For this category of my best of 2022 series, it’s the games whose aesthetics wowed me the most or made me go ooh and aah.
Honorable Mention: The Callisto Protocol
The Callisto Protocol is the game on this list that has the most “horsepower” under the hood, with some amazing fidelity thanks to the Unreal engine. This is a game that isn’t the most unique in terms of aesthetics, but the level of detail on enemies and some of the environments was impressive. Not enough to make it to the top three, but still amazing to look at.
3: RPG Time: The Legend of Wright
When it comes to aesthetics, RPG Time: The Legend of Wright is one of the best ones I’ve seen. Taking place in the form of a pencil-sketched RPG book, the game nails the look and feel with its diegetic UI. There is something so charming about how characters move and the world of this game. While the game looks great to play, the actual gameplay is a bit lacking as well as the UI, and why I can’t see to give it a higher award.
2: Cult of the Lamb
Cult of the Lamb‘s whole MO is to give us a game with cute and cuddly characters…and then focus on running a Lovecraftian cult. This is a game that can be so charming with characters happily going about their day, to disturbing when fighting bosses or sacrificing them for the greater good. Sometimes having that disconnect between the aesthetics and the actions work, and Cult of the Lamb is one of those cases.
1: Scorn
Scorn may be polarizing when it comes to its gameplay, but no one can argue that the game is just visually stunning and disgusting all at once. This is one of those worlds that tells a story about itself with how everything came to be this way. I wish the game would have spent more time exploring the world itself, but the aesthetic here is 100% on point. I love the little touches of how body horror elements turn into your guns, health, even the simple act of picking up rocks as ammunition intrigues me.
Like the Assassin’s Creed’s with their historical walkthrough modes, I would love to see something like that here, while less about history, but more just to learn about the story the developers were trying to tell.
