And I thought 2022 was a banner year for gaming.

2023 pumped out a mind-boggling number of epic releases throughout the entire year. Most every genre had a representative that could end up being one of the best in their genre. Like with every year though, there were some games I never got a chance to try out for one reason or another. Here is a more truncated than usual list of games that I didn’t get a chance to play and why:

Alan Wake 2 – I’m someone that loves physical media, even when most releases these days require 50gb+ patches to be playable. Alan Wake 2 having no physical release kinda turned me off, and from everything I’ve heard about the final game, I regret not getting the game sooner. I’ll likely pick it up on PC early next year.
Mortal Kombat 1 – I almost got this one, but I just don’t really jive with MK games overall. The only ones I’ve ever liked were MK2, Trilogy, Armageddon and 9.
Resident Evil 4 – Like Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake, I chose to wait it out on this one, as I knew within a year or so the price would drop to$20.
Dave the Diver – I actually picked this up on the Steam Winter Sale. Haven’t played yet.
Immortals of Aveum – I also purchased this recently for a stupidly low price, but haven’t had a chance to try it out.
Forspoken – no
Hi-Fi Rush – I just never got around to playing it, looks fantastic
Sea of Stars – same
Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name – I had the intention of playing the franchise from start to end in order, so I haven’t touched this one yet
Octopath Traveler 2 – was waiting for a price cut. There was one but now I’m waiting longer lol
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor – still need to complete the previous game
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew – waiting for a good sale on it
Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader – same
Robocop: Rogue City – same

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The “I Wish I Had Played This At Launch Because It Likely Would Have Turned Out To Be A Top Five Game” award – Fire Emblem Engage

I had this pre-ordered, but decided to cancel it to save money. At the end of this year I managed to get a really good deal on it. I know I was trying to save money, but damn, what an addicting gameplay loop that I wish I had been playing since January. Unfortunately the voice acting is some of the worst I’ve ever heard in a major first party release, and the story is just passable, but there’s always something about Fire Emblem‘s gameplay that’s just magnificent. It does make me want to go back to Three Houses as well.

The “I Originally Thought The Soundtrack And Storyline Carried The Game To A More Positive Reception But Months Later I Just Can’t Get By How Faulty Most Of The Game Actually Was” award – Final Fantasy XVI

I still feel the storyline is the best of the franchise, and the soundtrack is still top three in any RPG, but after letting things settle, man what a severely flawed game. The gameplay wasn’t really that fun, especially since being “creative” with your attacks just slowed down battles as opposed to using specific attacks for actual efficiency. The amount of padding was freaking gross, to the point of skipping through some of the beginning of later chapters that didn’t matter. The difficulty was almost non-existent (I did not do new game +, but I shouldn’t have to rely on that as a crutch for challenge and play through the entire game a second time). Gear had almost no point, especially since it was always the same type of weapon (sword) with the incremental stat gains on other pieces being a wash as following through the main story scaled the enemies along with you. The use of magic was under-baked as well. Final Fantasy XVI wasn’t an outright dud, but looking back at my journey with it, my God was this one of the most flawed titles to a major franchise in quite a while. Happy I played it for the story and soundtrack, but depressed that I look back at the experience now, and it was just so painfully faulty.

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10. Hogwarts Legacy (8.8)

If this offends you, that I played and enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy enough to reach the top ten for 2023, I don’t know what to tell you. This year has taught me how short life can be, and all I want to do is enjoy the time I have left. JK Rowling has said and supported questionable thing yes, but just because I chose to play a video game doesn’t mean I endorse what she says, or I’m intentionally funding some kind of hate campaign. If I only played games that didn’t derive from some kind of unscrupulous entity of some sort, there would literally be like four video games ever made that I could ever play. Live your life, be good to each other, don’t be a JK Rowling.

9. Starfield (7.5 – 7 stream rounded score)

Incredibly mixed bag. While I was highly anticipating its release, what I received was a mix of a massive scope of a game, and a massive disappointment. I absolutely do not regret a single hour of the 60+ that I spent completing one playthrough, but at the same time, I can’t help but to feel let down overall. Hopefully the modding community goes super in-depth and creates planets worth of new content. I’ll definitely be returning to this periodically and hoping my experience is augmented by those creating content for the game.

8. Star Ocean 2 Remaster (8.8)

Star Ocean 2 was one of my favorite PS1 RPG’s, and the remake does almost everything right, and next to nothing wrong. The art style is gorgeous, and the voice acting is serviceable. I feel like the release kinda slipped through the cracks and didn’t land on many RPG lovers’ radar, and that’s a damn shame, as it’s a premiere JRPG made better than its original.

