Baldur’s Gate 3 - When I was a teenager, BG2 was my #1 favorite game, so it’s no surprise that I love BG3 as well. It is easily game of the year, not only because it is a very well designed game, but because I think that it will have a significant effect on future RPG game design. It has raised the bar in the same way as FFVII and Dark Souls did for their respective genres.
EA Sports WRC - One of my biggest disappointments of the year is that not enough people are talking about this game! Sure, it still has a myriad of technical bugs and other issues (hopefully will get fixed soon), but the amount of content and gameplay in this game easily make up for its shortcomings. I find rally games to be much more enjoyable and rewarding than other driving/racing games, and this one is a great one!
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - Aside from BG3, this was easily the best RPG of 2023. Good story, great voice acting, and some really memorable gameplay moments highlight one of the best DLC expansions of all time. It’s kind of a shame that the rest of Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t quite reach its peaks (at least not that I’ve played so far), though it’s also a very good game.
The Legend if Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - I’ll be honest, I thought about leaving this game off this list. I loved the puzzles in this game, definitely more than in BotW, but I’m getting a bit tired of these games combat mechanics. Also, this game had a beautiful story that was delivered in kind of a lame way. Despite feeling it was a little overrated, it is still one of the best of the year.
Chants of Sennaar - This game could have easily been in the top 3 of my list if it had been a little more ambitious with its languages. As a holder of an advanced Linguistics degree, I had been waiting for a game like this for years. However, I feel like the last couple languages in the game were a bit boring and it did not live up fully to its potential. Still, it is on this list because it re-kindled my love for deduction games.
Other very good new games I played this year:
Armored Core 6
RE4 Remake
Super Mario Bros Wonder
Pikmin 4
Meet your Maker
Sea of Stars
Starfield
Forza Motorsport
Cocoon
Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl 2
Honorable mention: Teardown which came out this year on the platform I played it on, Xbox.
This was a very good year for gaming, with a bunch of games I didn’t spend as much time with as I should have (Dredge,) some I bought but haven’t even touched (Rogue Trader,) and some I want to play someday but haven’t bought because my backlog is too damn long as it is (Colony Ship, Chants of Sennaar, etc. etc.)
Also: System Shock came out in 1994, not 2023! (Ducks, runs.)
The reality is that, like every year, I spent most of my time in 2023 playing games from earlier years. My big “discoveries” of the year were Solasta and Old World, both of which have occupied hundreds of hours of my gaming time. It seems pretty silly to vote for some recent games I’ve played for a handful of hours over the games that I really spent all my time with, so I’ll use the DLC excuse to vote for my real games of 2023.
What I’ve seen of the others on this list so far has been excellent. I’m looking forward to trying many other games from this year, though: Rogue Trader, Midnight Suns, Jusant, My Time at Sandrock, Oxenfree II…
It’s weird to have a year with a huge party based RPG (which we all know is going to win this thread) that I just don’t care about, though. Hopefully it’ll inspire development in the genre by devs whose work I do enjoy.
I refuse to vote for DLC. Full games only. I’ve stuck to this rule throughout the years, and I’m not breaking it now. Sorry, Phantom Liberty.
Baldur’s Gate 3
This one is a simple win. As much as I’d like to be contrarian and put something else here, I can’t.
Alan Wake 2
The pinnacle of Remedy’s weirdness and pitch-perfect encounters.
Pathfinder Player Core: Second Edition
This TTRPG was mainly a legal swerve to get out of the Wizards of the Coast OGL, but Paizo took the opportunity to cull outdated systems like Alignments and revamp the way D20-style staples like Attributes work. A fine rulebook update to a solid system.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
This would probably be in the top five even if Nintendo had just released a more-of-the-same sequel, but Ultrahand abilities added a ton of new play on its own.
Old Gods of Appalachia
Monte Cook Games used their ultra simple Cypher System to translate a horror podcast into an evocative and moody setting that generates a lot of fear around the table.
The Day Before – Amazing 24 hours of gaming. The gaming world wasn’t ready for this. Such creative new uses for 3D assets you thought you already knew.
Testament: The Order of High-Human – More proof that we need more Metroidvanias and it’s not a terrible genre that’s played out!
The Walking Dead Betrayal – Where is the spirited community of backstabbers the gaming world needs?
Lord of the Rings: Gollum – Hoping this picks up due to word-of-mouth so we can get the Lord of the Rings: Sméagol prequel we all really want.
It’s really annoying how few people can respect games that try to do something innovative. Every one of these games had unique elements you’ll never see in rehashes like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Europa Universalis XVII. Gamers have become such mainstream sheeple.
But seriously…
Star Trek Resurgence – A great Star Trek story, interesting new characters, and interesting puzzles; best Trek game in years.
Asgard’s Wrath II – Full-length AAA gaming on a standalone VR headset. Dang.
High on Knife – Loved High on Life. Love more High on Life.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – I think y’all know.
Starfield – Overhyped and flawed and just a rehash of the standard Bethesda formula and weird-looking characters, but I still found 120 or so fun hours of gameplay.
Against the Storm
i always get bored of city builders after about 2 hours. against the storm fixes that problem by never letting you play a single city for that long.
Aliens: Dark Decsent
finding this very difficult but they did such a good job with the license. plus it dispenses with the main issue i have with other Alien games that i believe i have due to watching the films at a relatively young age - i don’t have to look the Alien in the face. my Alien Isolation save was abandoned years ago with me inside a locker.
Cocoon
kind of wish there were more levels in the vein of the later ones where the game finally lets loose but still, such a cool game.
the Book Walker
i would be astonished if this is on any other lists as i don’t think anyone played it. a very neat and compact narrative + point and click experience. clearly rather low budget but it felt fresh and relatively original.
the Lamp Lighters League
so much wasted potential but at the same time what they did squeeze out of it i found very enjoyable.
