The Super Ultra Deluxe Top 10 List for 2023
by geekybadger
Well - this is it.
As of today (December 29th), I can honestly admit that 2023 was one of the best years for video games of all time. There's zero question.
I will never not look back fondly at some of the greatest years growing up (1997 will always be the special one in my book). But, despite the constant contrived online anger that suggests that video games are terrible and have no soul, the fact is that there's an absolute overwhelming abundance of quality releasing in volumes never seen before. Legitimately, no person can play every good or even great game that comes out in a calendar year anymore.
Nevertheless, despite working a full-time job that demands most of my focus and creative energy, I try as if I'm auditioning to be the next widely-followed video games media pundit online. Seriously, the stack of games that I own that I've yet to play from this year and year's past is stupid.
But, you're only here for the top 10 - right?
Well, too bad. I've got a few honorable mentions to get to before.
Zach's Honorable Mentions for 2023
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Future Redeemed - Monolith Soft - Nintendo Switch
While this is a DLC, the extent of the content in Future Redeemed is worthy of a full-length game.
It's no surprise that I had to call this out as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was my #3 for 2022, and also one of my favorite games of all time.
But the reality is that this DLC is more than just an extension of an amazing game, it's the final piece of content we will ever receive for this 13-year long series. It remains to be seen if Monolith and Nintendo will continue to use the Xenoblade name for IP-recognition, but this story and trilogy is now complete. And - it was wonderful.
While some felt disappointment with 3 as an endpoint for all 3 games, I adored it as it focused on what Xenoblade has always been mostly about - themes. This goes back to older legacy games like Xenogears, which impressed me not for its direct plot, but for being such an ambitious game to tackle religion, philosophical themes, human psychology, and more. All of these games - at their core - have really been about humanity's hellbent need to destroy itself. It's the dichotomy of the most meaningful, tender relationships between two people. Relationships that can literally reach beyond space and time, through multiple incarnations of an existence.
3's story focused on one character's inner struggle to deal with the reward of finding love and family, and, at the same time, the madness and pain one can be driven to when it's all taken away. However, Future Redeemed's antagonist poses a different solution to the same problem. While the original main villain sought to preserve life as we know it in an eternal now, that captures everything for better or worse in a specific frame of time, Alpha, our new (old) villain, seeks to return time back to the beginning (hence the on-the-nose name). After all, Xenoblade's entire story is rooted in one man's desire to preserve his world from certain destruction.
While part of me is deeply frustrated that so many of the franchise's questions are technically unanswered, there's a part of me that smiles that there is an RPG that is similar to those I loved growing up. Often, many questions were never answered and left ambiguous. Now that I'm older, I can see the argument that this is low-quality writing, or even a lack of decisiveness in committing to one type of message. However, this type of experience doesn't come around so often, and provides the community with so much material to ponder on, discuss, and share theories about. After the game is done, the people that loved it will continue talking about it until they're old and grey.
I realize this write-up doesn't talk extensively about gameplay, but I didn't feel right to say too much for something that's a continuation of a game you may not have played (or an entire trilogy for that matter). Check out last year's write up for more on Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
And I think that's pretty damn special. I'm grateful that Monolith Soft finally got to tell a complete story their way.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name - Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
This past December, I finally complete my run of all "original" Like a Dragon games (known as Yakuza in the west).
My introduction to the franchise was with Yakuza 0 in 2015. One of the biggest crimes in gaming (and marketing a franchise) is making the mistake to call this franchise Yakuza. Sure - it's extensively about Yakuza and Japan's criminal underbelly, but the mere title entirely misrepresents what the franchise is about. While I expected a Japanese equivalent to something like Grand Theft Auto, what I got was an often-ludicrous, but emotionally devastating soap opera about a few good men trying to find a life worth living in the unseen parts of everyday life.
Specifically, Yakuza 0-6 tells the story of Kazuma Kiryu, an orphaned boy recruited in his teenage years as an initiate in the Tojo Clan. He joined alongside his fellow orphaned brother Nishikiyama. Complicating things further, the owner of their orphanage, Kazama, was the Patriarch of his own family within the Tojo Clan that would go on to recruit both boys.
Yakuza came out in the west in 2005. Kiryu's story has been going on without end for 18 years and counting. And it has not been pretty. He's consistently realized his incompatibility with criminal life, even going as far to start his own orphanage and become father to 9 orphaned children. Despite his best efforts to shield them and allow them to live a normal life, his reputation as the Dragon of Dojima continuously exposes them to a dangerous lifestyle, particularly his all-but-daughter Haruka Saruwama, the orphaned daughter of his would-be love Yumi, whom passed away in Yakuza.
As far as my journey's concerned, I played 0-2 in pretty short succession. This was in build-up to Like a Dragon, a new RPG game with a new protagonist that was in my top 10 games of 2020. To this day, that title is my favorite in the entire franchise. But, with the insane 10-minute trailer announcing the follow-up Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, we know that Kazuma Kiryu will take a front-seat role once again alongside new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga. So, I went on to binge 3-6, and see the rest of Kiryu's journey.
To say this man suffers is an understatement. I've never wanted a person to simply be happy with family more than Kiryu. And, with the closing events of Yakuza 6, that dream was crushed. Kiryu is effectively dead as far as his birth certificate is concerned, so that his children can grow up without fear or threat from his enemies. But, to all of of our surprise, RGG released The Man Who Erased His Name, an interim story that bridges the gap between Like a Dragon and the upcoming Infinite Wealth.
