YOUR Game of the Year 2023

[Tombstone]

Tonight is the Game Awards for 2023, so might as well open my annual YOUR GOTY thread today too. There's been some big games released this year, some real duds and some real corkers. 2023 has seen the releases of Hi-Fi Rush, Dead Space Remake, Hogwarts Legacy (that really came out this year?? Seems SO long ago) , Atomic Heart, Resident Evil 4 remake, The Last of Us, Darkest Dungeon 2, System Shock remake, Age of Wonders 4, Diablo 4, Aliens Dark Descent, Shadow Gambit, Remnant 2, Viewfinder, Ratchet and Clank, Baldurs Gate 3, Armored Core 6, Sea of Stars, Starfield, Payday 3, Lies of P, Assassins Creed Mirage, Cities 2, Alan Wake 2, Lords of the Fallen, Modern Warfare 3 and more. Surely something for everyone in there somewhere.

The rules are the same as every previous year and the same "Note" applies. For those who havent seen the previous yearly threads, here's the info again :

Please Note : The rules I use for this causes complaints whenever I do this, so I will state at the start here that these are the rules that I use myself when I am weighing up the years games to pick which game was my game of the year. Theres nothing to stop someone doing an alternative poll which doesnt use these rules, these are simply the rules that I use. As with previous years, if you feel that no PC game that you played this year is worthy of being your game of the year, it is allowed to say No Game/Nothing​

Here are the rules :​

#1 - Absolutely NO multiple game choices, ONE game, ONE game only...NO top 3's , no joint GOTY, no "honourable mentions" - ONE SINGLE GAME.​

#2 - Must have been FULL released between Jan 1st 2023 and Dec 31st 2023 (which means that yes, a game which was in Early Access pre-2023 but got its FULL release this year, IS allowed)​

#3 - No titles still in Early Access​

#4 - No DLCs - must be a main game release​

#5 - Must be a PC game​

​

#6 - If you somehow felt that you went 12 months without playing anything decent, it is allowed to say that no game at all was your best game of the year. (though maybe make a New Year Resolution to find a more rewarding hobby )​

​

​

GO !


2023 Running Tally -

42 - Baldurs Gate 3
16 - Nothing At All
14 - Starfield
9 - Hogwarts Legacy
6 - Alan Wake 2
4 - Counterstrike 2
4 - The Last of Us
3 - Talos Principle 2
3 - Avatar
3 - Jagged Alliance 3
3 - Resident Evil 4
3 - Remnant 2
2 - Dave the Diver
2 - Lies of P
2 - Armoured Core 6
2 - Diablo 4
2 - Street Fighter 6
2 - Forza
1 - Aliens Dark Descent
1 - Cocoon
1 - Blasphemous 2
1 - Returnal
1 - Risk of Rain Returns
1 - Lords of the Fallen
1 - F1 2023
1 - Cities Skyline 2
1 - Warhammer Rogue Trader
1 - Robocop Rogue City
1 - My Time at Sandrock
1 - Atomic Heart
1 - System Shock Remake
1 - Dredge
1 - Viewfinder
1 - Wartales
1 - Brotato

 

[Tombstone]

Ooh, it's a tough choice between two but I'm going with The Talos Principle II. Fantastic game. And for 20 notes, it felt like I was cheating on the devs.

It is a cracking puzzle game, I use it as a nice wind-down chillax title at the end of a days hectic gaming

 

[Tombstone]

Starfield doing very well amongst the Overclockers crowd, I dont think its going to do all that well at the games awards tonight but then thats the beauty of this yearly thread on OCUK, to see what titles I may have overlooked in the year based on OCUKs thinking

 

[Tombstone]

If there's one category BG3 is guaranteed to win at The Game Awards, it's 'Best RPG' - still, getting nominated isn't nothing - some solid competition in all categories this year but I think Larian's going to sweep most/all of what they've been nominated for - and good on them - BG3 was unquestionably a labour of love for them.

Larian definitely been the best studio this year imo, those presentation shows they did were superb

 

[Tombstone]

Stargate is the only game I've played this year that qualifies..... I ran out of steam with it around the 50hr mark.

Will be keen on this list for what games to pick up and play next year. BG3 and Hogwards are already on the list.

