Salutations and welcome to the 3rd annual edition of Wizard’s Game Awards! Each year, I take the time to reflect on the year in gaming and write a detailed memoir of my experience with the year’s games. 2023 was a very strong year in gaming; some would dare say that it was the best year ever for video games. While I would normally enjoy toiling in hyperbole, I will say (spoiler) that 2022 was a stronger year overall than 2023 - in my opinion. That’s not to say 2023 was anything short of brilliant though; I found a lot of enjoyment in games this year and was thoroughly impressed overall. Here are the ground rules for my Game Awards: 1. I create categories specifically for games. For example, I don't come into the game awards having a best action game category, but I might create a best action game category if there is a particular action game I liked. 2. Please know that these opinions are purely subjective. If you disagree, that's okay! I encourage anyone interested to make their own Game Awards. 3. When I say "best," I mean "favorite." My opinion is implied. 4. I haven't played every major game this year. In order to fund my gaming addiction, I have to earn money, and that takes time. 5. Nearly every game that released in 2023 that I’ve played this year is on this list. Older games can only qualify for a couple of awards. Now that you understand the ground rules, here are my 2023 Game Awards! Indie Game of the Year: Sea of Stars I somehow find myself playing exactly one indie game every year. This year, that game was Sea of Stars: the fantastic follow-up to The Messenger by Sabotage Studios. How these games play into each other isn’t my point here nor is it something I feel like taking the time to explain, but I bring up The Messenger to punctuate my belief that Sabotage Studios is my favorite developer in the indie game sphere today. Sea of Stars is incredibly heartfelt at its core and carries with it deep ambitions of acknowledging and respecting some of the greatest RPGs of all time. Does Sea of Stars live up to Chrono Trigger and the other great RPGs? I'm clearly not the right person to ask or answer this since, well, I’ve never played Chrono Trigger, but if I did, I hope it would make me feel the way I do about Sea of Stars and its characters. Sabotage Studios proved their writing prowess back during The Messenger, and their writing skills are not put to waste in this instant classic. One small thing I appreciate in RPGs is having a leveling system that keeps characters all on the same level regardless of when they join the party; Sea of Stars' leveling and battling systems never outstay their welcome. I’d recommend this game to anyone wanting to play a special RPG with a fun combat system, drop-dead gorgeous graphics, and a REALLY FREAKING STUPID COMPLETION PROCESS. I’d like to keep this thread largely positive, so I won’t speak on that last part extensively. I love you anyways, Sea of Stars. Remake/Remaster/Re-release/etc. of the Year: Super Mario RPG I’ve said it a thousand times, and I’ll say it again: I love playing a classic game with a strong reputation and having the game be just as good, if not better, than the reputation. Super Mario RPG absolutely lives up to its strong reputation and delivers a fantastic interpretation of the original SNES game. (I’m assuming this since I’ve never played the original.) It’s hard to pinpoint the one thing that makes this game click because everything works so well. The art direction is so cute and powerful. The story is simple yet deeply effective. The world is a fantastic version of the existing Mario Universe while being innovative. The gameplay is addicting and never has the opportunity to overstay its welcome. There are few games ever released as solid as this one. Do yourself a favor and enjoy this classic. Underappreciated Gem of the Year: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor I love a good Star Wars game; my favorite games list has strong Star Wars representation. Jedi: Survivor is one of the best Star Wars games I’ve ever played. I know it’s weird to call a massive AAA release in the Star Wars series a gem, but this game is getting way too overlooked. The rhetoric surrounding this game at launch was largely that of performance issues and broken gameplay. Not only did I encounter zero notable performance issues, I deeply enjoyed this game on a level I didn’t expect. Fallen Order, the previous entry in the series, is a really fun game that I’ve beaten a couple of times. Survivor far exceeds what Fallen Order set up in terms of narrative, visual setpieces, combat options, customization options, and more. Jedi: Survivor blew me away with its touching narrative and deeply emotional story beats. Survivor is at its best in its gameplay: combat, boss fights, lightsaber customization, and exploration. The worlds in this game have so much to offer, and exploration is almost always rewarded in a positive way. Cal Kestis is a legendary protagonist, and I can’t wait to see how his story ends. Call me