The fact that Hi-Fi RUSH was just casually shadowdropped onto digital storefronts and instantly became one of the best games of the year is staggering It was one of those games that I didn’t have much hope for at first, but was absolutely *MESMERIZED* by how amazing it is when it finally clicked with me I genuinely hope we can get more games like this with the same amount of effort here, if not more, because Hi Fi RUSH is such an ingenious and incredible concept executed VERY well
It's crazy how instantly Hi-Fi Rush won people's hearts. Lemme remind y'all: this 30$ Shadowdrop OUTSOLD Forspoken, a 70$ game with a year of marketing behind it. One of my personal games of the year was Sea of Stars. Such a charming and enthralling throwback to the SNES era of JRPGs, with one of my favorite characters of the entire year, BEST BOY GARL!!!!!!
Honestly, sea of stars was a whirlwind of disappointment, when they went so far as to tout it as a spiritual successor to the likes of chrono trigger, and it was so shallow, with no room for exploration
@@CrasherX2000 nothing wrong with liking it, in the least. But can you blame a guy for being disappointed when it specifically compares itself to chrono trigger, and falls far short of it in every category?
Octopath traveler 2 is a game that met all my expectations for it despite Octopath 1 being my favourite game ever, despite it not being for everyone because it’s turned based and has random encounters and a host of other things, it still managed to hit everything I love about gaming perfectly so I can’t think of anything that could fit the top of my favourite games list, not only of 2023 but of all time, as Octopath traveler 2 could. I couldn’t hope more that an Octopath 3 is in the works, that alone would make my year whenever it comes out
I know few will remember it, but Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was just a wonderful return to complete games with a soul. Jet Set Radio 3 is actually coming out, but BRC treated me so, so well
2023 was so incredibly stacked for games that it felt like there was a new major release dropping every month. While TotK was by and large my GOTY, BG3 looks so impressive and ambitious that I could entirely respect it winning over it. And I do eventually plan on playing it, but it’s just uber hard to fit in a 100+-hour cRPG when you can’t play it portably (don’t have a Steam Deck) and limited free time.
It’s that time again, but for good reasons. 10: I tried previous entries in this series, but they never really grabbed me. This one did, and I can safely say that I’m looking forward to the next entry when it releases in 2033. 9: I haven’t played this one yet, but I really like games where you swim around with tolerable controls, so I may have to pick it up. 8: Here’s another one that passed me by, but I do wish I tried it out. The souls formula still isn’t my cup of tea, but you never know when something will click with you in just the right way. 7: I love that we can have a remake that is excellent in every way but doesn’t try and replace the original. I can go back and play either and have a great time with both, and that’s exactly what I want from a remake of one of the best horror games ever. 6: If you told me this would be Xbox’s best title of the year, I…probably would’ve believed you. I don’t own an Xbox Series yet so I haven’t played it, but I love the art style so much and rhythm games are my jam, so I know I’d love it if I played it. 5: Probably the most appropriately-titled game of the year. So many of the gimmicks used could be main mechanics for any other game, but this game makes one for EVERY LEVEL. That’s absolutely bonkers. 4: I love the way water looks in this game, especially with the camera perspective. Kinda wish I got around to this one, like thirty other games. 3: I literally just bought this game, so I can’t comment on it too much, but if the game is as insane as the performance at the Game Awards, I know I’ll be in for something special. 2: It was always going to go down between these two. I can’t overstate how much of a knockout this game is, even just from an engineering perspective. I put over seventy hours in before I beat it, but I feel like I barely scratched the surface. 1: It’s always wonderful when a game seemingly pops up out of nowhere and turns out to be incredible. The only reason I haven’t tried this one yet is because I’m terrified that I will start playing and never stop. The developers deserve all the credit in the world. The fact I can think of twenty other amazing games off the top of my head that didn’t make the list really goes to show how many awesome games came out this year. We should cherish lineups like this, because they only come around once in a very long while.
I feel like one game that gets forgotten a lot of the times in these lists is Pizza Tower. The game is a blast to play and was seen as a great return for Wariolandlikes, but it came out at the very beginning of the year and did not receive many updates afterwards, so not that many people think of it nowadays.
@@John-bj1zx pizza tower still has a lot of players sometimes cracking the 1000 mark occasionally on steam even though its been almost a year after its release with no big updates.
@@altermann1991 Steam is one singular market, and 1000 is barely even worth mentioning. As I said, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's nothing ground breaking or revolutionizing in any form, it's a 6/10 platformer and that's just fine. It doesn't have a place in games that are 8-10/10s.
@@John-bj1zx The fact that you think Pizza Tower is merely a 6/10 shows that you really don't know how good it is. Its at least 8/10, heck most review sites go even higher than that.
@@altermann1991 The fact you think 6/10 is some kind of "bad" thing shows you don't understand grading nor personal opinion. I don't care what some assinine review site says, 99% of them are paid off or just give scores based on their personal enjoyment, not quality. It's a 6/10 game to me and I don't care what you think of my personal opinion. It doesn't deserve to be in the 10 best games of 2023, it's nowhere near the level of any of these games.
Well another year coming to an end. 2023 did have it stinkers of games but the majority of them were pretty great. TOTK, Dead space remake, re4 remake, hifi rush, mario rpg remake, Spiderman 2, BG3, Dredge, Mario Wonder, amongst others really made this year great and im looking forward to whats coming next year. You all have a happy new year and see you in 2024.
It's a testament to how insanely good this year has been when this list is missing a bunch of amazing games I played this year and I can't object to anything here. Honestly, I'm hoping for 2024 to be a chiller year so I can play catch-up.
I didn’t play a lot this year, but my GOTY was Final Fantasy 16. Great overall experience with a story that truly touched my heart, and had a lot of fun throughout! The fact that it wasn’t on this list is truly a testament to how stacked this year has been 🙏🏾
I'll accept using Octopath Traveler II music in the intro. I would've loved to hear you talk about it, but this year was stacked so I totally understand. That being said, phenomenal video and I can't help but agree with pretty much all of it. Not big into Alan Wake or Dredge myself, but that is admittedly my aversion to horror games. I can't deny the quality. And yeah, Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate III are paragons of their genre!
