Something went wrong. Try again later

TheFakePsychic

This user has not updated recently.

272 53 18 19
Forum Posts Wiki Points Following Followers

TFP's Top 10 Games of 2023

2023 has been a weird year. As evidenced by the fact that I don't think I got my 2022 GOTY list out until like March of this year, I've had some pretty serious health problems throughout. It's something I got into a bit on my cohost, but "My body is actively turning against itself" is a super weird thought to have to live with. But, that's not why you're here, and it's certainly not what I'm interested in writing about when I'm talking about games of the year. This is a celebration, so let's celebrate the good stuff.

List items

  • Number 10

    I'll admit: I was a bit skeptical when F-Zero 99 came out. On the one hand, I was interested, due to a deep appreciation of the original F-Zero, but I kind of figured I might treat it like I did Pac-Man 99 or Super Mario Bros. 35, where I played it for about a day, got a single win, and then ignored it until the servers went down. Now, have I only gotten a single win? Yes. Yes I have. Has that stopped me from having a great time? Absolutely not. The sheer chaos of 99 F-Zero machines ricocheting though a track is a spectacle to behold, and while I can't imagine I'll end up winning again anytime soon, the thrill of getting that single win was pretty unmatched.

  • Number 9

    If there's ever been a studio not to judge on first impressions, the top answer would probably be Tango Gameworks. After extremely not digging The Evil Within, they've not really missed for me since, culminating in what may be their best game to date in Hi-Fi Rush. Rhythm-based character action works way better than it has any right to, combined with some incredible licensed music choices makes the combat a true delight. Even me, a noted not-great-at-rhythm-based-anything person has a great time fighting off the robots of Vandelay Technologies. Just don't ask me to consistently get S-Ranks. That's probably not going to happen.

  • Number 8

    One of the late additions to this list; turns out people were right, Dave the Diver is a lot of fun. Scuba diving is something that has always been interesting to me, even though I don't think I could ever actually do it. There's something peaceful to me about exploring the sea that I always enjoy when it gets replicated in a game, be it something like this or even back to Endless Ocean or Everblue. Combine that with a pretty fun restaurant management sim, as well as a surprisingly interesting plot, and you end up with a pretty great game to decompress with after a rough day.

  • Number 7

    Full disclosure: before I had played this game the only Advance Wars I had played was Days of Ruin. After I played this game I finally understood why people love this series. It's a joyous little meatgrinder. Compared to the dour, pseudo-Fire Emblem like Days of Ruin, these remakes of the older Advance Wars games pop with vibrant colors and jaunty music, which makes the occasional difficulty spikes and surprisingly in-depth strategy layer easier to manage. I regret not playing these games sooner.

  • Number 6

    The other late addition, El Paso, Elsewhere is the best Max Payne game not made by Remedy. Which, given that I would easily classify Max Payne 2 in my top 3 games of all time is pretty high praise. El Paso, Elsewhere balances the surrealism, humor, action, and melancholy in all the right ways. The PS1-style models combine with the top-notch effects work to create this beautiful, dreamlike aesthetic, which complements the action and narrative perfectly. It's this balancing act, each piece combining and elevating each other that really pushed El Paso, Elsewhere into this list basically as soon as I had played it.

  • Number 5

    I do not like Street Fighter. I find it extraordinarly boring to watch, as far as fighting games go, and simultaneously overly complicated and demanding far too much execution to play. I adore Street Fighter 6. I don't really know what changed. It's not the Modern controls, although those are fun addition to mess with. The World Tour mode, where you create your own fighting game character and drop them into the insane world of Street Fighter is definitely part of it, being the best single player mode that has ever been in a fighting game. Street Fighter 6's Metro City is both completely absurd in all the right ways, a glorious celebration of Capcom's storied past, and just plain fun to run around and sucker punch people in to get into street fights. But even more than that they somehow tweaked the right dials to make the fighting incredibly fun to play. I'm not a professional fighting game person enough to be able to precisely say "this is why Street Fighter 6 clicked with me where Street Fighters 1-5 (barring a slight amount of 3) didn't". I wish I was, so I could explain it better, but the end result is that Street Fighter 6 is the first Street Fighter game I'd say I truly enjoy.

    Also, I just hope some of these newcomers stick around. Capcom's not super great at maintaining post SF2-newcomers for some reason.

