The Writing on Games 'Top Five Games of 2023' List

It's the ninth annual Writing on Games Game of the Year Awards! Join me as I review the 2023 that was and analyse my favourites of the year.
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Support the show on Patreon - / writingongames
Podcast - anchor.fm/writingongamescast
Second Channel - / @writingongamesextra9177
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I imagine every game of the year list is going to start with some variation on "it was an incredible year for games but a bad year for the people making them." While I definitely agree on the latter, I'm not so sure the former rings true for me. 2023 was a year with a lot of games, but staggeringly few left much of a lasting impression on me. That said, those few that did will stick with me for a long, long time to come.
The question is though, which game will take the prestigious number one spot? Baldur's Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? ARMORED CORE 6?! Or something completely unexpected? Keep watching this review/analysis of the 2023 that was in video games to find out!
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Creator shoutouts:
Video Games Are Bad - @VideoGamesAreBad
Pixel a Day - @PixelaDay
eurothug4000 - @eurothug4000
Kurt Indovina - • Being A Gamer In The B...
Lambhoot - @LambHoot
Other cool stuff worth your time:
Gene Park's interview with Sam Lake for Alan Wake 2: www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
Game Informer's excellent documentary on the making of Humanity: • The Making of Humanity...
JEMAPUR's transcendent soundtrack for Humanity: jemapur.bandcamp.com
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0:00 - Intro
3:50 - Game 5
8:18 - Game 4
12:27 - Game 3
20:40 - Runner Up
29:53 - Honourable Mentions
35:07 - Game of the Year
42:17 - Creator shoutouts
46:11 - Outro
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Text animation intro by Isaac Holland - / drazgames

[@shifterzx]

One of the few channels that even mentions Armored Core 6. It's dropped off the radar almost everywhere else. I love this game. Complete, polished and no micro transactions. The way gaming should be. The way it used to be.

[@yoyosaur]

The issue for me, and at least a lot of my friends, is the story was super poorly delivered. I'm *very* tired of the FromSoft way of delivering story and context through item descriptions. I also think that Nintendo needs to up their production value and get some consistent voice acting, and Japanese RPGs in general. If a character has a voice actor, IMO every line needs to be voiced. All my favorite games this year had full voice acting and good gameplay. Just gameplay, or just a good story isn't enough to engross me. And I don't feel engrossed having to read and imagine the voice. I don't mind subs on foreign language fully voiced mind you, just when it's a silent screen with text after text for a full conversation I'm just... not here for it. I also think what was great about this year, is that the above is *my* pov. I got dyslexia, so voice acting is much higher priority to me than other folks. Likewise if that doesn't bother you then Pikmin 4, Armored Core, Dave the Diver, Dredge all probably hit you much harder than it does me. I like those games, but they're not going on the list of GOAT the way BG3 and Hi Fi Rush have got that spot. And there's very few years where a game enters my GOAT list, let alone 2 games in the same year. I'm sure platform you engaged on impacts it too, I bet the people who played Jedi Survivor on just PS5 had an amazing experience as opposed to PC players. Lastly what makes this year so impactful to me, is that there is something for everyone that's the pinnacle of the genre. If you just love FPS with a campaign, you got Aveum and Boltgun. If you love platformers you've got Mario Wonder. Storied indie games you got Jusant and Chants of Seenar. Fighting games got reinvigorated with Street Fighter. Any genre there's at least *one* game that perfected the genre this year. It's kind of like how last year was one of the best years of movies in a long time. I'm just happy people get something this year no matter what you wanted.

[@Exel3nce]

Ac6 delivers so much with its delivery of fights and over the topness tho​@@yoyosaur

[@reevvie2608]

Thank god I've played Ace Combat before, it really helped me in appreciating Armored Core's storytelling and characters, and why I love the world of Rubicon 3. I guess you can say that this game was made for Ace Combat or Project wingman fans, since its basically AC's true sister franchise, not souls. Definitely game of the year for me.

[@Ixarus6713]

Ikr??? It seems like everyone went: "Oh cool. And then forgot about it. Definitely my GoTY fir 2023 too. I need to try some of the games on this list now though! Especially that language one, it looks so cool!

[@teratoma.]