I finally started Dave the Diver and, yeah. It's absolutely fantastic. The gameplay loop reminds me of 'just one more turn' of Civ or having a day/night routine like minecraft. Suddenly it's 4am.
For me my game of the year is Sanabi, it's a little indie game that I bought from reading one review "Katana Zero with a grappling hook" And it is that, but what ended up really hooking me was the story which by the end had me literally bawling. I didn't expect such an emotional story when I picked it up, but I wouldn't have it any other way
I feel as if, compared to other games that have come out this year, Pizza Tower is not as good as the other good games that have come out. Pizza Tower is more like Wario World, as a platformer.
@@thegamerside6736 Not really; Wario World is a much slower game with pretty clunky platforming and a focus on button mash combat. The moves in Pizza Tower are similar but the game is closer to Wario Land 4’s gameplay with the dash with a tinge of Sonic speed to keep edge and a combo to hold.
Hifi rush not being nominated for best direction nor GOTY genuinely made me mad as I haven't been in years. Sure, it wasn't going to win because the year was so stacked, but damn, how can you recognise the merit in 5 different areas and not in direction when the whole premise is making at least 4 of those work in harmony when that is a merit of the direction. Even then, 5 nominations in widely different areas and not considering it enough merit for a GOTY nomination is insanity. To me, the game of the year should always be one that points to the direction of progress in the media. Shadowdropping a genrepushing new IP that looks nothing like any of its contemporaries and execute its premise to near perfection at half the price is where I would love the industry to move into, so GOTY by a long long loooooong shot for me.
I spent 2023 clearing over 50 games from my backlog. The only new game I played was Fire Emblem Engage, & I can summarize my thoughts like this: trash story, generic characters (though I like a few), excessively nostalgic, & excellent gameplay.
I'm just happy he showed Octopath Traveler 2 when he was saying "So many great games..." I love Octopath and 2 was such a good evolution of the first, I hope they make the next with some more character chemistry or another new product entirely. I just love their work.
1.FF16 2.Spider-Man 2 3.RE4 Remake 4.Lords of the Fallen 5.Balder’s Gate 3 6.Tears of the Kingdom 7.Remnant 2 8.Sea of Stars 9.Lies of P 10.Alan Wake 2
Another solid video. Rabid Luigi you are very good at this here youtube thing. I am actually about to check out Dredge, I've never even heard of it. Thanks and happy new year
Lies of P, a soulslike, was something I would've never taken a risk on, but another youtuber known as Sunburned Albino praised it greatly, and the premise did seem interesting. I played it... and absolutely loved it. Which is something I didn't expect since Dark Souls and Elden Ring failed to keep my attention. I'll reconsider playing those now and give bloodborne a try now. But Lies of P will forever be first full, fun souls experience.
I think Octopath Traveler 2 deserves some recognition. It's such a huge improvement of a sequel to an already great game with a gorgeous soundtrack and amazing characters. The stories of each character also flow together much better and the classes have a more unique identity than before. That game was very special to me this year. Sea of Stars was also a fantastic Indie game that knocked it out of the park for me as well.
Almost half a year into playing bg3 and I’m only just around the end. I’m going straight back in to playing Durge after, I’ve never been this taken with a game. It’s not perfect but you can tell how much the devs cared and I hope they keep improving and adding to it for as long as possible.
This is rabbidluigi and with dungeons and dragons nearly at 50 years old at the time of writing this comment it’s all incredible wonder that an RPG rolls this well whether it be on the table top or on your digital table top. Just remember for every action you took there was another alternative path and an alternative path and so on and so on, so the real question is you’re doing what? may the dice be in your favor.
One I feel that got overlooked is Octopath 2. For many octopath 1 was fairly mid as a game with only a small number of the stories being that compelling and the actual main plot beng locked behind a sidequest with the main heroes getting little to no interaction within it,making their placement as main heroes seem arbitrary outside their stories. Octopath 2 not only has a lot more great stories (even the ones i don't think are my faves are at least solid and i HAVE to find reasons as to why i don't like them as much), but the game does a better job setting up its main plot and, most importantly, tying the main cast to it. And it has an AMAZING Final Boss. Pizza Tower is another great one I forgot even came out in 2023.
Between Hi-Fi Rush, Dead Space, Hogwarts Legacy, RE4, Jedi: Survivor, Tears of the Kingdom, Spider-Man 2, Baldur's Gate 3 and more.... we had a damn good year for gaming. Haven't felt this way since 2018.
Pretty solid video. Well done as always, dude! Though, I see a lack of angry Italian energy in this video. Let's fix that, shall we? "YA'LL READY TO GET FUNKY?!" You're probably never gonna hear the end of this one. I'm not sorry. Lol Pizza Tower deserves more love, and rightfully so as it's McPig's (Tour-de-Pizza's) debut indie game that got it's moment stolen by Coccoon during the Game Awards, much like Dredge. I mean, can you blame me for thinking that way? The game's really dang good! And that's coming from a guy who's never played the Warioland games! With an intentionally low grade Nickelodeon cartoon style mixed with fast-paced action platforming and a cast with so much personality it's actually scary, it's no wonder this game took the world by storm when it released earlier this year!
Glad to see someone acknowledge how good Lies of P really was. Most underrated game of the year. People are treating it as just another pretty all right soulslike in the vein of Code Vein (heh) or Nioh when it is by far the best pure soulslike ever made that wasn't made by From Software.
It's crazy because there are people who've played other souls games like MaximilianDood and Sunburned Albino who prefer lies of P to some fromsoft games. But playing it, I can understand why. I hope more people give it a chance
4:29 Boy, that would be a totally different game if that version of Pinnochio made it there. XD Happy New Year, Rabbidluigi. 😊🎊🎉 I can’t wait to see what’s up in store for 2024. 🎊
if you ask me, sonic adventure, sonic adventure 2: battle, and yoshi's story all deserve HD remakes. hell, even sonic '06 needs it; if only re-released with all the bugs and glitches removed.
