Some kinda 2023 GOTY list (But secretly me musing about Armored Core 6's place in mainstream game discourse)
Originally posted Dec 30, 2023
10. Baldur's Gate 3
I could write a lot about how this was my most played game of 2023 but not my favorite by a large margin. About how bad I think its writing is for most of the overarching plot. Or just how utterly hollow of any unique identity it is.
This game is here for one reason. Larian made a D&D based video game where the monk class was legitimately fun to play. A feat that has somehow eluded WOTC for a full decade. Open Hand monk with the Tavern Brawler feat is like breathing clean air for the first time in 10 years. Larian shows up and let's me punch a dude for like 30 fucking damage and then let's me do that 5-7 more times in a single turn. I feel like an actual fantasy hero and not WOTC's least favorite class.
9. Death Stranding: Director's Cut
I played Death Stranding when it launched on consoles but fell off during one of the more grueling sections. Took another crack at it on PC this year with the rerelease and finally saw it through. Not much to say here that hasn't been said everywhere else. It's a legitimately fascinating game and honestly I love that something so deeply rooted in a single creator's vision can exist at such a budgetary scale.
8. Dredge
Turns out eldritch fishing is fun. The fishing nor the eldritch aspects are that deep but the game really nails the vibe. It's the kind of game that allows you to organically transition into the more horror-tinged aspects at your own pace, which allows an almost meditative element to the game. Then occasionally it throws something at you that makes you go "what the fuck was THAT?!"
7. Street Fighter 6
There's probably a paper to be written about Capcom's modern resurgence. Street Fighter represents another stone in that path, showcasing the benefits of the longevity and recognition that long running franchises enjoy. Street Fighter could survive Third Strike, IV Ultra, and all of V. It could survive multiple catastrophic failures that would have capsized other studios, allowing something like Street Fighter 6 to gestate in the ashes.
Street Fighter 6: Survivalist, heroic as a tiger is.
6. Lies of P
I cannot believe Pinnochio Bloodborne is this high on the list. It's a damn good emulation of the Souls formula, maybe the best ever done by someone not named Fromsoft. The action feels so crisp, it's wild how good it feels. The story even manages to take its own tonal approach on the "fucked up little guy exploring a fucked up place" milieu Fromsoft loves so much.
5. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Like Breath of the Wild, I couldn't finish Tears of the Kingdom the same year it was released. These games are too majestic, too filled with beauty and wonder to be explored in a single calendar year. TotK is such a marvelous evolution of what BotW established that I could never imagine going back. The construction mechanic is such a novel addition to the open world format, it feels like a natural extension of the "aha, I'm such a genius" feeling BotW intentionally engendered through its game design. I wish the story were more fleshed out but maybe I'm a fool to expect that from Zelda or Nintendo.
4. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Like a Dragon Gaiden barely manages to justify itself as a standalone release, but it's hard to say no to one more ride with Kiryu Kazuma. I've publicly stated my Kiryu fatigue, more than ready to embrace Ichiban as the new face of the series. Gaiden reminds me that it isn't that Kiryu got worse, we just had too much of him. But it's been a little while now. Three games and two new protagonists later, and Kiryu feels comfortable.
This was originally sitting in the 5-7 range of my list but having recently finished it, the last 3 or so hours of Gaiden is some of the best RGG Studio has ever done. The final boss especially, which feels so much better thought out than 6's. There's a real sense of weight between Kiryu and his opponent; who they are, where they came from, and what they represent. In many ways Gaiden manages to pull humanity out of Kiryu that I never thought possible, but it works and it's beautiful. This is the capstone Kiryu deserved. I still have a great deal of reservation about him being included in Infinite Wealth, I just don't think it makes sense to keep dragging him back into the plot. But even I'll admit Gaiden's ending fills me with a lot of goodwill toward the franchise again.
3. Resident Evil 4 Remake
Goddamn, they did it. No game will ever reconstruct the specific importance and magnitude of 2005's Resident Evil 4 as a piece of media, but the remake does manage to emulate the feat of creating one of the greatest third person shooters of the year.
2. Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush is the best character action game I have played since Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It's not the most technical, most feature filled, or grandest. It is however, an unbelievably joyous game. All video games are passion projects by their very nature, but there is love to be found in every facet Hi-Fi Rush. The combat is snappy, the rhythm aspect works perfectly, the characters are a great deal of fun, the writing is witty without feeling heartless, and the music is the perfect encapsulation of a highly specific kind of early 00s person. This is video games at its best. Hi-Fi Rush is one of only two games this year I've bothered to fully "master" in the sense of accomplishing every task and acing every grade it presents.
1. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
The other of course, is Armored Core 6. If you're still reading this, I'm going to level with you. The thing that motivated this post was listening to four separate GOTY podcasts from four distinct gaming outlets. Not a single one said the words "Armored Core 6" out loud even once in passing. I will not point fingers, but members at these outlets vocally proclaimed after the reveal trailer in 2022 they would finally become Armored Core fans or said that as the world's biggest enthusiasts of Fromsoft, they would follow them no matter what kind of games they made.
Most of these people are now silent come end of year. As far as I know, most of them never got past Balteus. Some even stopped at the helicopter.
This doesn't surprise me. There is no world in which Armored Core was going to enjoy some kind of mainstream renaissance. No outlet would recognize V.IV Rusty as the greatest video game character of 2023. "Steel Haze: Rusted Pride" isn't going to make any game journalist's "Best Music" category. The words, "Ice Worm" probably doesn't mean a thing to most of them. This game was always going to push away all but the most devoted.
And this isn't to pretend like the game is some kind of obscure underdog. It's the second most played Fromsoft game on Steam, it's the best selling entry in the franchise, the people have spoken. But critics didn't really seem to latch onto it the way they did Bloodborne or Elden Ring. It did not reach the ivory tower of mainstream games criticism.
Armored Core 6 is a game made for sickos. Unapologetically so. I have more love in my heart for Fromsoft committing to this decision than you could possibly know. In a world where game studios are pressured to lean into their most popular hits, it brings me an unbelievable amount of joy that Armored Core 6 is so uncompromised. It's all here, refined and revised of course. But at its foundation, unchanged.
Do you understand how strange it feels? I accepted in my heart that Armored Core was dead. Why shouldn't I? What sane business would willingly step away from Elden Ring? To see Armored Core alive, thriving even. It's a surreal feeling, I don't know how to respond sometimes. I think I'll turn away then look back, and it'll be gone once more. Armored Core 6 dares me to dream again.
Maybe I'll have to wait another 10 years for a new Armored Core. That's okay, I'm used to waiting. It comes with being a mecha fan, we rarely get what we want. And bereft of what I want in the world, I'll make it myself. This is why I became an artist. If the world will not love Armored Core enough, then I will love it enough to make more in its image.
I won't stop. Only I can fly high enough!