Category: Games

Thoughts on video games and links/videos to video game news and reviews.

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Favorites of 2023: Games

2023 favorite games of the year

Came close to making this more like my books list and just including the favorite games I played this year, but played just enough brand new games to put together a top 5 from games that actually came out in 2023. I continue to play all my games either handheld or while on the elliptical, so the Asus ROG Ally was big addition this year letting me play pretty much every game on this list that’s not on the Switch.

Anyways, here’s my favorite games of 2023…

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch

A truly remarkable achievement in ways that I’m not sure any of us could have guessed when Nintendo announced they were making a sequel to Breath of the Wild. Tears of the Kingdom refined pretty much everything my former (spoiler) favorite game offered and added seemingly endless new ways to traverse, interact, and manipulate the vast world. Put in over 220 hours into it. Maybe my favorite game of all time.

2. Sea of Stars for PC/Xbox

Finished every single thing you can possibly do in this game, unlocked all the secret endings, and played over 55 hours of it and loved every minute. I’ve never actually played Chrono Trigger, but maybe how much I loved this is sign I finally should?

3. Lego Fortnite for PC/Xbox

Apparently I play Fortnite now? Me and the youngest have been into the new Lego game mode that’s half Minecraft and half Valheim. She mostly spends her time building in the Minecraft side of things while I explore and do combat and collect resources in the Valheim side. Super fun and looking forward to see how they continue to add to it. (God does it need a freaking compass.)

4. Super Mario Wonder for Nintendo Switch

Can my number four game of the year also be my most disappointing? I liked this less the recent 3D Kirby and Yoshi games and SOOOO much less than the fantastic Odyssey and 3D World, so not sure if it’s 2D games I’m not digging or if it just isn’t good as I had hoped. Maybe I’ll hop back in and try to 100% it and see if that improves my enjoyment.

5. Dave the Diver for PC

Loved the main gameplay loop but bounced off of this once they started adding more and more on top of the diving and fishing I bounced off it a bit. I had about 12 hours of a TON of fun though before that. Continue reading “Favorites of 2023: Games”

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My daughter is hogging Tears of the Kingdom

Apparently I need to buy a physical copy of Tears of the Kingdom because after watching me play a bit the last couple of days, my 7 year old has now installed it on her Switch and been playing/hogging it all last night and this morning. She’s finished the first two shrines and is about to need to learn about staying warm. Interested to see how she’ll do as the puzzles and combat get harder but she’s enjoying it so far.

I tried to convince her she’d like Breath of the Wild just as much but as any parent could guess, that did not work.

She’s playing on the main Switch, can I just turn off wifi and then be able play on my OLED at the same time she is?

Watching her NOT obsessively pick up every single tiny item/fruit/tree branch in every single area is driving me a little batty but I’m doing my best to keep that to myself. ?

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I preordered a ROG Ally

Asus ROG Ally

Preorders for the ROG Ally are up at Best Buy.

Got my order in almost right away so hopefully that launch day shipping estimate turns out to be accurate.

I really like my Steam Deck, but have discovered since owning it that my Game Pass “library” is more important (at least lately) than my Steam one. And often the Xbox games I’m playing the cloud streaming options just aren’t good enough. (Streaming is plenty good for some games though, just depends.)

I’ve spent 30+ years as a console gamer, so my biases and history are definitely still there. I’m really wanting primarily looking for a handheld/mobile way to play console type games. Pretty much only PC ass PC games I’ve really spent a bunch of time on over those years were Diablo, SimCity, and Civ and I can always plug the Ally into a monitor if I want to play that type of game. Plus, things like Age of Empires and SimCity are on Game Pass anyways so win-win.

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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer #3

Nintendo released the third trailer for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and it looks so fantastic.

I laughed out loud at some of the bits. (What was that, a rocket? And then the big tall 4 wheeled battle vehicle?) There are also several quick scenes with Link seemingly in action with a variety of other NPCs around. I’m hoping those aren’t all just cut scenes because it would certainly be interesting for a Zelda game to not always be a solo affair.

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Sony reportedly working on a new PlayStation handheld

Backbone One PlayStation edition product image

With their existing relationship with Backbone, could there be a chance this streaming PlayStation handheld rumor is a PS/Backbone device similar to Razer’s Edge dedicated Android device for Xbox and PC?

“…early prototypes show the console will look a lot like a PlayStation 5 controller, but with a massive 8-inch LCD touchscreen in the center”

I mean the Backbone One PlayStation edition sure already looks like a screen slapped in between PS controllers . I know if I was Backbone I’d certainly have opinions if Sony was doing such a similar sounding device without some sort of partnership.

Something able to use pretty close to off the shelf Android hardware like the Razer device could make the investment much less, and make it more likely Sony didn’t abandon it? I’m liking my Steam Deck and am more likely to pick up another PC handheld than a dedicated Sony device, but I’m glad that the competition in the handheld market is picking back up.

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Anime visual novel dating sim that does your taxes

As a person who has been knee deep in financial services software for the last 5 years, why didn’t I think of this?

Tax Heaven 3000 is a visual novel dating sim briefly available on Steam (& later pulled) that actually ends with a 1040 filled out you can submit to the IRS: (The Polygon link is SFW, but any clicks beyond that are at your own risk. Mostly jk.)

The “manifesto” posted on the direct Tax Heaven 3000 site has some real biting (and accurate) commentary in it so be sure to check it out as well:

“TurboTax, per its own internal documents, is built on the “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt” that ordinary people have about their taxes. Against this, we pit free software instead built on parasocial desire for intimacy and benign horniness!”

I’m not sure I totally agree with them that parasocial desire and horniness are always benign, but it sure is funny and an accurate description of the tax prep software industry.

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Valve Announces Steam Deck portable PC console

Steam Deck

Ok, I was already starting getting the itch to buy a gaming PC and then (thanks to watching a lot of LTT) and then today Valve announced the portable PC Steam Deck console.

It looks extremely cool and the price (compared to desktop PCs or even just graphics cards) is surprisingly affordable at $400 for the cheapest model. It looks like a big ass Nintendo Switch with a bit of a kitchen sink approach to control inputs. The claims of power/performance look solid for the tradeoffs of portable hardware and battery life.

As someone who has trouble finding time to sit and game in front of TV, the Steam Deck may be the thing that finally lets me catch up on a huge backlog of games I’ve been missing out on as a console gamer. We’ll see if I pull the trigger tomorrow when preorders open up.