Don’t miss out on these great games from early 2022

By Tomas Franzese April 8, 2022

The first quarter of 2022 was packed with fantastic games. Elden Ring will likely go down as one of the best games ever made, and excellent titles like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Sifu, and Horizon Forbidden West will give players dozens, if not hundreds of hours of entertainment. Those games will eventually end, and April and May 2022 are looking fairly light in terms of compelling releases.

Contents

Nobody Saves the World
OlliOlli World
Grapple Dog
Moss: Book II
Weird West
Norco

We’ve rounded up several amazing indie and AA games that players might have missed during the first three crowded months of 2022. Those looking for something new to play before game announcements and launches pick up again in June can’t go wrong with any of these six titles.

Nobody Saves the World

Nobody Saves the World - Launch Trailer

Nobody Saves the World seems like a relatively standard Zelda-like adventure game on its surface, but in actuality, it’s a hilarious masterclass in engaging game progression. Players can change their wimpy main character into seventeen different forms, including a horse, rat, and more. Each form has unique abilities and skills, which can be mixed and matched with other forms to create countless loadouts.

To level up, players must clear dungeons and complete form-specific challenges. There’s always a dungeon to clear, a challenge to complete, or an ability combination to try in Nobody Saves the World, so it never gets old. On top of all of that, it features an amazing soundtrack and legitimately funny writing.

Nobody Saves the World is included with Xbox Games Pass, but there’s no need to worry if you don’t have an Xbox or PC. Nobody Saves the World will be released for PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch on April 15, so you’ll be able to play it anywhere very soon.

OlliOlli World

The player character grinds in the Nintendo Switch version of OlliOlli World.

Like Nobody Saves the World, Olli Olli World is quietly one of the best games of the year. OlliOlli World is an easy-to-pick-up 2D side-scrolling skateboarding game that features intricately designed levels and a lot of gameplay depth for those looking for it.

“OlliOlli World is more than just a skateboarding game — it’s one of the best 2D platformers since Celeste,” I wrote in a four-and-a-half star review. “Like the best games of the genre, it knows that easy-to-learn-but-hard-to-master mechanics, rewarding obstacles, and high speeds that test one’s reaction time are the hallmarks of a great platformer.”

Horizon Forbidden West, Sifu, and Elden Ring all came out around the time this game was released, so it didn’t get much attention despite being published by Private Division, a prominent AA publisher. Still, this skateboarding game is secretly one of the best games of the year, so make sure you don’t miss out on it. OlliOlli World is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch, so there’s no reason you need to miss out on it.

Grapple Dog

A yellow dog swinging with a grappling hook in Grapple Dog.

You’re a dog with a grappling hook. Enough said. But really, Grapple Dog is an enjoyable platformer with one strong, literal hook: Much of the platformer is based around using the grappling hook to cross large gaps and complete other platforming challenges. If you enjoyed Bionic Commando or momentum-based platformers, Grapple Dog should charm you.

Digital Trends’ Giovanni Colantonio really enjoyed Grapple Dog, saying, “it’s a fun, colorful, and deceptively challenging title that feels like it was pulled straight from my old Sega Genesis collection.” Once platformer fans wrap up Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Grapple Dog is waiting for them on PC and Nintendo Switch.

Moss: Book II

Quill looks out at a forest in Moss: Book 2.

Although PS VR is in a weird place right now as PlayStation VR2 is on the horizon, some notable games are still coming out for it. Moss: Book 2 is a follow-up to one of VR’s most acclaimed titles and lives up to the name. This Zelda-like action-adventure romp starring a mouse is one people shouldn’t pass up.

“Moss: Book 2 gives one of VR’s finest outings a much-appreciated tune-up,” Giovanni Colantonio wrote in a 4-star review. “Both the action and puzzles have more depth this time around thanks to impactful new tools. At five hours, it’s a lean adventure game that’s more careful not to do the same trick twice.”

If you own a PS VR headset that you haven’t used in a while, consider setting it up, picking up Moss Book 2, and giving this enjoyable new VR game a shot.

Weird West

Weird West - 'Journeys' Trailer | PS4

Weird West is a very niche game with its dark setting, difficulty, and immersive sim design tendencies that give the player a lot of freedom. If this game’s mechanics and vibe click with you, you’ll adore it. Players experience the story of five distinct characters and can interact with this western game’s sandbox in a variety of ways during their adventure.

This emphasis on player choice is freeing, if sometimes overwhelming. “Weird West’s take on a fictional American frontier meets Dungeons & Dragons hosts the most engaging stories, even when it shows its janky side,” Otto Kratky wrote in a three-and-a-half star review for Digital Trends.

If the game’s trailer and our description intrigue you, try Weird West out on Xbox Game Pass for PC or console. It’s also available for PS4 if that’s your platform of choice.

