I'm working on the first + highly doubt I'll sneak another game in so I suppose I'll end this thread a few days early.
Looking at the beginning of last year compared to this year feels like an eternity ago, my how the time do fly.
1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
3. Bayonetta 2
4. Trials of Mana
5. Gran Turismo 7
6. Star Wars Episode I: Racer
7. Astro's Playroom
8. Final Fantasy VII Remake
9. Shantae
10. Shantae: Risky's Revenge
11. Shantae and the Pirates Curse
12. Shantae Half Genie Hero
13. Shantae and the Seven Sirens
14. Soul Hackers 2
15. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2
16. We <3 Katamari
17. Merchant of the Skies
18. The DioField Chronicle
19. Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition
20. XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
21. Pokemon Scarlet
22. Front Mission 1st
23. CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION
Things I've been playing throughout the year but didn't count on the list for various reasons.
Mass Effect (Legendary Edition)(insanity difficulty)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Death Stranding
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
No Man's Sky
Even more Skyrim
Guilty Gear Strive
DNF Duel
Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord
It has been a year of me taking it easy...obviously. Quit the 50hr/week grind last year, took ~5.5 months off work, and now I'm working roughly 3x 10 hour shifts a week till I find something better to do. Much free time to piddle away at whatever this year. I had a few more "categories" I wanted to add, but knowing me I forgot what they are, so I guess I'll give this a whirl and start by whatever I did last year.
Most rewarding game to completeThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Out of all 23 games I managed to complete this year I am the most happy I will never even have the thought of having to play this stupid game again. It has been a thorn in my side for over a decade now, and it is finally done. I don't hate on the people who do enjoy this game, but I do not at all like Oblivion.
Most rewarding part in a game to completestar wars episode 1 racer
54 second hotlap on Abyss. Crushing the track that gave me nightmares as a kid.
Biggest SurpriseGran Turismo 7
Me play a racing game? Me play a sim (at least more sim than most racers people play) racing game? Me invest...over 120 hours into said racing game? Anything can happen, variety is the spice of life. Really enjoyed my time with this title, despite it's flaws.
Least Favorite Game Dragon Age Inquisition
This game to me is like Nier Automata, which makes it hard to say nice things about. They are both similar in that I read mostly positive things about them, and anybody I know IRL who has played them has nothing but mostly good things to say about them. Ontop of that, I really like one thing or another about them, and I WANT to enjoy my time with the game...then I play them. I can't even say anything good about either title. I just can't derive any fun from these games, and I don't even think they're mediocre, I think both games are outright BAD. Like Dragon Age 2 is a bad game, it really is, but it's still...kinda fun, I don't get any entertainment from Inquisition at all.
Runner up Favoriteuhh...this one is just impossible this year. Pokemon Arceus, Pokemon Scarlet, FF7r, digital devil saga 2, several of the shantae games...I played a lot of damn good stuff this year and it really is hard to elevate one over another. Did I enjoy arceus over scarlet? Yeah I did, but I played scarlet twice as much as Arceus. ff7r finally blew my socks off, but the combat was still meh...but digital devil saga 2 has some of my favorite jrpg combat systems...just not feasible to pick one, or two...or three this year.
Special MentionThis is where "stuff not on the list that I played this year" comes in.
Had a blast playing 100+ hours in monster hunter sunbreak on pc. Runs very smooth, no real technical issues. The expansion is loaded with content and nice features for most weapons. If capcom does one thing right it's monster hunter.
No Man's Sky keeps getting updated, so I sunk ~50 hours getting stuck in on the pc version.
DNF Duel I only played for ~17 hours, but in that time I probably sunk in more ranked matches than any other fighting game I've played. Very easy to get into, very good netcode when I played it, very fun.
Guilty Gear strive took up more time from me when they announced Bridget at EVO this year. Really fun character, not gonna replace Nagoriyuki for me but I'll play both. Then there was a hot topic in the fighting game scene about hitboxes, and I was hype from all the good matches...so I made a hitbox. They're a lot harder to use than I expected, but it's a fun thing to mess around with.

