The Words About Games Diaries

We tried something radically different on our latest Game of the Year podcast episode.

Instead of each presenting our own ordered lists independently of each other, we built a top 10 together – creating a long list of 36 brilliant games, before whittling it down to a top 10 we were happy with, through the medium of passion and discussion.

Not reflective of one person’s opinions, but three. A truly “Words About Games” top 10.

Check it out here:

I hadn’t even planned on doing my own list this year. The podcast was good, I got to talk about a bunch of games I really loved playing and, honestly, that was fine. I stand by everything I said and the way the whole thing shook out.

But then I thought “nah, screw that, I’m going to make a list anyway.”

Sometimes that’s just how things work around here.

Why 13? Because that’s as far as I was able to narrow it down before I couldn’t narrow it down any more.

Also here are a few honourable mentions:

• Dordogne
• Venba
• Bramble: The Mountain King (disclaimer: my friend and podcast co-host Moody worked on this game, but even if he hadn’t I’d have still really liked it and put it here)
• A Highland Song
• Dave The Diver

Okay. Now here’s the list.

13. Dead Island 2

I know, right? Hear me out though, Dead Island 2 is a fun zombie mashing game. The violence & gore contrasts really well with the sun drenched Los Angeles setting, and running around LA hitting zombies with melee weapons was a nice distraction from my back injury. I also really enjoyed the light sprinkling of immersive sim-ish elements throughout. After a protracted and excessively troubled development, Dead Island 2 was far better than I thought it could possibly be, and I hope Dambuster gets another crack at the series.

12. Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania

Dead Cells is already a really great game, and Evil Empire did a really great job marrying its core gameplay loop with Castlevania. I dunno really what else I can say about it – if you like both of those things, then you’ll probably vibe really hard with Return To Castlevania. And if you haven’t played the game for a while, like I hadn’t, then returning to Dead Cells to Return To Castlevania, then you’re in for two treats for the price of one.

11. Resident Evil 4

I feel like Capcom already remade Resident Evil 4 once already, with last year’s Resident Evil: Village, so I wasn’t sure a straight up remake was something I needed in 2023. Honestly, I’m still not. Resident Evil 4 has so much to love with its slick combat, awesome maps, killer atmosphere and brilliant weapon upgrade system. But it’s so relentless all the time that it stresses me in a way I find more frustrating than enjoying (and the military island section of the game still isn’t great). Still, on balance, the game is a lot of fun in the moment to moment.

10. Viewfinder

This game broke my brain when I played a demo of it pre-release, and continued to break my brain when I played the full game. I’m always on the lookout for a puzzle game with a unique hook, and Viewfinder’s central mechanic certainly scratched that itch. I love when a game doubles and triples down on one superb idea, and iterates on that idea as much as possible without stretching itself too thin. While the story was a bit meh, Viewfinder’s puzzle solving kept me enraptured for hours.

9. Goodbye Volcano High

Of course it would be the game about gay cartoon dinosaurs in high school that would have me weeping by its conclusion. For real, I had real trouble playing out the last rhythm section of Goodbye Volcano High because I couldn’t see very well through the tears. Coming of age stories set around characters in high school always come with heightened emotions when done well, and GVH cranks that emotional intensity up to 11 thanks to its end of the world stakes. Is stakes the right word? Backdrop? Either way, going through this entire game in a single Sunday afternoon was a highlight of my game playing year.

8. Dead Space

I’d put 2023 version of Dead Space on the same shelf as the 2002 Gamecube remake of Resident Evil – the one labelled “a perfect reimagining of something I already loved”. This remake is Dead Space, but way better than the first time. And that was already a high bar to clear, given that the original release was already pretty fantastic.

7. Jusant

During Moody’s review of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage I lamented how boring I found the direction climbing mechanics had taken in modern video games. Find the correct path, push the stick forward and, very occasionally, push a button to jump between handholds. The very next week I was playing Jusant, as if Dontnod had heard my lamentations and released a game laser targeting me specifically. Seriously, the climbing in this game is next level brilliant.

6. A Space For The Unbound

You’ve heard of the slice of life Anime, now experience the slice of life video game. A Space For The Unbound’s characters are delightful, and the unfolding mystery of just what the heck is going on in this 90s Indonesian town is compelling. And then you begin to peel back the layers of narrative mystery, only to get hit by an emotional freight train. Also you can pet, like, a hundred cats.

5. Alan Wake 2

The sequel I’ve waited 13 years for, ever since I chose to play the first game instead of Red Dead Redemption (which was the correct decision). Alan Wake 2 is a game that could have only been made by Remedy. It’s their magnum opus, the culmination of everything they’ve learned and experimented with from Max Payne all the way to Control. It dragged in a couple of spots, but there wasn’t a moment where I was anything less than thoroughly enraptured by everything that the studio had put into this game. Also, I aspire to one day be as happy as Sam Lake dancing to Herald of Darkness at The Game Awards.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I didn’t click with Breath of the Wild, despite being a big fan of previous Zelda games. The world was lovely, but felt a bit empty. The combat was okay, but the weapon degradation grated. The freeform exploration was cool, but the stamina system (and how it was impacted by the weather) sucked. Contentious, I know, but I’m saying this here to hammer home the point that, Tears of the Kingdom Uno reversed all of my personal complaints. There’s a ton to see and find around every corner. The new fuse mechanic kept me from feeling annoyed by my weapons breaking. And the building mechanic made exploration an absolute delight. I don’t need to worry about sliding down a mountain during some rain when I’m not climbing it, but flying to the top on a homemade rocket. I’ve not finished TotK, I’m not sure I will, but I will keep exploring it and thinking about it for a long time yet.

3. Octopath Traveler 2

I spent an entire month playing Octopath Traveler 2 and I’m so very glad I did. Partly because an 80 hour JRPG was exactly what I needed during the months of February and March, a time when I desperately needed something to distract me from…other events. But this game delivered so much more than that. A battle system that never got stale after 80 flipping hours, a soundtrack that I’ve been listening to all year, and eight protagonists and storylines that I completely and utterly fell head over heels in love with. This game was a joy to play from start to finish. I would really like it if Square Enix would make more of these instead of whatever AI driven nonsense they’ve got cooking up please and thank you.

2. Slay The Princess

Slay The Princess is a much deeper game than I was prepared for. I played the first version of its demo in 2022, and then waited patiently for its release. “It’s like The Stanley Parable but horror” I said to Moody. That’s not entirely inaccurate, and I hold both games in extremely high regard. But this is a game I haven’t stopped thinking about since October. It nails player choice in a way big budget, 500 hour games wish they could even come close to. The depth of consequences to those choices and the incredible emotional range that can result from them make Slay The Princess an easy pick for my “favourite game except the other really obvious favourite game” of 2023.

1. Baldur’s Gate 3

It’s Baldur’s Gate 3. I don’t know how much more I can add to the pile of words already written and spoken about this game, many of them by me. It’s not just “my favourite game of 2023” but also “maybe the best RPG I’ve ever played in my entire life.” I was obsessed with this game from the moment I opened it for the first time. I was thoroughly engaged with every second of my 81 hours of time with the game. For real. I can’t think of a single thing I did in the game that I’d call anything less than “really fucking good”. And some of those moments or dialogues or story beats or quests? Transcendent. The House of Hope by itself would make this Game of the Year. So yeah, it was pretty good I guess.