What games have you played so far this year and what would you rate them?

We’re almost halfway through 2023 and it’s already been a great year for gaming. Here are the games I’ve played so far and what I would rate them:

Beat the Campaign / Significant Time

• Xenoblade Chronicles 3: 7.5. On a technical level, amazing what they accomplished on the Switch. and the battle system was cool, tho got repetitive. Characters and story were eh for me.
• Resident Evil 4 Remake: 9.5/10. What’s to say other than Capcom took a great game, and gave us some modernized improvements. Not everything is perfect, but it’s an incredible game.
• Metroid Prime Remastered: 9/10. Hated the backtracking and some of the old school obtuseness, but it’s a brilliant game. Hopefully Metroid Prime 4 is even better.
• Dead Space Remake: 8/10. This game felt a bit too familiar for me. I think they could’ve done a little more with it, but it’s still a classic.
• Bayonetta Origins: 7.5/10. Love the art style, the music, and the set up to the Bayonetta games. It does get a bit button mashy and simplistic.
• Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: 9.5/10. It improves on BoTW in just about every aspect. The weakest part for me were the Summons. Temples were a big improvement, tho all had a similar concept.
• MLB The Show 23: 8/10. Only played online multiplayer. Fun game. Seems like the same game the series has always been, but it helps that the game is actually good.
• Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: 8/10. Still making my way through this one (completed 4 out of 5 chapters in Part 1). But I love the stories, characters, and just overall charm.

Early Impressions (a few hours)

• Hi-Fi Rush: Love the originality and the art style/animation. For some reason the rhythm gameplay isn’t clicking all the way for me.
• Fire Emblem Engage: Story seems to take the back burner, but the gameplay seems great. Looking forward to coming back to this one.
• Octopath Traveler 2: Did not play the previous one. Love the combat mechanic in this one. Quite addicting! Good music too and art style.
• Street Fighter 6: played about 15-20 matches and it was really fun. Got my ass kicked haha.
• Gran Turismo 7 VR: VR gives you a whole new level of immersion here. GT 7 is a great showcase for the tech, tho graphics are a little rough around the edges.
• Resident Evil 8 VR: A ‘killer app’ for VR so to speak. Offers you another reason to revisit the game as it’s a different experience in VR. Looking forward to RE4 Remake VR.
• Beat Saber VR: literally just picked this up, but I love the concept and the music is great. Feel entranced by it! Same goes with playing Rez Infinite in VR.
• Runner VR: great for those people who like arcade type games where you‘re always to do the same thing better and better.

So many great games, and still so many to play. How about you, SW? What games have you played so far this year and what would you rate them?

• Blood - 9
• Shadow Warrior - 8
• Duke3D - 10
• Doom 64 - 9
• Duke Nukem: Time To Kill - 6
• Ion Fury - 7
• Street Fighter 6 - 2 (doesn't work)

Hifi Rush gets an 8 from me. Campaign has too much non combat stuff, found the story and characters meh.... but combat is great.

Callisto Protocol- 6. Has issues but the weapons hit hard and are satisfying to use. Think a sequel could easily be a good game.

Tiny Kin - 7.5 fun little platformer. On gamepass.

Blue Fire - 7, 3d platformer that's structured like a Zelda game. Got stuck in the 2nd dungeon and as far as I can tell had no way so I quit. Will give it another try and use multiple save slots.

I played about 20 minutes of RE4R at a buddy's.

In terms of games i have played enough to give a score:

Currently playing Guardians of the Galaxy. I would rate it 7/10 (Nearly finished. I doubt my score will change at this stage though). Good game overall. Starts off slow but picks up. The characters are done well and the art direction is great. It's a bit rough and a bit basic though. As i said in another thread: it feels like a game made by a very enthusiastic team of rookies. I'd love to see them get another crack at it though. Sadly Avengers screwed the game over.

I also played Xenoblade Chronicles: Future redeemed. 8/10 for me. A solid send off for the trilogy. Some nice quality of life improvements over the main game and it was good fun overall. It's more xenoblade....can't really go wrong....well..most of the time at least :P.

