Baldur’s Gate 3 – is it our number one game of the year? (Picture: Larian Studios)

GameCentral tries to make sense of a bumper year for video games and presents the 20 best releases of the last 12 months.

There’s no question that 2023 is one of the best years for quality video games in a long time, to the point where, in a normal year, any one of the top three games in our list could’ve been crowned the best. Although, we actually found it harder to organise the bottom half of the list, where you’re faced with such impossible questions of whether Blasphemous 2 is better than Hi-Fi Rush.

Our long-standing policy has always been not to include remakes, remasters, and expansions in our Top 20, in order to focus on brand new games. However, we kind of wish those weren’t the rules this year, as it means we can’t include the superb Resident Evil 4, which otherwise would’ve ranked very highly in the top 10.

Naturally, you’re not going to agree with our list entirely (no, we didn’t forget Alan Wake 2 – we just didn’t like it very much) but, as usual, voting will begin for the Reader’s Top 20 of 2023 at the end of January, when you can help to decide what you think was the best game of the year.

GameCentral Top 20 – 2023

20. Storyteller

(Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, and Android)

As you’ll see later in this list, 2023 has been a very good year for puzzle games and that includes this charmingly clever title from Annapurna Interactive. The idea is that you have to tell a story using only a very limited number of comic book style panels, by arranging characters and objects in sequential order. You’re given a concept to aim for but there’s almost always multiple ways to get there, which is not only clever but makes you feel strangely possessive about your storytelling creations.

19. Diablo 4

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Live service games have been a hot topic in 2023 and Diablo 4 would probably be a better game if it wasn’t one, but at its core this is another hugely compelling hack ‘n’ slash role-player, that still does things far better than any of its imitators. It’s not overburdened with new ideas, but the new open world map works well and the role-playing elements have been sensibly reimagined. It can be enjoyed solo but when played in co-op any concern about monetisation and manipulation quickly fades away.

18. Hogwarts Legacy

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Surprisingly, or not, this may end up being the best-selling game of 2023 – in large part because it came out in February but also because it’s a genuinely great game. Whatever you think of Harry Potter, and its creator, this is a rock solid action role-player, with a large open world environment to explore and a fully interactive Hogwarts to enrol in and explore. Unlike, say, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, you do have to have at least some kind of affinity for the source material to properly enjoy it, but as long as that’s the case this is wizard entertainment.

17. Remnant 2

(Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

There’s been a lot of Soulslikes this year, but this is easily our favourite of the 3D entries, for the very simple reason that it’s trying to do things at least a little differently. Instead of just copying FromSoftware as closely as possible, Remnant 2 makes sure to include a lot of ranged weapons, including guns; some varied world design, that isn’t just gothic looking castles; and lots of customisation options. It is better played in co-op than on your own, and the storytelling isn’t up to much, but it’s still more than enough to have us already looking forward to Remnant 3.

16. Hi-Fi Rush

(Xbox Series X/S and PC)

We’ve always been disappointed by the output of Tango Gameworks, which was founded by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami but has been stuck for years making nothing but sub-par survival horrors. They’re clearly a talented team though and it turns out all they had to do was switch genres, with this excellent mix of Devil May Cry and a rhythm action game. There is the sense that game is stretching its thin premise a bit too far, especially with all the platforming, but fighting in time with the music is hugely entertaining while it lasts.

15. Blasphemous 2

(Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

When considering the best Soulslikes of 2023 we quickly dismissed Lies Of P and Lord Of The Fallen, for being just too derivative. That’s why we preferred Remnant 2 but, depending on whether you count Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as a Souslike or not, we’d say this is the best traditional incarnation of the idea. It still relies a bit too heavily on From’s genius, but this is definitely the best the concept has ever worked in 2D and is a significant improvement on the original Blasphemous.

14. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

(Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a good game, but it lacked that certain something that distinguished it from all the many games it was copying. It also had a number of irritating factors of its own, especially the backtracking and contrived level design, but Survivor fixes all those problems, including the lack of fast travel. It also manages to spins a more compelling plot than last time, even if the main character is still a little dull. The Force powers and lightsaber abilities have also had the dial turned up on them, in what is one of the best ground-based Star Wars games ever made.

13. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

(PlayStation 5)

Big budget gaming doesn’t come any bigger than this (the Insomniac hacks reveal the cost of making the game ballooned to $300 million) but you can see every cent on screen in what is a significantly better game than the original in terms of the gameplay, storytelling, and pacing. Web-swinging (and now gliding) around New York City for the nth time should’ve lost its appeal by now, but not when the set piece design is this good and there’s additional variety added by playing as two different Spider-Men. Venom is handled extremely well but when the game even manages to make Lizard seem cool you know it’s something special.

12. Amnesia: The Bunker

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC)

Easily the best horror game of the year and a welcome return to form for the Amnesia franchise, even if it has very little in common with the classic Amnesia: Dark Descent… apart from being absolutely terrifying. In some ways it’s a more straightforward survival horror and despite its First World War setting could be considered something of a spiritual sequel to Alien Isolation, as you’re stalked be a seemingly unkillable monster that is afraid of the light. Manufacturing enough to survive, by operating torches and keeping generators fuelled, is one of your key struggles, helping to keep the game engagingly non-linear.

11. Dave The Diver

(Nintendo Switch and PC)

There’s been some controversy this year, as to whether Dave The Diver counts as an indie game or not, as while it was made by a very small team, that team is in turn owned by a much larger company. As long as they’re turning out games as charming and inventive as this we don’t care, as you help the portly deep sea diver keep his sushi restaurant stocked with ingredients, while exploring the mysterious underwater world of the Blue Hole. Not every idea and mini-game works perfectly but the gorgeous pixel art and laidback atmosphere more than makes up for any minor flaws.

10. Pizza Tower

(PC)

It says something when a game from a previously unknown indie developer not only outdoes the entirety of the Wario Land franchise – that it is knowingly and openly paying homage to – but successfully survives comparison with the madness and invention of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Pizza Tower might not be quite as refined but it is the best non-Nintendo platformer in years and desperately in need of some console versions, so that more people can appreciate it.

9. Jusant

(Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Although best known for the Life Is Strange series (which they’re no longer involved in) you never know what you’re going to get with a Don’t Nod game. Technically this is simply a mountain-climbing simulator, which doesn’t necessarily sound very interesting, but it’s actually one of the most engaging games of the year. The climbing gameplay is all very good, slowly evolving as you ascend a mysterious, seemingly endless, rock tower but it’s the understated visual storytelling and hidden journals that add real life to the game, as you explore the abandoned lives of the people that used to live there.

8. Asgard’s Wrath 2

(Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro)

A late addition to our list, since it only came out this month, but easily one of the most impressive VR games ever made. Not just for its visuals, and its use of the Meta Quest 3’s various abilities, but the fact that it’s an actual proper role-playing game – a sort of cross between Skyrim and God Of War that is no way dumbed down just because it’s a VR title. The variety of options, with new features being introduced dozens of hours into the game, is hugely impressive and a real killer app for the system.

7. Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Everyone knows a FromSoftware game is going to be difficult before they ever start it, but even by the standards of Dark Souls and Elden Ring this seems excessive. Or at least it does at first. The magic of Armored Core is how it manages to make the impossible seem every day after only a surprisingly small amount of practice. Stay focused and you’ll experience some of the best action of the generation so far, with some superb (and gigantic) boss battles and a near infinite array of customisation options. It’s not just Dark Souls with robots either, with some very unique and interesting combat, that makes excellent use of 3D movement.

6. Street Fighter 6

(PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Thanks to this and Resident Evil 4 it’s been another bumper year for Capcom, although describing Street Fighter 6 as the best fighter of the year does it a disservice, given the rather lacklustre competition (Mortal Kombat 1 was good but far less revolutionary than it first implied). By comparison, Street Fighter 6 is the best the series has ever been in the 3D era, with top notch combat, tons of options, and – clearly learning from the lessons of the past – some great single-player content. The new characters are good too and while you can argue it doesn’t really add anything new it’s hard to think of any fighter that does things better.

