There was a plethora of choices for gamers in 2023
Just trying to go through half of the singles released in the last year would have been an overwhelming task.
Overall, it wasn’t a great year for the industry: thousands of people lost their jobs at hundreds of companies, and E3, the biggest gaming expo ever, eventually ended.
Because 2023 is going to be jam-packed with exciting events, we’ve made a list of the best games that year to help you navigate all the chaos.
The Third Chapter of Baldur’s GateMany players were able to clock 100+ hours of playing in the Forgotten Realms, the game’s setting based on Dungeons & Dragons, which surprised critics and players alike with its intricacy.
Developer Larian of Belgium allows players to experience the game with a fresh group of people and a different set of choices each time, which thrilled critics immensely.
Though few had expected it before the year began, the fact that it took home the top prize at the gaming industry’s annual awards ceremony in December came as little surprise to most.
“Baldur’s Gate 3 was an unexpected success that took the world by storm,” said Helen Ashcroft, a gaming journalist.
“There’s a strong narrative, choices that matter, a beautiful open world, an incredible score and voice acting, interesting and varied quests, and so many different ways to play and story threads to explore.”
The Legend of Zelda Persists in the Land of Tears
The crafting feature was a much-loved addition to Zelda.
A straightforward plea came from the Japanese company after reviewers across the world slammed Nintendo’s portable console, the Switch: “Just watch this.”
Tears of the Kingdom is the direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, one of the best video games of all time. The new game takes the original’s expansive open world and adds what is called ultrahand crafting, which allows you to fuse nearly anything you find together to construct contraptions.
Developers often dread that kind of freedom due to the high number of possible negative outcomes. No matter how old the Switch hardware was, it still functioned.
According to Argick, a Scottish Twitch streamer, “Ultrahand is one of the best additions to the series and the things we can make with it are hilarious and useful.”
“There’s so much to do in the game and you can do it in pretty much any order you want without the game trying to push you elsewhere – I’ve still got to explore the rest of the depths.”
Part 2 of Alan Wake
Just when we thought triple-A games were becoming stale and safe, here comes Alan Wake 2.
The earliest avant-garde compositions of the Finnish band Remedy are reminiscent, but with an air of surrealism added.
The supernatural horror tale is forever changed by the viewpoints of its two main characters. It stood out from the crowd because to its extravagant presentation, novel combination of gameplay and live action, and vast themes.
Fun musical sequences featuring the made-up band Old Gods of Asgard were also among the most talked-about gaming moments of the year.
It was Argick’s opinion that the set piece was among the greatest of 2023. The score and how it fits into the overall gameplay experience.
“It just makes that entire moment something special.”
Two Spideys
In order to complete its release schedule for the PlayStation 5, Sony need a triumph from Spider-Man 2, developed by PlayStation studio Insomniac.
It got it, thank goodness. When it premiered exclusively on the PlayStation 5 to widespread praise, this painstakingly planned adventure became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever.
It was a showcase of cinematic and technological aspects. Despite the lack of significant gameplay changes from earlier Spider-Man games, players were captivated by the diverse cast of characters and captivating story.
Despite player gripes over the game’s brevity, developers insisted that it was well worth the price of entry.
Everyone was raving about Insomniac and its latest game right up until the company was hit with a big ransomware attack toward the year’s conclusion.
Lego Fortnite follows in the footsteps of the last-player-standing shooting game Fortnite, which has over 400 million registered gamers and isn’t shy about wanting more.
Given that its creator, Epic Games, laid off 800 workers earlier this year, it’s certainly the case.
One major effort to draw in new players was its high-profile collaboration with Lego for a new mode called Lego Fortnite. Twitch streamer Dando has spoken highly of the mode, describing it as “amazing” and explaining that it replaces Fortnite’s existing crafting materials with the recognizable bricks.
“It brings in that element of crafting, building and gathering resources – it’s just one of those games you can turn on, switch off, and just be in another world.”
Launching with Rocket Racing and Fortnite Festival, two more games, Lego Fortnite aimed to attract a broader audience.
Dando states: “Eventually you’ll just launch Fortnite and if you’re feeling a certain genre, you don’t need to leave the game.”
Polish studio CD Projekt Red has been working to repair its reputation after the disastrous 2020 launch of the base game.
Players felt they got what they deserved from the get-go with the 2.0 patch, which fixed a number of bugs with the base game, and the expansion Phantom Liberty.
The fact that Idris Elba played the major role and that the narrative was lauded by several actors for being deeply moving helped.
A “sign of the times” are actors who work in video games, says Idris Elba.
The main game sold nearly 20 million copies, but it’s still a pleasant ending to a rocky road, so it’s not exactly an underdog narrative.
“This is the kind of thing I love – seeing a game come out the other end like that,” he said. “It is almost like they’ve revived themselves.”