crazy, but this is one of the top three best (full) games of the year, and it probably isn’t number three. I spent a ton of extra hours in this game hunting for the Platinum Trophy and came away feeling deeply appreciative of the entire experience. Maybe this is a hot take, but Star Wars hasn’t dipped in quality; in some ways, we are in a golden age of Star Wars with gems like this game and Andor. Platformer of the Year: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Super Mario Bros. Wonder is Nintendo’s most creative and innovative 2D platformer of the century; nothing else really comes close. Any game that can make me laugh or drop my jaw is good in my books, and Wonder did that to me many, many times. The one thing about Wonder that I found underwhelming was the boss battles - except for the spectacular final boss. The only thing left to discover with Wonder is whether it has the same replayability as its predecessors. I Need More Pictures of Spider-Man Award: Spider-Man 2 Spider-Man 2 is a good game. It has a funny wingsuit that makes Spider-Man and Spider-Man go zoom. Very cool, Sony. I was going to leave my review at that, but I feel the need to comment on how badly people have turned on this game. Spider-Man 2 and Final Fantasy XVI critics alike suffer from some serious analysis paralysis. Fans are overthinking these games unimaginably hard, and it’s affecting these games’ reputations. Let me put it plain and simple: Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic video game. Final Fantasy XVI is a fantastic video game. These games aren’t beyond criticism, but the endlessly negative rhetoric surrounding these games is ridiculous. Don’t overthink the negatives on this game; play the game and enjoy it! The Year of GameCube Award: Pikmin 1 I spent a decent amount of time this year playing some of the great GameCube classics - Luigi’s Mansion, Metroid Prime (via Metroid Prime Remastered), and especially Pikmin 1. The GameCube era has mostly eluded me, and I had never played any of these games before more than 10-15 minutes. Now that I’ve beaten all three of these games, my desire to play GC games has only increased. Nintendo’s willingness to bring more GC games to Switch is a great sign, and I can’t wait to play Pikmin 2 and eventually Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. I Hate This Game But I Love It Award: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom My attitude towards the Breath of the Wild duology is well documented at this point. I really enjoy playing these games in the moment, but I don’t like thinking about these games when I’m done playing them. I’ve been trying to reason within my head as to why I think this. I’ve concluded that, for one reason or another, I don’t like these games, particularly Breath of the Wild, being given all-time great game status. Regardless of my chicken brain take, these are fantastic games with so much going for them. Tears of the Kingdom is a top 3 full game for me this year, and I don't say that lightly. Tears of the Kingdom does so many things right. Exploration is rewarded very well in this game, making the journey from the shrines to the temples to the lightroots fulfilling and interesting. The narrative, while not among Zelda’s best, does a better job of fleshing out the characters in meaningful ways. In most ways, Tears of the Kingdom builds on, re-uses, or refreshes what Breath of the Wild did correctly. I'm disappointed that there will be no DLC for this game. Despite this, however, I have overall positive feelings towards this era of Zelda and can't wait to see where the series heads next. Intermission Piece: Losing Love for a Genre: Fire Emblem Engage and Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp I generally dwell on the positive in these awards, but I have something to say about tactical games. For most of my teenage years and early adult years, tactical RPGs were easily my favorite genre of game. I have easily over 1000 hours in this genre, mostly in Fire Emblem and the original Advance Wars. This year brought us a very well made Fire Emblem game in Engage and a gorgeous remake for the original Advance Wars games. While playing these games was fun in the moment, I came away from both of these games feeling deeply tired. This exhaustion is of no fault to the games and is probably a result of me putting in too many hours in the genre. But I think it’s important to acknowledge that I am growing and changing as a person every day, and my tastes are growing and changing too. I can’t say for certain that I’ve moved on from this genre, but my relationship with Fire Emblem and Advance Wars feels limited and distant. Regardless of my burnout, I’ve had so much fun with these games, and I strongly recommend them to any tactical RPG fans. Best Soundtrack of the Year: Final Fantasy XVI With a game so focused on bombastic and cinematic boss fights as FFXVI, you’d best believe a brilliant soundtrack comes attached. It’s hard to pinpoint which tracks in this game are the best, but