Disappointment of 2023?

Great year for gaming overall, so many 9 and 10 quality games. But there were clunkers and Final Fantasy 16 was it for me.

A depressing gray and brown art style. Clive is one of the most dull dry oatmeal bland protagonists I’ve ever seen. There was no story reason for why Clive and Joshua were separated for so long. They killed off interesting characters too early. A heavy handed and overbearing plot. Outdated limited overworld and obsolete fetch quest mission structure. Technical issues that still haven’t been patched out to this day. Taking Sony’s money and keeping this game exclusive to PS5 was a gigantic own goal error (SE has lost billions in valuation since 16 launched partially due to this flagship game’s unacceptable sales numbers).

Jedi Survivor is a close second disappointment but 16 was the most disappointing.

My worst game of 2023 is NHL 24. The game does the ultimate sin of having unrealistic high scoring. Games often end 9-7 etc. I prefer low scoring games 2-1, 4-3. I have played it for 3 hours; the only thing I haven’t tried is to max out the goalie sliders and put it on max difficulty. I shouldn’t need to mess with the sliders to make a quality game and I doubt it will work anyway.

The graphics are also unremarkable and almost PS4 quality. NHL 24 makes FF16 look great. I actually enjoyed FF16 but other games came along so I did not get too far.

Only 2 games did I play that came out this year: Hogwarts and Baldur's Gate. Out of these two, Hogwarts is the clear winner of disappointing game.

Nothing, I'm good at researching games before buying them. That way I don't need to discover ugly visuals, technical issues, fetch quest mission structures, bad plots, etc. myself.

Can recommend. ;)

Generally enjoyed every game I've played this year. From the Survival Horror remakes, to Nintendo's heavy well of games, my entire Spring/ Summer with Street Fighter 6, to the giga chad of 2023 Baldur's Gate III.

One I was most uncertain for was Metroid Prime simply being the first game remastered (no trilogy Nintendo? wtf), but after playing it who am I kidding. . it's a great game and a solid port, even if overpriced. Likewise with Mario RPG which I've been enjoying immensely and has replaced Zelda as my current Switch game.

On that note. After sinking some 40 hours into Tears of the Kingdom, I remain not a huge fan of these newer Zelda games, as I didn't really like BotW either, but it's a fine and well made game. Will also play some more Super Mario Wonder as well, it has been a fun time.

Not sure if I'll play Alan Wake 2, as it commits some sins I typically hate in heavy story focused video games, however I am curious with it being a Survival Horror.

Haven't played but the new Sonic looks crappy, what a downward spiral after Christian Whitehead's Sonic Mania.

All I'll say is: who at CDPR thought it would be a good idea to put an Alien Isolation section into the middle of a FPS/RPG?

I mean they executed it well but GOD DAM i do not like that type of game. To put it on the main path (it's technically optional but really limits the endings) is an especially poor decision.

That section has now put me in a foul mood so that's my disappointment of 2023. I now have to psyche myself up to get through 30 mins of horror BS...yay >:(.

• Forspoken (I like it, but it's world building could have been better. I like the gameplay's magic stuff though)
• Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Just like my issue with Breath of the Wild, its great but not the Zelda kind of game I grew up with)
• Starfield (Didn't hate it, just wasn't on par with Skyrim and that's saying something)

Every game I have played so far in 2023 have pretty much met my expectations. Again, the games I've listed above aren't the worst games, just disappointing.

I completely resonate with your disappointment with Final Fantasy 16 in 2023. The art style and the character design, especially Clive, felt uninspired and lackluster. The separation of Clive and Joshua lacked a compelling narrative reason, and the premature killing off of interesting characters was a letdown. The plot felt heavy-handed, and the overworld and mission structure seemed outdated and overly reliant on fetch quests.

Moreover, the technical issues that persist even after this much time is disheartening. The decision to keep the game exclusive to PS5, considering the financial implications for Square Enix, feels like a significant misstep. It's surprising to see a flagship game contribute to such a decline in valuation.

I can understand the disappointment, especially in a year with many high-quality games. Hopefully, future releases will offer a more satisfying experience.