Best Games I Played in 2023
Like every year I end up thinking that I haven’t played all that much before I actually compiled this list. I even cut a few games I liked but didn’t really have anything to say about them. Every week I get on a call with some friends and we play games. This year I played through all of Metal Gear Solid so I’m gonna talk about all of them in the order I played.
MGS 3
We started with MGS3 because we weren’t sure if I was gonna like Metal Gear, so it was suggested I play the Metal Gearest game. Funnily enough I think this might actually be the least Gear and a really hard introduction to MGS in general. I played the original version with the Isometric camera because I am a freak who needs historical context. In retrospect I probably shoulda played the version everyone says to play but I wouldn’t know that until I did it myself because I just don’t trust people’s opinions about mechanics and especially not mid-2000s internet nerds. I was astoundingly bad at this game, but I’m excited to come back to this at some point. The story is absurd in the best way. It really is trying to be a James Bond film but Kojima just can’t fucking help but give me a lecture about Guns of the Navaronne or Ennio Moricone. I’m surprised he didn’t talk about the Soviet invention of the concept of Montage, that woulda fit the themes of the game more than the Godzilla talk. Shoutouts to the icon Naked Snake and his special intrest, Guns. Also Snake Eater as a theme does just rip. It is the best bond theme by far.
Gunvalkyrie
Gunvalkrie is not a good video game. It is a bad video game. The movement system is fantastic though. An original Xbox game that was being developed before Halo came out so instead of using the right stick to turn, the game has tank controls and the right stick helps you aim on screen like it was a rail shooter. Fascinating thing by the Panzer Dragoon team. If Sega is gonna be bringing back their good old stuff, they should bring this back too for the sickos.
Gravity Rush
Gravity Rush is not a good video game. It is an ok video game. The movement system is fantastic though. Unlike Gunvalkyrie which is a good movment system trapped in a bad control scheme, Gravity Rush simply rules. They spent all their development time making the best movement system they could possibly make and then spent about 20 bucks to intentionally make a C- anime complete with a maid outfit OVA. The missions aren’t fun, the story isn’t all that interesting, the combat is not good. I haven’t played Gravity Rush 2 yet, but there is a very reasonable chance it it the single best video game of all time.
MGS 1
Now this is an introduction to Metal Gear, man this game is a compact, complete little story. The graphics look fantastic, the story is a fun 80s action movie. The structure of the island means you really get to know the space. The sneaking isn’t too difficult, it isn’t too punishing if you fail but it does feel like a wild scramble. My only complaint is that the first Sniper Wolf section was really really hard. Maybe I’m just bad at it, but I got legitimately upset at the game in a way that I almost never do. Besides that though, if I played this game at any point before the age of 18 I would have been the most obnoxious Metal Gear nerd known to man. Video games shouldn’t be allowed to be longer than this. Also shoutouts to Ace Icon Solid Snake and Ace Icon Psycho Mantis.
MGS 2
Coming into the Metal Gear Saga, I expected to like this one the most. It has all the markings of a Me game. It is the “weird” one of the series that has strange sometimes metafictional elements. It is the one that people liked the least at the time of coming out. I already liked Raiden and knew a bit of his story from having played Revengeance. So it is weird that I walked away from the end liking this one the least out the first four games. Don’t get me wrong, this is a really fun game that plays with ideas from Metal Gear Solid 1. It just never sparked joy that the other three really brought out. Shoutouts to Gamer Icon Raiden who grows into being his own person who plans to do something other than play games.
Electroplankton
These were just things that you could buy on the Nintendo DS Eshop at one point and that rules. A set of 10 little music toys on your DS. If you have a 3ds you should acquire these games. I love these lil guys, tremendous fun to just play with them for a few minutes.
MGS4
This is my favorite Metal Gear. I adore this game. Just a fundamentally disgusting Gear to Game ratio. An unsustainably high amount of Gear, they had to cut out Game to make more Gear. The last few hours are astounding. Shoutouts to Anti-Ageism Icon Old Snake.
