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Games I Touched in 2023

by electricviking

Fuck it, let's make more content on a website that just fired two of its most beloved staff because line go down.

Showing 1-10 of 24 items

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

1. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

(Started in 2022, Finished 2023) Full thoughts available on a Deep Listens podcast on the subject. I enjoyed it! I played through on Easy, and think most people could hack it on Normal. It combines numetal, Frank Sinatra, Nomura fashion, and the plot of FFI with Souls-adjacent combat and somehow works.

Unpacking

2. Unpacking

(Started in 2022, Finished 2023) My spouse played through a chunk of this while my parents visited in late 2022, and I merely got the save file over the finish line. Pulls off a nifty story telling trick with zero text. Shame it tries to correct your perfectly reasonable sorting decisions before it lets you see more of that story, every chapter.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

3. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

(Abandoned) So this is a harmless Zelda clone thing. Not a bad thing at all. My issue was, my cloud save broke the game. Maybe the instant resume function ate it? My game wound up in a state, around the halfway mark, where my inventory was empty and I couldn't progress past a basic gate to the next story beat. It would take an hour or so to get to that point again, but honestly That's Okay I'm Good.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

4. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

(Started in 2020, Finished 2023) Yeah, those dates aren't a typo. Honestly could write 2009 on there if I felt so inclined, but that was on a PS2 in my first college house arrangement. FFXII is one of the noblest failures in all of gaming. It's incredible that they got this thing running on a PS2. You also can't fault them for making a comfortable sequel, as this thing tries something quite innovative. Those innovations just didn't land for a lot of people. I think it's telling that mechanics from the XIII games survived into 7R and XV, while damn near every idea in this game is left in the dust. Still worth a gander. It tells a pretty good story, just spread entirely too thin over a gameplay loop that is solved around the time you can cast Bubble.

Norco

5. Norco

(Completed in 2023) I had to work through my adventure game aversion to get this one down but I managed it. There is a consistent tone and sense of place throughout that makes this compelling. You could handwave a lot of it as typical AnCap shit but the game is not afraid to get weird along the way. Or funny, for that matter. The Garretts in the mall are very, very good.

Resident Evil Village

6. Resident Evil Village

(Started in 2023) This was a gift for my spouse, who was "intrigued" by Tall Goth Lady. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Tall Goth Lady goes away forever after the first quarter of the game. Lo and behold her interest has fallen off precipitously since that going away!

GoldenEye 007

7. GoldenEye 007

(Started in 1999 I think?) I am playing the Xbox Serie release of this game. I managed to get as far as Control when I was a young person but no farther. I got as far as Bunker 2 on Secret Agent lately but that seems to be the point where I stop having fun, so I may just slap this on Agent and roll credits. I don't need them cheats.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

8. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Started in 2005, Finished in 2023) I remember borrowing this game from a peer in high school and not getting it At All. Just, water off a duck. Ten years after that, I played through all of MGS1 and liked it. Four years after that I played through all of MGS2 in a week and LOVED it. Four years after that, I finally rolled credits on MGS3. It's good! There's perhaps a bit too much menu fiddle fuckery when you factor in the inventory system, the medical system, and the camo system. There's even a horrific moment where they set you up with a second person to manage and escort, with their own needs. That the game doesn't sink under these constraints is a miracle. There's a case to be made that it actually soars. The boss fights are the best in the series to that point, and the game was top of class in visuals and sound in its day. I think I'm still a 2 guy though.

Octopath Traveler

9. Octopath Traveler

(Started in 2019) This was a Jul gift from my spouse (then partner) in its launch year. I summarily touched it for an hour or so, then somebody jiggled their keys and I forgot about it. Incidentally I don't ask for games for gifts anymore. Restarting this game, I find its pace to be... stately. Like a ship of the line, with its wide turning radius. Thing slow. I started as the cleric lady and her opening chapter is also basic anime cliche shit that is not doing much for me. Combat system seems neat, a spin on a press turn system. Getting to the next party member also took less time than I feared it would, so maybe there's space for this game. HowLongToBeat sure scares me though!

Crash Bandicoot: Warped

10. Crash Bandicoot: Warped

(Started in 2023) Some would say this is the best Crash Bandicoot game. I would say, in a series where many of the levels involve you running into the camera away from angry polygon cartoon things, there are no "bests". Let's see how I feel.

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