The year is drawing to a close, and so it’s the perfect time to take a look back over all of the games that have been released in 2023.
It’s difficult to argue that 2023 wasn’t, in some respects, a banner year for the medium; landmark releases in genres like survival horror, single-player RPGs, and open-world gaming meant that you were catered for, no matter what your tastes might be.
This, combined with some excellent independent launches and some exciting announcements and reveals, has made 2023 a great year to be a gamer, whatever platform you may be playing on.
While it may be true that the Nintendo Switch 2 still hasn’t materialised and that not every major release has lived up to its hype (looking at you, Call of Duty), 2023 has had more than its fair share of excellent gaming experiences to enjoy.
Here, then, without further ado, are the 50 best games of 2023!
1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
For some, Tears of the Kingdom was nothing more than a lacklustre Breath of the Wild expansion pack, but it’s pretty clear that those people either didn’t actually play Tears of the Kingdom or didn’t get far enough to truly appreciate its scope.
Nintendo’s latest open-world opus is an absolutely massive and rich experience, teeming with unique content to find and puzzles to enjoy.
Its Ultrahand mechanic, which allows you to pick up and combine virtually any object within the game world, is truly revolutionary, and we’ll be sad if we don’t see it popping up in other open-world games in future.
The story connecting everything together may have been somewhat underwhelming (although it definitely has its moments, which we don’t want to spoil), but The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom should, by all rights, represent a milestone in open-world gaming.
2. Baldur’s Gate 3
For many years, gamers have argued that they’re starved for meaningful, compelling single-player experiences of the kind of scale and scope that games used to have.
Thanks to Divinity: Original Sin 2 developer Larian, 2023 is the year that those complaints no longer hold water.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an astonishing achievement; it’s a huge, open-ended, and complex RPG with great companions, superb writing, and involving combat.
There’s pretty much no area in which Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t achieve exactly what it sets out to achieve. It’s a game that creates a vast world full of possibilities, then lets you loose within that world to achieve your aims however you like.
It’s likely gamers will still be discovering some of Baldur’s Gate 3’s most well-hidden secrets many years after its release, such are its sheer size and depth.
3. Resident Evil 4
The Resident Evil 2 remake was a much-needed overhaul of a survival horror classic that has aged poorly, but the Resident Evil 3 remake suffered somewhat from diminishing returns.
Happily, Capcom proved that it still knew how to create a remake that truly augments (and even transcends) the original with this year’s Resident Evil 4 remake.
The original’s campy charm is still here, but it’s decidedly more muted, with Capcom choosing instead to focus more on the horror of Resident Evil 4 rather than its humour.
Gameplay-wise, Resident Evil 4 is a sharper, more open-ended experience than its source, adding in new areas to explore and new ways to engage with old enemy types.
This is a superb survival horror experience that offers enough to delight both Resident Evil 4 fans and newcomers to the game in equal measure.
4. Hi-Fi Rush
Like Baldur’s Gate 3, Hi-Fi Rush proves that there’s still a strong appetite for single-player experiences devoid of the kind of bloat and aggressive monetisation that have plagued multiplayer games for years now.
Created by The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks, Hi-Fi Rush throws back to the glory days of PS2 and PS3-era action gaming; it’s one part rhythm game to one part character action game (or spectacle fighter).
Its story, which revolves around taking down an evil corporation, is fun, fluffy, and light-hearted, but its combat is crunchy, cathartic, and satisfying as heck.
Adding a musical dimension to the combo-centric combat makes Hi-Fi Rush sing, and the licenced music, which includes bands like Nine Inch Nails, adds an extra layer of cool to proceedings.
This is an excellent action-rhythm game that should be celebrated more than it is.
5. Dead Space
It’s been a very good year indeed for survival horror remakes, as evidenced by Resident Evil 4 and this, a remake of Visceral’s 2008 classic Dead Space.
Motive Studios’ new take on Dead Space doesn’t reinvent the wheel; rather, it adds new bells and whistles to a formula that already worked perfectly well.
One of the biggest and most controversial changes – giving protagonist Isaac Clarke a voice – works wonders for the story, making it significantly less staid and reactive than it was.
Characterisation has generally been improved across the board, but it’s the combat and exploration that have been given the biggest boost thanks to the new technology powering this remake.
Suffice it to say that if you love horror games and you’ve yet to play the 2008 original – or, indeed, if you’re a fan – this remake is an essential purchase.
6. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
There’s a weird, pervasive feeling online that a 2D Mario game can’t be a “real” Mario game. Hopefully, the existence of Super Mario Bros. Wonder should put paid to that ridiculous misconception.
This platformer feels like it’s had just as much love, care, and attention poured into it as the 3D Mario games have; it’s beautiful, technical, and tight, tuned to perfection like all Nintendo projects are.
Each level plays host to a Wonder Flower, which will shake up the stage’s core mechanics in fascinating and unpredictable ways. More enemies could flood the screen, for instance, or the perspective could shift.
This extra creative dimension adds a huge amount to Super Mario Bros.’ core formula, creating a genuinely fascinating new twist on the series. If you’ve been hurting for challenge in more recent Mario games, Wonder will accommodate you there, too.
7. Alan Wake 2
Remedy’s work is instantly recognisable; it combines in-depth storytelling with a reliance on live-action content, usually in-universe TV shows or clips, and open-ended if slightly wonky combat.
Lo and behold, Alan Wake 2 continues all of those trends, making it feel like the culmination of everything Remedy has been trying to do since the original Max Payne.
Alan Wake 2 continues the story of Wake himself, who’s trapped in an alternate dimension after the conclusion of the original Alan Wake, but it’s also a continuation of Control and its associated AWE DLC.
As such, it’s probably best to do a little homework before you dive into this one, but trust us when we say it’ll be worth your while. Alan Wake 2 is a superb horror game with all of the twisty, obscure storytelling you’ve come to expect from Remedy.
8. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
As sequels go, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, it prefers to iterate and expand on the formula established by the first game, building an experience that’s bigger and more cohesive than its predecessor.
The game continues the stories of both Marvel’s Spider-Man and its expansion pack-style sequel Miles Morales, with both Miles and Peter taking up protagonist duties in this new story.
Each has their own side activities to pursue, but the core narrative involves both of them, telling a surprisingly affecting story about friendship and responsibility that will feel pleasantly familiar to fans of the Spider-Man comics.
Like the first game, Spider-Man 2’s villains are somewhat underutilised, and it struggles at times with ludonarrative dissonance, but this is an accomplished, polished superhero game with great combat and wonderful traversal.
9. Metroid Prime Remastered
Can we get away with calling Metroid Prime Remastered one of 2023’s best games? Well, we’re sure going to shoot our shot, because Metroid Prime is a classic, and this remaster puts in much more than the bare minimum of effort.
Rather than feeling like a lacklustre GameCube port with the requisite texture overhaul, Metroid Prime Remastered almost feels like a brand new game thanks to big visual improvements and sharper controls.
Otherwise, though, this is still very much the same Metroid Prime that graced the GameCube in 2002, and we wouldn’t have it any other way, because it’s still a masterpiece.
Transposing the traditionally 2D Metroid formula into 3D can’t have been easy, but it was an inspired stroke of genius, and it led to a game so impeccably designed that to this day, very few developers have attempted to copy its unique style.
10. Pizza Tower
It’s always a little frustrating when a game gets overtaken by the memes it creates. Pizza Tower is a hugely enjoyable 2D platformer in and of itself, so ignore the ironic comedy surrounding it and just give the game a try.
Heavily inspired by the Wario Land series, Pizza Tower is a fast-paced platformer with an emphasis on setpieces and speedrunning, so it’s all about lining up the perfect series of jumps to achieve the fastest time you can.
Visually, the game seems to take its cues from anarchic 90s and 2000s cartoons like Ren and Stimpy; its characters are bug-eyed and strange, and it feels uncannily like a nightmare thanks to its sentient food and overcranked music.
All great games are “not for everyone”, but that’s definitely true of Pizza Tower. If you love 2D platformers, this one will probably be right up your street, though.
11. Amnesia: The Bunker
After the underwhelming Amnesia: Rebirth, it was feared that developer Frictional Games had lost its touch for creating deep, compelling horror experiences with innovative core ideas.
Amnesia: The Bunker proved the haters wrong by showing that Frictional could still innovate, in this case by adding immersive sim elements and slight roguelite frameworks to its classic survival horror gameplay.
In Amnesia: The Bunker, you must explore a World War I bunker in order to find an exit, all the while being pursued by a shadowy creature which would really rather you didn’t leave.
The big boast is that you can achieve solutions to problems in lots of different ways, so the usual restrictions of survival horror are much less present here. That’s mostly true, too, making The Bunker feel like a creative and new path for the genre to take.
12. Dave the Diver
Truly memorable games often come from unlikely and unusual fusions between two seemingly disparate ideas. Such is the case for Dave the Diver, which marries underwater exploration with, uh, restaurant management.