Yooo play rogue trader, it was the cherry on top of all of the year's other releases. It is absolutely exceptional, especially as they actively balance and add content to the game. Imagine baldurs gate 3 but the combat is more like XCOM and it's set in warhammer 40,000, and the exploration outdoes ALL of the mass effects
While I personally prefer ToTK just because it improved upon my previous favorite game BoTW, BG3 is incredible and definitely deserves all the praise it gets. Honestly it’s just a blessing that this year was so good for gaming that someone could reasonably argue TotK wasn’t the best release
I would like to nominate an honourable mention: Bramble: The Mountain King. It's such a fantastic Norse Mythology-inspired Horror game that somehow managed to perfectly balance quiet and cute moments with SERIOUSLY fucked up and terrifying moments. The different creatures are all so unique and/or horrifying in their own ways and it's interesting to learn about them as someone not as well-versed in Norse Mythology (besides the obvious Thor, Loki and Odin etc). And any game with a final boss that has an epic rendition of "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" is an instant 10/10 stars for me. Admittedly though, I haven't played this game yet (or much games in general in the past few years), but just from other people's playthroughs, this game looks incredible and I REALLY want to play it! Hopefully, that will change in the New Year. Happy New Year, @rabbidluigi!! 🎆🎇🧨✨🎉🎊
Between the early release, trying to play through with friends who had beaten it, trying to play through with one friend irl, and then trying to play through it solo.. Yeah I'm completely burnt out on the game and never made it out of act one. It's the kind of game I can't stand alone, and I can't play with someone else who had also played
2023 is such a staggering year for Video Games that it honestly boggles the mind. While 2022 had a good few games that I'd call personal favourites on the whole, 2023 is basically just... all of that but more. So many standouts from every genre, to the extent that games not even on the list have their impact felt across other areas in the industry. The fact that smaller games like Hi-Fi Rush and Dredge can stare in the face of Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2, the fact that so many people have different GotY lists that are completely unrecognizable from the last. What an outstanding year, one to remember. That being said, what was mine? Well, I'm in the happy position to say I played a lot of games from TotK, to BG3, to Hi-Fi Rush, to Sea of Stars, to Lies of P, to Starfield and beyond. So many games. Hell, even the expansions from this year with RE4's Seperate Ways, Xenoblade 3's Future Redeemed and Cyberpunk's Phantom Liberty are good enough to reasonably make the list. That being said, I'll gladly take Hi-Fi Rush above all of them. It's such a rare treat to play a game that defies any and all expectations, but it's a rarer treat to be bestowed a game out of the blue that stands by itself at the very start of the year. The innovation to character-action games with rhythm game mechanics is so outstanding that it defies belief. The levels are distinct with great themes and music, the game throws new enemies at the player all the time while introducing them with good explanations mid-combat, the mechanics introduced flow seamlessly and add to a toolkit that feels like it has an infinitely high skill ceiling. More than that though, the animations and artstyle are confidently the best in the year, blending with the characters and tone to make easily the funniest game of the year. The story is basic but allows for great comedy through the character's personalities and how Vandeley is run. And those characters lead to, in my opinion, the best boss fights of the year without question. The licensed and original music blended with the distinct tones of the Heads of Departments just work so well. From Rekka's wrestling match using electricity, to the augmented reality budget fight against Zanzo, to Korsica's facedown, to Mimosa, Roquefort and Kale's one of a kind boss fights towards the finale of the game. It's such a rare treat to have a game feel like a perfect sequence of fun and heart-pumping moments. While Resident Evil 4, Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate 3 are all definitely contendors, I just cannot sing my praises of Hi-Fi Rush enough. This year was so excellent for gaming it's unreal.
rabbid! great video man. been watching your stuff since 2015, I always look forward to your end of year lists. Just something I've noticed the past few years, I think your videos have felt a bit different since around 2021. I think that your past countdown videos from years back (2016-2020) really stood out from the other youtubers doing similar things because of your incredible writing and storytelling within your countdowns and videos, and how you managed to invoke tension and an emotion whilst listing down your top 5s/10s on the interesting topics you do. your vids always had a nice 'flow' about them. but i feel your recent content feels a little different on the writing and editing side. this could also be the result of you removing your signature 'numbered' sections in your videos. your editing on those 5 second 'number 10' to 'number 1' spots that you used to highlight an honourable mention were pretty cool. i understand that those might mess with viewer retention, so thats fine. but other than that, remember when you added text on the bottom of the vid that highlighted the number and name of the game you were talking about? i really liked how you used that to build tension for us to guess what you were gonna put, say at the number 7 spot on your list, and then fade in the text at some point in your analysis (pretty sure you removed these 2021-ish). it gave your videos a nice structure, whereas now more often than not you just mention the name of the game right at the start, with no added editing or tension being built. i even remember when you used to interject the gameplay footage with you sitting on your couch and just giving a couple of one-liners on occasion. look back at your countdowns around 2017-2020, (especially the end of year lists) and i think your writing hit a peak in those years with how it ebbs and flows, and sometimes bleeds into the next game you talk about as you countdown. your vids were also a bit longer back then, and it was cool to get those extra few minutes each vid to hear you elaborate on your thoughts. those vids just ended up being really memorable, and your opinions and thoughts stuck with me personally. that's about it. just wanted to share this, there was a 'spark' in your older stuff that i think isn't quite there now. but don't mind my complaining, just an opinion, looking forward to what you make this coming year!
One of the best games I've played this year was "Chants of Senaar", a beautiful game about connection, set in an alternate version of the tower of Babel. It is amazing.
HiFi Rush is my Favorite Shadow Drop Xbox 1st Party Exclusive Game of the Year and Alan Wake 2 is a Beautiful MasterPiece and well deserved for the 13 years wait
I almost wish Rabbid did a Top 20 best games of 2023 or even a follow up of the other great games of 2023, like I would pick Dead Space Remake, Jedi Survivor as a couple on that list as an example, especially the glow up both games got in the patches and updates it got, still even with the bugs, both games shown to have a good game there, it's just getting past the weeds of things, being the technical problems, which there is.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the first game in years where I immediately started a new playthrough after my first one which took almost 70 hours to complete. I even had difficulty trying to figure out who I wanted on my team because I loved everyone so much I just wanted to bring the whole gang along. Bless Larian for this wonderful game
So, this is purely a personal take. I do not think it is a bad thing over-all, just a down note for me. I don’t like Baldur’s Gate’s gameplay. The turn-based hybrid real-time strategy system is simply just a bit too many turning cogs and spinning plates for me. I’d rather have a Skyrim-type situation. But again, that’s just me.
