Games That Made 2023 So Special - The PlayStation Access Podcast

On the latest PlayStation Access Podcast, the team discuss all the games that made 2023 so special for them - and there are a lot! Prepare for impassioned speeches, and perhaps some rudeness...
The gang also chat about secret Santa traditions, backlog games they conquered this year and the intricacies of cooking food in videogames.
What 2023 games made the year so special for you? Use #podsquad and let us know in the comments!
PlayStation Access is the official KZbin channel of PlayStation UK - a vibrant, welcoming community celebrating all things PlayStation. Join us for weekly livestreams, list features and in-depth coverage on all your favourite games.
Check out the Community tab for PlayStation news, behind-the-scenes sneak-peeks, polls and much more: bit.ly/AccessCommunity
All music featured courtesy of epidemicsound.com (www.epidemicsound.com)
We use the AverMedia Live Gamer Ultra, Elgato 4K60 S+, and Atomos Ninja V and Ninja Inferno for gameplay capture.
Follow the team on Twitter:
Ash: bit.ly/AshMillman
Rosie: bit.ly/RosieCaddick
Rob: bit.ly/RobPearson
Dave: bit.ly/DavidJackson
For the latest gaming news and updates, check out PlayStation UK on Facebook (bit.ly/PlayStationUKFacebook) and Twitter (bit.ly/PlayStationUKTweets)
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:35 Episode Overview
00:06:00 What's New
00:21:15 Main Feature
00:58:29 Comments of the Week
01:13:45 Before We Go
01:22:05 Goodbye

[@StinkyBuster]

Robb's palpable disappointment in Rosie's description of the Balrog is killing me lol

[@JimJerrellson]

I am digging Rob's megalomaniac genius bond villian look with his white turtleneck. I can just imagine him at a tech conference launch on stage saying he is about to take over the world #podsquad

[@sonofliberty1]

Spider-Man 2 kept me out of life for about 3 days and then another few hours later getting the final trophy. 😂 I did put a lot of time into Dredge as well. PS Access podcast gets an honourable mention because it's been more fun and relaxing listening to you all talking about games than actually playing them.

[@cataorshane]

Was cleaning my house with youtube playing in the background. Just as I was done, I heard Access' podcast tune. Saturday starts amazingly well

[@ezimari]

The Bahamut fight in FF16 is up there for 1 of my favorite bits.

[@dien00b31]

The Bahamut fight in ff16 was definitely one of my favorite bits this year. But also the moment when twinkle, twinkle little star starts in Dead Space remake. Real goosebump moment.

[@SittingDuck-xq9ln]

The whole gang present for two podcasts in a row! Lucky us!

[@dantekinkade8765]

It's nice to see that Ash went through the same thing I did with World of Horror and was just confused through the tutorial, but then found it easier to understand with the main game.

[@stuart2515]

They like your friends that get you exicted to play again. Love listening to them.

[@melaniapina6368]

#podsquad I know I’m late and I know I’m not talking about something released this year but…my favorite bit of a game in 2023 was creating my first character in Skyrim and experiencing this incredibile game for the first time. I definitely have to thank Rob for this 😊 And thanks to you all for the amazing content you always provide! I’ve been following and loving your channel since 2017 and the Podcast has been such a great addiction ❤️

[@jdog45jdog45]

My favorite podcast. Been a fan of the channel close to a decade now and have kept you guys in my algorithm the whole time #PTEwhaiAnyway

[@timrosborough9578]

I agree that Titan and Bahamut fight are my two favorite "best bits", but the final boss of Burning Shores dlc of HFW deserves definite honorable mention. Was blown away at the time!

[@RavinKapur]

3 absolutely brilliant boss battles that have pushed the expectations for future boss battles.

[@Space_Noise]

Glad Dave mentioned Cocoon and Ash mentioned Dredge& World of Horror! 🖤superb games!

[@zacretzer]

I’m so thankful for all the laughs this show has given me. Robs unintentional comedic timing at 38:50 has had me giggling for days.

[@noctiliogames350]

A backlog game I've rediscovered this year and actually beat was OlliOlli World. Masterpiece. Highly recommended.

[@LeifOftedal]

An epic year in gaming and my first full year owning a PS5 (Got mine last holiday season). Needless to say, I have been having an absolute blast with my PS5. Very grateful for the games that dropped this year. Incredible list of titles. Great video. Cheers!

[@d3mystic93]

FF16, Persona 5 Tactica, Haven, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider Man 2. Edit: Special mention Alan Wake 2. Haven't played it but the 'Herald of Darkness' bit is something special.

