2023 game plans

[JoshC1977]

Re: 2023 game plans

It seems to be gaining momentum in the gaming community and after spending some time with the game, it is well-deserved.

Sea of Stars is a really nifty old-school turn-based JRPG with a ton of polish. They have some really cool exploration and battle mechanics (so from a gameplay standpoint, it's quite engaging). Still too early for me to speak to the character and story development.

If you enjoy the genre, this is definitely one to check-out.

[Picci]

Re: 2023 game plans

Well, Fall and Winter is my usual more frequent play time. Now that I'm semi-retired, I should be able to bang some out more quickly, and there's lots of games to play. Game Pass alone has added new opportunities. Lots of interests for October with 3 definite buys. I'll also have some nice options for Halloween

<li>Spider Man 2 PS5
<li>Tennis On Court PSVR2
<li>Phasmophobia PSVR2
<li>Sony's Pulse Explore wireless earbuds - <i>If the earbuds pre-orders go live</i></li>



<b>Current Playing Rotation </b>

<li>War Thunder PS5 - <i> It'll also have my most-anticipated PSVR2 game announced, Aces of Thunder.</i>
<li>NBA 2K23 PS5 <i> </i>
<li>No Man's Sky PS5/VR2</i>
<li>Jurassic World Evolution 2 PS5 <i></i>
<li>Starfield XBX </i>
<li>Crossfire: Sierra Squad PSVR2 <i> </i>


<b>When Opportunity Arises</b>

<li>Microsoft Flight Simulator XBX
<li>Horizon Call of the Mountain PSVR2
<li>Fight Night Champions PS3/Game Pass
<li>Ryse: Son of Rome Game Pass
<li>Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Game Pass
<li>Creed: Rise to Glory Championship Edition PSVR2
<li>Resident Evil Village PSVR2
<li>Aliens: Dark Descent PS5
</li>



<b>On Hold/Wait and See </b>

<b>MLB The Show 23 PS4</b> - <i> Just recently purchased. Shows how much a one-time system seller for me has sunk. Will start working on 2024 rosters when opportunity comes up</i>

<b>Madden 24 </b> - <i>Didn't purchase you yet. Skipped you last year. It's only a matter of time before I'll be purchasing you again. See you at a discount when opportunity comes up.</i>

<b>NBA 2K24</b> - <i>Your game play sounds incredible. Your micro-transactions sounds shameful. Your continuous patch releases reminds why I no longer purchase you or any sports game on day one again. By the way, 2k23 is still fantastic!

<b>NHL 24</b> - <i>Yes, every year I have my eyes on you and every year you disappoint me. NHL 12 was my last. </i></i>

[TripleCrown9]

Re: 2023 game plans

I didn't want to start a whole thread for this, and I wasn't sure where else it fits.

But a few days ago I bought Chants of Sennaar, and I can't stop playing it.

It's an exploration/language deciphering game. You show up in a strange world and have to learn the language of the people on each level. You find glyphs, and you can type what you think it means before eventually locking in their definitions.

There's 5 different languages/levels, and each level has multiple puzzles to solve before you can advance.

[peter42O]

Re: 2023 game plans

2023 SCHEDULE
QUARTERLY UPDATE (OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER)
Completed nine games for the first half of 2023. Currently have nine games for the second half of 2023. Starting to build a backlog which isn't my preference but it is what it is.

CURRENTLY PLAYING
- Assassin's Creed Mirage (ubisoft+)

COMPLETED
1. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (9.0/10, disc)
2. Dead Space (9.0/10, disc)
3. Hogwarts Legacy (8.5/10, digital)
4. Dead Island 2 (8.5/10, digital gold edition)
5. Resident Evil 4 (8.5/10, disc)
6. Hi Fi Rush (8.5/10, game pass)
7. Final Fantasy XVI (8.0/10, disc/base game)
8. Sifu (8.0/10, digital)
9. Redfall (6.0/10, game pass)

BACKLOG
- Atlas Fallen (on the last region, need to wrap it up)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (digital/base game)
- Diablo IV (waiting for it to go on Game Pass)
- Dying Light 2: Stay Human - Bloody Ties (digital/expansion)
- Horizon Forbidden West: The Burning Shores (digital/expansion)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising: The Lost Gods (digital/expansion)
- Immortals of Aveum (waiting for it to go on EA Play)
- Like a Dragon Ishin (waiting for it to go on Game Pass in mid-October)
- Remnant 2 (on the final boss)
- Starfield (long story, will get back to it in January as I will be off most of the month)
- The Ascent: Cyber Heist (digital/expansion)

