UnexpectedGames

I’ve been making Top 10 lists for my blog since 2017, but back in 2022, I decided to do a Top 20 (10 honorable mentions along with the traditional Top 10 picks). There were too many amazing games last year and I wanted to highlight and write about as many as I could. It’s looking like 2023 is going to be no different. I typically have two criteria for deciding what games makes my Top 10 during any given year; 1) I must roll credits/beat the game and 2) the game must have released during the respective year. While there’s always exceptions (and I make them every year), I try my best to adhere to these rules. Similar to Easy Allies (EZA) and other independent gaming outlets, I also create fun secondary categories like “My Favorite Game of 2023 That Didn’t Release in 2023”, “Favorite Remake/Remaster” or the “How Did This Get Made” award, for example.

With that said, I am currently playing a handful of games that will likely break my Top 10 if I finish them by the end of the year; The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, HUMANITY, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Final Fantasy XVI, Street Fighter 6, Diablo IV and a few others, but until I roll credits on them, I won’t be including them on my list. There are a bunch of games releasing in the second half of the year that could disrupt my list too; Pikmin 4, Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake II and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, for example. My feelings towards certain games can change on a daily/weekly basis, so take the following ranking with a massive grain of salt. Finally, I’m going to provide a brief comment or two for each game on my list, so without further ado, here are my Top 10 games of 2023 (so far):

10. A Space for the Unbound: A slice-of-life adventure game about a bunch of teenagers living their lives in 1990’s rural Indonesia. The game released in January and has one of the best stories of the year, so don’t forget about it (and tell Michael Huber to add it to his backlog!).

9. Bramble: The Mountain King: An adventure game steeped in Nordic fables and folklore where everything is larger than life, except for you. If you like games like INSIDE or Little Nightmares, you should probably check it out.

8. NeverAwake: A twin-stick arcade shooter about a young girl in a coma who dislikes vegetables, dogs her family and the kids at school. The game takes the “looping” mechanic found in old-school arcade shooters and puts a nice twist on it.

7. Bat Boy: It’s like Shovel Knight, but instead of playing as a knight with a shovel, you’re a boy with a baseball bat. When you die, the game calls it a “Strike”. Unfortunately, there’s no penalty or game over for “three strikes and you’re out”.

6. Tchia: You can fling yourself from a palm tree, glide through the wind with a paraglider from Breath of the Wild and possess a bird flying by in order to reach your next destination, all in a single action. The game is also inspired by a part of the world we rarely see games from, New Caledonia.

5. Decarnation: An RPG Maker game with some of the most memorable characters from any game I’ve played so far in 2023. Akira Yamaoka also contributed music to the game’s soundtrack.

4. Dead Space (Remake): Stomping on monsters and tearing them limb by limb never gets old and the Ishimura feels more interconnected and cohesive thanks to the power of modern platforms.

3. Resident Evil 4 (Remake): You can still suplex Ganado (but their heads don’t explode anymore?).

2. Hi-Fi RUSH: Everything, from the combat to the cinematics, is on a rhythmic beat. A great character-action game and one of the biggest surprises of the year from a developer you’d least expect it from.

1. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon: Platinum Game’s “Okamiden” and I mean that in the best way possible.

See you at GOTY discussions…

-Matty