​@@yoyosaur by the end, i was invested more in armored core 6 characters than i was with bg3

[@angelus_lucifero]

Armored Core 6 was this year's biggest surprise for me. Even as a longtime From Soft diehard, with a platinum under my belt for every game, Demon's Souls and onward, I still had little excitement for a mech game, even if it was coming from my favorite devs. I purchased it begrudgingly, and really had no clue what was going on in the story by the end of my first playthrough. But my girlfriend started watching close to the end, started asking questions and gleaning details I had been missing, almost demanding we figure it out. Two full playthroughs later, both of which were spent on the edge of our seats, we managed to put together what felt like a meticulously crafted narrative that had us in awe and borderline in tears. Characters and performances I initially found grating for their anime-esque melodrama, had become charming and endearing. Writing that felt ham-fisted and awkward, became profound and poignant as the context established by puzzling together all the moving pieces began to materialize. It just felt so carefully crafted. And all of this is to say nothing about how goddamned fun it was to play. Point is, had you told me that not only myself, but my girlfriend too (both of whom have no care or interest in the trappings of Japanese pop culture), would fall head over heels for a mech game, I would've laughed you out of the room. And the other point is, I'll never question another From Soft project again. To all of those sitting on the fence for the same reasons as us, please give it a shot. It deserves your attention.

[@InMaTeofDeath]

It's amazing how many well known youtubers I've seen say AC6 has no story with a straight face. I'm the type that barely cares at all about the lore of Dark Souls/Elden Ring but this one slowly but surely pulled me in.

[@yoyosaur]

I said this in another comment but it's the presentation. No real cutscenes, voiceover during important gameplay you're likely to ignore and filter out to handle the battle, and lots of context being buried in mission descriptions and such. "I CAME HERE TO LAY DOWN LEAD, NOT READ"

[@VictorIV0310]

@@yoyosaurTempleOS

[@InMaTeofDeath]

@@yoyosaur What I'm hearing is because it doesn't tell the story in the same way you're used to other stories doing it you didn't enjoy it as much. You're welcome to have that perspective it's basically the same way I feel about most souls games but I would never say they have no story or a bad one just because it's not done the way I like it.

[@Exel3nce]

No interest in souls lore?

[@damnumonkeyballs]

Most people never climbed the wall and even less cast the die and crossed the Rubicon.

[@osYukari]

AC6 is my personal game of the year too. Yes there's a lot of games, yes I played hundred of hours of BG3, but AC6 is just special... every day I would go to my garage, tinker a few pieces, and make a mission rerun to either test new stuff, practice a new trick i saw on the web, or just relax while listening to Snail scream about how he is the Arquebus :) And also I really love AC6's story. The way AC6 tells its story is definitely unique. with BG3 i grew bored near the latter half, with AC6 i just cant get it out of my head.

[@mindsprings1]

The lack of love AC6 has gotten in “best of 2023” lists is really disappointing, really loved watching your journey with the series as you’re one of the few people coming as an outsider from mecha and AC fandom that actually gives it (and the series as a whole) the time of day. Many people seem to have wrote it off because its far more focused and dialed in than what Elden Ring was. What i fear for the future for studios like Larian and Fromsoft is that fans and the industry as a whole will continue to expect bigger games until they run out of steam, AC6 shows how much a game can stand by being mechanically and visually compelling without having to fall back on cramming the game full of “content”.

[@Exel3nce]

Nah, they know what they are doing, even tho elden was a step back

[@night1952]

Nah, the guys at From Soft know what they're doing. It's the same thing they've been doing since the beggining of the company, Miyazaki taking over just made the games play better.

[@thealgerian3285]

It's even rather sad that FromSoft's middest game is the one getting all the praise and making all the sales.

[@ronthorn3]

It won awards, I wouldn’t say it’s not being talked about, sure it’s not praised to the same level, but who cares.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

Nah, it's because it's in very niché genre. Just because it looks good, doesn't change the fact it's basically a 3D bullet hell game. And that isn't that life-changing for most people.

[@EmonWBKstudios]

Five? FIVE? You're telling me that there were at least FIVE playable games last year? This is incredible, unlikely, unbelievable, I can't wait to hear this.

[@thegwynbleidd4202]

I understand that this is sarcasm but there were dozens of great “playable” games this year.

[@Kris-wo4pj]

Theres dozens of those every yr. All considered great yet everyone forgets about them all except the memerable ones​@@thegwynbleidd4202

[@user-ul2rl8yt6t]

More 10 Sxck list

[@Frank-kq4te]

I lost count of how many times I replayed armored core 6

[@damnumonkeyballs]

Armored Core 6 is in the thumbnail, that's all I needed to watch.

[@maxb9767]

I gotta say I owe you. Your great armored core series video was one of the contributing forces that made me try AC6 when it was released despite having nothing to do with the genre previously. And damn was that the best decision of the year. Most love I have had for a game in years.

[@curiousardor]

I'm right there with you on Armored Core 6. It's often overlooked in GotY conversations but it's the purest game I've had the pleasure of playing in quite some time. The story is constructed well (and without making you ever feel like "the good guy") but the mechanics are sublime.

