Scott McCrae's Top Ten Games of 2023
Hey, it’s me again. This is my actual job now, that’s wild. Y’know what else is wild, how much phenomenal shit came out in 2023.
I played a lot of games in 2023, I played Metroid Prime for the first time ever (then a remaster was announced like two weeks later), I finally finished Alan Wake after roughly four attempts (foreshadowing), and I played and reviewed a hell of a lot of video games that actually came out in 2023. In a year where the industry treated those that made them like absolute shit. The people who make the games we love have been on top form, and it’s wild to say that there are games I’ve given 5/5 to that don’t even crack the top 5 of my list.
I don’t actually have anything really introspective to say this year, so how about I tell you what my favourite games of 2023 are eh?
The “I Feel Bad Leaving Hi-Fi Rush Out Of My Top Ten” Award For The Game That Would Have Been Eighth Place If I Included Faithful Remakes: Super Mario RPG
The long title of this award has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the long title of this award. Super Mario RPG is a delightful game, it’s filled with charm and wonder (foreshadowing). It should technically be on this list but considering how faithful of a remake it is, I feel a little bad throwing it on there, even if it’s the first time I’ve played the game.
Nintendo is undoubtedly the MVP of 2023 and Super Mario RPG is just one of the big reasons why. I mean just look at Mallow! (Lex please include a picture of Mallow here)
Editor’s note: Sure thing Scott!
10. Hi-Fi Rush
By all accounts, Hi-Fi Rush should be my game of the year. As an avid rhythm game fan and Devil May Cry scholar, Hi-Fi Rush is honestly the coolest idea to come out of this year. It just didn’t fully execute for me for whatever reason. The cast is all great, there were some inspired music choices, and the core gimmick of battering folks to the beat of a song is fantastic. I just wish it was a little more in-depth as an action game.
However, this is the most refreshing game to come out of an Xbox first-party studio (and Bethesda) in a long time. If its success means Tango Gameworks gets to make even more cool games, count me in. Just please cast an actual Scottish person if you’re going to have a Scottish character, Korsica’s accent is pish.
9. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Hey if you don’t know me yet, I love intense action games. Armored Core VI is a surefire contender for the coolest game of the year. The power fantasy of building a mech with two rocket launchers and chainsaws for hands is unmatched.
However, it wouldn’t be a FromSoftware game if there wasn’t a discussion about difficulty. Armored Core VI is too easy and too hard. Basically, you can demolish every mission with little effort with the right build, but if you pick the wrong build, prepare for hell (my double chainsaw technique didn’t pan out as I’d hoped). When FromSoftware inevitably makes another entry, I’d love to see a bit more balance… at least in favour of chainsaw hands.
8. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
As someone who didn’t want Kiryu to return after the finale of Yakuza 6, and was terrified that his return would overshadow my beloved baby boy Ichiban Kasuga, Like a Dragon Gaiden sure did a hell of a job in making me want to see more Kiryu.
It speaks wonders that RGG Studio is at a point where it can make what is effectively the Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes to Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s Phantom Pain, and deliver on one of the best stories in the entire series. No one builds a hype finale like RGG Studio, those god damn dynamic boss fight intros get the blood pumping every single time. Except I wasn’t expecting to be crying by the end of the final cutscene.
7. Resident Evil 4
Speaking of things I didn’t want but was then proven wrong about. I didn’t want a Resident Evil 4 remake, the original still holds up and remaking it only stands to ruin it. At least that’s what I thought.
What we got, however, was another absolute banger from a Capcom that went from being rumoured to be up for sale at the start of the last generation, to heater very few publishers ever see. It can’t be overstated how phenomenal Capcom is and has been for the last six or seven years. Every single year it’s released a bonafide game of the year contender, even multiple in some years (FORESHADOWING).
Resident Evil 4 kept everything that made Resident Evil 4 good and built what may as well be a new game. I really enjoy the Capcom approach to remakes where it’s more of a reimagining than an actual remake (answering anyone's “how come Super Mario RPG wasn’t allowed” questions).
The camp, the amazing characters, and the brilliant level design were all transferred over to RE Engine, and the gunplay feels even better than in the original game. I don’t think it quite replaces the original version, but it just means we have two all-timers called Resident Evil 4
6. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
2D Mario has never quite been as good as the 3D games, but Super Mario Bros. Wonder is as close as it’s ever gotten. Everything I said about how charming Super Mario RPG was is amplified here. The animation on show here is some of the best I’ve ever seen from Nintendo. Especially when compared to the blandness of the New Super Mario Bros. series.
