If you pay attention in the slightest to video games, you’ll know that 2023 was an incredible year. Whether it was a mass release of delayed games from COVID times, or Nintendo giving the Switch one last hurrah, or the stars aligning, the gaming public got a myriad of quality titles spread across every genre imaginable.

Too many to keep up with. It was an onslaught of fun.

I used to be able to sample all the flavors of the month at one point in my life. No longer, and certainly not this year. I finally bunkered down and completed the 500. You can read more in the “About” section, but needless to say, I sacrificed playing games in order to write about them. There’s only so much time in the day.

This may be my greatest, and therefore the most shameful, list of shame to date. I desperately wanted to re-live some of my favorites but missed out on the Metroid Prime, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings & the Lost Ocean, Baten Kaitos: Origins and Resident Evil 4 remakes.

Then there was Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, Pikmin 4, Dave the Diver, Dredge, Street Fighter 6, Lies of P, Blasphemous 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Oxenfree 2.

But wait, there’s more!

The two dynamos at the top of everybody’s lists, aside from Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, were Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.

I really wish I was more into horror. I enjoyed the first Alan Wake but I found it to be an uneven ride. Remedy seems to be really hitting their stride lately, with Control and now Alan Wake 2 which, by all accounts, is a superlative experience that evolves the medium in ways very few other games have. I really wish I was made of sterner stuff.

I’m about 10 hours into Baldur’s Gate 3 and it may just not be my jam. The attention to detail is admittedly staggering, and the world is a treat to explore, but a chore to get through. I don’t know why every single action seems to require a negotiation, but whether it’s combat or item management or traversal, everything takes longer than I want it to. A friend of mine joined online, but now I can’t get his character to leave. I suffered a major defeat in a massive battle with Gnolls largely because when I jumped across a chasm and initiated the conflict, his character stayed behind and stared at the cavern wall. So, it’s not going on my Top 10 but it’s so well reviewed that I might have to double back on it some day.

That’s not to say I didn’t get a chance to play SOME games. The ones I did complete were stellar, it’s comparable to any year on dollerz.com, right up there with 2017 or 2020. Leaving off games like Final Fantasy 16 and Sea of Stars just shows how exclusive the Top 10 was this year.

And since I’m done the 500 (which I’m still in disbelief about), it means I’ll have slightly more free time to play games and have an even harder time picking the winners for 2024’s Top 10.

Here we go!

10)

The very first line of the 500 says that I’m terrible at puzzle games. That’s still accurate, although if more were designed like Cocoon, I may have to retract that statement. It’s an odd game, one that constantly bewildered me but usually in the right ways. It’s professionally designed, as it needs to teach you frequent mechanics without a single line of text or dialogue. Purely through visual and audio cues, I learned how to pick up various orbs and transport them across this alien world…and put them INTO other orbs?

Whoa.

The first moment I whisked myself INTO the orb I was carrying and realizing I was backpacking around another entirely contained universe really hit hard. It completely changed the dynamic of how I approached the challenges in front of me. It was no longer move here, jump here, place something here. It was “how will this action in the orange orb translate over to the green orb?” It totally broke the mold and I was forced to think, really think, about how to progress.

It’s exceedingly rare that I’ll finish an experience like this without getting frustrated, or seeking the assistance of a guide when I get stuck. If I ever was stalled, I walked through the steps and rules of Cocoon’s world. What could I do, what couldn’t I do. What could I try? It helped that the world is gorgeous to look at, frequently conveying a sense of isolation and wonder. When I finally did pick the right way to open a door, or ferry myself over a gap, I would say out loud “oh, THAT is clever!”

The inception-style tricks regarding swapping in and out of worlds never got old. The transition from one orb to the next is nearly instantaneous, and looks damned cool to boot. It didn’t have the bombastic boss fights of Final Fantasy 16, or the endearing art style of Sea of Stars, but it’s a complete package and accomplishes what it set out to do in a lean five hours. It more than warrants spot number 10.

9)

Ok, look, I’m not into continuing once I see credits. I don’t go back for battle passes, or seasons, or try my hand at a new game + (except for, well, you know) , or go for all the achievements. It’s just not my style; there are too many games to play and not enough time in the day.

