With 2023 coming to a close, it’s time for Game8 to distinguish the fantastic and noteworthy games we have covered over the past year. Here are our top games for 2023.

Game8’s 2023 Game Of The Year Nominees And Awardees

Best Action Game

Criteria	Nominees
Given to the game which provided players with the most exciting fights throughout a significant portion of its playtime.	● Fate Samurai Remnant  ● Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon  ● Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom  ● Marvel's Spider-Man 2  ● Resident Evil 4 Remake

Winner:	🏆 Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon 🏆

Taking their decades of experience developing the Armored Core and Dark Souls series to mold the hit mecha game of 2023, only a few titles could come close to how action-packed FromSoftware’s Armored Core 6 is. Every fight is an adrenaline-pumping dance between your nerves and skills against the enemy’s single-minded intent to open another breathing hole through your chest.

Best Role-Playing Game

Criteria	Nominees
Whether as a lone vagabond or a brave party leader, this award is given to the game that provides the most immersive role-playing experience.	● Super Mario RPG  ● Sea of Stars  ● Star Ocean The Second Story R  ● Baldur's Gate 3  ● Final Fantasy XVI

Winner:	🏆 Baldur's Gate 3 🏆

With the freedom to be anything you want short of a druid who can only communicate with sea bears, Baldur’s Gate 3 offers its players a nearly unmatched tabletop RPG experience. With its vast customization and personalization options, deep character progression, diverse storylines, and excellent turn-based combat, there’s little room for competition in the genre.

Best Single Player Game

Criteria	Nominees
This award is given to the game with the most in-depth single-player experience across multiple aspects of gameplay.	● Marvel's Spider-Man 2  ● Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon  ● Cocoon  ● Alan Wake 2  ● Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Winner:	🏆 Alan Wake 2 🏆

Not all video games are meant to be played with someone else. Some people play video games for the personal experience. Among the games released in 2023, Alan Wake 2 takes the cake for the best single-player experience. It offers a strong balance between a gripping narrative, stunning and dreamlike visuals, and immersive audio, though it could use a bit of work on its gameplay.

Best Co-Op Game

Criteria	Nominees
Dedicated to the game with the best gameplay involving two or more players working together towards a consolidated goal.	● Baldur's Gate 3  ● Pikmin 4  ● Lethal Company  ● Payday 3  ● Super Mario Wonder

Winner:	🏆 Lethal Company 🏆

The game that took the internet by storm. Though a horror game by nature, even players who can’t stomach monsters and dark corridors will want to try Lethal Company’s insanely addictive gameplay and co-op experience. The rewards are innumerable moments of hilarity born from the game’s tastefully crafted levels, monsters, and mechanics.

Best Multiplayer Game

Criteria	Nominees
This award is for the game with the best multiplayer gameplay, regardless of the number of players or teams that can be present in a session.	● The Finals  ● NBA 2K24  ● Battlebit Remastered  ● Eternal Return  ● Party Animals

Winner:	🏆 The Finals 🏆

The Finals is an incredible last-minute entry to the 2023 lineup of games. It features an incredibly diverse set of strategies that players can concoct using the game’s equally vast array of weapons, gadgets, abilities, and destructible environments. These work hand in hand to create a game that never lacks excitement when pulling off daring plans against enemy teams.

Best Remake/Remaster

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the game that best revives an old gaming classic while keeping its true spirit alive.	● Star Ocean The Second Story R  ● Resident Evil 4 Remake  ● Super Mario RPG  ● System Shock  ● Dead Space

Winner:	🏆 Super Mario RPG 🏆

Even with strong competition against other beautiful remakes this year, Super Mario RPG manages to clinch a narrow victory against its challengers. A faithful adaptation of its source material, it also perfectly embraces the flaws of its previous release and turns them into strengths instead.

Best Fighting Game

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the best fighting game with the most polished and enjoyable combat.	● Pocket Bravery  ● Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2  ● Street Fighter 6  ● Mortal Kombat 1  ● Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising

Winner:	🏆 Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising 🏆

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising feat of simplifying their fighting mechanics to such a degree that new players can feel welcome to try the game while also managing to retain a degree of depth to keep old-timers happy is nothing short of outstanding. At the same time, it also made the game even more beautiful than its predecessor and fixed many of the issues that the online players had.

Best Roguelike/Roguelite Game

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the game with gameplay loops so good that players don’t mind restarting from the top each time.	● Death Must Die  ● Against the Storm  ● HoloCure  ● Roboquest  ● Remnant 2

Winner:	🏆 Against the Storm 🏆

This game dared to combine two seemingly incompatible genres in roguelikes and city-builders and combined them into something truly special. It managed to retain both the former genre’s satisfying progression and the latter’s management features, resulting in a roguelite game that cannot be missed.