Bastion: 8/10. A bit of a blast from the past. I have owned it for ages but never really played it much. But i have been playing it a fair bit on the steam deck. A great game for a portable. Levels are short. Combat is enjoyable. The weapons bring a good bit of variety. Good soundtrack.

@osan0: you just reminded me, I played Xenoblade 3 this year lol.

Pretty sure I enjoyed everything I played this year. Can't remember them all, don't care to throw a number on them. Not all 2023 releases of course.

TotK - Favorite sp game this year.

SF6 - Probably my goty.

Pizza Tower - Dope, going for P ranks is insane fun. Great replay value.

HFR - Solid A tier action game. Hope they get deeper with the combat if there's a sequel.

RE4R - Good game. Would have enjoyed it much more had I not played the OG so much.

Neon White - Furry bait Sick game. Precision 1st person platforming. Had a great time score chasing with the old SW crew.

Superliminal - Short and relatively easy puzzle game. Some really cool ideas with how it plays on perspective.

2D Metroid marathon - AM2R, Zero Mission, Fusion, Super, all a good time of course.

Dread - So glad I ended the marathon on this one. Already liked the game, but now it's up there with my all timers. Was running it at least once a day for a couple of weeks there. Love how well they tuned the game for higher level play. Damn I wish the music was better lol. The only blemish really.

Resident Evil 4 R - 9/10

System Shock - 9/10

Atomic Heart 8/10

Hogwart Legacy 5/10

GoldenEye 007 remaster - every bit as legendary as the original 9/10.

Metroid Prime Remastered - excellent game, it surprise launched right after I finished replaying it on GameCube. And yes, playing it on Switch is quite a treat. 8/10.

Street Fighter 6 - Looks friggin ugly on GTX 1650 Super but plays well at least. I like the World Tour mode. I dunno though I can't past the fact that it looks ugly on my PC while MK11 looks phenomenal. 8/10.

Warhammer 40K Boltgun - Old school doom like shooter that doesn't really reinvent the wheel but still is fun. No MP though. I mean what the heck. 7/10.

Dead Space Remake - Love me some Dead Space, they got the lighting right with this game so everything is not like, a muddy gray. It's predictable since I actually remember a lot about this game but for some reason the nostalgia hits hard with this one. 9/10.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Game kind of bores me since I played so much BOTW, and this largely feels like more of the same. Haven't played it very much yet but I will get around to it eventually. Initial impression - 8/10.

These all released this year which speaks volumes about how good this year has been.

@ConanTheStoner: usually I’ll play a fighting game for a few hours and that would be the end of it for me lol. But SF6 has a really fun quality to it, even when you’re losing.

I've played (and finished) over 30 games this year, can barely remember (mostly indies) many lol.

@SolidGame_basic:

Damn, surprised you still buy them lol.

I'm not exactly frugal when it comes to gaming, but 60 bucks for a few hrs?

Glad you're enjoying it though man.

You know, if you lose enough, you start to win. < Incredibly deep advice.

@ConanTheStoner: lol Guilty Gear is a good example. Like the game, but it doesn’t have that quality that makes me want to keep playing it. But yea, you won’t see me putting tons of hours into fighting games. My bread and butter is single player campaign, one and done type thing lol.

Monster Hunter Rise - 9/10

Hi-Fi Rush - 9/10

Horizon: Forbidden West - 9/10

Horizon: Forbidden West Burning Shores - 8/10

Spider-Man Remastered - 9/10

Wo Long - 8/10

Resident Evil 4 Remake - 10/10

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 10/10

@SolidGame_basic:

I hear that man. Admittedly it takes a pretty big investment (time/effort) to really crack into what makes fighting games so amazing.

But maaaaan when it clicks, start to wonder why you even bother with other games lol.

Not exactly appealing on paper though. Like I'll probably spend more time in SF6s training mode alone, than most people will spend playing their all time favorite game. Sounds very boring yes. But damn man, how rewarding it is on the other side. More like learning an instrument than learning a typical game.

