Zelda and the No-Time-For-That All-Stars

I've played some excellent games this year. And from what I can gather, I've missed a bunch too.

I'm making good progress right now on Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. I'm committed to playing Assassin's Creed Mirage next, as I've already bought it. Then, time dependent, I'll play Jusant and Alan Wake 2, just in time to write my Best & Worst of the year, an annual tradition here since 2010.

Even with those accounted for, there's still an absolute shit-tonne of games that I had hoped to play in 2023 but have failed to do so, due to a lack of time. The highest profile of these would be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Everyone was raving about it earlier this year, though I have noticed that several friends and online acquaintances cooled on it slightly as the months passed. I'm sure it's excellent, but as someone who appreciated but didn't love Breath of the Wild, I think I can afford to put it off. What I may yet play on Switch, however, is Mario Wonder. That strikes me as the perfect family game for the holidays, and one last reason to use the Switch before the year-end.

I was keen on Diablo IV, back when everyone was banging on about it, but the moment has passed. I'm happy to wait for its inevitable appearance on Game Pass. Baldur's Gate 3 both intrigues and confuses me. It definitely appeals - an EDGE 10! - but the dice-rolling and Dungeons & Dragons trappings puts me right off, even if I don't understand what they entail or how those mechanics are implemented. It's nerd shit, isn't it? That being said, I'm very much in the mood for an adult, fantasy adventure where you can do lots of shagging and talk to animals, ideally not at the same time. It's looking like a soft-lock for a spring 2024 play-through.

Speaking of nerd shit, I'll play Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, once it's discounted. Spider-Man 2, on the other hand, I might not. I really liked the first game, as well as Miles Morales, but I've had my fill. I know that it has disappointed many fans, but I will be buying the Metal Gear Solid Collection Volume 1 at some point soon, mostly because I haven't played MGS1 for almost 20 years, and I'd love to do so with the conveniences that a modern console affords. And speaking of compilations, I was dead-set on working my way through the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters this year, which of course hasn't happened.

And while we're on the topic of revisiting RPGs, I was definitely going to replay The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition on PS5 this year, which I obviously did not. You may be noticing a pattern here! The significant upgrades that have been made to Cyberpunk 2077, alongside the new DLC, are the perfect excuses to give it another try, but when that'll happen is anyone's guess. 2025, maybe? And it's a crime that I still haven't bought the Age of Empires II DLC that is essentially the scenarios and civilizations from the first game, which I adore.

You should see my "To Play" list on Game Pass! That could easily keep me going for a year of quality stick twiddling. I still haven't touched Forza Motorsport, despite having downloaded it at launch, and the same goes for Age of Empires IV. I did play Exoprimal very briefly, but it got lost in the summertime shuffle and will likely be dead and buried by the time I get back to it. And that's a shame, as it seemed like a lot of fun. The Dead Space remake would've also been on this list, if it hadn't been deemed too unsightly for Japanese Game Pass and skipped the region entirely.

It's not only highly-anticipated games that I've missed this year. Back in the olden days, especially the PS3-360-Wii era, I'd get to a few titles each year that I had little to no expectations for, picked up on a whim. They'd mostly be forgettable filler for a quiet period, but occasionally I'd stumble upon a 6/10 gem that'd stay with me. I've long since cheated myself out of the opportunity to discover new games of this ilk. Quickly scanning Game Pass and the Xbox store, I think Atomic Hearts, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, and Aliens Dark Descent all display some of this potential, and perhaps one of them could've surprised me.

To make matters worse, I got an Analogue Pocket this year and have been gradually adding to a beautiful pile of retro titles, across multiple systems, that I'm dying to dive into it. Perhaps I'll make do with writing a blog post on those games in the coming weeks, in lieu of actually playing any of them. And don't get me started on my treasure trove of Series X back-compatible titles.

Things clearly aren't going to improve in 2024, with Final Fantasy and Like a Dragon set to dominate the first few months, followed by whatever games come my way this Christmas. There are far too many video games, and that's a delightful problem to have.