RPG Site Best of 2022 Awards: Readers' Choice in Detail

by RPG Site Staff on 02 January, 2023

Each year here at RPG Site, we wrap up a year of hopefully great RPG-playing action by publically polling you, our readers, to find out what YOU ranked as the best RPGs of the year. As usual, we allow consideration for both pure-blood RPGs and a few adjacent games that we feel RPG fans would enjoy.

We had you vote in two separate polls: Your favorite RPG of 2022 and your most anticipated RPG for 2023. We already posted our Staff Best of 2022 Awards and our own Most Anticipated for 2023, but we wanted to hear what you had to say. We have results for both polls listed below.

Thousands of you voted, and as ever the results are interesting. As with previous years, there are places that mirror our staff choices and places that offer a different, alternative take from ours. So... how did you, the great RPG-playing public, vote? Here are the results.

Your Top Ten RPGs of 2022

10. Star Ocean The Divine Force - 1.8% (Square Enix - PS5/PS4, XS/XB1, PC)

9. Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet - 2.0% (Nintendo - Switch)

8. Pokemon Legends: Arceus - 2.7% (Nintendo - Switch)

7. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - 3.1% (Square Enix - PS5/PS4, Switch, PC)

6. Triangle Strategy - 3.5% (Nintendo / Square Enix - Switch, PC)

5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - 3.7% (NIS America - PS4, Switch, PC)

4. Live A Live - 6.7% (Nintendo - Switch)

3. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker - 7.8% (Square Enix - PS5/PS4, PC)

2. Elden Ring - 17.1% (Bandai Namco - PS5/PS4, XS/XB1, PC)

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - 38.2% (Nintendo - Switch)

Readers' Choice Favorite 2022 RPGs - Additional Facts and Comments

Our eighth year of the fan poll sees Xenoblade Chronicles 3 join Shin Megami Tensei V, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Dragon Quest XI, Persona 5, Final Fantasy XV, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as our reader's poll winners. (2015 Results / 2016 Results / 2017 Results / 2018 Results / 2019 results / 2020 results / 2021 results).
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has both the highest vote percentage and largest winning margin (by percentage) in our eight-year polling history.
There were no real "narrow misses" outside of the top ten vote-getters. Any other game in our poll was significantly behind the top ten listed here.
Nintendo is the most represented publisher on the list, with 5 games total (including Live A Live) and easily with the highest number of total votes.

Your Readers' Choice Most Anticipated 2023 RPGs

10. Sea of Stars - 2.1% (Sabotage Studio)

9t. Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key - 2.2% (Koei Tecmo)

9t. Like a Dragon: Ishin! - 2.2% (Sega)

8. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - 3.3% (Square Enix)

7t. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes - 3.5% (505 Games)

7t. Baldur's Gate 3 - 3.5% (Larian Studios)

6. The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie - 4.9% (NIS America)

5. Octopath Traveler II - 5.1% (Square Enix)

4. Fire Emblem Engage - 7.2% (Nintendo)

3. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - 8.3% (Square Enix)

2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 13.2% (Nintendo)

1. Final Fantasy XVI - 22.5% (Square Enix)

Readers' Choice Most Anticipated 2023 RPGs - Additional Facts and Comments

This is RPG Site's fifth year polling our readers for their Most Anticipated RPG of the upcoming year. Previous Most Anticipated winners include Elden Ring, Shin Megami Tensei V, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Kingdom Hearts III. (2022 results / 2021 results / 2020 results / 2019 results).
Narrow misses for the reader top ten Most Anticipated include Starfield and Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars.
This is the third year that Final Fantasy XVI has placed in our Most Anticipated poll. It ranked 2nd in the previous two results. Clearly, people have been looking forward to this major release from Square Enix.