Mr. Hunter's Top 10 Games Of 2023
For as long as I've been following gaming blogs like Kotaku, or gaming podcasts like Triple Click and Remap radio, I've often thought about my own top 10 list of games each year. 2023 emerged as a standout year for games, introducing titles that truly felt like the epitome of "Next Gen," whatever that means for each of us.
Sadly, despite the brilliance of these games and their impressive sales figures, 2023 proved to be a challenging year for the gaming industry. As someone who recently departed the games industry and aspires to return, observing sweeping layoffs from industry giants to indie studios has been disheartening.
I'm not a seasoned games critic, or a content creator (until now I suppose), I just play games as a hobby and as a former game designer. I don't get any kind of codes or sponsorship, so due to budget constraints, there's plenty of great games I didn't get around to this year. Games like Dragon Quest Monsters, Persona 5 Tactica, and Super Mario RPG remain on my radar while I not so patiently await a sale.
While I could argue a somewhat objective ranking here, I like to think my critical eye for games is pretty strong, I’ve got my fair share of bias and preferences, so do keep that in mind. With table setting out of the way, let's get into Mr. Hunter's top 10 games of 2023, the inaugural article in a series exploring my passion for games, anime, and all things nerdy within the Otaku Oasis.
10. Sea of Stars
Okay, I lied a little, a few more caveats. I found picking 10 games proved trickier than I anticipated. Starting the year without the intention of curating a top 10 list left me without a meticulous record of games I played. And, if I only pick games that were released this year, not just ones that I played, it makes things extra difficult.
Buying games at full price on release day is an easy way to break the bank. Sea of Stars, however, claimed its spot thanks to its free availability on Playstation Plus.
This charming indie game proudly wears its Chrono Trigger inspiration, with gorgeous pixel art and a fantastic score.
While the 6 or 7 hours I spent with it showcased beautiful visuals and music, the story and combat failed to captivate me. Awkwardly localized dialogue and a lack of character depth led me to leave it behind in a year teeming with other outstanding titles.
9. Final Fantasy 16
It pains me to put a Final Fantasy game this low on the list. I wanted so badly to like this game. While I loved the Final Fantasy 7 remake, I haven't really loved a new Final Fantasy entry since 13. I'm sure I'll do a deep dive on my thoughts and feelings on the franchise at some point, but for now, let's zero in on 16.
Let's start with the good: This game looks incredible, the voice acting is stellar, the combat is slick, and the boss fights are engrossing. What was missing for me in this game was the heart. It feels like a game so polished that it didn't have any bite left.
For the first few hours I was sold, but as act 1 drew to a close, I started getting worried. This game feels like an action movie, jumping from one big set piece to the next, even bigger, set piece. And weirdly enough, that's when this game felt strongest to me.
After act 1, the biggest problem made itself apparent, the pacing. After every heart pounding, sweat inducing boss fight. The game grinds to a halt. When the pace slows down, it makes it all too easy to look closer at the characters, the world, and even the combat, and find they're not as deep as the big budget makes them feel.
Not to mention the awful sidequests, I've blocked out all but two of the sidequests in this game. They neither offer worthwhile rewards, or enough story material to be interesting, I'd say avoid them at all costs.
Combat was the game's shining star. Clive has plenty of fun powers to mix and match, and controls feel responsive, like a top notch character action game.
Where the game falters, was providing enough of a challenge to actually consider your powers, or put your skills controlling Clive to use. Enemies and bosses would go down with enough time and presses of the square button. Watch your cooldowns, use your abilities, press square, dodge if you feel like it, use items if you don't, and voila, that's all you need to win.
To drill down deeper into the follies of this game, I'd need a much longer article, which if you'd enjoy that, please leave a comment!
I don't feel great bashing this game, I really wanted to like it. In fact, I'm rather envious of people who did like this game! I found when I peered beyond the shiny veneer, there wasn't anything to grab onto. The characters were thin, the combat was a breeze, and I doubt I'll ever return to see this game through to the end.
8. Armored Core VI Fires Of Rubicon
FromSoft can't miss. While every entry may not be to everyone's taste (I wish I liked Bloodborne more, it's so rad and so not for me), it's hard to look at any game in their lineup and think that's a bad game. I love to see a video game-ass video game in 2023.
I wish I could better describe the story of this game, but that really wasn't why I played it. I was here for the action, and big robots to customize. Armored Core 6 has those in spades.
In mere minutes, your nameless pilot is thrust into a big robot, and given a mission, go blow things up. And blow things up I did. Guns, missiles, drones, swords, flamethrowers, and more were at my disposal to create my dream robot.
There's really only two modes of play in Armored Core, shop for parts to customize your robot, and go out on missions. And really, what more could you ask for. I could spend ages considering which head piece would give the best balance of armor, speed, and energy consumption.
Did I want to make a rolling tank of a robot, or one with scrawny little legs that could bounce around the battlefield? The answer was both, I had dozens of mech loadouts at the ready. Anytime I got the notification there were new parts in the shop I would roll up my sleeves, and get to the building.