OCTOBER
10/05 - Assassin's Creed Mirage (day one ubisoft+)
10/20 - Marvel's Spider Man 2 (digital deluxe edition)

NOVEMBER
11/02 - RoboCop: Rogue City (disc)
11/09 - Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (day one game pass)

DECEMBER
12/07 - Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (day one ubisoft+)

[JoshC1977]

Re: 2023 game plans

Finished Sea of Stars last night and I figured I'd give my own little review of it here (spoiler-free) as I don't think a separate thread is needed. Sea of Stars is an indy crowd-funded game in the vein of a retro-stylized Final Fantasy-esque game (turn-based).

Graphics
Beautfully rendered graphics and artwork. Very strong stylistic choices that aid in capturing a wide variety of different vistas. Not quite on the visual level of an Octopath Traveler 2 in terms of lighting and so on, but quite well-done.

Grade: 9/10

Music
First thing out of the way, I am a sucker for orchestral music (even for games like this). The music in this game is more akin to the PS1 era as a stylistic choice. The music is catchy (some tunes are still going through my head as I write this). Excellent compositions for this game that capture the essence of different areas (and even vary the battle music). Really solid job here by that team even though I personally prefer full orchestral style.

Grade: 8/10 (10/10 if you love the "midi-style" music)

Gameplay - Exploration
Most games of this style have you moving your little sprites around the screen as they walk around the map. Not Sea of Stars. Areas are three dimensional and have you using different mechanics throughout the game to traverse areas. The game also features "puzzles" that you have to solve in order to either progress in some maps (or to gain access to loot). They were very well-designed and none of them fell into the trap of being so obtuse that you had to spam everything under the sun to try and figure it out. I'll be honest, in the early parts of the game, I stayed engaged because of this.

Grade: 10/10

Gameplay - Combat
The combat is actually fun. In addition to standard fare turn-based mechanics (including a mechanic that requires you to break an enemy's "concentration" before his turn arrives and he uses a special skill - which makes you also think tactically), there are timing mechanics for boosting damage/blocking, plus some skills (a couple are utterly addictive - when you unlock "moonerang", you will understand). I personally found the combat to again tread the line between too easy and too obtuse (and there are certain aids you can unlock/buy to make certain combat elements a bit easier - a welcome addition, but you can enable/disable at will). I definitely lost battles at times but also never felt the need to "grind" areas to level-up.

Grade: 9/10

Gameplay - Pacing
An underrated aspect of games IMO. Some games throw too much at you at once followed by major "lulls". Sea of Stars introduces new mechanics and characters throughout the narrative while giving you a chance to "enjoy" them before they throw-out another. The pacing here is exceptionally well-done. Just when you think you've hit a "lull", they throw out something new. Also, as mentioned above, "grinds" of prior areas to level-up were not really necessary in my playthrough.

Grade: 10/10

RPG-elements
As mentioned, this is a Final Fantasy-style game, as such, this is not really an RPG. You do not make dialogue decisions that impact the story or characters - thus, no real role-playing. Now, if you are one of those people that thinks FF games are RPGs, then yes, it is in that sense. I tend to view these types of games as adventure games (reserving the "RPG" moniker for games like Skyrim, Mass Effect, etc.)

For other elements like leveling, equipment customization, etc., the options here are very light. Side quests are limited (thankfully IMO) but there are some optional areas that can give you some nice equip upgrades late-game.

Grade: not grading here, because it's truly a matter of whether or not you like this approach.

Story
The story was enough to make me curious as to what might happen next but it was a fairly standard good vs evil storyline. BUT...there were a couple of twists and turns along the way and the team did add some backstory to certain aspects which offered a nice context.

Grade: 7/10

Characters/Character Development
The two main protagonists (Zale and Valere) you can begin the game with are pretty bland "we are the heroes of this story" cut-out characters with very limited back stories and no real essence of ambiguity...they're like playing as Commander Shepard while making ALL paragon choices (if that makes sense). Other party members are a fair bit more interesting. There IS one party character (aside from the main two) who I did genuinely love...pretty sure most folks will feel that way too. Some NPCs (even foes) have some fleshed-out stories, some of which are interesting. But I'll be honest, I never really felt "attached" to anyone in the story...unlike Octopath Traveler 2 where I literally teared-up at times. As someone that values strong connections to my characters more than anything in a game, this really hurt the game a bit for me.

