Games I started in 2023 but didn't finish

The 2023 calendar year is not only about many great stories being learned and completed at the same time, and by that I mean going from A to Z of such successful stories as Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2 or Star Wars Jedi Survivor.

Over the past 12 months, I've also started several items that I haven't been able to complete for various reasons. Sometimes it was the lack of time and the multitude of new releases that mattered, while in other cases the material began to be overloaded or boredom caused by the low quality of the game. Here are the promised items:

Scars above

The list will open with Scars Before, an action-adventure game from a small team called Mad Head Games. I actually bought the game a few weeks ago, went through the intro and landed in unknown territory, and then started playing… Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. In this case, the only factor was lack of time and I would definitely try to get back into Scars Upper, although to be honest, the beginning itself didn't particularly interest me to play it again on console as soon as possible.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Slowly and forward – the next attempt at the Mass Effect trilogy needs to be completed before the new Mass Effect is released, so I still have a few years to do that. Last year, I maxed out the first Mass Effect game and went platinum. Unfortunately, in 2022, I didn't find the time to do the same with Mass Effect 2 – I stopped about halfway through the story, when we had the opportunity to perform loyalty quests. The trilogy is as addictive as the previous installments, but since I already know it inside out, I feel no rush to tick it off as quickly as possible.

Inquisition in Dragon Age

I can't count the number of times I've played Dragon Age Inquisition. Production always interests me with its introduction, when we learn the basics, but after reaching the first jungle world, where we have a lot of side quests (not of high quality), amazing boredom begins to creep in. And then other, more interesting games come along, marginalizing Dragon Age Inquisition. However, when I find extra time, I think I'll be more willing to play the two aforementioned titles rather than the latest DA game.

Lords of the Fallen

I'm not a huge fan of Soulslikes, but CI Games' Lords of the Fallen has been very encouraging in its promotional materials. However, when I sat down to play the game, I had to contend with the performance drop and what's more – for me, as a fan of fast-paced, action-packed combat – heavy combat, I gave up playing last months game for about a minute after the second boss fight. In fact, I had already forgotten about the Lords of the Fallen and if it weren't for this list, I wouldn't even think about returning to these souls.

Journey to Yumi

I put up with Journey to Yumi for a long time, because I actually gave up on the last two chapters. Although the story itself is very short, a lot of monotony can creep in during the multi-hour adventure. I didn't like the combat system at all, it values ​​luck more than the player's skills, and in addition, the unusual visuals inspired by monochrome graphics… did not suit my taste at all.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Being a huge fan of Life is Strange, where we learned the story of Max and Chloe, I finally decided to watch Before the Storm, which also shows the story from Rachel's perspective – the missing girl from the first film. Since I finished the first LiS game 6-7 years ago, the prequel to this game failed to interest me in its story. I recognized a lot of the characters, and the motivations related to the family and school, but the story itself was not – as I imagined in my head – as cohesive if I had sat down to read it 5-6 years ago. In this case, boredom simply crept in, because by today's standards, Life is Strange Before the Storm has a lot more outdated solutions than, say, Detroit Become Human.

Earth pillars

In the case of “The Pillars of the Earth,” there's no point in expanding too much, because it's too much like “Life is Strange Before the Storm.” It is not a new production, so many solutions are simply tired, such as controlling the hero, choosing clues, and so on. In this medieval story, I finished the first chapter, the title is still stuck on the disc and I think I will finish the remaining two episodes sooner or later, because still, this story excited me more (after the first hours) with its mystery and multiple choices than the one about Chloe and Rachel.

Starfield

I've left my grand career of 2023, Starfield, for last. I really expected a lot from the game – an interesting plot full of twists and turns, interesting side quests, dynamic combat, well-programmed AI, smart optimization and interestingly filled locations. Were any of these things done to a very good standard? Perhaps the missions of the factions and, to some extent, the territories that we explore, but only if we think about these inhabited places (the so-called centers), because running around the planets can become boring after only a few hours. I'll definitely be playing Starfield again when Bethesda prepares many of the promised new features and maybe production becomes more affordable then. However, it's certainly not a sci-fi story that players can talk about for many years to come, as is the case with Mass Effect today. Now I have my eyes on Exodus, which might fill the void in the genre.