Mount and Blade 2 finally came out 10 years and 1 month after it was announced...and it's...pretty good. Unfortunately the issues I had with warband with the "end game" where you are trying to take over the map...still the same. It is slightly better, your allies actually tend to help now...but it's far from ideal. Plus the crafting system in this game "NEEDS" mods to be anywhere near enjoyable to engage with, and I don't really like relying on mods to make a game nice to play. It's a good time, but still needs a lot of polish.
Favorite Game/GOTY 2022
Trials of ManaGot the game on switch few years ago. Booted it up on a whim earlier this year, thought the combat was meh...then beat the game. Immediately went to NG+ and beat it again got all 99 characters best gear, post game done, yadda yadda. I think I made a claim that I quote
Give this game a shot, it's a bonafied classic in my book. I put this in that list of "greatest rpgs I've ever played" Many pros, very few cons.
Then thinking about what my goty would be, and it's the time for sales, I snagged the game on pc...then beat it 3 more times, and...uhh...got all the acheivements in the game. I don't even care much for acheivements, and steam acheivements carry less meaning to me for some reason than xbox/playstation ones. Still, I beat this game 5 times this year, did everything there is to do...and I kinda wanna play it again. Iunno what kinda drugs they put in the code for that game, but beating the game 5 times to me means it ain't a fluke I am putting it as my favorite game out of ALL the damn games I played this year.

1- earthbound
2- monster hunter world
3- smt nocturne
4- smt 4
5- south park fractured but whole
6- xcom terror from the deep
7- persona 5
8- deus ex mankind divided
9- metroid: samus returns
10- dragon quest xi
11- smt 4 apocalypse
12- advance wars 2
13- disgaea 5
14. Front Mission 4
15. Paper Mario TTYD
16. Luigis Mansion
17. Zelda Wind Waker
18. Rebel Galaxy
19. Persona Q
20. Eternal Darkness
21. Dragon Quest
22. Strange Journey Redux
23. Shining Force Sword of Hajya
24. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
25. Doom (2016)
26. Metroid Prime
27. Plants vs Zombies
28. Disgaea 1 Complete
29. Links Awakening Remake
30. Pokemon Shield
31. Dragon Quest 2
32. Dragon Quest Builders 2
33. SteamWorld Dig
34. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
35. Advance Wars Days of Ruin
36. XCOM Chimera Squad
37. Fallout New Vegas
38. Phantasy Star (Sega Ages)
39. Advance Wars Dual Strike
40. Cyberpunk 2077
41. The Outer Worlds
42. Dragon Quest VI
43. Doom Eternal
44. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
45. Monster Hunter Rise
46. Death Stranding
47. Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
48. Metroid Dread
49. Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance
50. Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
51. Zelda Breath of the Wild
52. 10000000
53. You Must Build A Boat
54. Shin Megami Tensei V
55. Into the Breach
56. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
57. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
58. Bayonetta 2
59. Trials of Mana
60. Gran Turismo 7
61. Star Wars Episode I: Racer
62. Astro's Playroom
63. Final Fantasy VII Remake
64. Shantae
65. Shantae: Risky's Revenge
66. Shantae and the Pirates Curse
67. Shantae Half Genie Hero
68. Shantae and the Seven Sirens
69. Soul Hackers 2
70. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2
71. We <3 Katamari
72. Merchant of the Skies
73. The DioField Chronicle
74. Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition
75. XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
76. Pokemon Scarlet
77. Front Mission 1st
78. CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION
Every year is uncertainty of what's gonna happen with the next. Think I wanna retool the goal from 10+ games/year, to...anything. This list is getting more and more close to 100, and I don't think I need to be in a rush or put more important things aside to cram more vidya down my gullet. There was a year or two where I felt forced to play stuff due to this self imposed "goal" of mine, but oddly enough not this year. If I get only 6 next year, they still add to this new meta list I have going.
I do think I play games different now that I have started this whole journey. I tend not to even start many games I know I won't finish, and most games I start I do intend to complete. Some cases like Inquisition it's just a waste of time, so ultimately I want to enjoy my time and passing on things is better than slogging through them. I do feel for me anyway, I tend to enjoy games more this way. When I play something, I know I'm going to
PLAY the game.
Probably said enough to wrap this up. New thread with no self imposed goal whenever I witness credits in the next game...in 2023!