Your top three favourite games of 2023

[Harwood Butch3r]

With the year coming to an end and pretty much all the notable releases done and dusted I think it’s far to say 2023 has been a pretty amazing year in gaming and possibly the strongest year of the generation so far.

 

A lot has been released this year from exclusives to multi plats, but I am curious as what have been your top three?

 

Mine are as follows..

 

1) Spider-Man 2

2) Resident Evil 4 remake 

3) Forspoken

 

These are honourable mentions mostly because I didn’t quite finish them or play them as much, but still enjoyed them nonetheless.

 

Forza

Dead Space remake

Dead Island 2

FF16

RoboCop: Rogue City 

F1 23

Baldur’s Gate 3

 

 

Overall nothing has really disappointed me much. Maybe Starfield treaded the line really close, but I’ve never really been a huge fan of Bethesda RPGs so I’m not surprised it didn’t grab me as my expectations were already low, but I played it on Gamepass so it was just like a shoulder shrug kind of thing and nothing was really lost.

 

But yeah besides that what a great year it’s been. It finally feels post Covid and now the current gen consoles are in plentiful supply devs are really starting to sink their teeth in and we’re starting to see more and more games take advantage of the hardware available.

 

All we need now for the chef’s kiss is GTA VI’s official announcement/trailer R* are planning for early December to cap it off.

 

 

[Jason]

Top 3:

 

1) Baldur's Gate 3

2) Cyberpunk 2.0/Phantom Liberty

3) Starfield

 

Honourable mentions:

 

Diablo IV, Jusant and Last Epoch

 

Also played some other stuff like Hogwarts Legacy, Cassette Beasts and Hi-Fi Rush, none of which I ended up finishing but decent to good games nonetheless. Special shout out to RoboCop as well, I really enjoyed that demo and am gonna pick it up on sale probably later down the line. There's one final game I have my eye on this year coming out in December which is Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader, I'll see how that reviews from my go-to CRPG peeps at launch. Maybe I'll pick up Avatar if I'm bored, but I doubt.

 

Next year I'm not getting too excited over GTA VI cause we all know how R* rolls and while next year, without GTA VI, may fail to reach the highs of pure quality that BG3 and CP2077 had, the sheer volume of games I wanna play next year looks 2-3x what it was this year already:

 

Avowed, Fable (2025 maybe?), Monster Hunter 6, Horizon FW PC, Dragon's Dogma 2, TDUSC, Broken Roads, Helldivers 2, Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, Expeditions (Mudrunner), Last Epoch 1.0, Diablo 4 expansion, Starfield DLC, Stalker 2, Dragon Age 4, Star Wars Outlaws, Towerborne and no doubt more, lol.

[Tacymist]

I'ma put Starfield at the top. I have my fair share of criticisms of it, but I can say the same for other BGS games that I put thousands of hours in, so this is my main game of the year.

 

Hogwarts Legacy is a very special game for me. I wasn't a Harry Potter fan before playing it, I took a gamble buying it but it ended up paying off. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, I was surprised how fun the combat was and I really liked the character I played as. I thought it'd be offputting playing as some kid since most of the characters I create I make my age. But nah, this game was just great all round. I know there's some criticisms of the open world not being the best, and I can agree to that. But imo the awesome castle more than makes up for it, also that other little town that I forget the name of, I really liked it there too. I'm still a noob at this franchise so I'm not going to remember all the names. lol

 

And I was n;t going to put anything for my third because I'm not that much of a gamer, I just have a select few I'll dump hours, even years into, most releases don't interest me. BUT I'll put Phantom Liberty here, the Cyberpunk dlc. I didn't complete it yet, maybe sometime next year I'll finish it. But Dogtown is cool, very chill and cozy vibes there. And the new vehicles introduced were great, especially the weaponized ones. Actually talking about it again makes me want to jump back in it now. But ya, I'll put this as my third.

 

And I'ma give an honorable mention to Necromancy as the new combat skill in Runescape 3. I really am enjoying this new skill, I mean I can summon a zombie that I can command to suicide bomb my enemies. It's very nice. This is my fav new skill since Archaeology, even though that was the previous new one. baha

[Lemoyne outlaw]

there weren't many new games this year that i was interested in. i only got two new games this year. and assassin's creed mirage was great. easily my favorite game of the year. it has gotten so much unnecessary hate. i also got dead island 2. but i didn't care for it. once i beat it i sold it.

[smokeless6]

Baldur's Gate 3

F1 23

 

I think that's it for 2023 releases for me.

[Is this The Guy?]

