So 2023 is coming to an end and it has been a rollercoaster for the gaming community. This year has been exceptional, providing a constant stream of high-profile and critically acclaimed game releases. We have been treated to AAA blockbusters and other impressive concepts at their cores. It’s not every day that we get such a fantastic lineup of games for several months. In every genre, gaming companies came up with the best, introducing new gameplay mechanics, enhanced graphics, and better-than-ever storylines. All the major gaming franchises stepped up making 2023 a remarkable year for gamers around the globe.
It’s 26th December, and here we are with our year in review 2023, presenting you the best games of 2023. We will be showcasing the best and worst games released throughout the year, including both major hits and major disappointments. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and let’s dive right into the 2023 games review, with the ultimate recap, starting from January.
January – Dead Space (Remake)
Motive Studio did an excellent job with the Dead Space remake. They redesigned the spaceship, improved the story, and revamped the action scenes. Even though we saw the original 2008 game before, this remake surprised us. The dark hallways of the USG Ishimura pull gamers into Isaac’s story more than ever. The team at Motive Studios carefully balanced innovation with preserving the original, making it the best way to experience this classic survival horror shooter. All the gaming and entertainment platforms rate this remake high with a splendid 9/10 from IGN and Steam. The game came out on 27th January 2023 and you can buy it here.
February – Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter RPG we have always dreamed of playing. Its open-world adventure brings the Wizarding World to life with new characters, engaging combat, and a captivating Hogwarts student experience. Despite technical problems, a weak main story, and limited enemy variety, the enchanting magic of the game kept players hooked for many hours. This title received great reviews and took the gaming community by storm when it dropped. Released on February 10th, the Hogwarts Legacy is available for players to experience the world of magic, that is the reason it is in our 2023 games review! Haven’t tried it yet? Choose your platform here, and master wizardry like never before.
March – Resident Evil 4 (Remake)
Whether you are a longtime fan or a newcomer hungry for top-notch horror action, Resident Evil 4 is a no-brainer. The combat is smooth but intense, with a formidable lineup of creatures. The story takes you through diverse and intense action scenes, while the world is detailed, full of surprises, and often intense. The improvements from the original are numerous, covering everything from quality-of-life changes to revamped boss fight mechanics. Despite a slight dip in the merchant’s personality, Capcom has done an impressive job. Rated 10/10 on Steam, the RE4 remake is easily a good choice for all the diehard fans of the horror genre. Grab your copy from the official website here.
April – Dead Island 2, Star Wars Jedi Survivor
There are two picks for April on our 2023 games review, as both titles cannot be ignored. The first one is Dead Island 2, which offers a humorous satire set in Los Angeles, blending well-executed elements with a lack of new ideas in the zombie game genre. It feels like revisiting familiar territory without much innovation, especially when compared to Dying Light 2. Despite this, the game excels in comedy, allowing you to unleash brutal melee combat with unique weapons like Wolverine claws or a golf club. Playing with friends in co-op multiplayer adds to the enjoyment. While the crafting and skill upgrades might be somewhat generic, the strong writing and irreverent tone make the experience worthwhile. Buy it here.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Released in the same month, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor builds on the success of Fallen Order, elevating the experience with enhanced mobility, epic lightsaber battles, and a Jedi Knight’s mastery. Unlike starting from scratch, you control a seasoned Jedi with incredible abilities and engaging combat. The game introduces larger, diverse worlds with a rich narrative featuring familiar characters. While the story may be predictable, it remains enjoyable and emotional. Despite some launch performance issues, Survivor surpasses the original in virtually every aspect. A solid 9/10 from IGN tells us how amazing this title is, haven’t played it yet? Grab your copy now.
May – Lord of The Rings: Gollum
Our first major flop of the 2023 games review arrived in May 2023 with Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Rated 2/10 by GameSpot and around the same on other reviews, LOTR Gollum just did not live up to the expectations. The standout feature of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is its compelling story, supported by an impressive soundtrack. The dialogue moments between Gollum and Sméagol, navigating their internal conflict, offer interesting insights into the character’s moral struggle. However, the game falls short in execution, with distracting elements that detract from the story’s impact.