Baldur's Gate 3 is the best game ever made. Simple as. Its early access was better than most of the games released during its period. Its full release should be a national holiday.
it got exactly the recognition it deserved. It just just got outclassed by lots of other games. Its one of those rare years where an 8/10 game isn't good enough to make lists. 2024 needs to be quiet to play all the 2023 releases.
Hlo bro I recently bought a gaming laptop. My specification are:- AMD Ryzen 7 7840hs RTX 3050(6gb) 16gb ddr5(5600mhz) ram Windows 11 Plz tell me some good games which I can run on it.
It still suprises me BG3 is considered revolutionary. It's a great game but the last part of it just falls apart as if it wasn't play tested. Also, the fact everything is romancable just.... yeah I'd love a tad tighter difficulty on that, it shouldn't be as easy as it was.😅 but I'm someone who adored Planescape Torment so I like to reall sink my teeth in and BG3 while again good, just didn't give me enough to chew on. I'm glad it did for others though!
I'm sad that #CobaltCore didn't make the list ... favorite game from last year. 🚀 There should have been a whole bunch of honorable mentions between 2 and 1.
If I could play BG3, it would be my game of the year. Instead, that mantle goes to Cassette Beasts. Is is THE best monster catching rpg i've ever fucking played. The gameplay of it feels so fresh, adding a brand new spin and strategies that games like Pokemon desperately needs. The world is so interesting and unique, the soundtrack slaps, and the monster designs are actually fucking interesting unlike every other indie monster catching RPG. But the best part of the game are the boss fights. Without spoiling too much, all of the boss fights are done in a different animation style from the rest of the game and are a TREAT to behold! One of the main reasons I kept going was to see what crazy thing I was gonna have to fight next! Seriously, this game is so good. And I almost forgot to mention you can also fuse monsters as like a super form!
Should I buy it on the switch or are there any other games you would recommend first? I already have totk, mariokart 8 and smash bros as well as hollow knight and cuphead
There is one game that I’m disappointed but not surprised to not see on this list, and it’s one that changed my opinion of a company I previously disliked for the better: Honkai Star Rail. Say what you will about gacha games and Mihoyo/Hoyoverse in general(They certainly have plenty of things they can be rightfully criticized for), but Honkai Star Rail was probably my biggest surprise of the year because I did not expect it to be so genuinely good. Like, goddamn…I am genuinely impressed with what the Star Rail team has cooked up, to the point where I don’t even mind it taking up so much space on my iPad. Well done, Hoyo.
The fact that Hi-Fi RUSH was just casually shadowdropped onto digital storefronts and instantly became one of the best games of the year is staggering
It was one of those games that I didn’t have much hope for at first, but was absolutely *MESMERIZED* by how amazing it is when it finally clicked with me
I genuinely hope we can get more games like this with the same amount of effort here, if not more, because Hi Fi RUSH is such an ingenious and incredible concept executed VERY well
I sincerely hope you didn't forget to put the true best game of not only 2023 but also all time on here, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
That's a weird way to spell Grimace's Birthday on GBA, but okay...
That's on the worst list.
@@zeldadonkey1That is the only valid response to this comment
... *gags reading this*
Very funny dude.
It's crazy how instantly Hi-Fi Rush won people's hearts. Lemme remind y'all: this 30$ Shadowdrop OUTSOLD Forspoken, a 70$ game with a year of marketing behind it.
One of my personal games of the year was Sea of Stars. Such a charming and enthralling throwback to the SNES era of JRPGs, with one of my favorite characters of the entire year, BEST BOY GARL!!!!!!
Honestly, sea of stars was a whirlwind of disappointment, when they went so far as to tout it as a spiritual successor to the likes of chrono trigger, and it was so shallow, with no room for exploration
@@stevenn1940 I like Sea of Stars tho
@@CrasherX2000 nothing wrong with liking it, in the least. But can you blame a guy for being disappointed when it specifically compares itself to chrono trigger, and falls far short of it in every category?
Octopath traveler 2 is a game that met all my expectations for it despite Octopath 1 being my favourite game ever, despite it not being for everyone because it’s turned based and has random encounters and a host of other things, it still managed to hit everything I love about gaming perfectly so I can’t think of anything that could fit the top of my favourite games list, not only of 2023 but of all time, as Octopath traveler 2 could.
I couldn’t hope more that an Octopath 3 is in the works, that alone would make my year whenever it comes out
I know few will remember it, but Bomb Rush Cyberfunk was just a wonderful return to complete games with a soul. Jet Set Radio 3 is actually coming out, but BRC treated me so, so well
2023 was so incredibly stacked for games that it felt like there was a new major release dropping every month. While TotK was by and large my GOTY, BG3 looks so impressive and ambitious that I could entirely respect it winning over it. And I do eventually plan on playing it, but it’s just uber hard to fit in a 100+-hour cRPG when you can’t play it portably (don’t have a Steam Deck) and limited free time.
I love you for putting Partitio's banger of a theme song in the intro. Octopath Traveler II is my personal game of the year 2023.
Really,you think Triangle Strategy is the best game of the year.
That came out the previous year-@@TheBigGlober68
The fact Armored Core 6 wasn't on here is a testament to how great this year was
It and Hogwarts Legacy should have been in over Alan Wake 2.
@@ansemthetrueseekerofdarkne2730Hogwarts Legacy is insanely overrated. It’s a 7 at best
"You tend to remember the games that scare the poopie out of you." Now there's a quote
Opening with the Partitio theme. Cultured.
It’s that time again, but for good reasons.
10: I tried previous entries in this series, but they never really grabbed me. This one did, and I can safely say that I’m looking forward to the next entry when it releases in 2033.
9: I haven’t played this one yet, but I really like games where you swim around with tolerable controls, so I may have to pick it up.
