Ethan’s Top Games of 2023

Well another year has come and gone, and allow me to beat a dead horse and say what a year 2023 has been for the world of gaming. From beloved remakes, brilliant new IPs and some of the most anticipated sequel releases of the past decade, 2023 is one of those rare years that has managed to cater to everyone’s personal tastes in one shape or form, and that’s truly a rare sight to see. At the same time it has also been one of the hardest years for game developers and creators, with mass layoffs, acquisitions and the rising prevalence of games as a service and AI making it one of the bleaker years to cover in the games industry.

For me personally it’s been a rough one. From family members and my dog passing away, to a recurrent lack of motivation and feeling lost in my overall life, it’s been difficult to balance my personal life and the rollercoaster of emotional whiplash the games industry has been these past twelve months. Fortunately, the games themselves have been incredible and have honestly acted as a kind of escape for me; and we’ve been so lucky to have had such a plethora of experiences that I’ve been happily occupied with for most of the year (sorry backlog…)!

So with all that out of the way, below you will find my list of my top ten favourite games to come out this year. Yeah I know the others did top six but what can I say? It’s the holiday season and I’m in the mood for giving! Some of these games have risen and fallen over time, so I’m sure a few of these will surprise you. Speaking of surprises, let’s start right here…

10. Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Image Credit: Too Kyo Games, Spike Chunsoft

Well who would have thought this little bugger would sneak in here after my initial impressions on the podcast?! Well it was either Rain Code or Crash Team Rumble, and with my more positive initial impressions on Rumble you’re probably wondering why Rain Code managed to wriggle in on top. While the answer is rather simple really: my positive thoughts on Crash Team Rumble have waned due to its lack of substantial content and updates, while my outlook on Rain Code has only grown more positive the more time has passed since playing it. That’s live service games for you…

But let’s not beat around the bush, I still think the core “case gameplay” of Rain Code is absolutely awful, especially in comparison to similar games in the genre like Danganronpa and AI The Somnium Files. It holds your hand too often, the cases are a barebones checklist and the mystery labyrinth is one of the more boring plot devices I’ve had to sit through in a visual novel. But for some reason I can let all that slide because of just how strong the other pieces of its puzzle are.

Its world is interesting to explore and has an atmosphere I absolutely adore. Its soundtrack blends an incredible mix of mystery, dystopia and unease. And most importantly of all, it has a wonderful cast of characters that are still stuck in my head almost six months later. Yuma, Kirumi, Fabuki, Chief Yakou, Desuhiko. All these names are still in my head and if you know me that’s a huge accomplishment on Rain Codes part. Mix that with an overall narrative I came to really like by the time I reached credits, and Rain Code was a genuinely pleasant experience overall. If you’re into the genre you should check it out; just play AI and Danganronpa first as they are far stronger by comparison. Also can we get a PS5/PC port of this please? I’d appreciate it!

9. Lies of P

Image Credit: Neowiz Games

Now I won’t lie to you, I still haven’t finished Lies of P. I got around half way through it when I eventually had to stop to play this little game called Spider-Man 2, but the time I spent with it really caught me by surprise. I’ve never really gelled with other attempts at the Souls formula outside of From Software’s titles, but Lies of P is that good; it can honestly stand pretty close to its counterparts. Lies of P is a beautiful game, with wonderfully designed bosses and mechanics that I really gelled with over my short time with the game.

The idea of using twisted takes on fantasy stories for a soulslike experience is such a good concept, and from its aesthetics to its tone Lies of P nails what it sets out to accomplish. There are a few things I could do without such as its overuse of multi-stage boss fights and its often steep difficulty curves (hah hah souls games are hard!), but Lies of P truly impressed me and I aim to hopefully return to it at some point next year.

8. Star Wars Jedi Survivor

Image Credit: Respawn

Man I kept this one waiting huh. Well after owning it since launch, I finally got around to playing Jedi Survivor this December. Why did I leave it for so long? Well it was a mess at launch, and the sheer number of bugs and performance issues put me off playing it for a good while. By the time it was in a better state in September, I was away on vacation, and afterwards other games were vying for my attention. Well I finally got around to it, and I can confidently say that Jedi Survivor is a better game than its predecessor in almost every way.

I say almost as boy does this game has its issues. Its main one is its overall story, as unfortunately bar a few strong character moments between Cal, Merrin and Cere it ends up coming off as filler. I couldn’t care less for either of the two main antagonists, and the constant trips to Koboh left more to be desired. There are parts of this game that are seriously strong though. The improved dynamics between Cal and Merrin are wonderful, with Jedah being the strongest portion of the game by far.