While the addition of new characters enriches the lore, the overall experience might have benefited from a more focused approach, perhaps as a point-and-click adventure. For hardcore fans, there’s enough lore to explore, but the average player may find the story weighed down by other game aspects. In simple terms, it appears to belong to the late PS3 and Xbox 360 era. Want to give it a try and prove everyone wrong? Buy it here!
June – Street Fighter VI, Diablo 4
Moving onto June for our 2023 games review, there are two titles again. Starting with Street Fighter VI, which is a special addition to the fighting game genre. The Drive System is an incredible addition to the fighting mechanics that give you a veritable Swiss Army knife of options and meter-management decisions right from the start of every single round, the starting roster is the best Street Fighter has ever seen, and its online net code through three betas has been impeccable so far, and the number of smaller details that it nails right out of the gate is unprecedented. It’s so good that even the poor story and extremely slow progression of the single-player World Tour amounts to only a job’s worth of damage on its metaphorical health bar. Whether you’re completely new to fighting games or are a seasoned vet, Street Fighter 6 is a must-play. Try it here!
Diablo 4
Diablo 4 is the next title for our 2023 games review for June. It stands out as a stunning sequel with a nearly flawless endgame and progression design, making it incredibly difficult to stop playing. While the story falls short (received some early criticism), it’s an improvement over Diablo 3, and there are some bugs to address. However, the impressive combat, engaging loot system, and the immersive world’s sights and sounds compensate for these issues and helped Diablo 4 make our list of best 2023 games review. It focuses on refining the series’ strengths rather than a major overhaul, resulting in one of the most polished ARPGs ever. Slicing through the legions of the damned in this massive sequel is undeniably a fantastic experience. Here’s the link to Diablo 4 for those who haven’t tried it yet.
July – Remnant 2
July was made splendid by Remnant 2 as it gets featured in our 2023 games review. This triumphant sequel not only reimagines the souls-like genre as a co-op looter-shooter but excels in nearly every aspect, addressing areas where the original fell short. With captivating combat, challenging boss fights, rich build crafting options, cool procedurally generated levels, and a clever multiversal concept offering diverse adventures, Remnant 2 is likely to be one of my most-played games this year. Regardless of which part of the multiverse you find yourself in, playing this gem is a favor well worth doing.
August – Baldur’s Gate 3 (GOTY)
August came with this year’s best title which received the Game of the Year Award. Baldur’s Gate 3 is easily our top pick for the best 2023 games review. 10/10 from all top platforms, Baldur’s Game 3 marks the best CRPG title. This title marks a pivotal moment in the genre, and if we had to pick a shining example for others to draw inspiration from, Baldur’s Gate 3 would be it.
After a 14-year wait, the game brings together a perfect blend of tactical RPG combat, a compelling story with intricate characters and meaningful choices, and a high level of polish and cinematic presentation. While other games have approached these elements individually, the last time they seamlessly combined was with Dragon Age: Origins in 2009. Baldur’s Gate 3 not only matches the RPG greatness of its predecessors but surpasses it. It’s pretty much everything I could have wished for in a CRPG.
September – Starfield, Counter-Strike 2, EAFC 24
September has three major releases for our 2023 games review and all three titles are well-loved in their genre. Starting with Starfield, the action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It went like a graph with too much hype in the early days but then all of a sudden the game’s popularity went down. It’s not the best sign when a game is recommended based on getting better after a dozen hours, but that’s the case with Starfield, and we do recommend it.
Despite challenges like disjointed space travel, lack of maps, frustrating inventory management, and a slow rollout of essential abilities, the joy of navigating a custom spaceship through morally ambiguous situations in a rich sci-fi universe saved it. Pushing through the early hours was worthwhile, as the interstellar mystery story pays off, and both on-foot and space combat improve over time. Experience the true space experience here.
Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2 is the latest and greatest addition of Valve to the competitive FPS shooter. It has a lot of changes in-game graphics, mechanics, and effects. For instance, the smoke grenade now acts differently to player interactions, and the colors and skins of the guns are greatly improved. CS2 delivers exciting matches with thrilling moments that can shift after a smart play or an impressive shot. For many, it closely resembles CS:GO with improvements, while some in the community may yearn for the familiarity of CS:GO. At present, CS2 stands as a solid iterative update to a proven formula, albeit lacking some fan-favorite elements. Haven’t checked it out yet? Download it for free on Steam!
