2023 might be simultaneously one of the best and worst years in recent gaming memory. From fantastic releases packing 2023 with unforgettable experiences to record layoffs across the industry, it will certainly make an impression on all those who count gaming as their hobby - or career path.
While the MMO front felt quieter compared to the massive RPG and action-adventure releases we saw this year, it was by no means slow. Sure the heavy hitters like Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft didn't put out major expansions - that's for 2024 - we did see expansions come from many of the other major MMOs we love to play here. From Land of the Morning Light in Black Desert Online to The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom, June alone was stacked. We then saw EVE Online release two expansions alone in this 20th anniversary year, Viridian and Havoc, while Standing Stone Games put out expansions for both Dungeons & Dragons Online and The Lord of the Rings Online.
It was also a banner year for RPGs, with some of the best games in recent memory gracing digital shelves this calendar year. Final Fantasy XIV's team released Final Fantasy XVI, one of the best entries in the series since Final Fantasy X decades ago. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom made Breath of the Wild feel like a proof of concept, and Baldur's Gate 3 reminded us that CRPGs aren't dead - instead, they are alive and can thrive.
While we put out our Staff Picks for Game of the Year 2023 already, we thought it would be interesting to highlight the personal games we played this year and why we think they are among 2023's best. Nick wrote his up yesterday, giving the top MMORPG of the year honors to Albion Online; I'm taking a different format. Instead, I'm just going to give you the top 5 games I played this year in no particular order and why I feel they are worth your eyeballs.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The latest entry in the long-running legendary franchise reminded us all that the folks at Nintendo are technical wizards. Tears of the Kingdom takes the blueprint that Breath of the Wild so masterfully laid out, and then makes it feel like it was just a proof of concept. Adding two new areas to Hyrule: the sky and the Depths, it expands the world in meaningful ways. Additionally, the new Zonai devices add so much player agency to the experience, giving the feeling I had when I would sit on the carpet at a friend's house and build anything we wanted with his Kinex pieces.
I had a ton of fun not even playing the story but just putting together Zonai devices to see what I could build. From a rocket strapped to my Shielf to give me a boost or finding just the right balance of fans to the glider to keep it airborne, much of my fun in Tears of the Kingdom has been created on my own. Yet when getting down to the story of Princess Zelda's disappearance and the restoration of the Master Sword, not to mention the new evil that is threatening Hyrule, Tears of the Kingdom is nothing but fun. The fact that this is possible on the aging Switch hardware, a device that is now showing how desperately Nintendo needs to release a new console, is nothing short of incredible.
Black Desert: Land of the Morning Light
I really love Black Desert. I really do. But the monster grinding zones can be such a...what's the word...Grind. Yea, that's it.
So when we learned last year that The Land of the Morning Light, the expansion for Black Desert in 2023, would eschew its traditional formula, leaving the monster zones on the continent in favor of a more cinematic storytelling experience with incredible boss fights, I was immediately drawn in. And man, were these boss fights incredible, especially when taking them on at the various difficulty levels in the Black Shrine mode. The challenge kept me busy despite there not being the traditional monster zones to battle through as I explored the island.
It helps, too, that the expansion is steeped in the history and mythos of Joseon-era Korea, with every pixel oozing details that highlight and showcase Korean culture on a grand stage. The fears from the studio that this would not resonate with a Western audience were unfounded, thankfully, as players took to the new setting and region immediately.
The new story and exploration of some Korean myths and folklore that are just not as well known here in the West as maybe Chinese and Japanese culture were highlights. I loved playing through a boss story only to fall down a rabbit hole reading as much as I could online about the myth behind the Black Desert characters. It helps, too, that the actual Land of the Morning Light is one of the most beautiful regions the Pearl Abyss team has crafted, showcasing the landscape of Korea in a new light. It's a celebration of Korean culture on a global stage, and one the developers pulled off with aplomb, and it kept me coming back over and over again with new characters and will keep my attention as we head into 2024's Seoul expansion of the Land of the Morning Light.
EVE Online: Havoc
I wrote right after EVE Online's Havoc expansion came out that it certainly lived up to its name. As far as MMO experiences are concerned, those first few weeks of the Havoc expansion are the best time I've had in an MMO all year. The excitement of logging in, joining a random Angel Cartel fleet, and getting into steady and engaging brawls kept me hooked on the dopamine hits CCP Games were drip-feeding me here in the expansion. Some of my best moments in EVE Online were happening right during these first two weeks of Havoc, including getting my name on a killmail for the most expensive ship I've ever fought in the largest fleet battle I've ever been a part of.
