The title of this post made me think about the best and worst I’ve played this year.
The best:
- The Case of the Golden Idol. Short and sweet mystery game in the vein of Return of the Obra Dinn. Not quite as good IMO but I still liked it quite a bit.
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Don’t let the IP fool you, this is a really solid turn based strategy game, occasionally with really solid writing. The “dating sim”/downtime parts were surprisingly fun at best and dragged down the pacing at worst.
- Death’s Door. Really cool, minimalistic, take on a Zelda-like game. Similar to Tunic in a lot of ways. Funny, cute and probably the best game about death I’ve ever played.
- Moving Out. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much while playing a game as I did with Moving Out. It will always hold a special place in my heart for allowing me to connect and laugh with people I love but don’t get to see very often.
Generally I mostly play games a while after release and based on recommendations I trust. As such there aren’t many real stinkers I can think of (plenty of games that I found overrated though). With that said, here are my worst:
- Doki Doki Literature Club. With the way this game is set up it’s all about the twist. The problem is that the game it pretends to be until then is incredibly boring. Maybe it would have helped if I wasn’t somewhat aware of what is really is but generally I found this game to be a slog.
- Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. Games that rely heavily on humor are always hit or miss. Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me in and the actual gameplay was incredibly bare bones.
Thanks for reading! What is your list?
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I really loved:
- Sea of Stars
- Roboquest
- Spider-Man 2
- Dredge
- Lies of P
- Remnant 2
I really DIDN’T love:
- Rollerdrome
- Starfield
- Hogwarts Legacy
I think there were some middling games and some really great games this year, and even the ones I didn’t enjoy were just not for me, as opposed to actively being bad games. I’m not going to board the hyperbole train and say it’s the best year for games ever, but I think it was very strong and had a lot of variety which is good for everyone. Looking forward to 2024 when I get to play everyone else’s favorites in this thread :)
How did Remnant 2 compare to Remnant 1 for you if you played both? I started Remnant 1 just before the 2nd release, and I really liked the concept but everything felt too generic and started to get old really quickly. I think the biggest issue was the procedural generation made everything too similar. The worlds all felt the same with only a few enemy types.
Much better in Remnant2! Normal mobs, minibosses, even bosses: on my second play through I’m still discovering lots of new things. Best game in 2023.
It may not be my top game, but it’s up there! I really glad to hear you liked it that much though, I can’t wait to see what the DLCs will look like. There’s already a lot of variety, but more stuff to do is always great.
I will agree with the other poster that already replied and say it’s MUCH better in Remnant 2. Variety in stages, story, and enemies are all much better, and the bosses/mini-bosses are more fun than the first. I loved the first game as it was a really great small party game to play online, but the second is better in almost all aspects. If you have Xbox, it just went on gamepass, and I think it’s worth your time to check it out.
As a side note, I will say that the final bosses in both games are absolute bullshit. It’s the one thing that they didn’t seem to listen to as far as criticisms from the first game. If you have a party you’ll be fine, but soloing can be tough.
Best:
Factorio - The factory must grow.
Vampire Survivors - They keep releasing new content, and I keep devouring it. This game is even more addicting than Cracktorio.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - Best April Fools joke this year, and a solid light visual novel in its own right. This was a pleasant surprise.
Remnant II - My choice for Game of the Year this year. TotK let me down, and while BG3 is solidly in the #2 spot I don’t really vibe with it. Remnant II is an excellent sequel that builds on the strengths while fixing the weaknesses of its predecessor. It’s a hell of a game that still manages to stand out in a year stacked with great titles.
Note: I didn’t play AC6 or the new Street Fighter, so I’ve got no opinion on how they match up.
Worst:
Keywe - A puzzle game where you play as Kiwi birds managing a post office in Australia. Not my thing, but my sister likes it and wanted to play the multiplayer with me. We played online and holy hell this game’s netcode is broken. We kept desyncing mid-puzzle and then whoever was hosting would have to finish the puzzle while the other stood and watched because they couldn’t see the actual gamestate. It’s probably a fine game as a solo or local play experience, but it left a sour impression.
