The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family, but when I'm not sipping on that sweet hot cocoa or playing charades like a bumbling buffoon, I'm catching up on my excessive backlog of vi??deo games. This year, I decided to finish my trip to Hogwarts.

Note: There are spoilers ahead for Sebastian Sallow's storyline in Hogwarts Legacy.

Going back to Hogwarts

Hogwarts Legacy has been a touchy subject for many, and honestly, it's put me off playing the game throughout 2023. The criticisms of the universe's creator, J.K. Rowling, are well-founded. I'm bisexual and part of the LGBTQ+ community, but to me, the Harry Potter series is more important than her; it was a huge part of my childhood. The holidays are a??lso a time when my parents watch the movies, so?? it's always something in the back of my mind during that time of year.

After a year of heavy guide writing, I decided to return to the Scottish highlands and finish my fifth year at Hogwarts. The game's visuals and storytelling entranced my family. However, it wasn't what they expected as they witnessed the end of Sebastian's dark storyline. Oh, and it was also fun to flip over a cow.

Did you finish a backlog game during the holidays?

With so many 2023 releases like Starfield or Baldur's Gate 3, games will fall by the wayside, especially if you have Xbox Game Pass. We all have busy schedules, so getting one ??or two weeks off is ?a blessing. That's why it's so fascinating there are trophy and achievement hunters out there who finish a game to completion.

The patience and the reluctance to buy new games are something to be admired. However, as a guide wr??iter who has to stay current, I move on from games I love, which can be heartbreaking. It's part of the job, especially as a freelancer.

Have you conquered a backlog game over the holidays? Were you able to defeat the Mongols in Ghost of Tsushima or finally finish every world in Super Mario Odyssey to completion??? Let us know in the comments below.

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What a year it's been. We've seen a host of terrific games come out (and some not-so-terrific ones)?, with ups and downs across the board. But what's interesting is ??seeing which specific games people were searching for in 2023.

As noted by Geoff Keighley on social media, this year saw some pretty notable names cropping up on Google Trends summary of this year. In the top ten for this year, Hogwarts Legacy goes down as the most se??arched-for game on the site.

As praised as it was, some may be surprised it??'s at number one, espec??ially as it wasn't nominated for any categories at this year's Game Awards.

Below that is The Last of Us. Again, this might seem like a bit of a surpr??ise, but the recent HBO show �which won Best Adaptation �may have given it a bit of a signal boost.

The surprises keep coming

Speaking of Game Award winners, there's no sign of Alan Wake 2 on the Google list, d??espite the hype and subsequent accolades. Whether this is because the game only came out recently is something to perhaps consider.

I must admit, I'm surprised to see Atomic Heart at number nine. That game seemed to come and go with only a brief spot in the limelight. I haven't even heard of Connections and Suika Game, the? latter of which has been out since 2021, but only made its way to the west this year.

It is worth bearing in mind that this does consist of search terms on a global scale, so seeing something unfamilia??r is perhaps to be e?xpected.

It's hard to know what to make of the list, though. This is, after all, what people have searched for on Google. Still, the fact that Spider-Man or Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom aren't on there is a bit of a chin scratcher. But bless, Starfield made it. Good for it, I guess.

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A late start to the new term

The start to a new year at Hogwarts will be slightly delayed. Open-world magic RPG Hogwarts Legacy has hit a new delay, and?? is now aiming for a ??February 10, 2023 launch.

It's the latest 2022 game to get hit with a delay into next year, and it comes with an addendum too. While the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions of Hogwarts Legacy are set for February 10, 2023, the Nintendo Switch version has no date. News about the Switch's date will be revealed soon, the Hogwarts team says.

//twitter.com/Hogwarts?Legacy/status/1558121248814759939

It's the latest delay for Avalanche Software's game, which had already been pushed out of 2021 and into this year. We did get a gameplay deep dive earlier this year, where we saw a bit of what wizards and witches can get up to in the wizarding world. But it looks like players will be waiting a bit longer to ??get their owl.

Back to school

The delay isn't totally out of the ordinary, as several major 2022 games have been moving out and into later dates. Earlier this week, Firaxis and 2K confirmed that Marvel's Midnight Suns has been delayed out of its Octobe?r date, only specifying that it will launch sometime before ??the end of March '23.

Even Metal Slug Tactics is taking a little extra time. Only a few, like God of War Ragnarok, are standing firm in this coming holiday window.

A little extra time will hopefully at least be good for the team, in helping them deliver the experience they want to. I'm admittedly not too keen on Hogwarts Legacy, especially as it's based on a series whose author seems determined to keep chipping away at any goodwill the books garnered. WB Games did note in 2020 that Rowling isn't directly involved in the game. But hey. There's always Witchbrook.

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