Sadly, I could say that much of the important plot beats could easily be cutscenes in another game. However, I think RGG understood what they were doing in that this was a final lap/remembrance for players to remember what it's like to control the Dragon. The game is filled with acknowledgements and references to past games, including sidequests, characters, and minigames from throughout the franchise. Even the much beloved, albeit silly karaoke games, actually have a serious tone as Kiryu's limited song choices focus on remembrance of his lost adopted family in Nishiki and Kazama, along with a sadness of his limited time with his grandson Haruto.
But - perhaps most importantly, we get to see one of the most incredible farewells to the entire Tojo Clan as the legends Kiryu, Majima, Saejima, and Daigo throw down against the entire Omi Alliance as they march to Tokyo PD to disband the yakuza fully (hey, it happened in Like a Dragon years ago now). It was almost a metaphor for fans that will likely rebel against the series changing. But, just like the yakuza are now irrelevant in modern society, it's time to say goodbye to the old way and welcome the new.
And - this game's ending is the only one that left me sobbing. And you know I love a story that will give me a good cry.
Now, I absolutely cannot wait for Infinite Wealth, which is coming out straight away at the end of January 2024.
Now - without further ado...
Zach's Top 10 Games of 2023
10. Street Fighter 6 - Capcom - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
I have such an interesting relationship with fighting games. Unfortunately, I completely missed the fun and memories of growing up in the arcades, or even going to public spaces and passing around the controller for friendly bouts. Yet, as someone who loves video games, the idea of fighting games sort of embodies what makes video games the perfect entertainment. Maybe it's me romanticizing it the way we do arcades in general, but a great fighting game is video gaming in its rawest form. Great characters, great art, and great reward for having fun and naturally becoming great at something that's hard to do.
But, since I did miss out on all those experiences, I also missed out on 30+ years of knowledge and experience. Fighting games are amazing in that so much of the knowledge is transferable even across franchises. Nevertheless, I've always had a soft spot for them, and Street Fighter was always the franchise that took the cake for me.
And, to my reward, Street Fighter 6 is one of the best, most accessible fighting games ever made.
I've absolutely put more hours into this game than any other fighting game. The World Tour mode, albeit with a weak, silly story, offered me over 20 hours of entertainment as I completed quests and picked fights with anyone looking to roll. The process helped me practice and reflect on fighting games more than any random match-ups and button mashing I've experienced in my lifetime. That's not to say World Tour will suddenly make you competent, not by a long shot. But, I sincerely appreciate developers finally putting the effort in to help newcomers attempt to understand this daunting genre. Even more than shooters, fighting games require so much knowledge, experience, and practice, that I may never really appreciate the depth of them as so many do.
But, with Street Fighter 6, I've played the story, completed several combo trials, and eagerly look forward to new character releases. One of my mains from Street Fighter V was the first DLC character (Rashid), and I've been having a blast trying to put his tricky moves to work. One of the biggest complements I can give it is that it's reinvigorated that passion I've had for fighting games from afar, and has had me either playing or watching other fighting games like Guilty Gear and Tekken.
I just can't express enough appreciation for storied franchises like this that go back to some of the early periods of gaming. Almost everyone has played a Street Fighter game in their life, and here it is still absolutely kicking ass well into the future.
9. Blasphemous II - The Game Kitchen - Out on everything
Behold - one of the best Metroidvania games ever made.
Blasphemous was a sneaky game that came out in 2019 amidst a seemingly never-ending wave of similar games in the genre. What it had going for it was the supremely dark and mature, yet beautiful art style that evoked games like Dark Souls. The game was surprisingly darker, as while Dark Souls is fairly standard grim fantasy, Blasphemous heavily leans into a twisted, particularly Spanish depiction of Christianity.
In Blasphemous II, the penitent one awakes again to find that his work from the first game is incomplete, and the lost need his aid once again. Honestly, the lore, especially in a Metroidvania-like is quite obscure and difficult to follow. But, it simply doesn't matter as the game in both its art and music simply oozes with style and atmosphere. I mean look at how ridiculous good the sprites look here.
Blasphemous II grows substantially from the first title in meaningful ways. Players can choose between one of three weapons at the start: fast, but low damage dual rapiers, a middle-ground sword akin to the first game, or a slow moving mace. Eventually, players will not only unlock all 3 to hot swap on the fly, but they also become necessary to use to solve increasingly complex puzzles and platforming sections.
Exploring the complex world never becomes tedious, as there are constantly collectibles and new quests to be found around every corner. Plus, the currency earned from constantly slaying demons is useful for upgrading your arsenal, making you increasingly more powerful as you inevitably die over and over again.
The boss design is also exceptional. While I struggle to remember particular boss names in the way I do for a game like Dark Souls, the actual design of mechanics and difficulty is award-worthy. The Game Kitchen appears to be one of the few developers that truly understands how to make a game difficult in a very meaningful way. I never found myself angry, tired, or annoyed with any one particular encounter. I either had grown to be more comfortable with certain mechanics and tactics prior to the fight, or naturally understood what I needed to do to change and progress over the course of learning the boss fights themselves. It's the type of game that makes me realize why I prefer so many games for story over raw gameplay. Because so few games seem to really understand how to create gameplay that's meaningful and rewarding the way games like this do. The reward for playing Blasphemous II is simply the joy of playing the game.
