Starter Quest: Alessandro's Top 10 Games of 2023
Hello all you lovely sailors on the Offshore Gamescast!
Alessandro of the Starter Quest podcast here again, ready to talk about what’s caught my interest in 2023. On Starter Quest, I like to introduce my beautiful podcast partner Jen to the world of video games, so I think it’s important to celebrate what we’ve got right in that world over the past 12 months.
Sadly, 2023 has been a rough year for many of us, but it’s came a lot rougher for our podcast. Some crap new equipment and some even crappier luck had my finances wiped to the point where I didn’t have the money to keep up with some of the year’s digital releases. At least that’s my excuse as to why I’ve not bought a copy of Baldur’s Gate 3 yet. What’s the point of having a game rental service if the potential greatest game of the year is a digital-only release for now?! Though that leaves me with no excuse as to why I didn’t get Diablo IV to try. Put that down to being too busy at the time.
Anyway, here are the 10 games I played in 2023 which left the best impression on me.
Honourable Mention: Marvel's Midnight Suns
This game would have been in my top games of 2022 if Dylan didn’t mandate the submission date of our year end list as December 6th. This game came out December 2nd when I was already deep within writing last year’s list. I didn’t get round to playing this until the holidays where it blew me away. The game seems to be running through my favourites list and compiling them into one single game. Namely my love for tactical Xcom games, a faded fandom for the 2000s era of Marvel comics, and for the deckbuilding mechanics of Slay the Spire. Blending together beautifully with a game that made me feel excited to try and strategize how different characters would work together given the abilities in their decks.
Midnight Suns is a game maybe tailor made to fit onto my tastes, but if you find yourself liking this weird mix of ice creams then definitely give it a shot.
10. Terra Nil
It took me far too long to find out that Netflix are giving out mobile games as part of your package. A wayward article on the BBC website discussing The Queen’s Gambit spin-off game clued me in on its existence. Expecting to find similar spin-off stuff to other Netflix series, imagine my surprise to find some of the hottest mobile games available, including top picks from 2023. Oxenfree 2, Wrestlequest, and an indie game I’ve had my eye on for a while with Terra Nil.
They concept of Terra Nil is definitely one to stand out; a nature management simulator about terraforming desolate wastelands into natural beauties. The game relies on a strong suite of skills from irrigation to purposeful foliage burning to help encourage different biomes to flower, spread, and attract wildlife for you to spot. It’s a wonderful experience, if slightly hampered by its short length. It feels like a giant tutorial of a game each level having its own gimmick which means each approach is unique to that level alone. A single, massive plain to put everything we’ve learned to the test would have been appreciated.
I must admit I had higher hopes for this game then compared to what I got, but I definitely feel there is something incredible to be found. The kind of experience which leaves me salivating for a sequel.
9. Hogwarts Legacy
As a Scottish national, I am not short on many, many reasons to hate J.K. Rowling. She made a few enemies of her homeland back in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 to which she will now never be forgiven thanks to even worse actions made this year. Add that to the horrible, transphobic rhetoric that leaves me with zero respect for this woman. I find it hard to not let these thoughts weigh down my opinion on Hogwarts Legacy. Which is a shame because, outside of the connection to that vile piece of bin gunk, this was a brilliant experience.
A wonderful RPG that lets you live out the Hogwarts experience in a way not properly delivered since the old EA titles back on the PlayStation 1. Yet even better as they lack the little specky Marty-Stu of a protagonist in Harry Potter. Decoupling the world from the established series allows us to take a look at the wizarding world in a way that only a video game can provide. With some of the best written characters to ever grace the Wizarding World in all its adaptations, it does much more for the franchise than Pottermore ever could. WB Games themselves held back from overloading the game and ruining it like they’ve done with some of their other major series of the past few years, which means they deliver on a level of immersion that allows you to get lost in the lore.
Don’t worry, I’m sure that the WB Games ‘stench of death’ will be back for the inevitable sequel for this game.
8. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
I considered crossing this entry with Sonic Superstars and give them joint 7th place in memory of the 16-bit console wars. It feels suitable to compare when both Nintendo and Sega release 2D platform games of their old brand standards, that both offer co-op multiplayer. In the end I had to disqualify Sonic from the list as the split-screen multiplayer is severely lacking. Speeding ahead when your partner isn’t at pace yet means you are mostly just racing ahead to take control. The slower pace of Mario lends itself a lot better to the experience of playing with friends on a sofa. As much as I was on the side of Sega in those old console wars, I do have to begrudgingly give this round to Mario.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder isn’t the most innovative experience in gaming. It’s always felt like the series is trying to recapture the glory of New Super Mario Bros in breathing life back into their 2D adventures. Still, even with the familiarity of the experience, there is a confident polish to the experience every time which should never be overlooked. Every time Nintendo put the name “Super Mario Bros.” on a box, you can be sure that they have worked hard to make sure the experience is fun. Not innovative, rarely bug-free, but always enjoyable when playing either alone or with others on the games which allow it.
