2023: What a Year It’s Been

gamesreviews.com:

It’s that time of the year where I start thinking about Christmas guides. And man, 2023 has been something special.

We look back at 1998 and 2004 and we remember them as years where gaming evolved. Title after title that defined a generation – and an entire industry. And, you know, I think 2023 may just end up being one of them.

Granted, it’s hard to tell. One of the important things about those two years is longevity. Metal Gear Solid, Ocarina of Time, Half-life, Resident Evil 2, Pokemon Red and Blue, Grim Fandango, Banjo-Kazooie and Starcraft all came out in 1998. And you could put any single one of those titles on today, 25 years later, and still see why they were so special.

And it’s hard to spot that kind of longevity ahead of time. We’re still in the middle of the hype. Will people still be looking back on the likes of Hi-Fi Rush, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Jedi: Survivor, Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy XVI, Remnant 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Lies of P, Spiderman 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Mario Wonder and Starfield?

On the face of it, that year looks stacked. Something for everybody. And, obviously, that’s just a selection of games that stood out to me as I went through a list. They were the biggest, but they were by no means the only. For the first time since this generation launched, I am wondering how in the hell you play all these big games.

But there’s one obvious thing when you compare 1998 to 2023. Look how few original games there were this year. A lot of the hype has been around sequels, not original IPs.

And, on top of that, many of the games were due in 2022, but were delayed. That’s created an artificially strong 12 months, as opposed to a weaker 2022.

But