The reason for the preamble is that I read a swath of criticism regarding Diablo 4 that doesn’t seem to pertain to me, at all. The end game is broken. Loot after 50 hours becomes meaningless, or the story isn’t there, or the challenges are repetitive. I mean, I guess you could say a game like Diablo 4 is repetitive by nature. It’s a ton of clicking on monsters and picking up loot after all, but to complain about that would be to complain about the very DNA of the franchise. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you.

It is for me, and I was thrilled to see a massive improvement over Diablo 3.

The atmosphere is dripping with dread. The horror is back, and I wanted to make my character look a little different than previous Henry controlled iterations. I used to be obsessed with making my avatars look like a beefed up version of myself, one who isn’t infatuated with blueberry muffins and carbs. But this time I really wanted to try something new.

In Torchlight, my favorite class turned out to be the ones that could summon minions. Something about letting others do my work for me speaks to me (delegation IS part of my professional job, after all…) and the Necromancer had everything I wanted. I could summon skeletons. I could summon skeleton mages. I could summon a giant rock Golem who would bash my enemies into oblivion while I stayed in the back and fired off various bone splinters or plague clouds. Various abilities that improved my minions’ stats, or the number of them always took priority. I made my character Faye look like a gothic rave addict who had recently risen from the dead. It’s one of the few times I was truly content with how my character looked.

It’s a simple gameplay mechanic, but you won’t hear me complain. It’s the perfect podcast game and I thought the characters and story were far above what I expected. The gruesome viscera, the cold tombs, the desperate villagers and the lurking evil all blended into a terrific, terrifying action RPG.

8)

You know it’s a good year when the 8th best game I played this year would have been a serious #1 contender in other years.

It’s very similar to Spider-Man and Miles Morales, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when you’ve already smacked a home run on a particular formula.

The advantage these games have, particularly Spider-Man 2, is traversing the open world as either Peter Parker or Miles Morales is unbeatably fun. It’s the best. Swinging around various boroughs of New York City is as gratifying as ever. The sense of fluid movement with a perfect framerate cannot be beat. This is really where modern hardware can shine; not that I fast traveled often but when I did, I couldn’t believe how fast and unobtrusive it is. It really does have to be seen to be believed.

The Web Wings add another boost to aerial movement, allowing you to glide for dozens of blocks. When a story beat or side mission pops up across the city, there was never any moment of hesitation due to how far away it was. When I had this amount of tools in my arsenal, proximity was never an issue.

Combat is virtually the same, but since it’s based on the Arkham series, I loved it. The multitude of powers and gadgets meant I almost always had a cooldown to select in a tight spot, and I could juggle hapless thugs in the air all day long.

While there were cheesy moments in the story and it’s undoubtedly more scattered than the previous two iterations, there’s enough excellent voice acting and set pieces to more than make up for any blemishes. Hearing Tony Todd voice Venom brought a massive smile to my face, one of entertainment’s great personas combined with Venom’s hulking, alien form was a joy to see and hear.

Missions are breezy and there’s always a colored gizmo in your peripheral or a hidden enemy base to distract yourself with while patrolling the city. There are many moves to learn, but once they all come together you really do feel like you’re playing an interactive graphic novel. I’ll sample another of these, anytime anywhere. Insomniac is onto something.

They even improved the stealth missions featuring Mary-Jane! Praise be!

7)

A welcomed surprise in the early days of 2023, and perhaps was a sign of things to come. I’m a fan of these types of action games for a number of reasons; the amount of freedom in combat means I don’t have to engage with every single system if I don’t want to. Combos are helpful, but not required. The enemy variety means I’m always on my toes and the challenge curve is typically fair. Plus, and I cannot stress this enough, they tend to be leaner experiences. They know that 100% focus on dodging, attacking and selecting weapons means players shouldn’t endure an adventure spanning dozens of hours. The fun is condensed. There aren’t going to be a plethora of side quests or filler content. The short-ish ride is linear, but packed to the brim.

