After Cyberpunk I decided to be done paying $50+ to take up a quarter of my disk with a highly-acclaimed game that turns out to be the same old cookie-cutter 3D game with an expensive makeover. Anymore I mostly just play small indie games that friends recommend, and generally have a way better experience for it.
This was back when it was new - my thoughts the entire 30 hours I was playing were things like:
“Johnny Silverhand is more annoying than Jar Jar and I will do anything to not hear his stupid fucking voice anymore”
“this ‘hacking’ is one of the worst minigames I’ve ever seen”
“the setting is ripped straight from PK Dick and doesn’t feel like it really lends anything to the story besides ‘high tech stuff that looks flashy on screen’”
“oh the background i spend ten minutes consiering before choosing does fuckall about shit except slightly reword a few dialogs”
“my god, every single character is insufferable”
“oh wow, my inventory is full again already, and not a single thing in it is worth fuck for shit”
“these physics are just as shitty as that Witcher 3 game I wasted money on last year”
“this button feels really awkward to press when i need it but i don’t feel like editing the config by hand again”
“holy shit when will this cutscene be over? There we g- DAMN IT THERE’S MORE? STFU ALREADY”
It was buggy but the bugs were the least of my worries. I came away feeling like I was promised Mexican food and then was given a cold soggy leftover Taco Bell burrito, and frankly after having basically the same experience with the super-awesome totally-finished fully-patched all-dlc-included GotY version of The Witcher 3 I really don’t trust CDPR to fix shit.
Pikmin 4
Baldur’s Gate 3
Spider-Man 2
Street Fighter 6
Mortal Kombat 1
Dead Space and RE4 remake
The Talos Principle 2
And I didn’t even get around to Alan Wake 2, which everybody’s been raving about. Or that Dave the Builder thing. Or Lies of P. Or Jedi Survivor. And I guess I’m not counting the new Prince of Persia because that’s this year, technically. And I’m not into 2D Mario games, so I’m guessing skipping Super Mario Wonder makes me a bit of an outlier.
Look, I know it feels good to be jaded and edgy and cynical, but… yeah, no, it was an all-time great year for games in 2023. And a terrible year for the games industry. But the games? So good.
… your list is basically all “20+ year old franchise/licensed property”. bruh if there’s that little that’s fresh or origninal then I’ argue that’s a terrible year for games.
Talos Principle 2 does demand my attention though, the first one was stellar and still looks gorgeous.
So let me get this straight, Street Fighter 6 is a “20 year old franchise” so not fresh and original (it is maybe the biggest redefinition of the series since SF3, but hey). Somehow The Talos Principle 2, a direct sequel to a 10 year old game… not that.
But also, Dave the Builder, Sea of Stars, Hi-Fi Rush, Life of P, Lethal Company, Terra Nil, Humanity, Against the Storm… even going by new IP alone it’s been a great year. Not that I accept your premise, sequels and licensed games can obviously be, and indeed have been, fantastic and innovative.
I am very confused and you are either being disingenuous or so comitted to arbitrary requirements that any year is an equally good year.
“the nth iteration of sold-out BRAND that’s older than most people reading this that belongs to a genre so niche only its dedicated fanbase can tell what the hell is even different from the last entry is at least as fresh and original as the sole sequel to a one-off game that was actually made in this century” and “looking forward to an original game you liked getting a single sequel makes you a hypocrite for not also thinking the 2893598th BRAND niche game most people can’t tell from its predecessor is equally exciting” strike me as outright bizarre things to say and it’s weird and sad that when you reach for “fresh and original” the thing you come up with is [moldy franchise] [#].
Right. The “thing I come up with” except for all the brand new IP games I listed above as well.
I guess that edge is so razor sharp it cut right through the message and straight into the rant you just wanted to give anyway, huh? Been there, it’s a problem.