Just realized I only played 3 games that came out this year so by default my list would be:

 

1) RE4 remake

2) Spider-Man 2

3) Diablo 4

 

RE4 got first simply because it’s the only game I actually finished from the list.

I just started Diablo 4 yesterday but already can see it jumping to the top soon.

I really wanted to play Lies of P because the story and setting looked fun but the overall difficulty turned me off.

 

From the sounds of things it’s been an excellent year for games but personally nothing really caught my eye.

 

 

Edited November 10 by Is this The Guy?

[Jason]

12 minutes ago, Is this The Guy? said:

From the sounds of things it’s been an excellent year for games but personally nothing really caught my eye.

 

Statistically (based on the average ratings) it's been one if not the best years ever in the history of the industry.

 

But at the same time it's not a year where people are playing 5-6-7 of these well reviewed games because they're all spread over a frankly absurd amount of genres, which is great, the variety is great, but they won't be for everybody. I'd say it's been a huge year for games for me personally and yet the list of games I've played is not mind blowingly big or anything, it's just a lot of quality in a number of genres I enjoy.

 

I have a feeling the next 1-2 years will be way more dense though, the second half of 2023 feels like it was just the start, the new-gen launch and lockdown pushed every back 1-2 years and it's all been lumped up lol.

[lndex]

Top 3:

 

1) Baldur's Gate 3 - I think we can all agree that Larian got people interested in the CRPG genre even if you weren't a fan, including myself. Not to mention how accessible they made it for the player to go about how they approach situations within the world.

 

2) CP 2077 2.0/Phantom Liberty Expansion - It's safe to say that the state Cyberpunk is in now is incredible. CDPR outdone themselves on PL, and it's past updates to get the game to be how they initially wanted it. They also just won best expansion in the Golden Joystick Awards. Kudos.

 

It's easily one of my favourite games of all time.

 

3) Starfield - I know for a fact that when full mod support comes around next year with the CK and then it's DLC, I'll be spending countless hours playing, or, should I say, modding? You know how it is if you've modded Fallout's or Skyrim, lol. But I'll always love going around the planets in Starfield. The atmosphere is great.

 

Honarable mentions

 

Alan Wake 2 (I may just edit my top three when I finish it). Who knows? Jusant and Diablo IV: This past week or two, with Season 2, has had me constantly playing D4. Very much enjoyed it, and I look forward to the mid-season content and Vessel of Hatred next year!

 

There are a couple of games I'm looking forward to early next year, but off the top of my head, the main one would be Stalker 2, even though it's most likely going to be a story-driven experience rather than survival like what I'm used to w/ Annomaly & GAMMA, we shall see.

 

[Adam Jensen]

1) Baldur's Gate 3

2) Phantom Liberty

3) Alan Wake II

 

This was a very good year for gaming, though. The ones above are just the crème de la crème of AAA games, but there's been a lot of amazing indies and AA's.

[Failed Again]

ESO

Starfield

 

forgot to add..

also FO76...feel free to remove your thumb's up/lol

 

 

Edited November 14 by Failed Again

[Candy_Licker]

1) Baldurs Gate 3 - no contest for me there, this game is a milestone for the gaming Hall Of Fame

 

2) Cyberpunk 2.0 / (Phantom Liberty) - haven't even touched the PL content yet, for me personally this game is a 2023 release as I tried getting into it last year but was thoroughly disappointed, and I was hyped for this release as anyone else. Finally I can appreciate it as the game it is with the update and new hardware

 

3) Jagged Alliance 3 - really solid, quality continuation of a beloved frnachise, really hope they hurry up with full modding support now

Edited November 14 by Candy_Licker
spacing

[Mister Pink]

1. Starfield - No game has kept me interested past 50hrs without me needing a break for a few weeks except Starfied. I still think I've yet to see much more in Starfield. 

 

2. Hogwarts - I've not completed it but I thought it was very creative, nicely polished and very well realised. I'll come back to it. 

 

3. Forza: Motorsport - I'm really only including this because I've not played any other '23 releases apart from some Dead Space remaster. Dead Space is nice and all not not my type of game. 

 

I'm sure if I got my hands on Phantom Liberty or Alan Wake 2 - at least 1 of them would be in my top 3. 

[Emmi]

Metroid Prime Remastered is probably the game I enjoyed the most this year.

I also enjoyed the 20 hours I played Hogwarts Legacy early this year before I stopped and never returned to it? I finally feel like going back to it again maybe over Christmas or so.

Other than these two games I guess I enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom quite a bit but it's nowhere near Breath of the Wild for me and them re-using the same Hyrule was indeed a horrible idea (for my enjoyment of the game).

