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Addfwyn

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Best of 2023

Okay, so this is extraordinarily late. I had my list for a while but just never got around to writing it up and publishing it.

2023 was one of the best years in memory for games, with any of my top ten being a goty contender in other years, while being one of the worst for the industry as a whole. We can’t ignore the mass of layovers and downsizes that have plagued the industry (Future Addfwyn: Buddy, it gets worse) while we recognize and celebrate all the good games that those workers have brought us.

List items

  • An absolutely phenomenal JRPG that manages to be so much more than just a Chrono Trigger inspired throwback. It’s exceptionally rare a game manages to drag tears out of me, especially of the heartwarming variety. Just an absolutely phenomenal cast of characters, beautiful art style, and engaging gameplay. Honestly this could go down with the great of the Super Famicom era and is easily my game of 2023.

  • Surprising nobody, BG3 took the CRPG community by storm as it came out of a very long early access period this year. Larian accomplished a really impressive feat adapting 5e rule sets to a video game format in a way that appeals to the tabletop fans and crpg fans both. It does suffer from some technical issues here or there, including horribly timed patches that make multiplayer close to impossible to coordinate, but for a game of this scope those are easy to forgive.

  • Talos Principle 2 is the sequel to a great first person philosophical puzzler that touches on aspects of the nature of humanity. The sequel expands the puzzle solving to a whole open world setting that is one of the biggest surprises in gaming I experienced in 2023.

  • Diablo is well known as the series that popularized the loot game, and is directly responsible for every game that has come out since then.

    In many ways, D4 is the pinnacle of that formula, boiling down the gameplay and loot mechanics to a tight but deep loop. It also harkens back to the earlier days of the franchise; the game revels in its horror elements with a dark and brutal aesthetic from start to finish. While it sometimes expects the player to know more about the diablo lore than maybe the average player will be aware of, it is overall a fantastic experience from beginning to end. It seems to be getting great post launch support in their seasonal content as well.

    Sidenote, play this one with headphones because it is some of the best sound design I’ve heard in a game.

  • *Burning Shores DLC.

    Burning Shores expands on one of my favourite games of last year, tasking Aloy to explore new regions of what was once Hollywood. Burning Shores gives you more of everything you’d want from a horizon game; cool new robots to hunt, great characters and writing, and more of that old world lore to reveal. If you like horizon this is a game you should play.

  • *Valhalla DLC*

    This one snuck in right at the end of the year, but was a fantastic piece of content. Hinged around a roguelite mode akin to Hades, you get not just great new gameplay but a look into Kratos’s past as well. The gameplay loop was so fun I went back to it even after I finished all the trophies.

    Oh and the whole thing was free too.

  • The best Final Fantasy game of 2023 is…a rhythm game? Sorry XVI, but Theatrhythm is just too fun a package to ignore. A rhythm game that takes all the best music of a series well known for their soundtracks and ties it all together with jrpg style progression and party building is honestly an easy sell.

    Plus the game continues to get content not just from FF games but all across Square’s catalogue.

  • Arriving out of early access late this year, against the storm is a roguelite city builder. A concept surprisingly rarely explored.

    Each run has you building a village and raising its reputation to a certain level, over a 1-2 hour period. The buildings and perks you can access are randomized, so a different strategy and approach will be required every time. It’s a lot of fun.

  • Dredge is the game for you if you enjoy peaceful boat rides, relaxing fishing, Tetris-style inventory management, eldritch horrors from beyond intent on warping your mind, and a relaxing cozy story.

    Dredge is a Lovecraftian fishing game, there isn’t a whole lot to say past that. It’s a short game that doesn’t overstay its welcome, but provides a good 5-6 hour diversion all told.

  • The sequel to my favourite city builder of all time has a lot of mechanical choices that are super interesting. At launch it was plagued by bugs and performance issues that have generally been solved by now, but held it back from its full potential for the time being
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