Dude, Baldur’s Gate is a brand new game from a brand new developer that has basically nothing to do with the original two and is doing tons of cool innovative stuff with the CRPG formula. You only need to be part of the “dedicated fanbase” to tell SFV and SF6 apart if you can’t see or use a controller. Ditto for Mario Wonder. Spider-Man and Alan Wake are just as much a direct sequel as Talos, as indicated by them all having the same number after the name.
And again, I listed like what? Half a dozen brand new IPs, plus the extra couple the OP mentioned?
So yeah, you’re arguing nonsense, ignoring responses and ranting wildly because you’ve decided to be the most jaded, edgy sourpuss that ever edged.
Which… fine, be that way, I’m not gonna tell you what to performatively dislike on the Internet, but… man, the ragey rant just doess not track at all.
I said one thing on that list sounded interesting to me and you’re having a tizzy because i think the rest sound like the brand cash-ins they are. Sorry I don’t think “they made another DnD CRPG and a Spider-man game the way they’ve done thrice a decade for forty years” makes it “a great year for games”.
It’s also weird that you take time to dissociate BG3 from the rest of the series despite the number, and then go on to pedantically assert that I should care about spider-man 2 as much as talos principle 2 because number (I think that was your point anyway, it’s not very lucid). I’m tired of elves and wizards and superheroes and fucking remakes dude, it’s so fucking stale. It’s not fun to me - sorry for being happy about the puzzle game I liked getting a sequel while being shit-tired of grindy crap and dead genres.
how dare i say that I’m glad the weird existential puzzle game got a sequel while not also simping over FRANCHISE that I was bored of by the time I hit puberty like a good consumer?
Man, you know what? Yeah, I keep forgetting that sometimes people don’t play games but still sometimes talk about games. That’s on me. I thought we were having a conversation about… you know, what games people are making, and whether we had seen more interesting games this year than the last.
That’s not the conversation we’re having. The conversation we’re having is like when your second cousin goes “I don’t even go to the movies, man, it’s all superheroes and animated movies for kids”. And that’s fine, not everybody needs to know or care. It’s just that the specific outrage and the misrepresentation of what’s being made up there (and in your posts, including this one) is not any less… outragey just because it’s not particularly aware.
FWIW, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense, it again ignores that I’ve mentioned a ton of brand new games that have nothing to do with franchises (go look those up, too, I promise there are many very interesting ones in there). And maybe take my word for it that the last couple Spider-Man games are not at all like most of what has been done before and “another DND game” is absolutely not like any DnD game they’ve made before and you can absolutely tell Street Fighter games apart. It doesn’t have much to do with “being a good consumer” and more to do with… you know, playing the things and seeing if they’re good.
man are you still crying because I said I don’t give a fuck about the billionth entry in a forty year old franchise, but was glad about a sequel to a puzzle game? get a fuckin life you loser.
I couldn’t get behind Tears of the Kingdom. Idk what it was, just didn’t draw me in. Couldn’t keep at it. Put in 10hrs and haven’t picked it up in…3 months?
I’m curious considering it’s currently at 96% positive, what about the reviews drove you away? For me, the game captured the feeling of playing Pokemon for the first time (Heart Gold) again. It was similar enough on a basic level to draw me in, but all the fundamentals and mechanics are totally different and bring a wave of fresh air to the stale Pokemon formula.
If you’ve played Pokemon on the DS and didn’t like it, this game probably won’t be your kind of thing. If you did though, Cassette Beasts has a lot going for it. It has creative monster designs, a cast of unique side characters with their own story quests, a very memorable soundtrack (including my most played song of 2023), a not-overwhelmingly-massive open world with plenty to do, and just a smidge of analog horror.
It’s not great! 2023 games that I have really enjoyed this past year have been Tears of the Kingdom, Cassette Beasts, and Hi-Fi Rush.
