Looking Back and Looking Forward: Games of 2023 and 2024

 It's a new year, and of course, as it always seems, we're in a year that previously felt like the realm of science fiction. 2024 is now just reality.

But, even though it's sort of arbitrary that January happens to be the first month of the year, we're at a place where we can think about what the coming year will bring and what we might want to do with it.

2023 was a great year for games, some of which I haven't even played yet (I have Tears of the Kingdom downloaded to my Switch but am waiting until I get back to Los Angeles so I can play it on my TV). Armored Core VI, Baldur's Gate 3, Mario Wonder (which I also just got and have actually played a bit of,) and probably my favorite game of the year, Alan Wake II.

On that last note, 2023 was also when I played Control and then Alan Wake (I), and became fascinated with the Remedyverse (sufficient to get me very excited about Alan Wake II).

In the Tabletop realm, I continued to play lots of D&D, with probably the most notable thing being that I just got my players to tier 4.

So, what am I excited about in 2024?

    Trying New TTRPGS:

For Christmas, I got a copy of the core rulebook for Stillfleet, a game on which my brother-in-law serves as Editor. The system looks like it has the benefit of being simple but deep, and is built to run very off-beat, weird stories, but still allows for the kind of tactical choices that purely narrative RPGs sometimes skimp on.

But there are also other things coming out that I'm excited about - I don't know if we'll be getting any early preview of the MCDM RPG - though there are existing playtests for Patreon patrons - but it's something I'll be following closely. I also don't know many details about Darrington Press' Daggerheart, but I'm curious to see how that works.

    D&D's 50th Anniversary 5E Revamp:

This blog has, of course, featured a lot of posts dissecting in minute detail the various playtest versions of D&D's class revisions and other revamps 5E. For every detail I'm grumbled about or criticized, my overall impression of these revisions has been extremely positive, and I think that the game is going to get a real shot in the arm, with classes like the Monk and possibly the Ranger (though we'll have to see how close it hews to the earlier playtest versus the more recent one) becoming genuinely very appealing while it looks like already-popular classes should feel just as cool as they were and even get their own quality-of-life improvements.

I'll likely be opening the doors to my players to allow them to convert their existing characters to the new versions of their classes, and I actually don't anticipate there being much friction in doing so (though we'll maybe have to put a pin in whether I'll let them undo old Ability Score Improvements to take on the new versions of feats).

    Final Fantasy VII Rebirth:

Final Fantasy VII Remake took I believe a full ten years to actually arrive after its initial announcement, but when it did it managed to be incredible - an update that introduced more action-oriented gameplay but nevertheless retained all the tactical strategies of the old menu-based combat system of old school Final Fantasy games.

Indeed, as the series pivoted fully to action with FFXVI, I think that this thing, technically a side project, managed to feel like a better successor to the series than its latest official entry.

    Alan Wake II's DLCs:

I have not yet finished my "Final Draft" playthrough of Alan Wake II, sitting at about 2/3rds completion (I have nearly nothing left to do as Saga except for a couple things that seem bugged, but still have two more major chapters on Alan's side) but as cool as it is to see things change, it's still a New Game Plus - meaning the game is still mostly the same experience.

With only the titles and in-game context to guide us, AWII's upcoming DLCs, The Lakehouse and Night Springs, radiate fascinating implications. Night Springs is the in-universe Twilight Zone-like show that seems to be connected to Mr. Door and the FBC, and so we might figure out what the meaning of the oblique references to the show in the main game ultimately mean. The Lakehouse is the name of an FBC facility that was built on the shores of Cauldron Lake and seems to have gone dark.

    Shadow of the Erdtree:

Speaking of DLC, Elden Ring is my favorite of FromSoft's Soulslike games they've ever made, and rumor has it that, in this DLC expansion (something FromSoft has a very good reputation for making amazing, such as Bloodborne's The Old Hunters) is going to be an utterly massive area with, I'm sure, tons of new weapons, spells, armor, enemies, dungeons, and brutal bosses. It should also give us tons of new lore to dissect and speculate about, seemingly involving Miquella, who at least so far seems like the most benevolent and admirable of the demigods (or at least the one with the best P.R.)

Elden Ring has been out for a good long while now, making this a longer wait than usual for DLC content, but given FromSoft's consistent quality, I think it will probably be worth it.

    Obviously, these are the things that I'm excited about. But this time last year I think I was only barely aware of Control and had no idea that it was connected in any way to Alan Wake or Max Payne. So perhaps the thing I'm most excited for the coming year will be what new discoveries, new passions I'll find in that time.