S-tier of 2023
The games that (almost) helped me forget what an utter shitshow this year was. As always, take the order with a hefty pinch of salt, I change my mind daily.
21 Games
Probably the game I was most hyped for this year and well, I love it. But I don't know if I love it more than Murder House. Give it another year maybe...
1
Sceptical from the offset, I was so ready to hate this incarnation, but you know what, it's pretty fucking good...
2
Genuinely, this is the first Frictional game I've enjoyed this much since Black Plague...
3
Other games in the series took me a while to warm to them, but 5 had me drooling from the very start...
4
Ghost of a Tale really drew me in, more than I was expecting honestly. But when a game ends with a black screen featuring the text "to be continued". It's inevitably gonna break my heart...
5
The game starts off real sweet, but by the end, it felt like I was shuffling through someone's diary. I don't know how fictional this is exactly, but it made me feel things so...
6
Been watching the series with intrigue for a while now and I wasn't disappointed hopping into this entry. Matchmaking does suck ass though...
7
Bro, I only got like 63% completion...
8
A friend bought me this on a whim and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't think of another horror game I've played that's similar. I do need to try and get those other endings though...
9
Probably the most I've laughed due to any kind of media this year, it's also just a solid idea for a game and a great excuse for me to shout obscenities at my friends...
10
ROCK AND STONE...
11
Okay, it's short and there's not much replay value, and by that I mean there is none. It's still one of the best horror games I've played though, and I'm so happy I went in blind...
12
My favourite parts in prior games was when 4A would let you off the leash, allowing you to take in the world around you at your own pace. This is basically the entirety of Exodus and I couldn't be happier...
13
A few hours in, hell, a dozen-plus hours in, I would've told you this was the best RPG I've ever played. That isn't the case now sadly, but it's still pretty fucking good.
14
I finally got around to this after years of it being on my radar. It's dated sure, but Bully still radiates charm to this day. It's for that very reason, it's now my favourite Rockstar game...
15
I appreciate the direction ID took eternal and its unwillingness to back down from this vision over its twin expansions as well. If there's one thing I wish it kept from its predecessors, it would be its approach to storytelling. Aka way less cutscenes...
16
Genuinely a really interesting game. I haven't got around to the endgame content, but I'll make sure to before I check out the sequel, which I'm very excited for...
17
This was actually my second time playing through the Phantom Pain. I originally bought the game upon its release but stopped when I reached chapter 2. For this playthrough, I pushed through and well, I've beat it now at least...
18
Honestly, it's not a bad sequel. In a lot of ways, I'd say it's a massive improvement. I'm just never gonna get over the fact Corvo speaks in this one...
19
I do appreciate that there's less meaningless stuff to collect in this one and web-slinging is as fun as ever. It also features the better Spider-Man, in my opinion...
20
This year, I spent a stupid amount of time in the online mode for Red Dead Redemption 2. The stable bug that requires you to alt + f4 your way out of the game is still there all these months later and the in-game economy is still doing all it can to claw money from its dwindling player base. This game is a shell of what it could've been, but what's there, kinda speaks to me in a way I can't quite describe. Nevertheless, I'm going to give it a go. I liked making my character a weathered old man, giving him a backstory and just wandering around the west. It shows how far immersion can take you when there's not a hacker spawning in multiple copies of yourself hellbent on killing the original. Turns out it's also a great game for a virtual road trip, and on two separate occasions, I got a gang of friends together to join me as we went from town to town, kicking up a ruckus and trying our best American accents (though I struggled a little due to my reliance on a tts bot).
21