Grade: 6/10

Replayability

Just a quick note as I am someone that plays a game for the story then moves on. But, beating the game unlocks some new content (do not know what that entails) and a New Game+ mode. From what I've heard, this game does have good replayability...if that matters to you, you could enjoy this aspect.

Overall

The gameplay really carried the game for me; it was fun and engaging throughout (and it changes-up the turn-based "RPG" genre enough to make it fresh as well). The story and characters held things together well enough, but did not particularly stand-out. I will say that I did not face any bugs or issues during my playthrough - so a well-polished experience. The overall quality of this game truly belies the fact it is an indy game, very impressive.

Overall Grade: 8 of 10

[KSUowls]

Re: 2023 game plans

I'll probably do one final check in after this.

Original Plan

2023 Goals
Complete 3 games in my back log - 0 Complete

Must Buys with a release date:
Forspoken (1/24/23) - Recently purchased
Atomic Heart (2/21/21) - Did Not Buy
Star Wars Jedi Survivor (3/17/23) - Did Not Buy
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores (4/19/23) - Purchased

Tentative 2023 Releases:
Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon - Did not Buy
Banishers Ghosts of New Eden - Not yet released (Nov 7, 2023)
Forza Motorsport - Did Not Buy
Starfield - Purchased and refunded
Stormgate - In-Development


Beyond the original plan.
Unexpected Purchases:
Diablo IV - Fun for a couple of weeks, but then the changes happened and just not enough content
Baldurs Gate 3 - Game of the decade
OOTP 24 - Not revolutionary, but still fun
Pokemon Violet - Really enjoying
Final Fantasy XVI - A complete failure of a FF game, but an okay hack/slash
Hogwarts Legacy - Atrocious story, but gameplay and environment both solid
Star Trek Infinite - A clone of a free stellaris mod, but with fewer features than the mod.
Madden 24 - Franchise finally playable, 6 weeks after release

The first half of 2023 was a major disappointment with games like Forspoken falling a bit flat and others like FF16 & Hogwarts Legacy being games that I wanted to love but had major defects.

Entering August though I started to get really excited for the end of the year. Baldurs Gate 3 started to peak my interest with some clips I saw and Starfield was right around the corner. Then there were games like Armored Core which were only a few weeks out, and my favorite car sim game (Forza) with a new mainline entry due out in early Q4, not to mention Cities Skylines II being expected shortly after that. Even Madden had me excited for the first time in years.

A couple of weeks into October, and I should have known better. Starfield was a massive disappointment, reaching Cyberpunk 2077 levels. Forza's new customization/progression system is a huge downgrade versus prior entries, and the just reported Cities Skylines II performance issues with no delay in release for PC is also a major disappointment.

Thankfully Baldurs Gate 3 exists. Hopefully I can finish 1 play through of this before the end of the year (so much to explore, hard to stay committed to the main quest).

[Picci]

Re: 2023 game plans

With all the games I'm playing, I'll wait on Spider Man 2 for a later date to purchase, and start playing. It was the only game for October in what was a very disappointing month release of the other games I had interest in that came in broken, delayed, or bare bones.


As for November, two game has my attention;

<li>Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom Complete Edition (PSVR2) - November 2nd

<li>Football Manager 2024 - November 6th.
</li>


<b>Current Playing Rotation </b>

<li>War Thunder PS5/PS4
<li>NBA 2K23 PS5
<li>No Man's Sky PS5/VR2
<li>Microsoft Flight Simulator XBX
<li>Jurassic World Evolution 2 PS5
<li>Aliens: Dark Descent PS5
<li>Madden 24 PS5
<li>Resident Evil Village PSVR2
<li>Fight Night Champions XBX/Game Pass
<li>MLB The Show 23 PS4 </i>



<b>When Opportunity Arises</b>

<li>Ryse: Son of Rome Game Pass
<li>Horizon Call of the Mountain PSVR2
<li>Creed: Rise to Glory Championship Edition PSVR2
<li>Starfield XBX
<li>Football Manager 24 Game Pass
</li>

[JoshC1977]

Re: 2023 game plans

I have really settled into a wonderful gaming pattern this last year (especially recently). Basically, at any one time, I am actively playing only two games: MLB The Show 23 and another game; with occasional excursions into something like Madden (which I can only enjoy in short doses anyways).

