It’s the time of year to reflect. Especially as we start thinking about things we did or experienced. As in the last few years, 2022 definitely featured a game remake or remaster or two (or ten), which could make narrowing down the best a little difficult! So we decided to go over these types of titles as a group and see what everyone in the community had to say too.
Well I know what my answer should have been! While I continue my months-long sigh over here, I’ve been comforting myself with Tactics Ogre Reborn. There’s a lot it could have done better (like patch up that sprite work), the gameplay is refined from its already top-notch PSP revision and well worth hundreds of hours of your life. — Graham
I’m going to go with Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition as the best game remaster of 2022. Square Enix did an amazing job with its remasters this year, and I missed this game! Also, its accessibility features really help when you have less time on your hands. I loved being able to speed through battles. Plus… it meant we ended up seeing a Super Famicom Satellaview localization in 2022. — Jenni
Since Graham already cited Tactics Ogre Reborn for me, I find myself split on my favorite “reheated game” of 2022, rather than remake or remaster. First off, calling The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe a mere “remaster” would be a truly great understatement. And yet, it’s also not quite a “remake,” straddling the strange territory between a reissue of a game you’ve seen before and something akin to a true sequel. I shan’t say more, lest I spoil the fun, but you should play both the original and Ultra Deluxe when you get the time, in that order.
Graham, Jenni, and Josh put me to shame. I’ve spent very little time playing games in 2022, and they’ve managed to pick up no less than four titles I wanted to indulge in. But you could almost substitute Graham’s points on Tactics Ogre with my pick, Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster. I’ve not fully coalesced my thoughts on the Pixel Remasters, but it has been the perfect opportunity to finally play this seminal JRPG I missed as a child. And yes, it came out this year (and coming to Switch and PS4 in 2023 ), and why yes, it has been a really long year, hasn’t it. — Khai
It’s a simple pick for me. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion was an amazing remaster of an already great game (and I say this as someone who is pretty lukewarm towards all games in the FFVII extended universe), which may make it seem like a weak pick by comparison for best one of 2022. However, with all the changes made to the controls, giving the game an ease of access compared to it’s PSP release along with other quality of life improvements, it’s set a standard for Square Enix remasters going forward.
But what really elevated it for me, was revisiting Zack’s story, and having that opportunity to do so. Crisis Core may have it’s moments where it’s really just goofy, but Zack’s journey is an important one and lays the foundation for the events of the entire Final Fantasy extended universe. Not only that, but it’s handling of propaganda, and watching Zack come to realize what SOLDIER stands for under Shinra (and what Shinra actually is), is done fairly well – the more absurdist elements aside.
So while I’d love to give to Tactics Ogre: Reborn, as it’s still one of my favorite SRPGs of all time, Crisis Core really gripped me. — Kazuma