Edited November 14 by Emmi

[Ducard]

I know it's not technically a 2023 game but screw it, Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 is my game of the year. I played it when it got the 1.5 update and while I liked the game a lot, I never got as invested into it as I am now. There's quite a lot of builds you can experiment with, the story, characters, and writing are top-tier tier and the world-building is incredible. It's creeping up my "favorite games of all time" list too. I have about 75 hours total in the game and am yet to complete it which is crazy. Not to mention, I'm yet to touch Phantom Liberty. The only real criticism I have of the game is that I wish it had a more branching storyline but it's not a deal breaker. 

 

I still remember being excited for the game's launch, booting it up and it ran like absolute ass with a ton of bugs back in December 2020. It's been crazy to see the game's journey from that state to this. In hindsight, the game always had potential even during its disastrous launch and I am glad CDPR stuck with it. 

I still have a few games left to play this year like Alan Wake 2, Dead Space, RE 4 Remake, and AC: Mirage. I know Mirage got some hate but I am actually looking forward to playing a good old-fashioned turn-your-brain-off stealth game. Not to mention the setting looks great.

 

Overall, it's been a great year for gaming. I really enjoyed Starfield and Hogwarts Legacy as well but 2077 2.0 is on another level for me.

Edited November 18 by Ducard

[TheOverlookHotel]

1. Super Mario RPG

2. Resident Evil 4 Remake

3. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

 

Im sure Alan Wake 2 will be in there somewhere once I get around to playing it.

[franloradr]

1) Resident Evil 4

2) Alan Wake 2

3) Phantom Liberty

-----

 

starfield has a completly oudated design, this wasnt different with older Bethesda experiences yet this time they made a game with a stupid and boring exploration based on passing through different loading screens and menus

 

you cannot develop a sci-fi exploration game in 2023 and expect from us to explore a galaxy by choosing in a menu where you want to go

 

whats the point on this game being only in Xbox series ? Is it taking any advantages of the current gen ?

 

and the starship combat looks like a minigame

 

Im really glad this has not been nominated on the game awards, Bethesda has to reconsider many things when it comes to how they design different systems their games integrate, and for the future of TES 6

Edited November 19 by franloradr

[B Dawg]

Turbo Overkill

Crime Boss: Rockay City

 

Don't think I played anything else new.

[Harwood Butch3r]

12 hours ago, B Dawg said:

Turbo Overkill

Crime Boss: Rockay City

 

Don't think I played anything else new.

How’s Rockay City?

 

I have to admit I’ve been tempted to buy it because of the star power involved, but some of the reviews have been a bit meh.

 

It gives off GTA/PayDay vibes just looking at it. Is that a good description?

Edited November 20 by Harwood Butch3r

[B Dawg]

3 hours ago, Harwood Butch3r said:

It gives off GTA/PayDay vibes just looking at it. Is that a good description?

More like Scarface/Payday, just without any open world. You got a singleplayer campaign where you fight to take over the city and do heists to fund your operation, and also have some story missions you can do to unlock/keep/upgrade certain crew members. It's basically a better Payday in my book that's actually fun to play with AI. The actual Multiplayer side of the game is a bonus.

Edited November 20 by B Dawg

[Dick Justice]

Only new game I've completed is Starfield. I thought it was great. I'm now playing Spider-Man 2, then moving on to BG3, Jedi or Cyberpunk. It's been a back-loaded year for me, not too interested in Hogwarts or Resident Evil. I tend to savour games as much as possible these days, so I probably won't be done with my backlog until April/May 2024. To answer your question:

 

1) Starfield

2) ????

3) ????

[smokeless6]

On 11/10/2023 at 12:21 PM, smokeless6 said:

Baldur's Gate 3

F1 23

 

I think that's it for 2023 releases for me.

 

Ah, not so fast....

 

I clicked on the steam awards voting which showed me I had played two other 2023 releases. But I didn't really get on with them well enough. And those are

 

Age of Wonders 4. I thought this would be sort of a hybrid between Civ and Total War, and it sort of is. Not a bad game, and has quite a few good ideas. But I was put off by how tight the world maps are. There's no elbow room, and neighbors are on you inside a few turns. I like that early exploration phase like in Civ, where I can stake out my claim before conflict inevitably ensues.

 

System Shock remake. I just stopped playing out of the blue, and not sure why really. Maybe the combat just sucks too much. I'll probably return at some point.

 

So I need to pick one of these as number three..... I'll go System Shock because Looking Glass

[Erased]

I only have two for the year.

 

Spider-Man 2

 

The Crew Motorfest