My latest non-MLBTS game has been Marvel's Midnight Suns. When it first came out, I was like, "Turn-based tactical game with Cards? Hard pass!" There's another whole element I had not been aware of, there's a sizable role-playing aspect to it. I started playing the trial like 3 weeks ago (bought it 30 mins into the 2 hour trial) and I've already sunk 60+ hours into it. If Octopath Traveler 2 is my game of the year (and it is by a landslide), then Midnight Suns is my "Shocker of the Year" - did NOT expect to enjoy it as much as I have (to be fair...my gaming tastes have altered dramatically this year).

Once I finish that (I only started the final act last night..so I've probably got another 20 hours or so, at least), I'll dive into my catalog and see what appeals to me at that time (no longer worrying about back logs or anything like that). I DO want to finish my playthrough of Tales of Arise (plus the new DLC coming-out in November) - but we'll see.

Come turn of the year, I'll likely re-play Crisis Core: Reunion and the Final Fantasy VII Remake to gear-up for the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on 2/29/24.

[bhurst99]

Re: 2023 game plans

With less than two months left in the year I realized the 2023 Wishlist I posted in the early spring has gone largely unfulfilled. I’m jealous of most of you who have played many of these games and have the time to finis themh. I also realize I have gamer ADHD: I can start games; I just can’t finish them.

2023 Wishlist – Purchased

Starfield (PC Game Pass– Level 15). It has been heavily criticized but I’m enjoying for what it’s suppose to be: A huge sandbox RPG.
Disco Elysium. (PS Plus). Just picked it up. Very creative

2023 Wishlist – Not Purchased

Hogwart’s Legacy. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
Dying Light 2
Diablo 4
God of War Ragnarok
The Show 2023
(Waiting for Discounts at this point)

2023 Wishlist – Added

Baldur’s Gate 3
Alan Wake 2

2023 Games Completed

I’ve just completed two games this year.

Snipe Elite 5 (PS 4 Plus – Sniper Elite Level). Sniping and shooting Nazis are a video game staple even through it’s so unrealistic that one sniper could take down hundreds and hundreds of Nazis. I almost bought it before it was added to the PS Plus line-up because I enjoyed Snipe Elite 4 that much. The maps get larger and more interesting with every edition and you can’t beat all the ways you can kill Nazis.(9 out of 10)

Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS4 – Hard – Platinum Trophy). (9 out of 10).

I also got the Platinum Trophy for God of War. That last valkyrie was ridiculously tough.

2023 DLC Completed

Sam’s Story -- Metro Exodus (DLC – PS5 – Hardcore) 9 out of 10)

Two Colonels – Metro Exodus (DLC – PS5 – Hardcore) 8 out of 10

2023 Games Currently Playing

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (PS5 Plus -- Hard) – Power 102
Cyperpunk 2077 (PC – Hard) -- Level 17
Dirt 5 (PS5 Plus) – Player Level 21
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (PC) – Level 5
Dying Light (PC) --
Elden Ring (PC) – Level 50.
Horizon Forbidden West (PS5 Plus -- Hard) -- 19.78 per cent complete, Level 19
Pentiment (PC) – Act 2

Sports Games

It’s mostly what I play these days. I love playing the old The Show games with all the rules and playoff differences from today’s game.

FIFA 23 (PS5) – Burlington (2-0-3, Custom Team – England Division Two)
FIFA 22 (PS5) – Manchester United (Second Season: 3-0-0)
Manchester United (First Season: 27-6-5, Finished Second by one point
France (Lost World Cup Semifinal; Won Third Place Game)
FIFA 20 (PS4) – Fulham (15-1-2, Currently Second in Championship)
FIFA 19 (PS4) – PSG (Second Season -- 6-0-2, Won SuperCup); Peru (0-1)


Losing the Premier League title by one point in Fifa 22 was awful.

