2023 - the worst year in gaming yet? (and it's only May!) - The Bear and Badger

Blocks100

I can't think of another year where I've waited in anticipation for so many AAA titles that, upon release, turn out to be utter duds:

Callisto Protocol - broken combat
Dead Island 2 - closed world
Atomic Heart - chatterbox protagonist
Star Wars Jedi Survivor - performance issues
Redfall - anemic gameplay

These are all retailing for 70 quid at launch, yet they either suffer from technical issues or redundant gameplay tropes.

While perhaps none of these games can be viewed as utter disasters (with the exception maybe of Redfall) it is still galling to think that this is the way of things now - underwhelming releases that seek to fleece the gamer.

Is 2023 shaping up to be the worst year in gaming ever?

Kow

I liked Callisto Protocol. What was the issue with the combat?

hylian_elf

2017 will be hard to beat.

Edit; fucked it. Read OP properly, Elf.

b0r1s

Good thing is there is a lot of choice that isn’t AAA.

Blocks100

Kow wrote:

I liked Callisto Protocol. What was the issue with the combat?

The general consensus amongst reviewers was that the unintuitive dodge mechanic kind of unraveled when you faced multiple enemies that could kill you with one hit.

I'm glad you enjoyed it Kow, but let's face it, the title was heavily discounted within a month or two of its release and it was a sales flop.

afgavinstan

I'm still holding out hope fwiw. I'm confident in Diablo IV but there is talk of a season pass and as far as I know, they haven't shown what it's gonna be like.

RE4 remake got off the launchpad okay I think(?), but then they put in MTX.

Kow

Blocks100 wrote:

Kow wrote:

I liked Callisto Protocol. What was the issue with the combat?

The general consensus amongst reviewers was that the unintuitive dodge mechanic kind of unraveled when you faced multiple enemies that could kill you with one hit. I'm glad you enjoyed it Kow, but let's face it, the title was heavily discounted within a month or two of its release and it was a sales flop.

Yeah I got it for cheap. I didn't have any problem with the block mechanic and I thought it was fairly logical that it wouldn't work against multiple enemies, so I just blasted 'em. Anyway.

Kow

Elden Ring DLC is coming to save the year.

Dark Soldier

Callisto Protocol - loved it. Bought Dead Space Remake around the same time, completed the former, did an hour on the latter. Absolutely no issue with the block system. It's designed for 1 or 2 enemy combat. Reviewers trying to use it all game in all scenarios are fucking idiots.

Dead Island 2 - Working my way through it. Lack of open world I see as a positive as all the locations have been great so far. If you rinse it, could see combat being repetitive but Im doing a couple hours here and there and having a blast.

Atomic Heart - Bar the companion not shutting up I love the look and vibe of this. Will return and complete it happily.

Not actually played the other two. Ea Sports PGA is the best golf game of the past 10-15 years. Zelda is, well Zelda, I won't say anymore.

Been one of my favourite years so far, not gamed this much in ages. I'd rather play than take critic opinion tbh.

EvilRedEye

Tears of the Kingdom is just around the corner and Final Fantasy XVI is out next month. There’s still hope yet!

Vela

Advance Wars is perfect as always.

JonB

RE4 is top notch. Dead Space apparently too (I haven't played it).

Callisto Protocol came out last year.
Dead Island 2 was suprisingly decent - not great, but better than a lot of people expected.
Atomic Heart was always an unknown, hyped up by early trailers.
The Star Wars thing seems to be reviewing well, at least on consoles.
Redfall does sound quite bad.

True, it was a quiet Q1. But for whatever reason the glut we usually get in Feb/March is happening in May/June instead this year. Zelda, FFXVI, Diablo 4 and SF6 are much bigger games than any of the ones listed above. It might look a lot better in terms of AAA once they're out.

regmcfly

All 4 of the games Jon listed are absolutely right up my street so looking forward to it. There will also be the usual ones going under the radar that surprise.

Minnesänger

Gonna be a great year for lovers of AAA, imo. Some really strong AAA games all through the year, and remember new Spiderman is confirmed for end of this year as well. So, I get Zelda, FF16, new Spiderman, Armored Motherfucking Core!!! and whatever surprises come for this year, which is enough for me.

