2023 is historic for many reasons—not just for the sheer weight of awesome games, but because Australia won the men’s cricket World Cup in India.
In one match, Aussie Glenn Maxwell had an iconic, once-in-a-generation batting innings. He made 201 runs to win when all seemed lost. While his effort is statistically amazing for all sorts of nerdy cricket reasons—201 runs is hard to make in any form of the game—one thing the stats don’t capture is the extreme physical pain he endured along the way.
Maxwell’s body started cramping when he was on 101 runs. He started limping, seizing up, grimacing at each shot. At one point he tried to run and ended up with full body cramps, lying stiff as a board on the ground. He was about to be medically substituted from the field. But instead, he downed a few bottles of pickle juice, got back up and closed out the game. If he couldn’t run, he decided to swing for the fences. And, amazingly, he kept hitting them out of the park, every single time.
While 2023 has been a year of incredible games, we have also witnessed the game industry repeatedly serving up pain and suffering to those who actually make the games. Firms of all sizes instituted layoffs, regardless of the success of their last game. No one seemed safe. Studios were bought, just to be folded. Every month of 2023 brought great games and bad news.
As good as the games were in 2023, the pain for those working in games should not be forgotten. Just like Glenn Maxwell’s legendary, cramp-ridden, pickle-juiced 201.
I don’t have an answer to all the industry’s vices, but I make one modest proposal: everyone who makes games should go on strike for 2024. No new games for a year! Give the game-makers time to rest and organise, give the money men something to think about, and give the rest of us time to catch up on all the games we missed from 2023, because there were so many bangers. I haven’t even started Spider-Man 2 yet!
I only have 5 top games because my 2023 was dominated by my top 2 games. When you are presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet like the games of 2023, you can sample a taste of all of them, or hone in on a few favourites and keep going back for more. I honed in—I spent 70% of my gaming time on 2 games, and it’s some of the best gaming time I’ve ever had; I spent 20% of my time on games 3-5, and the other 10% on random ‘free’ stuff from PlayStation Plus.
5. Age of Wonders 4
At some point, you realize that Civilization VI is 7 years old and they still haven’t ironed out the endgame bugs on console. So, you need a different strategy fix. Age of Wonders 4 is a very pretty fantasy strategy title that makes a perfectly cromulent replacement. Not only does it make a great palate-cleanser between huge open world timesinks, it also has the distinction of being a game from 2023 that I played.
4. Forspoken
I was lucky that Forspoken came out early, before the field got crowded. It was one of the first games I played on PS5 that wasn’t also out on PS4. As such, it really cranked the hardware to deliver cool vistas, a cool spread of powers, and larger groups of mobs on screen at once to use them on.
It reminded me of Heavenly Sword on PS3: a decent, non-franchise release with some different ideas about combat that makes you appreciate your new console. The writing wasn’t as terrible as everyone said, either.
3. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
In the year of Andor, we need our Star Wars to exceed beyond “not bad” and actually attain to “good”. Jedi: Survivor has done just that for this series. It made improvements on most of the frustrations from the previous game, refined the things that worked, and threw in a bunch more clothes and hairstyles. Plus minigames!
2. Tears of the Kingdom
This is everything we loved about Breath of the Wild, but more: shrines, puzzles, temples, unlockable powers, secrets. Because of Tears, our household Switch went from gathering dust to dominating the first half of 2023.
Tears evokes the same urge to explore as Elden Ring. You always feel like pushing further to see what’s over there, whether on land, in the sky, or in the dangerous underground. I also appreciate how the exploration is more cosy and not as full of impending dread.
What really gave this game legs for me, more than doubling my time with it, was the vehicle construction. It started from the simple builds you need to cross a river, or hold up a sign, but eventually I got completely absorbed by it, like I used to with Lego. I started simple with skateboards, hoverbikes, and wagons, then worked up to catapults, car-boats, walking boxes, tanks, and (after watching some Youtube videos) death robots and stealth bombers. I totally forgot who Zelda was and built a fleet of Bokoblin bunker-busters, half of which crashed hilariously when the batteries ran out.
I put so many hours into Tears, and still had so much questing to do. My son also played it a lot, but was more focused and finished the main quest. Sharing notes and build ideas with my son added to the experience. In any other year, Tears would have taken the top spot by a mile. But this year, Tears has been Horizon Zero Dawn’d by Baldur’s Gate 3.
1. Baldur’s Gate 3
This game is why I haven’t played as many other games this year. It has completely consumed my gaming time since it came out on console. I thought I was done when I finally finished my first bard campaign, but I was only getting started. My son wanted to play a game together, then my brother-in-law. Now I’m enjoying 2 multiplayer playthroughs, and yet all I can think about is my next solo campaign, maybe with a monk, and different companions, and I’ll go to the Githyanki creche this time. Then there’s my Durge playthrough after that.
The first Act is a marvellous opening statement of the kind of game Baldur’s Gate 3 is. The goblin camp is one of the best-designed immersive-sim playgrounds I’ve experienced in years. Taking a leaf out of the Hitman playbook, it’s full of quirky interactions, and the area is open, flexible, and adaptive. It rewards experimentation and encourages you to go out of bounds. It’s a trial-and-error paradise—I’m sure everyone has a different story of how they handled the 3 goblin chiefs. It was during this time that I learned of the true glory of pushing people from heights and rebuilt my whole character around it. You can miss out on all the companions and the game will still adapt around you, delivering a story that will be unique to you.
As the game progresses, more puzzle elements are introduced to the traversal and combat to test your powers and thinking. Act 2 takes the darkness up to 11.
I’m one of those who loved that Act 3 was so long because I didn’t want the game to end. The level cap is a good incentive to close out the game, although you can then just obsess with respeccing and min-maxing. The good thing about the length of Act 3 is that it makes you forget about the other 2 Acts, so you immediately can go back and play it all over again.
I knew going in that I would enjoy the combat, but what really took me by surprise and lifted this game to the stratosphere was the quality acting and writing throughout. Karlach, Shadowheart, Astarion, and Gale are already going down as all-time Best Companions, right up there with hallowed characters from Mass Effect, or the original Baldur’s Gate. The blend of engaging combat and meaningful dialogue with your buddies hit a height that Marvel’s Midnight Suns was aiming for, but didn’t reach.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was more than a game: it was an event, an obsession. My experience of it was enhanced by the buzz on the forums, the fantastic interview on the Conference Call, the Spoiler Sections. This is why I game. Baldur’s Gate 3, you complete me. Game of the Year? Game of my life.
Honourable Mentions (because I haven’t even started them yet!)
Spider-Man 2
Alan Wake 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Every other game I gave a GOTW to on TWA (you’re on the Pile!)
Comments
This is so, so good. Lovely job here, Felix.