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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Don’t believe anybody who says 2023 was a great year for videogames. Yeah, a lot of good games came out this year, across the whole spectrum of the industry, but the big story of 2023 has been the near-constant layoffs and studio closures that have left thousands of developers out of work, even as companies continue to make billions of dollars. It feels hollow to celebrate the work these developers do and the games they create knowing that so many of them are currently out of the industry, with a significant portion unlikely to ever work professionally in games again. And then there’s also the huge number of games journalists who lost their jobs this year, too, amid the larger contraction of media sites and positions that also defined 2023. This wasn’t a good year for games; it might actually be the worst in a good 40 years or so.

Still: the artists and designers who are endlessly exploited by this bullshit business deserve recognition. If you avoid the real world and only focus on what exists inside your computer or gaming consoles, you probably enjoyed yourself this year. The games business might be miserable, but the games? The games are good. Sometimes, at least, and more so in 2023 than usual. Between excellent new entries in some of the most beloved series, new benchmarks in major genres, poignant and inventive personal games, and the mind-bending metanarratives of our top two picks, 2023 gave us a wealth of enjoyable and smartly designed videogames, even as the industry shed jobs at an alarming pace. Here are the best of the bunch.

1. Alan Wake II
2. El Paso, Elsewhere
3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
4. Thirsty Suitors
5. Street Fighter 6
6. Venba
7. Cocoon
8. The Banished Vault
9. Resident Evil 4
10. Saltsea Chronicles
11. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
12. Super Mario Bros
13. Pizza Tower
14. Hi-Fi Rush
15. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
16. Metroid Prime Remastered
17. Dredge
18. Final Fantasy 16
19. Sea of Stars
20. A Space for the Unbound
21. The Making of Karateka
22. Jusant
23. Baldur's Gate 3
24. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
25. Super Mario RPG
26. Pikmin 4
27. Tchia
28. Laika: Aged Through Blood
29. Chants of Sennaar
30. Goodbye Volcano High

The Best Games of 2023

The best games of 2023 took us on unforgettable adventures through classic gaming settings and postmodern hellscapes alike.

www.pastemagazine.com

 

[Magic Carpet]

Ah I see the list is upside down. I was wondering there for a min or two.

 

[Crayon]

Damn I forgot prime remastered came out. I want that.

 

[Hustler]

The fact that Lies of P isn't on this list at all makes this list busted.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Well, that's a list.

 

[bitbydeath]

Ah I see the list is upside down. I was wondering there for a min or two.

Goodbye volcano high @ number 1?

 

[Flabagast]

Weird not seeing Phantom Liberty in there

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Ah I see the list is upside down. I was wondering there for a min or two.

Fixed

 

[Insane Metal]

Well, that's a list.

I can confirm.

 

[Punished Miku]

Some baffling picks but some really cool ones too. Great to see Making of Karateka. El Paso is on my wishlist.

 

[ReBurn]

Well, that's a list.

Yep. Of all of the lists, this is one.

 

[PanzerCute]

The fact that Lies of P isn't on this list at all makes this list busted.

Agreed. And Octopath 2. The fuck is that hipster list.

 

[Lunarorbit]

I haven't heard of 13 of the games on the list. Am I out of touch or are these all indies on PC?

 

[Topher]

I haven't heard of 13 of the games on the list. Am I out of touch or are these all indies on PC?

 

[Kilau]

Paste Eaters magazine? Would explain that list.

 

[Punished Miku]

I haven't heard of 13 of the games on the list. Am I out of touch or are these all indies on PC?

Almost all these are on console

 

[Davesky]

 

[Chuck Berry]

Thirsty Suitors at #4

Spoiler

 

[Topher]

Yep. Absurd.

 

[Stamps1646]

Um, wheres...