Those looking for overarching lore and story, however, won't be disappointed. Blasphemous II isn't just an excuse to make a sequel, but it's a very fitting and understandable end to the entire story. The game builds up to understanding where those like the Penitent One originate from as well as learning why past ones have fallen short of what's needed. Multiple endings await depending on your ability to understand these ideas and discover how to apply them through gameplay as opposed to dialogue or story choices.
Blasphemous II stands at the very top of a very crowded, prestigious genre. And, you'd do yourself a favor to play it immediately.
8. Dead Space (2023) - Electronic Arts - PlayStation, Xbox, and PC
I missed Dead Space's original release in 2008. I was even more surprised to learn that it was widely revered as one of the better horror games ever made.
Now, with the 2023 remake, I'm here to say Dead Space might be the best horror video game ever made. I mean, with how many horror films taking place in space or revolve around alien lifeforms, how are we not drowning on space-based horror games?
Dead Space manages to include just about everything I like from a genre I often don't enjoy much for the same reasons. The fact is, I'm not there for the cheap thrills or jump scares. Humans themselves are way more frightening due to the awful choices they make, the things they will do to others, and how those actions impact the psyche.
Unless you also never played the original, there's not much I can say to spoil the game. Instead of playing as a typical cop or action hero, you play as a spaceship engineer that's traveling to a station gone silent alongside a crew of others that are supposed to be the trained guns. As horror stories go, everything goes to hell in a hand basket, and you're left to traverse this seemingly empty vessel in the quiet of space, attempting to restore power and understand what happened to its crew.
What elevates it from good to great is that the isolation also challenges your character Isaac to confront his own personal traumas that he brought with him prior to the mission and how they manifest through game play. Having a game take place in the dark of space presents naturally-fitting survival challenges such as low oxygen in addition to limited ammunition supplies. The sound design of those dreadful experiences is also spectacular, as you never quite know where enemies are crawling in vents and when they'll reveal themselves. Similarly, ejecting yourself into open space to repair external engines is terrifying, as an enemy can drop on you in complete silence. Combat encounters similarly play out with no sound to imitate how things would happen according to real physics.
It's also an interesting story for this release, as the game's original creators started their own studio in 2023 and released their first game The Callisto Protocol, which was all but an attempt to be a spiritual successor to their original IP. The interesting study here is that the original creators show everything you do wrong with their new game, while EA showed how Dead Space, even with 15 years behind it, does everything a horror game needs to do correctly. Meaningful characters, a profoundly atmospheric and interesting setting, and meaningful story arc which supports the horror, as opposed to being a blank pile of nothing that serves as little more than to insert gross monsters that serve no purpose.
Thankfully, this reboot is likely a massive shot in the arm for an otherwise dead franchise, and I look forward to remakes of the other two games in the series. Turns out, horror can and should be a vehicle for awesome stories, not just an excuse to having boring flesh monsters and cheap jump scares.
7. Hi-Fi Rush - Tango Gameworks - Xbox, PC
Leave it to... Tango (wait, what?) to release one of the most surprising games of 2023 in January.
Tango Gameworks, known for popular horror IP The Evil Within, came out of nowhere to shadow drop a brand new, colorful game called Hi-Fi Rush.
Tango's new game couldn't be less horror, and is now a full on 3rd-person action rhythm game. Featuring a beautiful, hand-drawn artstyle, you play as wannabe rocker Chai as he unwittingly gets drawn into a battle with a stereotypical evil megacorp that's taken over the future.
The catch here is that this punk rocker gets his cassette player infused into his body. He has a constant music track playing within his body that leads to a beat being constantly displayed on screen. As you take any action, attack, jump, or dodge, it adds to your combo modifier, allowing you to deal more damage to enemies and earn a higher score.
While being level-based, Hi-Fi's world features some colorful and interesting level design, featuring a generous array of enemies, while doing enough to expand the world's lore and plot in a meaningful way. It also gradually introduces Chai to a great cast of characters and allies, while also expanding upon boss fights in new and interesting ways. While the first boss sees you more or less laying a beat down to the rhythm, a later fight has you exclusively timing your blocks to the music, so that you can go full defensive and parry attacks, while disarming the boss with your words.
It helps that the music itself is enjoyable. The score features tracks from Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, and a cover of Fiona Apple. The sound team also contributes a healthy amount of original music that does an incredible job of supplementing the creative combat.
The story isn't particularly deep, but rather has that Saturday morning cartoon feel with fun characters and a heartwarming story that's about friends bonding and finding their purpose together. The highlight of that journey culminates into one of my personal favorite tracks from the game, Reflection:
For me, Hi-Fi Rush's greatest and most surprising strength is managing to make an almost entirely rhythm-based game fun regardless of skill level. It's not a new genre by any means, but many have the problem of feeling absolutely terrible if you don't have perfect timing. Hi-Fi is surprisingly playable even if you aren't a walking metronome or an expert in action games. It's an old school kind of game that's designed from the ground up to simply be fun.
Maybe it's not the most original game, but for me and many others, Hi-Fi Rush will stand out both for being a surprise and for simply being a supremely enjoyable game from start to finish.
