The 20 best games of 2023

Nintendo reinvented open-world games for the second time in a row. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes everything that worked in Breath of the Wild, throws it out, and evolves it. The Ultrahand ability allows you to create a vehicle from absolutely anything, and as you explore and grow, you become unstoppable. There’s nothing quite like looking down at a world you mastered as you fly over it in an airship decked out with multiple auto-locking weapons. Masterpiece. – Dave Aubrey

You could easily spend three hours just making your character in Baldur’s Gate 3. Hell, you don’t even reach the city the game is named after until you’ve sunk about 70 hours in. Size isn’t what makes a game good, of course, but that size reinforces the fantasy here – it makes it feel like you’re exploring a real, lived-in place. There’s a story in every corner of the world – every camp, flophouse, and tavern – and they’re all some of the best written in video games. Whether you’ve rigged up a balanced party with three friends or you’re roleplaying as a murderous sociopath, there’s something new to find every time you start fresh. – Kirk McKeand

You’d be hard-pressed to find a bad 2D-platforming Mario game, but Super Mario Bros. Wonder has an extra spark that makes it truly special. A revamped art style brought the new Flower Kingdom to life like never before, and the Wonder Flower mechanics made every level an exciting journey to see what was over the next horizon. – Ryan Woodrow

The conversation around Starfield moved on surprisingly quickly, but those first 20 hours, where it feels as if anything is possible, are some of the most magical moments in video games. From the city of New Atlantis to the high-tech streets of Neon, Starfield has some of the densest cities in video games. It’s Skyrim in space, but Skyrim is brilliant, which makes Starfield brilliant by default. – Kirk McKeand

Resident Evil 4 was already one of the best games ever made, even without this remake, but this is an absurdly brilliant way to play one of gaming’s all-time greats. Leon is a bit more serious and grounded, but the action-movie silliness hasn’t been lost for a second. When paired with DLC Separate Ways, RE4 remake is one of the best games in the entire series. – Dave Aubrey

When Nintendo was making Super Mario 64, the developers spent so much time making sure movement felt fun – even in an empty room. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 captures the same kinetic high – every swing, twist, and flourish injects dopamine straight into your brain stem, and before you know it, you’ve finished every mission, every side quest, and found every single collectible. – Kirk McKeand

The first Alan Wake was a decent action horror game, but Alan Wake 2 goes full survival horror. Like Control before it, it’s stylish and weird, filled with enemies who say things like, “You left the gas stove on, and the refrigerator door is jammed shut.” Somehow, that’s way creepier than someone threatening to rip your heart out of your chest. – Kirk McKeand

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the best RPGs ever made, and Phantom Liberty takes everything great about it and ramps it right up. You’re wrapped up in a spy thriller where everyone’s a snake, and you never know who to trust. It’s worth playing through twice because the final act is a completely different mission depending on what choices you make. – Kirk McKeand

Pikmin 4 feels like a simplified approach to classic Pikmin gameplay, but that’s only half true. If you’re just here to clear through the story and grab the essentials, then it’s an easy game. If you’re here to get a Platinum medal on all of the challenges, then Pikmin 4 is one of the most cerebral and intense entries in the series. Either way you play, Pikmin 4 is fantastic. – Dave Aubrey

2018’s Octopath Traveler was already a fantastic retro JRPG with a unique gimmick, and this sequel improved upon it in every way. The combat is refined to perfection, adding extra layers of strategy and difficulty to the major battles. The game’s eight stories are much more fleshed out and enjoyable, even doing what fans of the original wanted – a big finale story where it all comes together. It makes Octopath Traveler 2 an all-time great JRPG, without a doubt. – Ryan Woodrow

Jeppe Carlsen is known as the mind behind indie darlings Limbo and Inside, but he broke away from this tried and tested genre to create Cocoon. Unlike any puzzle game you have played before, Carlsen takes his classic wordless story-telling and blends it with mind-bending worlds-inside-worlds puzzle solving. It even adds in secret endings and super difficult meta puzzles á la Tunic to stretch the brains of even the most hardened puzzle fans. – Georgina Young

