Welcome back to Fantasy Gaming! This month, we recap the onslaught of recent gaming releases and delays. We also crown our mid-year Fantasy winner—and preview what’s to come over the next six months.
Strap in, folks. After a relatively quiet May, we’re back to discuss some June shake-ups in the world of Fantasy. And boy, are things getting spicy.
Since the last update, each of our Fantasy teams has benefitted from at least one major release—and also been hit by a soul-crushing delay. This is the popcorn-munching intrigue we’ve been waiting for, and it’s coming at us (and you, dear reader) all at once.
But enough with the teases. Let’s take a look.
What’s New in June?
Tears of the Kingdom Achieves a Near-Perfect Release…
After years of mystery and anticipation, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hit players’ Switch screens in May 2023. Surprising practically no one, it was well worth the wait. Nintendo’s latest sits atop the 2023 Metacritic charts with a mammoth 96 score.
Several weeks have passed since launch, and our Tears of the Kingdom impressions are as sterling as they come. The game offers genuine moments of delight around every bend, creek, and crag. Whether you’re exploring the Sky Islands, spelunking down in the Depths, or simply enjoying the serenity of Hyrule, Tears of the Kingdom has something that’ll surely blow your mind.
Tears was selected number one overall in our draft (shocker). Its 96 score gives Team Amanda a massive win, upping her average by nearly eight points and bringing her within striking distance of Team Sam and Team David.
…And Yet, Street Fighter 6 Keeps Team Sam on Top
Tears of the Kingdom may be sublime, but its power has limits. The competition in 2023 is fierce, and even the mightiest Fantasy “Goliath” can be toppled with the right “David.”
Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise isn’t exactly an underdog—its lifetime sales total 50 million units and counting. But the series has been on shaky ground for some time. Street Fighter V left a lackluster taste for many, and the amateurish reveal of Street Fighter 6 begged the question: Can this contender ever be a champion again?
Well, we have our answer. Street Fighter 6 entered the ring in June, and it delivered a knockout punch. The game sits on Metacritic with a crowd-pleasing 92. Our own Donovan Harrell awarded the game a 9.3 and had this to say in his Street Fighter 6 review:
Street Fighter 6 reignited the competitive spirit I lost with Street Fighter V. […] Before this game, I resigned myself to convoluted fighting game stories told through cut scenes, visual novels, or arcade modes. Not anymore. […] With its innovative story mode and modern control options, it stands out from its predecessors as the most accessible Street Fighter game ever made. Add in its unique style and solid online gameplay options, and Street Fighter 6 shines bright for the series while setting the bar high for future fighting games.
Donovan Harrell, Street Fighter 6 Review
Street Fighter 6 slid all the way to the fourth round of our Fantasy Draft. Ultimately, Team Sam was the one smart enough to take a flier on the beloved franchise. The 92 adds to his already-impressive Fantasy squad and helps him maintain a slight lead at the head of the pack.
Team David Holds Steady With Diablo IV and Final Fantasy XVI
Rounding out June was a pair of hotly anticipated RPG releases—one Western, the other Japanese.
Despite their seemingly different niches, Diablo IV and Final Fantasy XVI have much in common. Both hail from long-running franchises known for their historic highs (Diablo II, Final Fantasy VII), recent stumbles (Diablo III and Final Fantasy XV), and shoddy mobile titles (Diablo Immortal and All the Bravest, anyone?). And, most relevant to this update, both games were released in June 2023 to widespread acclaim.
Diablo IV and Final Fantasy XVI currently each sit at 87 on Metacritic. Clearly, critics have enjoyed their journeys to Sanctuary and Valisthea. And yet, like I said before, 2023 ain’t playing no games. In a year filled with seminal titles like Tears of the Kingdom and Street Fighter 6, Blizzard and Square Enix seem to have fallen just short of true greatness.
As for what that means for Fantasy? Well, I (aka Team David) drafted both games, thinking they’d catapult me to greatness. And while they certainly didn’t let me down, they didn’t deliver quite the juice I needed to snatch first place. We still have six months ahead of us, but it sure seems like Team Sam is running away with things.
The Delays Just Keep Coming
If you follow the games industry, you know delays are just part of the business. Shigeru Miyamoto famously said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.” And while those words are (usually*) true, that doesn’t lessen the sting of disappointment when a studio or publisher decides to punt on fourth down.
Since the last Fantasy Update, our teams have been hit with three major delays—one apiece. Here are the quick headlines:
- Team Sam — A Summer Game Fest trailer confirmed what many feared: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will miss its winter 2023 target and release in early 2024.
- Team David — After a no-show at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase, Naughty Dog issued a statement that The Last of Us: Factions needs more time in the cooker. Adding salt to the Bloater bite, Bloomberg reported that the project is currently being “reassess[ed].” Welp!
- Team Amanda — It’s hard to delay a game that never had a release date to begin with. And yet, Team Cherry defied the odds, announcing that Hollow Knight: Silksong was originally set to release in H1 2023 but has since been pushed back. The developers didn’t outright rule out an H2 2023 release, but we know how this story goes. 2024 looks increasingly likely.
All three of the above games come from studios with excellent pedigrees. It’s a shame to lose out on them for Fantasy, but I’ll channel my inner Miyamoto and dry my tears. They’re worth the wait.
*Suicide Squad could be delayed until 2030, and it’d still be terrible.
Who’s in the Lead?!
Here are our Fantasy Gaming standings as we enter the back half of 2023:
1. A Hair Below Cromulent (Team Sam)
– Total points: 265
– Average per game: 88.3
2. 2 Fast 2 Fantasy (Team David)
– Total points: 259
– Average per game: 86.3
3. Tears of the Backlog (Team Amanda)
– Total points: 241
– Average per game: 80.3
Looking Back—and Gazing Ahead
We’re only halfway through 2023. There are still plenty of games to play and Fantasy scores to settle.
And yet, let’s give some flowers where they’re due. As of mid-2023, Team Sam is our Fantasy Gaming champion. He has two 90+ titles to his name, and if Starfield and Forza Motorsport are anything like past Bethesda and Turn 10 games, it’s safe to say that this year’s Fantasy competition is a wrap.
…But that wouldn’t be much fun, now would it?
Rest assured: We have plenty more planned for the months to come. Tune into our next Fantasy update, when we preview the latter half of 2023—and add a little zest to our friendly game.
Thanks for reading this month’s update! To catch up on prior recaps, check out our Fantasy Gaming archives.
