My Top 5 Games in 2023

The 5 games I played in 2023 that I enjoyed the most.

Here we are again! Another year has ended and that means it´s time for my (now 3rd) annual list of the best games I played in 2023. From the big hitters to the small fries. From the new to the retro. From Nintendo to PlayStation. Every game that I finished this year, be they a 2023 release or not, is elligible for the list. That does mean that some games are not eligible but that's why I included an honourable mentions section. 

So let's not diddle daddle and dive into my favourite games of the year and reminisce about the good times. 

Quick note: this list is full of my own personal opinions, thoughts and feelings on these titles. I also won’t go over each title in great detail. Just why I liked them so much alongside some anecdotes here or there. If you do want to know more, and get a more objective and detailed opinion on them, you can read my review of each title by clicking their purple header. 

Honourable mentions
Octopath Traveller II & The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

First though: those honourable mentions. I gave myself the stipulation that I actually have to finish the games I put on this list. See the credits roll. For two great games this year, that wasn't the case. They ended up ´drowning´ in the release schedule this year. Even so, I can't get it over my heart to not at least give them a shout-out because if I had finished them this year, they no doubt would've been in my top 5. Both games have quite a bit in common, too. They are sequels to very well-received early Switch games that did things a bit differently. 

For Octopath, the game was a throwback to the JRPGs of the 90's. Team Asano over at Square Enix smartly made a game that while old in spirit still felt modern (enough). With the strong 'break' system, classic JRPG game design, gorgeous music and the introduction of its panoramic HD sprites visual style it has dubbed '2D-HD' it was a real winner in 2018. 

The sequel, does all of this again, but grander. The 2D-HD art style has evolved, and the stories are written more dynamically to better fit the world's design etc. I don't agree with every change they made, I prefer the way classes were handled in the original, but from my time it's the return to this style that I hoped it would be. 

Tears of the Kingdom is, of course, the sequel to the award-winning, sales-breaking, Breath of the Wild. The 'direct' sequel, features the same game design, art style, world and characters. It's quite a beast of a game, with new shrines, the reintroduction of dungeons, and a much bigger world. So big that I still haven't even finished the story yet because of how the world keeps distracting me at every turn!

I might not have finished them in 2023, but both are great titles that I look forward to picking up again in the new year and playing to completion. Well, as complete I can get a game as big as Tears of the Kingdom, that is. 

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Kickin' off the list proper is the most recent release: Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It was touch and go there for a moment between this and 'Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection' but what made the difference was the playtime. I played Wonder about as much as I did a collection of 3 titles. I spent more time on it than any other Mario game I played, including Odyssey and 3D World + Bowser's Fury. 

The reason for this is that Wonder is the first Mario game in which I felt motivated to collect it all. The first game in which I didn't see each level as 'one-and-done's. Wonder is stylistically so different from the 'New Super Mario Bros.' games that dominated the 2D Mario space for well over a decade. 

It's weird and whacky with its Wonder Flower gimmick that is a grab bag of everything. From musical numbers to turning Mario and his friends into a Goomba. It's these sections that gave me a reason to collect as many Wonder Seeds as I could, as getting them meant I would experience all of these wonderfully imaginative level changes. 

I constantly came back to older levels where I hadn't found everything yet with new tricks and badges to scour every nook and cranny. It pushed me to become better at the game. Learn the ins and outs yes, improve my timing and reflexes to reach those difficult places and beat those hard sections. I never felt more satisfied completing a level after many, many attempts as in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. For all of that and more, it more than deserves its spot on this list. 

Metroid Prime Remastered

At number 4 we find the last game that was actually released in 2023, and there's even an argument to be made that it isn't a 'new' game at all. It's the long-rumoured remaster of the first Metroid Prime game for the Nintendo Switch. 

With this game, I stepped out of my comfort zone somewhat. First-person games? Those I've avoided over the years. It's a perspective that just doesn't suit me. However, the praise Metroid Prime has gotten over the last 2 decades convinced me to put in a pre-order for a physical copy when this game was a surprise revealed in the February Nintendo Direct. 

