tldr Best of 2023
2023 was bittersweet. It was a year so full of great releases, but also saw record industry layoffs. Acknowledging the amazing work and contributions of all these talented teams and people, these are my favourite games of the year (so far). Order is just alphabetical.
Games
Alan Wake II
I wasn't a huge fan of Alan Wake - and even less so of horror games in general - but this sequel is something else. Remedy have taken the entirety of their back catalogue and combined it all into a captivating and masterful nightmare. Probably the most graphically impressive game I've ever played, but its technical achievement would be hollow without the sublime art direction and sound design. The story is kooky but cool, even if the writing is a little overbearing at times. Absolutely love Remedy's vision and ambition here - it won't be for everyone, but IMO it's a triumph.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
FROM reinvigorate mecha gaming with their masterfully honed pedigree, elevating the genre to new supreme heights. The world is enthralling, the garage deep and addictive, and the combat tight and impactful. What can one say - they've done it again.
Baldur's Gate 3
I was ready to bounce off, intimidated by its depth and pacing, but this game is truly something else. Great writing, VA, world design and more than anything, an obscene level of player agency.
Boneraiser Minions
Another wonderful, creative & clever game from a solo dev. An addictive autobattler with tonnes of replayability. Quick to get started, but lots of depth to explore. A must play for fans of the genre.
Chants of Sennaar
Really clever deduction point-n-click puzzler that has you deciphering languages across a pretty world for around seven hours. Not a new concept, but manages to strike a simple, satisfying balance between intuitive and challenging. Wish it didn't give away so much sometimes, but still very cool.
COCOON
The latest from Jeppe Carlsen, lead gameplay designer of LIMBO and INSIDE - COCOON is just as intriguing, creative and moreish. The puzzles are really nice, and all a good level of challenge. Everything else, from the visual and sound design to each little interaction wouldn't be misplaced in a 'Satisfying Aesthetic ASMR Compilation' video. Really cool.
Crab Champions
Fast and well-polished roguelike that revels in letting the player break the game. Very satisfying and addictive, and even more fun with friends. Great value - just get it.
Darkest Dungeon II
My worries for such a fundamental shift, turning Darkest Dungeon into a roguelite, are completely quashed. Its predecessors brutal, punishing heart is still here, inside an absolute masterclass in presentation.
Dave the Diver
Starts off small in scope, but somehow just keeps expanding and delighting. Great characters, art, music and satisfying gameplay loop/s. Constantly surprising and funny.
(the) Gnorp Apologue
Really fresh and interesting take on incremental games with a delightful aesthetic and charm all the way down to the tooltips. Compelling upgrades, addictive progression, great art and music. If you're at all into incremental stuff - just get it.
Goobies
A bit buggy at launch, but an undoubtedly pretty and exceptionally satisfying Vampire Survivors -like. Think it will benefit hugely from updates, adding more build options - but very fun already.
Heretic's Fork
Extremely addictive deckbuilding bullet-heaven roguelite tower defense. Cool styling and very much a one-more-run type of experience - especially with friend leaderboards! Interesting cards, abilities and characters, but I feel like tower upgrades could afford to be more than just stat bumps. That said, really good game.
Lies of P
As far as non- FromSoft soulslikes go, this is the real deal. It's not doing anything revolutionary, but it has enough compelling new ideas, and a level of polish that elevates it beyond its otherwise decent contemporaries. It also commits so hard to Timothée Chalamet Pinocchio Bloodborne that you kind of forget how silly that actually is.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
A gorgeous and satisfying game, wherein - again - even just moving around feels terrific. Traversal additions are smart and fun, combat is still energetic and gratifying. The writing isn't always great, and I wish I could speed up some sections, but overall an incredibly slick package which I honestly would have played for another coupla dozen hours.
Mosa Lina
Made as a response to so-called immersive sims which provide you with precisely what you need in a lock-and-key fashion to "solve" problems in just the way the game intended. Mosa Lina goes in the complete opposite direction; giving you completely random tools each time, enabling emergent and unique solutions. It's clever, funny and rewarding. Really good.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The hint is in the name: this game (and Nintendo when they're in this form) is indeed a wonder. Constantly surprising, funny, delightful, and endlessly creative. The best 2D Mario has been in a long time. Vibrant and refreshed, but still underpinned by decades of perfecting tight controls and a seemingly endless supply of not just ideas, but the talent to execute them. Love.
Wildfrost
Extraordinarily good art, great music and very well put together. Runs are challenging; there's quite a lot of cognitive load and mistakes are punished hard - but it's fun as hell.
Your Only Move is Hustle
Almost impenetrably opaque to begin with, but if you can stick with the overwhelming UI & novel concept, it's phenomenally creative and impressive. Super expressive, crazy-high skill ceiling. Awesome.