Thirsty Suitors
Smartly-written game which blends rhythm, JRPG, skateboarding, and cooking mechanics to tell a story about confronting family and past lovers you’ve wronged. At first blush, it recalled Scott Pilgrim, Rachel is Getting Married, and Persona/Catherine, but it ultimately reminded me most of A Night in the Woods, only much less depressing. The skateboarding is a bit wonky, but otherwise it’s easily my #1 and the game I most looked forward to returning to while playing it.
Colony Ship
More Fallout-derived isometric goodness from the Age of Decadence devs, this time set on a massive spaceship. Highly recommended if you like skill checks, multiple ways to solve problems, and unforgiving combat.
Venba
Strangely, a second game in my top three featuring bonding with your family while cooking South Asian food. However, unlike Thirsty Suitors, the cooking here is the main thing (along with selecting dialogue) rather than being relegated to mini-game status, making the cooking more varied and interesting as a result.
World of Horror
Lovecraftian-horror game set in 1980s Japan that takes heavy cues from Arkham/Eldritch Horror and Eternal Darkness—the former in its core gameplay loop of investigations, map hopping, and general theming; the latter in how it plays with audiovisual effects—but largely as a point-and-click style adventure. It’s a stylish, unique game, albeit a frequently frustrating one. Hat tip to NPR’s EOY list for clueing me in on it when I was trying to find a new Switch game to play.
Persona 5 Tactica
I wish more games ripped off Mario + Rabbids, but for now it seems I’ll have to make do with this. This game is hard 7/10—it’s good and competent, but far from great—but I will note that its story and new characters were significantly better than that found in the other Persona 5 sequels (Strikers, the extra content from Royal). I almost went with Against the Storm for my #5 choice since it is more interesting in most respects, but I spent way less time with it and lost interest in it far sooner and given the choice right now I’d rather play Tactica. I mean, Against the Storm doesn’t even have Ryuji in it for heaven’s sake!
I never got around to Baldur’s Gate 3, essentially opting for World of Horror and getting back in to my OOTP save. Though, I doubt it needs my vote anyway.
I was excited about a top 10 for a moment there. It would have been a great way to help us sort through a massive year.
Street Fighter 6
An excellent hobby. 5 stars.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
The best spinning parries since Aces Wild. I bet you weren’t expecting that reference. Like Nioh 1, it ultimately doesn’t have enough enemy variety to support the full weight of the game.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Final Fantasy XVI
These two games are interchangeable. Both have their flaws, at least for me. FF16 had the higher highs and lower lows. Normally that would give it an edge, but BG3 was up there as well. I just didn’t care about some of the things they dumped massive resources into.
Hi-Fi Rush
Jagged Alliance 3
These two are also interchangeable. I’ll give it to Hi-Fi Rush for being a tighter experience. JA3 never had a good answer for the sniper blobbing problem, so it became a little boring midway through. It was still an excellent game!
En Garde!
The only other game I played this year. I thought they did a good job with it. Worth picking up for cheap one day.
My todo list from this year is still a mile long! So many games.
I’m always reminded how few current year games I actually play (gotta chip away at the old backlog) but I think I played more this year than most other years.
I’ve dabbled with Spider-Man 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3, and they’re both excellent, but these are the ones that hooked me for hours and hours this year. I suspect when I finally burn out on Diablo, both of these will be my games of 2024!
This wasn’t a banner year in gaming for me. I didn’t really like any of the AAA releases and mostly played older games. And I think I actually finished only 1 or 2 games total. But here are my favorites:
Slay the Princess - Super weird and creepy and cool.
Terra Nil - Chill, satisfying and short. Exactly my style.
Sapiens Craft - An innovative idle/Anno-like mobile game with a unique presentation and creative ways to change the gameplay throughout.
The Talos Principle 2 - The puzzles are just as satisfying as the first one and the world building just as pretty and superfluous.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - I love this game and didn’t play it enough. Mimimi made some really nice games and this one was a great sendoff.
Honorable mentions:
Viewfinder
Humanity
Dave the Diver
Chants of Sennar
Diablo IV (just the campaign)
Jusant (this might have made the top 5 if I’d gotten the chance to play it more)
Here’s my “I haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3” list…
Starfield
Contraband Police
Diablo IV
Hogwart’s Legacy
Starfield, warts and all, entertained me for 150+ hours and there’s enough good stuff in it to make it my GOTY. And I actually finished it, which is rare for me these days.
2023 was a year of mostly playing older titles on the Steam Deck. :)
I’m shocked at how many new games I have played this year, typically I barely have enough for a top 5. Not this year!
Against the Storm
Take the best initial hour or so of a city builder when you are working things out, add in randomised resources and supply chains, add in randomised achievable goals to give a well defined win condition, and then wrap it all up in a roguelike meta-game with many difficulty levels that also add in new features as the game gets harder. Deliver it with a wonderfully rich aesthetic, soothing music and a really well designed UI. Easily game of the year, miles ahead of everything else.
Luck be a Landlord
A deck building fruit machine simulator? Yes please.
Diablo IV
Nowhere near the legs of previous versions, higher levels are too much of a massive grind for me currently, but I am sure it will be toned down, and meanwhile I can still enjoy taking a new class to level 70ish each season for a couple more seasons.
Dredge
Fishing with Cthulhu.
Station to Station
A relaxing train based puzzle game.
BG3 not yet - I have just started Divinity Original Sin 2, so give it a year or three. And an honorable mention to Midnight Suns, I played the heck out of it this year but it was released December 2022 so I cannot vote for it.