[@justletmecomment6453]

You are about the closest thing to a "good guy" with the RLF ending, although it's an idealist's ending and could lead to a worse conflict in the future.

[@TheTyper]

Appreciate you doing the channel recommendations. I don't get enough of those every year and honestly I find the best channel recommendations always come from other creators.

[@pauldubois0]

2024 off to a great start with Unity laying off another 25% right after this video dropped.

[@WritingOnGames]

YUP. Awful.

[@eurothug4000]

great list of games!! I loved humanity and the final level still hasn't left my brain... also the like a dragon mention made me remember that the absolute behemoth infinite wealth is coming out this MONTH?! I didn't expect the shoutout for my channel as well so thank you so much!! and thanks for all your hard work this past year creating so many amazing vids :)

[@DavetheTurnip]

Your top of the year lists are always a delight. I love that the Armoured Core video has got you thinking about a different approach this year. I look forward to seeing it. All the best!

[@antoineroth2555]

Thanks for the creators shout out, I didn't know any of them and they all look great. And I'm one of the few people (apparently) who completed Humanity when it came out, and I absolutely loved it, clearly one of my favorites this year too so very glad to see it so prominent on your list. Armored Core 6 is my GotY as well, and you put perfectly into words why (essentially, it feels so damn good to play, and the story is surprisingly engaging for something told mostly through voices talking over a black screen). Looking forward to more excellent content in 2024 :)!

[@jacksonjabba]

I am so glad someone has put into words how I feel about BG3. Literally perfectly put

[@ronintheronin8035]

LETS GO, as many have said here I am so glad to see Armored Core 6 in here. With the teaser trailer for it marking my first contact with the series I incessantly started scouring youtube for videos on it. Your retrospective on it was an amazing timewaster I could come back to on many occasions waiting for the 6th to come out. Until it obviously did and it absolutely absorbed me, I 100% the game within a week and it's my number one this year for sure. I'd love to go through all the previous games myself too, but that'll have to wait until I can properly set that up. For now I can just keep coming back to your videos on the games :3

[@zacharywong483]

Absolutely fantastic video, as always!

[@TheLiamster]

I enjoyed playing the Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk but my game of the year was Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. It was the perfect game for me absolutely loved it

[@claek_]

I’m so happy you highlighted and gave Armored Core 6 the spotlight, because damn you captured my feelings so well with your words. We look forward to every play through of the game even though we know the plot already.

[@netherslayer3561]

Your hour long Armored Core vid was how I stumbled across your channel, and I've been loving it ever since. As a wannabe writer myself, I sincerely appreciate your deep dives and analyses of games, and your vids about AC got me very hyped for Fires of Rubicon in particular. Can't wait to see what 2024 brings!

[@WritingOnGames]

Thank you!

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Thank you for another great video!!

[@98codex]

I was on the fence for Humanity, but you sold me with the Boards of Canada mention.

[@epicdude3659]

Was hoping AC6 was gonna be on this list somewhere I wasn't expecting it to be number 1. That game has honestly become one of my favourite games, I've done like, 4 playthroughs already and I only got it 2 or 3 weeks ago, how ever many weeks it's been since Christmas day.

[@Brandon-pz8eq]

I could not agree more with your assessments. AC6 was absolutely amazing. I remember being 5 and playing Mario for the first time on Super Nintendo. I remember the game being challenging, fluid, and rewarding. So many games are incapable of finding that singular amazing thread that rewards the individual for learning and understanding the difficulties that exist and alter their programming and methods to achieve domination of that level. AC6 brought all of this back for me. There is something to be said about the visuals and the story that gives it depth, and yet the gameplay is really what made me fall in love. Thank you for reminding me to go back and replay it since that has been the most fun I have had in games for some time.

[@Muzlibuck]

Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your Armored Core videos immensely this year, even though I have never played any of the games. I'm not finding a lot of time to play new games, but VI is now very high on my list. I didn't think I'd enjoy coverage like that as much as I did (I was sick at the time, so maybe having time on my hands helped), but I did, and the fact that your channel is so personal plays a big role. Also, I joined your Patreon a while back by the way and I am looking forward to whatever you have in the works!

[@WritingOnGames]

This means a lot. Thank you!

[@jesuscostantino2925]

It's not that I agree with your choices, but dang do I love your perspective.

