Game of the Year Awards 2023

“The sequel delves even deeper into the philosophical side, and with the same writing team, the narrative is a genuine progression of the original’s intellectual themes. The discussions tackle profound questions, such as the role of sentience in the cosmos, the coexistence of civilizations with the natural world, and the pursuit of knowledge. Remarkably, the game navigates these subjects without being pretentious, offering an unbiased view of multiple perspectives.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Baldur’s Gate 3, Final Fantasy XVI, Hi-Fi Rush

“Regardless of what you’re doing, you are likely to be smitten by the game’s excellent presentation. Aside from the strong sound design and audio effects, the visuals are simply sublime. The cel-shaded, cartoon-like style is amazingly well executed, and perfectly matches the game’s story and characters. The cutscenes are fantastic and the transition to in-game visuals is almost unnoticeable.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Super Mario Bros Wonder, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Street Fighter 6

“One mission that sees the group visit Coney Island amusement park at night is a standout, from character development, atmosphere, and technical visual perspectives. The Coney Island story mission is a great showcase of the immersive visuals possible. All of the cutscenes are of course rendered using high quality assets, excellent animations and good facial capture. The city is bigger and still just as detailed, with some great vistas and atmospheric moments. Animation and level of detail remain strong.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Forza Motorsport, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, The Talos Principle 2

“The Wonder Flower effects liven up the experience significantly. To me, they are the highlight of the title. Moments like being chased by a ghost version of yourself or having to collect coins to the rhythm of music, mash the excellent platforming of the series up with something fresh. Great animations breathe new life into the characters, and the Flower Kingdom is rife with fascinating designs.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: Hi-Fi Rush, Final Fantasy XVI, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

“It’s clear that Avalanche Software put a ton of work into making Hogwarts as magical as it seems. The sprawling campus is filled with details that fans of the series are sure to eat up. There’s a ton of ground to cover on campus, and almost always something interesting to stumble across. It’s the closest experience to enrolling in the titular school you can get outside of going to Universal Studios.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: Ready or Not, Alan Wake 2, Amnesia: The Bunker

“Mind invasions aside, this fantasy land has a typical assortment of problems that players will encounter and be invited, or forced, to participate in. The various quests and narratives are by far one of the game’s strongest points, with hundreds of hours of dialogue mostly excellently written and voice acted. And even further to that, the game uses a narrator voiceover to describe scenes, characters, and situations, which adds an unexpectedly great angle to the storytelling.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Hi-Fi Rush, Hogwarts Legacy, The Talos Principle 2

“Shadowheart’s background is a mystery full of many intriguing layers. Initially she is reserved and defensive of a strange device that offers protection for the group. The player can help to bring secrets to the fore by completing her personal quests, and aid in choosing her future, which may be contrary to her initial beliefs. How she then handles uncovering the truth helps to make Shadowheart an amazing character that is difficult to forget.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Peppermint (Hi-Fi Rush), Harry (Marvel’s Spider-Man 2), Garl (Sea of Stars)

“The core shooting and movement mechanics are rock solid online, with lots of gadgets. Speed and movement feels familiar, with good mantling, sliding, and decent weapon handling. Open-combat levels in the campaign sometimes provide a glimpse at the potential next-step for the franchise. A diverse selection of returning battlegrounds augments the competitive action and the deep open-world undead mode is entertaining for hours.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Counter-Strike 2, Atomic Heart, El Paso, Elsewhere

“With the new stances and various cool force abilities, the combat is immensely enjoyable and a step above the last game. Even though many patrols can be avoided, the option to engage is too tantalizing to resist. Part of this is because the action is nimble and also because the smaller skirmishes are quick to overcome. Five combat stances make the action deep and the many different opponents are fun to battle.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Lies of P, Hi-Fi Rush, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

“All cars handle suitably well with a controller, and the game does an excellent job at representing how different performance levels feel. Guiding an older Audi around the bend is a struggle at any decent speed, but jump into a BMW M Motorsport M8 GTE, and suddenly you are flying through the curves. The feel of the cars and the racing experience continue to be exemplary for the genre.” – Alex V

Runners-up: F1 2023, EA Sports WRC, The Crew Motorfest

“Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a great stealth experience and a must play for fans of previous games from developer Mimimi. With a tonal shift to pirates and cool supernatural abilities, the basic strategy gameplay from their previous titles is revitalized. Sneaking through patrols and pulling off flawless plans is addicting, and the sentient ship, with its ability to store memories, becomes a central part of the narrative in a smart way.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Company of Heroes 3, Aliens: Dark Descent, Cities: Skylines II

“DREDGE is an enjoyable fishing game that uses Lovecraftian themes to give it a refreshing allure. The fishing aspects are simple, allowing players to enjoy at their own pace for 7-10 hours. Fishing at night comes with a spooky atmosphere and a few new threats, but it is not scary or challenging enough to make the most of the darker themes influenced by Lovecraft. The simple catch-and-sell gameplay loop definitely makes DREDGE easy to play and a good option for fishing fans.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Amnesia: The Bunker, Jusant, Stasis: Bone Totem

“Strong player choice mechanics also play a huge role in how engaging the story is, with so many dialogue options and action selections resulting in tons of possible outcomes. It’s truly impressive to think of how you would handle a situation in reality, and the game actually having this option. Being able to talk your way out of fighting is always appreciated, and BG3 lets you do that with aplomb.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Starfield, Sea of Stars, Lies of P