During the day, you’ll dive into the ocean in search of the truth behind the mysterious underwater Blue Hole, gathering fish as you go.
At the close of the day, you’ll then open up your sushi restaurant and use what you’ve gathered in the underwater section to cook tasty dishes and make profits.
You’ll use those profits to upgrade the gear you use to explore the underwater environment, thus creating a symbiotic gameplay loop that always feels like you’re progressing towards something meaningful.
It’s all presented in an endearing pixel style that’s very easy on the eyes, especially if you’re playing on Steam Deck (for which this game is perfect).
13. Lies of P
2023 was no slouch when it came to Soulslikes, but developer Neowiz’s Lies of P emerged as arguably the best of them, especially after Hexworks’ Lords of the Fallen proved somewhat disappointing.
Lies of P’s core combat is truly excellent; it’s fast-paced, frenetic, and skilful, giving you nary a chance to breathe as you battle monstrous puppets and grotesque perversions of humanity alike.
Boss encounters in Lies of P feel particularly climactic; if you love the hardest bosses in the Souls series, like Knight Artorias or Malenia, Blade of Miquella, then you’ll love what’s on offer here.
Let nobody tell you that Lies of P’s story is compelling or profound; it’s supremely silly and borderline nonsensical. Thankfully, the combat is so great that the absence of a good narrative hardly matters.
14. Pikmin 4
The Pikmin games are probably among some of the most consistently underrated titles of the last few decades, and so it should come as no surprise that Pikmin 4 is pretty great.
This time around, you play as a custom character who must explore an alien world in search of a crashed ship ostensibly containing series protagonist Captain Olimar.
Unfortunately, your own ship also crashes en route to the planet, so while you look for Olimar, you must also find a way to survive against the planet’s hostile environment.
Luckily, this planet is lousy with Pikmin, little plant-like creatures who are willing to do your bidding and even fight some of the more dangerous inhabitants of the planet for you.
What follows is a sort of real time strategy-lite adventure that won’t challenge hardcore RTS heads, but that provides plenty of fun for neophytes and part-time enthusiasts.
15. Party Animals
It’s been a long time coming, but party brawler Party Animals is finally here, and it’s just as chaotic and enjoyable as its pre-release materials made it look.
In essence, Party Animals is Gang Beasts with cute dinosaurs, tigers, and other creatures in place of wobbly jelly bean people. Despite that visual discrepancy, the gameplay is similar; it’s all about the wonky physics engine.
In Party Animals, though, you might have a variety of objectives. It’s not just about beating your fellow animals into oblivion; it might also be about completing another task while you’re doing so.
In practice, though, it really is just about hurling animals off ledges or into bottomless pits, and that’s nowhere near as cruel as it sounds; instead, it’s hilarious, and it somehow never manages to get old either.
16. System Shock
It’s fair to call System Shock the grandparent of pretty much all modern immersive sims, including, naturally, its influential followup System Shock 2.
With that in mind, then, the task of remaking the game must have felt overwhelming for developer Nightdive Studios, and multiple delays to the project convinced many that it was doomed.
Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case, as Nightdive eventually delivered a remake that kept the original’s pioneering spirit while sanding down some of its rougher edges.
Nightdive’s System Shock remake won’t hold your hand as you explore its dark sci-fi corridors, but it won’t slap you in the face at every turn like the original was prone to doing either.
This probably isn’t the best game to play as your first immersive sim, but if you’re a fan of the genre, you absolutely need to play this posthaste.
17. Fire Emblem Engage
As time has passed, the Fire Emblem series has become less about the complex political intrigue of a number of nations caught up in war and more about anime characters with ridiculous hair.
Fire Emblem Engage continues that trope; its main character’s hair must be seen to be believed, and its supporting cast are a bunch of stock cutouts with absolutely no interesting features between them.
So, why is the game on this list? Well, it turns out that Fire Emblem Engage has some seriously excellent strategy combat to offer, and that even if its story is completely lacking in anything meaty, the combat more than makes up for that problem.
If you play Fire Emblem for the fights and not for the storytelling, then you’ll find a home here. Just make sure to either skip all of the cutscenes or approach them in the spirit of mockery rather than genuine immersion.
18. Mortal Kombat 1
There are many who say that the Mortal Kombat series is getting old, and that its silly and stale insistence on over-the-top violence doesn’t fit into a more mature and thoughtful gaming world.