Best Soulslike Game

Criteria	Nominees
Presented to the game that best features FromSoftware’s genre-defining mechanics of tight controls and difficult bosses while conquering the challenges that come with it.	● Lords of the Fallen  ● Lies of P  ● The Last Faith  ● Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty  ● Remnant 2

Winner:	🏆 Lies of P 🏆

From the day it dropped, Lies of P has proven time and time again that it’s a fantastic Soulslike. It has managed to create an identity for itself despite its almost complete lack of innovation in the genre. Through a combination of adjustments to timing and smashing different features that Soulslike players are already intimate with, it became its own remarkable game that can stand with its head held high.

Best Shooter Game

Criteria	Nominees
Given to the title with the most polished and satisfying gameplay. With firearms, of course.	● Remnant 2  ● Payday 3  ● Roboquest  ● Atomic Heart  ● System Shock

Winner:	🏆 Roboquest 🏆

Featuring another fusion of genres, this time between roguelites and shooters, Roboquest is an amazing title that sports deeply satisfying gunplay made even more exciting with the inclusion of roguelite progression. It's undoubtedly a game that is near impossible to put down.

Best Horror Game

Criteria	Nominees
Encompassing every level of dreadful terror, this award is given to the game with the best spooks, regardless of its delivery method.	● Amnesia: The Bunker  ● Alan Wake  ● Dredge  ● Lethal Company  ● Resident Evil 4 Remake

Winner:	🏆 Amnesia: The Bunker 🏆

Amnesia: The Bunker continues the Amnesia series' tradition of releasing high-quality horror games. This time, it utilizes a more intense atmosphere to frighten its players while seeding the game with progressively more unnerving stories to make their skins crawl, all the while having an AI monster hunting you down throughout the ordeal. It's a wonderful work and really embodies what a horror game should look and play like.

Best Puzzle Game

Criteria	Nominees
For the game with the most challenging and thought-provoking puzzles built into its gameplay and storyline.	● A Space for the Unbound  ● Cocoon  ● Pikmin 4  ● Viewfinder  ● The Talos Principle 2

Winner:	🏆 The Talos Principle 2 🏆

Like its predecessor, The Talos Principle 2 is a philosophically unique game in which the very act of solving its intricately designed puzzles is intimately connected with its theme. To the game, puzzles aren't just its main feature; they're its entire purpose. It encourages players to think outside the box in gameplay and life simultaneously, creating an incredible puzzle game that leaves a lasting impression beyond its clear time.

Best Performance

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the talent with the most moving performance in their respective games.	● Kevan Brighting (Dungeons 4: Narrator)  ● Ben Starr (Final Fantasy 16: Clive)  ● Yuri Lowenthal (Marvel's Spider-Man 2: Peter Parker)  ● Neil Newbon (Baldur's Gate 3: Astarion)  ● Takaya Kuroda (Like A Dragon Gaiden: Kiryu)

Winner:	🏆 Takaya Kuroda (Like A Dragon Gaiden: Kiryu) 🏆

A voice talent’s role is to impart their humanity into the moving image on a player’s screen. Among the immensely talented voice actors nominated for this award, none have made more of an impression on us than Takaya Kuroda, who voiced Like A Dragon Gaiden’s Kiryu. His performance was nothing short of phenomenal, and his ability to deliver a wide range of heavy emotions through a few lines of dialogue speaks volumes to his talent as a voice actor.

Best Story

Criteria	Nominees
Recognizing the game with the best story, inclusive of its delivery, narrative style, depth, etc.	● A Space for the Unbound  ● Alan Wake  ● Fate Samurai Remnant  ● Slay the Princess  ● Baldur's Gate 3

Winner:	🏆 A Space for the Unbound 🏆

Telling a compelling story is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do as a game developer. Telling a compelling story shaped by local culture while still being relevant to an international audience takes incredible talent. A Space for the Unbound takes the cake with its daringness to explore the hidden turbulence behind a teenager’s heart, delivered with such subtle eloquence that makes the end worth every minute of reading.

Best Gameplay

Criteria	Nominees
For the title with the best gameplay regardless of genre and platform.	● Resident Evil 4 Remake  ● Jagged Alliance 3  ● Against the Storm  ● Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon  ● Remnant 2

Winner:	🏆 Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon 🏆

Armored Core 6’s gameplay is incredibly simple but also absurdly fun. Just build a mech, customize it to your liking, and then use it to punch holes through enemy ranks. But its simplicity belies the genius of its design. With fewer things to worry about, you can fully immerse yourself in its deep and near-flawless combat scenarios - and get drilled by Balteus in the end, anyway.

Best Visuals

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the game with the most appealing visuals, regardless of its theme or art direction.	● Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora  ● Slay the Princess  ● Fate Samurai Remnant  ● Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3  ● Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

Winner:	🏆 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora 🏆

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a game that wonderfully showcases the beauty of the planet Pandora. It especially excels at featuring many breathtaking scenes centered on the planet’s diverse and mystical landmasses, flora, and fauna.

