The gamer thought he knew what to expect. After all, he had watched a playthrough of the Xbox 360 version so many years ago. In truth, he had no idea.

Alan Wake had been a successful game. It sold over three million copies. Critics loved it. Players loved it. There was a huge fanbase around it. Still, the remastered version was slightly less well-received. It was a technological overhaul, more suitable for modern systems, while the gameplay was still the same old same old.

As the gamer fought his first battles, a realization set in. The controls were clunky, even odd at times. He had to retrain his brain to make things work. Dodging and sprinting were activated by the same key. „Why would the game do such a thing?“, the gamer wondered. The way he controlled Alan was unlike anything he had ever played. Alan was a writer, not a superhero. He was less athletic than a boulder chasing a famous fictional adventurer through narrow caves. Running was a futile endeavor. Any such attempt was quickly responded with heavy panting by the protagonist, Alan Wake.

The game did not want to be fast-paced, did not want to be a shooter. It was a supernatural mystery thriller with action elements. The beam of Alan’s flashlight was the game’s version of a reticle. The gamer thought this was a clever idea. He also didn’t like it as it made him feel vulnerable, not always in control. That’s what the game wanted him to feel.

Not in control.

Helpless.

The game’s story evoked similar feelings on an intellectual level. It was deliberately convoluted. It contained a meta narrative that foretold the story while the gamer experienced it on screen. He was dreading the moments of instense combat the game foretold. But how much of it was real? Was any of it real? This was unlike anything the gamer has seen before. He was wondering how the pieces fit together, how it all made sense. Would there be a happy ending?

Not in the know.

Clueless.

Microsoft desperately needed a win after all the negative press surrounding its Xbox gaming brand in 2023 and the year before. 2022, in particular, needed major first-party releases as many titles were pushed further into the future. When one of those much-anticipated games finally arrived, it was a stake in the heart of a vampire. Redfall’s release in May was a disaster, and all eyes were now on Starfield, Bethesda Game Studio’s space opera and first new IP in ages. “Skyrim in space “was the most succinct description that was even given by the game’s director.

I like Skyrim, and I enjoy science fiction in space. The more Bethesda revealed about the game, especially in its Starfield Direct presentation, the more my interest was piqued. It went so far that I took advantage of AMD’s sponsorship deal that bundled a Radeon graphics card with the game’s Premium edition. It was actually the only way for any of the current-gen GPUs to be a sensible purchase. Based on early benchmarks, it also was a necessary upgrade from the RTX 3060 to get an enjoyable performance in this game. Although the performance at launch was still imperfect, it ran well most of the time outside major cities.

The game itself was, in many aspects, a typical Bethesda title, offering more of the gameplay loop that we all have come to enjoy. But Bethesda’s ambitions have been grand, vast as the depths of space, so they have added 1000 planets for players to explore. Could we be talking about illusions of grandeur instead?

Regarding scope, Bethesda’s games have always offered the player an enormous amount of content worth several hundreds of hours if you wanted to. Starfield’s 1000 planets certainly have that potential, although I doubt it would be exhilarating. Worlds only contained a low, curated (maybe randomized) number of locations of interest, and traveling between them was… a perfect opportunity to listen to space podcasts. And even those locations existed primarily for looting purposes. If you love the gameplay loop, all the power to you. If I remember correctly, I have only visited and explored planets during the events of a quest. Therefore, take my words with a grain of salt.

The big story questlines were where Starfield shined, not the number of planets or auxiliary game systems. Combined with the addictive Bethesda storytelling, looting, fantastic art design, and entertaining combat, I had a delightful time. However, it is essential to know what to expect from Starfield. It could have been a better space exploration game. But it was a terrific story-based first-person shooter with RPG elements Bethesda-style.

Performance was a mixed bag, and it still depends on the hardware. Starfield prefers AMD graphics cards and Intel processors. Big cities like New Atlantis or Akila will murder low-end CPUs, and performance dips must be expected. Indoor areas ran well, whereas outdoor regions varied based on the location (dense forest vs. barren planet surface). However, not all graphics options must be cranked to eleven to enjoy the artwork.

It is my third time doing a write-up of my gaming year. The third time’s the charm, right? Before I get into the games I played, I want to reflect on the year and mention and comment on a few subjects that happened throughout it.

First of all, 2023 has been an unbelievable year when looked at just in terms of high-profile releases. There have been so many great titles I cannot possibly remember them all, and as you will see later, I barely even played any of them. Despite that exciting time for game consumers, countless layoffs have shaken the gaming industry. So many people lost their livelihoods because of what often was mismanagement or just greed. This Polygon article summarizes the situation. It is an excellent and somber read.

Another sad topic, although irrelevant compared to layoffs, is the quality of PC ports. Cynical voices may call it business as usual and not any different from other years. Even if that were correct, it does not make it acceptable. This year’s worst offender is most likely Star Wars Jedi Survivor, a highly praised game overall. Although benchmarking generally shows high framerates, the moment-to-moment experience is probably not always flawless. Please note that I cannot speak from experience. I have avoided this title because of its technical issues. From what I have gathered so far, the 30fps mode on consoles might be the most consistent and fluid experience of them all. Sounds wrong now, does it? Just before I published this blog post, Digital Foundry posted their worst PC ports 2023 video summarizing what started as a bad release and was fixed and games that are still bad.

(Guess which game is still in the latter category.)

Adding to the 2023 pile of sad topics, there is no way to get around the current GPU market, and the subpar price-to-performance ratio NVIDIA and AMD have graced us with. NVIDIA is greedy, and AMD does not know how to or does not want to take advantage of the situation. Looked at in isolation, the performance of available GPUs is good to crazy fast. But products do not exist in isolation, and last year’s models in the mid-range are barely slower. Vendors have plenty of stock now, but shopping for graphics cards is still not fun. New system builders are probably better off than upgraders – depending on the hardware age, of course.

Lastly, I need help understanding the buzz around Call of Duty. How can it be that this franchise is a top seller every year? It is a short, bombastic, and action-oriented campaign of less than 10 hours, so people must be interested in the multiplayer component. But how does that warrant 60 to 70 bucks purchases every year when offshoots like CoD Warzone exist that are ongoing service games? In any case, I hope that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King positively affects the company’s work culture.