Those people probably haven’t played Mortal Kombat 1, though, because if you have, you’ll recognise that even though all of the above is arguably true, it all falls away when you actually play one of these games.
Mortal Kombat 1 is a heavy, technical fighter that somehow manages to be simultaneously hugely accessible and massively deep. It’s a fascinating game with a deep roster of characters, all of whom feel different.
Throw in the Kameo system, which creates the possibility for even more in-depth strategy, and you’re looking at the kind of fighting game that’s perfect for everyone apart from those with weak stomachs.
19. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Along similar lines to Fire Emblem Engage, Armored Core 6 isn’t looking to light the world on fire with its narrative, or at least we certainly hope it isn’t.
This is a game that’s all about the combat. Every combat encounter feels unique and exciting, and you can approach them with a variety of different mech designs, meaning that the combat puzzle can be solved a new way each time.
Boss encounters, as you’ve probably come to expect from developer From Software, are tense and frantic affairs, and they’ll often take all of your cunning and skill to bring down.
Make no mistake: Armored Core 6 isn’t interested in compromise. It won’t pander to people who don’t like what it has to offer, and while it’s certainly possible to make the experience a little easier through builds and experimentation, don’t expect to have your hand held.
20. Sea of Stars
Developer Sabotage has done a great job of approximating SNES-era JRPGs for its own loving take on the genre, Sea of Stars, which is inspired by classics like Chrono Trigger.
While Sea of Stars can’t quite reach those heights, it’s got a lot to say for itself thanks to truly gorgeous visuals and some interesting and innovative twists on typical JRPG turn-based combat.
The story is nothing to write home about; it’s full of holes and weird gaps, and its characters are often either cardboard cutouts or intensely irritating (we’re looking at you, Yolande).
Still, this is a magical RPG that has plenty to recommend it, especially if you have any degree of nostalgia for a bygone age where pixel art was king and RPGs were generally simpler affairs.
21. Cocoon
Like Superliminal or Viewfinder, Cocoon has one of those brain-bending puzzle premises that will take you a little while to get your head around, so don’t feel bad if you can’t immediately solve all of its puzzles.
The idea behind Cocoon is that you can leap into dioramas that contain entire worlds in and of themselves, and you must do this in order to solve puzzles that span multiple worlds.
Designed by Inside and Limbo head honcho Jeppe Carlsen, Cocoon is definitely a more ambitious game than those titles, although it’s often just as abstract and difficult to penetrate.
If you love indie puzzlers that keep narrative light and gameplay front and centre, then you’re going to adore Cocoon, even if its running time does leave a little to be desired.
22. Jusant
The climbing system from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is so ingenious that it’s a wonder it’s taken developers this long to start taking inspiration from it.
Don’t Nod’s Jusant takes that climbing system and puts it at the core of the whole game. There’s no combat to speak of; just climbing, exploration, and discovering a fractured narrative through environmental cues and text logs (sigh).
Yes, Jusant can get a little too wordy at times; it’d be better if Don’t Nod kept the text logs to a minimum, especially considering the writing isn’t particularly outstanding.
However, the climbing is good enough to sustain the core experience in and of itself, especially when the total play time is as short as it is here. Treat Jusant as a snack rather than a main meal and you’ll have a blast.
23. Honkai: Star Rail
If you’ve played HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact, then you’ll probably know roughly what to expect from Honkai: Star Rail, as it’s similar to Genshin, albeit with different combat.
Honkai: Star Rail is a gacha RPG that’s all about building teams of diverse characters to take on a range of challenges, all while exploring an expansive (if more linear) world full of sidequests and interactions to discover.
So far, so Genshin, but the twist is that Honkai: Star Rail’s combat is turn-based, which means you’ll spend longer strategising and devising clever combos than you will dodging enemy attacks.
If you love Genshin Impact but wish it was a little more cerebral and a little less twitchy in combat terms, then Honkai: Star Rail is very much the game for you.
24. Street Fighter 6
Who would have thought that 36 years on from its genesis, the Street Fighter series would still be going strong? Happily, though, it very much is, and Street Fighter 6 is arguably the pinnacle of what the franchise has been trying to achieve since it started.
Street Fighter 6 is, to put it simply, a superb fighting game. Intensely technical but no less accessible for newcomers as a result, it’s a punchy, crunchy affair that never lets up for one second.
The roster is full of characters you’ll remember from previous Street Fighter excursions, and new characters like Luke and Kimberly fit right in alongside favourites like Ryu, E. Honda, and Blanka.
