My Games of 2023

It's that time of year again, where everyone is running down their favourite games of the year. This is mine. As usual I'll be rating the games I played this year, not necessarily those that were released this year. 

Honorary Mentions:

Some old favourites that I 've revisited but can't really class in my lists.

The Legacy of Kain games:

Of course.

The classic Tomb Raider games:

I’ve made a video on them this year so it seemed appropriate to briefly revisit these old gems for research purposes. I’m a little rusty but they hold up pretty well and I’m really looking forward to Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered next year which looks like it could be amazing. Only a couple of months to wait now.

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Also Rans:

Games I can’t rate in good faith. Maybe I’ve not played enough. Maybe I’ll get back to them next year.

The Witness:

I’ve heard good things and I keep trying to get back to it, but every time I do I find myself bored after a few minutes

Undertale:

Again I’ve heard good things… but it’s just not my cup of tea and I found myself bored pretty quickly. Humour was good though.

Okami:

Another I’m told is great but I’m just having trouble getting into it

Dishonored:

What can I say? I got distracted and didn’t return to it.

Assassin's Creed Mirage:

I got burned by Assassin's Creed Valhalla and swore off entire franchise...but then I got this for Christmas. I’ve started it but won’t finish it before the new year. Mixed bag so far. Lot of what I like from old AC games - and a lot of what I hated from Valhalla. We’ll see next year

Talos Principle 2:

Loved the first one, got immediate crashes with this one, but otherwise seems good. Didn’t get too far this year though. Maybe next year

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The Disappointments

Games that let me down. Usually they're either bad, overhyped, or an installment in a franchise that I thought I could rely on.

Telling Lies:

After playing Her Story and being impressed I moved on to Sam Barlow’s next project… and found it to be a lot less refined and more boring. It seemed to just try to be more of everything and unwittingly lost much of the charm of Her Story. Still it did develop the concept in ways that led on to Immortality

Scorn:

I really wanted to like this. I mean it is gruesome and visceral, a masterpiece of Geiger Alienesque worlds that left me in cold sweats. It was disgusting and amazing…and unfortunately it became virtually unplayable. I ended up lost in a maze of corridors with only a pulsing dildo thing that did virtually no damage as a weapon, and was unable to get through a set of enemies. It’s a real shame. Maybe a skill issue or whatever, but I ended up more than a little disappointed.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion:

This one is unusual. I played and liked the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and started consuming other ‘7’ related projects in preparation for ‘Rebirth’ coming next year, but this one hit a dud note. Okay it has 7’s combat but mixing that with a one armed bandit so you gamble on whether you can complete something seems unfair…. And some bits really do depend on you getting the right luck. On the other hand, it has a lot of happy nostalgia… and that ending is amazing. 

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The Middle Ground:

The average games. Generally enjoyable, some nice ideas but nothing to set the world on fire.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog:

It’s a short, enjoyable point and click murder mystery starring the sonic characters that only lasts a couple of hours. What’s not to like? Not too complex, but bite sized fun 

Choo Choo Charles:

Another smaller indie game that I quite enjoyed that straddles the line between horror and comedy. Not too complex and not too long but entertaining nonetheless and a great adrenaline rush when you have a demon train chasing you through the forest.

Viewfinder:

Sort of reminds me of Antichamber and Superliminal. A great little indie game whose core gameplay is about manipulating perspective and turning photographs into reality. Creative and enjoyable and a nice little story too. Perhaps not quite as good as similar games though

Power Wash Simulator + Tomb Raider DLC:

Full disclosure: I bought this purely for the Tomb Raider DLC and the expectation that -given some suspicious Legacy of Kain related small print - there might be some hidden LoK easter eggs in there. Aside from my disappointment at discovering there aren’t any, I actually found the game to be really relaxing and enjoyable. It seems weird to start with but that rewarding little ‘ping’ and the sense of achievement for cleaning stuff was quite addictive. Mix that with recognisable Tomb Raider stuff and I was right at home. Maybe I should play the FF7 DLC at some point.

Immortality:

Another Sam Barlow classic and another of what you might think of as the ‘Her Story trilogy’. This one is undoubtedly the one that has developed the concept the most and made it very user friendly and accessible skipping between the scenes and behind- the-scenes of three films to try to work out what happened to a classic actress. Only, bloody hell! So much nudity and sex, holy shit! I joked about Sam Barlow and an obsession with ‘kinky vampire sex’ in my Dead Sun video - but that was before I played Telling Lies (which defo had a bit of kinky vampire sex in there) and this, which just lent into it so far that it's virtually impossible to play if you don't live alone. I mean the story is great and enthralling. The creativity and user experience is engaging and I wanted to know more. There are some fantastic and chilling moments as you work it out. But why is everyone naked again?

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The Cream of the Crop:

My picks of the best games I've played this year.

