Operation Backlog Completion 2025

2023 Writing Goals and the Cursed Oak Island Novel

 Writing  3 Responses »
Jan 042023
 

All right. Last year’s writing goals… didn’t pan out.

In fact, I’m not sure I accomplished a single thing that was on that list, aside from writing a new novel draft in November for NaNoWriMo.

Part of it is because of the same thing that got in the way of my writing goals the previous year: On An Island of Oaks, my Oak Island horror novel that must share the same curse as the island itself, because no matter how many times I rewrite it, it never seems to get any better.

So even though I thought I would be able to proofread the latest draft and then send it to a beta reader, I realized the current attempt was as soulless as the one before it and started over.

I can’t blame it all on that novel, though. I was also just distracted by other things and devoted less time to my fiction writing than I wanted to. My 2023 writing goals, therefore, are more focused.

By 2024, I will:

  • Send out regular batches of queries for my novels in the querying stage.
  • Rewrite On An Island of Oaks again.
  • Revise any of my other novel drafts.
  • Return to On An Island of Oaks and either revise it until it can be sent to a beta reader, or set it aside for the foreseeable future.
  • Write at least 5 new short stories, any genre.
  • Regularly update side websites and increase traffic to 500+ visits per month.

And as usual, I’ll write a new novel draft for NaNoWriMo in November. It’s funny that the one part that’s a specific challenge is the part I actually got done.

Let’s hope the rest of the list goes better this year. Do you have any writing goals in mind for 2023?

Operation Backlog Completion 2023

 Video games  5 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jan 022023
 

Last year, I aimed to complete another 100 games from my backlog as part of the eternal quest to work my way through all of these games.

I didn’t make it, ending the year with 71 games completed.

Like I mentioned two days ago, this is The Great Ace Attorney’s fault. I spent a lot of time, especially near the start of the year, picking up a game to play only to put it down with a sigh because it wasn’t The Great Ace Attorney. I’m amazed I reached 71.

So with that in mind, I’m going to try again. 100 games is the goal!

Operation Backlog Completion 2023

In addition to the overall number, I also made a list of 20 specific games I wanted to play last year. Of those, I finished… three. (One of those three did end up being my favorite game I played last year, so at least there’s that.)

For this year, let’s carry over the unfortunate number of remaining titles, along with my most-anticipated games of 2023 and a couple others I firmly intend to finish.

  • Batman: Arkham Knight (followed by Arkham Origins)
  • The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings (followed by Witcher 3)
  • Dragon Quest XI
  • Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
  • Yooka-Laylee
  • Aurion: Curse of the Kori-Odan
  • Dies Irae
  • The Great Gaias
  • Trails in the Sky SC (followed by Trails in the Sky the 3rd and Trails from Zero)
  • Triangle Strategy
  • God of War Ragnarok
  • Yakuza 5
  • The Good Life
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3
  • Tokyo Xanadu eX+
  • Alan Wake II
  • Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
  • Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
  • Final Fantasy XVI
  • Like a Dragon: Ishin

How many years will I make this list before I decide the games that have shown up on it for half a decade now probably shouldn’t be listed as specific priorities if I just ignore them anyway? Oh well, maybe this will be the year I actually play them!

…Although with the 3DS and Wii U eShops shutting down in March, I’ll want to pick up some games before they’re out of reach forever… sorry, backlog.

Do you have any backlog goals in mind for 2023?

Top 5 Most-Anticipated Games of 2023

 Video games  9 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jan 012023
 

Here we are in 2023 already. It’s hard to believe.

Yesterday I went over my favorite games I played last year, and now I’m ready to look ahead to 2023’s upcoming new releases. As usual, only games announced for 2023 qualify for this list… which means I’ll be excluding Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth due to the unclear “winter” timeframe (as it could mean early 2024) and Hades II because it’s just the Early Access release so far, and I can’t put Ace Attorney on the list no matter how much I want it to be true.

So as of now, here are my top 5 most-anticipated games of 2023!

5. Alan Wake II

Not only are we actually getting a proper Alan Wake sequel, but it’s reportedly going to be a survival horror game instead of the action/thriller approach of the first game. We’ve seen so little from Alan Wake II that I don’t quite know what to expect, but I loved Alan Wake and hope this sequel will live up to it. In the meantime, I should probably get around to restarting my Control playthrough so I can finally finish that…

4. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

When I backed Eiyuden Chronicle back in 2020, its projected 2023 release window felt so, so far away. Now it’s upon us, and this Suikoden-inspired turn-based RPG is set to come out this year.

Everything shown from it looks beautiful, and I can’t wait to play it for myself. I haven’t played the action RPG prequel, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, but maybe I’ll check that out eventually as well.

3. Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

What a day it was when I woke up to the rumor of a Fatal Frame IV remaster and localization, which was then officially confirmed in the Nintendo Direct.

The fourth Fatal Frame game has never been officially translated before (despite a European release being planned), but March 9 will see a multiplatform remaster released worldwide. Although I’ve only played a couple games in the Fatal Frame series, I’ve enjoyed them enough to be excited for what this previously-missed entry is like.

2. Final Fantasy XVI

I’ve talked about Final Fantasy XVI enough that you probably know I’m pretty excited for it. I’d still like to see a look at exploration and other non-combat gameplay, but the story and the past works of the people making it are enough to make this one of the games I’m looking forward to the most. Sure, I’d love to see the return of turn-based combat to the main series someday, but I like action RPGs too and Final Fantasy XVI looks like it has a lot of great elements. Will it live up to the hype? We’ll certainly find out when it launches on June 22.

But as excited as I am for Final Fantasy XVI and the other games I’ve mentioned here, there’s one game I’m looking forward to more than any other, due out in less than two months…

1. Like a Dragon: Ishin

Do you know what we were doing a year ago? We were clinging to any shred of hope that Yakuza Ishin would get a localization. One year later, we need not cling to faint hopes any longer – Ishin is getting a remake and a localization, and Like a Dragon: Ishin is due out on February 21!

That moment when I saw it in the State of Play was probably my favorite video game announcement of 2022. I still can’t believe it. We’re getting Ishin, we’re actually getting Ishin!

It looks so much fun! It’s all the glory of Yakuza, but set in the samurai era. Sure, some fans aren’t crazy about certain changes being made, like the addition of equippable powers for combat, but I’d pay a small price like that for a game like this any day.

Ishin is by far the game I’m most excited for next year, and I can’t wait until I can play it!

Conclusion

Look at that, I had the sense to leave any Trails games off the list because we all know I won’t be caught up in time. Similarly, I probably won’t be caught up on mainline Yakuza in time for Like a Dragon Gaiden, although that’s another exciting one set for this year.

Now here’s hoping we get some Ace Attorney news to knock everything else off the list.

What 2023 games are you most looking forward to?

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