6. Spider-Man 2 - Insomniac Games - PlayStation 5
I admittedly wasn't over-the-moon excited about Spider-Man this time around having played both the first and Miles Morales. Not that anything about it looked to be of poor quality, but I saw very little that differentiated it from the previous games. Plus, I've been completely exhausted on anything comic book-related for some time now.
However, Insomniac Games seems to have taken the role of the most productive/high-quality studio that Sony has at the moment. Between these games and Ratchet and Clank, there's a standard of quality that the team always reaches, and Spider-Man 2 is no exception.
The new gameplay hook here is the seamless ability to switch between Peter and Miles in seconds. From a game design/development perspective, it's actually remarkable how fast you can switch as well as fast travel to any particular point in New York City. It doesn't have the list of fixed fast travel locations, either. You can just pick any location on the map, and you'll be swinging in with no loading screen. Plus, it's quite entertaining to see the other Spider-Man swinging in the nearby neighborhood or casually dropping in to help you fight some thugs before swinging away to do their own thing.
Like the prior games, the strength here lies in the story Insomniac wants to tell. It's extremely difficult to tell any type of Spider-Man story that has any sort of uniqueness or surprise, so they don't necessarily try to. Instead, they use these established characters like the Osbornes and Venom to twist things in a way that makes sense for their universe. As a result, I think this is probably the most likeable version of Harry Osborne. We learned in the previous game that he was dying due to the same disease his mother had, and his father (who we know eventually becomes the Green Goblin) is doing everything he can to save him.
But, instead of the typical story of Spidey beating up on Venom in a church, you spend a lot of time with the people themselves. It gives you the opportunity to feel Peter's struggle to be an everyday professional and boyfriend to MJ. Miles needs to deal with life without his father, while also facing the challenges of growing up, going to college, and finding a path forward that is separate from Spider-Man. This is juxtaposed with Harry's experience, having found a new lease on life, and wanting to dedicate it solely to making the world a better place with his best friend. They make for interesting character arcs as Harry, who is unburdened by the superhero life, has the most noble aspirations. Meanwhile, Peter, who got the girl of his dreams, became NY's hero, and is a mentor to the next Spider-Man, is genuinely falling apart under the weight of it all.
The aspect I liked the least, while I didn't hate, was the inclusion of Kraven. At the end of the day, I can't say that I felt that he served the story in a meaningful way other than to be a temporary obstacle until Venom took center stage. The first game had a similar issue in which it tried to do too much and crammed so many villains into one experience. While it's super fun to be able to battle so many members of Spidey's rogue's gallery, you can't help but feel like they could tell a tighter or more developed story if they just focused on one threat and had more side villain stories like they did with Sandman and Mysterio.
It's funny in some ways that Spider-Man 2 makes my top 10, as I don't really have much more to say. It's a case of, if you love Spider-Man, then you're going to have an excellent time with this. And, you likely already know exactly what you're getting into from start to finish.
P.S. - Condolences to the Insomniac team for suffering that hack. Unfortunately for them, we now know their slate for the next decade, and there's a lot more Marvel to come.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo EPD - Nintendo Switch
I've infamously never been super high on the Zelda series. Though I've played increasingly more of them over the years, I generally don't like the overall gameplay loop, especially for the 2D ones.
That said, Breath of the Wild was a "breath" of fresh air, as it was nice to play an iteration of Zelda that finally felt more like modern action games. There was just always something about the way those games played that felt very stiff and uncomfortable. Add that to the fact that I generally just don't enjoy puzzle-heavy games, it makes sense why these games generally aren't for me. But, Breath of the Wild was the best version of it for me until Tears of the Kingdom released.
I actually picked up the game, the amiibos, and any other collectibles for Kate as this is her favorite franchise. However, she ended up going out of town for an event the same weekend this game came out. So, while I was home alone, I popped it in and ended up becoming addicted to the point that we had to buy a second copy, so that I would be free to devour it at my own pace.
While Tears of the Kingdom is effectively a massive expansion, or almost like a redo of Breath, something about it clicked with me even more this time around. Most of the shrines and smaller puzzles were just bit-size enough to suit my tastes without feeling like I was ever beating my head against a wall. The story presentation and build-up of the first Wind Temple was one of my favorite experiences in a game all year. The only downside to that is none of the other temples ended up coming anywhere near that level of cinematic quality. The difference with the temple puzzles this time around is that the new building mechanic presents a ton of new ways for you to solve anything. I didn't solve a single thing in the Fire Temple as "intended." I just built a vehicle, flew around, and hit the objectives until I got to the boss.
I ultimately think this unprecedented freedom is why I couldn't stop playing it. While some players feel that this undermines the whole traditional dungeon experience, it worked well for me as I was never railroaded into playing the game in a way that I didn't want to. I was constantly collecting materials and building vehicles, and only ever doing things the way I wanted to do them. I don't think it's being said enough that that in itself is quite a remarkable achievement to pull off in any video game. We always want games to have fewer invisible walls and barriers, and Tears of the Kingdom eventually let me completely dominate it once I had all the tools to do so.
