Games of the Year 2023

 These are the 10 games that were the most memorable for me!

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid being on my GOTY list is odd, but not the most improbable game on the list. Konami did release the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 this year with the game included, but it is actually a pretty bad port with audio issues and other problems (though being able to play the original Japanese Metal Gear Solid is nice) and it isn’t a game that you will probably see on many other lists.

Metal Gear Solid made my list because it gave me resolve and gave me the perspective I needed to speak out.

The game has always been mired in politics, but the politics aren’t exactly complex. They pretty much boil down to “nuclear weapons are bad,” and the only complexity it really has is its love of how cool weapons and the military are, but how war is not cool. I remember as a youth trying to argue with an anti-video game violence spokesperson about how video games do try to have non-violent political opinions, but they shut me down because Metal Gear Solid requires you to kill people to proceed.

In my younger self’s defense, military violence always has this contradiction. If anything, Metal Gear Solid’s ability to show how committing violence to gain peace will always feel off, and trying to justify your violent actions will always come off as excuses. This is why when Hamas killed 1,332 people, and then Israel reacted by bombing Gaza for weeks and weeks, it felt off to me.

Well, it felt off because of what I went through on 9/11, and then the wars that came after. Seeing the parallels between how US intelligence knew this was coming and did nothing, and Israeli intelligence knowing this was coming and did nothing raised a few red flags. I’ve already gone through a leader pretending that killing innocent people will somehow make the world safer, and the idea that those who oppose it aren’t patriots.

I watched an NPR interview with Benjamin Netanyahu about the bombings in Gaza, and he avoided the 9/11 comparisons and focused on how his bombing of Gaza was more like when the US bombed Germany in WWII. It isn’t really a good metaphor, but it did remind me of how Liquid Snake, the antagonist of Metal Gear Solid, would rant about how he had been cheated his whole life and was owed revenge. Both Liquid Snake and Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t really care what you think, they just want to justify their violence. They want to make you feel bad enough so they can just roll over you, and do what they think is right.

In both cases, I just want them to stop, and for the violence to end. Replaying through the game helped me remember why we speak out about these things, and reminded me that yes, it can be corny, and maybe you don’t get everything right, but speaking out against injustice and pleading for a ceasefire whenever you can is the right thing to do. Metal Gear Solid didn’t tell me what I should do, but reminded me of the fire needed to keep fighting for what is right.

Ceasefire in Gaza now.

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

(Link is forming an air bike with Auto-Build in a middle of a grain field, it is just one steering stick platform, and two fans, the fan on the front is a little misaligned to the left)

Tulin: How come you always use this bike?

Link: Well, it helps me get places I normally couldn’t.

Tulin: No, I mean, I get that. Why do you use that bike? Everytime you use it you go immediately to the left, and have to steer to correct it.

Link: Hmmmm, that is a good question, Yunobo, why do you think I use this particular bike?

Yunobo: Uhhhhh (thinks for a beat), because you’re used to it now?

Link: Yeah, I like that answer, why change something that isn’t broke.

Riju: But it IS broken. You can’t fly that thing straight to save your life.

Tulin: He eventually can, it just takes a while.

Mineru: I can assist you if you like.

Link: Look, everybody, I like this bike, it gets me where I want to go! Who cares if it leans to the left or not.

Yunobo: My dad always says that just because it is broken, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a use.

Link: Exactly! Well, this isn’t broken but…

Yunobo: He usually says that about my head though. You think my head is broken?

Riju: Your head is fine, but Link, you should really let Mineru help you here…

Link: Look, it’s fine! Here, watch me go!

(Link starts to go forward, then rears to the left, hitting a mountain, and falls)

Link: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (hits the bottom of a valley)

Mineru: I’ll go get him

Riju: We should probably go get Sidon since I think that is water down there.

Sidon: Already got him! I’ve been waiting here the entire time. Forethought always wins out!

(Yunobo, Riju, and Tulin shrug their shoulders and go after Link, who looks to be okay, if not a little beat up)

Melon’s Journey Pocket

Melon’s Journey Pocket is an original Gameboy game released in 2023. It is cute and charming, but the real reason it is on this list is because of the Analogue Pocket. The Analogue Pocket is a portable device that supports both physical Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance physical carts as it does digital only games you can load onto a micro SD card and load them to your Pocket. This makes the device both the height of portable video game nostalgia, and also the bleeding edge of hipster, weird independent games that have decided to wrestle with 34 year-old technology to make something new. It is sort of beautiful to have new Gameboy graphics, music, and experiences.

The act of formatting the micro SD card, finding the game on the internet, loading it on the Analogue Pocket, and playing through a 30-50 minute game feels magical. It feels like how games should be. You should be able to pay somebody 5 bucks to play a game that just feels special. I can’t say that the novelty will last forever, but there is a magical feeling in legally buying a small game from a creator or team and being able to boot it up in your Gameboy-like device.

This is what has led me to the conundrum that I have been facing for years: Why do physical games, and digital games I paid for feel more real and playable then games you can download for free? Is it just my capitalism poisoned brain that won’t allow me to fully enjoy games I didn’t pay for? Or is it something about the physical carts, and digital files from the source that are more authentic? In any case, I am happy to support people making Gameboy games until the end of time.

Rogue Legacy 2

Making addicting games, games that you will play over and over again, is probably more science than art at this point. I am sure there are textbooks locked away in game studios and universities that analyze all the pain points, and all you can do to keep the player going. Rogue Legacy 2 certainly has that knowledge in spades, knowing how much you can upgrade yourself as you throw yourself into the ever shifting castle. The thing that makes it better than its predecessor, and the many 2D action rogue-likes that exist in this genre, is how it is able to balance both humor and a genuinely interesting story into the grind of going into the castle, dying, upgrading, and then going back.

