Your 2023 game of the year?

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TypeRDC5

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The year is coming to a close so as always I like to see what everyone's game of the year was.

For me early on in the year I was blown away by Resident Evil 4 Remake, I wasn't even all that excited for it at first as I really didn't think they would do the original justice but Capcom proved me wrong. It bettered the original for me in every way possible, even the DLC Seperate Ways was amazing, at this point I think nothing will beat this as game of the year for me.

However Resident Evil 4 Remake is not my game of the year, my game of the year is Cyperpunk 2077.

I know this wasn't released in 2023 but the Phantom Liberty DLC and update 2.0 were released in 2023 so it counts in my eyes. Plus I only got around to playing it this year for the first time :P

It has been quite some time since I've played a game in which the world has sucked me in, Night City is amazing, the story and characters are great, even the side quests/gigs all have their individual backstory and characters which adds massive depth to it all.
But even taking away all that just driving around and causing chaos in Night City GTA style is here and is great fun, Masterpiece of a game.
 
I've actually played very few new games this year as GT7 takes up so much of my free time, so any ones I do put time into automatically become my gotys. This year it's Jedi Survivor, Cyberpunk 2077 (2.0), Spider-Man 2 and Baldur's Gate 3. Don't make me choose between them.
 
Man, cool to hear people are really into the Cyperpunk 2077 2.0 update and DLC, even my brother who was let down by the game early on is now saying it's amazing. I really need to re-download it and give it a go it seems.

My 2023 game of the year has to be Alan Wake 2. The 13 year wait for the sequel was worth it, what an amazing experience with that game, absolutely loved it. Honorable mentions to Resident Evil 4 Remake and Dead Space remake.
 
Tight battle between Baldurs Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2.
Both are clearly crafted with love from the developers.

Honestly would give my vote to either one, but if I absolutely have to choose, it would be BG3.

Honorable mentions to Robocop Rogue City and Cyberpunk DLC :D
 
I know Baldurs Gate 3 will probably win but for it is Armored Core 6. As a long time fan of the game I am very biased but the simple fact that it has been 10 years since the last one was made. I love that FS took all of the lessons they learned from the Souls games and implemented some of those things in AC6 is great. I have a few issues with the game in that there should be more parts and you should be able share ACs & decals cross-platform but other than that it is a great game. I
 
TOTK, its not even close. Though admittedly I haven't played a lot of games this year.


Jerome
 
My top 3.

EA SPORTS WRC
PGA Tour: Road to The Masters
Starfield

I’m a massive rally game fan and EAWRC has blown me away, it’s not perfect but it’s dam close. PGA is a solid return to golf for EA, generous content and updates with enjoyable gameplay. Starfield was everything I’d hoped it would be and a little bit more.
 
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I am an Xbox player, but this year I got an itch and build a PC, so I will mention games played in either or both platforms, and
together with this year's releases, I will include past games discovered and played/finished in 2023.

First, I will nominate purchased games, and in a later post, games that I procured from Game Pass or other services (EA Play-Ubisoft+).

Cyberpunk 2077 (Xbox Series X/S), purchased in late 2022 and finished in Q1 of 2023 and I got the "better" ending which was quite satisfying. I just started playing the Phantom Liberty expansion.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (Xbox Series S), an oldie that got my attention when the second part was announced. I have until March of next year to finish it!

Metro Exodus (Xbox Series X), one of the most immersive shooters I have played. Quite outstanding in the technical department, less so on the narrative side, but still very worthy.

Remnant: From the Ashes (Xbox Series X/S-PC), I didn't know what to expect from this, since it's often mentioned as a Souls-like game, and I avoid those. But here I have been rewarded with one of the most compelling and fun games I've played, and I will get to play Remnant II this year too, since it just shadow-dropped on Game Pass today!

Horizon Zero Dawn (PC) is the first game I bought cheap from a Steam sale, and my first Sony game in a while since the PS3 was my last console with them. I was thoroughly impressed by the game in all aspects: narrative and world-building, character, gameplay and performance.

So, my purchased 2023 GOTY of the year goes to.... (drumroll)... Horizon Zero Dawn!
 
SPhilli911
Man, cool to hear people are really into the Cyperpunk 2077 2.0 update and DLC, even my brother who was let down by the game early on is now saying it's amazing. I really need to re-download it and give it a go it seems.

My 2023 game of the year has to be Alan Wake 2. The 13 year wait for the sequel was worth it, what an amazing experience with that game, absolutely loved it. Honorable mentions to Resident Evil 4 Remake and Dead Space remake.
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I was looking forward to Alan Wake 2 but as I am turning into a stubborn old man when they announced it was digital only I decided not to buy it.

I'm sure they will release a game of year physical edition down the line though so will definitely pick it up then, heard nothing but great things.
 
