The Best Games I Played in 2023

I played a ton of great games this year. Some were better than others, and I wanted to revisit a few games. I also missed out on some fantastic games that I’ll have to look at next year.

Much of the year consisted of wrestling games, shooters, and beat’em ups. I was working on a few lists, and I figured it was a good idea to review some of the games on those lists fully.

It was fun to look at some of the retro RPGs I missed out on when I was younger, and it was great to discover some new indie games. It was an excellent year for video games. Like last year, I put together a list of the best retro and indie games I’ve played this year.

Selection criteria

Let’s talk about what qualifies for this list. I’m not just going to be putting any random game on this list. Here are the criteria I used to compile this list:

• Had to have played the game between December 2022 and December 2023
• Can be either an Indie game or a Retro Game
• I have to have written about the game or done a video on it

Sea of Stars

Developer: Sabotage Studio

Genre: RPG

Review Score: 9/10 (Steam)

Sea of Stars is a spectacular game! The graphics and gameplay are awesome, and the story is terrific until the abrupt ending that turns into a vertical-scrolling shooter. I fixate on strange things like that, but the game is exceptional!

In Sea of Stars, you play as a pair of Solstice Warriors fighting against the Fleshmancer’s minions. The two older Solstice Warriors, who act as your mentors in the early parts of the game, betray the order and join the Fleshmancer. There is a ton of Lovecraftian imagery in the game. It looks amazing!

This is one of the best games of 2023. It is a throwback to turn-based RPGs from the 90s. Sea of Stars brought me so much joy. It was like playing a forgotten RPG from the PlayStation.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals

Developer: Night School Studio

Genre: Adventure

Review Score: 9/10 (Steam)

I was looking forward to this game, and it didn’t disappoint. It is a wonderful game that adds a lot to the story from the first game. It is nice to hear about the people from the first game and meet a new cast of characters.

In Oxenfree II, you play as Riley. She is an awesome character; you learn a lot about her throughout the game. Her pregnancy comes out of nowhere, or it seemed to come out of nowhere when I first played it. After another playthrough, it made sense.

 This is one of the better games that I played this year. I like the first game a little more, but Oxenfree II offers more opportunities to explore the game. You can learn more about the plot by exploring. I hope this series has another game because I’m really enjoying it.

Killer Frequency

Developer: Team 17

Genre: Adventure

Review Score: 10/10 (Steam)

Killer Frequency snuck up on me this year. I vaguely remember hearing about it last year, but I’m not totally sure. When I sat down to play it, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. The more I played it, the more I enjoyed the story and the gameplay.

The game is set in a small town radio station. You play as a DJ who left a big city to work in this small town. You learn about this town through the main character. There are local legends and a dark secret that some prominent town members have been hiding.

Then you find out that a Killer called The Whistling Man is on the loose, has killed the sheriff, and the 911 operator has routed all the emergency calls to the radio station. The gameplay centers around you trying to help townspeople escape the killer. The more of the story is explained to you as the game goes on.

This was a great game to play! The gameplay is simple, and the story is a lot of fun. It reminded me of horror films from the 80s and 90s.

Dredge

Developer: Black Salt Studio

Genre: Horror Fishing Adventure

Review Score: 10/10 (Steam)

This game has appeared on several lists I’ve made this year. It is one of the best indie, horror, and video games I’ve played in a while. It was fun to go through it and learn more about this random patch of ocean that makes up the game’s world.

In Dredge, you play as a fisherman shipwrecked on an island. The island’s Mayor gives you a ship, and you travel around the archipelago fishing and learning more about the people who call these islands home. Throughout the game, you learn more about your character, and depending on your choices, you’ll get a different ending.

This was a fun game to play. It is also a mix of genres that I wouldn’t think of putting together. However, using a Lovecraftian setting made this game amazing! You collect some creepy-looking fish, and when night falls, things get creepy.

Final Fantasy VI

Developer: Square

Genre: RPG

Review Score: 9/10 (Steam)

This is my favorite game in the Final Fantasy Series. I also like Final Fantasy VII an awful lot, but this one is a little better, in my opinion. It is also a fantastic game to revisit and see what I’ve forgotten or if I’ve missed something.

Like many Final Fantasy games, you start with one goal and a clearly defined enemy, only for things to turn on you and a new, more powerful enemy to reveal itself. In this case, you start by fighting against the Empire and trying to prevent them from using Espers to take over the world. Then, the Emperor is betrayed, and Kefka achieves something close to godhood and remakes the world in his image. Finally, you have to defeat him, which falls into the RPG trope of having to defeat a deity.

There is so much more to this game that I’m not mentioning here. There is a ton of character development, and the player is encouraged to play the game again to learn more about this party of heroes. It has a great story and terrific gameplay.