[@nemonaught2772]

Just got Armored Core VI a few days ago; just beat Balteus yesterday. Dark Souls is one of my two favourite games and while that might not necessarily change, AC6 is such a delightful discovery for me and, as you said, such a joy to just play. My impressions really align with yours so far. Thanks for this video :)

[@VictorLHouette]

Every sentence of the Humanity section is amazing. "You could write off humanity as a puzzle game" - "There's a physicality to humanity" - "Humanity 's development involved collaboration between a number of different people" All delightful statements

[@grahamgilmore42]

There’s many goty lists that I watch/listen to just to hear different perspectives and what I missed. But it’s a nice treat when I find a video that closely aligns with my opinions. It’s not that I seek it out or hail it as doctrine. It’s just nice. My personal top 5 would include: 5. Jusant 4. Lies of P 3. Alan Wake 2 2. Cocoon 1. Armored Core 6 I’m early hours in both BG3 and Humanity. But I’m definitely going to be diving into both. Probably Humanity first. P.S. Not trying to be a brown noser here, but just letting you know I immediately subscribed to your creator suggestions (if I wasn’t already)

[@hayleynoellebroders8247]

My fiance and I caught covid earlier in 2023 and HUMANITY got us through the long days in bed when we couldnt be arsed to read or talk. It helped us to really embrace lateral communication and was one of the highlights of our ability to work as a twosome to complete a mutual goal. Thats a given in a relationship but finding a way to isolate that energy from all other commitments, however tough, that mightnt have been all our own has remained one of my favourite memories from our earlier days together.

[@HighFlyActionGuy]

The fact that you so dislike turn based combat but hold BG3 in high regard is a testament to the human capacity to find joy in things. We like the game for such different reasons but we still like it and thats awesome.

[@friendly_inlaw]

How on earth did I miss Humanity?! This looks right up my alley!

[@Mitcheck315]

I think the Metal Gear Solid comparison to Alan Wake 2 is especially interesting because of how often during my playthrough I found myself thinking "this is what I had hoped Silent Hills would have been" It is such a clearly human piece of art in ways that games very rarely are in a very similar way to Kojima's past games

[@user-ul2rl8yt6t]

Silence Hill series Masterpiece

[@mortimerwake2974]

The layoffs were not due to mismanagement, they were due to profit maximizing being held over things like productivity. Management has a pretty good idea of what they are doing and they are mostly doing it well, they are just pursuing profit at the expense of society.

[@podizzz]

Did you not play cocoon? I think its my game of the generation, Inside's beautiful game design and world building with the puzzle intelligence of portal and a mechanic i've never experienced in a game before, pure gaming joy

[@WritingOnGames]

I did! Didn't end up beating it but what I played was neat.

[@podizzz]

@@WritingOnGames cool!

[@jv4200]

Much appreciate the creator shoutouts for some good content

[@fonsy8944]

I share the sentiment on armored core. I cant wait to see what from changes in the next iteration!!!!

[@catypie_]

I couldn't agree more with your number one. Before i started playing AC6 i just expected it to be a good game but now it's my absolute favourite game.

[@Draksyl]

As you love Armoured Core so much I STRONGLY recommend going back and covering GunGriffon Blaze (PS2 launch title) as it's much closer to what AC6 ended up being with it's pace and fluidity 👍

[@user-ul2rl8yt6t]

Great ps2

[@damnumonkeyballs]

It's funny to hear people complain about Armored Core 6's srory is kinda funny because it shows how few people have played the other ones lol. AC6 is the best story we've ever gotten with the Armored Core series. You just have to pay attention and actually play it. It's not an easy game until you learn what works and then it just clicks. So climb the Wall, cast the die, and let the Cinders burn Raven.

[@hare75]

Not only armored core series but it was one of the best narrative games in 2023 along with Alan wake 2 and BG3

[@Jaxdaily1]

Great video bro

[@cerezabayonetta4514]

Genuine question here are you gonna do another two parter GOTY podcast like previous years? I look forward to that every year they’re absolutely stellar

[@WritingOnGames]

Yup! Finishing it up in the next few days and we'll post it ASAP

[@cerezabayonetta4514]

@@WritingOnGamesaw thanks man you guys really helped me out last summer when I had these exceptionally long and exceptionally boring work shifts it really does mean a lot and is absolutely appreciated. You rule

[@cerezabayonetta4514]

@@WritingOnGamesjust curious is there any update on that? No pressure just curious

[@Rinocapz]

Great timing. Forgot the name of boards of Canada, thanks

[@ElieHaykal]

Yay for Jusant.. one of my favorite games of 2023! I can't wait to see what's next in the series

[@nomercy8989]

For me the GOTY is a tie between Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon and Lies of P

[@brainydiode]

I generally tend to be 2-3 years behind on what's popular, so while everybody else was raving about how good this year was for games, I was realizing Tears of the Kingdom was the only 2023 game I played in 2023 (not counting remasters/remakes). Armored Core 6 looks incredibly cool, but I've never played a Fromsoft game and I don't tend to like really hard games, so I'm just not sure if it's something I'd enjoy. One of my friends got me Sekiro for Christmas, so I guess I'll try that and decide from there.

