Another Soulslike found a spot on my list this year and for good reason. Team Ninja’s Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty was one of my most-played Soulslikes before Lies of P released thanks to its deep mechanics and fascinating world. Ancient China isn’t a setting we see too often in video games, so it was refreshing to see historical figures like the general Sun Ce and the warlord Liu Bei outside of a Musou game. More specifically, it was enrapturing seeing these iconic luminaries contextualized in a narrative about obtaining ultimate power by only the darkest and most brutal of means. And as the gripping story progressed, becoming more macabre as its characters grew more desperate, the environment changed in response. This ratcheting up of stakes got me hooked, with its many plot twists leaving me absolutely shook as this character died and that character turned out to be evil. It was all so unpredictable, making for an engrossing story with characters who had intimate knowledge of each other’s past. That’s what I loved most about Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty; the interaction between the characters and the world they live in.
Read More: Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty: The Kotaku Review
And there you have it, my top 10 games of 2023. I played hella games throughout the year, and while many of them will stick with me for years to come, none have had as much of an impact as the above did. 2024 is shaping up to be an interesting year for games, though, so I’m stoked to see what the next 12 months have in store for us. Hopefully, the industry won’t recoil and consolidate any more than it already has, but I’m really not holding my breath.
What were your top games of 2023? Let me know in the comments.