Once my perfect robot was ready, I would take to the field. Missions were varied, and combat felt incredible, with notable differences in play style depending on how you had built your mech. Combat was engrossing, but challenging. Even on the first mission I saw the game over screen no less than 4 or 5 times. You had to deeply consider how you built your mech, because it could easily mean the difference between success, or failure.
7. Octopath Traveler 2
Octopath Traveler 2 stands as a perfect example of a sequel done right. Most of what I have to say about this game, is probably about what I would have said about the first game. In many ways it's more of the same, but better.
You pick your starting character from a roster of 8, each with their own background, job, and abilities. After your first chapter, you're able to explore in any direction you want, and tackle the game in whatever order you feel like. I chose the amnesiac apothecary, the same job I chose as my starter in the first game. While not the most interesting story in the first few chapters, I loved what mechanics it gave me access to.
Each character has 5 chapters, and while 8 introductory chapters can get a little tiring, it's fun to compare the setups that each character's story has. It helps that throughout the game is a lovely score, with each character having an instrument to represent their journey.
These tunes propel an excellent battle system that at its best makes every encounter feel like a little puzzle. Find the enemies weakness, use the best skills at hand to exploit those weaknesses, and set up your party for one turn of spectacular damage. Wash, rinse, and repeat.
This is the last game on this list where I didn't roll credits, though I easily dropped over 30 hours in this game. The drawbacks of the non-linear storytelling means it can be hard to keep track of what's going on in each characters' story, and not all stories are created equal.
The freedom found in this game is a nice break from the linearity with which other RPGs unfold, and the HD-2D style of games continues to feel both retro and innovative. I can't wait to return to this game when I have the chance.
6. Fire Emblem Engage
Oh Fire Emblem, how I love you so. While this game couldn't attain the heights that Three Houses may have reached, I spent many late nights (and early mornings) in goblin mode with this title. Trying to craft my perfect little soldiers, finding the right combination of rings, abilities, and weapons.
While the story went in one ear and out the other, and the V-tuber esque character designs couldn't hide the flat characters, I found plenty to like.
I've been a long time Fire Emblem fan, dating all the way back to Sacred Stones on the Gameboy. Each title has their strengths and weaknesses, and in this case, the combat is easily the shining strength, with everything else being passable at best.
Combat refines the tried and true weapon triangle, with the boons of using it correctly more prominent than ever. On the flip side, if your nimble sword fighter catches the lance of a pegasus knight, you're in trouble.
Further complimenting the changes in combat, is the ring system. Each fighter can be paired with a hero from past Fire Emblem games, inheriting their skills, weapons, and abilities.
This results in endless combinations. Do you want to pair the nimble Marth with a sword fighter, further enhancing their strengths? Or do you put him with your slow but buff ax fighter, who can now move faster than you ever thought possible.
The strategic possibilities combined with a variety of difficulties tickled my brain in the best ways possible. The story and characters may feel like they jumped out of a mediocre Saturday morning cartoon, but it was the combat that kept me coming back, and at times, staying far too long.
5. Street Fighter 6
Who would have guessed I would become a Street Fighter fan in 2023? As someone who occasionally dabbled in fighting games, Street Fighter 6's excellent tutorials, character guides, and combo challenges motivated me to learn and play more.
I'm now a proud Manon main, and actually began to enjoy playing matches online, even when I'd be thoroughly humbled by another player.
The World Tour mode served as the perfect on ramp. You can create your own avatar, departing on a fun romp through a wacky world of characters that you can brawl at a moment's notice.
Every character on the street would be ready to throw down at the slightest provocation. Though taking an uppercut to the face seems like a perfectly valid reason to get into a fight.
The story was fine, and served as a good introduction to the game's characters and combat. You slowly became a student of every fighter in the game, and could mix and match moves from various fighting styles to become your own unique fighter.
This doesn't perfectly segway into the intense competitive combat found online, but it does let you sample each character, see how their moves could work in a fight, and build interest in certain fighting styles.
For a while Street Fighter 6 had become part of my daily routine. I would hop online, play some matches, then boot up a different game. Win or lose, it was always satisfying. I even started watching high level matches on Youtube, something I'd never had a shred of interest before. Street Fighter 6 may not have turned me into a fighting game fanatic, but lately I've been itching to play more.
4. Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless
This was a big sigh of relief for me this year. After playing the demo for Disgaea 6, I decided that would be the first Disgaea game I skipped since I started playing the series as a kid. Disgaea 7 was a breath of fresh air.
The characters are fun, the writing has its charms, and the art style feels much better than 6. I still mourn the 2D sprites though, the 3D models can't capture the charm I felt from the old art style.
The level cap is back to 9,999, which helps bring back the friction of the early game. Once your numbers start to inflate this quickly goes away, but it still helps you come to grips with the game in its early hours.
The new Hell mode is fine, feeling like a similar take on the Overloads from 5. After performing different actions for each character, you can power up, granting you a boon and sometimes access to a special skill.
