Which were your favourite games this year?

[Redglyph]

What a year 2023 has been!

What games have you played, and which one(s) did you like best? Not necessarily games released in 2023, but whatever you played. Games aren't always at their best when they're just released, after all.

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I've finished the following games, from recent to old - I'm cheating a little and including one I've completed end of November 2022. There were a few others that I'm not listing, like games I haven't finished yet (JA3, Grim Dawn, Sekiro, ...) or smaller / puzzle games.

• Elden Ring
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Prey
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Among those, two really marked me as memorable experiences, though each one in that list was really great. Come to think of it, I don't think I can ever top that in 12 months or ever had. In chronological order (I couldn't possibly give any preference between two such different games):

• Kingdom Come: Deliverance is how more RPGs should be made. It's so immersive that I had the impression of living the game rather than playing it. The world and the events made sense, everything had to be earned, and the quests offered a good variety of activities. I can't wait to play the sequel, if we ever see it one day.
• Elden Ring has a wonderful world design and a very satisfying combat. The Souls-like genre is far, far away from my comfort zone, so I had to forget everything about my first contact with a poorly ported Dark Souls game, which I really hated, and understand what experience Hidetaka Miyazaki had intended to offer in the games he directed. And it paid off. It's not for everyone, because it's brutal and difficult, but after a while, you realize that you can learn, adapt, and overcome the difficulty. Thankfully, it's not only about that, and this game offers much more than the satisfaction of outliving hard enemies.

PS: Yes, shocking, I know. BG3 not in a top list, that must be a first. I did enjoy it a lot, though.
EDIT: To be clear, CP2077 and BG3 are my favourite recent games together with the two above, but their experience weren't really at the same level.

 

[Carnifex]

I'm probably a year or more behind with some of these, the ones I really enjoyed this year were Mutant Year Zero, a bunch of rpg-maker games, and Marvel's Midnight Suns, which I'm still currently playing. And it seems like it'll likely take me months to get through it! Maybe if my class load is a little lighter next year I might rack up some more current games.

 

[HiddenX]

My favourite games this year:

Baldur's Gate 3
Jagged Alliance 3
Everspace 2

 

[Lakorus]

I haven't finished many games this year, but the one that stands out by far was Horizon: Zero dawn. I really enjoyed the whole package of gameplay, story, graphics, exploration, characters and so on.

 

[Redglyph]

I haven't finished many games this year, but the one that stands out by far was Horizon: Zero dawn. I really enjoyed the whole package of gameplay, story, graphics, exploration, characters and so on.

This one's definitely on my list.

 

[Lakorus]

This one's definitely on my list.

Funnily, vice versa Kingdom come: Deliverance is pretty high on my list and actually already installed on my hard drive

 

[Redglyph]

Funnily, vice versa Kingdom come: Deliverance is pretty high on my list and actually already installed on my hard drive

Keep a couple of mods in mind, just in case you feel the need for them at some point:

• Unlimited Saving - No Schnapps Version
• Instant Herb Picking

 

[JDR13]

I didn't do as much gaming this year compared to past years. I also spent way too much time trying demos and playing a lot of games briefly just to sample them.

That said, Elden Ring was my favorite by far. Almost 400 hours played there.

 

[JDR13]

I haven't finished many games this year, but the one that stands out by far was Horizon: Zero dawn. I really enjoyed the whole package of gameplay, story, graphics, exploration, characters and so on.

I played HZD back in 2020, and that was definitely one of my favorites that year. I can't wait to play the sequel when it releases on PC in a few months.

 

[Arkadia7]

For this year, I mainly played shooter games. Didn't play as much rpg games as I have in the past. But of the games I did play, I really liked Prodeus, a retro style shooter, and was very pleasantly surprised by Doom Eternal, which is a fantastic shooter! (I play it with a comprehensive mod that changes some gameplay elements to more of my liking)

Both of these games have entertaining science fiction themes, a good variety of weapons to use in the game and monsters to fight in them, and Doom Eternal really impressed me, to be honest. Very imaginative design and superb graphics and just a great shooter game.

I also played Serious Sam 3 and Serious Sam 4, those are very funny and fun shooter games as well.
I hope to catch up to some of the more recent big rpg releases next year! (for example, I have played Kingmaker, but never finished it, and still never really played Wrath of Righteous because I've just waited on all the expansions! Also still have to play Wasteland 3 in my backlog, etc.)

