While 2023 will go down as yet another crapfest of a year in our ongoing downward spiral toward the collapse of civilization, there was still a lot of fun to be had in the videogame world! Let's get on with my annual review of what I did in the year 2023:
Beaten in 2023:
Tenchu Z (360)
Horizon Forbidden West (PS5)
Fable II Pub Games (360)
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies (3DS)
Arkadian Warriors (360)
Dust: An Elysian Tail (360)
Light Crusader (Genesis)
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (One)
Alan Wake II (Series)
King's Quest (Windows/GOG)
Quake (One)
Games of the Year:
Winner: Alan Wake II (Series)
Runner-Up: The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
Runner-Up: Horizon Forbidden West (PS5)
Runner-Up: Dust: An Elysian Tail (360)
The Year in Review:
I beat Tenchu Z, an old From Software title for the Xbox 360. While long and repetitive, the stealth gameplay was a blast, so I finished it. I have my eye on their modern ninja title, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice, for a future campaign.
I started out the year with a shiny new Playstation 5 and spent three months on Horizon Forbidden West. Then, instead of pacing myself, I jumped right into The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and before I knew it it was late August. My break from Zelda is ongoing as of this writing, but I hope to return to it and finish it soon, unlike my playthrough of the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess on the Wii, which of course remains unfinished to this day.
I picked up a few Odyssey 2 homebrew games this year like Tunnels of Terror, but also completed my collection of the rare Brazilian Parker Brothers games by acquiring Frogger, Super Cobra, and QBert. I was amazed at how well they pulled off these arcade translations for the Odyssey 2.
For "unfinished business", I finally argued my way through Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies, a 3DS game I had started a few years ago and had played a little. While I missed the DLC and the other Phoenix Wright game on the 3DS, I was glad to hear that they are getting reissued for the Switch sometime soon, so that is good.
I pulled the trigger on an XBox Series X just in time for the unexpected release of Alan Wake II. I am now caught up on consoles. It was easy to set up, the interface is the same as the XBox One, and with Gamepass there are lots of games to try.
Speaking of which, there were lots of games I tried this year but not enough to write here about. I am currently playing Super Mario Wonder with the wife right now, but in 2023 I enjoyed Romancelvania on the PS5, Goat Simulator 3 and Like a Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name on the Series X, Ark: Survival Evolved and Clustertruck on the One, Legends of War Patton on the PS Vita, and lots of XBox 360 stuff.
The XBox 360 still holds a special place in my heart, and on it I tried out Eets Chowdown, Aegis Wing, and Wing Commander Arena this year. In fact, I moved the 360 downstairs to the main setup again, so I could use the Kinect peripheral with it, and we even played Kinect Party on it again for the first time in a decade.
A lot of the 360 activity I enjoyed was because of the announcement that the XBox 360 would lose its online store in 2024, so there were some games I had to get before they disappear forever. One of the new gaming habits I picked up in 2023 was to watch for games getting delisted on this site, as the digital age means that downloaded games that one pays for can suddenly disappear for a lot of reasons. All the more reason to own physical copies of games.
The year ahead looks like total crap, but I know with my backlog of videogames in hand, I will be able to endure all of it until the power goes out for the final time.
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