some of my favorites are the Boss Battle Theme, Find the Flame, and Titan Lost. Masayoshi Soken absolutely nailed this soundtrack in every way. Soken is more than worthy of being the successor of the great Nobuo Uematsu. Most Played Game of 2023 Award: NBA 2k23 I’m deeply ashamed of this and will promptly be reaching out to real gamers to support me as I try to play fewer sports games. At least Splatoon 3 was second place! Fighting Game of the Year: Street Fighter 6 While I don’t have the patience to master a fighting game, let alone a character, I’ve had a really good time with Street Fighter 6. There’s something really satisfying about stringing together combos and trapping your opponents in the corner. I didn’t play online for more than an hour, but I had a fun time challenging other beginners and winning most of my matches. I know I wouldn’t stand a chance against real players, but I’m not really worried about that. Dee Jay has been my character of choice thus far, and I don’t see that changing. Will I be playing this game for a long time? Probably not, but the time I’ve had in this game has been worthwhile. Best Non-2023 Game That I Played for the First Time: Vampire Survivors This was a shockingly easy choice. Vampire Survivors is simply too addicting and took up far too much of my time in 2023. This year, I found myself often throwing this game on my Switch while I watched a TV show or a movie. While somewhat plain-looking at first, the game requires some movement skill and a good amount of strategy, yet it’s also relaxing enough to allow me to divert my attention into other places as I play the game. For the shockingly low price of $5, this is a no-brainer for anyone to add to their collections. Beware: This game will almost certainly suck you in. Game of the Year: Final Fantasy XVI In a year full of amazing video games, no game stands taller and prouder in my mind than Final Fantasy XVI. From the first minute of the game, FFXVI plays its cards and shows the player how good the game will be. Though most of the game doesn't live up to the opening hours, the game is deeply worth the time and energy. (It's worth noting that this was my first mainline Final Fantasy game!) FFXVI’s best elements are the soundtrack, Eikon fights, voice acting, and dialogue. The entire presentation of FFXVI is immaculate from top to bottom. I don’t have some of the same narrative issues as many critics of the game, but I must admit the narrative is hardly perfect. Aside from the narrative’s minor missteps near the end of the game, I was consistently impressed by how the characters all changed and grew. Clive is an obvious standout character as our protagonist, though the real star of the show is Cid. No matter the character, I found each of them believable, likable, and spectacularly voice-acted. Though this isn’t the biggest deal to me, something that’s stuck with me since the launch of the game is how there were no visible instances of clipping in this game. Characters’ clothes and limbs would never magically meld into other objects. This, to me, is a sign of brilliant programming; I’m not quite sure how they accomplished this. This game, like Spider-Man 2, was on the receiving end of a lot more hate than it could have possibly deserved. I assure you that this game, flaws and all, is absolutely worth the time to complete. FFXVI is the dawn of a new day for the Final Fantasy series (while respecting the original games), and I can’t wait to see what comes next. Gaming Experience of the Year: Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed I didn’t want to rob FFXVI of Game of the Year, but I’d be sabotaging my heart to not speak on the legendary DLC expansion and finale of the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy. I’ve been playing the Xenoblade games since I was a senior in high school. Now, in my mid-20s, as I watch the sun set on this series, I feel not sadness, but a deep feeling of triumph towards these games. Will there be more Xenoblade games? I can only hope so, but if the series ended where it is now, I would be more than satisfied. Seeing Rex and Shulk join forces here with a likable cast of characters headlined by Matthew was so much fun. I love what Xenoblade was, is, and will be. Future Redeemed was maybe a little too short, a little too fanservice-laced. Though valid criticisms, I think the expansion is perfect for what it is. I had a great time getting 100% completion on this DLC and would absolutely do it again. Thank you for reading (or skimming or jumping to the bottom) my game awards thread this year! This is a fun yearly tradition for me that I look forward to every year. Here’s to 2024 being another great year for games! _________________________________________________________________________________ Other 2023 games I own but haven’t played enough of/don’t have an award for: Baldur’s Gate 3, Advance Wars 2 Re-Boot Camp, Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 2 (Switch port), F-Zero 99, Madden 24, and Hogwarts Legacy.