7. Octopath Traveler II
2023 was a good year for RPGs (showing both on and what’s shamefully been left off this list). Other titles pushed the format into many, creative directions that brought the genre to the forefront of gaming culture. While we can be excited for what’s to come with the style in the other showcases from this year, we can also look back and celebrate previous heights thanks to this well-realised title.
A giant love letter to the 2D era of the Japanese RPG game created in a beautiful 3D environment, Octopath Traveller II appeals to the tastes of those more familiar with the SNES/PS1 era. This is a game about assembling 8 party members each with their own story to tell to explore through the world. It’s a great experience, with some stories that had me gripped from even the demo uploaded prior to the game’s release. I always hold up games like this when Square Enix publishes them as why it doesn’t bother me that series like Final Fantasy have abandoned this style for cutting edge design. Games should keep up with the times, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get nostalgic for the journey that brought us to were we are today.
6. Humanity
For all my financial woes, one of my early investments was to buy in to the PlayStation Plus Premium. A promise of classic games is a safe bet for someone who is doing a show on classic gaming, and it has helped fuel my research when games like Tekken 2 were available for doing an episode on Tekken 3. Plus, PlayStation has proven themselves of worthy to the challenge of the Xbox Game Pass. Including giving away new releases like Humanity to those who pony up. From the designers behind Rez, Lumines, and Tetris Effect, comes probably the best attempt to revitalise the Lemmings style puzzle game.
A single Shiba Inu dog, guiding a literal sea of humanity from point to point, having the horde follow your directions to their salvation… Or their mass suicide. All wrapped around a story of existentialism and the human experience which is equally likely to restore or condemn your faith in your fellow man, depending on how you interpret the events. None of the puzzles veer into the “well time to break out the YouTube video” realm and are quite manageable once you have all the required factors in play to achieve your solution. There were a few which needed big brother internet’s advice but thankfully those were a minority in a game which makes me feel slightly guilty that I paid nothing for it (well, I say ‘nothing’…). A wonderful puzzle experience that I would love to see get a sequel.
5. Fire Emblem Engage
I’m always a fan of a game which offers a class-switching system, plugging back to my love of old school RPGs that I mentioned in the Octopath Traveller II entry. With the latest entry in the Fire Emblem series, the different classes don’t only offer fun ways to explore their character classes, but the combination of using two characters together allows for exciting strategic choices each time. On top of such fun battle mechanics and the wonderful undo function which I was worried would be tossed out after Fire Emblem: Three Houses, there are 12 rings to be acquired, lost, and reacquired through the course of the story that allow you to power up your party with characters from previous titles. This serves as this game’s crutch to allow for the characters we all came to love from Super Smash Bros to appear, while making sure there are new characters to go into the next Smash game.
There’s something icky in the premise of Fire Emblem: Engage though. I joked on Starter Quest that it feels like a subtle advertisement of the virtues of marriage and maintaining a good relationship with your anime spouse. While some of the characters near the middle of the adventure drift too close to the “who’s this guy again” files, they are in the minority. There are numbers of well-defined party members who help deliver a wonderful experience that you will no doubt come away with the husbando/wifu of your dreams (Fogado got my engagement ring and I stand by this choice).
While I can’t quite shake the assumption that the game is somehow judging me for not getting engaged to my partner yet, it does distract me from this judgement by delivering the always polished experience I expect from this series.
4. Street Fighter 6
No one is more surprised than me for this game to end up on my list, let alone this high. Even more surprising, is that this game found more appeal with my podcast partner Jen than it did for me. So since she’s not doing her own list this year, I’ve invited her to write the rest of this review on Street Fighter 6 to explain why she loved it so much:
“My only exposure to the Street Fighter franchise was through our episode on Street Fighter II vs Mortal Kombat, but I had a lot more fun with SF6. I was delighted that I could make my own avatar. It’s a meme that the first mentor Luke says that everyone’s photogenic but eh I’ll take it. After a cheeky spar with him and my rival, Bosch, Luke quite opens the door for you to venture into the world. Metro City and Nayshall have plenty of areas to explore, easter eggs and side quests.