After Cyberpunk I decided to be done paying $50+ to take up a quarter of my disk with a highly-acclaimed game that turns out to be the same old cookie-cutter 3D game with an expensive makeover. Anymore I mostly just play small indie games that friends recommend, and generally have a way better experience for it.
After this supposed stellar update dropped that overhauled the game or when the game initially came out?
This was back when it was new - my thoughts the entire 30 hours I was playing were things like:
“Johnny Silverhand is more annoying than Jar Jar and I will do anything to not hear his stupid fucking voice anymore” “this ‘hacking’ is one of the worst minigames I’ve ever seen” “the setting is ripped straight from PK Dick and doesn’t feel like it really lends anything to the story besides ‘high tech stuff that looks flashy on screen’” “oh the background i spend ten minutes consiering before choosing does fuckall about shit except slightly reword a few dialogs” “my god, every single character is insufferable” “oh wow, my inventory is full again already, and not a single thing in it is worth fuck for shit” “these physics are just as shitty as that Witcher 3 game I wasted money on last year” “this button feels really awkward to press when i need it but i don’t feel like editing the config by hand again” “holy shit when will this cutscene be over? There we g- DAMN IT THERE’S MORE? STFU ALREADY”
It was buggy but the bugs were the least of my worries. I came away feeling like I was promised Mexican food and then was given a cold soggy leftover Taco Bell burrito, and frankly after having basically the same experience with the super-awesome totally-finished fully-patched all-dlc-included GotY version of The Witcher 3 I really don’t trust CDPR to fix shit.
Thanks for the write-up, sums up my experience with both games
Oh, man, I had forgotten those were this year.
My list also includes:
Pikmin 4
Baldur’s Gate 3
Spider-Man 2
Street Fighter 6
Mortal Kombat 1
Dead Space and RE4 remake
The Talos Principle 2
And I didn’t even get around to Alan Wake 2, which everybody’s been raving about. Or that Dave the Builder thing. Or Lies of P. Or Jedi Survivor. And I guess I’m not counting the new Prince of Persia because that’s this year, technically. And I’m not into 2D Mario games, so I’m guessing skipping Super Mario Wonder makes me a bit of an outlier.
Look, I know it feels good to be jaded and edgy and cynical, but… yeah, no, it was an all-time great year for games in 2023. And a terrible year for the games industry. But the games? So good.
… your list is basically all “20+ year old franchise/licensed property”. bruh if there’s that little that’s fresh or origninal then I’ argue that’s a terrible year for games.
Talos Principle 2 does demand my attention though, the first one was stellar and still looks gorgeous.
That is a very weird take.
So let me get this straight, Street Fighter 6 is a “20 year old franchise” so not fresh and original (it is maybe the biggest redefinition of the series since SF3, but hey). Somehow The Talos Principle 2, a direct sequel to a 10 year old game… not that.
But also, Dave the Builder, Sea of Stars, Hi-Fi Rush, Life of P, Lethal Company, Terra Nil, Humanity, Against the Storm… even going by new IP alone it’s been a great year. Not that I accept your premise, sequels and licensed games can obviously be, and indeed have been, fantastic and innovative.
I am very confused and you are either being disingenuous or so comitted to arbitrary requirements that any year is an equally good year.
“the nth iteration of sold-out BRAND that’s older than most people reading this that belongs to a genre so niche only its dedicated fanbase can tell what the hell is even different from the last entry is at least as fresh and original as the sole sequel to a one-off game that was actually made in this century” and “looking forward to an original game you liked getting a single sequel makes you a hypocrite for not also thinking the 2893598th BRAND niche game most people can’t tell from its predecessor is equally exciting” strike me as outright bizarre things to say and it’s weird and sad that when you reach for “fresh and original” the thing you come up with is [moldy franchise] [#].
Right. The “thing I come up with” except for all the brand new IP games I listed above as well.
I guess that edge is so razor sharp it cut right through the message and straight into the rant you just wanted to give anyway, huh? Been there, it’s a problem.