8: Here’s another one that passed me by, but I do wish I tried it out. The souls formula still isn’t my cup of tea, but you never know when something will click with you in just the right way.
7: I love that we can have a remake that is excellent in every way but doesn’t try and replace the original. I can go back and play either and have a great time with both, and that’s exactly what I want from a remake of one of the best horror games ever.
6: If you told me this would be Xbox’s best title of the year, I…probably would’ve believed you. I don’t own an Xbox Series yet so I haven’t played it, but I love the art style so much and rhythm games are my jam, so I know I’d love it if I played it.
5: Probably the most appropriately-titled game of the year. So many of the gimmicks used could be main mechanics for any other game, but this game makes one for EVERY LEVEL. That’s absolutely bonkers.
4: I love the way water looks in this game, especially with the camera perspective. Kinda wish I got around to this one, like thirty other games.
3: I literally just bought this game, so I can’t comment on it too much, but if the game is as insane as the performance at the Game Awards, I know I’ll be in for something special.
2: It was always going to go down between these two. I can’t overstate how much of a knockout this game is, even just from an engineering perspective. I put over seventy hours in before I beat it, but I feel like I barely scratched the surface.
1: It’s always wonderful when a game seemingly pops up out of nowhere and turns out to be incredible. The only reason I haven’t tried this one yet is because I’m terrified that I will start playing and never stop. The developers deserve all the credit in the world.
The fact I can think of twenty other amazing games off the top of my head that didn’t make the list really goes to show how many awesome games came out this year. We should cherish lineups like this, because they only come around once in a very long while.
I feel like one game that gets forgotten a lot of the times in these lists is Pizza Tower. The game is a blast to play and was seen as a great return for Wariolandlikes, but it came out at the very beginning of the year and did not receive many updates afterwards, so not that many people think of it nowadays.
Not nearly as many people played or enjoyed it.
There's nothing wrong with Pizza Tower, but in a year like 2023 it wouldn't even be top 20.
@@John-bj1zx pizza tower still has a lot of players sometimes cracking the 1000 mark occasionally on steam even though its been almost a year after its release with no big updates.
@@altermann1991 Steam is one singular market, and 1000 is barely even worth mentioning.
As I said, there's nothing wrong with it, but it's nothing ground breaking or revolutionizing in any form, it's a 6/10 platformer and that's just fine.
It doesn't have a place in games that are 8-10/10s.
@@John-bj1zx The fact that you think Pizza Tower is merely a 6/10 shows that you really don't know how good it is. Its at least 8/10, heck most review sites go even higher than that.
@@altermann1991 The fact you think 6/10 is some kind of "bad" thing shows you don't understand grading nor personal opinion.
I don't care what some assinine review site says, 99% of them are paid off or just give scores based on their personal enjoyment, not quality.
It's a 6/10 game to me and I don't care what you think of my personal opinion.
It doesn't deserve to be in the 10 best games of 2023, it's nowhere near the level of any of these games.
Well another year coming to an end. 2023 did have it stinkers of games but the majority of them were pretty great. TOTK, Dead space remake, re4 remake, hifi rush, mario rpg remake, Spiderman 2, BG3, Dredge, Mario Wonder, amongst others really made this year great and im looking forward to whats coming next year. You all have a happy new year and see you in 2024.
Same here!
also Armored Core 6
@@McBehrerthank you no one talks about this masterpiece
It's a testament to how insanely good this year has been when this list is missing a bunch of amazing games I played this year and I can't object to anything here. Honestly, I'm hoping for 2024 to be a chiller year so I can play catch-up.
I think Armored Core 6 needed to be on the list somewhere, plus maybe Chants of Sennaar, but overall I agree with the list
The number one (I won't spoil it) you have is impressive graphically, but it can't compare to the processing power of Grimace's Birthday on GBA
I didn’t play a lot this year, but my GOTY was Final Fantasy 16. Great overall experience with a story that truly touched my heart, and had a lot of fun throughout!
The fact that it wasn’t on this list is truly a testament to how stacked this year has been 🙏🏾
I'll accept using Octopath Traveler II music in the intro. I would've loved to hear you talk about it, but this year was stacked so I totally understand.
That being said, phenomenal video and I can't help but agree with pretty much all of it. Not big into Alan Wake or Dredge myself, but that is admittedly my aversion to horror games. I can't deny the quality. And yeah, Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate III are paragons of their genre!
I finally started Dave the Diver and, yeah. It's absolutely fantastic. The gameplay loop reminds me of 'just one more turn' of Civ or having a day/night routine like minecraft. Suddenly it's 4am.
Happy New Year to you, funky man! Hope this leap year won't kick our asses too hard! (unlike last one....)
For me my game of the year is Sanabi, it's a little indie game that I bought from reading one review "Katana Zero with a grappling hook"
And it is that, but what ended up really hooking me was the story which by the end had me literally bawling.
I didn't expect such an emotional story when I picked it up, but I wouldn't have it any other way
That face on the thumbnail tho…
It’s absolutely perfect.
Disappointed at the lack of Pizza Tower but pretty solid pick set nonetheless
I feel as if, compared to other games that have come out this year, Pizza Tower is not as good as the other good games that have come out.
Pizza Tower is more like Wario World, as a platformer.
@@thegamerside6736It’s more so inspired by Wario Land, since Wario World was a 3D spin-off of those games.
@@thegamerside6736 Not really; Wario World is a much slower game with pretty clunky platforming and a focus on button mash combat. The moves in Pizza Tower are similar but the game is closer to Wario Land 4’s gameplay with the dash with a tinge of Sonic speed to keep edge and a combo to hold.
@@amirgarcia547 It wasn't though? Wario World is a 2D platformer that has basically almost all of the mechanics of Pizza Tower.
no, Wario World was 3D. It was one of Treasure's few 3D games.@@thegamerside6736
Hifi rush not being nominated for best direction nor GOTY genuinely made me mad as I haven't been in years. Sure, it wasn't going to win because the year was so stacked, but damn, how can you recognise the merit in 5 different areas and not in direction when the whole premise is making at least 4 of those work in harmony when that is a merit of the direction. Even then, 5 nominations in widely different areas and not considering it enough merit for a GOTY nomination is insanity.
