itsGoohi's Top 5 Games of 2023
It’s Goohi here! What’s up nerds, happy holidays. It’s that time of year again where I get to brain dump all my favorite deets about my favorite games and experiences this year. Hope you guys enjoy the read! If you want to check out my other content you can find me primarily on YouTube, where me and my team put out let’s plays, reviews, guides and funny moments. I don’t mean to brag but it’s probably the greatest channel in existence, and this is coming from an extremely humble person. I also stream on twitch on Mondays during big goof hours, so come say hi!
5. Atomic Heart
Atomic heart is listed here purely for being an extremely unique experience. It’s the only game on this list that is a brand-new IP and not a sequel.
The game sets itself up beautifully, creating excitement for diving into and exploring this futuristic world. Right away we are introduced to bright open landscapes that we then get to explore, solving puzzles, fighting robots and trying out a vast variety of weapons.
The story manages to keep things interesting, introducing twists and turns and captivating world lore. We get to meet over-the-top characters throughout our journey that bring a lot of charm to the game. The writing is well put together with a good mix of goofy and funny, sometimes teetering close to being cringe, but never quite crossing that threshold. I was, however, disappointed with a particular character in the game. To avoid spoilers, I will refer to the character as “The Appliance” (if you’ve played you know what I am talking about), which showed a lot of potential in the beginning to be an extremely memorable character but drops off heavy and abandons its, well, lust, seemingly out of nowhere. That’s the best description I can give without spoiling it, currently giggling like a child as I am writing this. There is a looming mystery introduced in the beginning that sticks around throughout the entire game. Thankfully the pacing is well executed, as you progress the story slowly resolves unanswered questions and steers away from becoming frustrating and confusing.
Can’t forget the gripes, because I am annoying and I always have gripes. Clipping was a huge issue and pain point for me throughout the entire game, especially in boss fights. The fight mechanics for most bosses were actually really great, which is hard to do for a single player FPS, but there were SO MANY little objects or debris on the ground that the character would clip to, usually in condensed smaller areas. I found myself dying to this the most, notably on a specific boss fight where I almost uninstalled the game due to being frustrated by this issue. There was no way a small piece of concrete sticking an inch out of the ground should have hit my big toe and completely stopped my character’s movement, leaving me hard stuck for a frustrating 30th of a second giving the enemy just enough time to obliterate my face. Aside from this, the combat is really fun and responsive.
When the game opens up to the main area and you’re able to explore the world with a bit more freedom is when things get really fun. There are optional puzzle rooms available to attempt that end up being quite challenging, and thankfully also quite rewarding. Loot goblins will be happy to know that there’s a plethora of resources to be looted, with quite arguably the most satisfying loot mechanic I’ve ever experienced. Couple that with several weapons and skills you can significantly upgrade, and you’ve got a fun, engaging and unique first-person shooter experience.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Spider man 2 is definitely the best Spider-man game ever made. It took years of different adaptations and dozens of games to get to this point. There are obvious similarities when comparing this game to the previous installment making this a great example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. With that being said – small improvements and additions to the combat, web-swinging and the games setting, paired with a fresh new story, brought us an exciting new superhero sim to enjoy. I’ve always said the Spider-man games have the most enjoyable travel system out of any game, web-swinging through New York city can make anyone forget that the game actually has fast travel. Insomniac’s first crack at Spider-man really captivated the feel of being the web slinging superhero, and somehow improved on it with the second game, which really blew my mind considering I didn’t think they could do any better. The web-wings and slingshot were the heavy hitters in these changes, with other small mechanics sprinkled in to be discovered as you play the game.
The combat is where I get a bit nitpicky due to the inconsistencies. For example – the addition of a parry was a great idea but the execution was mid at best. The animations of the parry were not nearly as cool as some of the finishers and combat animations, and the parry was unresponsive and clunky at times. They make up for this through the addition of skills and gadgets that add variety to the combat, unfortunately these are easily miss-able to those that streamlined the game and didn’t get a lot of side missions done. The best experience is definitely reserved to those that fully leveled up their Spidey’s.
The intertwined stories were a nice mix up from the regular Spidey-story, taking a page from GTA V and its use of multi-character storytelling. I have mixed feelings for the story on this particular game due to some of the story and side story being fantastic, emotionally driven pieces of lore and other points being bland and feeling like filler. Overall though it is a great cinematic experience and an awesome addition to the Spidey-verse.
3. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
I loved Jedi: Fallen Order, but like many was disappointed in the story falling just short of feeling complete, the gameplay feeling unpolished and the repetitive nature of the game’s settings, even though the planets were aesthetically pleasing. I don’t usually have high praise for EA when it comes to listening to their consumer base, but it seems they took a step in the right direction and addressed these issues with Survivor. They took everything great from the first game and expanded on it, while also fixing a lot of major issues with the story, gameplay and setting, making this a proper sequel.
