2023 has been an interesting year for gaming. Now that the year is almost halfway through and our big June releases are out I’d like to discuss the best games you’ve played this year, but feel free to also mention your big disappointments this year.
2023 has been an interesting year for gaming. Now that the year is almost halfway through and our big June releases are out I’d like to discuss the best games you’ve played this year, but feel free to also mention your big disappointments this year.
Best:
Zelda: TOTK: I don’t have much to add to the convo about this game. In terms of technical achievement and player discovery it’s an all time great game.
**Dead Space Remake: ** Great remake of the original. They did some good changes to the story that make it make more sense at the end. Also liked how they changed up the boss fights. Really hoping they remake 2 after this.
RE4 Remake: Another all time great. Played through it 4 times when it came out. They took out all the dated stuff from the original which was welcome. Loved the new knife fight with Krauser and the section where you control Ashley.
Metroid Prime Remastered: Probably my favorite Gamecube game. I forgot how hard the soundtrack goes in this game. Having played a lot more of the 2D games since I first played Prime gave me a better appreciation for how they translated it all to 3D.
Diablo 4: This is scratching my Diablo itch and that’s all I really need. I’m only lvl 37 and I don’t know if I’ll care enough to go hard on the endgame but I’m having fun just cutting swaths of monsters in half. I’m digging the darker tone of this game as well. I didn’t hate 3 but it was much more cartoony so this is a nice change.
Disappointing:
Destiny 2: Lightfall: As an avid Destiny player since D1 this expansion was a mixed bag but mostly negative. On one hand the new power (Strand) is excellent and the combat encounters in the campaign were really good, but the story was such a colossal fuck up for what is supposed to be the penultimate chapter of a 10 year saga. Destiny’s story has always been very mid but last year’s expansion really upped their game and then we got this half-assed filler story that they’re trying to stretch over the entire year. The game has also had a ton of technical issues since this expansion. It feels like Bungie has moved on to Marathon and put Destiny on cruise control which is disappointing. I still play the game a bit every week but it’s become clear that after The Final Shape I’m probably done with Destiny.
Jedi Fallen Survivor: I like everything they added to this game and clearly a lot of good work went into it but the story is really putting me off to the point where I don’t think I care to finish it. I can’t get into details without spoiling it. The game is also runs like shit. I’d be fine if it maintained a stable framerate but in either performance or quality the frames constantly drop.
Others I like but haven’t finished:
Like a Dragon: Ishin
Advanced Wars 1+2