Tears of the Kingdom
I didn’t find this as intensely charming as Breath of the Wild, it still felt good to be back in hyrule and doing the thing. They really need to stop being cowards and make a new 1080 Snowboarding. Link’s Shield Surfers is the only thing that would get me excited about Zelda in a real way.
Street Fighter 6
I have finally accepted that I don’t like New fighting games. I don’t mean modern, I mean games that have come out recently. I really enjoy the experience of diving into a game where the knowledge base is already set up a little bit. I love the experience of reading a google doc that gives me a breakdown of all the characters and all the systems. So I like SF6 fine enough, but it didn’t really click with me and it is only partly because they didn’t include a character with my precise needs because my brain refused to let me play JP. I literally held full conversations while grinding ranked with that dude and it did not affect my win rate.
Heaven’s Vault
I think this might be my Mom’s favorite game of the last however many years. I didn’t finish this one, I really do want to get around to it. Just a really compelling historical mystery with some really good mechanics. I’m shocked at how much the dialogue trees seem to react to your decisions in the past, what knowledge you’ve gained, what lies you’ve told to other people. Just a well made game that does exactly what it set out to do.
Citizen Sleeper DLC
Citizen Sleeper is still fantastic. I like the DLC less than the rest of the game. This is mostly because it positions the sleeper as a very important agent of change as opposed to someone trying to survive in a harsh system who happens to stumble into things they can’t walk away from. This is really small.
Killer7
Killer7 is not a game I found to be a pleasant time. I don’t think it coheres in any way that is satisfying. But it is an intensely strong aesthetic experience. There is nothing like it, and the parts I liked, I loved. Wish it stuck the landing, I don’t accept that the book explains things, cause like, I played the game and it didn’t tell me to read the book. A strong game.
Guilty Gear Strive Asuka Edition
My main complaint about Strive has been that they refuse to let projectiles be good. They have included exactly zero characters that get to put projectiles on the screen. If the move disappears when you are hit, it isn’t a projectile, it is a funny looking normal move. Asuka still has that issue but they did give me a character finally and I loved summoning Exodia. He has been nerfed now, but I really enjoyed just putting a historic amount of bullshit on the screen.
Armored Core 6
I turned on Armored Core 6, started the first mission, hit the dash button, paused the game, and sent a message to a friend about how this game was incredible. What a rush, you never feel better than dashing around in a big mech that feels like you’re drifting a frieght train.
Zachtronics Solitaire
Man I love solitaire. This is a good collection of good solitaire games. Fortune’s Favor is a devious game that I will someday get good at.
Street Fighter 6 Aki Edition
What I said about SF6 above was true, but they fucked up and gave me a character. Is she a strong character? No, but I get to throw a slow fireball and use wacky movement. Nothing better than grinding some weird setup that you are sure is really useful because you theorycrafted about how corner carry is really more important than damage in most scenarios. I love Big Ak, and I can’t wait for Capcom to fuck up and buff her.
Jusant
Of the two games about climbing that ape Moebius’ aesthetic wholesale, I like Sable more, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t really like Jusant. I’ve loved basically every game I’ve played about climbing or ascending recently and this is no different. I do think they are cowards in how little they let you fall but still, the rope mechanics are a lot of fun. They set out to make this small game and they made a really good thing.
Inertial Drift
This is a great twin stick racing game. The turning mechanics are that left stick is front wheels and you don’t turn that much using them. You gotta throw the back out to hit those corners baby. Every car feels different, enters drifts in different ways, and the Initial D car feels the best out of all of them while also being very hard to drive. If you like moving objects, man, Intertial Drift.
MGSV
Man this is so much game. The Gear to Game ratio is way off. They have a normal amount of gear stretched into a game that is 5 times the length of a normal MGS. I just don’t like open world games, and I don’t like long games at all. This game feels like a dry run for Death Stranding in a lotta ways. I still like the thing, but I was very much ready to be done by the end. Shoutouts to Lil Mantis, I love his redesign.