[@Exel3nce]

Yep, just try and be open. Simply seeing the "hard" factor is an extreme disservice for such wonderful games

[@JF-vz1ju]

AC6 plays unlike anything Fromsoft has made in the past 10 years and shouldn't really be judged by Sekiro or any of the Souls games. The difficulty in the game comes from learning the movement and mech building mechanics, but once you get the hang of it it becomes absolutely addicting.

[@startrekmike]

On an entirely subjective, personal level, Alan Wake 2 was my game of the year. As you said in the video, it was a culmination of Remedy's creative process thus far. The first Alan Wake had a lot of interesting narrative ideas but it was limited by the gameplay centric expectations of the time. The sequel lets go of any expectations of mechanical depth/action and instead just focuses everything on giving the player a memorable, character driven experience. Alan Wake 2 represents why it is so deeply important to view games on their own terms. To not try to apply specific rules to the design process. The fact that we are still having a "mechanics versus story" conflict in the gaming hobby is deeply sad to me. Games should be what they need to be in order to convey the intended experience. Alan Wake 2 works as well as it does because it doesn't worry itself with how mechanically deep it is. They just put in what drives the experience forward.

[@Exel3nce]

Pretty much, yes. But the gameplay is still very very weak and saga is kinda bland. Could've been majestic with those 2 things being better

[@pramitpratimdas8198]

When the game could've been better if it belonged to a different medium there should absolutely be a discussion of gameplay and story. Especially when gameplay is the equivalent of hitting the pause or play button of a media player. In the gameplay section there is no engagement on the part of the player - that's the character often has to say what to do next out loud. The motivation to play them is to reach the next point at which the cutscene starts. There's such a massive gulf between player and the character he/she controls

[@startrekmike]

@@pramitpratimdas8198 This kind of argument always seems to hinge on the notion that games are absolutely obligated to never cross paths with cinematic storytelling. That anything that isn't directly contributing to the mechanical experience is somehow better left to film or television. Like any other form of art/entertainment. You are going to get examples that draw heavily from other mediums. You are going to get entire genres that may not tick all the arbitrary "does it have good enough gameplay" check-boxes and that is perfectly alright. With all that said. There is another thing to think about. You talk about how the "motivation to play them is to reach the next point at which the cutscene starts". This conveniently leaves out the reason why certain players flock to these kinds of games. Immersion. For what is obviously a very big chunk of players, a game like Alan Wake 2 isn't built around how mechanically interesting the shooting is. It is about really drinking in the world and story in a way that isn't possible with film. It is about putting yourself in the shoes of the characters and trying to experience the game world through their eyes. Alan Wake 2 will never win awards for best gameplay but it doesn't really have to. It achieves its goals just fine with the gameplay choices it has.

[@pramitpratimdas8198]

@@startrekmike I mean people flock to a Marvel or a transformers film and probably find them immersive too. You won't have people calling it high art or something. Not serious minded people anyway. Also this complaint is nothing new and happened with films too when they were too similar to theatre. A kind of renaissance happened and films never looked back to that era. Something like this is needed for games for it to truly evolve as a medium Stuff like Alan Wake 2 should exist but they should belong to the "interactive film" genre than be in a one where it gets compared to Armored Core or Baldur's Gate. It dilutes the medium imo

[@Exel3nce]

@@pramitpratimdas8198 interactive film is a bit extreme. Everything it does, gameplay wise and ideas, can be perfectly blend into the mixed medias alan provides. Problem is that most stuff is either tedious, half baked or just not deep enough. This is, compared to remedies older titles, kinda odd because they can do phenomenal gameplay.

[@beagle626]

the fact that i know some of my friends bounced off armored core 6 early makes me very sad. it's so under appreciated. it's one of fromsoft's best games.

[@arthurrosensmith-gr5ji]

When publications say that it was a great year for gaming, I roll my eyes. Every year is a great year for gaming. No one person has played every video game, there is always something to go back to.

[@Exel3nce]

But this time it's more than true

[@ogto]

now THAT's a game of the fuckin year. they don't miss.

[@SheeshFr]

Don't think I've seen a vid of yours for about 5 years & miraculously, the alg recommended your channel today! What drew my eye was the Alan Wake cameo on the thumbnail but what REALLY made me click was seeing you made this video! Thanks for making content all these years! You deserve more than 200K subs but idiosyncrasies like this might be eluding to algorithmic love. Despite the numbers game -- I hope you're doing well and are happy in life!

[@Amuro1X]

I don't really agree with your sentiment at the beginning of the video, but I definitely agree that AC6 is Game of the Year.