Bad year for Gamepass though, imo ofc, though maybe offset by people grabbing it cheap.

FranticPea

Minnesänger wrote:

Bad year for Gamepass though, imo ofc, though maybe offset by people grabbing it cheap.

Valheim got added to Gamepass, and it's the best game so therefore the best year EVER so stick that up yer soilpipe.

Minnesänger

FranticPea wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

Bad year for Gamepass though, imo ofc, though maybe offset by people grabbing it cheap.

Valheim got added to Gamepass, and it's the best game so therefore the best year EVER so stick that up yer soilpipe.

Fair point. I retract my statement in its entirety.

FranticPea

HOORAY!

b0r1s

Yep Valheim made GamePass great YAY!!

But then I bought on Steam anyway BOO!!

Minnesänger

Also, Forspoken is getting story DLC this month. That’s gonna be huge news to all those people crying out for more Forspoken.

Moot_Geeza

The indies haven't been out in full force this year. We've usually had a few not-quite-GotY contenders by May.

GurtTractor

I hope Armored Core is a banger.

LivDiv

I think once some big patches and a few more releases come out it will end up being a strong year.

I'm guessing COVID is having a knock on effect on dev time and publishers aren't having it as an excuse to delay anymore.
AAA games being released now would have been deved up in COVID so have probably had less quality time working on them than it seems.

Some issues people have just weren't as big a deal in the past either. Mainly framerate. Dips below 30fps have happened for a long time but now the internet goes wild whereas before it was something that might be mentioned but not result in the backlash they do today.

All that said there has been some poor development choices as well. Chasing GaaS, multiplayer stuff from inappropriate Devs still seems to be happening
Hopefully this is the last knockings of that trend. Arkane and Rocksteady shouldn't be making looters.

Bob

Zelda is going to be good
Starfield is going to be good
Forza is going to be good

It’s just the time of year no one releases anything good in q1 they just hope you’ll be desperate enough to buy something new

LivDiv

Starfield is going to be good/bad. I also have a feeling it won't come out this year.

I'm hopeful Mortal Kombat 12 hits late this year.

RedDave2

LivDiv wrote:

Some issues people have just weren't as big a deal in the past either. Mainly framerate. Dips below 30fps have happened for a long time but now the internet goes wild whereas before it was something that might be mentioned but not result in the backlash they do today.

Nah, that's always been there. Remember the huge uproar over xbox one COD Black ops being 720p and the ps4 being 1024p (or something) and there being massive outcry and a huge amount of zoomed in pictures showing just how crippling and dehumanising the whole debacle was. Die hard hobbiests will always go nuts for detail be it videogames, music, food etc.

LivDiv

Not really no.
I remember Dark Souls running like syrup but everyone loving it though.

hylian_elf

Zelda and FFXVI will keep me busy for at least the rest of the year so I’m glad there aren’t many games coming out for me.

LivDiv

Seriously though, of course there have been complaints but now things become a whole thing. Content creators need content I guess.

Wookienopants

LivDiv wrote:

Seriously though, of course there have been complaints but now things become a whole thing. Content creators need content I guess.

That's the thing, outrage sells. So if something isn't perfect their business model is to find something small and blow it all out of proportion, create outrage and do one of those fucking annoying YouTube videos where they pull that stupid YouTube confused/angry face on the front with a clickbaity headline and watch the clicks/views roll in.

First against the wall when I take power

EvilRedEye

Pikmin 4 is out this year as well.

Minnesänger

LivDiv wrote:

Not really no.
I remember Dark Souls running like syrup but everyone loving it though.

Well yeah, it ran like shit in a gen when a lot of stuff kinda ran like shit but:

1. People did complain
2. The frame rate hiccups of the move into 3D have gotten better (generally) since the N64/PSOne days
3. People are paying more attention to technical performance nowadays - and this is a good thing

Chalk it down to content creator outrage all you want but I’m glad an unstable 30 is no longer seen as good enough.

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