[@carabell188]

Love the podcast, and happy for anyone to talk about Robert MacFarlane. The Wild Places is my favourite book.

[@DinoMedicDM]

#podsquad #vodsquad Clearly this is a wedding period as I am getting married in one week time as well! I have followed the channel since the don't starve let's play and have loved everything over that time. The phrase that lives in my head rent free is Nathan saying, "oh look, Nathan's made a button foul" in NBA games. I also miss the Friday features. Thank you so much and I look forward to this year's Christmas maze, or whatever it is this year!

[@JarvisSensei]

Murder at the End of the World is flippin great. Good shout Dave 🎉

[@updownleftrightish]

I recently picked up the PS3 legends of guardians wonder if it has the plat. Also ever grateful for the energy of the team getting us through many a year now. This line up could stay forever and I'd be quite happy. Plus Nath of course.

[@Palalubong]

Excited to chill out and watch this. Reminds me of bad influence vides- with Yvette Fielding. Thanks guys.

[@vvandavvitch]

they have a KZbin channel now

[@kematchdr]

Favorite bit "side bullet" side scrolling zombie shooting game

[@gopodge]

Another really entertaining podcast. Super charismatic bunch. Cheers.

[@MasaKillzAll]

Sea of stars was a phenomenal dance and made me appreciate retro style games.

[@vvandavvitch]

the real fear is losing in game progress or a save file or worse a capture card error #podsquad #VODSquad

[@bethlehell852]

Loving all the recommendations! Got on to both No Sleep & Uncanny from them. Passed on Dave's recommendation too and it went down really well and now I'll be watching too! Keep the recommendations coming.

[@michaelwill5972]

In line with The backlog question..Wow finished Judgement and Was Blown Away by It..Such a Brilliant game..Next Stop is Lost Judgement

[@Scudge0]

Spidrob-man also works XD

[@fidget18s48]

As someone who loves the Yakuza franchise, I love the passion Rosie has for these games. If only my friends would put cod down for once and play these gems.

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

Hollie Bennett was like that too. It was a lucky replacement that Rosie liked it, Final Fantasy, and so much more. Her diversity in games and enthusiasm adds a whole other level to the Access group (and I'd bet she'd talk of stuff like Jack Blowser and LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom on camera if the channel wasn't so PS exclusive).

[@Dizzy-lane]

Great show as always and it’s great to see a full house. BG3 is amazing game you will easily spend 100+ hours and love every minute of it. It was a great year for games.

[@hassanabdalla2332]

Rob has some serious Drip. 🔥really interested in the Brands/ Shops he shops

[@BadGamerEmJay]

My top 3 games of the year…… 1. Dredge (I seriously loved this game, usually I don’t like fishing in games but this was amazing), 2. Goodbye Volcano High (literally cried playing this), 3. Oxenfree lI: Lost Signals (loved it, not as much as the first one, but still great)

[@darrylbrookes2780]

fav bit of the year , .... getting the anti venom suit in spiderman 2 and realising i still had all them skills and finishers id spent all that time investing into after beating kraven.

[@picklerickaussiegaming]

#PODSquad #VODSquad My favourite bit of a game this year was the Rosa Isabelle Street section of Lies of P immediately after defeating Romeo, King of Puppets. I actually posted a little snippet of the 'Charity Market' song on KZbin prior to the soundtrack being released on Spotify, and it has managed to rack up 1700 views over the last couple of months, so good to know I'm not the only one! 😄

[@ChippyL93]

Considering we know that Dave and Dan knew each other when they were at uni, does this confirm Dan as Secret Boss?!!!

[@JarvisSensei]

Love you guys 🎉❤

[@allexed3662]

HUUUGE missed opportunity for a ‘ Peter Robber ‘ 😂

[@ReyEric]

The Access Controller is amazing! Just a great idea and love how PS is very forward thinking

[@LiamLivesOn]

Catching up with some of the pods I have missed. I did stop playing World of Horror within the first level because I just found it too complicated. Will definitely go back to it with Ash's recommendation.

[@kierstenjohnston8925]

Ash - I loved the Legend of the Guardians the Owls of Ga'Hoole so much, I nearly named my son Soren

[@ShindoWonderland]

Mines is Morobia 😂😂😂spoken mo-ro-bi-a that’s just a really good one. No back to watching the episode. You guys are awesome.

[@Nick_Craddock]

I am currently playing Return to Moria but now I am going to start up Sea of Stars after this.

[@Jim007Bond]

Please put some lights in that corner unit, it will totally transform the the chat room.