It's still a frustrating franchise lore and story-wise as there seems to be no consistency, even now from Breath of the Wild to this. I appreciate the idea that all of these games are simply just one-off legends or myths, but the result is that I never quite feel the build-up or stakes as nothing really means too much at the end of the day. Nevertheless, there were still some visually cool experiences this time around, such as finding the location of the Master Sword or exploring the destroyed Hyrule Castle. I basically ended up creating my own head canon ideas of what was happening in the story, only for what was actually happening to never quite be as cool.
Still - this is the first Zelda game where I completed virtually everything - all shrines, all lightroots, killed every enemy type at least once (I know there's a reward for killing everything of each type, but it legitimately is just text and nothing tangible). Like some of the previous games in my top 10, Tears of the Kingdom's rewards come from the act of actually playing it. It's the first Zelda game that would be a no-brainer recommendation from me, and a great way to sunset the Switch.
4. Lies of P - Neowiz Games - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Alright - now that we got all of that nerdy shit out of the way, we can focus on one of the truly best games of the year - a Soulslike where you play as Pinocchio?
If you don't know me by now, FromSoftware might be my favorite current developer. I've played everything they've made since Demon's Souls. I enjoy their style so much that I even tried Armored Core 6 this year just based on their reputation alone, even though I don't have an affinity for the mech genre. Needless to say - if a game is Soulslike, I'll try it.
So, I've been keeping a close eye on Lies of P since it was announced. Aside from the weirdness of it being based on Pinocchio, everything about it had the look and feeling of Bloodborne - my personal favorite Soulslike game. However, I've played a ton of these games from newer developers and always find them lacking. As good as it looked, I all but assumed that Lies of P looked too good to be true.
I'm thrilled to say I was wrong (mostly).
Lies of P still shows its smaller scale and budget in several areas. The game is almost entirely linear and features almost 0 optional content or bosses. That said, the game still took me about 30 hours on my initial playthrough, and I was enthralled at every minute. While the game has this deathly, Victorian vibe like Bloodborne, it plays much more like Sekiro with a strong emphasis on staying in the fight and parrying enemy attacks. When you first go in, the weapons, the skills, the items, and the combat mechanics replicate FromSoftware's systems so closely that it's borderline plagiarism. But hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
What helps Lies of P leap beyond being a copycat game is how it introduces its own ideas and systems in addition to the amazing foundation FromSoftware made prior. Sure, we know parrying is high-risk, high reward. But, what if continued excellence lead to advantages like breaking a boss's weapon in half? Say I used up all my healing items in a tense fight. Stay aggressive and attack, and the game rewards me by replenishing one more healing item over time. Hope is never actually lost as long as you're actively engaging with Lies of P's difficult combat.
Another amazing system is the ability to fully customize weapons your way. Every weapon you find is comprised of a hilt and a blade that you can separate at the armorer. Then, you can mix and match blades at will to create a unique weapon that fits your play style. For example, I found a giant wrench that did massive damage, but was slow and lumbering in a game where you need to be fast. I took the giant wrench head and attached it to a flimsy hand axe handle, and now had this ridiculously fast-moving bludgeoning device that carried me through half the game. What's more impressive is that there isn't really a single weapon that's nonviable despite this.
You also have a customizable arm (cough, Sekiro, cough) that provide several helpful skills. You can shock puppet enemies or burn the zombie-like freakos in later areas. Most games with this many options can typically be distilled down to a handful of weapons or tools that are universally best. In Lies of P, everything can work to great effect. Hell - people are doing consumable throwing item-only runs and not even using a melee weapon because damage over time effects are so powerful. In my second playthrough, I realized the fully upgraded puppet string transitions from pulling enemies toward you, to allowing you to do this insane over-the-top anime attack that launches you at an enemy for massive stagger damage. I did three playthroughs in total, and kept finding new ways to enjoy the game with different play styles.
To close thing's off - while the story isn't amazing (they never are in these games), it really does a surprisingly great job of making familiar characters like Geppetto interesting. Apparently the creators based the game on the original Tales of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi from the late 1800's as opposed to the colorful Disney film. It was interesting to learn that the original book had these heady ideas and concepts along with a darker tone, in general. While we were all laughing at a game based around the puppet character, turns out it really made a lot of sense. There's always something new to learn.
3. Alan Wake 2 - Remedy Entertainment - PlayStation, Xbox, PC
I didn't enter the Remedy-verse until Control released in 2019. Then again, none of us knew it was a universe being built at the time. Through completely optional content, I stumbled through an area of the Oldest House which contained various paranormal objects found throughout the world. One of them was a typewriter that belonged to famous writer Alan Wake.
That's really all it took to peak my interest. Control was already one of my top games from that year, but I love when creators find smart ways to weave their projects together. It helps immensely when those projects stand on their own weight and don't rely entirely on linking to next story like Marvel or Star Wars does almost exclusively now.
Then, the final DLC for Control released called AWE. During this, you play through a scenario where Alan Wake is writing your character into his story to tackle a threat left standing from the first Alan Wake game. Shortly after, Alan Wake II was revealed. That's another 13 years between games (I guess it was a year for long-awaited sequels).
So, this past year, I finally went back and played the original Alan Wake in preparation. First off - the actual gameplay was pretty terrible. Even for a game that came out pre-2010, the shooting was bad, and you spend most of it running through copy-pasted woods. It honestly made me skeptical of a sequel. But, I had to remember how much time had passed since this game was made, and just how good the gameplay in Control was. There was no doubt a new game would incorporate these lessons learned. Despite the drudgery of actually playing it, it still had the same weirdness and mystery as games like Control or Quantum Break.