• Lies of P.
• Dave the Diver
• Octopath Traveler II
• Hogwarts Legacy

 

[Punished Miku]

Thirsty Suitors at #4

Spoiler

Yeahhhhhhhh lol

 

[Mossybrew]

I guess performative hand-wringing and lamenting about layoffs is like the new land acknowledgement for this year.

 

[GHG]

Goodbye volcano high made the list, my life is complete.

 

[Topher]

Thirsty Suitors at #4

Spoiler

Venba at number 6 is crazy. I'm playing that game for easy achievements/rewards points. Decent enough story, but the most bland game play ever. I get that it is a celebration of Indian cuisine, but that doesn't make it a top ten game all by itself. This is about Paste Magazine projecting an image.

 

[Fbh]

Thirsty Suitors a whole 19 places above Baldur's Gate 3

 

[Happosai]

Goodbye volcano high @ number 1?

I just grabbed every known weapon from games 1 - 29 to blast 30 off the list. If nature isn't taking its course, I'll will it to be so.

 

[BossLackey]

I haven't heard of 13 of the games on the list. Am I out of touch or are these all indies on PC?

I'm a hound for indies and I haven't heard of a ton of these games.

Smells like a pretentious list to me.

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

BG3 at #23 is wild.

 

[ikbalCO]

Weird list but whats up with the salt?

Isnt paste the magazine that “exploited” kim k’s pussy and “broke the internet”?

 

[Deerock71]

I haven't heard of 13 of the games on the list. Am I out of touch or are these all indies on PC?

 

[tmlDan]

BG3 at 23 is a fkn crime, disgusting. Hope they go out of business (im joking, chill)

 

[Punished Miku]

Putting this one on my radar for sure.

 

[semiconscious]

I'm a hound for indies and I haven't heard of a ton of these games.

Smells like a pretentious list to me.

couldn't be. i mean, look at what's their #1... oh, wait...

 

[tommib]

I like these guys because you always end up finding games that are completely under the radar. Never heard of El Paso and it looks very yummy.

A list that won’t look like all other lists. And that’s good.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

Agree with #1. The rest is whatever.

 

[Beer Baelly]

El Paso?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Another wokeshit outlet pretending Hogwarts Legacy doesn't exist LMAO

 

[gaming_again]

I guess performative hand-wringing and lamenting about layoffs is like the new land acknowledgement for this year.

lol, it's so bad. Who are these people?

 

[clarky]

Alan Wake is not grabbing me at all at the minute. Will push on for a bit, but I just think i'm getting to old and lacking patience for these types of games these days.

Looks great on PC though.

 

[Shifty1897]

If Paste has the courage to publish this list with a straight face, then you have the courage to ask out your crush.

 

[calistan]

I actually like this list. It's something nobody other than the writer would agree with, but it's more interesting to me than lists that will have the same handful of games in bunch of contrived categories.

It reminds me of when film critics publish their end-of-year lists and they include pretentious arthouse stuff that was only shown half a dozen times at obscure festivals. This list had me googling a lot of names.

(That Volcano High game sounds epic!)

 

[ahtlas7]

Da fuq is Pasties Magazine?

 

[rofif]

Woke magazine. No hogwarts and shit wake on first place.
Gaming is doomed.

 

[Lokaum D+]

 

[Kings Field]

If your list doesn’t have Octopath Traveler 2 on it, I can’t take you seriously.

 

[balls of snow]

Putting this one on my radar for sure.

Yeah got it during the steam sale. Now waiting for my steamdeck oled to play it.

 

[Punished Miku]

Yeah got it during the steam sale. Now waiting for my steamdeck oled to play it.

I'm waiting for console. They claim late 2023 but that seems unlikely at this point. Probably sometime soon.

 

[AJUMP23]

Never heard of Paste magazine.

 

[GymWolf]

If this was a movie, it would be called shittler's list.

 

[Blindy]

Everyone is entitled to opinions but I feel some of the games like Sea of Stars are too low here. Also not a fan of putting remasters like Metroid Prime here but everyone does their lists their own way.