By: Jordan Chan

Editor-in-Chief

There are plenty of video games that made me wish I could erase my brain to play them again, but this year, I’ll contentedly settle for the next best thing: playing their sequels. Thus, here’s a list of game sequels coming out in 2023 that I’m most excited for.

Hollow Knight: Silksong: The original Hollow Knight is a 2D action-adventure game released in 2017 by indie games developer Team Cherry. It features incredible worldbuilding, a haunting yet alluring soundtrack, and gorgeous hand-drawn animations. When I first explored the vast, underground kingdom of Hallownest, I felt like the entire world around me had fallen away. Not only does Hollow Knight engage players in challenging yet rewarding gameplay — consisting of combat and platforming — but it also sucks them in with its complex and mysterious lore, which features dark themes that touch on ideas such as sacrifice and death. Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of the most highly-anticipated indie games set to release this year, especially because fans of the original game have been begging for updates on its development since its first reveal trailer in 2019. 

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: By now, you’re likely familiar with Nintendo’s best-selling Legend of Zelda franchise, specifically its hit game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BOTW), which sold over 27.79 million copies as of September 2022. In 2017, BOTW revolutionized the open-world game design genre. To this date, many still believe it is one of the best open-world games to ever exist because of the developers’ and artists’ attention to detail, impeccable pacing, and the way gameplay encourages players to immerse themselves in the setting rather than encouraging them simply to get from objective to objective. Zelda fans can expect some of the same aspects of BOTW that made the game special in Tears of the Kingdom, which will release on May 12 this year.

Hades 2: Released by Supergiant Games in 2018, Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler game. In this hack and slash, you play Zagreus, the rebellious son of Hades and Prince of the Underworld. Hades is amazing because beating the game multiple times allows you to unlock new content, gameplay, and dialogue, which contributes to a fun and intricate storyline based on Greek Mythology. If that wasn’t already enough to get you hyped about the game, Hades also has LGBTQ+ representation and beautiful artwork. Hades 2 is sure to impress, just like its predecessor. Instead of playing Zagreus, players will fight as the immortal Princess of the Underworld, drawing on the powers of Olympus. Although Supergiant has not announced a release date, fans speculate it will enter Early Access later this year.

(Sources: New Musical Express, Statista, Steam)