As you level up, gain new abilities, and find your groove, Rogue Legacy 2 becomes a very dangerous, comfy experience. Sure, you will die a lot, there will be runs that don’t go anywhere, but the more you put time into it, the more stuff you can get out of it, even further than many other games in the same genre. It is a game I will go back to, and perfect my wooden spoon cook and exploding boxing gloves pugilist, but in the meantime, I will leave it here as the most played Steam Deck games this year.

Resident Evil 8 VR

I have already written about this game here: https://ddrog.blogspot.com/2023/06/resident-evil-8-vr-review.html, but it still remains one of my favorite games of 2023, and probably my favorite action VR experience. One thing I didn’t really go into is how much I enjoyed Ethan Winters as a protagonist. Resident Evil isn’t really known for its pathos, but playing through Resident Evil 7 and 8 this year, it was hard not to feel sorry for this guy who only seems to want to do the right thing. He wasn’t incredibly deep, but there is something about how he grows in these games, and how he survives that makes him memorable. Every time he gives a single word expletive, pleads for his life, or tries, and fails, to do some sort of action movie one liner, it is hard to not root for him, and at the end, feel incredibly sad for him.

Before Your Eyes VR

Before Your Eyes was originally a game only for Windows that needed a camera to function the way the game design intended. This is because it is a story of someone’s life that utilizes when you blink in order to move forward in the narrative. It is a story about looking back at this character’s life, and reflecting upon it. It is a story that is relatable, but can be profoundly sad. It is something that should be played by anyone looking for the power that interactive media can bring to story-telling, and the VR for me makes it just that more effective.

Before Your Eyes uses both intimate and vast environments to convey that story, and being able to experience that in VR is amazing. There are things that this game really wants you to feel on a physical level that just feels better seeing it right at your face. Though, when the game showed its cards and made me burst into tears, the VR headset isn’t really the ideal place to deal with that sort of moisture coming out of my face. In any case, there were images and choices I made that I don’t think I’ll be forgetting for a long time.

Lil Gator Game

It feels like there is a new subgenre out there that involves low-impact gameplay with 3D platforming emerging lately. I started noticing it with A Short Hike (also a fantastic game), and continued with games Here Comes Niko!, Tinykin, and more. These feel like games that take the platforming and collecting of things in games like Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie, but removes a lot of the difficulty and stakes in order to provide a more laid back experience. This year was tough, so having these types of games is a boon. Lil Gator Game shined for me this year because it manages to be fun, chill, and still feel like it is meaningful.

While I love these games, by the end, often the “comfort 3D platformer” feels a little empty. You collect all the things, and then the game ends, and you are left to just find another game like it if you weren’t satisfied. With Lil Gator Game, going through the dynamics of the Lil Gator and their older sister, and gathering up all the friends, just struck a chord in me that made it feel much more meaningful. Going through the arc of Lil Gator navigating these relationships, while jumping and collecting things on the island felt great both mechanically, and narratively.

Yakuza 0

Yakuza 0 was a game I started playing in 2018, and finally finished this year. It feels like I finally turned a new leaf when I finally got to the end. Having now played 7 Yakuza games, and finishing 3, Yakuza 0 still seems to have the best of the series. It has the best story, best mechanics, and the 80’s atmosphere just helps fill in the cracks that this series tends to have. Now the series is called Like A Dragon, and I do want to play the new entries, but I have a bunch to play before I ever get there.

It just feels nice to play a game, and go back to it year after year. I get in my head about buying and playing too many games, but Yakuza 0 proved to me that I still can go back to games in my backlog, have a great time, and have them be a part of my life. The struggles of Kiryu and Majima became something that I enjoyed over the years. Sometimes the power of video games isn’t just showing or doing something exciting, but being something that is there for you whenever you want to go back.

Shovel Knight Treasure Trove (King of Cards)

Talking about games I have come back to over the years, Shovel Knight continues to be the pinnacle of the 2D action platformer. With so much content added over the years, it hasn’t been until this year that I actually played through all the stories. King of Cards was a fun one that I never expected to fall in love with. This is because a big (albeit optional) part of the game was a card game. I have bad memories of wasting time on card games in video games, especially when I ended up losing good cards, but King of Cards allows you to recover from these loses pretty easily. The real joy in the card game is realizing how and when to cheat. The cheats are so ingenious as they both allow you to win, and get better at the game at the same time. By the end, I didn’t need them because I finally understood how the card mechanics worked together.

In a way, I think Shovel Knight's real trick is covering everything in retro video game paint in order to experience new things. It may look like Megaman, Duck Tales, or some other classic 80’s video game, but it really is a revolutionary design that learns from those old games to do something completely new. By the end, I loved all the knights, perhaps even more than I loved any character from those old games.

There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings

There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings is a game I have thought a lot about. It is a short indie game about two perspectives of a couple experiencing what could very well be the end of the world. As people are randomly combusting, and their ashes are all that remains, both characters go on their journey to figure out what to do as everyone around them falls to an awful fate. As the world goes the way it has this year, watching dead children cry with blood on their faces, watching people argue while people die, and people preventing anything being done to stop the violence, There Swings a Skull was always in the back of my mind. It was one of the few games that fit the vibes the world was giving.

I don’t think the game necessarily has any direct message about how to avoid this crisis, but a lot of it is about being there for the one you love, and maybe by working together, you can make the world better, even if it is just for yourselves. It can be a tough game to play through, but it also does have a wacky story you can play through once you get through both stories. At the time, it felt oddly non sequitur, but as time went on, I gained an appreciation for just being silly sometimes as respite.