2023 Year-in-Review: Dom’s Top 10 Games of the Year

It’s the final day of 2023, what was a difficult year for the industry yet an incredible time for the games it produced, as you’ll see shortly when I describe my favorite experiences.

In my last post of this latest Year-in-Review series, and of 2023 itself, I’ll run down the ten best games I played then throw in five honorable mentions to celebrate even more developers.

Many folks are calling it the best year in gaming. I even posited if it might be in my 2023 trends recap. While I don’t know about that, since there’s an element of recency bias inherent in that argument, the quality was consistent across various genres at both triple-A and indie levels.

The ranks of my list this year include genres like computer RPG, third-person action, cooking sim, rhythm brawler, vania, soulslike, fishing adventure and survival horror.

For context, by my count I tried over 60 new games during the last 12 months. Whew. Talk about a busy one!

Raise a toast to the winners below, and enjoy your New Year everyone!

Dom’s Top 10 Games of the Year 2023

10. Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games, Gearbox Publishing)

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC.

The sequel to 2019’s excellent, often overlooked Remnant from the Ashes went even bigger than its predecessor with its approach to narrative delivery and world-building, offering three bespoke areas to explore and bosses to defeat while keeping the crunchy core mechanics that make the series so enjoyable. Plus, who doesn’t love a game that offers a character class where you have a doggo friend that has skills, bites enemies and revives you?

9. Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks, Bethesda Softworks)

Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC.

The latest from Tango, known better for survival horror than action, came out of nowhere back in January as it stealth dropped on the day it was announced, resulting in a music action game that’s an easy contender for Surprise of the Year. Its characters are endearing while they navigate a syncopated, anti-corporate world that moves to the beat, offering an accessible path to the rhythm genre while incorporating platforming and a competent combat system within Bayonetta-esque battle arenas.

8. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Platforms: PlayStation 5.

PlayStation owns a number of premier studios and Insomniac is its most prolific, producing a fantastic sequel that tells its own tale of heroes and villains while perfecting the traversal for which the modern Spidey series is now known, notably via its new wing suit. High production value shines in set pieces, visual flair and technical prowess as the team gives equal weight to the relationships, stories and personal moments for Peter and Miles as it does their suite of abilities to fight for their beloved New York City neighborhoods.

7. Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games Publishing)

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC.

Over a decade in the making, Alan Wake 2 elevates beyond the innovative 2010 original to something that truly exists between indie film and brain-bending horror, a celebration of the auteur that forgets any boundaries of what an interactive medium can be. Even if it self-indulges into bonkers territory down the stretch, Remedy produced a gem, featuring at least two of 2023’s best sequences within its “We Sing” and “Old Gods” chapters.

6. Lies of P (Round8 Studio, Neowiz Games)

Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Mac.

I was sold on Lies of P since the moment Round8 Studio unveiled the “Pinocchio-souls” concept, and it managed to exceed expectations, moving beyond its inspirations to achieve its own high bar of quality that stands out among pretenders in the space. Its world is gritty, aesthetic is relentless, enemy design is impeccable and its twist on customization, especially being able to swap weapon parts to fit one’s build and change out P’s prosthetic arm, prove it has all the makings of a genre classic that isn’t made by FromSoftware.

5. Dave the Diver (Mintrocket, Nexon)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac.

It it indie? Is it AAA? As long as you say Dave the Diver amazing, I don’t care what you call it. In a year of standout fishing games, Mintrocket hooked a spot in my Top 5 because it manages to make water levels both engaging to explore and easy to traverse with its fluid controls and nifty ability system, then deftly layers on a restaurant management simulator and a story centered around ecological rejuvenation.

4. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch.

The latest Super Mario installment is joyful, quirky and constantly charming while retaining the pinpoint precision of a proper platformer. Nintendo offers a suite of levels from novice to uber challenging, a plethora of playable characters (including kid-friendly ones) and both co-op and online multiplayer. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a collector’s dream, adding a snazzy badge system with charged up abilities that only enhanced its masterful mechanics, running neck-and-neck with the classics as the franchise’s best 2D effort in over three decades.

3. Cocoon (Geometric Interactive, Annapurna Interactive)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC.

Made by one of my indie studios of the year in Geometric Interactive, Cocoon is an instant success in the puzzle space, expertly executing its worlds-within-worlds mechanic while coaxing the player to feel like a genius with the lightest of touches. While its terrific art direction blends organic with robotic, its design smartly and subtly signals where and how to move through levels, the rare puzzler that doesn’t ever require a walkthru and never feels frustrating. My only minor complaint is I wish it had a sprint or dodge button; otherwise, it’s immaculate.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo)

Platforms: Nintendo Switch.

They’ve done it, yet again. Tears of the Kingdom ignores the massive expectations Nintendo itself set with the legendary Breath of the Wild, building on the foundation with a suite of interactive tools that would break a lesser game. Nintendo offers a chance to combine almost any item to form something new, build out massive machines, teleport through geometry and jump from the sky to depths in one fell swoop. The result is hilarious failure and constant fun.

Tears of the Kingdom is more about dominating a well-trodden map and familiar mechanics as Link gathers a team and connects a world to fight another imminent threat from his eternal rival. There’s an entire underground that mirrors the surface world, ramping up the survival aspects, plus a myriad of sky islands and cave systems to loot. The latest Zelda boasts some of the series best moments between its “Guidance from Ages Past” quest-line and an epic, emotional Master Sword set piece. The essence of adventure is at its best in this superb sequel that might top this list if it came out any other year.

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Mac.

The industry never ceases to amaze and astonish, as I never thought I’d ever write this: Baldur’s Gate 3 is my Game of the Year. That’s saying something, and tells you just how special it is. I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons in my life. I’m not the target audience of this kind of crunchy, turn-based role-playing game. What drew me in, and what made it my favorite game of 2023, is the writing, characters, world and exploration. It entranced me, as if under a spell, weaving its tendrils into my very soul.

Very few experiences have the sort of lasting effect, and I still haven’t even finished its last act!

The sheer size and breadth is breathtaking, without being bloated. Every part has been developed with intention. Baldur’s Gate 3 rewards consideration of every action, every relationship, every decision with the utmost care, as much as Larian Studios itself put into making a game of this miraculous scope and, frankly, absurd depth. I can’t begin to calculate the permutations, how every playthru will be personal yet all will have a similar level of quality.

For instance, my paladin rolls with tiefling barbarian Karlach, who is also my romantic partner, high elf rogue Astarion and half-elf cleric Shadowheart, alternating in the druid Halsin or fighter Lae’zel. I’ve heard of people turning these characters away, even killing them, all equally valid ways to progress! It’s not one of those games that pretends decisions mean something. It’s not Mass Effect with paragon versus renegade. It’s fluid. Dialogue and storylines react. Choice is everything.

I will say, it’s not perfect. The first act is the most polished, and there’s been plenty of bugs and save issues documented where Larian continues to issue patches fixing technical issues. Still, the fact that the story of this game is so positive even with these hiccups is a testament to its status as a masterpiece.

Similar to my 2018 winner Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s the exquisite attention to detail, the care put into every interaction, the nooks and crannies of the map that have their own stories, all of these and plenty more elevated Baldur’s Gate 3 to the top of this list, eternally cementing its place in history.

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetical):