Game of the Year 2023

Game of the Year 2023

 

What better way to get into 2024 than to recap 2023, just like everyone else. I have always appreciated not only the brand new game releases that shape the discussion online throughout the current year, but also those past game releases that you finally play, and it just blows you away and almost changes your entire DNA as a capital G Gamer. So, I want my own personal Game of the Year list to reflect that. Without further ado, here is my top 10 games that I played in 2023.

 

10. Yakuza 0

I always heard great things, and between following the @YakuzaFriday account for years on Twitter and loving Yakuza: Like a Dragon, I knew I had to at least give it a shot. What I got out of the experience was something as equally fun, detailed, and endearing as Y: LaD, all framed around all these characters that I heard about for years but had never been formally introduced to. Kiryu and Majima’s intersecting story had many endearing twists that made their individual stories wholly unique in isolation, and so very interesting when they finally converge. Between LaD and 0, the Yakuza franchise is firmly implanted in my brain as the superlative of the phrase “Dudes Rock”, and I can’t wait to play more. (Wink wink in reference to Infinite Wealth coming out at the end of this month)

 

9. Resident Evil 4 & it’s Separate Ways DLC

Resident Evil 4 changed the gaming landscape forever, and Capcom did the impossible by taking perfection (Resident Evil 4) and adding perfection to it (parry mechanic) in the Resident Evil 4 Remake. But that is not where I want to focus my attention. Instead, I want to give highlighted recognition to the amazing Separate Ways DLC for the game, which gives players an insight into Ada Wong’s side of the story. Ada’s story is a bite-sized version of Leon’s campaign, using many of the same environments, and slightly remixing the gameplay thanks to Ada specific weapons and mechanics. It’s a small thing, but I will always shout-out a grapple hook mechanic, and Ada’s grapple gun is no exception. It can be used to traverse through levels and even interact a small bit with enemies, either by closing the distance or ripping away enemy shields. A big part of what I consider on my Game of the Year list is replay-ability, and the Separate Ways DLC has that perfect pace and duration for me to consider replaying it basically all the time.

 

8. God of War: Ragnarök – Valhalla

God of War Ragnarök took one of my favorite games of all time and made it better in basically every way possible: better character work, more Mimir, better combat variety, really great side quests that add to characters (especially Mimir), and an excellent finale that makes the story that much better when looking back on the entire journey. So how did Sony Santa Monica follow up on a game that I personally consider to be a masterpiece? Story wise, they just did more of what they were already doing in the base game, and also just added a tiny little incredibly fun rogue-lite into the mix. For these recent God of War games, the draw for me was always the narrative and the characters, and while I always enjoyed the combat, it never felt like the combat and the narrative were quite in step with one another, like, depending on the type of player you are, one was always serving the other: Either the combat was there to get you to the next story beat, or the story was there to get you to the next combat encounter. In Valhalla, to me at least, the story and the combat are walking in pace with one another, where I equally want to do another run to see what build I can make for Kratos on the fly, as well as seeing Kratos properly confront his past in order to give himself a better future. And Mimir is there for almost every step of the way, which is the only reason I play these games actually.

 

7. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut

I never wrote a review for this game, but this is a condensed version of what I would have said (watch this actually be quite long lol let’s find out). PT, the Silent Hills concept demo is one of my favorite games of all time, and my introduction to Hideo Kojima. I followed basically every news piece on Kojima after he left Konami and went independent, and I’ll never forget seeing that first Death Stranding trailer with Norman Reedus on the beach. What followed that trailer in 2016 was a slow unveiling of the game, starting with a simple picture of moss, and ultimately culminating in the collective reaction of “Wait, is this just a walking simulator?” My Destiny 2 addiction took over so much of my time back in 2019 that I never played Death Stranding when it first came out, but I always wanted to. I worked hard to avoid spoilers, and I mostly avoided what other people thought of it, because I knew I wanted my own unhindered experience with it. That finally happened this year, and while it took a little bit of time for me to get into what this game had to offer, I was incredibly hooked by this weird, weird game. I played another really great game that almost made the list this year called Power Wash Simulator, and I mention this because that game and Death Stranding have a similar core to both of them. I think that the assessing and planning of your route in Death Stranding, and the planning of Power Wash Simulator scratch the same itch, and that in the moment change of plans are similar in both games as well. On the surface, a game where you deliver mail seems boring, but between the narrative drive of objectives, and the on the fly decision making, while also trying to follow a pre-determined pathway, creates a gameplay rhythm of expectation in the player that elevates the game beyond just a walking simulator. I highly recommend all the games on this list, but if you really want an out-there weird pick, this is my go to recommendation.