[@victor_734]

Favourite bit I played this year: Honeybee Inn in FF7 Remake

[@garyb7475]

#podsquad The 4 of you are peak access - access has never been as good as it is right now and you guys are awesome. Keep doing what you’re doing because I look forward to your content and the acquisition of Ash and Rosie is just *chefs kiss*. I hope you guys all have a great Christmas and New Year, and I look forward to another year of elite content from this fantastic team ❤

[@CompulsiveNerd]

If you're new here welcome! This is one jolly great podcast that always makes me smile. You have a nice backlog of episodes to listen to! Pretty excited for them!

[@mononoke721]

#podsquad. Always enjoy the pod, but this was a particularly good one with everyone going in depth on some great games this year; Dave's recommendations aligned most closely with my own as Teardown and Cocoon are some of the best puzzle games this side of 2023. My own 'best gaming bit' for the year on Playstation, courtesy of PS Plus Extra, is playing through Outer Wilds for the first time (my personal GOTY) and uncovering all its secrets to reach the ending campfire scene where (slight spoilers) all the traveller's you've met throughout the game come together to play the main stirring theme, a moment that gave me that special butterfly feeling which, as a jaded man in his 30's, rarely happens these days! I also played some other incredible bangers on Extra for the first time this year - Returnal, Deathloop (a lot of time loop games!) Life is Strange 2, Humanity, Ghostwire - and these were just the highlights! There's never been a better time to be playing Playstation!

[@TallAndThin123]

im glad dave brought up the jedi games , those games are superb

[@joelcarey1276]

The Christmas Maze will be my 2023 Game of the Year 😊

[@Jedi_Chimp]

I literally rewatched Scott Pilgrim last week and here you are talking about it 🙃 I want to watch the anime too but I'll have to wait

[@gjk1980]

Sea of Stars is a fantastic game. Really loved the ending of it.

[@SuperKendoman]

Sea of Stars is my game of the year along with Dave the Diver

[@RyanVlogsAndTalks]

Is anyone able to provide a list of the recommendation in the episode? I would love to check them all out!

[@daysgone2997]

year not over yet, next year will be insane and 2025 will be even better if we get wolverine

[@hannayman4448]

Need to start hearing more Pearson puns

[@Bongo4611]

Best moment of 2023. We Sing. Alan Wake 2

[@acme3drevit]

I never get tired of ash coming up with everyone’s name in the beginning

[@StinkyBuster]

My North American brain took way too long to understand what wouldve been wrong with Baldur's Gash 😂

[@vvandavvitch]

Understand but Gash i mean pretty obvious 😀😀😀👻👻👻

[@StinkyBuster]

​@@vvandavvitchwell its not typical slang over here so I just thought "Baldurs Bad Injury" at first until I remembered from some uk tv shows I've watched.

[@vvandavvitch]

@@StinkyBuster you dang stinky buster 😀👻

[@nickrobertsN7]

Rosie smacks you around and leaves no marks 🤔😜

[@vvandavvitch]

she is actually quite talented in martial arts

[@ZitMeatloaf]

I get the impression that Rob and Rosie don't know that Sea of Stars is a prequel to The Messenger... The stories overlap, the music is similar, even the level design in areas mimics The Messenger.

[@thefrozenwolf13]

The thing I have been waiting for all morning....thank you for these podcasts

[@henningeide8355]

Ash might like the game Darkwood. It's been out for a few years, but is still brilliant.

[@TehPwnographer]

Rob is looking fresh to death here

[@jls8]

It's a pity that Armored Core did not tick with anyone in the team :(

[@nathanelbyers5746]

#VOD squad. When you guys mentioned the playstation access controller I though you had released your own custom controller. I was sad when I realised this is not what you ment. 😂

[@farmpunk_dan]

Watch out for the Barlrob

[@briantomlinson7583]

#PODSQUAD after listening to this podcast I have gone all the way back to season 1 episode 0 listening to them all over again. 1) the all repeating PODSQUAD started in episode 0. And then 2) in the season 1 episode 1 Rosie told about her acting career as Robin Hood in a grade school play across from a girl playing Maid "Marylin". She then said that her mom has the DVD of this play and that she would bring it in to show you all. My question is, has that happened, and what were your reactions? It sounded like such a funny video if you have watched it. Love you all! And hi Alex!

[@Throbingkcoc]

This truly was the best year for games since probably 2004. So many great titles I can't say which was my favorite.

