The end of the year (again) games blog 2023

Written By bonbolapti

2023 was a hard year for me financially. As we come out of a pandemic trying to understand what a normal life is, we all come to grips that it doesn’t exist anymore. Things are becoming more expensive. Unions are striking for livable wages, some more successful than others (my job certainly shit the bed.) And lets not forget that while games have certainly been super fun this year IT’S HAS BEEN A TERRIBLE YEAR FOR THOSE THAT WORK IN GAMES. It can’t be said enough, if you are a person that enjoys video games, this is the kind of shit that should matter. 

The biggest tragedy that came out of things changing to a kind of normalcy from a pandemic is realizing just how greedy the executives at the top are, axing folks just so they could keep their profit margins in a space that will never exist anymore. The pandemic was a bad time and we’re still seeing all the damage unravel that it’s been slowly chipping away at all of us.

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED.

But despite everything, I’ve still managed to play games. Not a lot, but I’ve still managed to play them. And while I have played a fair amount this year, The list is short, cause there’s not that much that I felt was necessary to add. I don’t know, it’s a weird list cause it’s been a weird year and I think this list has everything to do with where my head space was at.

SO without further ado: 

4) FINAL FANTASY 16

We now live in a world where these numbered single player Final Fantasy games feel few and far between. FF15 was only 2016, so 7 years later we finally have another one of these and it’s SO far removed from a traditional Final Fantasy game that I’ve never seen people complain about it so damn much. But this is what the franchise is evolving into, something more action instead of turn based, and honestly it’s been trying to go in that direction since they dabbled in MMOs. 

So what is a Final Fantasy game supposed to mean anymore? Threats of invading empires? Gigantic mythical beasts? The friends we make along the way? Kids, as long as the theme centers around a crystal, then Final Fantasy can be whatever you want it to be. Just ask that dumb Stranger of Paradise game. 

Though it has its shortcomings of presenting itself like a ‘Game of Thrones’ story, it immediately goes into anime bullshit nonsense. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) The lead is a brooding man who can’t escape the female gaze, trying to fight back against the tragedy that befell his family when he was younger.

Also the Battle director originally worked on Devil May Cry, and it shows.

Yoshi P proved himself rising FF14 from the ashes, and there’s very clearly a type of Final Fantasy he likes. As far as main titles in the franchise, this is definitely up there as a good one of those, so don’t overlook it if your a final fantasy fan. Just… you might find yourself shrugging at some of the themes. Maybe. Who knows. I’m not you, but I am looking out for you.  /barfyface

3) THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM

How do you follow up something that became my favorite Zelda game of all time? How do you go back to that world and do something new with it? It turns out, while the game does fall into a “more of the same” category, they ultimately decided to make a game that’s just about making contraptions and screwing around.

I guess not since Banjo Kazooie: Nut & Bolts has there been a game like this. But more importantly it addressed things that I was curious about. Time progressed, what is life like now for the people of Hyrule as they try to rebuild? What are their new problems as a society? What is this new threat that they face? It’s not very often that Nintendo even bothers to make a direct sequel to a game cause there’s not a lot of story to tell even after the original threat is gone. 

But hell they found a way. The threat was never gone, and as it turns out there’s even more terrain to explore. The thing about the original game is that I would constantly get lost wandering aimlessly and never bother with doing tasks. So Totk gave me more of that, and I guess I can’t complain? It gave me more of the thing I like. (Though I do get mad vertigo whenever I have to do anything in the sky. Seriously, if I could take anything out of a video game it’s platforming where I could fall to my death.) 

2) THIRSTY SUITORS

“This game has everything! A fun art style, banging music, skateboarding, beating up teens for the sake of journalism, generational trauma, the inner voice in your head that beats you down and confronting all of your relationships from a mature perspective.”

When the game was revealed two years ago, there was just something about it I knew I wanted to play. 

The whole crux of story is about Jala, a young woman going back home after a bad relationship and finding herself having to fix every OTHER relationship she’s ever had in her small town. Family, friends, romantic partners there was no escape! Even the grandmother sends people for you to marry (these are fights you can do to level up). 

The thing is, relationships are hard. If you have people in your life, you know just how much work you have to put into it sometimes if you really care about them. The confronting that Jala has to do with others and later on with herself, is a late in life coming of age story that could really resonate with my generation. 

This game was so remarkably relatable for me, as I found myself screaming at the game whenever I felt like it was projecting my own problems back at me. It couldn’t have come at a better time as this year was hard in that these were/are still the things I’m dealing with.

It’s an easy recommendation for anyone that feels like they’re in a weird place in their social spaces and could use a perspective or two on how to think about them.

1) Baldur’s Gate 3

Though the game started in early access in 2020 it didn’t really hit the zeitgeist until this year. Once it had its official release the cultural impact it had was almost overnight. I can’t help but call this game of the year, not just for myself, but how largely the community responded to it.

The game spent 6 years in development, and feels like nothing short of a labour of love. With Divinity I and II, Larian proved they were up to the task in creating a classic feeling CRPG with a modern D&D ruleset. Having so many choices matter, so many different ways to tackle a fight, and many more ways to talk your way through it. Even the romance has a level of agency that I never expected but was happy to see. I felt invested, I had to pursue outcomes now that they meant something to me.

With the games that I grew up on, it makes me so damn happy that there is still a place for them. It’s inspiring to see not only great characters, but amazingly written, well acted, emotionally driven stories. Characters that feel relatable, having otherworldly problems and the solutions you find are up to you. 

I’m going to leave it with this, what the director would have wanted to say during his acceptance speech at the game awards:


I didn’t enjoy it: Fire Emblem Engage

Three Houses was fantastic, and despite the gameplay of Engage still being good, the story is god fucking awful and I just couldn’t bring myself to continue playing it.

I wish I could play it: Armored Core 6

The one game that I was looking forward to playing THE MOST and I’m just not financially comfortable enough to buy it. STILL. Maybe next year, we can put it on my 2024 list out of obligation.

That’s it! That’s my list for GOTY 2023! I sat here and wrote it and published it all in one sitting and it’s probably filled with grammatical errors and/or spelling mistakes but I don’t care cause my mental capacity for free time is so low and if you excuse me I’m going to lay face down in my bed and wait for this year to be over.

bonbolapti
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The “Greatest story ever told” in video games.