EAFC 24
With a new name this time, EAFC 24 comes as the main soccer title of every year. Gone are the days of FIFA, but still, there are plenty of the same frustrations to handle. If you’re familiar with FIFA, the incremental improvements and lingering AI issues this year won’t come as a surprise. New mechanics like Evolutions demonstrate EA’s understanding of enhancing RPG elements, though currently confined to Ultimate Team with its associated microtransactions. Volta mode remains enjoyable with a full team of friends, thanks to its unique arenas. However, Career Modes continue to lack the attention they’ve needed for years, compounded by some poorly conceived RNG-based objectives this time around. Still, EAFC 24 makes it on our 2023 games review list of the year!
October – Alan Wake 2, Marvel Spiderman 2
In October, two contestants were both competing to win the title of Game of the Year in 2023. Starting with Remedy’s revival of class Alan Wake series! Alan Wake 2 labels it as a masterpiece, immersing players in psychological horror within the dark town of Bright Falls. The graphics are top-notch, featuring impressive ray-tracing and creating both terrifying and beautiful environments for a next-generation experience. In terms of gameplay, Alan Wake adopts a third-person perspective shooter, encouraging exploration, puzzle-solving, and matching clues. The only drawback is its demanding requirements for PC gamers. Whether due to optimization issues or following the trend of next-gen graphics, older GPUs may struggle to keep up with the game. Overall, we gave Alan Wake 2 a solid 9.5/10 as it was the top contender for the GOTY 2023. Grab your copy of this psychological thriller now!
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
The second one in our 2023 games review list is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2! As a sequel to a spectacular series, players experience both blessings and curses. The story, featuring two Spider-Men, is a delight for Spidey fans, bringing comic book pages to life with a perfect balance of light humor and deeper themes. Insomniac refines the successful combat and web-swinging formula without making major overhauls, keeping them comfortable yet slightly elevated with new tweaks and abilities. The area that needed more rethinking is the open world of New York City, which, although made bigger, doesn’t necessarily improve, offering an exhausting checklist of mostly repetitive side activities. Nevertheless, it stands as another thrilling Spider-Man adventure, delivering Insomniac’s best tale yet. Grab your PS5 exclusive now to dive into the Spidey universe.
November – COD MW III
Yet another Call of Duty Modern Warfare complex named title from Activision is a part of our 2023 games review list. It is the COD MW: III that came out with very unexpected system requirements. This game did not receive the feedback from the gaming community that it was hoping for as it included a whole lot of dependencies to run. On the positive side, the game offers solid performance and impressive visuals, providing players with a technically sound gaming experience. However, the drawbacks are notable, starting with an uninspired campaign and lackluster multiplayer modes. The progression system and customization options are messy, making it challenging for players to navigate and personalize their gaming experience effectively. Additionally, there is a noticeable absence of genuinely new content or activities, leaving the overall gameplay feeling somewhat stale and lacking innovation. Here’s the link to purchase the latest COD!
December – Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Winding up the year, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora made it to our 2023 games review list this month. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora offers a visually stunning alien world with a straightforward navigation approach. Players can explore, destroy enemy bases, complete Na’vi clan sidequests, and engage with exotic flora and fauna. However, the combat is somewhat one-dimensional, missions tend to be repetitive, and the environment lacks significant surprises. Overall, it’s a solid shooting adventure, but it falls short of being truly groundbreaking.
Verdict
According to the gamers out there, the year 2023 proved itself to be a splendid year for the gaming industry. From the standout Baldur’s Gate 3 sequel setting a new CRPG standard to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s visually stunning yet one-dimensional experience, each game brings a mix of strengths and weaknesses. Starfield overcomes initial challenges to shine as a compelling space exploration game, showing promise for future growth. Street Fighter 6 remains a benchmark for 2D fighting games, maintaining its must-play status. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 returns with an engaging narrative and refined gameplay, though its open world lacks innovation. These titles highlight the evolving gaming landscape, each contributing to the diverse tapestry of the gaming world.
Did we miss your favorite game? Comment down below to share your thoughts on this list!
Follow SpectrGaming on social media networks to stay updated on the latest gaming news and updates.