Can you hear that sound? It’s the sweet release of relief for millions of gamers around the world as 2023 draws to a close. Wallets can finally stay shut, bank cards will enjoy a break, and grass can be touched once more.
I joke, but it’s been both comical and farcical how unrelenting the game production line in 2023 has been. It’s been a bombardment of brilliance with some of the world’s leading developers just effortlessly hurling Game of the Year contender fastballs left, right, and center.
What amazes me more about this list is the strength of the contenders who’ve missed out. I’ve opted for 10 vivacious, must-have, non-negotiable games that have cemented 2023’s place in the annals of gaming folklore. Seriously, I need a lie down.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
A jarring gripe that has infested the waters of 2023 has been performance issues. This is nothing new, but now more than ever it feels like developers are happy to release a title and improve its stability later. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor might be the prime example of this, and if not for this oversight, it could easily have challenged Baldur’s Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom for GOTY. It’s the best Star Wars game ever made. Jedi: Survivor proves that single-player Star Wars titles can succeed; they’re needed, people want them, and the relatively new franchise is going from strength to strength. I want more Cal, calamity, and any excuse to interact with BD-1.
Armored Core 6
I’ve never played an Armored Core title before, and after fighting for my life through FromSoftware’s Armored Core 6, a rebirth of the legendary mech series, I don’t know why. It goes above and beyond the typical “Souls” conventions we’ve come to expect from the developer and takes players on a journey through the rigors of Rubicon. Memorable boss fights will leave you crying and dying, and I’m ok with it due to its content and the seamless intertwining of countless customization options. I’ve now played an Armored Core game, and I’m already waiting for my next job—621 or not.
Counter-Strike 2
If ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Valve hasn’t openly rubber-stamped this as its ideology, but Counter-Strike 2 reeks of it. Like Overwatch 2, CS2 doesn’t particularly venture too far outside its orange box. However, the overall level of refinement and increased intensity in graphics, textures, polish, and detail in CS2 makes it arguably the finest shooter of the last two decades. Did it need to be made? That’s neither here nor there. What is here is Counter-Strike 2, and it’s capturing the hearts and minds of all, and will likely do so for another decade of FPS dominance.
Lies of P
I would go as far as saying that Lies of P is one of 2023’s ultimate sleeper hits. I was skeptical and thought Lies of P would amount to nothing but a cheap, Bloodborne knock-off. In reality, my nose would be much longer if I didn’t admit that it had me on a string the whole time. Embracing a twisted version of the original story, Pinocchio’s tear through Krat to find Geppetto and eventually help his creator is endearing and, at times, egregious in its horrors and narrative thematics. The combat is both a nod and slight reinvention of the classic Souls titles wheel, and it stands on its own two feet like a real boy. With a sequel already in the works, Lies of P is a Soulslike game with its own soul, and it honors Metallica by being the master of puppets.
The Legend of Zelda: Tear of the Kingdom
I wasn’t nearly as hyped or bubbling with excitement as I should’ve been for Tears of the Kingdom. Doing a carbon copy of the same Hyrule, albeit with the Sky Islands and Depths, had me wondering what else I could do and achieve. 70 hours later, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom set the benchmark for any forthcoming titles in the genre for years to come—even its own franchise! New abilities offer new possibilities, and it’s not often you can craft an impromptu hover ship, attach a weapon, and flex on a Bokoblin. Nintendo can do no wrong with Zelda, and Tears of the Kingdom is another masterpiece that creates new links to the past, and present, in the process.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
What exactly can a Spider-Man not do? Based on the latest outing by Insomniac Games, they can do everything and make being a superhero as adrenaline-pumping as it should be. The Arkham series has been the de facto, go-to superhero game franchise for years now, but a third, well-made, well-executed Spider-Man title throws a webbed curveball into the conversation. Throughout a pulsating second mainline entry, you zipline between Miles and Peter as you save New York once again, and Insomniac throws every combat ability and trick in the book at you. It’s almost overkill, which is ironic given the peaceful demeanor of our human spiders. It’ll be tough to top Spider-Man 2 if we ever get a third main game, but if we don’t, I was certainly entangled in the theatricality of its adventure.
Resident Evil 4
Judgemental shadows in the dark corners of the room will audibly retch at the idea of a remake being in the GOTY running. But like Ashley screaming and hollering while being carried away, I say good, be gone with you! Only joking, I always save Ashley, if only to shut her up for a few seconds. Capcom’s revitalization of the original Resident Evil games has enraptured all of us who love the iconic horror series, and the Resident Evil 4 remake modernizes numerous aspects of RE4 while retaining the core identity of the 2005 classic. It’s streamlined and chops out the odd, unnecessary scene that perhaps made the OG RE4 less serious than it could’ve been, and in many ways feels more akin to the franchise’s horror roots.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
I’ve seen franchises dry up quicker than a desert-mirage-induced well that has run out of ideas within just a couple of games. On the other hand, The Super Mario Bros. series is fully hydrated and keeps innovating, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a wonder in every sense of the word. Its gimmicks are more than just gimmicks and give levels a real sense of duality, with some introducing new mechanics I wish featured more regularly in the series. It’s the same formula: Peach is the damsel in distress, and the conniving Bowser conjugates yet more nefarious schemes to defy Mario and conquer the kingdom—that are inevitably doomed to fail. All of that doesn’t matter when the soundtrack is a cheery, chirpy delight and synergizes succinctly with the ever-expanding gameplay and the ever-present replayability of a Super Mario game.
Alan Wake 2
Following its work on Max Payne, Alan Wake was the nervy first step into a realm of uncertainty for Remedy Entertainment. The fever dream nature of Alan Wake was horror personified, and it became a cult success due to its ambiguity and unraveling narrative. Alan Wake 2 arrives 13 years later, and Remedy evidently hasn’t missed a step. It leans into the horror genre tropes even more so, and for much of the game, Alan and newcomer Saga constantly look over their shoulders with fear and dread at what new surprises the developer has cooked up. The story is just as bonkers as before, and Remedy’s connected universe thankfully gets even weirder in 2023, earning its GOTY and various other award nominations.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Legendary game developer BioWare sowed the seed for Baldur’s Gate in 1998. After leaving the series, fairly underwhelming spin-offs followed, and the burden of Baldur’s Gate 3 was placed on Larian Studios—known for the successful Divinity line of games. Sharing a 96 out of 100 score on Metacritic with Tears of the Kingdom, it’s fair to say that BG3 has blown everyone away in 2023 and is many people’s GOTY. An all-encompassing RPG with more customizability than you know what to do with, literally limitless freedom in how your character acts and what they can do, and it’s an “indie” game that flourishes with all the pomp and circumstance of any AAA, mainstream title. Do you know why BG3 is so beloved as well? It launched in a working state with next-to-no bugs and has no microtransactions. Imagine that, just like how video games used to be.