  • Number 4

    The Like a Dragon series has been one of, if not the all-time great saga in video game history, and Like a Dragon Gaiden continues that legacy with a fun, smaller scale but extraordinarily emotional entry. Anchored by a should-be-award-winning performance from Takaya Kuroda, Like a Dragon Gaiden's strengths truly lie in the narrative department. Admittedly: makes it pretty hard to write a list entry about it without just spoiling something that you really should play for yourself. I also don't want to say things like "the culmination" or "a capstone" on the saga, because it's obviously not with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth right around the corner. But with the game's conclusion does come a sense of closing out a chapter near the end of a book, with certain aspects left open while others are clearly coming to an end very soon.

  • Number 3

    Larian's massive RPG epic is a game that, truthfully, I haven't quite finished. However, I have started it around five times and gotten through most of Act 2 or some of Act 3 on each playthrough, so I feel somewhat qualified to say that yes: Baldur's Gate 3 is an achievement. The sheer scope in the variety of different methods to progress that all feel valid, have their own setbacks and pitfalls, and manage to, even when the paths do come together at certain points, still feel different enough that it does genuinely feel like I've been playing five different games with each of my different playthroughs is downright astounding. Baldur's Gate 3's Faerun truly feels alive and reactive in a way that a lot of other RPG's lack, with basically every character from major party members and antagonists to minor townsfolk going about their day feeling important in their own ways. It's a massive balancing act that I think most games would crumble under, but Baldur's Gate 3 manages to not only stay afloat, but happily ferry you along.

    Now I just need to actually finish one of these playthroughs at some point...

  • Number 2

    What an absolutely joyous video game. Very few things feel like they manage to harness happiness, condense it down into easily digestible chunks, then be released into the world as something available to be enjoyed quite like Mario, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder is both no exception and one of the best examples of it to date. Each level is impeccably designed with fun platforming challenges and light puzzles that utilize seemingly bespoke enemy interactions, resulting in a game that feels excitingly unique across every single level. And all of this is without getting into the game's signature Wonder Flowers, which often turn levels on their head with fun transformations, dialing a level's gimmick up to absurd proportions, or even straight up changing the perspective on the level. Mario games have always provided a sense of discovery and joy that is simply unmatched in video games, and Wonder proves that even after nearly 40 years, there's still joy to be discovered in wonders.

  • Number 1

    And here we are, for the twelfth time, my game of the year. In terms of narrative-driven third-person shooters, there's no one in the same level, same ballpark, same state, same planet as Remedy. Their impeccable scripts: deftly balancing humor, tension, melancholy, and mystery, their extraordinary characters: deep and human, their action gameplay: exciting and deep, with plenty of options on how to approach encounters and gunplay that just feels impactful in all the right ways.

    There's a lot of plates spinning in the plot of Alan Wake II, and not once do they ever feel close to dropping. From serving as a continuation to the story from Alan Wake and the world slowly being built up from Control, to the family dynamics of Saga Anderson, to Alan's increasing desperation to get out of the Dark Place, in the hands of a lesser team it feels like one of the various plot threads may start to take precedence over the others, but they all manage to intertwine and work together to become even greater than the sum of their already great parts. Every character has their moment to shine, from new lead Saga Anderson to television advertisement star siblings Ilmo and Jaako Koskela (both brothers played with impeccable comedic chops by Vikings star Peter Franzén). Even better, each character's moment to shine feels completely earned and is extremely satisfying when it occurs, which is an impressive feat to pull off.

    Remedy's signature gunplay is tuned a bit slower in this game, taking its cues from the more deliberately paced Resident Evil 2 remake compared to Remedy's past output. But it still feels appropriately tense and fun. The wider, more open areas the game lets you explore are packed with fun knick-knacks and collectibles to either provide supplies, deepen the world, or in some cases both. The environments themselves, from the dense forests of Cauldron Lake to the nightmarish urban sprawl of the Dark Place are drop-dead gorgeous. They thread the needle of avoiding running into any problem with the environments being too cluttered or difficult to parse while still being completely beautiful places that feel both lived-in and dynamic.

    There's so much more to talk about, and I'm intentionally only scratching the surface because it cannot be understated the sheer depth of the creative vision at Remedy. There's so much here that even if I felt comfortable bringing up someone who hadn't played it would probably not believe me if I went on mentioning these things. Sam Lake and the team at Remedy have truly outdone themselves this year, and that's why Alan Wake II is my game of the year. Thanks for reading!
Load Comments