2023 has been one of the best years for video game releases in recent memory. While coming into the year we knew we’d be getting highly-anticipated sequels with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, something that defined this year was the blistering pace of great game releases, seemingly every month.
The sheer breadth of games released this year means our list of 16 standout nominees includes all kinds of games, from new titles to remakes, from RPGs to restaurant-diving-sushi-sims. And so, as the year draws to a close, we’re excited to reveal our nominees for this year’s IGN Awards Best Game of 2023 — and be sure to check this space on Friday for the winner!
IGN’s Twenty Questions – Guess the game!
So many great games released in 2023 it was almost impossible to finish one before another was released. Resident Evil 4 came in March, followed by Tears of the Kingdom soon after, followed by Street Fighter 6 a few weeks after that, and so on. And then the avalanche came, including Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Spider-Man 2.
Despite all the critical acclaim, 2023 was also one of the most difficult for games industry workers as mass layoffs impacted over 6,000 employees, and we saw the loss of historic studios like Volition. If the highs were soaring, the lows hit rock bottom, and it’s important to acknowledge that some of the games you see on our list weren’t made without cost to the people who made them.
One studio that was impacted by the volatility of the games industry this year was CD Projekt Red, which was responsible for our first nominee.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
The story of CD Projekt Red’s ambitious sci-fi RPG is well-tread, but with the release of Phantom Liberty it’s hard to overstate just how far this well-liked – if undercooked at the time – RPG has come. Phantom Liberty — which can only be played with the free 2.0 gameplay update that overhauls much of the game’s mechanics and skill tree — feels like the purest distillation of what CD Projekt was trying to achieve with Cyberpunk 2077 three years ago. It’s a deeply immersive and cinematic RPG where players customize their very souls to make meaningful choices that permanently affect how they live – or die – in the dog-eat-dog world of Night City. It is also the first of two game nominees this year adapted from a classic tabletop RPG.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 came in like a wrecking ball, smashing apart everything we thought possible for a hardcore RPG. It’s authentic, tabletop role-playing at its finest, limited only by your imagination and whatever virtual dice number you roll. Prior to release Baldur’s Gate 3 looked like it might be one for enthusiasts only, but instead it was a critical and financial hit that took center stage in a year that includes both Zelda and Spider-Man. Larian Studios’ uncompromised vision gave millions of players the freedom to do whatever they wanted in Baldur’s Gate 3, whether that’s literally throwing party members directly at enemies, fighting a boss via the power of brawn or poetry, or even romancing a Mind Flayer. And if Baldur’s Gate 3 is unapologetically old-school, there are postmodern nominees like…
Alan Wake 2
It took 13 years for a sequel to Alan Wake, Remedy’s genre-bending action-thriller, to come out, but it was worth the wait. Billed as the studio’s first survival horror game, Remedy dove headfirst into the challenge of making a truly terrifying experience while still incorporating all the cinematic tricks it learned from games like Quantum Break and Control. The mix of live-action cinematics with best-in-class combat is a potent mixture, and the result is one of the best and scariest games of the year. Alan Wake 2 solidifies Remedy as one of the best developers at pushing the medium of games forward.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Speaking of pushing genres forward, when Nintendo announced it would be making a direct sequel to its 2017 mega hit, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, many wondered how it could top one of the greatest games of all time. As it turns out it wasn’t so much what Nintendo could do than what the player could imagine. Indeed, Tears of the Kingdom took Breath of the Wild’s creativity and freedom and dialed it up to 11, giving players a new set of tools that enabled them to create almost anything. Whether that’s building simple structures to hold up signs, to making weapons of mass destruction that rain down hellfire on unsuspecting Bokoblins, Tears of the Kingdom’s greatest achievement is taking Breath of the Wild’s genre-defining formula and creating a story-driven adventure that feels truly boundless. While many games can purport to be adventure games, none come close to Tears of the Kingdom’s freeform journey, with players free to craft and kit-bash the tools they need to rescue Zelda and save the kingdom however they please.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
While many expected the newest Zelda game to be Nintendo’s best offering this year, it had one more surprise for us with Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The newest 2D Mario game feels like it was made from a company that has finally acknowledged the innovations happening around it. Thanks to games like Celeste, Super Meat Boy, and Cuphead, the 2D platformer scene has never been better, and with Super Mario Bros. Wonder it feels like Nintendo is looking at these gems and saying, “I see you.” The level of ingenuity hidden in every level feels like the work of a dev team eager to show off its creative bonafides, and although a 2D platformer doesn’t get quite the same reception as a new 3D Mario game, Super Mario Wonder puts Nintendo’s mascot through his paces with levels that are explosively fun, creative, and challenging, and often all three at the same time.
Final Fantasy 16
Possibly spurred by the innovations happening at the offices of its neighbors in Kyoto, Final Fantasy 16 is Square Enix’s boldest reinvention of its flagship series yet, transitioning away from turn-based combat and opting for pure action. Created by the team behind the most successful Final Fantasy game ever, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, this newest entry in Square Enix’s long-running series is a classic throwback to the swords and sorcery era, with a healthy dash of Game of Thrones thrown in. While it may be a bit divisive for more traditionalist fans, Final Fantasy 16 is a proper blockbuster production and its epic boss battles will have you feeling like Millhouse after he entered his name in Bonestorm.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac’s first Marvel adaptation has the distinct pleasure of being one of the greatest superhero video games of all time, so what do you do for a sequel? Double-down of course. Not only are there two Spider-Men this time around, but everything is bigger than before including New York, which has three more boroughs added to its already larger-than-life Manhattan. Although the action has been cranked up, with some of the most spectacular bosses battles this generation, story remains the heart of the experience, exploring a Peter Parker we haven’t really seen yet, a proper mid-20s adult balancing his job, relationships, and mortgage, all while serving as a mentor to Miles Morales. Oh, and Venom is in it too, and everyone loves Venom.
Dave the Diver
Who needs Manhattan when you can explore the vast wide ocean? While the discourse of whether or not Dave the Diver is an indie game has been the focus in recent times, do not let it detract from what an incredible achievement this game is. MintRocket’s diving, fishing, sushi-restaurant-operating RPG multi-hyphenate is one of the most addictive games of the year, and finds a way to balance its myriad of systems into a robust and jam-packed game that rivals anything else on this list, pixelated art style be damned.
Hi-Fi Rush
Another of 2023’s unique, visual feasts was Hi-Fi Rush. In a year full of horror hits, Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks swerved with its colorful, rhythm action game. The vivid, Saturday morning cartoon art style belies a truly unique combat system where every move has to be timed to the beat of the music. Add in a great cast of characters and this surprise hit is a crown jewel in the Xbox Game Studios lineup this year.
These are just some of the incredible games that came out this year. Others shortlisted for IGN’s Game of the Year 2023 awards include two big-hitting sequels – Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and Street Fighter 6 – and two supreme, horror remakes in Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, not to mention the remaster of Metroid Prime. We also got arguably the best Souls-like not made by FromSoftware in Lies of P, as well as puzzle adventure game Cocoon.
These are the very best games of 2023, and every one deserves your attention. But which is your favorite? Vote in the poll above!
