up, which makes the our choice all the more fitting.
Runner-Up: Final Fantasy XVI
How our GOTY votings are conducted: PSU staff members can nominate games eligible for each category. Each PSU staff member gets one vote. The winner is decided by our site staff through majority vote.