2023 is considered by many to be the greatest year in videogames ever. Obviously videogame preference is subjective but it’s hard to deny how many great innovative games came out this year. I wanted to share my opinions with you all and discuss my top 5 personal favorites from this year. Give it a read and let me know in the comments what your top 5 games of 2023 are.
Honorable Mentions:
Baldur's Gate 3
An incredibly well-made translation of Dungeons and Dragons to a video game format. Baldur’s Gate 3 features tons of impactful, story-altering choices as well as interesting characters and deep strategic combat with a myriad of possibilities. I cannot fully recommend this game however for 2 reasons: 1. I haven’t beaten it, I haven’t even gotten to the halfway point. 2. This game has so much adult content that I am a little uneasy playing it so I’ve actually stopped playing and don’t intend to pick it up again.
Venba
A short indie game that only takes about an hour to beat. It has so much heart and was built from a place of real-life experience. It doesn’t have the most engaging gameplay, although I do enjoy the cooking mechanics, but its narrative is impactful. This game deserves a nod.
Games I missed but wanted to play:
Spider Man 2
Lies of P
Hogwarts Legacy
Favorite Games of the Year:
5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: October 20, 2023
Super Mario Bros. Wonder takes the fifth spot on my list. It is incredibly creative and introduces a bunch of new level ideas and power-ups that change up the Mario format. It is my personal favorite 2D Mario that I’ve played but I still lean more towards 3D Mario games. It has a lot of awesome ease of use changes such as the removal of the level timer. This is by far the best family game that came out this year. It can be played co-op with friends and family of any age and is as easy or hard as the player/s want it to be. It isn’t a transformative experience and doesn’t do much in the way of storytelling, but it delivers on the main goal it sets out to achieve: to be fun. You can read my full review here.
4. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
Platforms: PS4 & PS5, Xbox Series X&S, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor finds its way at number 4 on my list. It is one of my favorite pieces of Star Wars media out there. It has an emotional story that excels in what makes good Star Wars stories: intimate windows into the lives and struggles of the characters. The game exists in a grand universe with many converging opposing forces but it’s the small moments where we see the humanity (or alienness) of its characters that really define the quality. Jedi Survivor also has my favorite traversal in any game that came out this year. The amount of parkour, scaling huge structures, and flying through the air utilizing Cal’s Jedi powers make it feel fantastic. Plus it builds upon the great combat mechanics of its prequel Jedi: Fallen Order, offering more stances and fighting styles while polishing what already exists. This is a AAA game worth playing from 2023. You can read my full review here.
3. Cocoon
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4 & PS5, Xbox Series X&S, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows
Release Date: September 29, 2023
Cocoon is the shortest game on my list, clocking in at about 3 hours to beat the game. Brevity does not diminish quality, however. Cocoon manages to have some of the most sophisticated puzzle designs in games while also being incredibly approachable. There’s no dialogue or text, but everything you need to know is communicated expertly. I haven’t played many games that have utilized education methods, whether intentionally or not, quite as well as Cocoon. This is also an incredibly accessible game. There are no deaths and you only need the use of a single button and a joystick to play. There are no complicated button combinations, the game just maximizes the minimal. I can’t overstate how great this game is. You can read my full review here.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: May 12, 2023
It should be no surprise to those of you that have read my reviews that a Zelda game has made it high up on my list. Tears of the Kingdom is a sequel to one of the most acclaimed games of all time and yet builds on it and makes it even better in almost every way. It nearly tripled the map size of Breath of the Wild while also adding a functional narrative that is touching in a lot of ways. Not to mention that there is a whole building feature that takes centerstage in the gameplay of Tears of the Kingdom. This allows players to flex their creativity and come up with all kinds of ways of accomplishing the tasks laid out to you. What’s great about this game is that even with all the features and improvements, it still maintains the reflective quiet established in Breath of the Wild. This game is meant to be played at your own pace and how you see fit. It really encourages you to stop and smell the flowers which is so powerful in a day and age where everything is “on to the next thing”. I think it’s a great reminder for us in our own lives to take our time and enjoy things while we’re there. You can read my full review here.
1. Sea of Stars
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4 & PS5, Xbox Series X&S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Microsoft Windows
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Sea of Stars is one of my biggest surprise games ever. It wasn’t really on my radar at the start of the year and I only picked it up because it was free on PS Plus. But this game shocked me. It made me a fan of the old-school turn-based JRPG genre. It has my favorite art style of this year with absolutely gorgeous pixel art with silky smooth animations. It has deeply engaging turn-based combat while borrowing (from Paper Mario games) in some timing-based action that rewards you for being fully engaged. Sea of Stars has one of my favorite soundtracks in gaming this year. The level of quality and catchy tunes they created while making it all pixel-based is incredible. And this game also has my favorite cast of characters in gaming this year. All the characters felt real; the heroes were likable but had flaws or weaknesses and the villains were hateable but had some nuance to them. All while maintaining some classic JRPG goofy humor to lighten the mood at the right time. What makes this even more impressive is that the dialogue was exclusively text-based. This is the most heartwarming and fantastic game I played this year. Indies really are where the innovation and creativity happens so please give this a try if you have not already. You can read my full review here.