Looking back at the best video games of 2023
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Introduction
Choosing the best games of 2023 is no easy task, especially with the calibre of titles released this year. Everyone has their own opinion and preferences when it comes to gameplay, subject matter, character designs, and the amount of social interaction involved. But when it comes to ratings and overall gross income, there are a few clear winners.
We saw many releases over the course of the year, but only a few managed to find huge success, and even fewer managed to excite us. Prepare to be shocked, impressed and downright offended by our choices for the top video games of 2023. Here are our critical hits for 2023 in the world of gaming!
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1. Hogwarts Legacy
It may not tickle everyone’s fancy, but there’s no denying that this game racked up some impressive figures this year.
Avalanche Software first let this game take flight in February and has seen nothing but success since. The world of wizardry fan base is pretty major so when Warner Bros announced that they would be working on a game set in the pre-Potter time period, many were champing at the bit for more info.
The game surpassed the billion-dollar mark in early May and continues to rake in revenue to this day. We also loved feeling like a wizard (but using Avada Kedavra with no real consequences as a 5th year student seems a bit ridiculous, no?).
2. The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Here’s a franchise that manages to find success every single time it launches an addition to the series. With over 29 games in the series, Nintendo shows no signs of slowing down when it comes to releasing top-grossing video games.
The game has received critical acclaim, and it’s easy to see why. This game reached number 2 on the list of top-grossing games of 2023, marginally missing the top spot. What makes this achievement so great is that Tears of the Kingdom is only accessible on one platform (Nintendo Switch) as opposed to its competition, which is available on 3 different consoles.
Without wanting to spoil too much, if you enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of the Wild, you’ll enjoy this freeform continuation in the series. Just when you thought Nintendo couldn’t possibly add more open-world elements to this version of Hyrule, they’ve gone and proved us all wrong.
This is a game you’ll struggle to put down, which tends to be a common theme with the reviews from fans (us included, 230 hours later!). Unfortunately, there won’t be a third iteration of this Zelda and Link, but we’ll be looking forward to the next!
3. Baldur’s Gate 3
Not only is this game an underrated outlier on the list, it’s perhaps one of the most engrossing games I’ve ever played. Despite all the lock-picking critical fails (weird, I’m a rogue!), I had to force myself to put it down every time.
This CRPG is a must for fans of the expansive world and legendary table-top RPG known as Dungeons and Dragons. It achieves a feat that very few video games manage to do. It captures the essence of what TTRPGs and board games are all about and offers something truly special in a world of straight-laced action adventure games.
This game is the 3rd release from the Belgian Studio Larian. The studio initially set out to create a virtual version of the ever-popular Dungeons and Dragons, and they’re already three success stories deep. If you enjoy single-player story-driven gameplay, don’t give this one a miss.
4. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
3rd on the list of top-grossing games of 2023 is the latest addition to the Star Wars franchise, from the creators at Respawn Entertainment. Unfortunately there was a bit of nitpicking with the gameplay from PC players, but we thought it was true to the first game and offered more to the Jedi experience (every Star Wars kid’s dream).
The game was designed to offer fans a chance to explore the game's lore while partaking in exciting missions and slicing enemies, all while simply trying to survive. With such a large universe and so many more story to tells outside of the original (or even prequel) trilogy, we love the exploration of new, heroic characters within such a fleshed out timeline.
The last Jedi, Cal, offers an exciting peek into what it might be to be a most-wanted man but some were left wanting more. Good thing there are new things on the horizon, as Cal Kestis himself (or rather, the actor behind him, Cameron Monaghan) has already confirmed that a 3rd instalment of Star Wars Jedi is in the works.
5. Honorable Mentions
We couldn’t conclude this list without mentioning a few of our personal favorites regardless of revenue, chart performance, or critical success! Just trust us on these ones.
Super Mario Wonder - our favorite side-scrolling Super Mario game of all time!
Sea of Stars - we loved the retro art style and modernized JRPG gameplay.
Persona 4 Golden - completely underrated, we love the Persona franchise!
Conclusion
Whether a game’s success should be measured by the number of downloads it receives or the overall ratings from fans is entirely up to you. But with the above-mentioned games, we’ve looked at both aspects and tried to include something for everyone. The numbers don’t lie, but neither do the fans when it comes to their disappointment. So, if you’re looking for a recommendation, always check the forums and reviews, not just the statistics.
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