MLB 21 (PS5) – Toronto (28-24), Buffalo (24-23), New Hampshire (15-7)
MLB 20 (PS4) – Montreal (31-12)
MLB 19 (PS4) – Milwaukee (35-28)
MLB 17 (PS4) – NY Mets (11-16)
MLB 16 (PS4) – Toronto (53-42)
MLB 15 (PS4) --Washington (43-47)
MLB 14 (PS3) -- Los Angeles (26-15)
(I Play on All-Star level, every pitch)

NHL 19 (PS4) – Toronto (1-9). I stink

[TripleCrown9]

Re: 2023 game plans

Last week I bought Assassin's Creed Unity. Never played it before, it's the only mainline game in the franchise I skipped.

It's a damn fun game. The traversal is really nice.

I'd say it's in my personal Top 3 at the moment.

AC3
Black Flag
Unity
AC2
Valhalla
Origins
Odyssey
Syndicate
AC1

Off the top of my head

[Armor and Sword]

2023 game plans

As 2023 winds down we are still going strong on our sports titles:

MLB 20
NBA2K23
Madden 24

Non sports games has been a good year:

Aliens Dark Decent
Baldurs Gate 3
Red Dead Redemption PS5


In the Que

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1
RDR 2 (second playthrough)
God of War Valhalla
Assassins Creed Valhalla





Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Picci]

Re: 2023 game plans

For me, it's now a given that I wait on games because of my backlogs, and recent poor releases I've seen lately. One game I scored BIG last month was Football Manager on Game Pass. Game is fantastic and I can't wait to dive deeper. Needs to be put into my rotation.
December is a loaded month, especially having the opportunity of dogs as sidekicks in 2 different vr games. Lots of games and an audio piece listed. However, there's only 1 lock for me.



<li>Playstation Explore wireless earbuds Dec 6
<li>Arashi: Castle of Sin Remaster PSVR2 Dec 5
<li>Arizona Sunshine 2 PSVR2 Dec 7
<li>Resident Evil 4 PSVR2 Mode Dec 8
<li>Vertigo 2 PSVR2 Dec 14
<li>Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Dec 7
<li>The Day Before PC Dec 7
</li>


<b>Current Playing Rotation </b>

<li>War Thunder PS5/PS4
<li>NBA 2K23 PS5
<li>Madden 24 PS5
<li>Aliens: Dark Descent PS5/PS4
<li>No Man's Sky PS5/VR2
<li>Microsoft Flight Simulator XBX
<li>Jurassic World Evolution 2 PS5
<li>Crossfire: Sierra Squad PSVR2
<li>Football Manager 24 Game Pass
<li>MLB The Show 23 PS4 - <i>Just doing roster updates</i></li>


<b>When Opportunity Arises</b>

<li>Resident Evil Village PSVR2
<li>Fight Night Champions XBX/Game Pass
<li>Ryse: Son of Rome Game Pass
<li>Horizon Call of the Mountain PSVR2
<li>Creed: Rise to Glory Championship Edition PSVR2
<li>Starfield XBX</li>

[pietasterp]

Re: 2023 game plans

I think I'm gonna go AAA ambitious for '23, and finally try to knock out:

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 (priority #1 for me, as I've been meaning to play this for years and the RDR1 is one of my favorite games of all time)

2. Horizon Zero Dawn (want to see what all the fuss is about)

We'll see how it goes...

Pretty well, as it turned out! Check and check.

Both were really good, but the quality and attention to detail in RDR2 was simply stunning. I could have spent the whole year just doing RDR2 but I pried myself away because I wanted to try other stuff.

Also put in a ton of time into EA's PGA Tour game (meh...see the golf thread for my thoughts on that game). And I got Gran Turismo 7 + racing wheel on Black Friday due to some decent discounts, so that might end up occupying a ton of my time coming up...

[KSUowls]

Re: 2023 game plans

Decided to make this a year in review post. Still a few weeks left, but I don't see much changing between now and then.

Goal - Complete 3 games:
Status - Fail

Spoiler

Finished Spiderman Remastered (PS5).
Might be able to finish Spiderman 2 by end of the year, but I don't see myself finishing a 3rd in the next few weeks.

