I don't know what's supposed to be so special about Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur's Gate 3, and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.

Idk none of the new games really excites me. Maybe we are getting too spoiled not just in gaming, but in life. Nothing really excites me anymore, perhaps its bcuz I've experienced pretty much everything in life. 2017 was the best year for gaming but that was most likely due to the Switch releasing and VR getting in the market. The PS5 and Xbox Series has really disappointed me so far, VR is so far shaping up to be a disappointment, and I don't have high expectations for the next Nintendo console as it seems to just be a more powerful Switch. Botw was the last game that truly wowed me, both Totk and Elden Ring are great games but didn't really wow me. No I lied, Smash reveals were exciting but that's not really the gaming part. BG3 was not my type of game, Starfield hasn't excited me at all. The next big thing needs to come, can't wait to SAO in real life lol. The entertainment industry is getting kinda stale, and I blame the internet.

Why afraid?

As I said, Hogwarts is simply good not great. But something is cool about playing a learner in a magic school. I mean this is pretty old theme including books long before Rowling. But it is visible how much the dev cared for the world, which can be seen in small details like the moving paintings (which must have been a lot of work animating hundreds of pictures), als the small items of interest or that are funny added to the grounds. Even a moving bush in form of a dragon, that spits somethign red - which are leaves. All these details make for a good experience if you just simply want to wander the floors with eyes full of wonder.

Baldur's Gate 3 is all about allowing the player to do everything. Similar to a real DM the game just rolls with your decisions. And adds a lot of stuff. A squirrel that fiercely defends it's tree and if you cast speak with animal you can hear it threaten and intimidate you. While being a squirrel. The absolutely crazy stuff you can pull. Like convincing the gnoll boss of a group that attacks you to first eat it's fellow gnolls and then itself. A lot of what you think you want to do you actually can. Fights are demanding and tactical, something I miss in many other games that seem to assume all players only want to be challenged on twitch reflexes, not deep planning and decision making. BG3 makes a battle a chess match, but again as said above with allowing for crazy moves.

I've only managed to play Tears of the Kingdom, but this year is reminding me of 2001 when it comes to quantity of high quality titles!

Well, all of this sounds nice and all but I feel like these games still mostly benefit from buzz and being the next hot thing that everyone and their mother is talking about. I'm not trying to downplay them, though. Just not my cup of tea I guess.

Both are open world games like we've seen a million times already and both have high levels of detail. But both have their issues nevertheless. I've watched an explanation about the magic system in BG3 and apparantly it is just like Final Fantasy I on the NES where spells can only be used a certain amount of times until you need to sleep in a camp. That is so archaic. I would have a hard time liking this in a modern game.

Well, you can like what you want obviously. But also you seem to not even try these games. And yes, you need to sleep to refresh spell slots - as it is always in D&D. That actually can inform your gameplay choices. Kinda comparable to weapon breaking in BOTW, some people hate it, some argue that it will push you towards experimentation. I can see both points and it is similar for the spell slots in D&D. So I wouldn't say it is an 'archaic' gameplay design, it is just a choice of design that can result in different experiences. Personally I am more and more hating cooldown based abilities and spells. Putting a timer on it feels - well archaic for me. But game designers these days seem to love it.

I disagree, partly because getting great games from talented studios should be the norm rather than the exception, and also because there have been some real stinkers. The first half of the year had some scandalous releases, especially on PC, poorly optimized, poorly made, and poorly executed. Contrast this with the handful of incredible releases, and what you have an industry divided. The way I see it, it's rather the developers and publishers that are spoiled, having gotten away with so many crap practices for so long.

I'm grateful for BG3, TotK, Armored Core 6, and all that good stuff, but I'm also concerned seeing the flak being fired from established studios trying to downplay these as anomalies rather than examples to be followed.

Overall, this summer has been a wake-up call for the entertainment industry as a whole; what with both Oppenheimer and BG3 shooting holes in the perpetual myth that people are too simple-minded to enjoy good craftsmanship with some added complexity.

While I disagree with the first part of your post, all the crappy releases don't take away from the great ones and there will always be better and worse games. But this sentence I cited here, that I wholeheartedly agree. Yes, too long we had the narrative, that things should be simplified, streamlined, should be usable without a brain to be enjoyable. But that is not true for everyone and in every situation. So yes, creatives should take risk on demanding more from the player (in games) and viewers (in cinema).

It is simply another great in gaming, both personally and for the medium I think. Getting more than a few milestone games for the medium in a single year doesn't happen often and it isn't even over yet !

You could say the 2022-2023 stretch has showed the best with all the incredible releases we had but also some of the worse this industry has to offer ...

Oooh yeah, looking at you Diablo IV aka Immortal 2.0

This year is my best year ever for gaming. Games that i have finished for the first time this year. I usually don't game this much so this year has been crazy for me.

TOTK. 8.5
Elden ring 9.5
zelda ALBW 9
Mario galaxy 7
Mario galaxy 2 8.5
GOW Ragnorak 9

I consider these must haves that i'm also buying this year. Dead space remake, Resident evil 4 remake, Armored core 6, spider man 2, and alan wake 2. so yea gonna be the best year ever for me.