A beefed-up single-player mode should also keep you happy if you’re someone who likes a more substantial narrative with your fighting games, although as usual, it’s the competitive modes that are going to keep you coming back for more.
25. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was an unexpected hit, likely for the same reason that gamers gravitated towards Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hi-Fi Rush this year.
It was a simple, uncomplicated single-player adventure that emphasised exploration, rewarding combat, and Metroidvania-style backtracking for unlockables, with nary a microtransaction in sight.
This year, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor continued that philosophy, expanding the size of its explorable worlds and introducing new combat stances to keep things feeling fresh and interesting. Add some genuinely challenging bosses into the mix and you’ve got a worthy successor to Fallen Order.
The game’s story was a little staid and its performance was absolutely inexcusable, but the latter problem has since been addressed thanks to numerous patches on developer Respawn’s part, so now is the perfect time to check out Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
26. Octopath Traveler II
The first Octopath Traveler was an intriguing experiment, but the lack of interaction between characters and relatively self-contained nature of each of its eight stories left it feeling a touch cold.
Thankfully, Octopath Traveler II addressed these criticisms while still retaining a lot of what made the original game special and enjoyable to play, resulting in a more well-rounded adventure on the whole.
This gorgeous HD-2D JRPG adventure once again tells the stories of eight disparate travellers, but this time, they’re allowed to intersect and interact with one another, leading to a party that feels more cohesive.
The strategic turn-based combat still feels great to engage with, and the world feels better-realised this time around, so if you bounced off the first Octopath, you might want to give this souped-up sequel a try.
27. Diablo IV
After the colossal disappointment that was Diablo Immortal, Blizzard fans the world over were ready for a new “proper” mainline Diablo instalment, and that’s exactly what Diablo IV delivered.
The game returned to the dark, gritty visual style favoured by earlier Diablo games after the more cartoony aesthetic of Diablo III divided opinion.
In addition, while Diablo IV certainly does have its fair share of microtransactions, they’re all cosmetic-based, so you can’t buy your way into accelerated XP gain like you can (and, indeed, arguably must) in Diablo Immortal.
Instead, you’re getting hours upon hours of RPG hack-and-slash goodness, complete with exactly the kind of loot-filled theorycrafting you’ve come to know and love from Diablo.
If you felt disappointed at all by Diablo Immortal, then Diablo IV is almost certainly going to be a great way to wash the taste of that mobile experiment out of your mouth.
28. Dredge
Indie developers have a real penchant for combining the mundane with the supernatural to create something that’s somehow simultaneously eerie and calming.
Such was the case for games like Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn, Bad Viking’s Strange Horticulture, and now Black Salt Games’ Dredge, which marries horror and fishing gameplay in a hugely compelling way.
Your job in Dredge is simply to sail the seas and catch whatever you can to make a living as a fisherman, but beware, because something bigger and more terrifying lurks beneath the surface of the ocean.
As you catch creatures, you can sell them in exchange for upgrades to your ship and equipment, allowing you to venture further out and discover ever more horrific and wondrous monsters.
If you’ve ever wished The Shadow Over Innsmouth could be a calming life sim, this one’s for you.
29. Chants of Sennaar
It’s often the case that what goes on in the independent development space is more compelling than what’s happening in the AAA sphere, and although 2023 was a great year for AAA games, indie titles stepped their game up this year as well.
Chants of Sennaar is a fascinating experiment into linguistics and deduction; it tasks you with piecing together an entire language you don’t understand at all from the outset, using context and inference to arrive at meaning.
Visually, the game is gorgeous, evoking the dusty heat of Middle Eastern deserts with its hazy palette of yellows, greens, and browns.
Some of the minigames you’ll participate in can feel a little forced, like Chants of Sennaar isn’t confident in its core language deduction gameplay, but they never last long enough to truly intrude on the academic fun of deciphering an entire alphabet for yourself.
30. Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI’s recommendation should probably carry a pretty big asterisk: if you’re a fan of character action games and you like them to pose a challenge, you may want to stay away from this one.
Square Enix has dialled down the RPG elements for which Final Fantasy is known for this sixteenth mainline instalment, creating a game that’s equal parts Devil May Cry and Game of Thrones.
What’s left is a hugely spectacular and narratively compelling adventure, and one that will probably stay with you by the time the credits roll. It’s certainly a great deal more accomplished than the disastrous mess that was Final Fantasy XV, at any rate.
Final Fantasy XVI has its fair share of problems; it’s overly linear, too easy, and rather shallow when it comes down to it. Still, the spectacle and narrative complexity on offer here should keep you entertained for at least a full playthrough.
31. Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed games have been growing steadily more bloated and unwieldy for a while now, with 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins arguably being the flashpoint for the infection.
With that in mind, a return to basics was promised for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and that’s pretty much what we got, albeit one with a few of the old series’ teething problems intact as well.
The story in Mirage is unspeakably bland and the characterisation is pretty poor, but the stealth is on point, and the sandbox nature of many of the missions means this is an exciting 15-20-hour experience that doesn’t outstay its welcome.
There’s room for this new, leaner iteration of Assassin’s Creed to grow and improve in ways that don’t simulate the bloat of more recent titles, but Mirage is a very promising start indeed.
32. Remnant 2
Remnant: From the Ashes was widely regarded as one of the better Soulslike games to arrive in the wake of From Software’s famous series, so a sequel felt pretty much inevitable.
Remnant 2 takes the template of the original game and transposes it into new settings, this time primarily inspired by the PS4’s gothic horror masterpiece Bloodborne. The results are, as you might expect, incendiary.
If you love the original game’s mixture of sharp shooting, multiplayer-focused loot-centric gameplay, and incomprehensible storytelling, then you’ll almost certainly adore Remnant 2, which features all that and more.
This is one of those sequels that builds on the original rather than completely reinventing it, but when the foundation is so strong, there’s really no reason to mess with those building blocks.
33. Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Technically speaking, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a game that dates back to the PS3 era, but an enhanced remake was released earlier this year, so we’re counting it on the list.
It tells the story of samurai warrior Sakamoto Ryoma, here recast as longtime series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, as he attempts to navigate a convoluted conspiracy in Bakumatsu Edo-era Japan.
While the trappings might seem somewhat different, rest assured that this is very much a typical Yakuza (or Like a Dragon, as it’s now also known in the West) title, complete with everything you’d expect from the franchise.
That means a lovingly-realised setting to explore, full of compelling side stories to discover, as well as fast-paced and somewhat unbalanced combat and an addictively over-the-top and melodramatic story to enjoy.
We may, in fact, revisit this series before this list is through.
34. Super Mario RPG
The existence of the Super Mario RPG remake proves that there might, in fact, be hope for that long-awaited Mother 3 localisation (or even a fully-fledged remake!) after all.
Long thought of as a forgotten relic of the SNES era, Super Mario RPG has made the transition to the modern era pretty much unscathed, and the visual and performance update it’s received is welcome too.
This is very much the same irreverent, tongue-in-cheek adventure you may already know and love, but with a new coat of paint that makes it more palatable for modern audiences.
It’s a little on the easy side, and it doesn’t have the most compelling story in the world, but Super Mario RPG served as the blueprint for the Paper Mario series, so if you love those games, you owe it to yourself to discover where they came from.
35. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077’s redemption story is pretty heartwarming to see. The game began life as an object of ridicule and a warning against the dangers of hype, but thanks to myriad patches, it’s become a genuinely great and immersive RPG.
Phantom Liberty is exactly the kind of meaty, significant expansion you’d expect from a CD Projekt Red, uh, project. It adds a good 15-20 hours of content to the base game, including a good chunk of main story and plenty of new side jobs too.
Of course, Phantom Liberty doesn’t quite soar to the same heights as the base game in terms of scope, but it’s not priced that way either; this is an additional block of Cyberpunk 2077 for those who loved the original and want some more.
What’s more, Idris Elba makes an appearance in this expansion, and we’re pretty sure it’s a law that any game featuring Idris Elba cannot possibly be bad.
36. Viewfinder
Mind-bending puzzlers like Viewfinder are too few and far between, so it’s always a joy when one of them appears, and the puzzle mechanics here are genuinely innovative and fascinating.
Like Superliminal, Viewfinder is all about adjusting your perspective. Your camera is your main weapon of choice when it comes to solving the puzzles, and you’ll have to frame certain objects and scenes within its lens to rearrange the world around you.
Unfortunately, Viewfinder does fall prey to the all-too-common trope of awkward, quip-filled writing that makes its characters hard to like, but the puzzles are good enough that we were able to look past that.
If you can play on mute or somehow find a way to appreciate Viewfinder’s cringeworthy characterisation, there’s a great puzzle-filled time to be had here.
37. Starfield
Okay, let’s get one thing out of the way here: not everyone is going to like Starfield. This is very much a game for a specific kind of person, and that person isn’t even necessarily someone who enjoys other Bethesda RPGs.
