By Gianna Mulvey
The start of the new year has come and gone in the blink of an eye, but 2023’s most recent video game releases and announcements have definitely made an impressive start to the new year. Although only a handful of major titles have been released in the past couple of weeks, the rest of the year seems to have a pretty amazing lineup of games.
Note: Credit goes to IGN for the scores used in this article. For more in-depth reviews, please visit the IGN website.
One Piece Odyssey – A brand new turn-based RPG set in the world of One Piece featuring familiar characters from the beloved series, the story centers around the pirate Luffy and his crew, who have been mysteriously stranded on an island. The game caters more to those who are already familiar with the series and provides an enjoyable but sometimes boring turn-based combat system. With colorful graphics and a fun story, the game earned a score of 7/10.
Fire Emblem Engage – Fire Emblem Engage is the seventeenth entry in the long-standing Fire Emblem series and does a wonderful job of focusing its gameplay elements back to the roots of the series. Whereas the previous installment in the series focused more on time management skills with a complex story, Fire Emblem Engage spends more time building a complex turn-based combat system with a simple story of good versus evil. The game also pays homage to other previous installments in the series that long-time fans will certainly enjoy. Playing as a powerful deity on a quest to save the world from an evil dragon proved to be a fun experience, which earned the game a score of 9/10.
Dead Space (Remake) – The original Dead Space game released in 2008 received very high praise. As with most remakes, the biggest worry is that it doesn’t live up to the original. Fortunately, the Dead Space remake revives the original 2008 survival horror game with updated combat and graphics. The game builds off of the original by including more detail in the setting (a doomed spaceship infested with zombies), updated exploration, and more intense gameplay and combat. The updated graphics and combat increase the horror factor that the original created, which helped earn the remake a score of 9/10.
Forspoken – Originally announced in 2021, Forspoken is an action RPG that follows the story of a New Yorker who gets pulled into a portal and transported to a fantasy realm. With a generic story and lifeless open world, the game can sometimes feel tedious to complete. But with flashy parkour and elemental magic attacks, the combat can be quite fun and entertaining, although it is not enough to balance out the bland story and create an enjoyable gaming experience. The game earned a score of 6/10.
Popular upcoming releases: Hogwarts Legacy (2/10), Octopath Traveler 2 (2/24), Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (3/17), Dead Island 2 (4/28), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (5/12), Final Fantasy XVI (6/22).