Forza Motorsport. Not that it had much opposition as the only other "new" game I played was The Crew Motorfest.
 
Mine has to be between Resident Evil 4 and Dave the Diver, because they're the only two games from 2023 that I've played, and it's a tough choice.

RE4R was great but I didn't feel compelled to immediately play through it again (and again, and again) like I did with the original, it just lacked that magic, probably because I'd played it before so many times...

Dave the Diver, on the other hand, was also great but a few things it tried to do never really resonated with me and unfortunately most of those things were toward the end of the game so my enjoyment of it started to plummet by the end, which was disappointing because I'd enjoyed the first three quarters-ish so much. In fact I wonder if I spent too long having fun so that I started to generally get tired of it in addition to it starting to lose me anyway which made it worse.

In the end though I think I have to go with Dave, purely because it was original whereas RE4R, while a very good one, was a remake of a game I'd already played to death and it feels too ironic to choose that zombie as my game of the year.
 
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I only really play sports games, and considering my small budget, I have been relying mainly on games below 20£ or PS Plus games. So my game of the year is art of rally. I know this wasn't made in 2023, but I bought it earlier this year and I am just in awe of what the game is about. Tons of easter eggs, and a good selection of stages and cars. The Perfect game in my eyes. Close 2nd is NFS Unbound. Yes its cringe, but I got it as a birthday present and its wayyyyy better than Heat, which was the first NFS game i played
 
Baldurs Gate 3, while it is definitly good and worth its price, I feel is hindered by the DnD ruleset more than if it was "just another Larian Divinity" game, but I keep up hopes they will be putting out a gem of a game following this release.

Though it only wins this year, because Resident Evil 4 Remake isnt as good as the others before.
 
I didn’t really play a whole lot of new games this year, but the highlights for me were:
  • Pizza Tower
Since Nintendo hasn’t been bothered to make a Wario Land game in 15 years, indie comes to the rescue. The Wario Land games continue to be unique platformers with their emphasis on exploration and momentum while defeating enemies, and this game properly evolves on the formula. Going back to levels to chase a higher rating DMC-style is plain addicting. Shame it’s not been ported to consoles yet; luckily, it’s potato-friendly.
  • Sea of Stars
This RPG takes everything that the classic SNES JRPGs like Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, and Mario RPG (haven’t played the Switch remake though) get right: easy yet strategic and deep turn-based combat; engaging story beats; NPCs who don’t feel like filler; and glorious music; and modernizes them in a way that makes this game more enjoyable, as well as more challenging yet less frustrating than the games that inspired it.
  • Papa’s Freezeria Deluxe
This definitely shows my (lack of) age plenty, but anyone who grew up on Flash game websites probably knows about these restaurant time management games, and this one about making sundaes has finally found its way to Steam. The gameplay loop is simple; just the way I like it: take the customer’s order, then make their order. While I do have plenty of nostalgia for these games, I assure you that the gameplay has aged well and provides far more than a simple nostalgia kick.
 
I really, really dunno. I only really play racing games, and I really don’t think any of them have been that good.

EA Sports WRC is, inevitably, the one that I’ve put the most hours into because I’m a massive rally game fan and have been waiting for the follow-up to my favourite racing game of all time (DiRT Rally 2.0) for so long. And I’ve enjoyed a lot of it. But is it really that good? It performs terribly in comparison to DR2, with screen tearing, frame drops etc. It’s also had a horrible launch beset with problems, AI bugs, crashes, quite frankly a disaster in terms of the volume of issues with it. So I like it and I love playing it, but Game of the Year? Not a chance.

Forza Motorsport is a good game, regardless of its negative press, and it’s a good basis for the next however many years of support Turn 10 will give it, but to say it hasn’t grabbed me is an understatement. What would actually make me sit down in front of my Xbox and think “I know, I want to play Forza” - no idea. Something else always wins out, I just don’t have any reason to want to play it. So no chance there either.

RIDE 5 is a shout, actually. I was pretty negative about it early on because it seemed so familiar, but actually I really like the changes they’ve made to it and the ‘race creator’ is game changing because it’s finally a proper motorbike sandbox. Great track list, very solid, smooth, bug free package….yeah I like it. But it’s still basically RIDE 4.5 and I expected more after what, three years since the last one?

TT Ride On the Edge 3? Hahaha. Again, not a bad game, but people ridiculed Turn 10 for claiming to have rebuilt Forza “from the ground up” to basically come up with something exactly the same, and that’s exactly the case here too even though I like some of the ideas. What’s the point of knocking down the last one completely and starting again if you’re just going to clone it? Beyond me. No chance.

Going away from racers, I thought the new Zelda was disappointing. Like really disappointing. It’s just Breath of the Wild 1.5, it’s not what I’ve come to expect from a Zelda game at all. I expected so much more.

