Priority Backlog Titles for 2023

2022 was a pretty busy year for me, which may be obvious given how little I kept up with The Hannie Corner, but I’m trying to make sure everything gets back on track for 2023! While I made a list of games to prioritize in 2022, it’s pretty fair to say that my busy life kept me from getting to most of them. For 2023, though, I have made a deal with my brother to try and finish off a bunch of pre-selected backlogged titles and see who finishes the most throughout the year. That extra level of friendly competition ought to keep me moving through the titles and having fun along the way. I wanted to share these games and series that I picked, as they’ll likely become the topics of many posts throughout the next year.

Uncharted 1, 2, and 4

A big theme of the list I curated for myself is to focus on catching up in series that I’m either behind in or missed altogether. First up, I would like to finally finish the core Uncharted quartet. I played Uncharted 3 many years ago, but somehow missed out on playing all of the others. Since this is one of the biggest modern franchises in gaming, I definitely want to play them all and form my own opinion on them.

Final Fantasy III and IV

It’s a lifelong goal of mine to play all of the mainline Final Fantasy entries, so I thought it would be a good idea to polish off a few more of the classic titles since the pixel remasters are out. I don’t know much about the third entry, but I know that the fourth is beloved by many fans, so I’m very excited to learn more about it.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

The Trails games are a major gap in my knowledge of JRPGs, and now that the Trails from Zero titles are being released in the west, this feels like the perfect chance to start chipping away at this huge series. I only put the first game here, as I don’t want to force myself to play through a full trilogy if I don’t enjoy the first entry, but I am hopeful that I will play much further than a single title in this behemoth of a franchise throughout 2023.

Divinity: Original Sin II

I wrote recently about how I tried a couple of CRPGs, and I wanted to actually make good on my promise to continue playing a few of them. Therefore, I picked my favorites from that post and added them to this list. 2023 is the year that I overcome my fear of the CRPG genre and fall in love. Divinity: Original Sin 2 was picked primarily because it feels like the closest I’ll get to a new Dragon Age title for a good long while and I really want some new fantasy worlds to immerse myself in for 2023.

Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is in the same boat as Divinity, as I played it as part of the same initial try-out post. It seems like a reasonably approachable CRPG and I was impressed by the depth of its world-building and political commentary, so I have added it to the list of titles for 2023.

Rogue Legacy 2

The original Rogue Legacy is one of my favorite indie titles of all time, and also the main reason that I love indies as much as I do today. It was the title that helped me understand just how much variety existed if I left the AAA comfort zone and branched out a little bit. I can’t believe that I have gone so long without trying the sequel out, but I definitely need to prioritize this one, as I know that I’m going to love it.

Bioshock

Bioshock Infinite is one of my favorite games of all time, but because the world of Rapture in the original Bioshock has more roots in the horror genre than I would like, I have always been a little scared of it. I need to get over this, however, as I know I’m missing out on an immersive world full of secrets to explore.

Doom 2016

I am bad at first person shooters. In fact, I would argue it’s probably one of my worst genres, as I just don’t have the reflexes or aiming abilities for it. That said, there are so many shooters I would like to play, like Bioshock above and the Doom reboot from 2016. Therefore, I have decided to just give them a shot, even if I have to play them on the easiest difficulty, and just enjoy the ride as much as possible to get more comfortable with the genre.

Elden Ring

As part of our agreement, my brother and I decided that we would also pick a few games for each other for our respective lists. Elden Ring is not one of his recommendations, but I knew what one of his recommendations would be, so I prepared myself by putting what is arguably the most accessible souls-like on my list. I have played a few hours of Elden Ring in the past and I really do love the world that has been created here. I’m just a little intimidated by the difficulty, so I guess I will have to see how it goes.

Tales of Arise

Like the Trails series, I have also never played a Tales game, and I feel like I need to make 2023 the year that I change that. Tales of Arise was getting a ton of praise when it first came out, and from the few hours that I have played of it on release, it seems like the sort of title that I could sink a lot of hours into. I’m really excited to give this one a chance.

My Time at Portia

I have been chipping away at My Time at Portia for years, but have still never gotten all that far into the main story. Now that the sequel is out and gaining traction in the farming game community, though, I really want to finish Portia so I can move on and play the new one. Nothing motivates a person to finish a backlogged title quite like wanting to move on towards its newer, shinier sequel, right?

Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

I love the Borderlands series, so it’s quite baffling that I have managed to let two new entries in the series pass me by without me playing through them. Some of the other titles on my list are going to be pretty difficult or contain heavy subject matter, so it will be nice to have a few fun and lighthearted co-op titles I can play with my husband when I need a break from all of the doom and gloom.

Life is Strange 2 and True Colors

I have played Life is Strange, Before the Storm, and the Captain Spirit prequel, as well as Tell Me Why, which may not technically be in the same series, but it has a very similar overall vibe. While I always come away satisfied by these beautiful games, they are quite heavy and difficult to play through at times. The main reason I haven’t continued on with the newer entries in this franchise is that I’m afraid of all the ways these games will break my heart. Still, I need to play them because I know I’ll love them.

Those are the picks that I made for myself, but as I stated above, I also allowed my brother to make a few choices for me, and these are what he picked for me to tackle throughout 2023:

Dark Souls Remastered

This is why I picked Elden Ring. I really want to play a FromSoftware game, and now I have a few different avenues of approach for my first title, depending on what sort of experience I want to have. I know these games are going to be really hard and honestly, I’m not sure if I’m good enough to tackle them, but I’ll definitely give it my best shot.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales

This is a recommendation from my brother simply because I started it immediately after I finished the first Insomniac Spider-Man title and then forgot to continue playing. It’s short and shouldn’t take too long to wrap up, so it will be one of the first games that I knock off this list. At least I know I’ll actually finish one title on this list, right?

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

My brother loves The Fractured but Whole and has been trying to convince me to play it for a while. He’s quite excited to have this opportunity to force me to play it. My list is pretty light on Switch-specific games, so I got this one for my Switch so I can play it in bed at night.

Xenoblade Chronicles

Finally, probably due to my comment above about wanting a little more stuff to play on my Switch, my brother recommended Xenoblade Chronicles for me. This is one I actually put about ten hours into years ago and quite liked, but never got around to continuing. I’ll definitely need to start over to play it, but given how much my brother likes it, I’m sure I will find it wonderful and it’ll be a highlight of my 2023.

That’s my whole list! The goal is to really focus more on my backlog in 2023, and this is a good start towards that. This is hardly an exhaustive list of every big backlog title I want to play in 2023, but I think this is a good overarching view of the sorts of experiences that matter most to me right now. I want to try franchises that have managed to elude me for years, while also playing catch-up on beloved series that I’m behind on for whatever reason. Overall, I’m quite excited to see which of these titles end up becoming new favorites of mine, and hope to be able to write a successful wrap-up post at the end of the year where I finished most or all of these.

Which titles would you like to prioritize in 2023? Let me know in the comments below!