You’re that dude in the lounge playing on cabinet by yourself lol

Resident Evil 4 Remake - 8/10
Resident Evil 2 Remake - 8.5/10
Metroid Prime Remastered - 9/10
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 9.5/10
Darktide - 7.5/10
Sekiro - 9/10
Streets of Rage 4 - 9/10
Hunt: Showdown - 9/10
Snake Pass - 8/10
Slay the Spire - 8/10
Huntdown - 8/10
DOOM: Eternal - 8/10
Overwatch 2 - 6/10
Diablo 4 beta - 6/10

Bayonetta Origins - 9/10

Hi Fi Rush - 8.5/10

Metroid Prime Remastered - 8/10

Fire Emblem Engage - 8.5/10

Star Wars Jedi Survivor - 8.5/10

Zelda TOTK - 6/10

Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot - 8/10

Sonic Frontiers - 7.5/10

The Gunk - 7/10

...they're the main ones anyway.

AMAZING YEAR SO FAR FOR ME!

Xenoblade Future Redeemed: 10/10

Octopath Traveler 2: 9/10

Street Fighter 6: 9.5/10

Metroid Prime Remaster: 9/10

Diablo 4: 9/10 (VASTLY Exceeded my expectations)

Etrian Odyssey Collection 10/10 They did a FANTASTIC job bringing this DS series over to PC the map drawing is AMAZING with mouse and keyboard. Well done Sega/Atlus!

Zelda TOTK: 9000/10 (actually it is my favorite game of all time now...yeah I'm over 150 hours in....it really is my type of game)

Wow this really is a great year for gaming for me.

• Resident Evil 4 Remake: 9.7/10(115h played and 7x runs)- one of the best games I have ever played and can safely put it in my top 15 best games of all time list. Near perfect.
• Halo Infinite: 7/10 (15h played)- Good game, nothing superb looks and runs great for me, the sandbox gameplay is great
• LoZ: BOTW: 7.5/10 (25h played) - Its great and in many ways a masterpiece, but the dungeons are tedious and very copy paste. The variety and quantity of mechanics is best-in-class but I would prefer way fewer mechanics / less quantity but higher quality instead. open world isn't that interesting.
• Gears 5: 8/10 (35h played and 2x runs)- great game and extremely fun. testosterone-infused combat mechanics, the whole game is co-op which is always a plus
• Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty 5/10 (solo) 8/10 (co-op)(20h played)- Poor man's Sekiro. Arguably the best soulslike but the combat and game it self is just a level or two below a From Software game. However the co-op integration is superb and the quality of life certainly something I wish Elden Ring (et. al.) had.
• Horizon: Forbidden West: 7/10 (95h played and 1x run) - As my 2022 was dominated by the GOTD Elden Ring which I played for 450 hours, as well as 120 hours of the GOTY runner up GoW:Rangarök and not to mention 115 hours and 5 runs of The Last of Us: Part 1 (remake of the all time GOAT) I didn't bother with HFW until this year. It is a very decent game, exhilarating combat and the most gorgeous game world I have ever seen.

10/10

System Shock

SMB 3

9/10

Atomic Heart

Re 4 remake

Dead Space remake

8/10

Returnal

Gears 3: RAAM's Shadow

7/10

Hogwarts legacy

Company of heroes 3

ADACA

@Mozelleple112: Dangggg, In just 25hrs you checked all the dungeons and world in Tears of the Kingdom???

Bro I got 90hrs and I’m starting my second dungeon and still have 70% of Kingdom unexplored. 90% of Sky unexplored, and 85% of Depths unexplored.