[@RamblePak64]

I feel like last year was lauded as one of those "this will be a memorable year for gaming like 1998" as well, and while there were a lot of good games to come out, I don't really have that same feeling. Of course, for me, 2021 was THE first banger year in a long time, but only because I loved Resident Evil Village AND Metroid Dread enough to play through each half-a-dozen times in as many months. That doesn't happen often with games, and for me, the games I want to put time into like that from 2023 are Lies of P and Armored Core 6, which seem to be getting surprisingly snubbed in a lot of spaces. So it's possible that, for certain tastes, these supposedly huge years just aren't so huge. Still I played many games, and even if I didn't want to replay most of them six times in six months or less, they were quite enjoyable and I wouldn't mind returning to them at some point. Nice to see shout outs going out to games like Like a Dragon Gaiden, AC6, and while it's not my style, something like Humanity.

[@fluberchuberayy2479]

Has anyone else here had baulders gate not connect with them, I tried multiple times but it just doesn't work. I can appreciate it like I'm at art museum but interacting with it just doesn't click

[@Uhcip]

AC6 hasn't been talked about much by most channels I follow. Which is weird when its maybe the best mecha game i've ever played.

[@the_elder_gamer]

Finally someone shares a similar sentiment to my own. Related, the number of good/great games should always rise as the number of games that are released each year rises. As such, _every_ year _should_ be better than the last, but that hasn't been the case. The mainstream gaming industry gets worse, making room for bigger indie studios like Supergiant or Owlcat to see more success, which makes it harder for smaller developers to get noticed. This process will continue, smaller successful companies get bigger, have more financial pressures put upon them, then act more and more on the bottom line, and on the circus goes.

[@thegwynbleidd4202]

If what you mean by “mainstream gaming industry” is the yearly sports titles and crap products by a few big budget companies that attract the average gamer’s attention and lack of intellect, then yes, it is getting worse. This is however due to the consumers who keep buying those unfinished soulless garbage. There are, however, DOZENS of great AAA and Indie games that release every year that get overshadowed by the VERY few crappy products because gamers love negativity and the such. Additionally, 2023 was exceptionally filled with games that were innovative and told beautiful and unique stories using diverse formats, which is why it is considered as a great year.

[@Exel3nce]

What a weird way to see everything but you do you

[@LordSturm44]

Surprised by no mention of Hi-Fi Rush on your list (perhaps that one falls in the category of "games you missed while working through the entire Armored Core series earlier this year" that you mentioned) - definitely worth going back to check that one out if you did miss it, I think it'd be right up your alley!

[@WritingOnGames]

Played a fair bit of it when it released. Didn't do much for me at all

[@LordSturm44]

@@WritingOnGames Fair enough, different strokes for different folks I suppose. Really enjoyed your list and looking forward to more of your critiques in 2024!

[@Enbyous1313]

Thanks for recognizing Armored Core, I wasn’t a Mech fan in any shape or form, and AC6 changed that. It has passed every other fromsoft game for me (except bloodborne) so much so that I 100% the game on 2 different platforms, and am climbing the ranked PvP now

[@ThousandairesClub]

*Control is in my top 20 of greatest games ever made and I love that it basically revived the Alan Wake franchise 👌 Control 2 is going to be Incredible* 😍

[@oninomiru]

I agree on turn based combat. I love Larian games, but have yet to finish a single one of them. 1 act is all I can do before I get bored to tears with combat.

[@Exel3nce]

But that's a you problem tho. With such massive options, try to do something else. Even with some flaws, the combat is pretty sweet. Plus, with bg3, act 1 can be considered the weakest

[@joeykeilholz925]

Yeah the combat is nightmarish unless you want to learn dnd

[@Exel3nce]

@@joeykeilholz925 its pretty simple, especially cause its the 5th edition

[@vipulgupta4348]

LAD: Gaiden was one of my favorite game of the year that I actually played and finished.

[@megyskermike]

The way this title is based on your channel makes it seem like you're ranking the writing of these titles, the order of which would make me very angry 😂

[@huzi990]

A fellow Kurt Locker enjoyer!

[@ripdito]

the armored core 6 bit made me tear up because of how vindicated i felt😂

[@thealgerian3285]

14:25 Neh, people keep saying that, but I'm pretty sure they're just playing it wrong. Alan Wake's gameplay requires a cool head, good situational awareness and crowd control skills, and folks just never have or never use those. I've checked out some people playing it lately, because it's been a mystery for years how they can say the gameplay is bad. And that's what I observed, they just nervously and randomly shoot and/or run away.

[@WritingOnGames]

OK. The amount of people (including fans of the game) I've come across saying the gameplay isn't great *vastly* outnumbers the people passionately arguing that it is, in fact, good and that everyone else is just "playing it wrong." To be clear, I'm not saying you're wrong if you think it's good (that's fine!), I'm just saying that's a whole lot of people's experiences that you're saying you're pretty sure *are* wrong.