7. Diablo 4 (8.4)

Another game that was mixed with me. Playing through the campaign was entertaining, though nothing memorable at all. Season one was awful, but season two added a lot of fun gimmicks that made leveling a seasonal character a ton of fun. My rating is mostly a reflection of the second season. I spent more time playing Diablo 4 than any other game on this list (300+ hr), and while it’s no Diablo 2, it’s still a good time, and hopefully future seasons will use the kind of ingenuity season two held.

6. Street Fighter 6 (9.5)

Arguably the first good Street Fighter since Super Street Fighter 4 (2012, Ultra, etc, they really brought the game down for me), Street Fighter 6 is a return to form. The World Tour mode is silly fun, it’s visually breathtaking, and the game mechanics are beyond infinitely better than Street Fighter 5. I need to put more time into this one, and I feel bad that I haven’t. As is, I’d say Street Fighter 6 lands behind Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Capcom vs SNK 2 in my list of all-time fighting games.

5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (9.2 – 9 stream rounded score)

Fantastic all around. Insomniac Games managed to shore up the shortcomings of the original (they actually made the MJ segments fun, sans the first one), give a number of exciting surprises, and provide an even larger slice of New York City to traverse through. The story easily tops the previous two Spider-Man games, with a set up to what may be a fascinating sequel down the line. Head and shoulders above any other superhero video game out there, even with the bugs.

4. Super Mario Wonder (9.2)

The biggest compliment I can give Super Mario Wonder, is that it’s the first time in a very, very long time, that I played a game that made me feel like a kid again. Super Mario Wonder is just wonderful. The gimmicks added to this iteration, the power ups, the actual challenge, it’s all some of the best the franchise has ever seen. Definitely one of the greatest 2D platformers ever made, and the best 2D Mario I’ve played since New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS.

3. Super Mario RPG Remake (9.2)

Sure, the original Super Mario RPG on the SNES was super easy. Yeah, Super Mario RPG Remake feels even easier, but so what? It has one of the best JRPG battle systems out there, giving players more interaction with each attack in meaningful (although pretty much required) ways. The visual makeover is very pretty, and even the remixed music manages to retain the charm of the original. This is an absolute must play for anyone that enjoys JRPG’s.

2. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (9.5 – 9 stream rounded score)

What an incredible turnaround Cyberpunk 2077 has gone under. CD Projekt Red fixed up most of the issues players had with the base game and (for the PC at least) they utilized a number of visual tool to make the already breathtaking world look that much more phenomenal. Phantom Liberty is a storyline and an overall expansion with top shelf quality at every facet. The decisions at the very end were absolutely gut wrenching, to the point where I really couldn’t make a decision until the very last moment. Honestly, Phantom Liberty might be one of my top three, or maybe even outright my most favorite expansion to a video game. An absolute must play, and paired up with the more refined base game experience (and if you have it on PC, mind-blowing DLSS and ray-tracing utilization), it’s a total package that has redeemed its self from three years ago.

1. TIE – Baldur’s Gate 3 & The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (10, 10)

Sorry, I couldn’t choose which was better. If you had a gun to my head and forced me to choose, I’d say “just shoot me, but let me play them some more first”.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most well polished, engrossing, thoroughly enjoyable CRPG I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The writing is high caliber, the game world is just jaw dropping in both look and scope, the voice acting is fantastic, and really, I can’t think of anything that it does poorly. If I had to nitpick, I’d probably say that it was kinda dumb how everyone is a horndog. Even still, you’d be hard pressed to find another game that’s the total package and this good. Larian Studios have created a timeless classic with Baldur’s Gate 3, and although it might be daunting to jump into the game as someone who has never had, or has seldom had, experience with this type of game, stay with it, learn as you go, and you’re going to be rewarded with a journey you’ll never forget. It isn’t as good as folks have made it out to be – it’s even better.

Tears of the Kingdom took everything Breath of the Wild did and refined it. The story actually feels like it matters in comparison to Breath of the Wild, the sheer size of the game world is absolutely unreal, the new gimmick adds a lot of innovation to the world of Zelda, and it’s simply a sublime experience from top to bottom. Tears of the Kingdom was likely my most anticipated video game ever, right behind Eiyuden Chronicle and the Suikoden I & II Remaster, and although I got burned by Starfield and how much I was looking forward to that, Nintendo managed to obliterate all expectations and deliver the best first party Nintendo release ever. The only disappointing thing is that we may not see another Zelda game for half a decade at minimum, but at least Tears of the Kingdom is so rich in its content, creativity and structure that the wait may not be unbearable at all.

Really though, what did we do to deserve these two masterclass releases in one year?