Tears of the Kingdom without a doubt so far. Enjoyed every second of it.
Honorable mentions are Hi-Fi Rush, RE4 Remake, Diablo 4 - even Jedi Survivor (especially if it didn't run like shit).
And I fully expect Starfield, Spiderman 2, and Baldur's Gate 3 to give TOTK a run for its money. Honestly a great year for gaming despite some shitty PC ports.
100% TOTK
Has to be Street Fighter 6 for me but as a long time lover of the series I can't help but feel they delivered extremely hard on this one. But from a sheer "oh wow" point of view TotK is outrageous like man what a game. I just like clickity stickity action.
Tears of the Kingdom is in the running for my favorite game of all time... So I'm gonna say Tears of the Kingdom.
No Man's Sky. It had a really rough launch but the devs have put a lot of work into it these past few years and its pretty good now. Excellent game for just chilling, flying around and exploring.
I enjoyed NMS more and more each year. I wish I didn't instantly get migraines from VR headsets or I'd get a PSVR2 just for NMS.
I like NMS, but I'm not a fan of the gameplay loop. After a while I end up getting bored. For a game focused on exploration it feels like there's not much to explore when almost everything you find is the same.
Although TOTK doesn’t give me the same touch and vibe of BOTW, so far it is still my favorite game of the year… Looking up to Starfield in the second half of the yeat
TOTK for sure, but honorable mention: Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed. Yeah, it may just be DLC, but XC3 was easily my favorite game of 2022, and this extra content pulling together so much from literally a decade of story and games is awesome.
It’s like that feeling in Endgame where everyone shows up to help fight and you’re like, “Holy crap, they made it work!” They put all of this stuff together from all these different places and it works. That’s how I felt with XC3 and Future Redeemed.
TOTK
I haven't played many games that have came out this year, so Pizza Tower wins by default. I may pick up TotK sometime in the future if I can get it used or on sale, but for now I don't really intend on playing it, especially not at full price.
However, my favorite game that I've discovered this year has definitely been Ultrakill. Its the most fun FPS game I've played (not saying much, since most FPS games are pretty terrible nowadays, but still its a really good game).
Honkai Star Rail. It's kinda, uh, the default, since it's the only game that's released this year I've played lmao.
I was pleasantly surprised by HSR. I didn't expect much but it's been a good game to pick up. Once you're caught up on the storyline, the daily time commitment is pretty small so I'll probably continue it for a while.
Diablo 4 for me as well. I still have on my list the system shock remake (when they fix it) and I just haven’t had time for TOTK but when I do I expect to be engulfed. But for now I’m loving slaying demons with my ElectroWizard!
Contenders for me so far out of what I've played:
While I'm not done with it, I think Diablo 4 takes the crown so far due to the amount of time and enjoyment I've had with it, really well done game that even after the hype blew away my expectations.
I'm having a blast with diablo 4
System Shock remake. I've adored playing through it and, while it is certainly retro in design elements, it was engaging the whole way through.
Does it have to be a new game? If not, then Destiny 2’s newest dungeon, Ghosts of the Deep.
If yes, then how about the Lies of P demo. Next best thing to a Bloodborne 2 I’ve seen so far.
So far, I've had a ton of fun playing Hi-Fi Rush and Tears of the Kingdom. Looking forward to FF16 when it eventually gets a PC port, as I'm not buying a PS5 for just one game
Tons of great ones this year
Resident Evil 4 Remake was a real highlight for me, just a stellar way to revisit what I consider to be one of the best games of all time.
Haven't finished it, but Tears of the Kingdom seems like it's on its way to be a historically significant game and deserves the praise.
Jedi Survivor is a favorite for me. Really good review scores, but it ticks a lot of the right boxes for my personal taste and elevates it even higher. Technical issues aside, thought it was a far better game than Fallen Order.
Diablo 4 is also a lot of fun but I'm undecided as to how I feel about the endgame. As a campaign experience right up there though.
....soo much to play right now haha.