So I’m going to make the only logical choice and go for a game that I bought for my son. Mario Wonder. Inventive, full of lovely little ideas and quirks, both relaxing and challenging, immensely likeable, arguably the best 2D platformer of all time and a massive upgrade on all the samey New Super Mario Bros games that have been dominating over the last ten years or so. I’d always take a 3D epic Mario over a 2D one, but this is a great way to have some fun before Odyssey 2 or whatever finally turns up.
 
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I only play GT7.

However on iOS, for me, game of the decade is a small puzzle game called Flow. I’ve been playing it for over 10 years on and off and my current daily tread is about 4 years long.
 
m355y
I really, really dunno. I only really play racing games, and I really don’t think any of them have been that good.

EA Sports WRC is, inevitably, the one that I’ve put the most hours into because I’m a massive rally game fan and have been waiting for the follow-up to my favourite racing game of all time (DiRT Rally 2.0) for so long. And I’ve enjoyed a lot of it. But is it really that good? It performs terribly in comparison to DR2, with screen tearing, frame drops etc. It’s also had a horrible launch beset with problems, AI bugs, crashes, quite frankly a disaster in terms of the volume of issues with it. So I like it and I love playing it, but Game of the Year? Not a chance.

Forza Motorsport is a good game, regardless of its negative press, and it’s a good basis for the next however many years of support Turn 10 will give it, but to say it hasn’t grabbed me is an understatement. What would actually make me sit down in front of my Xbox and think “I know, I want to play Forza” - no idea. Something else always wins out, I just don’t have any reason to want to play it. So no chance there either.

RIDE 5 is a shout, actually. I was pretty negative about it early on because it seemed so familiar, but actually I really like the changes they’ve made to it and the ‘race creator’ is game changing because it’s finally a proper motorbike sandbox. Great track list, very solid, smooth, bug free package….yeah I like it. But it’s still basically RIDE 4.5 and I expected more after what, three years since the last one?

TT Ride On the Edge 3? Hahaha. Again, not a bad game, but people ridiculed Turn 10 for claiming to have rebuilt Forza “from the ground up” to basically come up with something exactly the same, and that’s exactly the case here too even though I like some of the ideas. What’s the point of knocking down the last one completely and starting again if you’re just going to clone it? Beyond me. No chance.

Going away from racers, I thought the new Zelda was disappointing. Like really disappointing. It’s just Breath of the Wild 1.5, it’s not what I’ve come to expect from a Zelda game at all. I expected so much more.

So I’m going to make the only logical choice and go for a game that I bought for my son. Mario Wonder. Inventive, full of lovely little ideas and quirks, both relaxing and challenging, immensely likeable, arguably the best 2D platformer of all time and a massive upgrade on all the samey New Super Mario Bros games that have been dominating over the last ten years or so. I’d always take a 3D epic Mario over a 2D one, but this is a great way to have some fun before Odyssey 2 or whatever finally turns up.
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I've been hearing good things about Ride 5, always get put off by bike games as the controls can be really off-putting but I haven't played any of the Ride series and this one looks amazing from the footage I've seen on YouTube. Might be worth a go especially as it's quite cheap now.
 
The Last of Us on PC, after a somewhat shaky start it ran absolutely flawlessly eventually and looked incredible, still the greatest game I’ve ever played and revisiting it again after a few years was definitely the year’s highlight for me, really hoping they release the 2nd one on PC too🙏🏻
 
Mine has to go to Honkai Star Rail. It's just felt the most put together in a year full of broken and disappointing hackjobs. A colorful cast of characters, an evolving story with even deeper lore and turn based combat simple enough for even me to work out, it holds my attention enough to be my GOTY.

Also shoutout to HoloCure for being very addicting.
 
I think I'm ready to name my other notable games for 2023:

Best game I downloaded this year from Game Pass (GP) and I finished: Ghostwire: Tokyo.

Best game I downloaded this year from GP and I haven't finished: Sea of Stars. Notable mentions: Remnant 2, Everspace 2, Dead Space (via EA Play).

Best game from my backlog that I finished this year: The Outer Worlds.

Best game from past years that I'm still playing in 2023: Forza Horizon 5.

Best graphics: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, also best optimization in consoles/PC.

Best upgrade: Cyberpunk 2077.

Best DLC: Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty.

And to wrap up, my disappointments of the year, in no particular order are Atomic Heart, Forza Motorsport, The Crew: Motorfest, and Starfield, and a whole lot of indie games.
 
Chants of Sennaar is definitely 2023 game of the year for me - really clever and wholesome point and click adventure game.

I would say Hi-Fi Rush and We Love Katamari are my runner-up.
 

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