Norco

NORCO Launch Trailer | The MIX10 Cut | OUT NOW

Norco from developer Geography of Robots and publisher Raw Fury is an enthralling indie game that’s slipped under the radar. It’s a point-and-click adventure game set in a very industrial southern Louisiana. Its beautiful pixel art and excellent writing will keep you engaged in its tragic familial mystery.

“While Norco tackles weighty themes that make it a haunting reflection of our own reality, its interpersonal relationships create its true tragedy,” Digital Trends’ Giovanni Colantonio wrote about the game. “At its heart, Norco is a game about a family that’s been torn apart by the noise of the modern world.”

Norco is currently only available on PC. That said, it’s part of Xbox Game Pass and has a free demo on Steam if you aren’t sure whether or not to pay full price for it.

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Gaming Staff Writer

Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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With little time to digest the game between now and December, recency bias dictates that God of War Ragnarok will likely top year-end lists. That might be a deserved honor for Sony’s impressive epic, but 2022 isn’t over yet. Just as the last minutes of a basketball game can completely reverse a team’s fortune, November and December have a history of delivering bracket-busting hits that can easily get lost once the holiday season’s biggest release drops. Buzzer-beaters like Solar Ash and Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon were some of 2021’s finest titles, but their late release dates meant they had trouble breaking into any year-end conversations.

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I don’t need Starfield because I have The Outer Worlds

The spacer looks out over a vast horizon in The Outer Worlds 2 key art.

Starfield will be one of the biggest games of 2023, but I'm not that excited to play it yet.
While Starfield's spotlight at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase this year highlighted some impressive features, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd already gotten everything I'd want from a traditional sci-fi RPG like this from another game: The Outer Worlds from Obsidian Entertainment. Ironically developed by another Microsoft-owned studio, The Outer Worlds showed that bloating up a sci-fi game with thousands of planets isn't necessary when a "less is more" mentality can still result in an expertly designed sci-fi RPG.
Although The Outer Worlds might not be as nearly as grand as Starfield in scope, it still leaves an impression every time I revisit it. It's a focused, replayable, and hilarious adventure without much bloat, which is what I want from my RPGs. It does this while emulating Bethesda's classic The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games too, beating Starfield to the punch.
Starfield could impress me when it launches, but what I've seen of it hasn't got me that eager to play it when I'm so content with replaying The Outer Worlds while avidly waiting for its sequel.
Starfield: Official Gameplay Reveal
Fewer worlds, more fun
From the moment your escape pod accidentally lands on a bounty hunter that's supposed to help you, it's clear that The Outer Worlds is a tongue-in-cheek, satirical take on capitalism, colonization, and the sci-fi genre as a whole. While Bethesda Game Studios' narratives have their fair share of humor, much of its writing tends to be more serious and dryly written. We haven't seen enough of Starfield's dialogue or narrative to get a sense of its thematic identity yet.
Starfield's narrative could be more playful than we've seen so far, but the game's massive scope is what really worries me. During the Microsoft showcase, Todd Howard boasted that there are over 1,000 planets to explore. Because Starfield is so huge, I worry that it risks feeling unfocused. Will I get bored on planets that aren't very handcrafted and don't have as much to do? It's the same potential issue that infamously plagued No Man's Sky at launch.
Meanwhile, The Outer Worlds and its upcoming sequel are intentionally designed to avoid those bloat issues, according to former Obsidian Entertainment Narrative Designer Nitai Poddar in a 2019 Game Informer interview. "There is a lot of value in having an open-ended game that is still structured around individual discreet levels," he said. "It also tends to be easier to develop, and I'm always a fan of making the most of a budget that you have."

The Outer Worlds' developers didn't have a huge budget, and kept the game small but very tightly designed as a result. You might not be able to explore entire planets or fly between them, but you'll definitely remember what you did on every single one you visited. This smaller scope allowed the studio to make the world more reactive to each dialogue choice and player decision.
Playing a combat-focused build in The Outer Worlds gives you an entirely different experience than a dialogue-driven playthrough. You can also murder or scorn everyone you meet in The Outer Worlds, and the game accounts for it in tangible, narrative ways. This makes The Outer Worlds a great sci-fi roleplaying experience, and I'm hopeful its sequel will be too. I'm not as hungry for a sci-fi RPG on such a potentially problematic large scale anymore when The Outer Worlds and its handcrafted worlds and narratives are so enjoyable moment-to-moment, just like classic Bethesda games.
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As far as sci-fi experiences go, Starfield can stand out from The Outer Worlds with its combat, base-building and shipbuilding, and space combat. But when it comes to the core tenets of Bethesda's best RPGs -- compelling characters, well-written narratives, and lots of reactive and choice-driven moments -- The Outer Worlds beat Starfield to the punch without any additional fat. I already have the Bethesda-like sci-fi experience I always wanted.