Keeping up with the video game in 2023 has not been easy. If this year will be remembered for anything within the electronic entertainment sector, it will be for the large number of releases that have accumulated and – more importantly – for their quality. Some are already comparing it to years as legendary as 1998 or 2004, but only time will tell if the titles published in recent months end up being truly memorable.
Beyond games, 2023 will be remembered as the year in which Microsoft was finally able to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but also for the publication of the first GTA 6 trailer or the Unity debacle. Sadly, it has also been a year that has seen a large wave of layoffs in this industry. In the same way that many of the games whose development had been hindered by the pandemic have ended up seeing the light of day, many workers have also lost their jobs due to post-covid restructuring. It is an uncomfortable and strange moment for a sector that should be rethought in 2024.
Games have been the positive side of a very hectic current situation, so below we offer a selection of our ten favorites – in strict alphabetical order – for 2023.
Platforms: PC, PS5 and Xbox Series
It is difficult to find interesting horror works, those that are mocked in Scream (2022) as “elevated horror.” It happens in cinema, in literature and in video games. Alan Wake 2 is the best thing that has happened to the horror genre in a long time. An excellent narrative that is mixed with an almost incredible technical level. Terror beyond the jump scare (although there are some too). It's Christmas and the spooky season has already passed, but, if you haven't played it, spend Christmas with Agent Saga Anderson. You will not regret it.
Platforms: PC, PS5 and Xbox Series
Baldur's Gate 3 is the game I've written about the most this year (and played the most, Marc here writing). The new thing from Larian Studios caught me from the beginning, more than as a video game, I see it as a story generator, like a digital dungeon master. I will not go into depth here about how it works or what makes it so special, for this we have the analysis of Baldur's Gate 3 and the recent interview with Anna Guxens. I only ask that you play it and get lost in the Forgotten Realms for many dozens of hours. Worth.
Plataformas: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series y Nintendo Switch
Spikes no longer mean instant death. This subtle and forceful change could define Blasphemous 2. Another textbook sequel that improves all those aspects of the first installment that are susceptible to changes and renewals. It plays just enough to be better at everything without losing what made the first Blasphemous unique. The combat is much more dynamic and precise, the scale of the world, the fights and the final bosses; but it maintains the atmosphere and an excellent soundtrack. In Spain they also make very good games and in this list you have a couple of examples.
Plataformas: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series y Nintendo Switch
Due to their abstract nature, puzzles are one of the genres that offer greater freedom to their creators. Now, designing a puzzle game that works and at the same time is innovative is, perhaps, one of the most difficult things a video game developer can face. Jeppe Carlsen, the designer of two masterpieces such as Limbo and Inside, decided together with his Geometric Interactive team to go all out with this idea and the result was Cocoon.
In this title the player controls an insect-like creature who must solve puzzles within a desolate world. Said like this, it doesn't seem very surprising, but what makes this title unique is not the little puzzles, but the gear that connects its multiple worlds, the way everything is connected and how it is presented to the player. This 2023 there have been great representatives within this genre, such as Viewfinder or Chants of Sennarr, but this Cocoon is the one that has captivated us the most.
Platform: Xbox and PC
One of the big surprises at the beginning of the year was this game developed by Tango Gameworks, and not only because the title was launched without prior notice, but because it completely moved away from the terror for which the studio responsible for The Evil was until then known. Within or Ghostwire: Tokyo. In this colorful action adventure the player must follow the rhythm of the music if they want to succeed. To defeat enemies it is necessary to precisely fit each blow following the tempo of a soundtrack made up of powerful rock songs. Hi-Fi Rush stands out for how it integrates music into combat, which earned it the award for best sound design at the recent The Game Awards, but also for its vibrant cartoon visual style.
Platform: PS5
A textbook sequel, we could say. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is everything fans expected, it is more and better than the first and Miles Morales. Insomniac Games reaffirms itself as one of the best PlayStation studios with a title that once again demonstrates that very good superhero games can be made. It pales a little towards the final third, but it is a very solid adventure, with a lot of charisma and swinging around New York is still one of the most fun things you can do on a PlayStation 5.
Platforms: PC, PS5 and Xbox Series
Thirty-five years after its debut in arcades, Street Fighter remains the king of fighting video games. After a fifth installment whose unsuccessful start ended up weighing down the whole of what it offered, this sixth iteration has been released with a forcefulness that had not been seen in this genre for a long time. Street Fighter 6 not only adds new characters, mechanics and an updated aesthetic, it also learns from the mistakes of the past and feels like a celebration of an entire saga. This 2023 has been a great year for one-on-one fighting games – Mortal Kombat 1 has also been released and Tekken 8 is coming in a matter of weeks – but it is difficult to give up the champion belt of this genre.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
In the year in which Super Mario Bros. has broken records in cinemas, it has also had a new adventure in its most classic aspect – the traditional 2D platforms – which is a real joy. The surprise is the Super Mario Bros. Wonder engine. The feeling of not knowing what awaits you on the next screen has always characterized this character's games, but this new installment for Nintendo Switch further underlines that emotion that so few video games are capable of transmitting.
Mario's new adventure wants to be so surprising that, to begin with, it doesn't even take place in his usual setting, but instead transfers the action to the hitherto unpublished Flower Kingdom. There are also mushrooms in this one, but what stands out are its flowers, talking plants that are as capable of singing and giving advice as they are of transporting the player to amazing parallel worlds. It had been many years, decades even, since we had played classic Mario so good and so resounding.
Platforms: PC and Nintendo Switch
The small Valencian team Deconstructeam has been simmering for years on this The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, a narrative game that tells the story of Fortuna, a seer witch who has predicted the fall of her coven, and who has therefore been sentenced to a thousand years of imprisonment. exile on a lonely asteroid. As in the studio's previous games, dialogue and decision-making form the foundation of the experience. However, what makes this title different is the ability of its protagonist to create his own tarot cards and, in turn, to alter reality based on his interpretation. The idea behind this peculiar game system, which takes elements of the classic conversational adventure and fuses them in an original way with tarot, consists of connecting ideas and emotions. All this to tell an emotional story about such universal themes as destiny, empathy or the conflict between the individual and the community.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Unquestionably, the highly anticipated new installment of The Legend of Zelda has been one of the great games of 2023. The freedom that Breath of the Wild granted to those who decided to delve into it was one of the most celebrated features of this title published in 2017 and, Although it may seem impossible, Tears of the Kingdom has taken it a little further. Link now has new abilities that allow him to interact with objects and the environment in even more creative ways. Combine and merge elements of the setting, create all kinds of mechanisms and motorized vehicles, make a block of stone go back in time, cross the ceiling of a cave to come to the surface... The imagination is stronger than the sword.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes everything Breath of the Wild did and takes it further. Tens, hundreds of hours after completing the adventure, the game continues to surprise the player with new adventures and secrets. The bar for adventure games has never been higher.
