The Top 8 Most Anticipated Games Of 2023

Welcome all to another edition of The 8 Ball! I’m here this week to talk about games that are (hopefully) releasing in 2023. Most of these games have fairly set release dates, if not a confirmed release year, with the exception of one. I wanted to pick games that I think actually have a good shot of making it out in 2023, which is why something like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth didn’t make this list, because I don’t think it has a big shot of coming out this year. With that said, let’s begin:

#8: Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Don’t worry guys, this is the year this game is finally coming out! Maybe! Well, I doubt it. Oh wait, there it goes, delayed till 2024. Frankly, I’ve been waiting for this game for over 5 years now, ever since a trailer was first released in 2017. At this point, it’s been overtaken by Tales of Arise and other action RPG’s but I still want to play this thing, at least eventually. The really funny thing is, is that I have absolutely zero attachment to the Granblue Fantasy property/franchise. I just thought the initial game looked cool those many years ago, and want to eventually play the game.

#7: Theatrhythm Final Bar Line

I actually didn’t care about Theatrythm at all, since it was primarily a handheld game and I basically missed out on it. The reason I’m interested in this game is that I was able to actually play the arcade version of Theatrythm, Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival, and really dug it. And after playing the demo to this game, Final Bar Line just seems like a port of Carnival and that is cool in my book. A friend complained that he’s more used to the handheld/stylus controls so some of the gameplay felt awkward to him but I picked it up almost immediately. If/when I’m able to get this game, I need to grab the $100 version, just to get all the possible songs.

#6: Resident Evil 4

Capcom has generally been doing well with these remakes and I have no reason to think this will be any different. If anything, some of the changes they’ve made will make this game far less annoying than original Resident Evil 4, like doing away with the quick time events, or removing Ashley’s life meter, while you’re escorting her around. That’s nice. I imagine they’ll be re-recording all the dialog from the original game but they need to use the same actor who was the merchant in the game with his “What are you buying?” line, or else it just won’t feel the same. I imagine this will be another quality game from Capcom who is on a bit of a roll, lately.

#5: Spider-Man 2

Like with another game a bit further down on the list, Spider-Man 2 is a sequel to a game I really liked on the PS4. I’m sure it’ll look fantastic, have a good story, and have even more of the same Spider-Man action as the past game. I’m actually pretty interested in the story, the original game used Doctor Octopus of course, but having Mister Negative in it, was a pretty deep pull. I have hopes that this game will probably have more Osborn in it, likely with a Venom encounter like the last game teased, but also pulling in more obscure bad guys like the Hypno-Hustler or Big Wheel in it. If this game has Stilt-Man in it, it will be the greatest superhero game of all time.

#4: Assassin’s Creed Mirage

I’m of two minds about this game. On the positive side, a smaller in scope Assassin’s Creed game is probably needed and really wanted. Valhalla was large already but Origins and especially Odyssey were grotesquely bloated and both became a huge slog to get through. And the idea of going back to the stealth-driven gameplay is good, again Odyssey/Origins heavily deemphasized this and while Valhalla had it, it wasn’t a primary system. Also, Shohreh Aghdashloo has a great and memorable voice, so hearing her in more of a game is welcome. On the negative side, I don’t care one iota about Basim as a character at all. Don’t care about his origin story, don’t care about him in the present, etc. I can only hope at the end of this game, they stuff him back in the ancient VR world and get Layla or Desmond Miles back. Also, they need to get John de Lancie back as William Miles, Desmond’s father, back in the game. The guy they got to replace him in Valhalla is awful.

#3: Diablo 4

I’m of the belief that Blizzard is going to wreck parts of this game, primarily due to monetization and their constant need for “Games as a service” mentality, even when almost all evidence would point to this as a bad idea. Still, I imagine the actual core of this game will be fine, especially with it being more of an open-ended structure than the past games. And hey, playing a good action RPG with a friend online will be good, since he’s only really a console player, and it’s not like Last Ark is hitting consoles any time soon. Having reached over 4,800+ in paragon levels in Diablo 3, I need something else to finally play.

#2: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

This was the other game I was hinting about when I talked about Spider-Man 2. I really enjoyed Jedi: Fallen Order, far more than I thought I would. While it has elements of a Dark Souls game, you have access to a lot more fun powers that make combat enjoyable to play. Plus, I enjoyed the Metroidvania aspect of it, like certain doors or paths being locked until you got a new ability or power-up so you could bypass an obstacle. Plus, I just generally like Cameron Monaghan as an actor, so seeing him in another game is fine by me. The only thing better is they finally announced he was getting his own live-action Star Wars show as well.

#1: Suikoden I & II HD Remaster

You guys have no idea how excited I am for this. I’ve long been a fan of Suikoden 2 and having the chance to play it on modern consoles will be a welcome treat. While I have a copy of Suikoden 1, I’ve never actually played it, so I’d like to start with that one, and then bring in my save into 2. I know you can unlock the hero of 1 as a secret character in 2, which is neat. Even if they don’t offer any quality of life improvements, this will still be a welcome package. The graphical improvements, while not mind blowing, do look nice at least. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is buying the game when it launches and then buying a much more expensive and vast collector’s edition from Limited Run, which I got a feeling is eventually going to happen.

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For comments, list which games you’re looking forward to in 2023 and why.

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