The title of this post made me think about the best and worst I’ve played this year.
The best:
- The Case of the Golden Idol. Short and sweet mystery game in the vein of Return of the Obra Dinn. Not quite as good IMO but I still liked it quite a bit.
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Don’t let the IP fool you, this is a really solid turn based strategy game, occasionally with really solid writing. The “dating sim”/downtime parts were surprisingly fun at best and dragged down the pacing at worst.
- Death’s Door. Really cool, minimalistic, take on a Zelda-like game. Similar to Tunic in a lot of ways. Funny, cute and probably the best game about death I’ve ever played.
- Moving Out. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much while playing a game as I did with Moving Out. It will always hold a special place in my heart for allowing me to connect and laugh with people I love but don’t get to see very often.
Generally I mostly play games a while after release and based on recommendations I trust. As such there aren’t many real stinkers I can think of (plenty of games that I found overrated though). With that said, here are my worst:
- Doki Doki Literature Club. With the way this game is set up it’s all about the twist. The problem is that the game it pretends to be until then is incredibly boring. Maybe it would have helped if I wasn’t somewhat aware of what is really is but generally I found this game to be a slog.
- Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. Games that rely heavily on humor are always hit or miss. Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me in and the actual gameplay was incredibly bare bones.
Thanks for reading! What is your list?
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I really loved:
- Sea of Stars
- Roboquest
- Spider-Man 2
- Dredge
- Lies of P
- Remnant 2
I really DIDN’T love:
- Rollerdrome
- Starfield
- Hogwarts Legacy
I think there were some middling games and some really great games this year, and even the ones I didn’t enjoy were just not for me, as opposed to actively being bad games. I’m not going to board the hyperbole train and say it’s the best year for games ever, but I think it was very strong and had a lot of variety which is good for everyone. Looking forward to 2024 when I get to play everyone else’s favorites in this thread :)
How did Remnant 2 compare to Remnant 1 for you if you played both? I started Remnant 1 just before the 2nd release, and I really liked the concept but everything felt too generic and started to get old really quickly. I think the biggest issue was the procedural generation made everything too similar. The worlds all felt the same with only a few enemy types.
Much better in Remnant2! Normal mobs, minibosses, even bosses: on my second play through I’m still discovering lots of new things. Best game in 2023.
It may not be my top game, but it’s up there! I really glad to hear you liked it that much though, I can’t wait to see what the DLCs will look like. There’s already a lot of variety, but more stuff to do is always great.
I will agree with the other poster that already replied and say it’s MUCH better in Remnant 2. Variety in stages, story, and enemies are all much better, and the bosses/mini-bosses are more fun than the first. I loved the first game as it was a really great small party game to play online, but the second is better in almost all aspects. If you have Xbox, it just went on gamepass, and I think it’s worth your time to check it out.
As a side note, I will say that the final bosses in both games are absolute bullshit. It’s the one thing that they didn’t seem to listen to as far as criticisms from the first game. If you have a party you’ll be fine, but soloing can be tough.
Best:
Factorio - The factory must grow.
Vampire Survivors - They keep releasing new content, and I keep devouring it. This game is even more addicting than Cracktorio.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - Best April Fools joke this year, and a solid light visual novel in its own right. This was a pleasant surprise.
Remnant II - My choice for Game of the Year this year. TotK let me down, and while BG3 is solidly in the #2 spot I don’t really vibe with it. Remnant II is an excellent sequel that builds on the strengths while fixing the weaknesses of its predecessor. It’s a hell of a game that still manages to stand out in a year stacked with great titles.
Note: I didn’t play AC6 or the new Street Fighter, so I’ve got no opinion on how they match up.
Worst:
Keywe - A puzzle game where you play as Kiwi birds managing a post office in Australia. Not my thing, but my sister likes it and wanted to play the multiplayer with me. We played online and holy hell this game’s netcode is broken. We kept desyncing mid-puzzle and then whoever was hosting would have to finish the puzzle while the other stood and watched because they couldn’t see the actual gamestate. It’s probably a fine game as a solo or local play experience, but it left a sour impression.
Did Remnant 2 feel more unique than Remnant 1? I tried the 1st and fell off in the 2nd world because it all felt too similar with a handful of enemies and procedural chunks. Reluctant to try the 2nd if it’s got the same lack of variety.
I didn’t have an issue with that in Remnant 1, but I think it was improved on that front. There’s more enemy variety, with several fodder mobs and elites with unique gimmicks, and some of the bosses are straight up weird. The maps are still procedurally generated, but there are more types of maps in the pool. They do still feel samey when you get two maps that use the same chunks, but there is less overlap from map to map.