For the uninitiated, Alan Wake is the story of a famous writer by the same name who goes on vacation to the middle-of-nowhere town called Bright Falls. The whole thing is deeply inspired by Twin Peaks. His wife gifts him a typewriter to encourage him to get past his writer's block and start his next book, which leads to an intense fight. It sets the stage that not only are these two at odds in their marriage, but our protagonist Alan is a bit of a jerk. Moreso, the crushing weight of writing his next follow-up success is taking a toll on his mind. It's a writer's tale as old as time.
But, I shouldn't spend all my time recapping the story of Alan Wake. What you need to know is that Bright Falls has a paranormal mystery lurking within that has been looking for someone like Alan. It feeds off creativity and imprisons those within.
Fast forward 13 years (both in game and real life), and Alan has been trapped in Bright Falls, specifically the Dark Place created both by the Dark Presence and Alan's own fiction. Instead of focusing entirely on one character, Remedy smartly introduces dual protagonists. The first, an FBI agent with no knowledge of the Dark Presence, and knowledge of the missing writer limited to what was told by the media. It's a great way for new players to join the franchise without needing to play the previous title. Through agent Saga Anderson, players eventually learn more about what took place in Bright Falls through her eyes.
Chapters are split between her and the missing Alan Wake as we see what he's been experiencing for over a decade within the Dark Place. He seems to have been attempting to write his way out, but is now missing significant parts of his memory. He's effectively caught in a loop of writing, editing, and writing again, looking for the perfect horror story that will redeem him and allow him to escape. If you've ever written at all, whether professionally or for enjoyment, this torturous cycle should sound all too familiar.
As Alan Wake II is a game that relies heavily on its narrative and mystery, I won't say much more. Needless to say, this game's story takes twists and turns as early as Chapter 2, leading you to places you wouldn't expect. It also takes full steps to acknowledge Control and each character's role in this connected supernatural universe. While there are other games that have a higher technical quality, which well surpasses Alan Wake II, I can honestly say I've never played a game quite like Alan Wake II.
Not only is the gameplay significantly refined since the first, it provides much more interesting hooks through the evolution from thriller to full horror. Beloved mechanics like using the flashlight to burn away the darkness are still here, but much more refined. All of my complaints about the poor controls and shooting are gone. But - at the same time, new issues are present. There are several chapter boss fights, and, unfortunately, many of these are very messy as the darkness moves fast, often interrupting you with full screen jump scares. The game is never difficult, but it can feel frustrating as you're attempting to make effective use of your torch batteries and limited ammunition.
For remedial enemies, there's a new approach that makes the tension palpable. Instead of facing hordes of enemies that you need to run away from, you'll regularly pass by shadows of enemies constantly whispering Alan's name. It signifies the loose connection between Bright Falls and the Dark Place and the uncertainty of where the two actually overlap. Do you cautiously walk by shadows to save your supplies, or do you waste a few rounds to preemptively get the jump on potential threats? The result saw me wasting rounds frequently when my apprehension got the best of me. Conversely, I also got jumped often when I lost respect for the shadows filling the city streets.
Alan Wake II is not only a mind-bending, meta piece of auto fiction, but it wants to celebrate art as a whole. It's way of analyzing the writing process is accompanied by a full soundtrack of custom made songs that conclude each chapter. Seriously, Sam Lake just invited a bunch of artists to the studio where they held a camp and just wrote song after song and picked the best ones. It's awesome. In addition to this music, the game has one of the most awesome, memorable gameplay mashed with music experiences I've ever seen in a video game. It's worth playing just to see this for yourself.
But, more than anything, Alan Wake II shouldn't work in so many ways. It's weird. It's so meta that it's lost up its own ass. You have Sam Lake, head of Remedy, writing a game about a writer called Alan Wake, who's writing a story about himself. But, wait, there's more. Alan's fictional character Alex Casey is also somehow the detective partner to playable character Saga. And, Alex Casey happens to be played by Sam Lake, who was also the physical likeness of Max Payne, a previous game created by Remedy. If you had a hard time following all of that, you get my point.
But yet, when you accept the madness and commit to following it, it continues to reward you over and over again. There are so few games that take its attempt to tell a story as sincerely as this. Maybe it doesn't always work, and it's messy and flawed, but it almost makes sense considering Alan's journey. He's revered as this amazing writer, yet his material is mostly crime detective schlock. No one expects perfection from him other than himself, as is the struggle of a creative writer. You could argue that all of this is just one giant allegory for Remedy's struggle to write a meaningful sequel to a 13-year-old game. It's impossible to satisfy everyone, including themselves.
This game spoke to me. While I've never managed to successfully finish writing anything creative (aside from some short D&D stories), that's kind of the point. I hate my writing, and it's painful. I write professionally now, get praised for my work, and yet it's all painful. You convince yourself everyone is a liar and build up this internalized anger, convincing yourself that nothing you do is good enough. It's an endless loop of writing down passages, scratching it out, and starting over again. And when you put stuff out, you question others for how they could like the low quality garbage you put out.
But maybe, if like Alan, we stop playing by the rules we make for ourselves, we can just make art that's as cool and as memorable as this game.