Magichange is gone, but replaced with Jumbification, which can be pretty fun. It allows a unit to become Kaiju sized, exerting influence over the battlefield by powering up units or restricting skills, and perform area attacks.
The strategy is still top notch, providing endless combinations of character classes, weapons, and evilities. The stages provide enough variety, and the light hearted story has enough laughs and drama to propel you forward. The new addition of the auto battle also helps ease the grind, and allowed me to get further in the post game than ever before.
I'm not sure if this game quite reaches the heights that 5, or even 2 hit for me, but it was an excellent return to form. I feel like the series is back on track, and I'm excited to see where they go from here. As long as they continue to make smart tweaks, and keep what makes this series special at the center, this franchise has a bright future ahead.
3. Star Ocean The Second Story R
Between this game, and Final Fantasy 7, there's still hope for remakes yet. Amid the remake/remaster/remakster, and whatever other titles you want to use, craze, it can be easy to feel like there's no new ideas left.
While having a new way to play old games, and in some cases the only way, is nice, it often doesn't feel worth the price tag. Or it makes changes that feel contrary to the original game, or doesn't understand what makes it special. Star Ocean The Second Story R understood the assignment.
It keeps the structure of the old game, and gives it a facelift, while sanding off some of the rough edges of the original game. It also makes just enough tweaks to the game that it feels fresh, even for someone like me playing this game through for probably the 4th time.
The blend of the original pixel art and the new 3D environments blend together fantastically. Each town feels familiar but new, and each dungeon feels fleshed out.
Not to mention the utterly fantastic 2D sprites. I do wish they'd touched up the pixel art to bring it more in line with the new sprites, but the original pixel art is so nice I really can't complain. While I stuck with all the shiny new sprites and arranged music, they kept the options to use the original music and art, something every remake/remaster should have.
They have 3 options for the voices, the Japanese and English voices for the psp port, The Second Story, and a brand new Japanese dub with the original cast. While a new English dub would have been nice, this gave me a great chance to check out the Japanese voices that I'd never played with before.
I have a lot of nostalgia for this game, and playing this remake brought back the awe I had when I experienced this game as a kid. Although, with the retouches of the combat and item creation system, I was able to understand this game in ways that were previously completely obtuse. While the latest Star Ocean entry was a solid, fun romp, it's this game really encapsulates the legacy and brilliance of this series
2. Honkai Star Rail
I'm as surprised as you are to see a mobile gacha game this far up the list. But I play this game almost everyday, and I still keep coming back for more. While I skim through most of the story, it's the gameplay loop keeps me coming back. Though bit by bit I find myself drawn into the world and the characters.
I spend some money on the monthly login bonus pack, and sometimes the season pass. It feels like a free to play game that respects my time in a way Genshin doesn't. Genshin may have made a better stand alone game, but Honkai Star Rail is easily the better live service game.
Adding an auto battle feature makes the daily grind much easier to digest. If I want, I can boot up the game and do everything I want in 15 minutes or less. But when I want to spend more time with the game, there's plenty to do. I can do companion quests, explore the world, do fun puzzles, and enjoy some pretty darn good events.
There are some limited time rewards associated with each event, but the big ones are still available after their initial run, which is huge in helping new players catch up and enjoy all the different content in the game.
I've spent many a night theorycrafting the best team synergy, and trying my hand at the high level content. With each new limited character, they add something new to the game, a new team to try out, or strategies to explore. If you don't have enough currency saved, or don't want to shell out any money, you still have plenty of characters to play around with.
I've long been a mobile game fan, though I usually keep it to myself. There are plenty of problems with gacha games, but there can also be some great highs.
Honkai Star Rail feels like it keeps the predatory practices to a minimum, and is constantly evolving with feedback from the community. I started playing this game at launch, and haven't lost steam since. I look forward to seeing where this game can go.
1. Baldur's Gate 3
I might as well start this with, duuuuh. It won game of the year, and is probably one of the greatest games of all time. Somehow it gets better and better with each patch helping stabilize the game, add quality of life improvements, new modes, and even an epilogue to the story.
The depth of role playing that it allows, the brilliant writing, the responsive combat, and the endless possibilities propel this game to the number one spot on my list. It really felt incredible to play.
While I worry about the rhetoric that “every game should be like Baldur's Gate”, I can easily see how we got there. It manages to excel at everything it aims to be. While it has its fair share of bugs, it's pretty easy to forgive considering it's a technical marvel that this game even exists, let alone juggle the thousands of possible permutations.
This game is so good it's almost impossible to talk about, I really think you should just go play it. Much in the same way that D&D can be for everyone, I think everyone can get something out of this game. The initial learning curve may be difficult as you learn the layout of the menus, grapple with character creation and learn the ropes, but this can be made easier with a friend!
I haven't had a chance to try out the multiplayer yet, but it gives me an excuse to see this game through a new lens, even if trying to coordinate a playthrough with a friend could take all year long. This expansive game is no less than a masterpiece, and was an easy choice for top game of the year. It sets the bar for games even higher, and takes its place among the gaming hall of fame.