Vandal Hearts

Developer: Konami

Genre: Tactical RPG

Review Score: 8.5/10 (My Score)

This was an excellent game to play. I was struggling to get into an RPG at the time, and this one hooked me from the start. Tactical RPGs are some of my favorite games, and Vandal Hearts took some of the best parts of the genre and made them better.

Vandal Hearts takes place in a war-torn country where the peasants have recently overthrown the monarchy. This game has numerous parallels to the French Revolution but ends with demons, which is awesome!

The game is relatively easy as far as Tactical RPGs go. The game has no perma death, and the battles aren’t challenging. It can be too easy at times. I was expecting more from the final boss, and the time-travel aspects of the game were odd. Aside from those two things, Vandal Hearts is a great game.

Tactics Ogre

Developer: Quest

Genre: Tactical RPG

Review Score: 9.5/10

This is one of my favorite games of all time. There are similarities between this game’s plot and Yugoslavia’s historical breakup. There are other examples of ethnic conflicts, but I feel that war in the Balkans is closer to how things are set up in this game.

In this game, you play as Denim, or whatever you want to name him. You start the game by fighting to free your people from occupation, but the plot changes depending on your choices in the game. The ending will also vary depending on what you do in the game.

Tactics Ogre is one of the games I played a lot in the 90s. It took a few years for me to beat it, but learning how to play the game was a ton of fun. It is my second favorite Tactical/Strategy RPG.

Jade Cocoon

Developer: Genki

Genre: RPG

Review Score: 8.5/10 (My Score)

This is a game I have fond memories of. I rented it back in the 90s, and it was one of the few rentals I remember beating before returning it. It is a wonderful game that has some similarities to Pokemon.

In this game, you play as a member of an isolated village surrounded by a forest and a magical barrier. At the beginning of the game, the village is attacked by locusts that spread a sleeping sickness to the village. As the village’s Cocoon Master, you must venture into the forests to find a cure. Along the way, you tame monsters and use them in battle. Your character can also fight, but you’re not as strong as the monsters.

It isn’t a clone of Pokemon. It just happened to be released around the same time as Pokemania started, and it got lumped into several other games that used a similar mechanic. This is one of my favorite RPGs on the PS1 because I got hooked by the story. I wish the game’s lore were more front and center instead of being hidden to the side.

Thousand Arms

Developer: Red Entertainment. Tose

Genre: RPG

Review Score: 9/10 (My Score)

Have you ever wanted to date some women you met in an RPG? Well, you can do that in this game if you want to. Thousand Arms is a quirky game with a ton of humor.

You play as a blacksmith who can imbue his swords with different elemental powers. To do this, you will need different women’s help. Parts of the game act like a dating sim, but it is optional, and if you don’t do it, you can still beat the game. It is an odd mechanic in an RPG, but it can be a fun distraction from the main game.

The combat system in Thousand Arms is different. The battles play out as one-on-one fights with up to two AI party members on each side. This, along with the anime cutscenes, stood out to me when I was playing this game.

Vampire Survivors

Developer: Poncle

Genre: Roguelike

Review Score: 10/10 (Steam)

Vampire Survivors is a fantastic game! It has a simple idea, and the game doesn’t last much longer than 30 minutes. It feels like it could fit into the Castlevania series with its power-ups and the characters you can play as.

In this game, you’re exploring a level and gathering power-ups. You start with one weapon, and as your character levels up, you’ll get more weapons and collect power-ups for those weapons. You have 30 minutes to find key items on the level; when you do, you can unlock new characters and levels.

I find this game to be very relaxing. I’m unsure if that is what the developers were going for, but that is how I feel when I play it. I don’t have to worry about following the story, and I don’t have to play for an extended period of time if I don’t want to.

Area 88

Developer: Capcom

Genre: Shoot’em Up

Review Score: 9.5/10 (My Score)

This was a fun rabbit hole to fall down! I knew this game as UN Squadron, and while looking for an affordable copy, I found the Super Famicom version, Area 88. This sent me on a journey to learn more about the game, and I ended up watching the 1980s anime.

This is a side-scrolling shooter that takes place in an alternate timeline. You play as one of three pilots and can purchase better planes and weapons. It is a ton of fun to play!

There are some differences between the US and Japanese versions of the game. The plot is different, and the ending also seems to be different. Overall, they’re the same game, and both versions are awesome!

Pro Wrestling

Developer: Nintendo

Genre: Wrestling

Review Score: 30/40 (Famitsu)

This is the best wrestling game on the NES. I like it a little more than Tecmo World Wrestling. It has a great roster of wrestlers, and the controls are great.