 

6. Hollow Knight

I don’t have much to say about the game. It’s amazing. Likely my favorite Metroid-Vania and certainly my favorite Souls like. Its combat is fun, its levels feel so rewarding to explore as you go deeper and deeper into hollownest. Please, please, please play Hollow Knight

5. DOOM Eternal

I played DOOM 2016 this year, and I really liked it. I liked it so much in fact that I was hesitant that DOOM Eternal would be able to live up to such a high bar. DOOM Eternal takes that bar, uses it as a monkey bar and then grapple hooks into the stratosphere. This game is amazing, and I struggle to even find the words to quantify how much fun I had with it. Combat in DOOM has always been fun, but in Eternal the constant lock and key decision making that the player makes in a split second makes every combat encounter feel that much more intense and rewarding. The environments are massive, beautiful, and varied. I was never against weapon wheels before but after playing Eternal I now demand they be placed in every game. DOOM Eternal is what it feels like when a studio, besides the weird behind the scenes stuff about the music, is firing on all cylinders of both creativity and quality.

 

4. Vampire Survivors

Pretend you didn’t read the name of the game already, okay, now I bet you’re wondering what could possibly be better than a game that is quote “firing on all cylinders of both creativity and quality”? Well, it might just be considered the greatest game ever made. That’s right, it’s Vampire Survivors. The perfect podcast game, a game that is so simple and rewarding that after putting nearly 60 hours into the game on my PC, I put another 20 hours on my Xbox that I just got a few weeks ago. That’s all I have to say about that masterpiece.

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A quick note that while the top 3 are in a particular order, the order could be rearranged in any way, and I’d still stand by the list. That being said, we are playing with the big boys now.

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3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Much like DOOM Eternal and God of War Ragnarök, I walked into Tears of the Kingdom wondering how Eiji Aonuma would be able to live up to his masterpiece and previous GOTY winner, Breath of the Wild. Turns out, all he had to do was make one of the most well-polished and inventive crafting mechanics in all of videogames, and also do a bunch of other stuff. I basically did nothing but play Tears of the Kingdom for four days straight when it initially came out, and it stands as the most fun I had all year playing videogames. Nothing I can say will add anything meaningful to the conversation, you all know how good it is.

 

2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

I’ve already spoken at length about my thoughts on what was, at one point in time, my Game of the Year in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, so all I’ll add is that looking back on what I played, I can’t remember a single bad level or bad experience in a level in my entire time playing. It’s a game designed around creating joy and it achieved all that and more. If this and Bowser’s Fury are the future trajectory for Mario, then things are looking exponentially up.

 

1. Alan Wake 2

I could just copy and paste the lyrics to Herald of Darkness, and you would get why I have this as my number 1. Not just because that song rips, but because it represents what Remedy was able to accomplish with Alan Wake 2. A game just confidently busting at the seams with complex creativity, fusing multiple mediums seamlessly and with style to create an experience that is unlike anything I have ever played before. The potential that was always underneath the surface of every modern Remedy game feels fully realized here in this game. While I can’t recommend it without a little bit of homework first, Alan Wake 2 is well worth the investment just to experience this incredibly special work of art that Remedy made.

 

0. Epilogue Monologue

2023 was the year I finally took a deep dive into what I really enjoy, and I learned a lot! I learned it’s incredibly difficult to convey how you feel in a way that comes across as novel and interesting, and that I tend to either explain mechanics or systems like I’m reading off the back of the box, or I talk about games as if the person I am talking at already knows most of what the game is about. For 2024, I plan to play more, write more, and hopefully write better.