A new year of gaming is upon us, and today, the Duck shall be discussing some of my top anticipated games that will be releasing in 2022 (in no particular order)!  While some of them will be no surprise, I’ve made sure to round out the list with a few lesser known titles, with trailers provided for the more obscure games on this list.

• Breath of the Wild 2 – I feel like I’ve probably put this game on my “most anticipated” list before, but it looks like Breath of the Wild 2 is finally scheduled for release in 2022!  Being a big fan of the first Breath of the Wild, and just a loyal Zelda fan to begin with, there’s no way I won’t be getting this one as quickly as possible!
• Sonic Frontiers – As we’re all no doubt aware by now, the Sonic franchise isn’t quite what it used to be, thanks to poorly received titles like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Boom.  As a result, I had completely given up on the series…until I heard of Sonic’s first open-world adventure, Sonic Frontiers.  Yes, I’ll certainly be waiting to see how well this game is received before buying it, but I can’t deny that I’m extremely intrigued.
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land – In a similar fashion, The Forgotten Land looks like it’s bound to be a really unique entry in the Kirby franchise, another series that I largely ignore, with a few exceptions.  Unlike Sonic, I typically enjoy my time with most Kirby games, but most of the entries don’t really stand out enough for me to actually buy them.  But this game’s use of 3D, if not linear, gameplay looks quite interesting indeed.
• Hollow Knight: Silksong – Having loved the original Hollow Knight, a challenging Metroidvania where you play as a bug, I have been patiently, yet eagerly, awaiting the release of the sequel, Silksong, in which we play as Hornet.  I’ve heard rumors that it could finally be releasing in 2022, so we’ll see…
• Cuphead DLC – This isn’t a full game, but I’m still rather excited for the Cuphead DLC, also known as The Delicious Last Course!  To be honest, the odds of me actually playing this myself are fairly low, as I’m not quite prepared for another thorough butt-whooping, but I still look forward to watching other people struggle through yet another set of difficult boss fights against 1930’s style cartoon characters.
• Broken Veil – This little horror game appears to be heavily inspired by Little Nightmares and takes place in a small town in Russia.  The protagonist is a young boy who is searching for his mother.  The trailer is filled with all sorts of faceless monstrosities and looks like it could make for a very chilling experience.

• Silt – This is an interesting looking indie game that looks like what you’d get if you combined Limbo’s simple art style and spooky atmosphere with Abzu’s ocean themes.  For people like me who both enjoy the ocean and enjoy being terrified by it, this looks like it could be promising.

• Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends – Okay, this is a bit of a personal one.  As a duckling, I remember watching what I later described as “that weird movie with the scary stuff behind the door”.  It was many years before I finally rediscovered this movie as Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.  The game has some lovely graphics and a rather surreal theme, and though I’m not super sure if I’m actually going to play this one, I just think it’s pretty awesome to see such an obscure childhood movie of mine getting a video game!

Image from Flickr User: Jeux Video