They also made the area progression part of the world proc-gen, so you can encounter the areas in a different order on different play-throughs. That does help keep the replayability fresh, but it doesn’t fix the issue. It just sort of sweeps it under the rug so that it takes more playthroughs to notice.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was the best I played this year. There might be recency bias, but I genuinely think it’s one of the best games I’ve ever played. Persona 5 Royal isn’t super far behind, was also great.
Worst game I finished was Starfield. Did not see that coming. Worst overall was Vambrace: Cold Soul. Incredibly gorgeous game with a complete disaster of a core gameplay loop.
Best:
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Against the Storm
- Dave the Diver
- Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew - I usually hate tactical strategy games, but this one’s good. The quicksave/reload feature makes it pretty fun to experiment and goof around.
- Dead Cells (I’m behind)
- Grounded
- Tears of the Kingdom
Mediocre
- Dredge - It was a unique experience, but I never really understood the fear/consequences despite fully finishing it.
- Armored Core 6 - The balance in this series always ruins them, even though I try to love them every time. Being forced into a specific build takes the fun out of customization.
I guess I avoided the worst games this year!
The games that caught my attention the most were Payday: The Heist, Crusader Kings III (essentially a live service), and Hollow Knight. Honorary mention: Lovely Planet, it pushed me right to my limits, any little bit harder and I wouldn‘t have been able to get full stars. I did play some Zelda but it didn‘t blow me away.
The worst games, hmm. For sure Magicka, CTDs en masse, absolutely unplayable. DiRT 5 was a huge disappointment to me, driving felt terrible and somehow it looked worse than GRID 2019 with cars that could’ve been toy cars. An HDR spectacle though for sure.
Best : BG3
Empyrion (you love sandbox games with endless content with very little guidance? Try it, I’m on HWS RE server and after 260h I’m still just scratching the surface)
Marvel Midnight Suns (top notch on many levels)
Chrono Ark (one of the best roguelite deck builders for me)
The scroll of Taiwu (perfect cultivation sandbox RPG, official translation should come in 2024)
Worst : Not much… I just don’t understand why I can’t get into Thea 2. It’s supposed to kinda be my dream game. Yet, I’m always bored after 30 min.
Shoutout to Archmage Rises. It has a long way to go but it could possibly be my GOTY 2024.
The best I played this year
-
Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead with the Sky Islands mod Absolutely best survival game I have ever played by a long mile. There is just so much time and love behind this game.
-
Deep Rock Galactic A flawless game
-
Halo Infinite multiplayer it is actually good now!
-
Battlebit So good to have a battlefield not owned and ruined by EA
-
Elden Ring and Stardew Valley ate a decent chunk of 2023 for me. And are both amazing games in their own right. Totally different, though.
I didn’t play anything really bad this past year, but I did bounce off Crosscode pretty hard after expecting to love it given I’m a sucker for early JRPGs and the 8 and 16 bit eras in general. It’s a well made game, just overlong and featuring some tedious and frustrating mechanics.
I’m currently on playthrough 4 of Stardew. Love that game
I’m enjoying it, but after a certain point I feel like I had to consult a guide. Late-game stuff is expensive!
Best: path of exile Worst : path of exile Shout out to kingdoms of amular rereckoning and stray.
Favourites, not really ordered
- Street Fighter 6 - Really really good fighting game, definitely a recommend if you want to play one.
- Baldurs Gate 3 - It is BG3, what more needs to be said?
- Octopath Traveler 2 - It is more of the first, but more refined and better at tying the characters together.
- Dead Space Remake - If you like the original, you should really play this, it is incredible.
- Remnant 2 - Great game, a good refinement of the first remnant, and fantastic in co-op.
- Last Epoch - I really like the leveling systems(Character and also Skills). Not perfect, but fun and chaotic.
- Crab Champions - Crab goes BRRR. Not many games I go out of my way to 100% but this games feels incredible to play.
- Spiderman & Miles Morales - Finally pick up on the cheap, if you enjoy the Batman Arkham formula, these two are fantastic. Miles Morales definitely feels like a large DLC though.
- Driftwood - Longboarding Sloth, super chilled out and relaxing. Just enjoy carving down the hills on sticks of butter.
- Lumines - The best game on the PSP, and still love it(picked up for cheap with Tetris, but prefer Lumines)
The not so good.
- Ghost Runner 2 - I want to like this more, I loved the first game, but the wide open levels and bike traversal just don’t feel good or fun.
- Diablo 4 - Play Last Epoch instead, D4 feels boring and bland and uninspired after finishing the story.
- Blasphemous - Didnt click with me, the combat felt good and the movement was good, but never stuck with it, will probably try again at some point.
- Hyper Light Drifter - I have tried a few times, and I keep bouncing off it.