 

[Couchpotato]

Well my list would be the following.

1. Baldur's Gate 3
2. Starfield
3. Cyberpunk 2077
4. Warhammer:Rouge Trader

 

[Carnifex]

Kingdom Come is a great game, you should truly enjoy that one.

 

[bjon045]

Baldur's Gate 3
Jagged Alliance 3
Prey

 

[purpleblob]

As usual, I only played a handful of games this year and most of them are what I've been playing since last year.

The only new games I have spent enough time to judge are:

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
• Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader

I'm enjoying Dragonflight quite a lot - WoW has been casualised significantly over time and it is something I can enjoy in short burst and log off. Nothing ground breaking or memorable but I like it.

WH40K: RT I didn't enjoy and decided to throw in the towel. The universe is too grimdark, disliked companions a lot and endings are not well thought out at all (from what I've seen of others).

Since it is holiday season, I've just picked up a whole bunch of games.

I sunk in 70 minutes into Hogwarts Legacy so far and loved the intro so much! I hope the game will keep my interest for long but hubby warned me it will get stale soon Maybe the housing component in this game will keep me engaged, we will see.

I will be diving back into Elden Ring - hubby is pleased with my decision lol (it will be mix of coop with him + some solo sessions). I found the atmosphere excellent & combat decent but I dropped it for a while as I was spending a lot of time on WH40K: RT.

I'm also giving Warhammer: Vermintide 2 another try. I played this with hubby a while back but didn't really enjoy it. Retrying this in an effort to find more games I can enjoy with hubby.

 

[Warmark]

Being out of the gaming world the last few years I got a new gaming laptop at the beginning of this year so catching up on a lot of games.
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous with all the DLC's has easily been my game of this year.. can't beat a Owlcat game that has a year under it's belt!

Other games I've been playing are Grim Dawn for my action RPG fix..
Solasta with DLC'S has been very enjoyable also.

Finishing off a Divinity Original Sin 2 game I started a few years ago.. excellent game overall.

Have Baldurs Gate 3 ready for next year after it's been patched to perfection..

And was gifted Marvel's Midnight Suns so planning to start that up soon..

Great year to come back to gaming for me.

 

[Redglyph]

Both of these games have entertaining science fiction themes, a good variety of weapons to use in the game and monsters to fight in them, and Doom Eternal really impressed me, to be honest. Very imaginative design and superb graphics and just a great shooter game.

It looks great, and Gordon's music is fantastic, though I don't like all the tracks. I've hesitated to play it but I don't think I can still enjoy Doom games. They put back monsters from the original Doom game, didn't they? I thought this was a great idea!

 

[Redglyph]

(sorry for the multiple posting - 'Insert quotes' is acting up again)

I sunk in 70 minutes into Hogwarts Legacy so far and loved the intro so much! I hope the game will keep my interest for long but hubby warned me it will get stale soon Maybe the housing component in this game will keep me engaged, we will see.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts about it. How are the performances with this game, now?

I will be diving back into Elden Ring - hubby is pleased with my decision lol (it will be mix of coop with him + some solo sessions). I found the atmosphere excellent & combat decent but I dropped it for a while as I was spending a lot of time on WH40K: RT.

I hope you'll keep enjoying it!

Oh, and drink coffee or play Elden Ring, but don't do both the same day.

Other games I've been playing are Grim Dawn for my action RPG fix..

Did you play it before or after 1.2? I need to get back in and see the changes.

 

[Warmark]

Both, but 1.2 is excellent.. worth playing again as the improvements are all very good, the game just keeps getting better.

 

[purpleblob]

I'm curious to hear your thoughts about it. How are the performances with this game, now?

So far, it is running smooth on my PC. I love the graphics, it has very pleasant colour palettes too.

I hope you'll keep enjoying it!

Oh, and drink coffee or play Elden Ring, but don't do both the same day.

I hope so too - but hubby says I should drink coffee & play Elden Ring on the same day because it will be an awesome experience

 

[Lakorus]

Both, but 1.2 is excellent.. worth playing again as the improvements are all very good, the game just keeps getting better.

The new version of Grim dawn is on my list for 2024. I still have to decide whether I want to do the new addon or if I stick to the ones I have, as it is already quite a long game.