Top Games of 2023

It's been another incredible year of games. I haven't had time to play everything I've wanted to. There's been a few games that likely have made my top 10 of all time. There's a few I haven't played, that will likely make that list as well. 

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom have changed the sandbox game. No longer can Rockstar or Bethesda phone in their open worlds.  

Balders Gate 3 has moved the line of what a Dungeons and Dragons based RPG should be. 

And Resident Evil 4 Remake is a masterclass in pacing. 

I played many games this year. I'll rank them all. Remember, these are games that I played this year, not necessarily games that came out in 2023. 

Callisto Protocol and the Importance of Why?

I, like a lot of people, were looking forward to Callisto Protocol. Dead Space was one of the best newer horror games of the past few decades. So a new space horror game brought to you by some of the people that worked on the original Dead Space sounded great. 

Dead Space seemed like a thriving franchise, but EA, in their typical EA fashion, ran it into the ground after adding un-necessary coop and microtransactions, and milked what made the original so special right out of the franchise. I've heard the remake of the first one is pretty damn good, but I've yet to try it. 

Callisto Protocol felt like it could exist in the Dead Space universe. It thrived to be that level of game. What I think we got, was a game running up against smaller budgets than needed to accomplish the vision. 

Final Fight

I recently got the Capcom beat-em-up collection for the Switch, which is such an interesting look into where games were heading in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Games like Double Dragon and River City Ransom took the world by storm and it seemed like as long as games were on a 2D plain, beat-em-ups were going to have a place in the world. 

I returned to Final Fight for the first time in probably 20 years at this point, and I got thoughts.

Sony PlayStation State of Play 2023

Man, I miss E3. The State of Play presentation was great, but it feels like a tease. I'm conditioned to think, "I have at least two more presentations that are going to try to one up this one."

Anyway, Sony's State of Play happened to little fan fair. Yes, the internet talked about it. Reddit was filled with trailers. But this did not carry the same social cachet that the E3 event used to have. 

There's something missing from not having the big presentation, the live audience, the sweaty game journalist living on energy drinks and dreams. Not seeing the GiantBomb couch after hours. It's just not as special. 

But... enough old man yelling at the clouds... we have some games coming. 

Backlog: Far Cry 6

I have a question about Far Cry 6... why?

Just why?

I'm an Ubisoft apologist. They are check list games nowadays, but sometimes it's nice to just pop on a podcast and play in these sandboxes. 

But at what point does the check list start feeling more like a grocery list or a work to do list? I think it's the point we've been at with Ubisoft for a couple years now.