You can incorporate the fighting styles and moves from the roster of returning and new characters to make them your own. They act as your mentors throughout the game. I started with Chun Li’s, my SF2 fave, then moved onto Juri for the later game and then Manon for post-game fun. I took advantage of the multiple avatars you can create and switch between to try out other fighting styles out-with my wheelhouse. Take advantage of chances to chat and spar with your mentors and the city full of NPCs happy to drop everything to fight with you. I avoided conflict outside of the main quest and defending myself from enemies so in post-game shenanigans, I was too low level to fight high level fighters but too OP to get meaningful XP from passersby.
As much as I finished the main storyline and I know my way around Metro City like I’ve lived there for six months, there’s still plenty to do. Especially with the DLC characters and the quests they’ll give me. My travels through SF6 may be on pause for now, but I’ll be back.”
3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
As much as I’ve done my tour of duty through the major hits of the Zelda franchise, I could never call myself a fan of the series. I see myself as more a tourist through the series, AND mostly play them to find out what everyone else is banging on about and join the discussion. I knew I’d be doing this too with Tears of the Kingdom, the rarely seen sequel game in the Zelda franchise to a previous title, but didn’t expect my tour to turn into such an explorative dreamland.
In practice this game carries itself more as an expansion than a true sequel, but even by those standards it still sets a high bar. The new system of weapon & tool fusing is an intriguing system, though you can forgive me for finding my weapons I found actually reliable and then ignoring the rest. I had no drive to build the orbital death laser like some of my peers seemed keen to construct. I also found I got to a point with this world where I felt bored of exploring it. Getting every shrine in Breath of the Wild had a much greater sense of achievement though mainly for having the world seem much more manageable. Maybe going with an overworld, underworld, and sky world had me feeling very sidetracked with trying to find every shrine in the game. If I wasn’t renting it, I’m sure I could play this game every day for months on end and find new content each time, yet here I am with big releases on the horizon hammering through the last of this game so I can see the credits.
I can’t fault a game for being too long when the length is in side content. The main path and the story told qualifies this game onto the third place slot. Offering more is just a delicious dessert to the succulent meal.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man exists in a class of his own when it comes to superhero games. Where someone like Batman benefitted much more from the Metroidvania setup of Arkham Assylum than his later sequels, such a confined space would be lost on a character like Spider-Man where movement is such a massive part of the appeal. Spider-Man only gets better the more space you give him to move. Now Spider-Man gets to an even higher level when you give him another Spider-Man to control.
With a story that left me wanting more both in a positive “oh what will happen to Peter next” way, and in a negative “why can’t I get more of Miles’ story” way, I can’t fault the entire experience for not being engaging. I did find the combat a little tricky to get my thumbs round at first, but by the end I was combo juggling 3 heavies with little effort as I maxed out each of the Spider-Men’s progression trees. It’s a highly polished experience and a wonderful evolution to both the characters and the excitement of being Spider-Man. Many, happy Christmas days for kids and adults alike will be found when they unwrap their PS5 & Spider-Man 2 bundle pack.
1. Final Fantasy XVI
On Starter Quest, we celebrated reaching our tenth episode by playing a game I dubbed one of the greatest ever made in Final Fantasy VII. In that episode, I ended on a long chat how I accept that Final Fantasy games are not made to appeal to old fans anymore, and how I accepted this fact. Square Enix simply chooses to court a different audience with the mainline Final Fantasy series, and leave it to titles like Octopath Traveller 2 to plug the gap left behind. Imagine my surprise when their latest instalment seemed to have chosen their new audience from a group I am also within; Game of Thrones fans.
There’s a darkness to Final Fantasy XVI that Tetsuya Nomura wishes he could write in his own games. It’s a world less of skinny, androgynous teens and more of battle-hardened men and women. Of political and caste systems which bind people to a fate designed to provoke, intrigue, and inspire our actions. And a combat system where the pretence of menus is long abandoned in favour of command abilities and action skills. I would even say that the series is taken a bold direction of no longer being a J-RPG as oppose to the more Western style akin to series like The Witcher. Decoupling the series from its usual obsession with adolescent drama helped give a greater weight to the characters, and where the implied sexual undertones can become overtones with full appropriateness to their characterisation. A lot can be achieved by trying to change the formula, and I hope they stick with this going forward.
I come away from this latest addition to the series satisfied with the experience. It’s been described as a miserable world and that’s a fair charge, but it is within misery that we find the most beautiful hope. A hope for a world where the Final Fantasy series can be a major relevance to gaming once more.
Thank you once again to the guys on Offshore Gaming for inviting me to come do this. Our podcast doesn’t let me talk much about the current releases outside of a quick catch up at the start sadly. It does feel good to get this chance to share my weird gaming opinions somewhere on this great sea of scum and villainy we call the internet. Even if I feel bad for not getting Balder’s Gate 3 on my list after finally getting to play it over Christmas. Gives me something for my honourable mentions in 2024 I suppose.