The 1st personal perspective did take some time to get used to, I admit, but once I had gotten into the swing of things I found a near-quintessential Metroid experience. The atmosphere of being stuck on an empty, hostile planet that has a dangerous secret. Scouring the planet for clues, and new gear to help you progress the planet and take down the plethora of space pirates, mutated wildlife and metroids. A planet that is very well designed, with lots of secrets and hidden pathways like a good Metroid should. 

I prefer the 2D Metroids like Dread but I can't deny that the more claustrophobic 1st person perspective does wonders for establishing and keeping that feeling of isolation and dread and I eagerly await more Metroid Prime. Be that Metroid Prime 4 or remasters/ports of Echoes and Corruption.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

What can I say? I love Pokémon. To me, the Pokémon series is the definition of comfort food. Even when they have problems, and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet sure do have a bunch of them, I just can't help but relax and enjoy my time and that's exactly what happened with Pokémon Violet. 

With the extra push from the Indigo Disk, Pokémon Violet is my 2nd most-played Switch game. A spot it earned in roughly 13 months. Because of its open-world design, I spent entire play sessions not engaging in the narrative but just running around. Beat gyms, catch Pokémon, battle trainers, do Tera Raids, hunt down materials to make TM's and more. It truly is the most relaxing, 'turn of your brain after a rough day and enjoy' Pokémon game I've ever played. 

Yes, the performance of these titles is poor. I've never had any bugs or glitches pop up or have any crashes but I've had plenty of moments in which the frame rate tanked, assets took exceptionally long to load and moments in which I looked straight through the floor. I can enjoy the game even with these issues but that a brand new generation of Pokémon, the first open-world game in the series, isn't being number 1 does speak volumes on its own, I think. 

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart from Insomniac Games is this year's runner-up. It's the first and currently only Ratchet & Clank game I've played, courtesy of a birthday gift, and it left one amazing first impression. 

It has an engaging story with colourful characters and a good world/level design. Yet, the best reason to describe why I like this game so much is sheer fun. From the opening cutscene all the way to the end, I just had a smile on my face. Like a rollercoaster that doesn't have any slow sections and just keeps going thanks to its addictive core gameplay and stellar pacing. 

Shooters/FPS titles are not my thing but Ratchet & Clank made this core feature of the combat work thanks to its very sci-fi approach. You have tons of different, weird and whacky, guns that range from your standard pee-shooter to a gun that shoots miniature black holes. It makes the combat sections amongst the 3D platform and (very light) puzzle sections something I started to look forward to. Not something I pushed through to get to the platforming stuff because I didn´t feel like it at the moment. A winner of a game that made me buy the PS4 Ratchet & Clank to enjoy sometime in 2024. 

God of War Ragnarök

Taking the crown as my favourite game I finished this year is the first game on which I saw the credits roll: God of War Ragnarök. Quite a feat if you think about it: managing to stay at the top for nearly 12 months, beating out 19 other games time after time. 

Ragnarök is my number 1 because it did basically everything right. It's the follow up to an already awesome game, the 2018 God of War, and goes on to be a bigger and better version of that title. The world is bigger, with all 9 realms capable of being explored. It has a deeper combat system that is more dynamic and harkens back to the hack-and-slash gameplay of the series' roots. There are more side activities to do that are very fulfilling, either because they are fun or because they give you a meaningful reward. 

And then there is the narrative. I am a story guy and am thus very much on the lookout for strong narrative experiences in my PlayStation games and Ragnarök has one of the strongest stories I've ever seen. From outstanding character work and performances to the emotional core that lies at the heart of the game. Parenting, good fathers, bad fathers, the difficulties of letting one's child go, redemption, forgiveness, justice against vengeance. So many things that the story touches on and does so with something to say and show. 

More isn't always better, and I will say that I very much appreciated the smaller scale of the 2018 outing, but here it most definitely is. 

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That was my list of games. The 5 games I played and finished this year that I had the most fun with or otherwise found memorable. What are yours? By all means, sound them off in the comment section below.