5. Humanity

(PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC)

2023 really was a very good year for puzzle games, with this fascinating new take on Lemmings managing to take its simple premise to delightfully absurd heights. Its attempts at philosophical storytelling aren’t very successful, but the puzzle design is constantly reinventing itself, as you try and guide a stream of almost mindless humans to the goal (you play as a dog). It’s engaging from the first level but as it slowly introduces more elements and abilities, you begin to realise just how clever, and deceptively complex, it is.

4. Cocoon

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

Although Geometric Interactive is a brand new indie studio, Cocoon is by the lead designer of Limbo and Inside. Cocoon has little in common with those games though, beyond being very good and wonderfully idiosyncratic. It’s more of a puzzle game than the previous titles, as you play as an insect-like creature who, without any initial explanation, explores a desolate series of landscapes by travelling into mysterious orbs. Each orb houses a different world but can also be used to activate machinery and use special abilities. It’s all very inscrutable but incredibly well designed and hugely satisfying once you realise what’s going on.

3. Baldur’s Gate 3

(Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC)

The breakout hit of 2023 was Larian Studio’s Baldur’s Gate 3. Just as much a continuation of the excellent Divinity: Original Sin games, as it is the original Baldur’s Gate titles, this manages to reinvent the computer role-player not only in terms of its option-filled gameplay but as something that seems cool and exciting to ordinary gamers – and that’s only partially because of all the sex scenes.

Baldur’s Gate 3 takes things back to basics by attempting to simulate the experience of playing a tabletop game with friends, which requires the game to react to anything you could possibly want to say or do in a realistic manner. The fact that it largely achieves this, while still being relatively accessible and having a highly engaging combat system, is almost miraculous. And while nothing else in the game quite lives up to Act 1 (which was in early access for two years, while the other acts weren’t) this is the new gold standard for modern role-playing games.

2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

(Nintendo Switch)

The Super Mario Bros. franchise is fast approaching its 40th anniversary and yet not only is the gameplay still fundamentally the same as it was in 1985 but somehow this year’s new entry managed to feel completely fresh and one of the most unpredictable gaming experiences of the year. Although that is in part because, despite a near infinite range of spin-offs, there hasn’t been a proper mainline entry in the series since the 90s.

Wonder makes up for lost time though, with its key premise revolving around Wonder Flowers, which once collected transform a level into something completely different. From invading the stage with signing Piranha plants, turning on bullet time, or suddenly switching to a top-down view, you literally never know what’s coming next. It’s completely unpredictable and most ideas are used once and never seen again. Add in a superb four-player co-op mode, and some extra hard levels for veteran fans, and it easily takes its place with the best of the series.

More: Trending

1. The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

(Nintendo Switch)

When Zelda: Breath Of The Wild was released in 2017 there was no question that it was the best game of the year and many, including us, suspected that it was the best video game ever made. Tears Of The Kingdom is even better and yet because it is an incremental improvement, using a version of the same open world map, it’s harder to be so unequivocable about its quality. Harder but not impossible.

Although this year’s top three game are all unimpeachably fantastic, the breadth and depth of Tears Of The Kingdom’s excellence is without compare. Its physics engine alone is staggeringly good, and it still seems impossible that it could run on the underpowered Switch. And yet it’s actually a relatively minor part of the game, that can be largely ignored, outside of a few key moments, if it doesn’t interest you.

The same can be said of almost every element of the game, which is so filled with detail and distraction it makes its predecessor seem like Modern Warfare 3’s story campaign by comparison. Everything Tears Of The Kingdom attempts it does almost flawlessly, once again proving that it’s not the power of a console, or the realism of the graphics, that make a good game – it’s the imagination of the developer and how they inspire that same sense of wonder and invention in the player.

The best game of 2023 (Picture: Nintendo)

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GameCentral tries to make sense of a bumper year for video games and presents the 20 best releases of the last 12 months.