Did Remnant 2 feel more unique than Remnant 1? I tried the 1st and fell off in the 2nd world because it all felt too similar with a handful of enemies and procedural chunks. Reluctant to try the 2nd if it’s got the same lack of variety.
I didn’t have an issue with that in Remnant 1, but I think it was improved on that front. There’s more enemy variety, with several fodder mobs and elites with unique gimmicks, and some of the bosses are straight up weird. The maps are still procedurally generated, but there are more types of maps in the pool. They do still feel samey when you get two maps that use the same chunks, but there is less overlap from map to map.
They also made the area progression part of the world proc-gen, so you can encounter the areas in a different order on different play-throughs. That does help keep the replayability fresh, but it doesn’t fix the issue. It just sort of sweeps it under the rug so that it takes more playthroughs to notice.
I’ve played many games this year. The highlighting are:
- Fallout 3 - I forgot how fun this game is. Especially the exploration;
- Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings - good game as well;
- Dead Rising - a truly hard game, that is also fun. Zombies!
- Dead Space (2008) - still an awesome game!
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - the game is fun with the graphics and Force powers. Even though most boss fights are lame;
- Silent Hill 2 - still awesome!
- The Callisto Protocol - pretty good game! Surprised me how good it is;
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 - what a garbage game. Bad boss fights just to pad the game out.
I played the balls out of the Dead Rising series through the third game. Definitely check out 2 if you like the first one. Off the Record is a fun retread of the second game if you take a break before playing it. 3 was a bit poorer received at launch, but on an SSD, it’s still a damn fun game.
Never got around to the 4th game. It sounded pretty soulless from the reviews
Yeah, but first I’m going to go through the first game.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was the best I played this year. There might be recency bias, but I genuinely think it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played. Persona 5 Royal isn’t super far behind, was also great.
Worst game I finished was Starfield. Did not see that coming. Worst overall was Vambrace: Cold Soul. Incredibly gorgeous game with a complete disaster of a core gameplay loop.
Best game i played this year was Alan Wake 2, though I can imagine it’s probably not for everyone. The Marvelesque “homework” you’re recommended to do before playing to catch all the references and understand the interconnected lore might seem daunting, but the world and narrative Remedy has built continues to impress me. A lot has been said already about how Remedy has been pushing innovation and mixed media, but I’ll also add how impressed I am with the level of writing in general. Not only is the narrative mind bending, but all the characters are compelling and distinctive and all the different styles employed are nailed perfectly and mesh surprisingly well, from the Noir-caricature Alex Casey monologues to the goofy Koskela brothers TV ads.
The worst game I played this year was Ghost of Tsushima. Okay hear me out. The game is beautiful, well optimised and the combat is solid and satisfying. The game is just roughly twice as long as it should be considering what it is. The story is only okay at best, but suffers from a consistently dour and overly serious tone which really starts to drag as time goes on. The only bit of comic relief is Kenji, and he is barely around. On top of this the quest design is 90% “talk to person, move to area, kill the enemies there, go back and talk again”. Main story missions overly rely on walk-and-talk and/or ride-horse-and-talk. There are a handful of missions with more to it than that and those are good, but there just isn’t enough variation to sustain interest over the playtime (especially if you’re attempting to do everything and thus have to chase down the Ubisoft level open world stuff). After about 10h playtime I was loving the game, but by the third act I was thoroughly worn out and bored.
Unfortunately I had to drop Alan Wake after the prologue. The game is probably great, but I think my PC has finally hit a AAA game it just cannot handle. Perhaps I’ll give it another shot once I upgrade.
I absolutely get your criticisms with Ghost of Tsushima. While I personally loved the game when I played it, I do recall commenting that it had the same gameplay loop as I criticize Skyrim for i.e. go here, kill things, repeat, but for me the core combat mechanics were good enough that I didn’t mind. A shame that you weren’t able to enjoy them to the same extent, but very fair critique
The games that caught my attention the most were Payday: The Heist, Crusader Kings III (essentially a live service), and Hollow Knight. Honorary mention: Lovely Planet, it pushed me right to my limits, any little bit harder and I wouldn‘t have been able to get full stars. I did play some Zelda but it didn‘t blow me away.