Hi-Fi Rush never overstays its welcome. The colors are vibrant, the characters are endearing, the world is a mish-mash of other ideas that work entirely. But the game’s real hook, the entire premise is how incredibly well Tango Gameworks implemented the music with the gameplay.

Your damage and combo finishers are heightened if you attack to the beat of whatever song is playing on that level. Not only is the soundtrack great, it is part of the whole experience. I’ve never gotten into this type of flow before. Once I started dodging and actively waiting for a specific note to start my slashing instead of button mashing, I knew I was playing something special. It was wise of Tango to include an option that would show you the beat on-screen, but I never activated it. I don’t know why – I have zero rhythm in life, but in video games I feel far more musically inclined. No extra help for this ginger required!

If you told me one of my favorite boss fights of the year would be to the sound of a remixed version of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, I would certainly have given you a strange look. But here we are. The Roquefort encounter was a highlight, but when 6:15 happens and I’m wailing a guitar against the face of a mechanical werewolf surrounded by gold coins, it’s something else. This kind of scenario is what video games were made for.

The supporting cast is endearing, the platforming puzzles are tightly designed and combat never delved into mindless combos. It was always about the music and syncing my presses to the beat. What a unique, great little adventure.

Oh, and this has to be the only game in history with both a Xenogears AND a Léon: The Professional reference.

6)

I may have whiffed on some amazing remakes, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to miss out on this one.

Super Mario RPG was, and is, one of my favorite games ever. It was the first game in the genre I ever played. It introduced me to what an RPG was and the minutia that form them: experience points, leveling up, turn based fight systems, a world map, items, abilities, healing, attacking, boss fights and secret treasures are all here in an effortlessly charming package. I must have beat the original at least five times and often longed to see the cloud prince Mallow and the wooden doll Geno in other titles. It wasn’t to be, but I’ll settle for a terrific remake.

The graphical overhaul is impressive and totally encapsulates what made the original so charming. The isometric camera still manages to capture all the color, magic, whimsical and often hilarious world that Mario and his friends inhabit. The lighting, shadows and locations make the journey worth taking all over again.

I liked how they made the timed hits slightly more difficult than in the original. It kept me on my toes and while it’s one of the easier games ever made, it’s not like you can completely sleepwalk through everything. It helps that Peach’s Group Hug is still here as the most overpowered healing spell in video game history. Nearly a full heal for the entire party for barely any flower points AND it removes all status effects? Yes please, I’ll take ten.

Other additions made sure even grizzled veterans such as myself find some novelty. The triple attacks led to some really gorgeous battle animations, even if the damage inflicted was beyond what was necessary during the main campaign. The fact that you could switch party members out mid-battle really is the icing on the cake, however. No reason not to try everybody out depending on the situation. Jinx and Culex were never so easy to defeat.

There’s no room for fat in Super Mario RPG. The story breezes along and even if you go for everything, you’re still only going to spend 12-14 hours defeating Smithy and his gang of weapons. There’s bonus end-game content, but as I said in the Diablo 4 entry, not my style.

It was a treat returning to the Mushroom Kingdom. Using Mallow to devastate groups of enemies with his Thunderbolt magic felt like I was reading a favorite book again. The level up screen being a stage where your buddies dance on while you select your stat upgrade is almost too saccharine for words. The soundtrack is unforgettable and sounds better than ever here. I may never get my Mallow and Geno buddy cop game, but I do get Bowser being a lovable buffoon and some non-verbal jumping jokes that I can’t get anywhere else. It’s a perfect gateway drug for role playing games and I couldn’t have been happier with the makeover ArtePiazza and Nintendo provided.

5)

While Spider-Man 2 was mostly the same, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a massive improvement over its predecessor, Fallen Order. I enjoyed that one, but it wasn’t without its faults. For a game that dipped its toe into the Metroidvania pool, it sure was frustrating backtracking for secrets. Fast travel points were few and far between and I’d often be completely lost when trying to make my way back to my ship. When I actually did manage to reach that platform and unlock the chest on it, it was almost always a poncho to wear. If you’re going to entice players with secrets and exploration, the reward better be worth the price of admission. In Fallen Order, it rarely was. I’m not morally against ponchos, but to spend 10 or 15 minutes warping to a planet, trying to remember which section of the map I hadn’t been to, or had been to but couldn’t access, swinging my lightsaber through 25 enemies on the way, dying a few times before landing at my destination only to find it’s a slightly greener coat for Cal to wear…well, you can see how that would piss me off.