- Ori and the Blind Forest - I also want to like this game, but bounced off it again.
While Street Fighter 6 is my Favourite game of the the year, Baldurs Gate 3 is definitely the GOTY. I would strongly recommend any game from the favourites list. I haven’t played any really bad games this year, Diablo 4 is probably the worst I have played, do not recommend it. Unlike the other games which I would be tempted to suggest under certain circumstances.
On Ori and the Blind Forest - if you generally enjoy platformers, I would encourage you to give the sequel a shot, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. I played BF years ago and like you, I bounced off it. Then a couple of years back I tried WotW and loved it.
I subsequently went back and retried BF, and I realized that every issue I had with the gameplay had been fixed in the sequel.
The story of the first game only factors into the second game in minor ways, so you’ll be fine if you skip it.
I will give it a try, pretty sure it is in the steam library, but probably be a couple months til I get round to it now (Granblue is being an absolute blast).
I played a bunch of the new releases and some older indies.
Best (in no particular order)
- Tears of the kingdom - Game was very good. I can’t imagine going back and playing breath if the wild after this, it improves on pretty much all the gameplay in that game.
- Armored Core 6 - This was very fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I played through it 4 times to get all the endings (i messed up a choice when trying to get the third ending and had to play through a fourth time).
- Starfield - This was really fun for awhile when it originally released. It has some issues, but I really like it.
- Factorio - I got super into this during this summer. It’s the best factory game.
- Sanabi - Indie released last month. It’s incredibly fun with a touching story. It’s an action platformer where you swing around the levels with a chain arm.
- Omori - As a game this is just alright, but it has probably the saddest plot of any game I’ve played.
- Signalis - Survival horror indie game that’s like resident evil crossed with dead space, complete with cool eldritch horror vibes.
- Library of Ruina - Intense deckbuilding game with an interesting setting. There are a lot of strategies to build decks around that are super viable.
- Cassette Beasts - Fantastic indie Pokemon type game that is miles better than anything gamefreak has pushed out lately. Has interesting battle mechanics, a great soundtrack, and a cool throwback art style.
Worst
- Shadow of war - couldn’t get into it. I played the first one when it released, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
- Spelunky - I got this one in a bundle a long time ago and decided to boot it up. I couldn’t really get into it and only did a few runs.
- Spyro Trilogy - I don’t know why I finished the first two. I don’t think Spyro’s gameplay has aged super well.
- Outward - I want to get into this, but the game is frustratingly difficult. I feel like if I play it some more I’ll get it and it’ll be fun, but I don’t like playing to get to that point.
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Spelunky! I guess it takes a special kind of masochist to enjoy it, but Spelunky 1 and 2 are two of my all-time favorite games, having put several hundred hours into both.
The difficulty makes the wins feel extremely satisfying to me.
Cocoon - short with no dialog but really enjoyed the puzzles
The Talos Principle 2 - great puzzles and well done story. Really enjoyed it.
Far - Lone Sales - the start wasn’t super intuitive but didn’t take long. Short, no dialog. Ok puzzles. Fair enough especially on sale
Dave the Diver - Really good. Didn’t finish since I played it enough that it didn’t drive me anymore. That’s not the games fault since I tend to do that and rarely play longer games much with my schedule.
I expect you to die 2 - short and alright. Loved the first one, second wasn’t as good but not bad either
Stray - I really enjoyed this one. Fantastic world setting and ambiance even though it’s too short for some people’s taste I found it to be really good.
Gorogoa - Really weird and really good. I love deeper narratives revealed over time and this one hit me like Rime
I expect you to die 3 is out. I’m halfway through, and I think it’s better than 2.
Still too short, 6 levels, but that’s indie VR games for you I’m afraid.
Best:
Tears of the Kingdom: what else is there to say about this game that hasn’t already been said? It improves on Breath of the Wild in just about every conceivable way. The only real downside to me is that it raises the bar so high for the next new Zelda title that it may not be possible for it to reach that height.
I can’t really think of a game I played that would be considered “bad” this year so I don’t really have a Worst, but just making a post acknowledging that TotK was hands down the best.
That said, I didn’t really play too many new games this year in general, so here is what I did play: Fire Emblem Engage, Persona 5 Royal, Pokemon Ultra Sun, Fire Emblem Echoes, Lunistice, Symphony of War, Super Mario RPG Remake.
If I had to give out a Worst among that list it would probably be Symphony of War because it doesn’t really have the polish of the others, it’s an inexpensive indie title and it shows, but I can’t definitively declare it the Worst because just about all the other games it’s compared to above are from big studios and that’s not fair to it, pretty much an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Best - Armored Core 6 Worst - Bloody Spell
Best: Ghost of Tsushima
Worst: Overcooked 2