The worst games, hmm. For sure Magicka, CTDs en masse, absolutely unplayable. DiRT 5 was a huge disappointment to me, driving felt terrible and somehow it looked worse than GRID 2019 with cars that could’ve been toy cars. An HDR spectacle though for sure.
I remember trying to play Magicka a decade ago and I couldn’t even get it to run, but it worked perfectly when I played it again recently. Maybe it’s just very flaky, but I’d recommend trying it again when you’ve got a new machine to try because it is really fun!
Best:
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Against the Storm
- Dave the Diver
- Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - I usually hate tactical strategy games, but this one’s good. The quicksave/reload feature makes it pretty fun to experiment and goof around.
- Dead Cells (I’m behind)
- Grounded
- Tears of the Kingdom
Mediocre
- Dredge - It was a unique experience, but I never really understood the fear/consequences despite fully finishing it.
- Armored Core 6 - The balance in this series always ruins them, even though I try to love them every time. Being forced into a specific build takes the fun out of customization.
I guess I avoided the worst games this year!
Going to second Midnight Suns. I’m a big XCOM fan, and while there were a lot of differences, it still scratched that same multi-genre itch.
I also played (in no specific order):
Hitman - World of Assassination - A whole hell of a lot of game in one package. Definitely the highlight of the series if it is your type of game.
Horizon Burning Shores - A worthwhile reason to go back to Horizon Forbidden West, though it was over sooner than I’d like. I’d feel better about the length if it was easier to miss the story, but anyone who goes from Forbidden West to the next game without playing Burning Shores might be caught off guard by the new character. (And I’mma be mad if they don’t bring back the new character!)
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut - Another YMMV game that will suck you in if you like good progression mechanics and don’t mind a slightly slower pace. And Hideo Kojima being Hideo Kojima.
Crisis Core - FFVII Reunion - You know the old school parenting style of making your kid smoke a pack of cigarettes so they want to wretch every time they catch a whiff of them? I accidentally did that to myself with JRPGs during the PS1 era. I thought maybe Crisis Core could coast by on nostalgia factor because I was able to enjoy FFVII Remake. Crisis Core was a big stinker though. The story hits every bad JRPG/anime trope you can think of (fucking Genesis… WOOF), and the quest design seems designed to embrace pointless backtracking and tedium.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty - I will argue until I’m blue in the face that while the PS4 and Xbox Series Whatever was a shitshow, the PC launch of CP2077 in 2020 was only a bit rocky. All the praises that people have been singing about the game since 2.0 and Phantom Liberty? They’re praising the same elements that have made the game great since Day 1. It’s just not sandwiched between T-poses and occasional CTDs any more. PC veterans who lived through rough launches of great games (like Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines or, hell, Witcher 3!) were right at home. The Phantom Liberty Expansion was a great excuse to revisit Night City and remember why I fell in love with the game three years ago.
Slay the Spire - Because I’m going to hit A20 and kill the Heart with Silent eventually, goddammit.
Baldur’s Gate 3 - Because best $50 I spent in 2020.
No Man’s Sky - I waited until this year to pick up NMS and this was another one that sucked me in for a solid couple months. Hello Games has sunk years into making this game a great bang for your buck if you like exploration and building.
The best that are not replays:
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Bloodborne. I’m glad i finally got to play it, because holy hell it is good. Orphan of kos can f**k off tho, definitely the one of hardest bosses in any game i’ve ever played.
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Yakuza 0. Super happy i liked as much as i did, since i bought 0 thru 7 before even playing a yakuza game, stupid i know.
Can’t really think of any other games that wow’d me.
Edit:
I also played the ps3 ratchet and clank games and come on, they’re ratchet and clank, what’s not to like.
Also played resident evil remake, which got me into og re2 and 3.
“Bad” games:
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Metro 2033. It’s not a bad game, i just ran into alot of bugs that hampered my enjoyment.
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White knight chronicles1/2. From the boring ass story to the giant maps that are cancer to traverse, i really didn’t enjoy it.
That’s about all the “bad” games i can think of, especially since i don’t go looking for them.
I loved White Knight Chronicles and miss it constantly. The charm of the game was with the online though, and you’re missing like 2/3 of the appeal.
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Best: path of exile Worst : path of exile Shout out to kingdoms of amular rereckoning and stray.
