K Sawyer Paul

Previously: 2022, 2021, 2020

See: My Personal Interpretation of Star Ratings ⭐

Games finished

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Persona 5 Royal, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Zipper, Playdate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Legend of Zelda: breath of the wild, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Cocoon, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Super Mario Wonder, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Kentucky Route Zero, iOS ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Gris, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Inventory Hero, Playdate ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE Encore, Switch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Shenmue 1+2, Steam ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Super Mario 3D land, 3DS ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Super Mario 64, Switch Online ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster, Steam ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Cult of the Lamb, Switch ⭐⭐⭐
• Cuphead, Steam ⭐⭐⭐
• Omaze, Playdate ⭐⭐⭐
• Marvel Snap, iOS ⭐⭐⭐
• Lost Your Marbles, Playdate ⭐⭐⭐
• Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale, 3DS ⭐⭐⭐
• Warioware Gold, 3DS ⭐⭐⭐
• Doki Doki Literature Club, Switch ⭐⭐⭐

Games I played, did not finish, but will keep playing

• Street Fighter 6, Steam
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, DS
• The Legend of Zelda Minish Cap, GBA
• Bloom, Playdate
• Suika Game, Switch
• Sketch, Share, Solve, Playdate
• Honkai: Star Rail, iOS

Games I played, did not finish, and likely won’t try again

• The Gardens Between, Apple Arcade
• Parasite Eve, PSX
• Dragon Quest XI, Switch
• Castlevania: Bloodlines
• Chrono Cross, Switch
• Wylde Flowers, Apple Arcade
• Alba, Apple Arcade
• Word Trip, Playdate
• Vampire Survivors
• Star Sled, Playdate
• Paper Mario, Switch Online
• Star fox 64, Switch Online
• Bayonetta, Steam

Notes & thoughts

I think 2023 is the year gaming became my main form of personal entertainment. I took working on my backlog more seriously this year, even culling a good number. It was also the year I hit on the most platforms. Switch, Steam, Playdate, Apple Arcade, and even a few 3DS games are present. I have games on my backlog for all of these next year.

It’s amazing to me that the Switch is seven years old and still cranking out all of my favorite games.

The list is longer this year for Playdate, which is a gem of a video game console that provides delightful and brief experiences. I think I’ve used it a total of 10 hours this year but they were some of the best gaming hours of the year.

In terms of games that actually released in 2023, my favourites were Tears of the Kingdom, Cocoon, and Street Fighter 6.

But as with 2022, this was mostly a backlog year. I finally beat Super Mario 64, and made progress on Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass. Persona 5 Royal and Tokyo Mirage Sessions were last-gen RPGs that I loved. I think this is the year I made my backlog manageable. I feel like I can actually work with it instead of feeling completely buried.

Finishing 24 games is a major accomplishment, but it also may have been *too many games* for one year. I’m very curious how 2024 will go.

The Switch will begin breathing fumes this year. Everyone is expecting a new Nintendo console, but I don’t see myself buying it this year, no matter what it is. My backlog got smaller this year through effort and culling, but it’s still standing at 308 games. At my pace, it’ll take me a decade to get through it. I could skip an entire console generation and be fine. I wonder if I could?