To me, the game of the year should always be one that points to the direction of progress in the media. Shadowdropping a genrepushing new IP that looks nothing like any of its contemporaries and execute its premise to near perfection at half the price is where I would love the industry to move into, so GOTY by a long long loooooong shot for me.
I spent 2023 clearing over 50 games from my backlog. The only new game I played was Fire Emblem Engage, & I can summarize my thoughts like this: trash story, generic characters (though I like a few), excessively nostalgic, & excellent gameplay.
True that... t'was the best gameplay in the series, but the characters, story and design were all kinda whack
I'm just happy he showed Octopath Traveler 2 when he was saying "So many great games..." I love Octopath and 2 was such a good evolution of the first, I hope they make the next with some more character chemistry or another new product entirely. I just love their work.
1.FF16
2.Spider-Man 2
3.RE4 Remake
4.Lords of the Fallen
5.Balder’s Gate 3
6.Tears of the Kingdom
7.Remnant 2
8.Sea of Stars
9.Lies of P
10.Alan Wake 2
Another solid video. Rabid Luigi you are very good at this here youtube thing. I am actually about to check out Dredge, I've never even heard of it. Thanks and happy new year
Wasn't Hi-Fi Rush a shocker? At least there was something good to sell Game Pass to people.
😂Lol
BG3 for me as well. A truly remarkable game.
It's the best game ever made.
@@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor Not going to argue on that one. Played the early access as well, that was stupidly fun.
great top 10 list man ;)
Lies of P, a soulslike, was something I would've never taken a risk on, but another youtuber known as Sunburned Albino praised it greatly, and the premise did seem interesting.
I played it... and absolutely loved it. Which is something I didn't expect since Dark Souls and Elden Ring failed to keep my attention. I'll reconsider playing those now and give bloodborne a try now. But Lies of P will forever be first full, fun souls experience.
I think Octopath Traveler 2 deserves some recognition. It's such a huge improvement of a sequel to an already great game with a gorgeous soundtrack and amazing characters. The stories of each character also flow together much better and the classes have a more unique identity than before. That game was very special to me this year. Sea of Stars was also a fantastic Indie game that knocked it out of the park for me as well.
Almost half a year into playing bg3 and I’m only just around the end. I’m going straight back in to playing Durge after, I’ve never been this taken with a game. It’s not perfect but you can tell how much the devs cared and I hope they keep improving and adding to it for as long as possible.
I find the lack of Armored Core VI disturbing.
…
Jk amazing list, I am glad you had a blast this year and I hope you have an amazing 2024!
This is rabbidluigi and with dungeons and dragons nearly at 50 years old at the time of writing this comment it’s all incredible wonder that an RPG rolls this well whether it be on the table top or on your digital table top.
Just remember for every action you took there was another alternative path and an alternative path and so on and so on, so the real question is you’re doing what?
may the dice be in your favor.
3:02 Is that the Tutorial Prosecutor from the Ace Attorney games?
that’s what i was thinking.
It definitely is Payne
Yes.
Yes it is
@@rylade475WHICH ONE
One I feel that got overlooked is Octopath 2. For many octopath 1 was fairly mid as a game with only a small number of the stories being that compelling and the actual main plot beng locked behind a sidequest with the main heroes getting little to no interaction within it,making their placement as main heroes seem arbitrary outside their stories.
Octopath 2 not only has a lot more great stories (even the ones i don't think are my faves are at least solid and i HAVE to find reasons as to why i don't like them as much), but the game does a better job setting up its main plot and, most importantly, tying the main cast to it. And it has an AMAZING Final Boss.
Pizza Tower is another great one I forgot even came out in 2023.
Best 2023 list vid I’ve yet seen! Thank you!
Between Hi-Fi Rush, Dead Space, Hogwarts Legacy, RE4, Jedi: Survivor, Tears of the Kingdom, Spider-Man 2, Baldur's Gate 3 and more.... we had a damn good year for gaming. Haven't felt this way since 2018.
Pretty solid video. Well done as always, dude! Though, I see a lack of angry Italian energy in this video. Let's fix that, shall we?
"YA'LL READY TO GET FUNKY?!"
You're probably never gonna hear the end of this one. I'm not sorry. Lol
Pizza Tower deserves more love, and rightfully so as it's McPig's (Tour-de-Pizza's) debut indie game that got it's moment stolen by Coccoon during the Game Awards, much like Dredge. I mean, can you blame me for thinking that way? The game's really dang good! And that's coming from a guy who's never played the Warioland games! With an intentionally low grade Nickelodeon cartoon style mixed with fast-paced action platforming and a cast with so much personality it's actually scary, it's no wonder this game took the world by storm when it released earlier this year!
Glad to see someone acknowledge how good Lies of P really was. Most underrated game of the year. People are treating it as just another pretty all right soulslike in the vein of Code Vein (heh) or Nioh when it is by far the best pure soulslike ever made that wasn't made by From Software.
It's crazy because there are people who've played other souls games like MaximilianDood and Sunburned Albino who prefer lies of P to some fromsoft games. But playing it, I can understand why. I hope more people give it a chance
Damn was hoping you would have had Armored Core 6 somewhere on here lol.
I do think that speaks to the quality of this years games overall. Probably the best year in gaming we've had in... years
4:29 Boy, that would be a totally different game if that version of Pinnochio made it there. XD
Happy New Year, Rabbidluigi. 😊🎊🎉 I can’t wait to see what’s up in store for 2024. 🎊
Its hard to explain but your Pikmin character looks just how he should look
if you ask me, sonic adventure, sonic adventure 2: battle, and yoshi's story all deserve HD remakes. hell, even sonic '06 needs it; if only re-released with all the bugs and glitches removed.
Needs more Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.
My list:
1. System Shock Remake
...
I have yet to play any other games released in 2023.
Yooo play rogue trader, it was the cherry on top of all of the year's other releases. It is absolutely exceptional, especially as they actively balance and add content to the game. Imagine baldurs gate 3 but the combat is more like XCOM and it's set in warhammer 40,000, and the exploration outdoes ALL of the mass effects
The “Sam Lake/Hideo Kojima” comparison is not one I’ve heard before, but it in hindsight it makes a lot of sense.