The best I played this year
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Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead with the Sky Islands mod Absolutely best survival game I have ever played by a long mile. There is just so much time and love behind this game.
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Deep Rock Galactic A flawless game
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Halo Infinite multiplayer it is actually good now!
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Battlebit So good to have a battlefield not owned and ruined by EA
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Best: System Shock: turns out the 90s darling gal can still run with the best of them in 2023 thanks to Nightdive’s excellent remake. Citadel Station was a real blast to explore. It almost made me disappointed to see how little gaming has advanced since that time, I’d have expected to view the remake as a relic of a simpler time. Instead I played something way more fun than the typical hand-holdy shooters of today.
Cyberpunk 2077: Update 2.0 made this a real videogame. I absolutely hated playing Cyberpunk 2077 when it released, so much that I refunded it. The combat felt awful and floaty, the RPG systems felt stupid and poorly thought out, and don’t even get me started on the bugs. 2.0 is the reason to buy the game again, and with modding support already available I have a feeling this game is going to grow the kinda legs of Witcher 3 and Skyrim. CD-Projekt Red managed a real miracle. Oh, and the DLC is pretty rad too.
Warframe: There’s been a lotta new content added to Warframe this year, and it’s all been pretty good! I was a little worried about the game considering the change in leadership, but Rebecca Ford knows what the players want and seems really skilled at walking the fine line that makes a grind enjoyable. If you’ve never played, and have always wanted to play a mass murderer in space with magic powers, I’d recommend hopping in.
Worst:
Elden Ring: Miyazaki please where is the DLC. It’s been two years, I just want to play through a new poison swamp.
I pre ordered cyberpunk, was so excited and never finished it. Should I give it another go? Can I use my Xbox controller on PC?
Definitely should give it another try if you still have it. The writing and creativity of the quests is still top tier, but now the combat is incredibly fun. You probably can use that controller, Steam is pretty good about third party controllers these days, but I wouldn’t know much. It’ll definitely play well on a controller though, though you might want to grab the keyboard if you’re going to do any advanced inventory fiddlin.
Best : BG3
Empyrion (you love sandbox games with endless content with very little guidance? Try it, I’m on HWS RE server and after 260h I’m still just scratching the surface)
Marvel Midnight Suns (top notch on many levels)
Chrono Ark (one of the best roguelite deck builders for me)
The scroll of Taiwu (perfect cultivation sandbox RPG, official translation should come in 2024)
Worst : Not much… I just don’t understand why I can’t get into Thea 2. It’s supposed to kinda be my dream game. Yet, I’m always bored after 30 min.
Shoutout to Archmage Rises. It has a long way to go but it could possibly be my GOTY 2024.
Cocoon - short with no dialog but really enjoyed the puzzles
The Talos Principle 2 - great puzzles and well done story. Really enjoyed it.
Far - Lone Sales - the start wasn’t super intuitive but didn’t take long. Short, no dialog. Ok puzzles. Fair enough especially on sale
Dave the Diver - Really good. Didn’t finish since I played it enough that it didn’t drive me anymore. That’s not the games fault since I tend to do that and rarely play longer games much with my schedule.
I expect you to die 2 - short and alright. Loved the first one, second wasn’t as good but not bad either
Stray - I really enjoyed this one. Fantastic world setting and ambiance even though it’s too short for some people’s taste I found it to be really good.
Gorogoa - Really weird and really good. I love deeper narratives revealed over time and this one hit me like Rime
I expect you to die 3 is out. I’m halfway through, and I think it’s better than 2.
Still too short, 6 levels, but that’s indie VR games for you I’m afraid.
Elden Ring and Stardew Valley ate a decent chunk of 2023 for me. And are both amazing games in their own right. Totally different, though.
I didn’t play anything really bad this past year, but I did bounce off Crosscode pretty hard after expecting to love it given I’m a sucker for early JRPGs and the 8 and 16 bit eras in general. It’s a well made game, just overlong and featuring some tedious and frustrating mechanics.
I’m currently on playthrough 4 of Stardew. Love that game
I’m enjoying it, but after a certain point I feel like I had to consult a guide. Late-game stuff is expensive!