Throughout the story we’re introduced to a variety of new characters, each one with unique and interesting personalities adding value to the lore and experience. They also bring back beloved characters from the first game and add to them with character development. The story is well paced, it’s got twists and turns and definitely kept me wanting to know more as I progressed through the game. The settings were vast and beautiful, they felt unique and the small puzzles found throughout the land incentivized exploration. It helps that the graphics and color pallets chosen were vibrant and very pleasing to look at. The combat, in a one-to-one comparison from the previous game, was greatly improved but still had its moments of “wonk”, providing an overall satisfying challenging experience. Performance was a huge downfall for this one, unfortunately the PC ports of this game were laughable and it’s ridiculous it even made it to stores at all. I played this game on PS5 and did not have nearly as many issues, but still noticed significant framerate drops in certain areas. I don’t currently know the state of the game for PC or Consoles at the time of writing this.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my playthrough of Jedi: Survivor, it’s one of those games I don’t feel was talked about enough this year.
2. Baldur's Gate 3
What is there to say about BG3 that hasn’t already been said. As someone who never played a Baldurs gate game prior to this one, and whose knowledge on D&D is limited at best, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. I would go as far as saying this is as close to perfect as we’ve ever come for an RPG.
This game shines with its ability to make you feel like you have total freedom, your choices feel significant and the relationships you build with other characters makes for unique dialogue. As far as I am aware, the game stays true to D&D lore, which I am sure is exciting for those who know it well, making it that much more immersive. BG3 not only hits it on the money for its existing fans but it also does a great job at welcoming new fans with its easy to learn mechanics and immersive story. Please note that just because the mechanics were easy to learn doesn’t mean that the game was easy, the gameplay still felt really challenging and difficult.
There is a ridiculous amount of detail in this game, every corner you turn is something new to discover and someone new to interact with, making the world feel truly alive. The graphics don’t fall short even though it’s a stylized game, and the worlds you travel through all feel unique and exciting to explore. Each character has a questline to follow and a unique set of skills to build on, and each playthrough can lead you to new discoveries (not that I felt the need for a new playthrough since I am still discovering things on my first go at it). The longevity, immersiveness, fun strategic combat and world discovery make this one hell of an RPG.
But of course, with all of the wonderful things to be said there are some drawbacks. The game is really buggy, random interactions will be broken for no reason or combat will get hard stuck because it doesn’t recognize a dead character. A hard lesson for me to learn was to save, save, save.
1. Alan Wake II
This game took me by surprise, it grabbed me by my face and shoved me into drywall. It’s one of those that truly stands out and creates core memories through its unique scenarios and story-telling techniques. It has been 13 years since the release of the first Alan Wake, so it should go without mentioning that the graphics have been vastly updated (and look fantastic) but the voice acting, storytelling and mechanics were also improved upon and made to feel fresh.
The combat is pretty much the same throughout the entire game, other than getting a new weapon every now and then it doesn’t do much as far as upgrades or new mechanics go. This would normally feel repetitive and stale, but the item management and survival aspects of the game keep you on your toes. It also helps that each episode introduces unique puzzles, fights and story bits, mostly ending in “OH SH*T” moments or cliffhangers.
I cannot stress enough how unique this game is. Along with the horror aspects, it sprinkles in charming characters, goofy or funny moments, high production live action scenes, and an extremely engaging story. The game centers around two settings, both beautifully lit and designed, giving you the perfect amount of exploration while also keeping a tailored experience (which is often lost in open world games). Optional puzzles were rewarding and gave the game a longer lifespan but they didn’t seem overwhelming or required. The game’s biggest downside was its performance, unfortunately. I played this game on PC and had several crashes; framerate drops and audio cut-out issues.
I know a lot of people who didn’t play through Alan Wake 2 will question its standing as one of the nominees for GOTY, but in my eyes it more than deserves that spot.
BONUS GAME: Dead Island 2
Dead Island 2 is not revolutionary. It doesn’t break any boundaries or create any sort of mind-blowing story, and yet it managed to have me smiling from ear to ear while having an absolute blast. At the risk of making absolutely no sense at all, this is very much a video gamey video game. One of those that lets you shut your brain off and just enjoy it for what it is.
The graphics and settings are where this game really shined, giving us detailed worlds and areas that were really fun to explore. The combat was simple yet effective, dynamically changing through the addition of new skills as you level and with its weapon variety. Different combat animations for different weapons really nailed the feel of each one, making weapon choice truly impactful and fun to discover.
The zombies on the receiving end of the can of whoop-ass had awesome gory physics, making it satisfying to find different ways to mow them down. With all of that being said, enemy types were limited, fighting big zombie or small zombie was pretty much the gist of it, but the repetitive nature of the game gets overshadowed by the excitement of exploring the maps and discovering new areas and weapons to try out. On top of that, I personally really enjoyed the setting-based storytelling techniques they used throughout the game. For example, walking into a hotel room and finding a note that reads “end of the world party”, then exploring the room and seeing the remains of the rager, cups, alcohol, pool toys, messed up room, etc. The main story (and side quests) didn’t take itself too seriously, it was over the top and satirical giving us memorable aha moments. Each character brought their own crazy personality to life through the game’s great writing and voice acting.
This is just a fun, short game packed with a lot to discover, laugh at and enjoy.