“MLB The Show 23 remains a top-tier sporting experience. The glut of options available for players to choose from will keep them busy from Spring Training to the World Series. Standbys such as Franchise, Diamond Dynasty and March to October have been tweaked for the better, and the new Storylines mode is a must-play.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: EA Sports FC 24, WWE 2K23, Super Mega Baseball 4

“These moments do an excellent job of switching up the tried and true gameplay just enough to make it feel unique, but not so much that it shifts away from what Mario has always done best. There’s very little repetition to these effects as well, so you don’t need to worry about getting tired out by a certain effect version. The staggering amount of creativity that went into making sure every Wonder Flower power feels different from the previous is a major boon for the game.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy, Have a Nice Death, Sonic Superstars

“Additional puzzle elements comprise of the usual assortment of boxes, pressure switches, jammers, and spinning fans that provide lift. Each major contraption is usually restricted to a few of the twelve areas, to keep the puzzling nicely focused. Given so many parts, it is great that most puzzles only use a handful of these devices. Skill comes in their placement and execution order rather than deciphering thousands of possibilities.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Viewfinder, Stasis: Bone Totem, Storyteller

“The 18-combatant roster for Street Fighter 6 is one of the strongest base rosters in recent franchise history. Between the new control scheme and the Drive Gauge, Street Fighter 6 feels more dynamic and inviting than the previous entry. Due to the ease in which special attacks and defensive techniques can be deployed, there’s a fluidity to the combat that makes each match exhilarating.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: Mortal Kombat 1, Clash: Artifacts of Chaos, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

“Stasis: Bone Totem is worth playing by just about any point-and-click adventure fan, but especially those who like when horror permeates every facet. It is visually appealing, both in its 2D isometric form and with the 3D cinematics that occasionally feature cool deaths. Puzzles are challenging, logical and satisfying, with multiple steps and a good indication of what is required.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Counter-Strike 2, Last Train Home, Storyteller

“With familiar but still great gameplay that has a few new moves, strong presentation, and a mostly engaging story which gets better in the second half, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a crowd-pleasing blockbuster sequel that’s worth playing for any superhero fan. It’s a great looking game, of course, and swinging around New York City continues to be fun all on its own, now with more varied optional content.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Final Fantasy XVI, Viewfinder, Season: A Letter to the Future

“Starfield is almost the perfect merger of a Bethesda experience with space exploration. It smartly creates a sense of scale while keeping all activities within arm’s reach. With fantastic hand-crafted destinations, packed with diverse and interesting quests, it offers a lot of great content, even if it is clumped together.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Forza Motorsport, Hi-Fi Rush, Planet of Lana

“Super Mario Bros. Wonder is exactly what the series needed after all these years. It’s filled to the brim with creativity, and offers up a ton of variety. It still plays just as good as you would expect it to, as nothing has been sacrificed from the platforming to fit the various gimmicks of the Wonder Flowers. The tight, precise platforming has been mixed with the wild creativity seen in the 3D exploits of Nintendo’s iconic plumber to create one of the best titles of the year.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon

“The Crew Motorfest makes significant changes to its formula and borrows many ideas, and though there’s still room for much improvement, these alterations finally make it competitive within the genre. The handling for all vehicles feels much improved – the arcade driving style is still the core, but controls have been fine-tuned and feel better than in previous games. There are some original ideas and unique design choices, along with plenty of issues and unwillingness to change, but there is finally a glimpse of potential for the series.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Street Fighter 6, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

“The Flower Kingdom is filled with great level designs bursting with personality. This includes both when a Wonder Flower is activated, and when you are running through the stage normally. The staggering amount of creativity that went into making sure every Wonder Flower power feels different from the previous is a major boon for the game.” – Eric Hall

Runners-up: Viewfinder, Cocoon, Hi-Fi Rush

“The Dead Space remake takes the original third-person action game from 2008 and recreates it with improved presentation, as expected. But it also makes changes to gameplay and story. The result brings enough surprises while preserving what made it whole. Finding the right balance between what to change and what to keep is the tricky part, but developers Motive got it right.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Resident Evil 4 (2023), Metroid Prime Remastered, Counter-Strike 2

“From ancient mysteries, to local civil strife and contracts with devils, there is plenty for a hero to do, and all roads seem to lead to the city of Baldur’s Gate. The various quests and narratives are by far one of the game’s strongest points, with hundreds of hours of dialogue mostly excellently written and voice acted. The world feels fairly alive, with a decent amount of NPCs around, and a nice teleportation system lets you travel between discovered waypoints, providing a nice sense of progress to the exploration without backtracking.” – Alex V

Runners-up: Final Fantasy XVI, The Talos Principle 2, Hi-Fi Rush

“Multiplayer builds on last year’s game and throws a variety of great maps from when the franchise was near its peak. This nostalgic combination works better than expected. The competitive multiplayer is energetic and the remastered MW2 maps are still varied and brilliant combat arenas, even with the modern player movement. And MWZ is actually a decent open-world zombie template that is super replayable.” – Ben Thomas

Runners-up: Diablo IV, Company of Heroes 3, Street Fighter 6