Operation Backlog Completion 2026

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?

Top 5 Games I Played in 2022

 Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with:
Dec 312022
 

The end of another year is upon us at last, so I’m ready to take a look back at the best games I played this year – not necessarily all 2022 releases, but any game I finished in 2022.

I didn’t play quite as many games this year, and fewer that stood out compared to last year. Whole months passed with me only playing a handful of games.

I blame The Great Ace Attorney.

Partway through the year, I half-jokingly thought I’d just name The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles as my top game again, because even though I finished it last year, it’s been on my mind more than anything I actually played this year.

But I’m sure you wouldn’t want a list where I simply tell you to play The Great Ace Attorney instead of actually listing anything, so I’m going to rank my top 5 games after all.

Better yet, I have an actual methodology for determining my top games for the first time ever! You see, I loved The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles so much, I’ve realized I can rank the games I played in 2022 by how much they managed to distract me from thinking about it.

GAA images were included in the making of this year’s image, for an accurate depiction of my thoughts.

Now before we get into the list proper…

Honorable Mentions

This year, I have to give out three honorable mentions to games that had a good shot of appearing on this list… except that I haven’t finished them yet. Those games are Elden Ring, which pulled me into its vast world despite my initial misgivings, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which feels like another great entry in the Xenoblade series, and Yakuza 5, which should definitely rank among my top Yakuza games. All three of these games share another thing in common: they’re long. Here’s hoping I finish them next year.

Now now without further ado, here are the top 5 games I played in 2022!

5. Witch on the Holy Night

Recency bias might be partly to blame, as I just finished it yesterday, but Witch on the Holy Night really stands out to me as an excellent visual novel. The world is intriguing and makes me want to explore the related works more. (It sure would be nice if we got another translated visual novel.) I’m glad I finished it before the end of the year.

On the distraction scale, it held my attention whenever I played it, without me losing focus to think about The Great Ace Attorney instead.

4. Omori

Omori is another recent one, and although I criticized the disjointed feel some aspects left me with, I can’t deny that it was a lot of fun. The darker parts were thought-provoking, while the lighter parts were entertaining.

On the distraction scale, it crept into my thoughts occasionally even when I wasn’t playing, temporarily distracting me from The Great Ace Attorney.

3. Birushana

I loved Birushana, and it’s definitely one of my favorite otome games now. The characters were wonderful, the story delightful, and each route filled with many tense, high-stakes moments. I really hope they localize the fandisc, because I need to see more of these characters.

On the distraction scale, a couple of the love interests managed to occupy my thoughts for whole minutes of my free time, though it wasn’t long before The Great Ace Attorney returned.

2. Cupid Parasite

Another otome and another new favorite, Cupid Parasite stands out by being one where I loved every love interest, in addition to having a hilarious story with moments that had me laughing out loud. It was an absolute delight from start to finish. This one is getting a fandisc too, although it’s not even out in Japan yet, so I really hope we eventually get it here.

On the distraction scale, one love interest – and yes, I mean Allan – managed to temporarily usurp my free time thoughts from The Great Ace Attorney for the entire duration of his route and some time afterwards.

1. AI: The Somnium Files

Finally, the best game I played this year is without a doubt AI: The Somnium Files (the first one, although I also enjoyed the sequel). I gushed about it in my review, about how the wacky humor, intriguing mystery, and fantastic story all came together to make it an amazing experience. I enjoyed it more than any of the Zero Escape games, and if you pressured me into ranking my top games of all, it would probably make the list. It’s that good.

On the distraction scale, I spent significant portions of time around my playthrough thinking about AI: The Somnium Files instead of The Great Ace Attorney, and that’s actually an impressive feat.

Conclusion

But Sam, what about all those games on your most-anticipated games of 2022 list? I only managed to play two of them, and while they’d make my top 10 if I was solely ranking games released this year, they didn’t make the cut for this list. The other three are languishing in my backlog. Who knows? Maybe next year will be their year.

In the meantime, I’m not exaggerating how obsessed I’ve been with The Great Ace Attorney. Please go play it. Will it be toppled by a game next year? We’ll certainly find out. Come back tomorrow to see what five games I’m most anticipating from 2023!

Witch on the Holy Night is an Interesting, Impressive Visual Novel

 Reviews, Video games  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Dec 302022
 

Today we’re going to talk about Witch on the Holy Night, the first Type-Moon visual novel to ever get an official English translation.

It follows two mages living in a mansion on top of a hill, and a boy who gets mixed up with them while struggling to adjust to life in the city.

The story premise sounded interesting enough for me to want to try it, especially since I wanted to show my support. I ordered a physical copy from Play-Asia, because I thought it was too niche to get a physical release in North America.

I was wrong about that, and the North American physical copy will be out on January 27.

But for those playing digital copies from the eShop or an import like mine, Witch on the Holy Night is already out. I decided to play it now, making it possibly my last game of 2022, and I’m glad I did.

Witch on the Holy Night is an interesting visual novel. It has its share of funny slice-of-life scenes, but also some intense dramatic parts and exciting fight scenes. After just a few hours, I was invested in the characters and wanted to know how things would turn out. I almost regret trying the demo first, because the demo’s presentation of several out-of-context scenes meant I had an idea of where certain aspects of the story would go, even if I didn’t know how they’d get there.

I know there’s a connection to other Type-Moon works, but I haven’t played them, so all of these characters were new to me. I also found the world fascinating, mainly the magic system it presents through both action and explanations.

Aside from the compelling story and characters, I also have to praise the presentation. I’ve never played a visual novel with such high production values before. It has constant CGs, unique backgrounds, and animations – it’s incredible!

(I also love the chapter select screen, which is presented as a bookshelf, with more books added as you complete chapters.)

Now, it’s a kinetic novel, which means there aren’t any choices to make. You start at the beginning and read all the way through to the end. There are some optional chapters unlocked along the way, which provide more of a look at the characters and their lives through non-crucial scenes.

The one exception is the bonus chapter unlocked after you finish the main story. This final extra chapter is a standalone story that does have choices, as you try to solve a murder mystery. That was a bit of unexpected fun on top of an already-great visual novel.

Witch on the Holy Night was originally released in Japan in 2012, and apparently the writer intended to make two sequels. Those haven’t come out yet, but with the remake bringing new attention and new audiences to it, there might be new hope. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Witch on the Holy Night, so I have my fingers crossed that we’ll see those sequels eventually.

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