Best Audio

Criteria	Nominees
For outstanding games with a remarkable auditory experience, encompassing music, voice acting, sound effects, and everything in between.	● Dungeons 4  ● Lies of P  ● Reverse 1999  ● Final Fantasy XVI  ● Roboquest

Winner:	🏆 Final Fantasy XVI 🏆

There’s little reason to doubt Final Fantasy XVI’s audio the moment it blesses your ears. With tracks composed by Masayoshi Soken, who is also the lead composer and sound director of Final Fantasy XIV, it’s an otherworldly experience that showcases the developers’ extreme demands for the game’s music. Even though it faces tough competition from its rivals, Final Fantasy XVI easily comes out on top.

Best Value For Money

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the game which provides its players the most bang for their buck.	● Dave the Diver  ● Against the Storm  ● Battlebit Remastered  ● HoloCure  ● Super Mario RPG

Winner:	🏆 HoloCure 🏆

HoloCure’s victory in this category was all but assured. After all, not only is this fan-made game completely free to play, it doesn’t even have any microtransactions. The game all but ensures dozens or even a hundred hours of enjoyable gameplay while featuring amazing music and a diverse cast of colorful characters. Honestly, not being able to support its developer with our money is almost criminal.

Best Hit Out Of Nowhere

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the game with the most impactful debut despite its almost entirely silent development.	● Hi-Fi Rush  ● Dungeons 4  ● Jagged Alliance 3  ● Sea of Stars  ● Cocoon

Winner:	🏆 Hi-Fi Rush 🏆

Saying that Tango Gameworks' stylish title was a success despite keeping its development quiet is a massive understatement. It was widely praised, promoted, and played, much to the surprised eyes of many when it shadowdropped early January of 2023ー something that will likely continue beyond January of 2024.

Best Game We Hadn't Reviewed

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the game Game8 wasn’t able to cover through our reviews that nonetheless made the biggest waves.	● Blasphemous 2  ● Hogwarts Legacy  ● Turbo Overkill  ● Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective  ● Pizza Tower

Winner:	🏆 Hogwarts Legacy 🏆

Regardless of the various troubles it encountered, there’s little doubt that Hogwarts Legacy is one of the biggest titles of the year. It topped the sales charts in both the US and UK markets throughout the year. A quick glance at its Steam page should also be enough to get an idea of just how popular the game is, with an overall rating of 92% from over 175,000 reviews and an all-time peak of almost 900,000 players.

Best Disappointment

Criteria	Nominees
Dedicated to the game that has utterly gripped the industry - in the most unflattering way possible.	● Exoprimal  ● Touhou: New World  ● Harvest Island  ● Rallyallyally  ● The Day Before

Winner:	🏆 The Day Before 🏆

2023 has been a great year for gaming, filled with some of the industry’s highest ups and lowest lows. But even with a plethora of contenders for head-shakingly bad games, The Day Before stands head and shoulders above everybody else on that shameful pedestal. In fact, it was so hilariously bad that the studio decided to keel over a mere three or so days after they released the game.

Best Indie Game

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the best game made by an independent studio.	● Cocoon  ● HoloCure  ● Slay the Princess  ● A Space for the Unbound  ● Roboquest

Winner:	🏆 Slay the Princess 🏆

Slay The Princess is a game best described by not describing it. After all, any kind of description for it can easily become a spoiler and work against the magic it uses to leave a long-lasting impression on its players. Just know that its immersively horrific narrative, beautifully unnerving visuals, and pleasantly frightening voice acting will take you on a wild and terrifying ride.

Best Mobile Game

Criteria	Nominees
Awarded to the best game available primarily for mobile devices.	● Honkai: Star Rail  ● Reverse 1999  ● Snowbreak Containment Zone  ● Brown Dust 2  ● Limbus Company

Winner:	🏆 Honkai: Star Rail 🏆

HoYoverse wins it again, despite a lineup of similarly amazing mobile games that came out in 2023. The reason is simple: unlike every other mobile game that was released during the year, Honkai: Star Rail felt much more welcoming to players of all kinds. The amount of thought that went into its writing, character design, combat system, and audiovisual aspects truly speaks volumes about HoYoverse’s expertise, developed through many years of creating top-rated mobile games.

Game8’s Game of the Year

Criteria	Nominees
Bestowed with utmost reverence to the game which Game8 has judged to be the best title in terms of story, gameplay, visuals, audio, and value for money.	● Baldur's Gate 3  ● The Talos Principle 2  ● Resident Evil 4 Remake  ● Super Mario RPG  ● The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Winner:	🏆 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 🏆

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom took everything Breath of the Wild had and made it even better. The result was excellence in all of the aspects that we judge in: story, graphics, gameplay, audio and value for money. Detractors of the game may suggest that it was just a DLC for Breath of the Wild, but to say that just because it utilizes the same engine and overall world ignores the enormous amount of detail required to bring the game into the skies and underground. The gameplay also allows for nearly unlimited freedom, ensuring no two adventures are the same.

Though still not the ever-elusive 10/10 perfect game, it was the meticulous attention to detail for each of these areas that allowed it take home Game8's 2023 Game of the Year Award!