Vinny's Top 10 Games of 2023

Out of the gate, I'd like to thank everyone that has supported us throughout 2023 and into 2024. We've been talking about big and small shifts in 2024, so I'm hoping it's an exciting year.

You can always see a fairly up to date list of the games I'm playing here:

https://nextlander-game-database.up.railway.app/lists


Is 2023 one of the biggest years in video game history? Well, certainly we’ve talked about all of the massive layoffs, acquisitions, disruptions, and general real-life collisions of last year, so yeah it’s a big year. Let’s, for the sake of this list, put that aside and talk about the video games released this year. There have been folks comparing 2023 to 1998 as one of the most memorable. My take? Well, there’s never been a better time to play video games.

I made a video going through games I’d completed, am still playing, or had put down this year and I think it was just under 100. Some of those range from under a couple of hours to over a hundred, and when I was looking through that list I got a pretty strong sense that, yeah, this was a fantastic year for video game releases.

Let me start with some honorable mentions.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - I had Breath of the Wild at around number four the year it came out on my end of year list so why is Tears on the honorable mention list this year? It felt like more of the same to me. Even with the new powers, there wasn’t much in it that really tickled me in ways some of the other games on my list did. I’ve got over 70 hours in it, and have seen a lot of the story, which I’ve enjoyed, but it often feels like I’m playing Breath of the Wild: Redux. Still a great game, but there were ten other games that I felt impacted me more this year.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - The original Spider-Man was a number two spot on my list when it came out! Again, still a great game and deserves to be recognized but didn’t make the cut, probably for similar reasons as Tears of the Kingdom.

Golden Idol Mysteries: Both DLCs - These are great but not as great as the original game. As a package they are some of my favorite things out there currently and I can’t wait to see what happens in the franchise next.

Breakout 13 - This was a really fun FMV game that felt like it came out of nowhere. Interesting story, so-so structure, and some wild turns. Was a blast to play at Nextlander.

Sea of Stars - I’m still making my way through this one so it’s too early to make any real decision on it, but I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s as possible that I will adore this game as much as it is that I will burn out on it. Again, playing it currently and really connecting with it, so we’ll see.

Ok, I think that’s enough of that. You can check out my feelings on 90 other games by watching that video I mentioned previously, but those are the ones that were really hard to move off the list. Pikmin 4, Hi-Fi Rush, Tchia, I could go on and on about the amazing games I played this year and there are probably even more I didn’t play, but let’s get to my personal Top Ten.

10. The Making of Karateka

Growing up we had a Commodore 64 in the house. Not sure how it came to be (off the shelf of a Sears or off the back of a truck) but I do know I played (probably a pirated copy) of Karateka on that thing… a lot. Maybe it’s overblown to say that’s why I prefer narrative games or why I fell in love with animation heavy games like Out of This World, Flashback, and Prince of Persia but I have very strong memories of playing that same first cliffside area of Karateka over and over again. The team over at Digital Eclipse have done another fantastic job of documenting and archiving the creation process behind Karateka in their Gold Master Series. Their interactive museum approach is still fantastic, and I hope they continue to be the standard by which these stories are preserved.

9. Trine 5: Clockwork Conspiracy

While every game on this list is technically a “very personal choice”, Trine 5 is the game I most enjoyed this year playing with my kids from beginning to end. I haven’t played a Trine game in ages, and honestly I didn’t know they were still making them. The game was a great fit, allowing my 9 and 11 year old to choose character they liked, and let them contribute to the puzzle solving without punishing them (and all of us) for failing to meet a certain skill threshold. There’s enough overlap in the characters’ abilities to open up multiple ways to solve a puzzle but still gives a sense of accomplishment when each character does it their own way. The game also peppers some very useful ability upgrades and a talent tree along the way to keep things from getting stale.

8. Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

I’m very curious about where things are headed in the Horizon universe. Things left off on a big cliffhanger in Forbidden West and Burning Shores inches that story forward a bit more. Narratively, it left me with a better sense of how things might play out in the next game, or at least what the focus (pun intended) might be. Technically, the game has never looked better, but that’s not really a big surprise as the series has always been a bit of PlayStation showpiece. As for the story, like as said earlier, it’s not pushing the main plot along too much, but it does give some really great character moments, especially between Aloy and Seyka. While I don’t think all the emotional back and forth always felt earned or maybe more that it can come off as corny (look, corny is where a lot Horizon lives) the time dedicated to the characters and the work put into is probably the thing that keeps me coming back to the franchise.

7. Dead Space

There are no shortage of remakes coming out, so what makes Dead Space stand out for me? Well, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that it’s building on a fantastic foundation. It’s not a given that a team won’t whiff given the strong starting place, but they absolutely did not and in my opinion this is an incredible version of an outstanding game. It feels and looks modern, while keeping all the fun, dismembering gameplay that made the original so (dis)memorable. Motive Studios made smart, and seemingly loving, tweaks to the original that serve to enhance the original and results in a Dead Space that feels familiar yet is new and exciting.

