2023 was a whirlwind year for me. I finally got to work with Giant Bomb, made some inroads into the industry as a whole, and played a TON of games. Even now I try to knock out a few more that I’ve had my eye on. As far as my Game of the Year, I’ve been saying since February that this will be in the record books as one of the best years for gaming, and one I would have won. Still, I felt guilty only relaying my top ten when there were so many more I wanted to talk about. Instead of making my list up to 6 pages of content, here are the games I LOVED but didn’t quite make the cut. Any one of those on a normal year would be in my top ten, but had the misfortune of releasing in 2023.
25. Postmouse
An adorable 3D character exploration game as an adorable mouse delivering mail, PLUS it’s free!
24. A Tiny Sticker Tale
The definition of cozy game, didn’t need the morbid underlying story
23. Sludge Life 2
More of that same great flavor
22. World of Horror
Fun unexpected rogue like with unsettling visuals that stick with you long after you’re done
21. Monster Hunter Now
Kept my dogs walks longer than usual
20. Robotherapy
Bite my shiny metal ass Sigmund Freud
19. Pineapple On Pizza
Best 20 minutes you can spend, for free
18. The Many Pieces of Mr Coo
MTV Liquid Television the game
17. Exit 8
Okay yeah, what the hell?
16. Dead Space Remake
Ooo boy this gave me the creepy crawlies
15. Final Fantasy XVI
Still my ride or die desert island series
14. Viewfinder
One amazing mechanic, I had to run and show people
13. Dredge
Phenomenal fishing but dragged near the end
12. Venba
I’m not crying! You’re crying!
11. Blasphemous 2
You ate my save, now I ate your spot in the top 10
Now let’s get to the top 10.
10. Spider-Man 2
One of the few triple A games I played this year. Being a comic book nerd, I’ve been waiting with bated breath for the newest update to the series since I 100% the last two. Boy the game didn’t disappoint. It brought the big blockbuster set pieces, a winding story of growth and adventure while keeping it still to the spirit of the Spider-Man franchise. My only complaint was the amount of repeated boss phases towards the end, but I still ended up 100%ing it and dying for just a little bit more. That’s what I want out of this type of game. Don’t overstay and leave me wanting more.
9. Sanabi
I have been playing Sanabi for over a year now, but since its 1.0 release this year, It’s time to finally say, man what a fascinating game. Beautiful pixel art, and fast paced grappling hook traversal and combat puzzles that keep you on your toes. While that’s all well and good, what really kept me hooked was the noir John Wick-esque story about a trained killer unwillingly brought out of retirement. It’s a tight balancing out between these intense puzzles, followed by lengthy cutscenes and dialogue that rivals the Metal Gear Series with its breadth of backstory and super serious tone. It wasn’t my favorite game this year, but I kept coming back to it, poking it out of curiosity for more high octane action and paragraphs of lore.
8. Coffee Talk: Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
Coffee talk is my jam. It’s my jam in that it gives me the “warm soup bellies.” The feeling of warmth and comfort, not unlike a cup of coffee after coming in from the rain. Coffee talk is a game of just hanging with your friends, listening to their stories and being part of each other’s lives. Once you’ve gotten to know the characters, everyone just kind of fits together. Piggybacking off the first Episode, we get the follow up stories to our favorite friends, but also get some additional members to the crew that slot in like well worn gloves. I think the only issue with this series is that they are so heavily based on past stories that you’d have to start from the first episode. Nonetheless, it’s a ride I’ll take any day of the week because I’m ride or die with this cast of coffee loving nocturnal misfits.
7. Hi-Fi Rush
This game came out of nowhere, a shadow drop for the ages. A hack and slash beat em up that’s rhythm based? Sign me up! Cell shaded with a killer alt rock soundtrack? Once you’ve made the sale stop selling! It took me way too long to start Hi-Fi Rush, but once I did I was hooked. It’s a bonkers story of fighting the man while an iPod is jammed in your chest pumping out sick riffs. It’s vibe fits perfectly with the licensed music of the Black Keys, Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy and more. It kicks all sorts of ass, and I kicked all sorts of ass in the game. A definite recommendation.
6. American Arcadia
This caught me by surprise. A Limbo/Inside style puzzle platformer, but with a story similar to the Truman show. It’s such a novel twist to the genre. It also helps that the platforming is broken up with deep emotional story beats and first person social engineering segments. Also, American Arcadia is genuinely funny! Video Games have notably struggled with its humor but Out of the Blue Studios are a dev team that knows comedy. Perfectly timed quips, reality show confessionals straight out of the Office and hilarious set pieces lead to a special package. Bonus points to this year’s best use of a single swear word.
5. Party Animals
Look y’all. We’ve been playing Gang Beasts for a long time now. The better part of a decade!. So it was only a matter of time before someone created something in a similar vein and tone but with some updated twists. It’s actually pretty miraculous that no one has hit the nail on the head as much as Party Animals did. It’s a slap happy rip roaring party game of animals slapping each other around hilariously. We played this game as a team during our Extra Life event and I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I can’t stress this enough, party games are back baby!
4. Jusant
There’s something to be said about a slow build and Jusant knows exactly what it’s doing. It’s a slow ascent up a mountain, slowly building this emotional connection to the world around you. Learning about what happened to the people of this mountain dwelling locale while also crossing death defying heights and dangers with your pet. Then right when you feel like Jusant is starting to wear out it’s welcome, you see the world open up to the final climb, knowing this is it, saying goodbye to this game and finally finding out what it’s all about. Finishing the final climb is an emotional sigh of relief. You’ve done the impossible and witnessed what there is to see, and it’s beautiful.
3. Cocoon
Cocoon is a mind bending puzzle game that hit at the perfect time. It was brisk, but gave me time to really contemplate the puzzles. When a new puzzle was presented, it would close off previous environments, only giving me what I needed to solve the puzzle. This was a great relief, because it eliminated any kind of needless backtracking I would inevitably try to do when stumped. Just in general, Cocoon is so tightly designed with how it teaches you it’s puzzle mechanics, and makes for fantastic A-HA moments that stayed with me long after credits rolled.
2. A Space For The Unbound
Grief is a powerful emotion and A Space for the Unbound does a phenomenal job of using grief to resonate under the surface throughout its narrative. While the moment to moment gameplay follows a classic point and click adventure puzzle game, it’s more than the sum of its parts. The slow build mystery crescendos to such an emotional payoff that left me shook. I’ve recommended this game to everyone that would listen and look forward to re-experiencing the beauty and intensity of A Space for the Unbound again in the coming years.
1. Sea of Stars
Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI are tied in my mind for best JRPGs of all time, yet revisiting them feels daunting. They have lengthy introductions and lack the quality of life improvements I’ve come to love in the modern day. That’s where Sea of Stars slots in. It’s the new gold standard as it brings the classic JRPG sensibilities but moves them and improves them for the modern era. Partner swapping in the middle of combat? Yep! Story that progresses you forward? You bet! Rejuvenating magic points and weakness systems? It’s all there! It keeps combat engaging while still hitting all the right notes as far as story, emotional weight, world and soundtrack. It’s the complete package. It was one of those games I was excited to 100% it and found that doing so can rewrite the ending in an unsatisfying way, but I am still happy I did so, because I just wanted more of this game. I couldn’t get enough of Sea of Stars this year.
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