The Medium:

There was a lot about this game I really liked - and you can really see why Bloober team has been handed the keys to Silent Hill because this game almost feels like them pitching for it. The abandoned setting, the eerie atmosphere, the cool music (with collaboration between Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, no less), the horror elements all seemed just the perfect fit for it. The simultaneous two worlds mechanic was creative and interesting, if a little technically challenging, and I loved the story and the twists. It’s not perfect, but I really found this pleasantly surprising. 

Her Story:

You may have noticed I played the trilogy of Sam Barlow games this year. Well this was the first one and I think the best of the bunch. It was just such a breath of fresh air with a novel concept. Who would've thought watching through videos and essentially googling the terms within could be so engaging? (A shame Telling Lies rather let it down as a follow up). A lot is owed to the interesting story and characters and the joy of working out the mystery. It's perhaps a little modest and small in scope but is really creative for it. Highly recommended. 

Horizon Forbidden West - Burning Shores DLC:

My game of the year last year scores highly again for its DLC. You get an expansive new area with plenty of story and activities to explore and enjoy - and they really have gone all in on the flying mechanic and the air in general with breathtaking cloud geometry and a lot of things revolving around flying and gliding. But they’ve also invested heavily in the water with a new mount that can swim as well as fly - and it is gorgeous underwater. My only complaints really are that its story did seem a little tacked on and unnecessary… and I didn’t necessarily completely buy into the romance - although I can see why it was appropriate for the character. It’ll be interesting to see where Horizon goes next.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake + Intergrade DLC:

Confession. I’ve never gotten into Final Fantasy before this year. I’ve absorbed so much through cultural osmosis but… well it’s mostly a turn based RPG… with menus… not my cup of tea really. So a remake of the most popular one that I already knew so much about - without having to go through some of the old things that worried me about it - seemed to be great. And I will confess it took me a while to get used to the tactics and the…urgh…menus… But once I’d got over it I did really enjoy the game and can really see why people consider it - and the original - to be a masterpiece. The graphics and gameplay were top notch, but the characters and story  and humour were brilliant and I enjoyed them so much and ended up endlessly quoting. This really is a huge success. Oh and I loved the Intergrade DLC too and found it was more emotional than the main game in places.

Jedi Survivor:

I had problems getting Jedi Fallen Order to run a few years ago, but when I finally did play it last year I found it to be a treasure. Jedi Survivor seems to be much in the same vein - with a few high profile technical issues, but otherwise it’s a real triumph. A vast open world -or worlds - set in the star wars universe with so much to do and explore and so many hints and references, so many little collectibles and sidequests. A cool story that doesn’t retread the same star wars tropes and some brilliant characters. Fully customizable lightsabers, costumes and even facial hair and hairstyles Everything about this oozes cool - and who doesn’t love a well crafted star wars game?

Final Fantasy 16 + Echoes of the Fallen DLC:

My word, Yes this did sort of become the Final Fantasy year for me. Having not played a game before, I ranked two in the top five and where I thought the 7 remake was great, I fell head over heels for 16. The characters and story are amazing, the combat is dizzying and with some mind blowing moves and combos and particle light shows that put everything else to shame - with some great decisions on upgrading. The boss battles are epic encounters that leave you jaw on the floor. The music is out of this world, the voice acting is superb. And my god the lore!! It has soo much lore and world building that I just ate up. So many distinct characters and settings and countries and political intrigue and religion and magiteck and history and… well, you get the picture. There’s so much of it they had to put an entire encyclopaedia in the game, along with a world map and character relation map. I want that for LoK. Okay it’s not perfect and there are weaknesses: it tends to oscillate between “wow epic” and long periods of relative quiet where not much happens. The sidequests aren’t all that and they can be overwhelming (though follow them up and they get rewarding at the end) and I’ve heard people complain that it’s too easy or strays too much from the FF formula - and I was a little underwhelmed by the DLC (although there is more to come there), but I was willing to overlook those because I was so blown away by everything else.. A real triumph this one.

God of War Ragnarok + Valhalla DLC:

It kinda had to be. Pretty much the first game I played this year ended up being the best. I’d previously put 2018 God of War second to Red Dead Redemption 2 but there’s no stopping the sequel. From the moment the game had me holding back the tears twice in the first hour I knew it was gonna be special, but everything about this is top tier. The combat is varied and addictive. The world (worlds) are beautiful and stunning with so much to explore and find. The story, the plot developments and its twists are brilliant. The characters are amazing and I loved them all - couldn’t help myself from doing impressions. It built upon and added to the first in so many ways. And lets add to that gloriousness with the new free DLC that added an endlessly replayable rouge-like, complete with shifting rooms that makes that area virtually Hades in 3D wearing a God of War skin - and even then it has story and lore and plot development. Ragnarok is an absolute triumph and my game of the year!

Next year is looking to be a bit busy, but hopefully I’ll actually add something to the blogs. Until next time, happy new year!