While I personally prefer ToTK just because it improved upon my previous favorite game BoTW, BG3 is incredible and definitely deserves all the praise it gets. Honestly it’s just a blessing that this year was so good for gaming that someone could reasonably argue TotK wasn’t the best release
How dare you not put armored core 6 on here
RabbidLuigi almost single-handedly keeping the Alan Wake fandom alive.
I would like to nominate an honourable mention: Bramble: The Mountain King.
It's such a fantastic Norse Mythology-inspired Horror game that somehow managed to perfectly balance quiet and cute moments with SERIOUSLY fucked up and terrifying moments. The different creatures are all so unique and/or horrifying in their own ways and it's interesting to learn about them as someone not as well-versed in Norse Mythology (besides the obvious Thor, Loki and Odin etc).
And any game with a final boss that has an epic rendition of "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" is an instant 10/10 stars for me.
Admittedly though, I haven't played this game yet (or much games in general in the past few years), but just from other people's playthroughs, this game looks incredible and I REALLY want to play it! Hopefully, that will change in the New Year.
Happy New Year, @rabbidluigi!! 🎆🎇🧨✨🎉🎊
The best thing about Dredge is that the dog is immortal.
My no. 1 is Mechabellum, due to Men of War 2 got delayed to this year.
DeadSpace was cool too
Personal GotY: Armored Core 6
Why: got me into playing all of the AC series before playing AC6... i'm still doing that tho 😭
My top game was Armored Core 6 but I'm biased lol
Happy New Year. I love this list because it always tells me of games I wasn't even aware that they existed. Like number 9 and 4
Between the early release, trying to play through with friends who had beaten it, trying to play through with one friend irl, and then trying to play through it solo..
Yeah I'm completely burnt out on the game and never made it out of act one. It's the kind of game I can't stand alone, and I can't play with someone else who had also played
2023 is such a staggering year for Video Games that it honestly boggles the mind. While 2022 had a good few games that I'd call personal favourites on the whole, 2023 is basically just... all of that but more. So many standouts from every genre, to the extent that games not even on the list have their impact felt across other areas in the industry. The fact that smaller games like Hi-Fi Rush and Dredge can stare in the face of Baldur's Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2, the fact that so many people have different GotY lists that are completely unrecognizable from the last. What an outstanding year, one to remember.
That being said, what was mine?
Well, I'm in the happy position to say I played a lot of games from TotK, to BG3, to Hi-Fi Rush, to Sea of Stars, to Lies of P, to Starfield and beyond. So many games. Hell, even the expansions from this year with RE4's Seperate Ways, Xenoblade 3's Future Redeemed and Cyberpunk's Phantom Liberty are good enough to reasonably make the list.
That being said, I'll gladly take Hi-Fi Rush above all of them.
It's such a rare treat to play a game that defies any and all expectations, but it's a rarer treat to be bestowed a game out of the blue that stands by itself at the very start of the year. The innovation to character-action games with rhythm game mechanics is so outstanding that it defies belief. The levels are distinct with great themes and music, the game throws new enemies at the player all the time while introducing them with good explanations mid-combat, the mechanics introduced flow seamlessly and add to a toolkit that feels like it has an infinitely high skill ceiling.
More than that though, the animations and artstyle are confidently the best in the year, blending with the characters and tone to make easily the funniest game of the year. The story is basic but allows for great comedy through the character's personalities and how Vandeley is run. And those characters lead to, in my opinion, the best boss fights of the year without question. The licensed and original music blended with the distinct tones of the Heads of Departments just work so well. From Rekka's wrestling match using electricity, to the augmented reality budget fight against Zanzo, to Korsica's facedown, to Mimosa, Roquefort and Kale's one of a kind boss fights towards the finale of the game.
It's such a rare treat to have a game feel like a perfect sequence of fun and heart-pumping moments. While Resident Evil 4, Tears of the Kingdom and Baldur's Gate 3 are all definitely contendors, I just cannot sing my praises of Hi-Fi Rush enough. This year was so excellent for gaming it's unreal.
I would kill for another Pirate Zelda. Actually give us co-op Tetra in a big archipelago, dang it.
rabbid! great video man. been watching your stuff since 2015, I always look forward to your end of year lists. Just something I've noticed the past few years, I think your videos have felt a bit different since around 2021. I think that your past countdown videos from years back (2016-2020) really stood out from the other youtubers doing similar things because of your incredible writing and storytelling within your countdowns and videos, and how you managed to invoke tension and an emotion whilst listing down your top 5s/10s on the interesting topics you do. your vids always had a nice 'flow' about them. but i feel your recent content feels a little different on the writing and editing side.
this could also be the result of you removing your signature 'numbered' sections in your videos. your editing on those 5 second 'number 10' to 'number 1' spots that you used to highlight an honourable mention were pretty cool. i understand that those might mess with viewer retention, so thats fine. but other than that, remember when you added text on the bottom of the vid that highlighted the number and name of the game you were talking about? i really liked how you used that to build tension for us to guess what you were gonna put, say at the number 7 spot on your list, and then fade in the text at some point in your analysis (pretty sure you removed these 2021-ish). it gave your videos a nice structure, whereas now more often than not you just mention the name of the game right at the start, with no added editing or tension being built. i even remember when you used to interject the gameplay footage with you sitting on your couch and just giving a couple of one-liners on occasion. look back at your countdowns around 2017-2020, (especially the end of year lists) and i think your writing hit a peak in those years with how it ebbs and flows, and sometimes bleeds into the next game you talk about as you countdown. your vids were also a bit longer back then, and it was cool to get those extra few minutes each vid to hear you elaborate on your thoughts. those vids just ended up being really memorable, and your opinions and thoughts stuck with me personally.
that's about it. just wanted to share this, there was a 'spark' in your older stuff that i think isn't quite there now. but don't mind my complaining, just an opinion, looking forward to what you make this coming year!
