Making this list is one of my favorite things every year because I love video games, and I love ranking things. So reaching the end of the year and compiling a top 10 video game list that I view as well researched is always very rewarding for me. This year was especially hard, as while perhaps not the “best” video game year of all time, it was almost certainly the deepest video game year ever. None of my top 2023 video games are games that I’d put in my top 20 of all time, but everything in my top 10, and most of my honorable mentions, would be top 10 in pretty much any other year. It was a special year, and it’s time to finally unveil a list that was much agonized over.
10. Chants of Sennarr
Imagine if Duolingo met Return of The Obra Dinn. Chants of Sennarr is a game about language where you traverse through different areas and try and decipher a new language in each one based on context clues. The game does a great job of making you feel like an ace detective, as it definitely takes some work and investigation to translate each language, but I never felt too overwhelmed or stuck. The story manages to be quite interesting even though you only learn pretty basic words from each culture. And each of those cultures has some really unique elements that are always fascinating to learn, much like going to any new country and learning how people live differently there. The game also has a very appealing art style. There are a lot of video games out there that let you cosplay as a detective, and Chants of Sennarr made me realize how much I’d like more video games that actually let you be a detective, and truly allow you to figure things out for yourself.
9. Octopath Traveler 2
It’s pretty shocking that Octopath Traveler 2 made this top 10 list, as I didn’t think I was going to buy it this year. While I liked a lot of elements of the first game, it just didn’t quite click for me, and I abandoned it about halfway through. I took a chance and tried the sequel, and it paid off greatly. Every individual story shines, and the already strong battle system is given a few nice quality of life upgrades that made me never feel run down, despite the need to grind on occasion. And this soundtrack is absolutely top tier. I couldn’t believe how hooked I was for 80+ hours. This could easily be in my top 10 turn based RPGs of all time, and yet, it only comes in at 9. 2023 is wild.
8. Resident Evil 4
Somehow, I have never played the original Resident Evil 4 (I really got into the series through the remake of Resident Evil 2), and going through it fresh absolutely ruled. Resident Evil 4 might have the craziest pacing of almost any game I have ever played. Usually, after a giant boss fight or a challenging encounter, games let you breathe a little bit. I was constantly stunned by how the game hits you with one big moment after another and does not stop. I kept foolishly thinking I’d have some time to recover after a tough fight, but the next one was always right around the next corner. The boss fights are great, the set pieces are consistently cool, and the surprises are constant. This is a thrill ride, plain and simple.
7. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
Jedi Survivor features my #3 and #6 favorite gaming moments of the year, and yet it only resides at 7 on my list. I will keep remarking on how amazing it is that some of these games are so low. I think the game’s glitches and performance issues led to this being kind of overlooked this awards season, but even though I played it at launch and dealt with that, it is still a tremendous experience. They really took everything from Fallen Order and made it better. The platforming in particular is just so satisfying this time around, the combat is still strong, exploration is fun, and they made a lot of quality of life upgrades that make the game less tedious in spots. While the story isn’t the strongest, when it does pick up, it gets quite good as well. This was a textbook example of taking all the critiques from a game and fixing them for a sequel. Hopefully, we get a flawless launch for the third game so that it can get the love that it will probably deserve.
6. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Like Jedi Survivor, this is another perfect example of improving everything for a sequel. After I played the original Spider-Man, I remember being unsure how they could really make a sequel much better. They proved me wrong with superior combat, more exciting traversal (off a game that already had very fun traversal), and in my view, a much better story. Having two protagonists helps keep things a bit more fresh as well. I’m really unsure how Insomniac can make a third game any better, for real this time.
5. Starfield
I guess we have reached the point in the discourse where this is a controversial take. Like many, I was a bit bored by Starfield in the beginning as I adjusted to all of its systems. Then, once I started figuring stuff out and started landing on one massive new world after another, I felt incredibly immersed and thought this would be one of my favorite games of all time. Slowly, that feeling faded, but in the end, I logged 60 hours with Starfield, beat it, and came away very happy. As someone who plays a lot of video games, I don’t really like to play any one game for an extreme amount of time. I understand getting “only” 60 hours of enjoyment would probably be disappointing for the many that poured hundreds of hours into a past Bethesda game, but for me, it is a big accomplishment for any game to be good for that long.