Pro Wrestling is much better than most of the wrestling games on the NES. It is more of a simulation of a pro wrestling match. It has more depth than the WWF-licensed games and is only rivaled by Tecmo World Wrestling. I like this Pro Wrestling a bit more, which is why it is on the list.

This is one of the games I missed out on as a kid. I went back to play it this year as I went through the wrestling games on various consoles I collect for. I found it an excellent game that was much better than the other games on the NES.

HammerLock Wrestling

Developer: Jaleco

Genre: Wrestling

Review Score: 8/10

I liked this game an awful lot. It has problems, but they aren’t all that bad, and once you get used to the visual style, you’ll find a terrific wrestling game. While this isn’t my favorite wrestling game on the SNES, it is one of the best games I’ve played this year.

The visuals are the biggest hang-up with this game. Two-thirds of the screen is dedicated to the cutscenes of the wrestlers and the audience. When you do a move, it will be shown on the screen. Sometimes, the cutscene will take up the bottom or top two-thirds of the screen.

Beyond the visuals, the controls are excellent. The gameplay is outstanding, and I love the graphics. There is a colorful cast of characters that feel over-the-top in some cases and grounded in others. It feels like a combination of the WWF and WCW from that period.

Toe Jam and Earl

Developer: Sega

Genre: Adventure

Review Score: 8.5/10 (My Score)

Sometimes you need something weird. You need to ease into something strange and quirky. For me, that thing was Toe Jam & Earl.

This is an adventure game where you’re trying to find the pieces of a spaceship. These pieces are spread out across a version of Earth. It made me wonder what an alien might think Earth is like and how all of us would look to them. It is a challenging game, and it is one that I have fond memories of.

I played this game with several of my friends. It was one of the games that made me want to get a Sega Genesis. Toe Jam & Earl is a game I have a lot of Nostalgia for. There is something relaxing about this game that I love, and I’m glad that the series has come back in some way with Back in the Groove,

Slay the Princess

Developer: Black Tabby Games

Genre: Visual Novel, Choose Your Own Adventure

Review Score: 8/10 (My Score)

I’m not sure how to define this game. It plays like a Visual Novel but also feels like reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book. It can be a confusing experience when you start playing it.

In Slay the Princess, you have a straightforward goal. You have to walk into a cabin, pick up a knife, then go into a basement and kill a Princess. If you do this and wait, you can “win,” but you miss all the fun and disturbing things in the game. To get one of the endings, you must go through a cycle of killing the Princess and then killing yourself. This brings you to another dimension where things get explained. It can be a confusing game to play through.

I enjoyed Slay the Princess but wasn’t sure why I liked it. It has a fascinating story, which makes up for the limited gameplay. It feels like everything in the game is lying, or they aren’t telling you everything you need to know. You don’t have to follow The Narrator’s directions, and you’ll learn more about the game by ignoring him. It is a terrific story, even if it is confusing at times.

Best of the Rest

• Air Fortress
• Fuga
• Rewind or Die
• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
• Doom II
• X-COM: Terror from the Deep
• Kung-Fu Heroes
• Oxenfree
• Heavy Barrel
• Signalis

Conclusion

There are many more games I could’ve put on this list and a good number of games that I missed this year. The games on this list are the ones that I enjoyed the most.  There are many more games that I wanted to get to, but I either ran out of time or couldn’t get into them for whatever reason.

I didn’t get to all of the retro RPGs I wanted to this year. I had initially planned to play Wizardry, Breath of Fire II, and Suikoden, to name a few. I’ll try to get to them next year. Here is a list of the RPGs I’m going to try to get to in 2024:

• Suikoden
• Breath of Fire II
• Ogre Battle
• Ogre Battle 64
• Paper Mario
• Threads of Fate
• Shining Force II
• Final Fantasy VII
• Dragon Quest VIII

We’ll see if I can pull this off. I don’t want to make any promises, and things are always subject to change, like how I played Vandal Hearts this year, even though I wasn’t planning on it.

There were too many indie games for me to play. I do my best to keep up with these games and the bigger releases, but I struggle to do so, and I keep missing great games. I’ve got a few I want to play for next year and some that I have but didn’t get to. Here is a list of the games on my backlog at the moment:

• Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince
• Brigandine (Switch rerelease)
• Cosmic Star Heroine
• Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher

I’m looking forward to the new Monster Rancher game. I love the series and should go back and play the older ones at some point.

I’m looking forward to the indie games that are going to be coming out this year. I try to keep up with the ones coming to GamePass and on Steam. Let me know some of the games I’ve missed this year or that you think I should play. I’ll do my best to get to them. I’m looking forward to 2024 and seeing where this journey through video games and books takes me. I’m grateful that so many of you have decided to follow me as I fumble along. I’ll try to improve my writing and my videos. Thank you for following me on whatever social media platform you see this on!