[@maxisenberg9093]

I wish people talked more about accessabikity beyond physical/permanent/ stereotype. Even a minor temporary injury required accessibility..or situational accessibility where there is no physical issue (I.e being able to pause to deal with your crying baby).. Even basic settings literally ebeyone interacts with (I.e brightness, text size, difficulty) IS accessibility and most people brush thwt stuff off

[@rosaheartlily]

The older game I've been really enjoying is Scarlet Nexus - I've only done one playthrough, so I'm technically half-way through, but it's been a lot of fun. I also loved Kena: Bridge of Spirits but the platforming at the end defeated me, so I had to watch someone else kill the final boss :D

[@shell_yeah_]

I think my fave bit was flying around Hogwarts on the back of a hippogriff. That was a dream come true! Game of the year is totally BG3 though surprise, surprise!

[@sayftaleb6020]

If only I can put more than one like I would give this episode a thousand.

[@ReyEric]

I really like Rosie's hoodie/jumper

[@NotIfICU1st_]

Dungeons & Millmans

[@xianxiii3029]

Best BIT of gaming me for this year was Alan Wake 2 ending live action scene. I obviously wont write it out as its a heavy spoiler.

[@NeoMOFsama]

Ash could have gone with Ashtarion 😂

[@Ghostly-00]

1:19:57 I'm definitely interested!

[@AD3SPG]

I thought boogie for a sec.

[@Grey_Warden_Invasion]

I didn't get to play or even watch full playthroughs of games that were released this year. New games that, not counting remakes or remasters. I will still be busy catching up with older games for a while.

[@maxisenberg9093]

#podsquad Hi all, love the great content! Question for Rob (or anyone who has played sea of stars). Not a big jrpg guy but this really looks interesting to me. Especially when I found out it's set in the same universe as the messenger. Supposed to be 1000 years before I belive but are you aware of any actual direct connections between the games? ps happy new year

[@MrTrippy11]

'Unfortunately my name goes horRobly into other words' - Grob

[@shazam2022]

I don’t know who I have got for secret Santa 🧑‍🎄 it kind thrilling to see what I get

[@MasaKillzAll]

Sea of stars is technically prequel for the messenger

[@scottxs904]

Rob looking like the fed-up Uncle who really doesn't want to be there because he hates video games and just wants to count all of the money he has made off them. You could at least fake a smile.

[@bonfirebroz.8465]

My personal best game of the year is RE 4 remake, amazing game man!

[@Throbingkcoc]

Yes it was a great remake. I'm actually playing Seperate Ways for the first time and it really is a great add on.

[@bonfirebroz.8465]

@@Throbingkcoc and the brought back the cut boss fight, also Ada ended up being much more likable too

[@TheDarkConRises]

Best bit: "HOW RUDE!!"

[@mariohough5622]

When does the Christmas maze star this year?

[@backgroundtom4589]

When are we going to see the access cast doing the herald of darkness dance? Bonus points if off camera staff dress as the dark shadows! #podsquad

[@adeadphish7931]

Halloween is year round, Dave. you cannot contain horror games!

[@Ivotas]

What a coincidence, I also played Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance for the first time this year. It was a fantastic game. But the platinum was a pain.^^

[@RoryStarr]

Video idea: Rosie summarizes lord of the rings to Rob.

[@CodyJamesWilliams]

If Rob’s GOTY was Baldur’s Gate 3, Baldrob’s Gate 3 would’ve been the perfect name.

[@capercrusader7129]

Crash Team Rumble being ahuge surprise

[@maxisenberg9093]

Inscryption absolutely deserved Indie goty or even goty nomination

[@SomeKillerTofu]

Came out in 2021 on PC, and 2022 for Playstation so it wouldn't have qualified. Edit: realizing they said so later on. 😂 ha sorry. I think it should have probably had a good chance for indie got when it came out though.

[@maxisenberg9093]

@bigc6391 even for an indie game it was fairly niche on launch compared to what else came out that year and when you consider tga is basically a popularity contest/ marketing budget contest it makes sense...but its still a crime it didn't get the recognition it deserved.. just bought a real deck on etsy :p

[@nolankuffner3573]

Man, Wheels was my least favorite part of Sea of Stars. My favorite moment in the game (single playthrough, when I realized how much weight they put on the collect-a-thon aspects of it) is when you're travelling the Sea of Stars and your perspective changes. It sounds vague, but anyone who's played the game through will know exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, and the tie-in to the Messenger is also incredibly cool.

[@rolandkis1990]

Blasphemous 2!!! Loving it, just finished Blasphemous (ending A the one with the throne), and just defeated Radames in Blasphemous 2.

[@maximnewman2483]

It’s funny because I found the Titan fight really dragged on. I was like, is it not done yet.

[@TomBardacky]

Gamers are too ungrateful to hear any of this. But thank you, and I am grateful.

[@theanimaster]

Rosie didn’t know about the BalROB?