[@oldwaterbottle2872]

I’m sure there were a ton of amazing games this year, but I never actually played any of them because I was too busy on my 87th playthrough of the Resident Evil 4 Remake.

[@BobLazier-zk8gi]

Bro there wasn’t a game that came out this year that I wanted.. at all.. an I was one of them dudes that use to buy a game every month.. been a few years since I did that.. most of the games I’ve played in the last couple years have been older titles.

[@wojciechkowalik4949]

I loved every second of "Humanity". Such a refreshing game.

[@astreakaito5625]

Hey I watched your giant AC video several times over, it's that good.

[@telepathicfish1489]

hell yeah

[@aspacelex]

I reckon they should fire incompetent executives before actual developers with actual talents.

[@jbirzer]

I often have discussions with my kid about RPGs, and why she bounces off most of them. She finds them poorly paced and way too long for what they are. For BG3, she bounced off it almost instantly from the slow walk speed. I get her complaints.

[@mathieupr6391]

I will say. Despite loving From Soft, when AC6 was announced, I had no interest in it. Like not at all. Mission based games are not my thing, mech games are not my thing, and I never even heard the name before. Yet you are one of two channels that I watched that ended up going through the whole series, making a damn big video about it, and it piqued my interest. And the closer we got to release, the more I saw, and with your preview video, I decided "fuck it, out of the comfort zone we go I guess". And damn, there was no regret. Pre-ordered it, finished it, loved it, finished again, and a third time, and then went for the S ranks even though I had no intention to. And I'm still playing it now, all because my interest was piqued by that retrospective you did, so I'm glad to see it take your own GOTY spot when it was also clearly mine despite loving a bunch of games this year. And now I'm playing Ace Combat 7 because I remember that one video you did about it and Armored Core brought me to take interest in the other AC series. Down the rabbithole I go, and it's kinda your fault, so cheers to that!

[@aaron3157]

Crazy how I've been seeing Humanity on everyone's top list this year, while it having less than 1k reviews on Steam.

[@Exel3nce]

On everyone's? Very little mention it

[@teratoma.]

the correct answer was lies of p

[@WritingOnGames]

Played it for a bit, thought it was pretty decent. No urge to return to it though.

[@HK-07]

The devs should leave it to the real professionals

[@koolsnchu321]

It has the most nuanced and tightest soulslike combat to date, by far.

[@rd-um4sp]

I think the biggest accomplishment of BG3 is to reach this level of success *despite* the TBC. Most people don't like it and will be immediately turned off at any mention of it. And I would not be surprised to see some future games that "fail" because of TBC when trying to replicate BG3 success. And thanks for putting Humanity back on my radar. I had forgotten about it.

[@TheSkaOreo]

I feel like this gets at my current frustration with Baulder’s Gate 3. I think the storytelling and characterization is absolutely fantastic….but man I really don’t like playing the actual game.

[@Exel3nce]

Why is that

[@Aladelicous]

I thought it was an ok year.

[@ihaveasecret9539]

Everything about Baldur’s Gate 3 seems appealing except for the combat.

[@Kris-wo4pj]

I spent all of 2022 or 2021 idk which it was a blur. Trying to beat all of yakuza series. I beat 1-6 and judgement. Then i had to tap out half way through judgement lost and a 1/4 of the way thru like a dragon. 2's remake and 6 are my favorite. I played them all in release order 3-5 are terrible by the way those got a remaster. I now have 5 more games to go as of next month in order to say yes i beat all of the yakuza games. why did 3 games come out in 15 months of each other? Maybe i'll beat all of those in 2024. I dont recommend playing all those games in a row tho. I hated all the characters at the end. Thankfully i beat the uncharted games and domm 2016 in the same yr. My friend thought i lost my mind that yr maybe i did. Still i'll do it again should be easier with only 5 games this time around and not 10.

[@johnnychopsocky]

It's gonna be funny when Alan Wake 2 turns out to be a better Silent Hill than the Silent Hill 2 Remake.

[@HK-07]

ARMORED CORE 6 >>>>>>>>>>>>

[@Kris-wo4pj]

Vr has some just climbing games. All mountain climbing and all free handed havent found one as in depth as jusant for climbing lingo.

[@burythebellhop]

My only thought I have is that for someone who talks so much about narrative in games, to not enjoy turn-based games at all... it must be a hard existence for you. I'm so sorry.

[@danhectic5629]

Armored Core was my game this year (waited long enough!) B Gate, Alan Wake, RE4make, Zelda, Mario, SF6, FFXVI all have things about them that rub me the wrong way (B Gate is the one i'm probably most likely to try). i just got Spidey 2, but i'm pretty sure i won't end up liking it drastically more than the previous 2.