Other than my mixed emotions on the story, the gameplay is stronger than ever. Each of the lightsaber styles are just so satisfying to play, and despite some encounters becoming repetitive towards the latter half of the game, I never got tired of swinging a lightsaber around. With plenty of amazing setpieces, some strong bosses and excellent level design, there is a lot to like about Jedi Survivor. I just hope the final entry in the trilogy takes some larger strides in terms of story quality and planet design. Seriously, who thought revisiting Koboh 7 times was a good idea?!

7. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Image Credit: Nintendo

I’ll always have a soft spot for a great 2D Platformer, and Mario Wonder is no exception. From its tight controls to its fun and wacky wonder mechanics, there is plenty to love in Mario Wonder. Its online strand-like multiplayer systems are great, its visual style is gorgeous, and honestly I’d happily recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of 2D platformers and Mario games in general.

So why is it not higher? Well it's mainly because I’ve played better, both in terms of games this year and 2D platformers in general. It’s nowhere near the level of Celeste which is still my standard for game of the year platformer material, but man it's still a must play title from this year and an enjoyable experience to boot. It’s technically better than a lot of games higher on this list, but enjoyment is where it counts and Mario certainly landed in the middle of the pack for me. You can check out my full glowing review here if you're interested!

6. Starfield

Image Credit: Bethesda

I told you lesser-quality games would end up higher, but man did I really click with the first 30 or so hours of Starfield. Bethesda’s systems may be outdated, and there may be more loading screens and empty areas than any sane person would care to experience, but man do I feel like the characters and story are some of the strongest Bethesda have ever made. From Sarah and Sam as companions to the side stories and terramorphs there is so much to love about Starfield.

Even though the second half of the game lost me, and the new game plus storyline lessened my personal experience due to its forced nature (like seriously, no credits unless you enter a new game plus save?!), there was still so much that I loved that my impression of Starfield is still rather positive. I’ll 100% be checking out the DLC, and again if you want my full thoughts you can check out my full review here.

5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Image Credit: Insomniac Games

Insomniac Games never miss. That’s a mantra we’ve said many times before and yet again it stands true this year with the latest entry of their critically adored Spider-Man franchise. With the recent leak of projects and more importantly staff's personal data, I’m sure there’s a lot of negative energy around the Insomniac offices this holiday season. So let me be yet another person to say how much I love everything you guys do. You made my childhood with Spyro and Ratchet, and you continue to bring me utter joy whenever another release comes swinging around the corner.

And man did I love Spider-Man 2. It has what I consider to be one of the very best traversal systems in games I have ever played, up there with Just Cause 3 with the sheer amount of fun it is. The web wings were such an amazing addition to the flow, and all the new moves and traversal settings allow you to fine tune how you want your spider-men to feel. It’s amazing. I also loved everything to do with the Characters in this game. Peter and Miles are awesome as usual, but character’s like Kraven, Harry, Martin Li, MJ and even Norman had me on the edge of my seat throughout the game. It’s truly a blockbuster in videogame form and I utterly loved my time with it.

The alien invasion ending aside, there were barely any moments until then that felt dull or uninteresting. I really did love my time with Spider-Man 2, and I can’t wait to see all the projects Insomniac has cooking next (leaks be damned!). For fuller impressions, check our my full review here!

4. Hi-Fi Rush

Image Credit: Tango Gameworks, Bethesda

The biggest surprise of the year for me happened in January at an Xbox showcase. Take that in for a second. We had a whole twelve months of some of the best video game releases in the past decade, yet Hi-Fi Rush’s release in January still managed to be the best surprise of the entire year. A rhythm action game starring Robbie Daymond and Erica Lindbeck is like someone ticking the boxes of a dream game for me, so to get such a thing and have it be a day and date shadow drop was such a fun surprise.

Hi-Fi Rush is the best Xbox exclusive game of the past decade. It mixes a stellar soundtrack, hilarious performances, amazing level design and gorgeous visuals to create one of my favourite games I’ve played in recent memory. Everything is on the beat in Hi-Fi rush, from combos to cutscenes to the in world animation, and it never skips a beat during its 10 hour runtime. From its fun story to the plethora of moves and combos you can perform, every stage feels like a small concert allowing you to live out your (or Chai’s) inner rockstar fantasies. I’ve never really seen a game come out of nowhere and absolutely master what they were trying to achieve. Tango Gameworks are wizards.