Rather, Starfield is for people who like a particular part of Bethesda RPGs, and that’s the core combat. Skyrim’s exploration and Fallout 4’s base-building are here, but they feel heavily cut down, and the less said about the story, the better.
However, there’s just something addictive about bursting into a dungeon, gunning down everything that moves, then looting the bodies for useful ammunition and crafting materials afterwards.
It’s often been derisively said that you need to “find your own fun” when it comes to Bethesda RPGs, but never has that been more true than it is in Starfield.
38. The Talos Principle 2
We admit that we wouldn’t necessarily have marked the original The Talos Principle for a sequel. It was a philosophical and wordy puzzler that married existentialist arguments with box-and-laser puzzles in an intriguing way.
Lo and behold, The Talos Principle 2 is here, and it’s actually pretty good, doubling down on the philosophy of its world while also expanding on the original game’s puzzle mechanics.
The dialogue here could keep you busy for weeks; many NPCs have something unique and interesting to say, and you’ve got access to a wide variety of potential responses that will have you stroking your proverbial robotic chin.
If you don’t like contemplative puzzle games, then suffice it to say The Talos Principle is very much not for you, but if you do, then there’s a real treasure trove awaiting you here.
39. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero
Are we cheating a little bit by including DLC here? Possibly, but we genuinely believe that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet got short shrift when they were released last year, and we want to set the record straight. Also, we included Phantom Liberty, and it’s our list, so there.
The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero is more of what made the original games great; open-ended exploration, lots of Pokemon to catch, and a genuinely affecting storyline to follow that evokes a surprising amount of emotion.
The new critters that have been added as part of The Teal Mask are adorable, and while The Indigo Disk hasn’t actually been released at time of writing, there’s no reason to believe it isn’t going to be as great as the first part was.
If you loved Scarlet and Violet (and you should, whatever the naysayers would have you believe), then these additional adventures are well worth experiencing.
40. Venba
Short, succinct gaming experiences like Venba are few and far between, although they’re becoming more popular as an antidote to the depressingly common problem of bloated and overlong AAA games these days.
Venba is a game that’s going to hit very hard indeed if you’re familiar with the diaspora experience; you play as an Indian mother in Canada, so this very much isn’t a run-and-gun shooter with frenetic combat or anything.
Over the course of around an hour and a half (we told you this isn’t a long game), you’ll cook the dishes of your heritage, talk to your family, and build an understanding of who you are and who your loved ones are as well.
Games like Venba are a rare treat; again, this very much is not for everyone, but if you connect with its depiction of the immigrant experience, you’ll likely love it.
41. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
It’s a real shame that developer Mimimi Games is hanging up its hat after Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, because this is a formula with a huge amount of potential.
Real-time tactics games are arguably the most niche of all niche genres, so it’s impressive that Mimimi has managed to craft something that stands with (and possibly even above) the greats of the genre.
In a magical, piratical world, you’ll sneak through maps full of carefully-considered guard routes, traps, and opportunities for sneaky and creative thinking, leading to plenty of potential “eureka!” moments.
Shadow Gambit deserves to be experienced; it’s the kind of game that will almost certainly fly under the radar, so if you have any interest whatsoever in tactical strategy games, give this one a look.
42. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
If you’ve played Team Ninja’s game Nioh, then you’ll pretty much know exactly what to expect from Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. It’s essentially Nioh pushed through the lens of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
That means lots of mission-based action-RPG gameplay with a heavy Soulslike influence, plenty of loot-gathering, and some genuinely exciting and climactic bosses to take on.
If you don’t like the core Nioh formula, then there’s not much here for you; despite Team Ninja’s promises that the emphasis on loot has been toned down, we did not find that to be the case during our playthrough.
However, if you vibe with Nioh and want to play something similar, then there are lots of historical Soulslike thrills to be had here, and hey – you can even hang out with Liu Bei!
43. Blasphemous 2
Combining deep religious guilt with Metroidvania gameplay and Soulslike combat, Blasphemous was a surprise hit when it was released in 2019, so we approached this followup with excitement.
Blasphemous 2 expands the world and the Penitent One’s arsenal as well, granting access to new weaponry and plenty of new enemy types that give you opportunities to use that weaponry.
The world of Blasphemous 2 is filled to the brim with secrets and beautiful scenery; you’ll pass a lake that shimmers with an invisible city’s reflection on your way to a massive tower filled with Christian-adjacent iconography.
Combat can get somewhat repetitive, and the bosses are a touch on the easy side, but Blasphemous 2 is an excellent addition to the already-crowded Metroidvania genre.