*Comments in spoilers*

My Personal Game Awards:

GOTY - Baldurs Gate 3 - 10/10

Spoiler

It's GOTY across many outlets for a reason. I absolutely hate combat in these kinds of games and so I have never been able to get into them. It was actually a last minute decision to even buy this game for that very reason. It was only after seeing a bunch of adverts for it leading up to release that I finally decided to take the plunge. I don't know if it's because BG3 does enough with combat to satisfy me or if it is because the rest of the game is just so freaking good, but even as someone who does not like cRPG's, this game deserves all of the accolades

The sheer amount of decisions that you get to make as a player, decisions that impact things both big and small, just made playing it so special. Also, Larian studios has proven to be one of the most gamer friendly developers that we have seen in a long time.

Biggest Surprise - Baldurs Gate 3 - 10/10

Spoiler

See my "GOTY" comments.

Biggest Disappointment - Starfield - 7/10

Spoiler

I thought that this was easily going to be my GOTY. I have been excited about this game for so long and every trailer and showcase that they had for it just built up my anticipation. To steal a comment that I saw somewhere though, "Starfield is the most Fine game of 2023.".

There are obviously things that you can do in it to fill 100 hours or more of gameplay, but there is a reason that it receives such mixed reviews. Much of Starfield's open world feels like content for content's sake instead of bringing it into any kind of immersive environment. It carries the basic formula of a Bethesda game, but it has no life. It's a game set in a galaxy of space travel, and your ship does not matter. There are 1000 planets to see, but there is little to explore. The best part of the game was the combat, which ironically is the one area that would probably receive the most leeway for a game in this genre. The combat doesn't stand up to combat focused games though and so it can't stand alone without the immersion expected in an open world game.

The game is fine. It doesn't do anything particularly awful, but it definitely doesn't do anything great either.

Best Retro Experience - Jade Empire - 8.5/10

Spoiler

This category is for very old games that I never got around to playing before now. I have been wanting to play this game for years, but I always had trouble getting it to run. I finally got it working though, and it was such a pleasant and nostalgic experience. While the combat is dated and was probably clunky even when it originally released in 2005, the old school Bioware ability to create an engaging atmosphere is clearly present. A remaster of this game with modernized combat would be amazing.

------------

-2023 Purchases-
Baldurs Gate 3 - 10/10

Spoiler

See "My GOTY" spoiler.

Diablo IV - 7.5/10

Spoiler

The first few weeks were fun, but it had a serious endgame problem from the onset. Then the July game changes happened and I haven't touched the game since.I know that they have rolled back some of those changes, but I don't think there is enough content in the game to go back to it at this point. It's fun to go through the story and level up 1 character though.

Finally Fantasy XVI - 1/10

Spoiler

As a video game this one has some merits for its beautiful graphics, fantastic musical score and just being a competent hack & slash. My score review is entirely due to "Final Fantasy" being in the title, because this is not a main line Final Fantasy game in terms of design. Were it not marketed as such then it would not feel like such a betrayal to the franchise. Ignoring the franchise name then this one would probably get a 7.5/10 for offering a decent enough combat experience to go with the great music and atmosphere. The only reason that this is not my most disappointing game of 2023 is because Starfield exists.

Forza Motorsport - 6/10

Spoiler

I never imagined that there would be a Forza game that I was not able to really get myself into, especially this one which I have been excited about ever since the original announcement. The change to car upgrades combined with a relatively small track list just makes it hard to get invested in though.

Grand Tactician the Civil War - 8/10

Spoiler

The learning curve knocks it down a peg for me personally, but I also recognize that if I committed myself to learning the game more though then this would easily be a 9/10. A very impressive game

Hogwarts Legacy - 7.5/10

Spoiler

Great Harry Potter atmosphere with some beautiful graphics. Exploring the Hogwarts grounds was really special as someone who grew up reading these books and became a big fan of them. Combat also borders on exceptional. They did a great job in giving you an arsenal of spells to work with at any 1 time and making it seamless. The main story was difficult to digest with some lazy tropes, and some of the side characters were painful which really hurt the experience for me.

Madden 24 - 6/10

Spoiler

This score would have been a little higher were it not for them taking over a month to fix the draft bug. I had already lost my biggest excitement for the game by then. It has many legacy issues, but early on I thought that it did play a decent game of football. The more I play the more I realize how flawed the on field experience still is though.

Mortal Kombat 1 - 8/10

Spoiler

I regret buying this one. Not because it's bad, but simply because me and fighting games don't get along lol. I'm not good enough at them to bother playing online, and so the only value that this one gave me was the single player aspects. I really enjoyed playing through the campaign and the kombat is very fun. I probably should have waited to get it on sale down the road, but it's absolutely a well done game.

