There have been a lot of years with the “Top 10 Games of 2023” where I’ve had to put one or two on that barely count just to make up the ten but this year I made a full ten quite easily, and had a rough time picking what should be Number 1. Also like prior years there is a major game missing, this time Baldur’s Gate III as it’s just not the kind of genre / game I like to play, so you’ll just have to excuse its absence here. As I always say, this is my top 10 of the games I’ve played, so there are bound to be games I just don’t have the time to play (especially as I like playing plenty of older games too!) So with that said, let’s take a look!
Persona 5 Tactica is an odd game to rate as it’s a perfectly fun lite-strategy RPG with the Persona 5 cast and aesthetic slapped over it, and I love the Persona 5 aesthetic, but the story failed to grip me for the first two and final fourth chapters of the game, with only Chapter 3 doing anything for me and after the previous spin-off, Strikers, wowed me so much with its story this really stood out. Overall it was good, but not amazing. Can’t help but feel there was no doubt another 4/5 game released this year that could’ve knocked this one out, but never mind! (My review of the game can be found HERE)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder was, for a few days, something I was really looking forward to getting home from work and giving a good play session, the crazy Wonder Flowers and their unpredictable-to-the-end effects on levels kept me wanting to give one more level a go, but I can’t help to look back and see that once I had done all the levels I stopped and haven’t felt the pull to go back. That lack of a pull for replay is why it’s fallen to Number 9, but it still deserves praise for its reinvigoration of the 2D Mario line of games. (My review of the game can be found HERE)
Assassin’s Creed Mirage has taken the old adage of “What’s old is new again” to heart and reused the old 7th Generation era Assassin’s Creed template and applied a 9th Generation filter to it, a stark contrast to the epic-in-length and more action-heavy previous three entries in the franchise. While I’m not finished with the game yet I can say that the story hasn’t particularly gripped me, probably due to playing a protagonist we already know the end fate of, that’s always a hard sell in any medium, but I have loved the nostalgic feeling of the gameplay itself and as always running around a historical city remade with current-day graphics is always a thrill. (My review of the game can be found HERE)
Speaking of “What’s old is new again”, here’s Resident Evil 4 Remake! I was one of those people who heard of RE4’s remake and said “What’s the point?” and “Where’s the Code: Veronica remake? That game needs it far more!” and while I’m still correct on the latter point I will say that the RE4 Remake managed to both pay homage to the original but rearrange everything to be its own, very fun gaming experience a little more in-line with the other remakes (though still naturally way more action orientated, just no lava pits in castle basements this time…) so while the original I feel is still perfectly playable I’m not sorry that this fun gaming experience ended up happening anyway. (My review of the game can be found HERE)
Street Fighter 6 blew me away in the lead up to release, having learned their lesson with the bare-bones SF V release and instead filling 6 to the brim with content, particularly the story mode set in a sort-of open world Metro City with plenty of fun nods to past games thrown in. The funny thing is story mode aside the core gameplay is also great, so this time they didn’t even need to go so hard on the single player stuff but boy I’m glad they did! I’ll be returning to this one frequently going forward, as new DLC drops… (My review can be found HERE)
I loved Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order, so when Survivor was announced I was excited and the game managed to not only hold onto that hype right up to release but lived up to it with a really fun and expansive open world hub and more great Star Wars storytelling mixed with very Souls-like gameplay (without the high difficulty… with one or two exceptions…) Honestly the fact that a game I loved this much is only Number 5 really shows you what a crazy year its been! (My review can be found HERE)
Final Fantasy XVI is a funny one because there were times playing it where I would’ve wondered if it would make my top 10 at all as I got stuck in dull side quests while the story dragged its feet, but suddenly the latter half of the game just blew me away, each epic boss fight, each new crazy moveset, each well voiced cut scene with all with an amazing soundtrack just drew me further and further into the world to the point where I did lots of pointless side bits before the final mission because I didn’t want to stop playing (but knew I didn’t have time for a second play through…) I know a lot of people don’t want to like this game due to its departure from traditional Final Fantasy gameplay, or because they gave up half way like I nearly did, but if you can stick with it it’s well worth it. Hell I played through the recently released DLC on day one, which I very rarely do for any game… (My review can be found HERE)
If this list were based on “total play time” then Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line would win by a country mile. I became fully addicted to this game in February thanks to giving its demo a go and I’ve played it constantly since, whether that be just in general when it released, going “I have a spare half hour, what can I stick on for a bit for a quick go?” or playing the copious amounts of DLC tracks that have appeared over the year, it’s safe to say that very few games will have the play time clock on the PS5 menu so high and even fewer will continue to tick upwards next year and probably beyond. Basically for the first rhythm game I’ve ever enjoyed it’s certainly earned its money! (My review can be found HERE)
I went back and forth on which of these final two games to put at Number 1 but eventually it ended up like this. Spider-Man 2 was that same mix of great addictive gameplay, amazing story and stunning visuals that its predecessors had, the only reason it didn’t get the Number 1 spot is due to the lack of innovation in gameplay, but boy pretty much any other year and this game would take the #1 spot easy. Their take on Venom and Kraven were brilliant and weaving both Peter Parker and Miles Morales versions of Spider-Man around them was so well handled. If I had different categories for these lists Spider-Man 2 would win in story (and visuals for that matter) but there we are. I guess we all know what (sadly extremely predictably) has landed in the Number 1 spot… (My review of Spider-Man 2 can be found HERE)
Yes, another list, another one with a predictable top entry. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a lot in common with Spider-Man 2 in that it’s a direct sequel that re-uses a lot of the same map but adds to it and has a familiar story style but while the other game excelled in its story but kept the gameplay almost entirely the same Zelda improved on its story a bit but excelled in refreshing its gameplay and adding not just one but four unique gameplay twists to play around with. It’s that innovation in gameplay that gives Tears of the Kingdom an edge, but again I can’t stress how close it was at times. Still, this hotly anticipated sequel managed to take the top spot from the other hotly anticipated sequel, maybe next year an entirely new entry will take a top spot! … *looks at the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth trailer* … Never mind (Well, I assume anyway, we’ll see next year!) (My review of Tears of the Kingdom can be found HERE, for the record…)
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