6. Cocoon

It’s always a treat to be caught up by a game that wasn’t really on your radar. Cocoon’s unique puzzle mechanic of putting words within other worlds can get fairly brain-melting, but that’s in the best, most fun, kind of brain-melting. There are more than a few “OH! That’s how we’re doing things now…” moments, and it accomplishes the goal of every great puzzle game which is to make me feel like the smartest person on the planet. Well, except when I have to look up the solution, which I did at least once. Aside from the mechanics, you’ve got a great, organic vibe to the world with creatures and environments unfurling, gliding, and pulsating all around you. Add in some fairly unique boss battles that don’t overstay their welcome and you’ve got a great pick for a top ten list this year!

5. Viewfinder

Another puzzle game that shoots near to the top of my list this year is Viewfinder. It’s one of those games you call in other people to see because what it’s doing feels so incredible. At its core you’re taking pictures of your environment and stepping inside the image. Things only get more intricate and weirder from there. Viewfinder strikes a delicate balance between complexity, escalation, and new twists on its core mechanic. There’s enough story in there to keep you poking around for journals and to keep you interested in where things are headed as well. Really though, it’s the gameplay that never gets stale or boring, with just enough creativity in the puzzle solving that you sometimes wonder if you just invented your own solution.

4. Dredge

Another game that was a really pleasant surprise in 2023, though pleasant feels like a strange word to include in anything about Dredge. This Lovecraftian fishing simulator has you basically hauling fish, scrap, and whatever other mysterious trinkets lay beneath its chilling waters. The world, the people, and even the fish all seem touched by some other-worldly force. Part of what makes Dredge so great is that it’s a fairly simple gameplay loop within a game oozing with atmosphere. Sidenote: Oozing is absolutely a word that should be included in a writeup about Dredge. You upgrade your little boat to catch more fish to upgrade your now-bigger boat to catch more fish, etc. During that though, things escalate pretty regularly and situations go from weird to bizarre. Just a fantastic little journey from stem to stern.

3. Alan Wake II

We’ve talked a lot about Alan Wake II and what makes Alan Wake II so special. It’s actually a game I wasn’t quite sure about when I started it. Even writing this I still think some of the gameplay is not great, and wandering around the environments can be more tedious than intriguing. Than why is it so high on my list? Well, I don’t think I’ve ever played anything quite like it. Ever. I’ve played a lot of games, and Alan Wake II feels truly unique in what it sets out to do narratively, and even with some of its more novel game mechanics, though to a lesser extent there. The zigzagging, time hopping, psyche-bending, and utterly bonkers world and tale it lays out is fascinating and presented in such a way that it’s hard not to be impressed by it. It has some of the most memorable moments in a game of 2023, and that’s saying a lot because 2023 is a great year for games. It’s more than enough to make up for some of the clunkier aspects of the game, and even some of the buggier ones as well. I’m hoping some of the stories and rumors of Alan Wake 2 not being a big financial success aren’t the entire picture because I want more of this from Remedy and more Alan Wake.

2. Chants of Sennaar

Chants of Sennar is my favorite “I didn’t even know I wanted this” game. It’s one of those games that felt like it was made with me in mind. It’s a puzzle game all about decoding and mapping languages using unique glyphs and pictographs. Thare different cultures you’ll encounter along your journey through its version of the Tower of Babel, and each has been cutoff from the others. Your character is basically a walking Rosetta Stone which will attempt to reconnect these cultures by translating their languages into each other. Sure, you can brute force your way through some of it, or use the process of elimination to match a word in a limited pool of glyphs, but overall it’s a process of discovery and borders on almost feeling academic. The mechanics are a compromise between impossible and fun. Other games have had similar language mechanics, I’m thinking of Fez and Tunic, but Chants really makes it its core and does a great job of making the process achievable without feeling like you need to be a world class cryptographer. It makes the process fun, and gives you the feeling of being a world class cryptographer, a big distinction. Just a great title and a great surprise for 2023.

1. Baldur’s Gate 3

I’ve known Baldur’s Gate 3 would be at the top of my list for a while now. I’d put a bunch of hours into the pre-release version, so I thought I knew what to expect and even still I was blown away. One big reason I love BG3 so much, and this should seem obvious for anyone that has followed my tastes, is that it’s a gigantic narrative sandbox that almost begs you to try and do something dumb, clever, or unique to disrupt it. Now, whether or not you’re rewarded for your attempts varies, but often just the ability to be able to enact your dumb plan is enough. Clearly, the game has its boundaries, and you can hit them fairly often, but there’s also a lot of room for experimentation and creativity, and almost all of it is tied to some narrative goal or story hook. The mechanics and the storytelling weave together, get tangled at times, become a chaotic mess, untangle, and so forth throughout the entire process and I love it. I’ve hit bugs, which stink, and I won’t make excuses for them, but they haven’t been showstoppers for me. The UI can be a wreck, especially doing inventory management (though it has gotten a bit better with some patches), and I still haven’t finished Act 3 because they seem to constantly be adding additional content. Or maybe I haven’t finished it because I don’t want it to end, though I’m already eager to roll a new character and start again. Even with its numerous warts Baldur’s Gate 3 is a strong number one for me. It’s not going to replace my tabletop sessions with real people (shoutout to all the amazing DMs out there) but then again my DMs never let me quick save right before trying something and failing at something incredibly dumb… for better or worse. Baldur’s Gate 3 is fantastic and it’s the best game of the year.