The best video game narratives of 2022: 7 stories we’re still thinking about

If you value strong storytelling in video games, 2022 offered up some fantastic narratives. Here are 7 of our favorites.
When this year’s Game Awards nominations were first revealed, the Best Narrative category sparked a bit of discourse. Nominees included giant games you’d expect like God of War Ragnarok, but one pick stood out: Elden Ring. Some were left scratching their heads considering that story isn’t front and center in the fantasy epic, while others defended the choice citing the game’s deep lore and worldbuilding.
There’s a specific reason that the moment was so divisive, though: 2022 was filled with experiences that raised the bar for video game storytelling. Elden Ring’s inclusion almost felt like it was doing a disservice to an excellent year for game narratives, taking a spot from other (often smaller) titles that built equally rich worlds while still having something profound to say about our own.
If you’re the kind of person who values games that aim to communicate something to players, there’s a wealth of excellent titles worth revisiting this year. From meditations on the cost of creative institutions to all-too-relevant takedowns of big tech billionaires, these were the video game narratives that left us reflecting on our own worlds in 2022.
Immortality is a deconstructed mystery game sporting one of this year’s most affecting stories. In it, players must discover what happened to a long-lost film actress named Marissa Marcel by looking through footage of three unreleased films she starred in. On its surface alone, it’s an engrossing mystery that weaves together several threads. There’s Marissa’s story, the narratives of the three films themselves, and a terrifying additional layer that brings everything together in harrowing fashion. It’s a complex box of puzzle pieces that doesn’t tell players how they’re supposed to piece them together.
The FMV game has a lot to say about the act of creation, which was the source of some pushback when it launched to glowing reviews. Some players disagreed with its philosophy on art, feeling that it was too cynical on the subject. However, Immortality’s message is more nuanced than it seems at its onset. It’s less a critique of art itself and more a searing examination of the institutions that exploit creative passion. The Hollywood system is in its crosshairs, but so are consumers who see actors as nothing more than an empty vessel to inhabit. The art itself is beautiful; it’s the industry around it that deserves scrutiny.
When I first started Pentiment, I figured I’d only play it for an hour before getting exhausted by its mass of text. 12 hours later, I was a heap on my living room floor. The historical RPG tells the story of a fictional European village called Tassing. It’s a quiet town until Andreas, a 16th-century journeyman, comes to town. Soon, he becomes the detective in a murder mystery that has him investigating everything from local politics to the town’s church.

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