I love the pirate fantasy in EVE Online. It's why I'm in a pirate corporation, Stay Frosty, and why when CCP Games announced during Fanfest 2023 that we could finally enlist with the pirate factions of New Eden, I immediately knew how my November was going to go. I was going to fight for the Angel Cartel, send some killmails and get myself in that new Khizriel hull (I have two now, pretty stoked), all while helping to sow chaos in Amarr and Minmatar space.
And if I got blown up along the way, that was just the cost of doing business.
Zarzakh has become my new home in EVE Online, the region fraught with danger and the chance of being ganked, especially when traveling in the gravity hazard, all to real. Yet I'm not sure I'd trade this new even more dangerous life in EVE for anything. I'm having more fun in the MMO than I've had in years - and certainly undocking more and more despite not wanting to lose my ship.
Havoc feels like it has energized EVE Online - and it certainly has energized me.
Final Fantasy XVI
I think one thing I've learned from playing Final Fantasy XVI is simply this: if you want incredible, show stopping boss battles in your RPG, hire MMO developers to make them. Final Fantasy XVI is, simply put, one of the best games I've played in the series. Its outrageously beautiful visuals are coupled with tight, responsive gameplay that drew me in from the first time I took up Clive's sword. The dark, grittier story told by the Creative Business Unit III team feels more down to earth, even in a world that counts giant magic-fueled Eikons among its population, and I think Yoshi-P's team really hit it out of the park during the whole run time.
Playing Clive's journey through multiple stages of his life, we aren't simply treated to a linear romp through one brief period in his life but rather are given a chance to see how his experiences, his loss, his grief, and his triumphs help to shape him into the man he becomes by the end. A stellar cast of characters surrounds him, whether they are fighting on the same side or not, with Cid being a particular favorite of mine - Ralph Ineson's portrayal is a treat.
Combat itself was fun - fast, fluid, impactful. It truly showed me that we don't need the turn-based combat the series made its bones with; instead, this new era of high-flying action combat, which was first teased with Noctis and crew in Final Fantasy XV and perfected by Clive, Jill, and gang in XVI feels right at home. And it works when you consider the set piece Kaiju-esque battles that frequently dominate the boss battles. They are thrilling in every definition of the word. I can close my eyes even months removed from my review playthrough and still see the gigantic outstretched arms of Titan, Ifrit looking minuscule as he races up them to deliver a devastating blow. Final Fantasy XVI is an experience that will stick with me for a long, long time.
Baldur's Gate 3
Look, I'll just get this out of the way from the first: Baldur's Gate 3 is the best game I've ever played. As someone who cut his teeth on early CRPGs in the late 90s/early 2000s, Baldur's Gate has always been a favorite of mine. Traveling with Jaheira, Minsc and Boo, Imoen and more filled up hours of my teenage years, and so when Larian announced right before the pandemic that it was working on Baldur's Gate 3, I was thrilled. Larian had proven itself to be masters of the turn-based RPG with its Divinity: Original Sin entries, and I could think of no better team to create the next installment in the legendary franchise than them.
Fast forward to 2023 and as I rolled credits on Baldur's Gate 3, I sat back in my chair and was just awestruck by what I had played. This was one of the most complex yet accessible CRPGs I'd ever put my hands on. The story it tells is one that starts off with the same urgency you and I might have if we had a tadpole slowly eating away our brains, yet it can branch off from there in literally thousands of directions, taking on a life of its own. Do you protect the Druids Grove, or slaughter them to get on the side of the Absolute? Or, do you instead stack fire barrels all around the Shattered Sanctum and Goblin Camp, setting off a chain reaction that decimates the entire cult before it can truly get off the ground?
It gets even better with friends as it starts to feel like a regular D&D game - just one that you're playing in a beautifully visualized world versus simply graph paper. It retains that table top feel while delivering a top-notch gaming experience.
The real magic of Baldur's Gate 3 is the level of player agency that Larian gives you, allowing you to practically do whatever you want and the developers have a response. It's a complicated game of Dungeons & Dragons; only the dungeon master is a Belgian studio that anticipates your every move. As I said in my review, Baldur's Gate 3 made me feel like I could do anything - and it's a feeling that has not gone away with every playthrough since.
EVE Online image via Katalya Myst. Used with permission.