OOTP 24 - 7/10

Spoiler

The OOTP formula is still there which is itself fantastic. I'm not sure if it's the shift to Perfect Team that is the cause of this or not, but there just seems to be a lack of innovation with this game over the last few years with regard to the core franchise mode. Still fun though. Overall the relatively low score could also be contributed to my now 2 year boycott of baseball and just becoming more disconnected with the MLB.

Pokemon Violet - 8.5/10

Spoiler

Old release that I finally purchased. Had a ton of fun with this one. Some mild performance issues and overall ease of play are the biggest drawbacks, along with wishing that there was access to more of the older generation pokemon. The open world is well done though, and as a fan of Pokemon games there is a lot to like. Especially with how it's relatively easy to get all of the starter pokemon.

Spiderman 2 - 8/10

Spoiler

Many great mechanics and design exist in this game. I have a personal bias against deus ex machina type events like a 2nd person in the same city getting bitten by a radioactive spider resulting in the same superpowers and consequently I could not bring myself to care about half the story (even though Miles Morales would have been a great OG spiderman or stand alone hero himself).

Star Trek Infinite - 3/10

Spoiler

This is a $30 reskin of free Stellaris mods. Except those mods have more content. Paradox is offering future premium DLC to catch up to the content available in those original mods.

------------

Backlog Games played

Jade Empire - 8.5/10

Spoiler

see top of post

Spiderman Remastered - 9/10

Spoiler

There really isn't much more that I could have wanted out of a spiderman game. I wish that Venom had been part of the story (and the venom suit), and Mary Jane's character was pretty annoying at times. Absolutely everything else was a lot of fun though. Very happy to have finally finished this one off.

Warhammer Darktide - 7.5/10

Spoiler

I have a lot/hate relationship with these hoard style games. They are fun to play as a group, but I rarely feel drawn to play it on my own. Still, it's good for what it is, especially after some of the recent changes.

[JoshC1977]

Re: 2023 game plans

Like KSUOwls, I don't think my end-of-year is going to change much between now and Jan 1...so here are my thoughts. First off, I still play TONS of MLB The Show...getting that out of the way, let's focus on everything else.

Game of the Year - Octopath Traveler 2 - easily the best game of 2023..period, end of story. It's honestly in my Top 5 all-time and it reminded me of what is truly important to me in gaming - great characters. Most games do a mediocre (or worse) job developing one main protagonist - this game develops EIGHT of them - all distinct and likeable for different reasons. Combine that with a deep/engaging combat system, excellent voice acting, stunning graphics and what might be the best OST ever and this game just owns my soul. If you have missed out on this gem, definitely play it (for XBox peeps, this game is set to come out on XBox in 2024). Don't let the 2D/3D graphical approach fool you, this game has a level of modernity that belies what it looks like at a quick glance.

Indy of the Year - Sea of Stars - OK, so I never would have checked this out had I not fallen in love with Octopath. But this game is quite good (I have a write-up earlier in the thread).

Surprise of the Year - Marvel's Midnight Suns - another game I talked about earlier in the thread - but I did not expect this one to be so fun/engaging.

Dud of the Year - Diablo IV - Summarized in three words, "Online connection required". I have a great internet connection, it isn't that at all. But I don't think single player games should have to put up with online crap. It's completely inexcusable in my opinion. DIII allowed players to play fully offline and I don't believe that anyone buying a game at full price should have to put up with idiotic things like "server downtime" and "queues" and it is mind-blowing to me that so many gamers find this to be acceptable.

Most Anticipated Game of 2024 (Actually, this should read "Only Anticipated Game of 2024") - Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. I could gush for hours about how excited I am to dive into this. FFVII Remake was insanely good (Top 10 all-time for me) and this one just looks to be even better.


2023 was such a "different" year for me. I had been in a pretty bad rut with games for a couple of years, but OT2 changed it for me and got me back in the saddle. My tastes have moved away from the big blockbuster button mashers to enjoying more tactical, turn-based games - well, as long as they have great characters. This is also the first time I have finished a single game with an 80+ hour play time - and I did it twice in 2023 (OT2 and Midnight Suns).

2024 will undoubtedly be the year of Rebirth for me and I'm hoping I uncover a few more gems from a large collection of JRPGs I've been building over the last few months.