Lyfeportal's Leon and Benzo share top games to look out for in 2022

After a series of disappointing delays due to the pandemic, the gaming world is elated to welcome a slew of new titles coming our way this year. Our resident gamers Leon and Benzo present five of the most anticipated, best reviewed games coming out in the first half of 2022!

Images courtesy of Nintendo Japan

Leon: Fans of Pokemon: rejoice! Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set in 3D, open-world, and is touted as a prequel with a story that begins in the older era of the Hisui region. You can play as a guy or a girl, and as with other Pokemon games, characters are customisable. Arceus will boast new Pokemon, new trainers, new ways to fight and new ways to explore the terrain.

Some of the changes coming to Arceus include the fact that it will be the first mainline Pokemon game not to have two versions. Arceus will also be a mostly single-player game, have crafting, and changes to the Pokedex, amongst many others.

Brought to you by developer Game Freak, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will come to the Switch on 28 January 2022.

Images courtesy of Techland

Benzo: Fans of post-apocalyptic survival genres will have twice the reasons to be gleeful.

The first of which is developer Techland’s Dying Light 2: Stay Human. Early reviews are recognising stronger, better rounded NPCs, with gameplay emphasising player choices that can impact the story as well as the bigger in-game world. DL2 has been touted as having improved upon combat aspects, and now presents players with the ability to parry, block and use new stealth mechanics.

Dying Light (2015) was a solid, open-world zombie adventure that was supported by a ton of good post-release content, and its sequel looks set to ramp up the parkour, action and violence, while adding emphasis to the RPG and story elements.

Seems like Dying Light 2 is getting good buzz from early reviewers, and will be coming to the PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and XSX|S on 4 February 2022.

Images courtesy of XBOX and GSC Gameworld

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl is the much-anticipated follow-up to the legendary PC series S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl that pioneered open-world, survival horror, and resource management gameplay in the early 2000s. STALKER 2 returns with great graphics and a bigger budget.

The latest trailer shows glimpses of combat between humans and otherworldly beasts. Developed by GSC Game World in Unreal Engine 5, STALKER 2 promises to be as atmospheric and immersive as its predecessor, with a story set after the previous events of Shadow. The open-world map will allow players to move around and interact freely with various factions, and make decisions that will determine a lot of outcomes, including what happens in zones, and how factions work with or against the player.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl will come to the PC and XSX|S on 28 April 2022.

Images courtesy of Playstation and FromSoftware

Leon: From the people behind Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, comes what is possibly developer FromSoftware’s most ambitious offering yet: Elden Ring. This time, the devs have taken the Soulbourne formula, and brought it into an open-world setting, and crafted a story with input from the reigning king of fantasy domains himself, George R.R. Martin.

Elden Ring will boast a ton of new features including horse-riding and horseback combat, Summons that will fight for you, weapon arts that will be equippable to different weapons and major stat changes. This much anticipated title comes to the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and XSX|S on 25 February 2022.

Images courtesy of Endgame

Benzo: Fans of 2007’s The Forest are heralding this long-awaited sequel Sons of the Forest. Once more championing the gore survival, horror genre, developer Endnight Games’ Sons looks set to reenact the hardcore horror elements of the original as players are again stranded on the ill-fated island, and having to use items to build shelter, survive and defend against the stuff of nightmares.

The latest trailer reveals better looking graphics and details, creature animation that’s animalistic, and good melee combat that’s been preserved from the original. Fans are getting nervous about the nausea-inducing cave scene, with a ton of speculation about what that cave can possibly hold.

You’ll find out soon enough, when Sons of the Forest debuts on PC on 20 May 2022.