The first of the year means we have a new year for Fantasy Critic! After learning about Fantasy Critic from the Kinda Funny crew a few years back, it's become one of my favorite side projects to do, working similarly to a Fantasy Football league participants draft a list of games they feel are going to score well from reviews throughout the year. Games earn a point for every point above 70, losing one if I'm the other direction up to reviewing a 90, where each score counts as 2 points instead. On the contrary we also have 2 counter picks throughout the year where you choose a title from somebody else that you don't see reviewing well with the chance of gaining bonus points off of negative reviews! It's a nice casual thing to have on the side while keeping up with releases and keeping watch of titles you may not have known about to begin with.

I'm not one to brag about a lot of things, but I can confidentially say I've got this year in the bag. This year, we have 4 groups, 3 of which have each won a year before, with our 4th being a new pickup who's way more of a casual gamer but got some solid picks. Let's check out my draft, and I'll post the other members after. We all drafted an initial seven games with seven more being picked up throughout the year as more titles are dated and announced. Without further ado my draft picks.

Forza Motorsport

I had to start with Forza because in the grand scheme of things, I feel it's often overlooked in the big upcoming games lists for being a racer. I was honestly expecting things like Spiderman 2 and Starfield to be gone first, so this was my sleeper first round pick. Acting as a sort of reboot for the series Motorsport is truly setting itself as the next generation must see piece, with ground breaking tech and details being incorporated and improved upon these games somehow just keep getting better. Guaranteed to net me at least 20+ points. I just need to hold out that Xbox meets their promise of it releasing before June this year.

Street Fighter 6

I'm putting a lot of faith in the fighting game community with a few of my picks this year. Coming off the drawn-out cycle that was Street Fighter 5 and going back to a multiplatform release, I've honestly heard nothing but praise for the next installment in the legendary franchise. The new art style and tone they're going for hits so many points for me that I may actually jump into this when it releases later this year.

Final Fantasy XVI

This is my personal hope going into this year for my GoTY. I adored everything Final Fantasy 15 gave to us, and this one being headed by Tetsuya Nemora of Kingdom Heart's fame. This is lining up perfectly to be a personal favorite. Switching to a more flashy action combat style that started with 15 and set to a more emotional and serious tone, I'm excited to see what sort of world building and scenarios the devs throw into the Final Fantasy mix. The Final Fantasy series as a whole has been riding high with the immense success of 14, which will hopefully carry over some goodwill to its single-player followup.

Spiderman 2

I literally can't believe I was able to snag this in the draft. This should've been a 1st-round pick from literally anybody. Sony first party studios aren't missing, and this is almost a lock to receive perfect scores. Expanding on the base in the first game and adding the likes of Venom and Kraven to the villain roster along with multiple Spidermen to play as, the next foray into New York City could be every comic fans dream. As of now, this is the only 1st party release we know about on Playstations calander, so you know they want it hitting on all points when it drops this fall.

Hollow Knight Silksong

Hollow Knight may be one of if not THE best indie game to release the past decade. Growing a cult following that lives for the perfection of Medtroid-Vania ganeplay and exploration. Hollow Knight is a must play for anybody. With its expansion/sequel/ whatever they're referring to it as now releasing the first half of this year, I'm already prepping for the cultural impact it's going to have.

Tekken 8

This honestly feels like my only wildcard for this initial draft process. I don't know enough about Tekken or where the game has been since 7 released, but enough people seem hyped and excited for this. I do know this is the first one to not release in arcades in Japan first, so maybe their going all out in visual style this time around and really tapping into a cinematic marvel.

Horizon Call of the Mountain

I picked this up literally and purely out of spite for VR. Our first year doing Fantasy Critic, I singlehandedly lost to Half Life Alyx as I counterpicked it and took such a hit to my points. I honestly didn't think a VR title at that time could reach critical praise and reception. I wasn't going to let it happen a 2nd time. I've yet to personally dip into the Horizon series, but having it be the marquee first party release for the launch of PSVR 2 means Sony has some trust in it carrying the launch of the hardware.

And there you have it, that's my initial draft lineup. Throughout the year, we have 7 more to pick up once dates and more titles are announced. I'll leave a link below for anybody who wants to follow along. As well as the other lineups for the other members' drafts to see where the likes of Starfield, Redfall, and Diablo all ended up. Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to drop any questions about Fantasy Critic or comments down below!

https://www.fantasycritic.games/league/46eb0f9e-8dcc-42ad-8cdb-fb26bb295eda/2023

Fantasy Critic 2023