Survivor improves upon every aspect of Fallen Order and outright eliminates most of the frustrations. Traversal is a breeze, the level design is far more forgiving, planets are terrific mix of wide open landscapes and manageable, linear hallways of destruction. The enemy variety is terrific, the different lightsaber stances means a huge variety in the way you can fight, there are fast travel sections everywhere, there are five difficulty options and on top of that there’s an arachnophobe mode for wimps like me, navigational assist since I don’t want to collectively spend an extra 4 hours figuring out where the hell I go now, AND the secret treasures often yield meaningful upgrades, like extra health or a skill point. Because the map is so easy to read, I was never lost and only yearned to go where I hadn’t been yet. Bravo, Respawn!

The cast is back, and as excellent as ever. Debra Wilson’s role as Cere is smaller this time, but far more impactful. Playing as her in a particular duel has to be one of my favorite Star Wars moments. What a force of nature she is, it’s a shame we never got to see her in a live action rendition, but I suppose that door isn’t entirely closed.

The game looks stunning, absolutely gorgeous. Every planet, or Imperial Starship, or dilapidated building, or swamp, or alien nest or bandit stronghold looks as it should. I rarely ran into any glitches, and the load times were as fast as a Jedi’s reaction speed. The saloon that becomes your home away from home quickly became one of my favorite places to visit. It’s the kind of place you want to hang out in, even if there are Stormtroopers or Sith wandering around outside. Especially if Skoova is telling a tall tale about one of his legendary fishing expeditions.

The story is a slight downgrade from the first. It’s far more MacGuffin based, but that didn’t really matter to me. The characters are interesting and conflicted, and while the main gang is back in some form or another, the new members get to shine as well. I was shocked that I predicted a story twist long before it happened – I never do that!

Is there a cooler type of hero than a Jedi? Using your highly customizable lightsaber in tandem with all manners of force powers and even a blaster meant every encounter was a mesmerizing dance of death. Countering enemy attacks to lop off their arms, or casually sending them off a cliff with a well upgraded push brought a smile to my face, every time.

I actively wanted to seek out every side quest and help every denizen I could find. I couldn’t get enough. The gorgeous visuals, accompanied by vastly improved level design and the classic Star Wars sound resulted in this being my second favorite Star Wars game to date.

I have to give my boy, BD-1, another shout out. He really is the best droid buddy.

4)

My top four games this year were all on the Switch. Apparently Nintendo didn’t get the memo that their impossibly successful console is nearly seven years old and should probably fade into the sunset right about now. It’s likely we’ll hear an announcement of the Switch’s successor in 2024 and if that’s true, what a swan song for one of the greatest pieces of hardware I’ve had the pleasure to own.

You know it’s a good year when a mainline Mario and Zelda are both released. Nintendo manages to make some frustrating choices sometimes, but when it comes to their most revered icons, they do not mess around.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder couldn’t have been made by anybody else. It’s Nintendo personified.

The classic 2D platforming controls are back and it hasn’t felt this good since Super Mario World. There isn’t a single level that feels cookie-cutter, or tacked-on, or lazy. Every area feels hand crafted by wizards that are on the best kind of drugs. To say Super Mario Bros. Wonder is creative would be the biggest understatement on the 500.

Every stage, and I mean every stage, has a Wonder Flower that completely turns everything upside down, sometimes literally. Mario and company can transform into goombas, balloons, blobs, squares or spiked balls, to name a few. Or the perspective could change from 2D to top-down. Or you change into stretchable silhouettes. You get virtually no warning about what’s going to happen – all you know is when you touch a Wonder Flower, you’re about to go on a trip.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder would still be one of the best platformers ever made even without these transformations. It’s akin to the scenario where if Gretzky had never scored a single goal, he’d still be the all-time leader in points.