2. Final Fantasy XVI - Square Enix / Creative Business Unit 3 - PlayStation 5
Wait a second, Zach. There's a new mainline Final Fantasy game that isn't your #1? Well, more on that later.
I was actually very skeptical of XVI upon its announcement as this would be the first game to completely leave behind any sort of command-based combat. I say that instead of turn-based, because Final Fantasy hasn't used true turn-based combat since 3. Active Time Battles accelerated the speed of combat, but you were still ultimately left to think about which skills to use and when. There's a wide audience of people out there that will say turn-based games are dead and only existed because of past hardware limitations, but I'll always disagree. Both real-time action and slower strategical games exist for different reasons. And I'll likely always prefer the latter.
On the other hand, Creative Business Unit 3, the team behind Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn got their first crack at a single player title. And, if you've kept up with me in the past, you'd know I stand by XIV being one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made, even though it's a time-consuming MMO. With the same narrative writers being involved in XVI, as well as Masayoshi Soken composing the music, I still had strong hopes for XVI despite it being a new action game.
I'm pleased to say that Final Fantasy XVI offers something to satisfy both new and old fans. While you won't get turn-based combat or super deep stat tracking, equipment crafting, etc., the real-time combat is fun and easy for anyone to pick up. It's clear that Square understood the assignment of managing to create an interesting enough combat system that wouldn't alienate players that either can't or won't keep up with a faster gameplay style. Instead, you learn a pre-defined set of skills, with more skills unlocking as you progress through the story. Once you master certain skills, you can begin to mix and match abilities regardless of what you have equipped, which for me seemed to evoke the mix and matching of jobs from Final Fantasy V. Albeit, nowhere near as extensive.
The question that seemed to come up often with the genre change is "what is a Final Fantasy game?" Having played every game every made with the name, I can say with authority that Final Fantasy XVI is one of the most Final Fantasy-ass Final Fantasy games ever made. Sure, it takes inspiration from western fantasy narratives, particularly Game of Thrones, but you can see undeniable elements from virtually every past title. This, of course, isn't much of a surprise, as the MMO XIV is constantly pulling homages to past games in the franchise. However, because 16 is a contained narrative, it has to be more selective with what it uses, often relying more on ideas and themes instead of directly using a villain or character.
As a result, XVI's story is a wonderful mix of the whole franchise. Off the top of my head, I could see elements of I, III, IV, VI, VII, IX, and XIV within the narrative. Not only is it a true Final Fantasy game, it shows more acknowledgement and reverence for the games that came before it than any other title ever has. And, with the newest DLC, there's a very real possibility that XVI is somehow directly connected with XIV.
"But, with a single-player action game, there's no party! Final Fantasy needs a party!" Sure, I feel this. We get something resembling a party with characters like Jill and Torgal joining passively, but we don't get the process of leveling and gearing up the entire gang. However, the result is that we get a much more compelling cast of characters across the board. I mean, let's admit it. Even some of the best Final Fantasy games have some average or even throwaway characters. Each character here fulfills a meaningful role, with our main character Clive being one of the more compelling Final Fantasy protagonists to ever exist. This is Clive's story, and you'll be rooting for him at every step of the journey.
There's also an excellent cast of side characters, including the dragoon Dion, Cidolfus, and even some side characters like Gav or Uncle Byron. Clive has very personal motivations to fight several great villains, as well, including Benedikta and Hugo. There may be no party, but you still find yourself looking back on the time you spent with this case by the end and everything you've been through together.
Another high point is that Final Fantasy shows some much overdue reverence for the classic summons/eikons. In fact, they're the driving force of the entire story. This results in some incredible spectacle as you play out Eikon battles that, while not difficult, are visual feasts to remember. They all vary quite a bit, as well, as to make them welcome and never tired or old. One of them also happens to be one of my favorite boss fights in a video game of all time (but, no spoilers here).
If you played the demo, you know that Final Fantasy XVI starts out as a rather grimdark inspiration of works like Game of Thrones. But, I can assure you, by the end, for better or worse, this is a full on Final Fantasy game from top to bottom. It's biggest weakness is likely many of the sidequests. But, not even so much the quality, but the quantity. I stand by that it's important to do tasks for the people you're spending time with as it reinforces those relationships for the long haul. They also provide meaningful periods to breathe after the insane levels of excitement and hype that certain story beats reach. That said, I think if they cut even half of the sidequests, and focused on building them to be of the highest quality like some of the late game ones, it would have been a perfect balance.
Regarding the soundtrack, what can I say? I basically worship Nobuo Uematsu as an artist. When he stopped composing tracks for Final Fantasy. I was afraid. I've never been as big of a fan of Hamauzu, nor any of the composers on XI. But, ever since Soken joined up, Final Fantasy music has been ridiculously high-quality. It's no surprise he took best soundtrack for 2023. Speaking of sound, the voice acting is sensational, and Ben Starr has a bright future to look forward to.
Even if Final Fantasy XVI turned out to be poor, could I really complain? This franchise has been going on since the 80's. How many other franchises received 16 games, including two successful online games, innumerable spin-off games, and even movies? If it all ended today, I'd still have memories for a lifetime.
But, we live in a much cooler timeline. Where Final Fantasy still kicks ass and always will.