44. Humanity
It’s a relief to find that there are still plenty of deeply weird gameplay mechanics that can carry new and innovative concepts on their own, at least if Humanity is anything to go by.
The elevator pitch for Humanity is probably going to make you do more than a single double-take, so to speak. Get this: you play as a dog, and you must guide hordes of humans around levels to solve puzzles.
It really is as weird as it sounds; you’re a Shiba Inu, and humanity is your plaything, so you must use the massive crowds you can command to navigate puzzles and reach the goal.
If you can imagine something that’s somewhere between Super Monkey Ball, Katamari Damacy, and Lemmings, you’re not a million miles away, although even that doesn’t do justice to the sheer weirdness of Humanity.
45. WWE 2K23
The ongoing redemption arc (or perhaps we should say heel-face turn) of the WWE series continues with WWE 2K23, arguably its most accomplished entry to date.
After the wilderness years, Visual Concepts and 2K returned to the drawing board for WWE 2K22, coming up with a genuinely fun and playable wrestling game that delivered exactly what fans wanted from it.
WWE 2K23 continues that run of form, delivering a great story campaign that focuses, intriguingly enough, on cover star John Cena’s famous losses rather than his triumphs.
Of course, you’ll also find the usual embarrassment of riches in terms of gameplay modes and customisation options, allowing you to make whatever depraved and deviant wrestler your sick mind can conjure.
No shame – we’ve all fiddled with WWE games’ character creation engines for far longer than we’d like to admit.
46. Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy can probably take home the award for the most talked-about game of 2023, if nothing else, but wherever you stand politically, this is a solid open-world RPG.
It’s not much more than solid, thanks to an antiquated equipment system and a generally old-fashioned set of open-world design principles, but simply existing in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World is worth the price of admission.
Hogwarts Legacy is set during the late 19th century, putting it around a hundred years before the events of the Harry Potter book series. That does mean you probably won’t get to meet many famous faces, but it also means the game can tell an original story away from Harry’s shadow.
It does so with aplomb, conjuring a vision of Hogwarts that’s just as magical to explore as we’d always hoped it would be.
47. Forza Motorsport
Unlike Forza Horizon, Forza Motorsport is very much built for the gearhead enthusiast gamer. This isn’t an arcadey, beginner-friendly racer; it’s for serious car aficionados.
Thankfully, it’s a hugely enjoyable experience for that kind of gamer, packing in a huge amount of customisation options and progression systems to give you something to look forward to with each race.
Forza Motorsport isn’t perfect; it can sometimes feel a touch grindy, and its racing action becomes a little samey after a while, but these are pitfalls many other great games of the genre have fallen into.
In the final analysis, Forza Motorsport is a successful racer, and that’s all you can ask for from developer Turn 10.
48. Jagged Alliance 3
After many years in the wilderness, the Jagged Alliance series returned in 2023, complete with the involvement of series mastermind Ian Currie, who clearly set out to make a “proper” Jagged Alliance title.
That’s exactly what Jagged Alliance 3 feels like; an attempt to get back to what made the tactical RPG series so great after a series of arguable misfires and unnecessarily titles.
Jagged Alliance 3 sees you trying to rescue a country’s kidnapped president, and in order to do so, you must manage a team of mercenaries, pitting them against dangerous opponents and ensuring they’re well-equipped for the mission.
49. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon
Just when you thought the Bayonetta series had nothing new to say, along comes an unexpectedly family-friendly entry in the franchise that does just that.
Rather than the frenetic, high-octane combat of traditional Bayonetta games, Cereza and the Lost Demon is perhaps more akin to a Zelda-style adventure game, complete with puzzles and a more pulled-back perspective.
The game’s storybook narrative concerns the titular Cereza, who will grow up to be the incorrigible Bayonetta, as she befriends a demon with the aim of using its powers to help her mother.
During the game, you’ll control both Cereza and Cheshire, using their unique abilities to solve puzzles and engage in combat, which has more in common with puzzles than standard Bayonetta fights do.
50. Tchia
This adventure has a lot of heart, which is enough to make up for some slight technical wobbles and an occasional lack of polish.
Heavily inspired by Breath of the Wild (ah, here come those games inspired by its climbing!), Tchia is a decidedly more cosy adventure than Nintendo’s lonely open-world masterpiece.
It’s set in a land inspired by New Caledonia, which you’ll explore not only as a human but also as a variety of animals thanks to the game’s clever and addictive shapeshifting system.
