Guides work is a really unusual beast, and one which we do not discuss as typically as we possibly ought to. By its nature, we right here in guidestown can really feel a bit remoted from the remainder of RPS. Our guides aren’t very seen to our common readers. No one hops onto an internet site like this and says to themselves, “Well now! I’m wondering what guides have been written in the present day that I can spend my time studying by!”. The overwhelming majority of people that learn our guides come straight from a Google search into one thing particular like “Can I romance Yennefer and Triss on the identical time?” (spoiler alert: you possibly can, however it could not finish nicely for you).
Because we function a lot behind the scenes, it is easy to overlook a few of the wonderful stuff that the group did in guidestown this 12 months. It ain’t straightforward, writing a walkthrough or how-to that is helpful for the reader whereas concurrently appeasing these nebulous and mercurial search engine marketing gods. But 2022 has been a stonkingly good 12 months for guides, and I’d like to take just a little little bit of time to shine a lightweight on a few of the issues we’re most happy with having achieved this 12 months – and to toast what’s going to hopefully be one other smashing 12 months for guides in 2023!
Starting with the hulking demonic poleaxe-wielding elephant within the room: Elden Ring was completely large for guides this 12 months. With all palms on deck and over 80 guides written to an exceptionally excessive customary by everybody concerned, it is onerous to select only one that I’m notably happy with. So I’ve picked out two as an alternative.
Probably my biggest private achievement this 12 months was our Elden Ring boss areas information, over which I crooned like Gollum over the One Ring for a lot of the early a part of the 12 months. Containing 9 detailed maps and virtually 20,000 phrases detailing the areas and natures of 238 bosses, this information was completely my greatest private endeavor in 4 years of RPS guides work. And it was value it. Want a enjoyable reality? That one boss areas information accounted for over 1 / 4 of RPS’s whole guides site visitors in March.
Another wonderful achievement of this 12 months is Hayden’s Elden Ring walkthrough. This walkthrough does the virtually not possible job of displaying gamers at any stage of FromSoft’s sprawling masterpiece what to do subsequent, whereas additionally retaining the entire information amazingly clear, succinct, and digestible. It’s positively some of the important guides we ended up writing for the largest game of 2022.
Elden Ring’s monumental success at the beginning of the 12 months was echoed on the finish of the 12 months with the daunting double-release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2. 140 guides, people. 140. That’s an entire lot of phrases, and a colossal achievement in itself. I’m fairly happy specifically with our Warzone 2 weapon stats tables, which concerned most likely a dozen or so hours of me repeatedly capturing somebody in several elements of the physique with completely different weapons. It was value it although, as a result of we ended up being the primary web site on the web that gave gamers a full stats breakdown of each major weapon in each Warzone 2 and MW2.
FIFA 23 was one other massive success for us in 2022. This was the primary 12 months that we lined a FIFA game, and Hayden spearheaded the mission with all his regular enthusiasm and a focus to element. It’s onerous to select only one information to be happy with right here as they every tick all of the packing containers for readability and element, so I’ll direct you in direction of his information on the most effective Lengthy gamers in FIFA 23, each as a result of it does a fantastic job of explaining every little thing a reader may hope to know concerning the subject, and since the title of the information makes me giggle.
Those have been the largest games of 2022 for us, however definitely not the one issues that we’re happy with doing this 12 months. Back in June, Rebecca revealed a splendidly insightful and detailed look into how a lot it truly prices to play Diablo Immortal. In this information she skillfully lays naked each side of Diablo Immortal’s infamously predatory monetisation mannequin. It’s a really nice learn. Comprehensive, savvy, and an ideal instance of what Rebecca does when she’s given the time to essentially delve into a subject.
But why cease with only one instance? Just over a month later Rebecca wrote up a information on the gender customisation choices in The Sims 4, and I simply have to provide it a shout out right here. It’s a sophisticated and delicate subject, and her information goes the additional mile in explaining the total penalties of every customisation selection in ways in which solely an ardent lifelong fan of the franchise may hope to put in writing.
Predating all of this – on the very starting of the 12 months, Hayden revealed a cracking information on the most effective character builds in Project Zomboid, a spectacularly dense survival game which I definitely did not fancy the duty of deciphering. Yet that is precisely what Hayden did, patiently explaining how occupations, expertise, and traits all work in Project Zomboid, after which illustrating two in-depth character builds that may give new gamers that finest likelihood of surviving and having fun with the game.
Build guides are one thing of a speciality of ours right here in guidestown. I feel all of us relish the chance to dive very deeply right into a game and use every little thing at our disposal to create the absolute best construct, whether or not it is for a gun, a mech, or a hero. One of essentially the most complete guides we revealed this 12 months was Rebecca’s Genshin Impact Traveler construct information. It’s one of many first examples of a multi-page information on RPS, and Rebecca completely packed every web page with important info on find out how to profit from Genshin Impact’s versatile beginning character.
I’d additionally like to provide a giant shoutout to Charlie, who spent over a 12 months producing prime quality guides for us on a contract foundation. He largely labored on Warzone and ARPGs like Path Of Exile, Lost Ark, and Diablo Immortal, however specifically I’d wish to level readers in direction of his two wonderful Escape From Tarkov guides: the primary on ammo varieties, and the second on the most effective helmets and armour to make use of. Both these guides make extremely advanced subjects much more approachable for brand new EFT gamers, and will solely have been written by somebody with an enormous quantity of expertise in some of the abstruse shooters round.
Oh go on, another. This is one among my very own, and a minimum of 50% of the rationale for together with it right here is to induce extra folks to play The Cycle: Frontier. Sometimes writing guides is usually a chore, for certain. Just ask Rebecca about her work writing countless Roblox codes guides, or any of us about writing our every day Wordle guides. But different instances, it may be an absolute pleasure to introduce gamers to one among your favorite games of the 12 months. The enthusiasm shines by, I feel, in our newbie’s information to The Cycle: Frontier. I hope 2023 provides us lots extra alternatives like this to put in writing some true labours of affection for games we merely adore enjoying.
Next 12 months is already wanting very thrilling to us. We’ve obtained Starfield, in fact, as the large new game on the horizon. Next 12 months’s Elden Ring, you may say. But there’s additionally Forspoken, Redfall, Nightingale, Ark II, and different smaller however nonetheless intriguing alternatives for guides with games like Hades II, Planet Of Lana, and Kerbal Space Program 2. It’ll be numerous work, however the guides group has by no means been stronger. We’ll get it executed, and we’ll greater than possible have numerous enjoyable doing it.