Yeah some levels may be a bit longer than they needed to be, but too much of a good game is never a bad thing. I really adore Hi-Fi Rush and if there is one game I feel you need to check out from my list it needs to be this. It’s a shame there hasn’t been a physical copy as I would love to own it permanently, but whether you own an xbox or pc please go and check it out if a rhythm hack and slash sounds like a good time. You seriously won’t regret it! In the meantime I’d love to see more of this Xbox, both in a sequel and more experimental games in general!

3. Final Fantasy 16

Image Credit: Square Enix

If this list were the “first half of a game of the year” awards, then Final Fantasy 16 would be number one. I utterly adored the first half of Final Fantasy 16. No game has kept me so engaged, kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, and made me love every single character and drama that I had come accross. The personal stories of Clive, Cid and Jill surrounding the destruction of the mother crystals in a true fantasy story was something I absolutely adored. The conflict with Benedicta, Clive coming to terms with what happened when he was 15, finding Jill and searching for a new home in a kingdom torn by war and chaos. It was all so good! It’s a shame it had to throw it all away in the second half for a generic story about fighting a god.

I really don’t like the story of the second half of Final Fantasy 16. It drags, it stops respecting your time and it loses everything that made the first half so special. The gameplay is still fantastic, and there are still some fantastic bits of character development and story conclusion, but for the final 10 hours I just couldn’t stop myself from thinking about what ifs. What if the story was more of a character study. What if we stuck to the grounded fantasy storyline. I thought that the DLC might add more to love, but they’ve stuck it right in this contentious area too.

There is still plenty to love about FF16. Benn Star is a gem who deserves all the awards. The gameplay is simple but always satisfying to pull off, and there are some truly wonderful side quests and adventures to have. I just wish I could love the whole game as much as I loved that first half. My overall impressions are still quite high, and heck given a couple of years I may look back on FF16 even more fondly. But given my current conflicted emotions, it lands a tad lower than I would initially have liked it to.

2. Resident Evil 4

Image Credit: Capcom

In a year full of surprises, add Ethan playing and loving a horror game to the top of the list. I had no intention of ever playing Resident Evil. If my memory is correct the only reason I picked it up was because of a support goal, but man am I glad I did. The Resident Evil 4 remake is an exceptional videogame that manages to blend a perfect mix of tension and action into something I think anyone can really enjoy. In a nutshell it’s baby’s first horror game, but what a game to start with!

Resident Evil 4 mixes a fun and camp story with thrilling setpieces and sick controls to make an experience I’ve already played through six times this year. I honestly cannot get enough of this game mechanics and despite it not being a one for one remake, I can easily see how revolutionary RE4 was at the time. It feels great, looks great and is a joy to play over and over again, and I can’t really ask much more from a video game. I may find myself not liking the other entries in the Resident Evil franchise in the future, but damn RE4 remake has me wanting to check out what else the franchise has to offer in the years to come. Thanks for the peer pressure folks!

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Image Credit: Nintendo

It’s a sequel to Breath of the Wild, what else do I need to say? Tears of the Kingdom is a masterpiece when it comes to its level design and gameplay mechanics. It’s essentially an expansion to one of the greatest games ever made, and with it comes such a depth in its mechanics and world design that I’ve rarely seen in a video game. Whether you are exploring the skies on a flying motorbike, exploring the depths on a flying motorbike, or shooting down your foes from your flying motorbike there’s always something cool to be doing!

Ultrahand is janky but it's so much fun to use. Making your own monstrosities and tormenting bokoblins is something I never got tired of, and the other abilities like rewind and ascend have cool use cases when it comes to exploration and traversal. It’s not perfect when it comes to story and being more of an actualised sequel, and I won’t lie in saying that some of that original Breath of the Wild magic was lost the second time around, but man does this game just have so much to offer and I had so much fun that it was worth the long wait to play it. I can’t wait to see what the Zelda team does next. Hopefully it's something that can mix this fun gameplay with a more realised world and story? One can dream..

With that those are my top ten games of the year for 2023! Of course I’d be remiss without giving an honorable mention to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed for being an amazing expansion to my favorite game of 2022. In a lighter year I would have added that in, but alas it was just too packed!

Regardless what a year for video games eh! Thanks for hanging out with us for the past year, and here’s for another year of awesome games. See you in 2024 everyone!