I keep reading people say that 2023 is going to be the year for gaming that we all hoped 2022 would be. Unfortunately that can’t be the case, as Elden Ring did release in 2022. I’m only joking (sort of), and while I have very recently uninstalled Elden Ring having thrown in the towel on my attempts against Maliketh, doing so has renewed my enthusiasm to look forward to what new games the future will bring.
That being said, and because it’s the trend at the moment, I’m going to talk about my top five most anticipated games of 2023.
5) Atomic Heart
I confess I had to Google upcoming games to jog my memory when I started writing this list, but the second I spotted Atomic Heart I knew it had to be included. A first person shooter with powers and a wide variety of enemy types is always going to be enticing to me, and this game proves to be no different.
Atomic Heart has a release date of 21st of February, and along with a couple other games on this list follows 2021’s trend of packing the beginning of the year with the titles I want to play most!
4) Hogwarts Legacy
You might be wondering why this game features fairly low down on this list. The simple answer is that the most recent gameplay videos showcasing the inclusion of the Unforgivable Curses, as well as the opportunity to use the Room of Requirement to store exotic pets (sarcastic ‘woo’), I think the gameplay looks pretty but bland.
Why put it in the top five then? In brief, I want to explore Hogwarts again! Not since Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for PS2, released in 2002, have we really been able to comb through the corridors and freely explore the grounds of the castle. I’m more than a little interested in poking around the large open wilds surrounding Hogwarts, but if I find Portkey Games have skimped in any way on the exploration of the interior of the school I will be severely incensed.
Hogwarts Legacy, barring any additional delays, is scheduled for release on 10th of February.
3) Redfall
I don’t know much about Redfall. I know it’s a first person shooter involving vampires and that it’s being developed by the legendary team at Arkane Studios, and that’s literally it. I know all I need to and am already sold.
I took a while to start paying attention to Redfall as I’m fairly sure it was marketed during E3 2021 as a co-op survival game, two gaming trends as appealing to me as spending another hour trying to defeat Maliketh. I was pleased to later discover that single player experiences are possible with it.
Redfall does not have an official release date at time of writing, but the current rumour mill suggests it is targeting a release of ‘early May’. Fingers crossed!
2) Spider-Man 2
This game was the frontrunner for my number one pick for most of 2022, but I confess I am still a little sceptical it will arrive on time by the end of 2023. We are yet to see any real gameplay which is annoying, but also as a result of that, it is based off the still images and pre-rendered minute long trailer alone that give me the confidence to rate this game so highly on my list.
I am really hoping to spend more time with Miles than I do with Peter, though at this stage I’ll take what I can get. Throwing Venom into the mix is very interesting to me, and you can be sure I’ll be following every crumb of Spider-Man 2 news through 2023, all the way up until its intended release late this year.
1) Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Long term readers of Respawning may be slightly perplexed as to why this is my most anticipated game for 2023. I’ve never had anything positive to say about 2019’s Fallen Order, so why am I suddenly interested in its sequel? To be honest, I’ve been replaying Fallen Order recently and due to a couple of choices and realisations I will explain in next week’s article, I am absolutely enamoured with it now.
Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber is easily my favourite ever form of the Sith lasersword (apart from the parasol in Visions, of course). The second my disinterested eyes saw it in the announcement trailer, I knew I had to have it. This is what led me to replay Fallen Order, though the PS5 version running at 60fps with improved visuals also helped with my decision a lot.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is set to release on the 17th of March, and I could not be more excited. To reiterate, as much as I hate admitting I was wrong: I was wrong about Fallen Order.
That’s my list! Let me know your most anticipated games for 2023 in the comments and I’ll be back with another list feature very soon. Thanks for reading!
Written and edited by Alexx.