Filippo’s Top 5 Games of 2023

This year saw the release of many landmark titles. It also saw a declining interest in big AAA games from myself and several others. That’s not to say there weren’t any that I didn’t enjoy. There were a few that did keep my interest. But, by and large, the ones I did enjoy were just a small fraction of the ones released. My main focus has been on Doom modding and retro gaming.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

Tears of the Kingdom shows that Nintendo now seems to have a good grasp on the open-world Zelda formula. The problem is, for me at least, I could not get very far in it. The game doesn’t have much in the way of accessibility options, and that put a stop to me playing it after a while. While I did play it, though, I could certainly tell that I was playing a high-quality game. So, even though I couldn’t get far, I can certainly respect it.

4. AEW Fight Forever (Multiplatform)

All Elite Wrestling’s first video game outing proves to be a really fun arcade wrestling experience. From a production standpoint it doesn’t have the polish and flash of 2K’s WWE games, but what it does have is solid gameplay. The game has also received a steady feed of updates and new content, which is a good sign. Hopefully this continues and they keep building on the solid foundation they’ve established.

3. Horizon Chase 2 (Multiplatform)

The sequel to Horizon Chase Turbo, which several of us quite enjoyed takes what made the first one great and improves on it. Gone is the need to hunt for Fuel during your races, letting you focus on getting to the finish line in first place. Solid gameplay and controls along with a nice sense of speed show that the game has a good set of fundamentals. Meanwhile, Barry Leitch’s soundtrack provides the perfect backdrop to race to. There are few great arcade racers these days, and this is one of the best.

2. Forza Motorsport (PC, Xbox)

I’ve been a fan of Forza Motorsport since the original Xbox. I’ve played every entry in the series. When Turn 10 announced a sort of reboot for the franchise, I was a bit skeptical. What they delivered, though, was everything I’d hoped for. This new Forza Motorsport pares back the gimmicks and focuses on what made the series great in the first place. Most importantly for me, Turn 10 have gone out of their way to include a suite of accessibility options to make the game playable for just about anyone.

1. Baldur’s Gate 3 (Multiplatform)

There have been dozens of Dungeons & Dragons adaptations over the years. However we’ve gone a very long time since there was a good classic RPG released. Larian Studios showed they absolutely know what they’re doing, crafting a game that blends tabletop conventions with modern RPG mechanics. Plus, they put the ‘role’ in role-playing by giving you choices that are not always black and white. If you’ve been wanting to go back to a D&D game, or you’ve wanted to dive in for the first time, this is the game you want to get.

And that’s going to do it for me and 2023. Next year will likely see some interesting titles come out, but whether they will be for me, well, we’ll have to wait and see. How will Unicorn Overlord turn out? Will the Switch 2 come out in 2024? We don’t know, but it’ll certainly be worth following.