Last year was a rather lackluster year for gaming. Oher than Resident Evil 8 and Metroid Dread, nothing much of major interest came out in 2021. But with a ton of highly anticipated games on the horizon, 2022 could be the best year for gaming in a while. The sequels to many popular mainstream games are scheduled to be released this year. While the hype is big for most of the games some are much bigger than others. Here’s my list of the top eight most anticipated games of 2022:

8. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

While Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands sounds like a little girl’s game, it’s actually the next game in the ever-popular Borderlands series. The game takes place inside a Dungeons and Dragons-like world with the “dungeon master” and narrator of the game being Tiny Tina. This game will feature the same shoot and loot style as all the other Borderlands games, but it will also add a whole new aspect of the game due to it being in the D&D style. Magic. Magic is not something you’d think of when thinking of Borderlands, but there are plenty of other wacky things that happen throughout the series, such as a pet hawk turning into a giant mutant hawk that the player has to fight and explore the head of, so it might not be as wacky as some think. The game is going to be released on March 25th, 2022.

7. Saints Row

The Saints Row series is very similar to the open world and wild antics of the Grand Theft Auto series. It’s not exactly similar as the Saints Row games are known to be very wacky with a multitude of unrealistic events that happen throughout the game. Previously, the Saints Row series has had 20 years of sequels and expansions, but after some time the series is going to take a step back and create something new. All new characters and an all-new location will be put together in a brand new story. The game is set to release on August 23rd, 2022.

6. Sonic Frontiers

The Sonic franchise has been reeling for a long time. Ever since they released many horrible games on the Wii and Wii U, Sonic seems to have become a laughing stock of a video game franchise culminating in their worst game of all Sonic Boom. Sonic isn’t down and out, however, as they released Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces in 2017. These games revamped the franchise and made Sonic interesting again. Sonic Frontiers plans to put Sonic into an open-world setting, which is a big change to the level system in previous games, and have him explore the Starfall Islands. Sonic Frontiers plans to release in the holidays season of 2022.

5. Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to the 2017 game Horizon Zero Dawn. This game will take the main character Aloy and move her to brand new areas and find even more technological monsters to deal with. Aloy will find more tribes of people who are still alive despite the machine takeover of the world. This continuation of Aloy’s story has been long-awaited. The game is expected to release on February 18th, 2022.

4. Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Dying Light was a new take on the survival horror genre. The original made the series more action-packed while fighting against the zombie apocalypse. Dying Light 2 is going to allow players to make more world-changing decisions. This will be shown by the hub city changing as the main character makes decisions in the world. Depending on who the player sides with and if the player support his town with enough supplies the city will change to show the actions. There will be different flags and banners across the city and the state the city is in will change as well. The game is expected to release on February 2nd, 2022.

3. Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2

The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s longest-lasting series. When the most recent game, Breath of the Wild, was said to have a sequel in the works the hype built quickly. This is the first time in the Zelda series that there is going to be a sequel to the main series game. The only other time there was a sequel to a game in the Zelda series was when the game Phantom Hourglass, was followed up by Spirit Tracks. Breath of the Wild did a lot of things to revolutionize the Zelda series and hopefully, Breath of the Wild 2 will continue to improve on the series. Breath of the wild does not have a release date but is supposed to be released by the end of 2022. This might not happen, however, as the first breath of the Wild took 4 years to develop.

2. Elden Ring

Elden Ring is another huge game coming from Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki. Elden Ring broken down is an open-world Dark Souls game that intends to be a brutal challenge for veterans and newbies of the Dark Souls genre. Elden Rings’ release is important because From Software (the company that made Dark Souls) has been making top charted games for multiple years in a row following the initial craze of Dark Souls in the early 2000s. Elden Ring is set to release on February 25th, 2022.

1. God of War Ragnarok

God of War Ragnarok is placed at number one for a reason. This is the long-awaited sequel to the 2018 game of the year God of War. This game is the ending of the main character Kratos’ journey in Norse mythology. The game takes place an unknown amount of time in the future from where the previous game ended, with Kratos’ son Atreus being much older than in the previous game. The game is slated to release on September 30th, 2022.