{"id":2121,"date":"2024-01-13T08:33:53","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T14:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/?p=2121"},"modified":"2026-01-25T13:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T19:35:42","slug":"games-of-2023-summary-releases-and-conclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/2024\/01\/games-of-2023-summary-releases-and-conclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Games of 2023 – Summary, Releases, and Conclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This post is part the final part of my “Games of 2023” series. You can read the Introduction here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Games played:             51*
Session hours:            810.25
Sessions:                 382
Oldest game played:       The Legend of Zelda<\/em> (NES) - 08\/22\/1987
Newest game played:       Super Kiwi 64<\/em> (PC) - 12\/02\/2022
Most achievements earned: Horizon Forbidden West<\/em> (PS5) - 77
Favorite game to 100%:    Horizon Forbidden West<\/em> (PS5)
Most hours played:        Horizon Forbidden West<\/em> (PS5) - 168.25
Total spent:              $705.23
Game of the year:         Horizon Forbidden West<\/em> (PS5)<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
* Summary data only includes games in list. For full data, checkout Royfuss Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do a balancing act when I pick my game of the year. This year, I picked Horizon Forbidden West<\/em>. In the grand scheme of my favorite video games, games like Super Mario World<\/em> and Link\u2019s Awakening<\/em> rank higher, but I still picked Horizon<\/em> this year. First, I lean towards a new-to-me game. I have played Super Mario World<\/em> dozens of times already. I, also, tend to give an edge to newer games. This helps narrow down the candidates for my game of the year. Forbidden West<\/em> meets these criteria, while being a phenomenal game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tried not to buy too many games this year. I ended up playing more games than I bought, which is a big achievement for me. The games I did buy, I tried to play right away; only a few remain in my backlog. I placed a heavy emphasis on playing games from my backlog. Outside of not buying games, I had a little bit of a strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For retro games, I made a goal to play the remaining NES games I own. Also, I wanted to play all of the Gameboy games I own. I succeeded on both of those fronts. I did not have ton of games from those consoles, so I put a dent in my SNES games. I did well, but I have a lot more to go. I would really like to check off the remaining SNES games in 2024; on top of that, I would like to play my three Gameboy Color games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For non-retro games, I focused on games I more recently acquired. A lot of the games on this list I acquired within the last three years. On top of that, I also played games I thought would be fun. The Costume Quest<\/em> games were perfect Halloween games. It felt right to play Grim Fandango<\/em> at the beginning of November. I am going to continue this strategy in 2024, with the help of Infinite Backlog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Usually, I like to say something about the video game industry. A lot has happened this year, but I just want to say one thing: my heart goes out to all of the developers who have been laid off. I hope they can find a new job quickly. Thank you for the joy you have given the world through your games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2023 Game Releases<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to look back and give a thought or two about the games that were actually released in the past year. There were a lot of them; I suspect the pandemic had something to do with it. Here are my rapid-fire thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amnesia: The Bunker<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I watched Markiplier play it. I think it is an outstanding game, and I wish I could actually play it. Alas, it is too scary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assassin’s Creed Mirage<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 An Assassin’s Creed<\/em> in the vein of the older games? I’m in… just not right away. I will probably pick it up on a sale this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atomic Heart<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 This game has a Bioshock<\/em> vibe to it. I was interested in it before it released, but the reviews are a little cold. I will probably pass on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baldur’s Gate 3<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I do not like CRPGs. However, I might have to give this one a spin. It has gotten a lot of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bramble: The Mountain King<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I noticed this game a few years ago. It still looks cool, and has gotten great reviews. I am going to have to carve out time to give it a go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bread & Fred<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I am always looking for games to play with my friend, and this looks like a great couch co-op game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cocoon<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 This is getting outstanding reviews. I will definitely be playing this one, maybe soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dead Space<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Another game I watched Markiplier play, because it is too scary for me. It looks like an outstanding remake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diablo IV<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I am kinda over Diablo<\/em>. I put hundreds of hours into the other three games, but I think I am going to pass on this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Horizon Call of the Mountain<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I do not have a PSVR, and do not plan on getting one. However, if I do then I will play this game. I love the Horizon<\/em> series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Immortals of Aveum<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I still think the concept of this game sounds good. It got middling reviews. I might buy it at a steep discount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jusant<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 This sounds like a pretty chill game. I will probably end up playing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 The first game and Miles Morales<\/em> are in my backlog. I really should play them so I can play this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I am glad these games are now available for purchase again. I wish they did a little more than just re-release them. They need some extra love to fix some things and squash some bugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planet of Lana<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 It still looks like a cool game. I like the artstyle. I might get to it someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Redfall<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I love Arkane, but they really shit the bed on this one. I was cautiously optimistic for it, but now I think I will just pass on it. No matter how many patches they do, it sounds like the core gameplay is just mediocre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remnant 2<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I played a little bit of the first one with a friend. It is fun. The sequel sounds like a big improvement. I might have to check it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Resident Evil 4<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Another scary game. I had hoped Markiplier would play it on his channel, but I think I might have to look into a different video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I still need to play the first game. I heard this one is buggy, so I am in no hurry to get to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starfield<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I accidentally got it for free when I bought my video card. I am waiting for patches and official mod support before jumping in. I hope to get to it in 2024, but it might be 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Super Mario Bros. Wonder<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I was really tempted to buy it right away. I held off because of other games and the end of the year. I will most likely buy it and play it this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Super Mario RPG<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I never got around to the original on the SNES. I might have to get this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
System Shock<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 This remake looks good. I think it will be too scary for me, but I will end up watching someone else play it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I am not sure if I want to play this one. I liked Breath of the Wild<\/em>, but I do not really want to play more of it. Tears of the Kingdom<\/em> just sounds like more of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I loved the first game. I really need to check out this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Viewfinder<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 It sounds like a cozy game. I will have to give it a shot sometime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I doubt anyone read all 10,000+ words, but I do thank you for checking out this year’s installment. I enjoy putting this together each year, but I really need write more full reviews to shorten up these posts. I only have one more thing to say: play games, and have fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Royfuss<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
<- The Rest<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Introduction<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This post is part the final part of my “Games of 2023” series. You can read the Introduction here. 2023 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,15,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-games-of","category-reviews","category-video-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2121"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3178,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2121\/revisions\/3178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.royfuss.com\/royfuss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}