As we come to the end of the year, it’s undeniable that 2023 has been an absolutely monumental year for video game releases. Just looking at The Game Awards’ Game of the Year nominees can tell you that much - despite Baldur’s Gate 3’s well-earned win, any of the other five stellar games would have been a deserving winner. In fact, there are still many more unnominated games - like Octopath Traveler 2, Final Fantasy 16, and Street Fighter 6 - that I would have happily seen getting a nomination.
There’s an unfortunate downside to being hit with a never-ending onslaught of fantastic releases, though - there just aren’t enough hours in the day to play them. I’ve done my best to uncover all the secrets of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom while smashing puppets to smithereens in Lies of P and blasting Regenerators to bits in Resident Evil 4 (2023) - I really have. But, ultimately, I’ve found myself overwhelmed by a pile of unfinished and untouched games thanks to the relentless stream of phenomenal titles being added to my ‘must-play’ list almost every week.