For me, weirdly, it's a tie between TotK and Street Fighter 6. Every time I sit at my couch, it's a coin toss of which one I'll be feeling. I've never been that into fighting games, but SF6 is really clicking with me. Then of course is the unbridled freedom and creativity of TotK. It's a tough choice.
I also need to download the FF16 demo. Heard it's amazing.
Yes! TOTK has been such a breath of fresh air and SF6 feels like Capcom is back to making SF2/3 caliber fighting games again. Loving both of them.
Humanity honestly. That game came out of nowhere and is so clever. The music is also banging.
You mean the one where you play as a dog and solve puzzles?
Yup! That’s the one. It’s so creative!
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin was released on Steam this year, so I guess that one. It has a ton of flaws, but even then, the combat just carries it. Compared to this and Nioh, Wo Long was a total disappointment for me.
I haven't actually played many games that were actually released this year.
@danielholt Tears of the Kingdom for sure. Starfield isn't out yet, but I think it'll be down to those two
It's hard to beat Tears of the Kingdom for me. That game is so damn amazing
I did play Red Dead Redemption 2 for the first time this year and that game was also mind blowing
100% TotK for me as well. It's been a long time since I was so invested in a game. Last one before this was probably Returnal in 2021. Kinda sad I finished TotK a few days ago! Back to the backlog on the Steamdeck i guess
2023 is gonna be great year for gamers!
Warhammer Boltgun and now that it’s finally playable and Steam deck verified, TLoU Part 1.
Game was a total mess at launch but has come on with all the patches.
Y'know for me I don't think I have played that many games this year, but this year I bought a PS5, and did some work on my PC and now I am really enjoying gaming again.
System Shock Remake
Wo Long Fallen Dynasty
FFXVI - judging by the prolog/demo
Hi-Fi Rush was so good that it sent me back to play through the Devil May Cry games for the first time. I had played DMC3 way back in the day but didn't really understand what I was doing, and HFR made it all make sense.
Street Fighter 6 has just supplanted Hi-Fi Rush, and I still need to play System Shock.
Dead Island 2! Followed by System Shock Remake and Diablo 4.
My guess will be FF16 but as of currently i cannot stop playing Street Fighter 6 and my girl Marisa
Does it have to be a new game? TOTK is fun but I have played too much botw to 100% it. Story and ending was a vast improvement from botw.
Been playing Hollow Knight, Noita, Skyward Sword Remaster, and Link’s Awakening Remaster. Also Metroid Prime Remaster and Metriod Dread is top tier
Replayed Hollow Knight recently myself. That game is so damn good. Can't wait for Silksong.
mother 4 (i am delulu)
Gotta be between God of War: Ragnarok and Resident Evil 4.
Currently mind blown by turbo overkill. Haven't had an single player FPS experience this engaging in ages.
Despite beating over 40 games this year, I still haven't purchased a game that released in 2023. I've just been clearing out my library, and playing free stuff.
Of the free stuff that's come out this year, my favorite has actually been The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, with Pineapple on Pizza being a close second.
Of the games I've beaten this year, Half-Life Alyx wasn't just the best, it's the best game I've ever played and the runner up isn't even close. Although if we're excluding VR, A Short Hike probably takes the cake for best I've played this year.
Still haven't gotten around to playing anything that released this year, but I'm sure Atelier Ryza 3 is great and I'm looking foward to playing it. Just need to play the 2nd game first.
TotK for sure. I'm expecting Armored Core 6 to be my answer for the second half of the year; FromSoft has just been consistently so good.
Toss-up between Street Fighter 6 and Diablo 4!
Both are excellent, really. No game is perfect but I've enjoyed my time with these two so far.
My ROG Ally arrived earlier this week as well, and I gotta say, being to play these games in handheld form ups the novelty a bit - leading to even more playtime.
I purchased it in november last year so it's technically not 2023 but I have to give it a mention because it's been receiving massive high quality updates ever since and it's one of my favorite games atm - Against the Storm. Really charming and well designed, stable without any major bugs, active communicative devs... It's an indie game done right.