Dude, Baldur’s Gate is a brand new game from a brand new developer that has basically nothing to do with the original two and is doing tons of cool innovative stuff with the CRPG formula. You only need to be part of the “dedicated fanbase” to tell SFV and SF6 apart if you can’t see or use a controller. Ditto for Mario Wonder. Spider-Man and Alan Wake are just as much a direct sequel as Talos, as indicated by them all having the same number after the name.
And again, I listed like what? Half a dozen brand new IPs, plus the extra couple the OP mentioned?
So yeah, you’re arguing nonsense, ignoring responses and ranting wildly because you’ve decided to be the most jaded, edgy sourpuss that ever edged.
Which… fine, be that way, I’m not gonna tell you what to performatively dislike on the Internet, but… man, the ragey rant just doess not track at all.
I said one thing on that list sounded interesting to me and you’re having a tizzy because i think the rest sound like the brand cash-ins they are. Sorry I don’t think “they made another DnD CRPG and a Spider-man game the way they’ve done thrice a decade for forty years” makes it “a great year for games”.
It’s also weird that you take time to dissociate BG3 from the rest of the series despite the number, and then go on to pedantically assert that I should care about spider-man 2 as much as talos principle 2 because number (I think that was your point anyway, it’s not very lucid). I’m tired of elves and wizards and superheroes and fucking remakes dude, it’s so fucking stale. It’s not fun to me - sorry for being happy about the puzzle game I liked getting a sequel while being shit-tired of grindy crap and dead genres.
how dare i say that I’m glad the weird existential puzzle game got a sequel while not also simping over FRANCHISE that I was bored of by the time I hit puberty like a good consumer?
You… looked up Street Fighter.
Man, you know what? Yeah, I keep forgetting that sometimes people don’t play games but still sometimes talk about games. That’s on me. I thought we were having a conversation about… you know, what games people are making, and whether we had seen more interesting games this year than the last.
That’s not the conversation we’re having. The conversation we’re having is like when your second cousin goes “I don’t even go to the movies, man, it’s all superheroes and animated movies for kids”. And that’s fine, not everybody needs to know or care. It’s just that the specific outrage and the misrepresentation of what’s being made up there (and in your posts, including this one) is not any less… outragey just because it’s not particularly aware.
FWIW, what you’re saying doesn’t make sense, it again ignores that I’ve mentioned a ton of brand new games that have nothing to do with franchises (go look those up, too, I promise there are many very interesting ones in there). And maybe take my word for it that the last couple Spider-Man games are not at all like most of what has been done before and “another DND game” is absolutely not like any DnD game they’ve made before and you can absolutely tell Street Fighter games apart. It doesn’t have much to do with “being a good consumer” and more to do with… you know, playing the things and seeing if they’re good.
man are you still crying because I said I don’t give a fuck about the billionth entry in a forty year old franchise, but was glad about a sequel to a puzzle game? get a fuckin life you loser.
I couldn’t get behind Tears of the Kingdom. Idk what it was, just didn’t draw me in. Couldn’t keep at it. Put in 10hrs and haven’t picked it up in…3 months?
The steam reviews for cassette beasts drove me away from it, what did you like about it? Also what’s your in game time, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’m curious considering it’s currently at 96% positive, what about the reviews drove you away? For me, the game captured the feeling of playing Pokemon for the first time (Heart Gold) again. It was similar enough on a basic level to draw me in, but all the fundamentals and mechanics are totally different and bring a wave of fresh air to the stale Pokemon formula.
If you’ve played Pokemon on the DS and didn’t like it, this game probably won’t be your kind of thing. If you did though, Cassette Beasts has a lot going for it. It has creative monster designs, a cast of unique side characters with their own story quests, a very memorable soundtrack (including my most played song of 2023), a not-overwhelmingly-massive open world with plenty to do, and just a smidge of analog horror.
I have ~30 hours in it iirc.