The new powers are terrific. Surely, they’ll use Elephant Mario and Drill Mario again in future games?

But the best part was playing through the entire thing with Mitch and Kyla by my side. These kinds of games don’t always lend themselves well to multiplayer experiences – just ask anybody who tried to beat a New Super Mario Bros. in four player mode. But here, it feels forgiving and encouraging to have teammates that can give you a boost with their abilities, or give you one last lifeline when you’re close to death. We laughed at every failure and frequently gave each other resolve to get through the tougher areas.

The entire package felt like a celebration of what video games should be. Enjoyable, shared experiences with those you care about right next to you on the couch. You’d think by now Nintendo would have faltered but even 38 years after Super Mario Bros. launched, they’ve clearly got a many tricks left in the bag.

3)

I didn’t see this on many Top 10s, yet the second I started playing, I knew it would be on mine.

This one is sort of cheating. You could have called this “We created this game specifically for Henry Skey, Final Fantasy music nut” and it would have been just as accurate. And probably a better title, which is really the only portion I didn’t enjoy. I still can’t type “Theatrhythm” without looking up how to spell it properly.

It’s a music/rhythm game that’s comprised entirely of music from the Final Fantasy games. When I say Final Fantasy games, I mean every one. And while there isn’t every single song from the franchise, there are 385 and if that sounds like a lot, it is. I brute forced it; playing through the campaign means you don’t technically have to tackle every song, but I’m Henry Skey so yes I did have to.

The controls are perfectly simple. You can use any of the buttons to hit the reds, greens mean you hold the button and move the joystick in the corresponding direction. Yellow notes indicate that you have to tap the joystick in the correct direction. And that’s it.

Naturally, there are endless variations of combinations of notes, and they come at you very quickly. I had to find the right state of zen and franticness to get through some of the songs on the hardest difficulties. I wouldn’t consider myself musically inclined, so I normally relented and adjusted the difficulty when I couldn’t nail the timing. No harm in that. Half the joy is just going down memory lane.

It’s all here. Terra’s Theme, Searching for Friends and Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6. Aerith’s Theme, JENOVA and Cosmo Canyon from Final Fantasy 7. Servants of the Mountain from Final Fantasy 10, Not Alone from Final Fantasy 9, Dust to Dust from Final Fantasy 13, and the Final Battle from Final Fantasy 4. There aren’t many franchises that could have this type of “best of” collection and make it into a game, but Final Fantasy is certainly one of them. The depth and richness of the music is so varied and brings such positive nostalgia that I’m listening to the soundtrack right now as I type. It’s SO good.

There are even sections that showcase FMVs pulled right from the classic games as the notes come down at a horizontal angle instead of vertical. The added challenge of trying not to be distracted while you relive your cherished video games is worth it.

Oh, and it has Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross DLC. That single addition shot Final Bar Line ahead of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Is it a better game? No, but I’m a sucker for anything Chrono. You should know that by now.

2)

Here’s another game that I didn’t see on many Top 10s, which goes to show that most gaming websites and personalities I follow are not aligned with my interests.

Except the wise Jason Schreier.

Octopath Traveler was a special game for me. The 2D-HD graphics are perfectly catered to my halcyon days of obsessing over Super Nintendo RPGs. The soundtrack was a dream. I played it like it was my doctoral thesis. The turn based gameplay with its own flair and nuance felt familiar and fresh at the same time. It made my Top 10 in 2018 easily. It could have been higher.

So imagine my surprise when Octopath Traveler 2 was better, far better, in every regard.

The characters are more interesting, the scenarios are more intricate, the graphics are improved, towns are more populous, the soundtrack is masterful (I bow to Yasunori Nishiki), the interactions between your party members are more fleshed out, there’s a proper finale/epilogue and the world feels even more alive than ever. Every quality of life, menu option, secret treasure and choice provided told me that Square fully understands, better than anybody, what JRPG traditionalists like me want.

I want this.