Daaaaaave the Diver! CAN HE SWIM THERE?! Daaaaaave the Diver! YES HE CAN!!! I'm not sorry. 😂
One of the best games I've played this year was "Chants of Senaar", a beautiful game about connection, set in an alternate version of the tower of Babel. It is amazing.
( 3:56 Tiger was mostly not CGI in Life of Pi)
If you want pikmin 4 to be hard don’t use red potions. Cranks the difficulty dial up a lot
I love TotK and Zelda as a whole, but even my extremely biased viewpoint has to give the Crown of Karsus to BG3. It’s a masterpiece.
HiFi Rush is my Favorite Shadow Drop Xbox 1st Party Exclusive Game of the Year and Alan Wake 2 is a Beautiful MasterPiece and well deserved for the 13 years wait
Lies of P making it on here made me smile a shitting grin, masterclass game. A shame at no Armored Core 6 tho
I almost wish Rabbid did a Top 20 best games of 2023 or even a follow up of the other great games of 2023, like I would pick Dead Space Remake, Jedi Survivor as a couple on that list as an example, especially the glow up both games got in the patches and updates it got, still even with the bugs, both games shown to have a good game there, it's just getting past the weeds of things, being the technical problems, which there is.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the first game in years where I immediately started a new playthrough after my first one which took almost 70 hours to complete. I even had difficulty trying to figure out who I wanted on my team because I loved everyone so much I just wanted to bring the whole gang along. Bless Larian for this wonderful game
I find myself listening to the Hi-Fi RUSH soundtrack more often than anything else these days
So, this is purely a personal take. I do not think it is a bad thing over-all, just a down note for me. I don’t like Baldur’s Gate’s gameplay. The turn-based hybrid real-time strategy system is simply just a bit too many turning cogs and spinning plates for me. I’d rather have a Skyrim-type situation. But again, that’s just me.
BG3 is truly the peoples GOTY.👏
The lack of Pizza Tower or Pseudoregalia on this list makes me very sad.
No Mario RPG?
Numbers 2 and 1: Yeah, I saw the swap coming
Damn Pizza Tower can’t catch a break can it
Baldur's Gate 3 is the best game ever made. Simple as. Its early access was better than most of the games released during its period. Its full release should be a national holiday.
Spider-man did not get the recognition it deserved this year...
it got exactly the recognition it deserved. It just just got outclassed by lots of other games. Its one of those rare years where an 8/10 game isn't good enough to make lists. 2024 needs to be quiet to play all the 2023 releases.
Farewell 2023!
I believe you missed Octopath Traveler II.
Hlo bro I recently bought a gaming laptop.
My specification are:- AMD Ryzen 7 7840hs
RTX 3050(6gb)
16gb ddr5(5600mhz) ram
Windows 11
Plz tell me some good games which I can run on it.
Paradroid, Knight Lore, Elite and Space Rogue should all play just fine.
I dunno, seems weird without *The Wonderful 101: Remastered* .
It still suprises me BG3 is considered revolutionary. It's a great game but the last part of it just falls apart as if it wasn't play tested. Also, the fact everything is romancable just.... yeah I'd love a tad tighter difficulty on that, it shouldn't be as easy as it was.😅 but I'm someone who adored Planescape Torment so I like to reall sink my teeth in and BG3 while again good, just didn't give me enough to chew on. I'm glad it did for others though!
2023 was a banger year.
I'm sad that #CobaltCore didn't make the list ... favorite game from last year. 🚀
There should have been a whole bunch of honorable mentions between 2 and 1.
Maybe not number one but i missed sea of stars on this list
spiderman 2?
8:41 That moment when you realise that, discounting U Deluxe, Mario Maker *is* the only 2D Mario in the last ten years
Who wants to take bets on which of these will be on Switch 2?
totally forgot pikman 4 came out this year
You may want to reupload the video without Squeenix music given how they're so trigger happy with copyright strikes.
If I could play BG3, it would be my game of the year. Instead, that mantle goes to Cassette Beasts. Is is THE best monster catching rpg i've ever fucking played. The gameplay of it feels so fresh, adding a brand new spin and strategies that games like Pokemon desperately needs. The world is so interesting and unique, the soundtrack slaps, and the monster designs are actually fucking interesting unlike every other indie monster catching RPG.
But the best part of the game are the boss fights. Without spoiling too much, all of the boss fights are done in a different animation style from the rest of the game and are a TREAT to behold! One of the main reasons I kept going was to see what crazy thing I was gonna have to fight next! Seriously, this game is so good. And I almost forgot to mention you can also fuse monsters as like a super form!
Should I buy it on the switch or are there any other games you would recommend first? I already have totk, mariokart 8 and smash bros as well as hollow knight and cuphead
@@chargegarg8234 Cassette Beasts is only like 20 bucks, so i'd recommend it.
Cookie Cutter needs more Love....
There is one game that I’m disappointed but not surprised to not see on this list, and it’s one that changed my opinion of a company I previously disliked for the better: Honkai Star Rail. Say what you will about gacha games and Mihoyo/Hoyoverse in general(They certainly have plenty of things they can be rightfully criticized for), but Honkai Star Rail was probably my biggest surprise of the year because I did not expect it to be so genuinely good. Like, goddamn…I am genuinely impressed with what the Star Rail team has cooked up, to the point where I don’t even mind it taking up so much space on my iPad. Well done, Hoyo.
where is the list of the games mate
?
HAPPY NEW YEAR'S! 🍾
GAMES:
[ ] RE 4 REMAKE/DLC
[ ] DEAD SPACE REMAKE
[ ] HI-FI RUSH
[ ] RATCHET AND CLANK PC
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
[ ] PIZZA TOWER
[ ] PLANET OF LANA
[ ] COCOON
[ ] ACE ATTORNEY(1ST TIME PLAYING IT)
[ ] JUSANT
[ ] COOKIE CUTTER
DISAPPOINTED:
[ ] TLOU PART 1
[ ] JEDI:SURVIVOR
[ ] AC MIRAGE
[ ] STARFIELD
[ ] MW 3(WTF)
[ ] ALAN WALE 2
I think jedi survivor is good... on anything but grandmaster difficulty... and if it's not on pc...