Critical Hit:

• Zelda TOTK: My GOTG so far
• Pizza Tower: Critical Hit, One of the best 2D platformers I have ever played, being an excellent mix between Sonic and Wario

Hit:

• Street Fighter 6: Top notch mechanics, characters are fun to play as, UI leaves a bit to be desired, everything else is superb.
• Bayonetta 3, I do love some comboing, not as good as B1, but better than B2.
• Mario XCOM 2, excellent TB RPG. But I wish they had kept the encoutner design of the first game. Good game and improved mechanics, but contentwise the first game was better.
• Fire Emblem Engage: Good gameplay, forgettable story and music, artstyle leaves a lot to be desired
• Advance Wars: Reboot Camp: Really fun trip through 2 games I smuggly dismissed.
• Tunic: First game I played on Gamepass this year, and my favorite

Miss:

1. Hi-Fi Rush: I have not a single musical bone in my body, but good idea and well executed. Just not for me.

Critical Miss:

• Persona 5: Royal: Actually works as sleep aid

Control: 8/10

Yakuza Ishin: 8/10

Observation: 7/10

Rage 2: 6/10

The Messenger: 7/10

Neo the world Ends with you: 6/10

Scarlet Nexus: 7/10

Dead Space 9/10

Persona 4: 10/10

Dragon Quest XI: 9/10

Syphon Filter Logans Shadow: 6/10

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror: Dark Mirror: 7/10

Dead Cells: 9/10

Untitled Goose Game: 7/10

I haven't played a thing, so 0/2023. It definitely feels like a repeat of 2007 for me where everyone was going on and on about how good a year it was, but I was bored out of my mind. Only a few weeks to go until FFXVI comes out though, so that'll give me a reason to turn on my PS5 since November.

Destiny 2 - 8/10: Continued evolution with new subclasses and weapon ideas show there are lots of good ideas and risks they're willing to take. Some of the repetitious experience continues to not feel good, but they continue to show they can do just about anything with Tiger engine, including deep sea diving seasons.

Diablo 4 - 10/10: Exactly what it needed to be. Somewhere between the complexity of Diablo 2/PoE and the ease of Diablo 3. D3 lasted 26 seasons and counting, D4 launched with minimal stability issues and a whooole lot of gamers who currently need showers.

Street Fighter 6 - 10/10: Exactly what SF6 needed to be. Exceptional netcode, lots of features, best-in-genre animations (as always), the classic feel people expect, and a clear runway for expanding the roster for years to come.

The Witcher 3 ps5 update still a brilliant experience the update really showcases the power of the system. 9/10

WWE 2k23 more than an update to 2k22 than a new entry in the series. Nice updates the various modes improved roster. 8/10.

• MH Rise/Sunbreak - 6/10. Dropped it soonest I get to MR 100 and fought scorned Magnamalo. Tried to love it but its just not happening. VERY EASY and overall an underwhelming game.
• Chained Echoes - 8/10. Throwback to classic PS1/SNES jrpg. Enjoyed the story a lot but I think there is bit too much twist happened.
• Story of Season Pioneers of Olive town - 5/10. Played till I got the ending and got married.
• Witcher 3 - 8.5/10. After 5 years decided to pick up where I left off... got the bad ending and currently in toussaint, shit this game is awesome. Honestly its good that I waited till the updated PS5 ver came out as it ran smoothly. Dont constantly change graphics to ray tracing - performance mode though game will crash after few times. Used it a lot for cutscenes.
• Hogwarts Legacy - 7.5. Eh decent game. Loved the first 10 hours but then I got distracted with Witcher 3.
• Forspoken - 7/10. Honestly a pretty fun game. Very understandable why game scored low though the open world is very repetitive.

Oh wow so far the games I played this year is pretty underwhelming. Probably missed a few I think I played some more jrpg and Far Cry 5. Hope FFXVI exceeds expectations!

callisto protocol 5/10

gow ragnarok 7/10

atomic heart 6/10

tlou remake 9/10

return to monkey island 8.5/10

demon's souls remake 10/10

elden ring 9/10

re4r 8/10

bloodborne and dlc 9.5/10

deathloop unfinished but so far 8.5/10

that's all i can remember i played this year. my scores are ephemeral tho

Lol, I miss when gaming sites used to have the decimal system. It was great System Wars fodder. Game gets 9.6 - welp, mine is a 9.7 sucka!

Not much, got addicted to Everquest P99 again because most new games today are shite. A few games i couldnt miss though so played them while on Stormfeather camp and Ragefire sock watch etc.

Everquest - Still 10

Atomic Heart 8

System Shock 8

LOZTOTK 9