After a narrative-filled 2022, this knowledge-based investigation game was a great way to continue that energy into 2023. I keep saying it, but I love seeing more of these out there.

And after so much Uchikoshi, I thought I'd finally give Nakazawa's work a try - however it really wasn't for me. Given I don't like Remember11 either, maybe that's not so much of a surprise.

However, the next narrative game I tried was an absolute slam dunk and is still my overall GOTY. I almost skipped on this because I was worried about the horror label, and I'm so glad I didn't.

Continuing the broadening of my VN horizons, I'd always been skeptical of the Sci;ADV series but a friend urged me to at least try this one - they were right that it's got a lot to be impressed by, but it's also got a lot of flaws that make me even warier of the rest of the series.

Finally actually playing a game when it newly released, and I mean, what's there to even say? This game is a masterpiece. The only reason I prefer Paranormasight is because it caters more closely to my specific tastes.

I'm always wary about Pokemon fangames, but this one was a very pleasant surprise that grew on me more and more and more as time went on. The first impression is a bit rough, but the gameplay concepts are used well, and the tone and themes of the plot improve greatly from the intro. I came back to revisit the game again later in the year when it hit its full release.

It's around this time I read a fantastic LP/fanfic named Sympathy for Chisa Inomiko, based on this game and its sequel, and that inspired me to give them a go myself. I'm very glad I did, they're good fun.

Man, I'm sorry, I tried. Maybe it's just because I was on the precipice of a mental breakdown at the time, but this game just aggressively didn't click with me.

Speaking of mental breakdowns, at this time of year I had to start taking things way slower. With some mods to make things easier to keep track of, doing a day or two of this game whenever I could was exactly what I needed to stay occupied when I didn't have the energy for more.

As I started recovering, I finally got around to finishing this game after some interruptions since its predecessor. There's not a ton to say to distinguish the two - they're both similar and they're both great.

The game's fine. I enjoyed it well enough. It's definitely slid out of memory now that I'm done with it though.

Sorry haters Gen 9 continues to bang. The character writing in this game continues to be shockingly resonant. It left me super excited to add the Indigo Disk to this list at the end of the year.

For the record, I heard of this game from a friend just before GMTK advertised it - either way, I'm glad it got that attention because it deserves it. More knowledge based games! More translation games! More! More!

This is a weird one. An absolute shot in the dark I picked up during a Steam sale. I appreciate what it's going for but there are a lot of rough edges. Still, we could all use more yuri in our lives, and I'm glad at least one relationship was explicitly, focally canon.

It's around this time I replayed Tectonic and I was still in the mood for more Pokemon after I was done, so with one positive experience I was more willing to try out other fangames. This one has some interesting ideas but a lot of jank in execution.

I went into this knowing it wouldn't really be for me, but desperate for some more Pokemon and wanting to mess around with the silly mechanics. I came up with some appreciation for it at least, even if my initial impression was ultimately correct.

More knowledge based games! Mooooore! With this being one of the last games I'll likely play this year, it makes something of a bookend with Golden Idol, which I think is fun.

Played in multiplayer with a friend - lots of cool additions but unfortunately has some server issues, which combined with a less than ideal connection on my end scuttled the playthrough.

This wasn't quite the ultimate finale to the DLC storyline I let myself hope for, but it's still some good Pokemon fun.

I'd had this one on my list for a while, but I kept waiting for what felt like the right time to play it - so of course the day I finally decide to, I forget the Pokemon DLC came out. This one surprised me positively and lived up to its high reputation.