2022 TechRaptor Awards - Best Expansion/DLC

Weirdly, awesome new pieces of DLC and great expansions are some of the least covered things in the gaming world. Who doesn't like more awesome stuff to things we already love? That's why we love this award in particular, and 2022 is a great example of why.

Here are the nominees for TechRaptor's Best Expansion/DLC Award for the best piece of additional content to an existing game.

• Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
• Dead Cells: The Queen & the Sea
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
• Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (Our Review)
• The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

Check out here for our other award categories and nominees.

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Readers' Choice Winner - Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

Developer: Studio MDHR | Release Date: June 30th, 2022

When Cuphead originally released, it swept just about every single one of our awards. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course not only kept up the same amazing quality we adored the base game for, it added in seamless new ideas and mechanics. You can't ask for much better when it comes to DLC, so it's no wonder to see that it resonated with our readers.

Third Place - Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Developer: Tribute Games | Release Date: June 30th, 2022

Written by Andrew Otton

All you really need to have a successful expansion is more of the same game people already enjoyed. Thankfully, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak did more than that. Sunbreak took the opportunity to improve on elements of the base game with some reworks and additions, like a revamped endgame and some new monsters to hunt. Not everything worked out, but overall the new changes made the game better.

For most, this is mostly noticeable in the endgame. Prior to Sunbreak, Rise's endgame left a lot to be desired. It's still not perfect, but Sunbreak made the essential grind of a Monster Hunter game more bearable in not being locked into having to fight the same monster over and over again to get the materials needed for upgrades. 

If you liked Monster Hunter Rise, Sunbreak should be a no-brainer.

Second Place -  The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

Developer: Crows Crows Crows | Release Date: April 27th, 2022

Written by Robert Scarpinito

The Stanley Parable was one of the more off-the-wall games of 2013, featuring meta commentary on video game structure and player expectations. Nine years later, it's back with The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, featuring better graphics, new content, and even more biting meta commentary on the industry. 

While the original content pokes fun at the illusion of player choice and the way games almost manipulate people into having fun, the brand new Ultra Deluxe content spends more time wrestling with the industry’s need to repackage older games. It has the wit and charm to simultaneously mock the practice while itself being a product of that process. 

The additional content in The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe puts the older content in a new light, complimenting and enhancing the original experience. This gives players all the more reason to re-experience older content, something that only some of the best expansions and DLC can do for games of this scale. 

Much like its initial outing, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe should be experienced with as little spoilers as possible. If it’s been on your “need to play” list for years, here’s your sign to start it. 

Winner - Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

Developer: Studio MDHR | Release Date: June 30th, 2022

Written by Samiee "Gutterpunk" Tee

In the 5 years since Cuphead’s release, it’s a product that has only become more timeless, even past the rubber-hose animation the developers painstakingly recreated with authentic methods. Run-n-gun gameplay that saw short bursts of brute force difficulty be placed alongside some of the best boss fight designs the eighth generation of gaming ever saw. Where can you even go from there? There was only one answer, and that was to go bigger.

With The Delicious Last Course, Cuphead expanded the stage for more unique aspects, playing with the mechanics that saw the original release stretched to its limits. With more outrageous arenas, a new character, and weapons that reconfigured movement schemes and strategies, and past bosses being approached in new ways, it truly is a last course to savor. A brilliant expansion on the formula that originally made Cuphead one of the best games of the 2010s.