Fox's Top 10 games released in 2023

[fox | 1,667]

2023 was a great year for gaming, maybe one of the best ever.  There was no shortage of great games to come out all throughout the year.  Let's wrap up 2023 with a top 10 list.  I didn't play every game this year, so stuff like Balder's Gate 3 and Sea of Stars I just didn't get around to.  Also I'm going to limit this to games that came out in 2023 mostly.

#10 Resident Evil 4

Capcom is killing it lately with both the numbered Resident Evil and remake games.  Of course 4 is considered one of the best of the series.  I didn't get to into it back in the day because I was more into the spooky vibe of the older titles rather than action set pieces, but this remake gave me an excuse to give this one another game and it is fantastic.

#9 Diablo 4

Diablo goes back to it's roots with the dark feel of the first game and a lot of the classes of the second game.  It also has a decent story and a cool open world.  This was easily the game I spent the most time with this year.  It did seem like the end game was fairly lacking, in a game that is all about grinding gear, it really stops giving you new and exciting gear after level 60.

#8 Like A Dragon: Ishin!

I never really dived into the Yakuza series, but this change in a historical time period and new fight styles really made a lot more interested.  It is Feservoir Dogs with swords, with lots of memorable characters and some wild side quests and distractions to do around town.  Next best thing next to a trip to Japan.

#7 Super Mario Wonder

Mario is back in style.  The wonder seed gives every level it's own gimmick.  Being able to play this multiplayer really made this a joy to share with other people.  Haven't beaten it yet so I will likely return to it in 2024.

#6 Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons

Nothing like a good Beat'em Up and you can't go wrong with the OG of them all, Double Dragon.  Having access to a number of characters with their own style and the tag ability to use two characters at a time, made this addictive to unlock and play as them all.

#5 Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

I played Fallen Order and it's sequel this year.  This really tossed together a lot of ideas and somehow worked as a Tomb Raidery Soul-like Metroidvania.  Cal Kestis is a great protagonist, and the sequel really improved on things with even more lightsaber styles and customization options.  Star Wars gets a lot of hate lately, but in Jedi:Survivor, it is a cool universe to explore.

#4 Final Fantasy 16

Dark fantasy story with Devil May Cry stylish combat.  Yeah I'll take it.  Super slick epic Kaiju battles with classic summons.  Yes please.  Some pacing issues and run of the mill side quests, but the highs outweigh the lows.

#3 Remnant 2

Of all the Dark Souls clones, Remnant really took the idea and added its own ideas to make it feel like a new thing.  Fun gun-play, interesting other dimensions, and lots and lots of unique weapons and gear hidden away.  Multiplayer is a blast too.

#2 Spiderman 2

Built on the game and improved on it.  Getting two spider-men with their own powers and the black suit in the mix was a lot of fun.  Still the best traversal in any game.  Even the side missions were entertaining and enjoyed 100%ing this game.

Honorable Mentions:
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora- The best looking game of this generation.  A more laid back open world adventure on an alien world.

Tunic - A bit zelda, a bit souls, where you find pages of an old school instruction manual to learn new moves and uncover secrets.

TMNT: Dimension Shellshock- New characters, new unlocks, and a new mode.  This DLC reminded me how much I loved the new Turtles game.

#1 Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

You had to have known this was coming.  It took everything that Breath of the Wild did and improved on it.  Story is more fleshed out, powers are more useful, there are actual dungeons, oh and both sky and underground maps too.  The building and physics puzzles are a joy to noddle around with.

Happy New Years y'all.  Thanks for reading.  See you in 2024.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,526]

I've only played Wonder and Turtles from that list.  But I'll be getting to most of the rest in the next year or two.  I'm pretty burned out on Diablo, but an open-world does sound kind of intriguing.

[AstralSoul | 502]

Ranking the 2023 games I played:

8. Sonic Superstars - Fun game, nothing special, but if nothing else it's nice to get another solid 2D Sonic game.

7. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - I really did not love this game and I can't place why. I think part of it is that I'm just too busy and if I'm going to play big games, I'm going to be very picky about which ones, and this one isn't it. I loved Breath of the Wild, but this one just didn't do it for me. I never finished it, and it's likely I never will, or at least not for several years. Disappointed in this one. 

6. Final Fantasy XVI - Honestly haven't played too much of it, but I like it even if it doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy. I wish the cutscenes weren't 3 hours long but it's a good game so far and I'm looking forward to finishing it...one day.

5. Super Mario Wonder - Surprised by this game. I knew it was Mario, and with Mario you pretty much know what you're getting. But for once, in a very long time, 2D Mario felt fresh again. Not my favorite game in the franchise, and it was over WAY too soon. But I loved every minute of it.

4. Street Fighter 6 - Very fun, great new entry in one of my favorite fighting game series. Only thing I hate about fighting games is the DLC character packs, it ends up being quite expensive. Also, I suck at the game. But it's still great!

3. Diablo 4 - I was very hyped for this game and for the first few weeks I was hooked. Absolutely loved it. Then, I took a break and just..never went back. Part of it was because of life, and I'm just too busy for big games. Still, it's a fun game, I plan to go back to it at some point but who knows when. Sadly, it didn't pull me the same way Diablo 3 did, but I still think it's a great game.

2. Pikmin 4 - Absolutely no surprise to me, as I am a huge fan of the franchise. I was extremely excited to play this one, and it did not disappoint. It was lengthy, very fun, challenging in some areas, and memorable.  Everything a new Nintendo game should be.

1. Baldur's Gate 3 - Far and away the best game of the year for me. Very detailed, fun, expansive, just an all around treat to play especially for someone who aspires to play DnD (though I never have and probably never will). One of the best games of the last 5 years, at least. Haven't finished it, but I definitely will..eventually.

Other games I played but are excluded from the list:
-Hogwarts Legacy - Didn't rank because I haven't played it much. I loved the little I did play but not enough to pass judgment on it. Looking forward to hopefully playing through it this year.
-Super Mario RPG - one of my favorite games ever but it was so faithful a remake that I can't give it a pass and say it's a "new" game.
-Advance Wars Reboot Camp 1+2 - More remakes of fantastic games but they're the exact same game as they were on GBA so I decided not to include them.
-Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe - Port of a Wii game. Great game, but it's hardly "new" so I decided not to include it in the ranking.
-Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection - A collection of a bunch of old GBA games. Not "new" so can't rank. Besides I barely scratched the surface of these.
-Sonic Origins Plus - A collection of old games; not new.

[fox | 1,667]

35 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I've only played Wonder and Turtles from that list.  But I'll be getting to most of the rest in the next year or two.  I'm pretty burned out on Diablo, but an open-world does sound kind of intriguing.

You have a great backolg to add to

I might be in the minority but I felt the open world really added to things (esp if you play Druid) rather than just endlessly running dungeons