I didnt even know there was a Stargate game this year ! I must have missed that, 50 hours seems like a pretty good length too, what sort of game is it? I've always thought a Stargate RPG would be pretty cool, or an RTS for that matter


EDIT : Ahhh, I suspect you meant Starfield. Though having said that, searching Steam for Stargate came up with this https://store.steampowered.com/app/1523650/Stargate_Timekeepers/ , which does actually looks pretty promising ! So silver linings and all that

 

[Tombstone]

Decision Red Daze

Cant say that I've heard of it, looks like a genre I like though, however it also looks like it was released last year?

 

[Tombstone]

Only bought Jagged Alliance 3 and F1 Manager 23 that came out this year and out of those I'll give it to JA3 and looking forward to play it again.

I liked JA3, found it to be a big improvement over the previous JA title

 

[Tombstone]

Can I change my choice to Dave the Diver, fewer bugs than Starfield, less bestiality and sexual predatory than BG3.

Given how good Dave the Diver was, yes, yes you can

 

[Tombstone]

What you mean by previous JA title? There's not been a JA title since JA2 and don't think JA3 is as good as JA2 was.

I liked JA1 but didnt like JA2 but did like JA3

 

[Tombstone]

I don’t think I’ve purchased a game this year apart from Alan Wake 2 which is basically a walking simulator. Literally nothing has come out that is of any interest to me.

All games ive played this year are older games like hunt showdown and iracing.

I'll pop you down for Nothing At All then

 

[Tombstone]

Blasphemy problem with JA1 was that it was 100% turn based.

I love turn based !

 

[Tombstone]

it said MY game of the year, and i only bought it this year

Which is fine, it can be your game of the year but unfortunately it doesnt follow the rules ( Rule #2 - Must have been FULL released between Jan 1st 2023 and Dec 31st 2023 (which means that yes, a game which was in Early Access pre-2023 but got its FULL release this year, IS allowed ) , so I cant add it to this list.

 

[Tombstone]

Cocoon was the only game I played this year, I loved the soundtrack, it really helped immersion in the atmosphere of the game

I havent tried that but I've actually heard very good things about it, seen its nominated for a few awards this year too

 

[Tombstone]

I gave it my most innovative gameplay award at the Steam awards. It's definitely something to experience.

Its on Gamepass so I'll give that a go over the Christmas break

 

[Tombstone]

On PC my GOTY is Baldur's Gate 3. But my real GOTY across all platforms is Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

PC is THE gaming platform so only your PC GOTY counts

 

[Tombstone]

Vampire Survivors although it came out of early access late 2022 the game is awesome.

The console versions came out this year though.

Yeah went full release as the end of last year unfortunately

 

[Tombstone]

Always a little fuzzy on the release date rules with console ports, but if it's allowed, easily my number 1 for this year was Returnal.

If not allowed, it's very close, but I'd have to just pip RE4 Remake as the winner ahead of Armoured Core 6.

BG3 likely on my list to go through next year as I normally don't play that kind of game, but it's the only one that's really peaked my interest.

Yup, Returnal released this year on PC, was a cracking game too, I had a lot of fun with that in co-op earlier this year

 

[Tombstone]

It's still my GOTY because nothing better has come out. It stay my GOTY until something better comes

It is a great game, was my GOTY for 2022. Glad you've enjoyed it this year, obviously though I cant stick it on the list in the OP as it doesnt adhere to the rules.

I can also highly recommend the unrestricted co-op mod for it, its a gamechanger for multiplayer and of course we've got the DLC coming up yet too.

 

[Tombstone]

I've downloaded the SF6 demo, but yet to try it!

The beat-em-up genre is possibly the only genre I can think of, which I've never gelled with , I cant think of any beat-em-up (at least not in the traditional sense of the 1 character on each side of the screen sort of thing) in 4 decades of gaming that I've actually enjoyed. SF and Mortal Kombat certainly do have an avid userbase though and some of the death moves are quite the eyeball fest

 

[Tombstone]

Hurry up with 2024 already if Starfield is the second best thing we've had. I nominate The Day Before as they've simply tried to get away with a very low standard. Who can blame them if Starfield is now upper tier.

On the plus side, 2023 has got "Nothing at all" sat in 3rd at the moment, in the 2021 thread, Nothing at all came top and in the 2022 thread , Nothing at all came 2nd. So at least thats trending downward meaning that at least more people are finding SOMETHING that they liked this year compared to recent years