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a decent enough game, but it’s just a big MacGuffin hunt at its core, a quest to find A Big Thing that might give the empire yet another advantage over the struggling remnants of the Jedi order. I didn’t expect much different from Jedi Survivor, so I was pleasantly surprised when it hurled convention out the airlock at the end of the prologue and introduced a new idea. Cal is tired. His friends are tired. They want justice in the galaxy, but more than that, they want a place to call their own again, a quiet corner of space where they can live in peace and feel like they belong. Even the villain lost his faith in the Jedi Order after they stole his dreams of home away. Jedi Survivor is relatable and quietly thoughtful in a way that Star Wars’ melodramatic tales of high politics and magic swordfights usually aren’t. There’s plenty of that drama, sure, alongside much more refined world design and smarter combat. Jedi Survivor is still very much a Star Wars experience. It’s just one of the better ones in the last decade or so. – Josh Broadwell

As someone who dislikes both demons and algebra I didn’t expect to get on with Diablo IV, but it won me over through simple bloodlust. There is nothing wrong, Diablo IV suggests, with going to a cave and killing 500 giant spiders, simply to get a better sword, in order to kill 500 more giant spiders. Sure, it exploits the scarcity loop in my brain by bombarding me with incremental rewards that only deepen my addiction to killing giant spiders, but I might get an even better sword soon so it’s fine. – Griff Griffin  

Dredge sucks you in thanks to its small and cozy indie presentation, then you stay for what’s below deck. You drive your boat and go fishing, occasionally meeting Eldritch horrors by night. Crafting and grinding keep you there when you don’t feel like playing something too demanding. There are loads of mysteries, little puzzles, as well as weird and random encounters, with flashes of Citizen Sleeper and Animal Crossing that made me fall in love with the game. – Paolo Sirio

Plenty of games based on the Harry Potter movies have tried to recreate the magic of Hogwarts over the years with varying degrees of success, but Hogwarts Legacy blows them all out of the water. This beautiful open-world game captures the wizarding world in a fashion fans have dreamt about for years. Plus, the magical combat system has variety, encouraging you to use loads of different spells in each battle. – Ryan Woodrow

Assassin’s Creed Mirage delivered the tighter experience many fans of the franchise were craving, after the previous two mainline games, Odyssey and Valhalla, felt bloated and repetitive. It is a return to Assassin’s Creed’s signature stealth and assassination mechanics, coupled with one of the best combat systems in an AC game. The dense (and breathtaking) setting of 9th-century Baghdad brings excitement and fluidity back to AC's parkour, rounding out a great assassin fantasy that stays true to the series’ roots. – Stoyan Ovcharov

Yakuza 6 left us wanting more from Kazuma Kiryu, and while this isn’t technically Kazuma Kiryu, it’s still him in body and soul if not name. Our beloved protagonist is back and able to explore the large city of Kyo, make a life on your farm with Haruka, and pick up some tasty combat styles along the way. With some of the series’ funniest side stories, and the ability to wield a gun, this zany take is one of the series’ best games. – Georgina Young

Lies of P takes the tried and tested Bloodborne formula and adds a new twist, making it welcoming for players who aren’t as interested in the Soulsborne genre. Using the frankly disturbing fairytale of Pinocchio as the base for the story, it introduces a Lying System where the decisions you make decide whether Pinocchio moves toward humanity or remains a puppet. Excellent storytelling and a great twist on an already brilliant genre. – Georgina Young

Video games often try to take on difficult topics such as mental health, but most of them don’t do it gracefully. A Space for the Unbound does so with caring and compassion; a character-centric narrative that will leave you in tears – particularly by the game's particularly heartfelt ending. The whole game straddles the line between reality and the narrative inside your head, showing just how the two lines can blur. – Georgina Young

Final Fantasy 16 let me down at a few points – the story doesn’t feel as strong as the mainline Final Fantasy classics, and the battle system overhaul wasn’t perfect, but you can’t deny that Final Fantasy 16 has some of the best gaming moments of 2023. It’s a game of two halves because the story could be better and the barrage of side quests you get near the endgame kills the momentum, but when you’re in the middle of a main mission, going toe-to-toe with one of the game’s Eikons in battle, it’s genuinely incredible. The music swells, the visuals are stunning, and in those moments, Final Fantasy 16 shines. It’s a shame those moments aren’t a bit more common across the 60-hour story. – Dave Aubrey