Happy new year, gamers. While you rest your sore heads and clean up those empty bottles, let’s take one last opportunity to say 2023 was a great year for video game releases.Mathematically the best in two decades, aided in part by a bottleneck of releases bumped into 2023 by the pandemic. Which means, logically speaking, 2024 probably won’t be as good. Where does that leave us?
In the last week, I’ve written a few articles looking ahead into this brave new year. It feels likea lot of neat indieshaven’t had a look in this year thanks to the constant stream of triple-A hits, and we should remember those creative endeavours are the lifeblood of the industry. I’ve also lifted upLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealthas anearly dark horse for 2024’s ultimate prize, andquestioned exactly what 2024 will bring us. But one thing is clear - you need to roll with the punches.
One of the adjectives lost in the shuffle of us trying to find new ways to say ‘very good’ is that 2023 was surprising. Standing at this same point last year, you wouldn’t necessarily have called it being so high quality. If you did, a cornerstone of your argument was probablyZeldaversusStarfield, a team-up that combined to win one trophy atThe Game Awards.
That’s a harsh assessment ofTears of the Kingdom, which cleared 90 on Metacritic and was ournumber two Game of the Year, but it’s also true.
Starfield ended as one of the year’s biggest disappointments, turning out only okay after nearly a decade of hype, and that puts a lot of pressure onHellbladeto keepXbox in the race next year. But 2023 was also full of far more positive surprises - from summer onwards, you couldn’t move for top-class games releasing every week, and that probably left a lot of you with a hefty backlog. But don’t miss the wood for the trees.
It would be easy to look at the relatively thin stable of games on the docket for 2024 and think about all the time you’ll have to catch up on 2023’s hits afterFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but that would be a mistake. Though they may not score as highly as 2023’s games or make such a big splash, I guarantee 2024 will have some excellent titles in store - we might just have to look a little harder.
We do a fantasy draft here at TheGamer so I’m loath to reveal my tips to my colleagues who will edit this, but there are a bunch of fantastic bubbling under games set for 2024 that won’t have the impact ofBaldur’s Gate 3but are well worth paying attention to: Earthblade, Mina the Hollower, Animal Well, Open Roads,Hauntii,Broken Roads,Where Winds Meet, Manor Lords, and that’s just for starters.
You will simply never play all the video games. No one will,not even Phil Spencerwho apparently spends every waking minute playing video games. Make sensible choices about which ones to try out, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Mostly, don’t write off 2024 for not standing a chance of being as good as 2023 - chances are there are still lots of games that will be perfect for you, specifically.
Obviously you can play whatever games you like, and games from 2023 will be cheaper next year as we move into sales. I understand that. And unless you work in games media, you’re under no obligation to keep up with the latest trends. Just remember that some of 2023’s best experiences came from unexpected places, and 2024 could have the same surprises in store.