[@Exel3nce]

Just ignore spidey 2 and play those you mentioned

[@danhectic5629]

@@Exel3nce but Venom though! i've liked Venom since like 1991...

[@Exel3nce]

@@danhectic5629 who doesn't, but enough to play the same bloated game?

[@danhectic5629]

@@Exel3nce now you see why i got it for xmas & didn't buy it myself. i wanted some mindless cartoon fun! i was playing the Dreamcast version but kept getting owned & yelling so i quit. edit: i guess i didn't say "got it as a gift" in my original post

[@Exel3nce]

still tho, the time could have been used for other stuff^^@@danhectic5629

[@commeunchienenrage]

Yeah! HUMANITY!

[@night1952]

I really wanted to like BG3 and AW2 but combat in both games was extremely boring. AC6 is my GOTY by far.

[@irlshrek]

Just get to the games and save me the preachy corporate rant, thanks

[@WritingOnGames]

No

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

Only gamed I bought last year on release were Baldur's Gate 3 and Lies of P. Both were fantastic. Yet... I don't think them that much on my off time. Nothing lives rent free in my head. Only game that did so was Signalis, but that wasn't released this year... I dunno. So many games barely spoke to me. So many felt like good games with good gameplay, but very shallow narratives and writing. I play the game, enjoy every second and I put it down. I have grown to yearn games that make me think things. Preferably the narrative itself, the characters, trying to make sense of it. Even Baldur's Gate 3 IMO has poor and boring main narrative, as it was probably impossible to make one to fit all those choices and freedom... And that's not where the writing effort was put anyways.

[@HikarusVibrator]

Can someone please put a timestamp to the Starfield section so I don’t have to waste my time on the other contenders?

[@WritingOnGames]

0:00

[@HikarusVibrator]

@@WritingOnGames thanks!

[@NuStiuFrate]

I just don't get the praise for Humanity. It looks like a random steam puzzle game among the sea of random puzzle games.

[@WritingOnGames]

...it's not!

[@NuStiuFrate]

@@WritingOnGames Fair enough.

[@giancarlo5945]

Armored core 6 the real Goty the best story that has been told from software is incredible how memorable all the characters in armored core 6 are, each with a unique personality and extremely memorable dialogues, in addition to being an easy story to understand, you just have to pay attention to the dialogues, the people who saying that armored core 6 has no story is stupid or simply not paying attention because armored core 6 has one of the best narratives of the year by far for me the characters in armored core 6 are the most memorable characters in a from software game clearly the people who think that there is no story have never played games like Ace combat because armored core 6 tells its story in the same way with dialogues before the mission in the briefings and during and after it is a game with an incredible narrative and I only see very stupid criticizing an excellent narrative that fromsoft knows how to tell a great story without needing to imitate cinema

[@modernoverman]

I skipped the intro.

[@WritingOnGames]

cool

[@williamwolfe962]

IDK man, I can understand if you had trouble finding 5 games YOU loved enough to write about, but I think its pretty objective that this is an ALL TIME year for great games. the amount of 90/95+ rated games this year is crazy. When we look back at XXXX year when it was the greatest year before this, like take 2007, where it was the launch of the likes of Mass Effect, Uncharted, Cod 4, Assassins creed, portal, mario galaxy, halo 3... I dont like Mass Effect, I dont like Cod, I didnt like Halo 3 compared to halo 2, I dont like Mario Galaxy. But they are undeniably amazing games. I dont like Alan Wake, but I love Baldurs Gate, I didnt think Tears of the Kingdom was what I hoped after Breath of the Wild, but it was still incredible how the ultrahand worked. An individual might not resonate with every game at the top of the list, but the top of the list is huge this year.

[@WritingOnGames]

Not objective. I don't place much value on Metacritic scores.

[@Eval999]

Wish I liked AC6. So much weird filler, weird floaty controls, and a mech design system I wanted nothing to do with.

[@VictorIV0310]

Greetings

[@charliearblaster]

Hello there

[@t0mbst0neyt]

General Kenobi/The angel from my nightmare

[@erlilila6258]

Why hasn't anyone played Lies of P

[@WritingOnGames]

I did!

[@erlilila6258]

@@WritingOnGames and not even mentioned? Weird, but to each his own I guess. Good video

[@WritingOnGames]

​@@erlilila6258didn't really vibe with it unfortunately

[@christophertolliver8395]

I liked this list other than Alan wake 2. That game was boring as shit and they race swapped saga Anderson for no reason other than esg score. Putting it before baldurs gate 3 is crazy as hell.