Some of that Bethesda jank is still there, and some quality of life stuff is still needed, but I still view Starfield as one of the best Bethesda RPGs. It has the best action combat of any of their games to date, space fighting is surprisingly cool, I love the RPG systems (it’s rare to have a skill tree where I spend as much time debating what to upgrade next as I did here), and the main story and most of the side stories are really good. I view this game as a great achievement by Bethesda and one of the best games of 2023, and I am not ashamed!
In the world of gaming, there might not be a more tragic feeling than falling in love with a game that doesn’t get the acclaim you think it deserves. Astral Ascent is right up there with some of the greats of the roguelite genre, but while successful, it hasn’t yet reached that kind of viral following games like Vampire Survivors have gotten. Maybe one day. After 50 hours and reaching my first ending, I could easily pick this up any day and know that I would fall in love all over again for days. Hibernian Workshop has promised a lot more content though, so I am holding off, barely. But I know there will be another week in 2024 where I am obsessed with this game.
Astral Ascent simply does everything well, outside of the story. The combat is very fun and fast-paced, the upgrades are rewarding, the music rules, the luck elements are perfect, and there are four different unique characters to play as. Every run feels legitimately different between new characters and with how many different spells you can end up with. It’s the best roguelite since Hades, and man, if the story was a little better, I think I’d prefer it over Hades.
3. Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 making it to my top 3 is an incredible accomplishment, as it had a lot of obstacles to overcome for me. I’m not a D & D guy, I’m not a PC gamer, and I’m not usually a CRPG enjoyer. Despite this, I put 60+ hours into it. Re-buying it on PS5 and starting over with a controller made me really realize how special this game is (and how much more I prefer playing with a controller). The amount of choices and potential consequences are so numerous, and the characters and production values are top-notch. It’s truly fantastic. I do have nitpicks, and I’m not sure if it is me being hard on the genre as a whole or if they are a bit of a problem. The minor things I didn’t love (and a few bugs) added up enough for me to not put it at #1, but don’t take that as a big slight, because I am legitimately shocked that it ended up being here for me. Sometimes, it is worth it to jump outside of your comfort zone.
2. Alan Wake 2
No game in 2023 had me as immersed as Alan Wake 2. Every time I turned on my Xbox, I was transported into this creepy and weird world completely. Atmosphere, a fantastic story, and many tense moments add up to the best survival horror game in a year packed with them, and one of the very best games of the year as a whole. Alan Wake 2 nails so many big moments, and I was constantly in awe that I wasn’t having any issues following a pretty complex and weird story, in part because that story is so good, and in part because the case board dynamic is so smart. I didn’t at first, but I ended up really appreciating how much it can feel like two totally different games, because the Saga and Alan segments are so impressively different. And it’s easily the best looking game of the year. It was an absolute must to just stop and look around sometimes because of how pretty it is. To top it off, it managed to release the best song that I listened to all year. This game is truly an experience, and would be a worthy game of the year in plenty of other years.
1. Final Fantasy XVI
All year, I was expecting one game to come out and knock Final Fantasy XVI from the perch I had put it on. Game after game came, and no one could ever quite reach the highs I felt playing this game. The Devil May Cry style combat hits so perfectly, and getting something like five different boss fights that surpass most what most games offer as a final boss fight was incredible. The performances, especially Ben Starr as Clive, truly bring the world and characters to life. It has the best soundtrack of the year, it has incredible visuals, and the story is still special even though its best moments mostly come in the first half. It also had my #2 and #7 best moments of the year, and probably another five that could make my top 20. I’m not someone who feels the need to be different when I rank my video games. I’d say I usually end up alongside one of the top 3 consensus, but this year, Final Fantasy XVI just hit the right buttons for me, and it is my upset pick as game of the year.
—–
Thank you for reading! Many games that did not make this list are still top 10 worthy in most years, so I will be releasing a separate list for honorable mentions next week.
Big Nerd Gaming 
Leave a comment