Perusing the lists that come out at the end of the year, I just found this list-
www.theringer.com
Normally, this wouldn't be of too much interest here. I think that the article is worth reading, but if you don't bother clicking through, here are the top 10-
First, the honorable mentions-
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Blasphemous 2
Chants of Sennaar
Cocoon
Deliver Us Mars
Dredge
Hogwarts Legacy
Jusant
Lies of P
Mortal Kombat 1
Pikmin 4
Remnant II
Sea of Stars
Starfield
Street Fighter 6
10. Diablo IV
9. Hi-Fi Rush
8. Final Fantasy XVI
7. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
6. Dave the Diver
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
4. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
3. Alan Wake 2
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
1. Baldur’s Gate 3
That's right! BG3 placed at number one! If you had told me going into the year that not only would BG3 beat out Diablo 4, but that it would place at, or near, #1 for the year on any list ... I would have been shocked. And yet ... I think this is right. Art is subjective- but if it's not number 1 using whatever criteria you decide on, it certainly was one of the major gaming stories of the year.
Here's what they say about it-
In most video games, if you see a dead body, you walk up to it and grab whatever loot you can, because that’s how video games work. In Baldur’s Gate 3, if you try to loot the body of a fallen soldier while his friends are standing nearby, they will rightly become very upset with you and throw you in jail. This is how a “role-playing game” should work. Larian Studios, the developer of Baldur’s Gate 3, demands that you leave your preconceptions about video games behind and instead spend your time in a painstakingly well-crafted world as if you really live there. Baldur’s Gate 3 provides an unprecedented level of freedom by shaping its characters and narratives around even the smallest of its players’ actions or words. The care taken in creating every single branch of BG3’s tree of potential outcomes is staggering.
Perhaps the only significant criticism that can be levied against BG3 is that it can be a bit overwhelming at first for players unfamiliar with the structure of its Dungeons & Dragons roots. It’s otherwise a nearly flawless game. Its memorable characters and their journeys are extraordinarily well written, and its combat system provides endless opportunities for creative solutions.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has set a new standard for how we expect video games to adapt to the ways we play them. A surprising but indisputable runaway success by an independently owned developer that’s still sizable enough to operate on a triple-A scale, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the game of the year in what may be the greatest year of gaming. Almost 50 years after the first publication date of Dungeons & Dragons, BG3 has, in a broad cultural sense, brought D&D out of the basement and into the living room.
--------------------------------
It's important to note this, because IMO D&D is continuing to have "its moment." Sure, we can debate (and debate, and debate, and debate) whether or not the D&D movie was a "hit" or a "flop," but it was a good movie that a lot of people saw- especially when you add in the streaming. And BG3 continued that exposure in video games ... while I will always have a soft spot for the "Gold Box" games, this was easily the most high-profile and successful foray of D&D into the videogame community; while D&D might have spawned a good deal of modern computer gaming (from Wizardry on), this still was a pretty big moment for actual, bona fide D&D in videogames.
Anyway, just wanted to share this and let people talk about it. Or not! No one is forcing you .... YET.
The Best Video Games of 2023
The video game industry has experienced some turmoil, but the games have never been better
www.theringer.com
Normally, this wouldn't be of too much interest here. I think that the article is worth reading, but if you don't bother clicking through, here are the top 10-
First, the honorable mentions-
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Blasphemous 2
Chants of Sennaar
Cocoon
Deliver Us Mars
Dredge
Hogwarts Legacy
Jusant
Lies of P
Mortal Kombat 1
Pikmin 4
Remnant II
Sea of Stars
Starfield
Street Fighter 6
10. Diablo IV
9. Hi-Fi Rush
8. Final Fantasy XVI
7. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
6. Dave the Diver
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
4. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
3. Alan Wake 2
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
1. Baldur’s Gate 3
That's right! BG3 placed at number one! If you had told me going into the year that not only would BG3 beat out Diablo 4, but that it would place at, or near, #1 for the year on any list ... I would have been shocked. And yet ... I think this is right. Art is subjective- but if it's not number 1 using whatever criteria you decide on, it certainly was one of the major gaming stories of the year.
Here's what they say about it-
In most video games, if you see a dead body, you walk up to it and grab whatever loot you can, because that’s how video games work. In Baldur’s Gate 3, if you try to loot the body of a fallen soldier while his friends are standing nearby, they will rightly become very upset with you and throw you in jail. This is how a “role-playing game” should work. Larian Studios, the developer of Baldur’s Gate 3, demands that you leave your preconceptions about video games behind and instead spend your time in a painstakingly well-crafted world as if you really live there. Baldur’s Gate 3 provides an unprecedented level of freedom by shaping its characters and narratives around even the smallest of its players’ actions or words. The care taken in creating every single branch of BG3’s tree of potential outcomes is staggering.
Perhaps the only significant criticism that can be levied against BG3 is that it can be a bit overwhelming at first for players unfamiliar with the structure of its Dungeons & Dragons roots. It’s otherwise a nearly flawless game. Its memorable characters and their journeys are extraordinarily well written, and its combat system provides endless opportunities for creative solutions.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has set a new standard for how we expect video games to adapt to the ways we play them. A surprising but indisputable runaway success by an independently owned developer that’s still sizable enough to operate on a triple-A scale, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the game of the year in what may be the greatest year of gaming. Almost 50 years after the first publication date of Dungeons & Dragons, BG3 has, in a broad cultural sense, brought D&D out of the basement and into the living room.
--------------------------------
It's important to note this, because IMO D&D is continuing to have "its moment." Sure, we can debate (and debate, and debate, and debate) whether or not the D&D movie was a "hit" or a "flop," but it was a good movie that a lot of people saw- especially when you add in the streaming. And BG3 continued that exposure in video games ... while I will always have a soft spot for the "Gold Box" games, this was easily the most high-profile and successful foray of D&D into the videogame community; while D&D might have spawned a good deal of modern computer gaming (from Wizardry on), this still was a pretty big moment for actual, bona fide D&D in videogames.
Anyway, just wanted to share this and let people talk about it. Or not! No one is forcing you .... YET.