1. Baldur's Gate 3 - Larian Studios - PlayStation, Xbox, and PC
While my heart probably believes that Final Fantasy XVI was my actual game of the year, this is one of those instances where you would be a fool to deny what happened with Baldur's Gate 3.
For context, I've never been a big fan of CRPG's, and I'd argue that it's not a very popular mainstream genre. The games go beyond any turn-based JRPG, and are immensely dense with stats, spells, character-building, while also being highly difficult. So, naturally, Dungeons & Dragons is a great fit for a computer game as the tabletop experience features this same depth and punishing rule set.
But, in the past few years, I've come across some games like Wasteland 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2 to make these games just a bit more accessible. I enjoyed them so much that when Baldur's Gate 3 entered early access years ago, I picked it up immediately. Even in it's incomplete, very broken state, I knew back then that this game would likely turn out to be something special. And boy was I wrong.
Baldur's Gate 3 didn't come out to just be a great CRPG. It took the entire gaming industry, smacked it upside the head, and told it to go fuck itself. We legitimately had developers at high profile game development studios putting out social media posts begging players to not take the levels of quality found in Baldur's Gate 3 as an industry standard. It opened a lot of players eyes to the fact that games could be at this level of quality, and we've often been settling for a whole lot less.
My playthrough of this game easily took me 100+ hours, and it's quite apparent I still missed quite a bit of content. Hell, I even missed out on a fully playable party member as I overlooked an area in the first chapter of the game. This game is immense. Not only is it jam-packed with quests, dialogue, items, weapons, and secrets, it arguably reacts and responds to player choice more than any game I've ever played in my life. It's one of those rare games where if you think of an outside the box solution, you almost certainly can do it. Larian understood that they had the daunting task of adapting a tabletop RPG where you can literally do anything. So they damn well did their best to let players do just about everything.
You can miss entire questlines. Never meet certain characters. Make a single choice that changes your relationship with groups for the rest of the game. Kill off important characters before a story ever concludes. Fall in love with one character, or sneak around and be polygamous with all of them. Use your stealthy ability to steal key items and mock an enemy with it before the scripted story conversation about that item even takes place. I genuinely couldn't sit here and list out all of the insane possibilities that you can make happen, as my YouTube algorithm is still recommending me clips of players finding new ways to play the game every day. Those players are looking to find the limits of the game, only to find that Larian also covered that possibility, as well. The level of detail and love is unfathomable.
While I wouldn't say the story writing is at the quality level of other games that released this year, it makes up for it in its sincerity and care. Characters are not one-dimensional good or bad figures, they're mostly all very grey and will lean heavily into one side or the other based on what you do or what you allow them to do it. And, they won't idly go along with your main character syndrome, either. Characters will up and leave the party for good if you continue to rub them the wrong way.
All of this comes together to create one of the few game worlds that feels as alive as a video game possibly could be. Maybe one day when AI reaches a certain level of quality, video games will have the dynamic reality of human conversation, but for now, experiences like this are some of the best video games have to offer. You will be genuinely challenged to find limits or things you cannot do in this game. I even watched a streamer complete fights on the regular by tossing his gnome party member at enemies, using him as a thrown weapon.
Moreover, Larian has continued to add new content and refine existing section consistently. I look forward to playing this game in another year or two when it's in its "complete" version.
And, for the record, to hell with the developers saying we shouldn't expect this level of quality. Some studios are charging $100 or more at this point for a "full" experience, whereas this $70 game offers more content than most games have over the past several years. And, it wasn't done by some super AAA studio with tons of financial backing. It was made by people that simply wanted to make the game they wanted to make, and created the runway to do so.
No other game in 2023 could even pretend to imitate the level of quality, care, and attention to detail that the team at Larian has shown through Baldur's Gate 3. And, I hope that its impact continues to rock developers and the gaming industry as a whole for a long time.
Complete list of games played in 2023
The Last of Us Part I
Mortal Kombat 11 + Aftermath DLC
Immortality
Citizen Sleeper
Chained Echoes
Gotham Knights
One Piece: Odyssey
Dead Space (2023)
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission
Moss
Hi-Fi Rush
The Atari 50th Collection
Forspoken
Hogwarts Legacy
Fire Emblem: Engage
Horizon: Call of the Mountain
Octopath Traveler 2
Wild Hearts
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Theatrythm: Final Bar Line
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster
Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster
Stranger of Paradise: Trials of the Dragon King
Stranger of Paradise: Wanderer of the Rift
Stranger of Paradise: Different Future
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XI (Base)
FFXI: Rise of the Zilart
FFXI: Chains of Promathia
FFXI: Treasures of Aht Urghan
FFXI: A Crystalline Prophecy
FFXI: Wings of the Goddess
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
Tears of the Kingdom
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Street Fighter 6
Remnant: From the Ashes
Remnant II
Diablo 4
Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Vagrant Story
Baldur's Gate 3
Blasphemous
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Fortnite
Final Fantasy XIV (latest patches)
Starfield
Dave the Diver
Blasphemous 2
Lies of P
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Sea of Stars
Alan Wake
Cocoon
Ghostrunner
Lords of the Fallen
Spider-Man 2
Alan Wake 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
Super Mario RPG
The Messenger
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 5
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Super Mario Wonder
Immortals of Aveum