I absolutely love the idea of annual top 10 lists, but when it comes time to actually make one, my perpetually indecisive brain freaks out. I question whether the game I spent 100 hours playing was actually any good, feel the tension between an interesting game and a fun one, and hear the cries of all the games I never finished, still begging for my attention.
One of the standout games for me was Teaars Of The Kingdom’s Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism. I spent 2023 tracking some of the best new games that came out every month, attempting to at least try as many of them as I could while also measuring how my feelings changed about them as the year went on.
With a not-so-short short list finally assembled by early December, the task then becomes figuring out which games I actually thought were the best. I’ve worked hard to convince myself over the years that the process is more art than science. Eventually, I silence the internal dissent and retreat into a more abstract sense of what feels right. Here, in alphabetical order, are the top 10 games that moved me the most in 2023.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Screenshot: FromSoftware / Kotaku
I’ve always understood and appreciated the Soulsborne formula and its many flavors on an intellectual level, but Armored Core VI was the game that finally made me feel and love the initial hopelessness and eventual satisfaction that comes from mastering a FromSoftware game. I spent several nights trying to beat Balteus. I don’t regret any of them.