Thankfully, the gameplay is just as good. The levels in Super Mario Bros. Wonder are incredibly inventive thanks to the Wonder Seed mechanics. Going from some typical 2D Mario platforming to being serenaded by a troupe of Piranha Plants is one of my favourite gaming moments of 2023.
When your biggest complaint about a game is that you think it’s too short after 15 hours, you know you’ve got something good.
5. Pikmin 4
Pikmin 4 is too good to be true. Even if it is a tad too easy. After years and years of worrying about where Pikmin 4 was after it was “close to completion” half a decade ago, I wasn’t quite sure it would live up to the hype. But good lord Pikmin 4 is the best in the series, and the most charming game of 2023.
Editor’s note: I haven’t.
The core Pikmin gameplay of running about collecting items, and having your army of little plant guys slaughter some endemic wildlife is still as brilliant as ever. Plus, Pikmin 4 shines the most at correcting Pikmin 2’s mistakes by making the underground dungeons one of the most engaging parts of the entire game.
Meanwhile, Dandori challenges are the most refreshing shakeup to the Pikmin formula in a long time, turning it into a fast-paced puzzle game as you try to Dandori harder than everyone else. Plus I love the weird dog thing and the green homophobic dog thing.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
I always struggle to talk about the game that is so clearly the best game of the year from an objective standpoint. The same thing happened with Elden Ring last year. I don’t need to explain to you why Tears of the Kingdom is fantastic. It’s just so freeing, I love building dumb shit and flying around the world.
It definitely falls into the Super Mario Galaxy 2 place of “this is better than the first but the first was more impactful” I have no doubt this would probably top the list if it was the first.
3. Alan Wake 2
I’ve always loved Remedy in theory. I think it’s a phenomenal studio, but the games never really hit for me. I enjoyed the likes of Control and the original Alan Wake, but there’s always been something in the way. Alan Wake 2 is Remedy on another level. Everything that made those games so interesting and the parts of Remedy’s less popular were at least intriguing have coalesced into the ultimate Remedy game.
From minute one Alan Wake 2 is one of the most engaging games I’ve played in a long time. I’m well known for my feelings surrounding story-focused games, especially with the likes of PlayStation first-party games, but Alan Wake 2 pulls its cinematic stylings off because of the way storytelling is interwoven into the gameplay. The Mind Place and the Writers Room are two of the most interesting game mechanics I’ve seen in a long time. While the seamless, and often concurrent, blending of live-action cinematics and in-game storytelling works so well. Remedy puts so many other games to shame with what has to be around half the budget of something like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Also, I could write a whole section of this on how much I loved We Sing.
2. Pizza Tower
Pizza Tower is the best platformer I’ve played this year. It’s one of the best platformers I’ve ever played, period. Pizza Tower to me takes home the award for best Soundtrack, best Visuals, best Style, basically every single thing it sets out to do it absolutely nails.
As someone who has loved the Wario Land games for a long time and has been yearning for Nintendo to bring the series back, I don’t even think I need it anymore because of how phenomenal Pizza Tower is. Every single level in this game brings a brand new idea to the table, some of them you could probably even craft an entire game around and not be bored, only for Pizza Tower to keep moving.
That’s what makes Pizza Tower so special, it doesn’t stop moving. The ~~ Game Feel ~~ is phenomenal. Peppino Spaghetti feels so smooth to control for someone who hits like a monster truck built out of five other monster trucks. Hell, it’s probably the best Sonic the Hedgehog game ever made too.
1. Street Fighter 6
Street Fighter 6 is something special. Capcom has been on an absolute tear since 2017, with almost every single game it releases being a banger. Devil May Cry 5 topped my list (with Resi 2 in 2nd place) back in 2019, Monster Hunter Rise topped my list in 2021 (with Resi 8 coming in 6th) and now Street Fighter 6 is right here where it belongs at the top of my list.
Street Fighter 6 is a revolutionary fighting game. There’s an unprecedented amount of single-player content, and the tools new players to learn the ropes are among the best I’ve ever seen in a fighter, allowing more and more players to break into this extremely tough genre to get into.
But even without all of that, Street Fighter 6 is just a good ass fighting game. The Drive mechanics are a culmination of every single new mechanic Street Fighter has introduced since the parry in 3 and it makes matches so electrifying. You can go on about the “best moment” in a game all you like this year, with stuff like the aforementioned We Sing from Alan Wake 2 or like five moments from Mario Wonder. But the real best moment was any time I managed to hit a game-winning Spinning PileDriver as Zangief.
When fighting games are good they’re the fucking best, there's no feeling like it. Hitting something ridiculous to pull out a win is an unmatched feeling and Street Fighter 6 is at the top of the mountain when it comes to it.