There aren’t many games that I’ll spend 80+ hours on, but I could have played Octopath Traveler 2 for 160 hours and still wanted more. Partitio’s earnestness and kickass theme song made him an instant fan favorite. Castii the Apothecary’s ending was truly poignant. Agnea’s final song gave me a rush of frisson, Temenos’ investigation into evil kept me on the edge of my seat. My boy Osvald (I always have to start with the Scholar!)’s quest for revenge had me hating his rival as much as any villain I’d encountered. Ochette’s hunt, or Throne’s ascendence or Hikari’s desire to reclaim his country from an invading force all had me glued to my screen.

Then, above all, the finale.

I’m convinced reviewers didn’t get to this point because otherwise I have to bone to pick with them. It may be the single coolest thing I’ve seen in a JRPG and I never heard a single person discuss it.

For the entire game, you’re limited to four party members. Once you uncover the mega super secret world-threatening evil demon end boss, however, you’re given the option to fight with your entire party. Sort of, everybody is on screen and you kind of have to choose 4 actions between 8 party members, BUT STILL. ALL 8 OCTOPATHIANS ON A SCREEN FIGHTING TOGETHER.

I lost my mind. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, or playing. I’ve literally never seen this before – it felt like an MMO raid, but one where I was controlling every party member. It was the perfect cap to an insanely good video game. It was so close to being my number 1, but…

1)

Yeah. Had to be.

When Nintendo improves upon one of the best games ever made, you better be sure it’s going to garner some attention.

It wasn’t love at first sight. The tutorial area was fairly tricky and I really couldn’t get the hang of the Ultra Hand ability. I can’t build things in real life, so I guess it tracks I was having a hard time understanding the physics of putting wood together for Link. But once the pieces aligned and I understood how to use the new abilities, Hyrule came alive.

The amount of creativity, scope, adventure and exploration is unparalleled, no game comes close. It’s the best puzzle game I’ve ever played, I couldn’t get enough of shrines and their solutions. I can’t tell you the number of times I built a ramshackle contraption and said out loud to myself “there’s no way this is going to work.” And it does. The amount of freedom combined with the physics engine and Nintendo wizardry is unparalleled and overwhelming at times. It’s no surprise you can hop onto YouTube and see thousands of insane concoctions players around the world have built to devastate Ganon’s minions, or provide endless flight, or gain access to areas that were previously unreachable.

The fact that you can drop from the islands in the sky, down to Hyrule field and through to the Depths without a single loading screen may be the most impressive piece of programming I’ve ever seen. This is using hardware that is six years old and already underpowered when it launched. It is unfathomable how Nintendo did this.

It checked every box I want in an open world game. Want to fly? You can soar on anything, as long as you have the resources and the imagination. Tense combat? It’s here. Hey, look at that! Dungeons are back. There’s even a semblance of a story, and the final confrontation is one of the series’ peaks. Even getting the Master Sword gave me shivers.

This style of Zelda isn’t for everybody. Not all gamers want a free roaming experience, and many are still annoyed by the breakable weapons. I think the Fuse ability more than makes up for that, but never mind.

I’m flooded by memories of incredible moments: flying around trying to find Zelda’s memories in the hieroglyphs, gliding to islands in the sky, taking on optional enemies, cooking potions, rebuilding towns, heck even something as banal as trying to keep a sign upright for a few seconds yielded more creative solutions than most other games could only dream of. I remember creating a stone skateboard with a fan on it to hover along like a tubular train and every step along the way made sense. No, the fans can’t go there, the gust will be in the wrong direction. Oop, my left side is a little lanky, let’s just tidy that up. Oh, I’ve blocked myself in! No I haven’t, the Ascent ability allows Link to swim through solid material above him and pop out the other side. It all feels so natural, and makes other developer attempts at an open world feel amateurish by comparison.

I’m flabbergasted. I never thought they could improve upon Breath of the Wild, but they did. It may be the same map, but it’s not the same game. Quiet moments of serene exploration are just as satisfying as horrific discoveries of monstrous enemies. Every aspect works in tandem and provides an unforgettable and irreplaceable experience. It’s a creepy, weird, charming, frustrating, rewarding and, ultimately, brilliant creation.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is my game of the year.