By Sevastromo in annual-top-10 — Dec 12, 2023

My Top 10 Games Played in 2023

Plus, the Inaugural Class of the Revamped Hall of Fame

1. Spelunky 2

Spelunky 2 is the gold standard for roguelike platformers. Despite the light-hearted theme, Spelunky 2 is seriously challenging in all the rights ways. After 140 hours and hundreds of runs, I feel like I’ve been on an expansive and fulfilling journey. Not only an in-game journey, exploring new levels, finding cool items, etc. but also a personal journey in which I had to overcome both mental and physical hurdles to get to where I’m at today. Defeating Hundun has to be one of my favorite accomplishments in gaming and one that will mark the end of a journey that I barely thought possible. But who knows, maybe I’ll come back and reach 7-99 someday. After coming this far, I can’t rule it out.

Why is Spelunky 2 #1?

I played Spelunky 2 upon release, but in 2023 is when it actually hit home for me. What a journey it was, going from stumbling around in the Dwelling to conquering Hundun. This is what roguelikes are all about, this is what games are all about.

2. FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL is my favorite game of all time. Why? Because the gameplay, the theme, the roguelike structure, the soundtrack, the replayability all connected with me at a formative time in my life. In many ways that is because FTL is best in class for the roguelike genre but it’s also because those gameplay mechanics were so novel to me at the time. My younger brother told me about FTL in my early days of PC gaming and at that time, my Steam library primarily consisted of games that I had already played on consoles. My knowledge of video games as a whole was fairly limited to sports games and old multiplayer hits of my childhood like Halo, Call of Duty, or Star Wars Battlefront. I had no idea what indie games were, so being on Steam in those days was like the wild west. I could pick up a game on sale and have no clue what I was getting into. My brother would recommend something, I’d see it for $2.50, next thing you know I was booting it up.

This year I played through every ship in random order on hard mode and wrote about it in great detail. Check it out! I had an absolute blast playing and writing about FTL.

Why is FTL #2?

In these annual wrap-up articles, I tend to favor newer games or more novel experiences. I already knew FTL was one of my favorite games of all time. This year Spelunky 2 elevated itself to the FTL tier in my eyes, so it gets the nod.

3. Exanima

Exanima’s two calling cards are physics-based combat and immersive exploration, but the potential is there for so much more. Set in a low fantasy, medieval dungeon, Exanima pits you, a lone wanderer, against disorienting, labyrinthian level design and its roaming undead residents. In this dungeon, you start from nothing and must scavenge together armor to shield your fragile body and weapons to forge your path forward. In Exanima, saving your game is limited to a slim few level checkpoints and healing items are extremely scarce. Your characters health is the most precious commodity, so careful exploration and mastery of combat are of utmost importance.

Exanima is an early access game and has been for quite some time. Updates are slow and steady and up until recently the game clearly has been a work in progress. In the last two major updates, I think version 0.8 and now the latest 0.9, Exanima is coming very close to feeling like a complete package. Who knows how long it will be until 1.0, all I know is that Exanima, right now is an incredible achievement in unique, immersive gameplay and world design.

Why is Exanima #3?

Exanima has come a long way since I first played it in 2016. I’ve always recognized its ambitious potential, but not until update 0.9 did I see that potential fully realized. There’s a good chance when this comes out in version 1.0 it will be number 1 on my year end list, it’s just a question of what year will that be.

4. Amnesia: The Bunker

Amnesia: The Bunker is a thoroughly impressive addition to the survival horror genre. Frictional have successfully integrated survival horror staples with their iconic world, lore, and monster horror design. The stalker is an excellent implementation of the unkillable monster antagonist in the vein of the Necromorph from Alien Isolation and Mr. X/Nemesis from Resident Evil. The generator mechanic is a fresh and inspired addition that turns the bunker into a dynamic, unpredictable environment that can change its tone at a moments notice. Randomized resource locations, traps, rats, locker codes, and customizable difficulty options mean the bunker can be revisited multiple times and remain uncomfortable and unfamiliar. What more can I say, other than that The Bunker is an incredibly complete survival horror package.

Why is Amnesia: The Bunker #4?

Up until the end of November I had this written for Signalis: “The best survival horror experience I’ve had outside of Resident Evil.” Well, after playing The Bunker I had to take that back. If it wasn’t for this incredibly stacked year, The Bunker would’ve easily been top 3.

5. Into the Breach: Advanced Edition

Into the Breach is a tightly designed tactical, turn-based, puzzle roguelike. It's a hell of a follow up to FTL for Subset Games. To our benefit much of the Subset’s game design staples are here. Focused but not completely minimalist game design. Roguelike elements like permadeath, randomized maps, and a variety of starting loadouts for your runs. Very clean and understandable UI design. Beautifully detailed art design. And last but not least, an incredible, sci-fi soundtrack from Ben Prunty. Where Into the Breach diverges from FTL is the puzzle-like nature of combat. Combat is turn-based and the enemy tells you exactly what their move is. This leads to these diabolical situations you get yourself into where the perfect solution can seem impossible, so now you must prioritize what imperfect solution is best. Do you protect your mech pilots? Do you achieve your mission objectives, do you protect civilian lives? Do you try to eliminate as many bugs as possible? Oh yeah, did I mention this game is about mechs fighting giant bugs in the middle of the remnants of human society? I could’ve probably started with that.

Nonetheless, I finally got around to playing the new Advanced Edition and suffice to say, Into the Breach was already in my top echelon of roguelikes but this time it just cemented its status. Also, Into the Breach is easily the best Steam Deck game I’ve played. Prefect integration, perfect controls, perfect gameplay format, I love it!

Why is Into the Breach #5?

Into the Breach enters the top 5 because I finally got around to playing the excellent, new Advanced Edition. The added difficulty and new squads alone were enough to elevate it in my eyes, as replayability options are king when you have such a solid gameplay foundation.

6. Signalis

Signalis clinically executes on the classic survival horror gameplay formula. Everything from the limited inventory to the fixed camera angle, to the puzzles and backtracking is done as well as it’s ever been done. I really don’t have that much to say about Signalis’ gameplay. If you’re familiar with the formula, playing Signalis is like slipping into a new but invitingly familiar survival horror sleeping bag.

Where Signalis differentiates itself is in its themes, atmosphere, world-building, and story. I’ve played Signalis twice now and I feel closer to understanding the basic concepts of this fictional world but much of the specifics about our characters remain shrouded in mystery. Signalis pulls inspiration from many sources: Alien, Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, The Shining, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, the list goes on… The truth remains however that Signalis is more than the sum of its influences. Not once do these influences pull you out of the experience. It’s quite the opposite. I believe Signalis’ strengths are its fully realized lore and the unique worlds it has created for itself.

Signalis is a must-buy for any survival horror fan. I think it’s an instant classic. Oh, and it runs and plays great on the Steam Deck.

Why is Signalis #6?

The best survival horror experience I’ve had outside of Resident Evil, oh wait I’ve now played Amnesia: The Bunker... Signalis suffers from being played in December 2022. I finally got around to replaying it this month to maybe write a review but at least comment on it for this wrap up, but my experience was comparable to the first time around, so it stays here at #6. I honestly can’t believe Signalis is a #6, it feels like game of the year material. It started up at #2 and then proceeded to keep falling in the rankings for the entire year.

7. Super Auto Pets

Super Auto Pets delivers on the commitment of a chill auto battler. I found it has just the right mix of strategy and randomization to keep things engaging and entertaining. The randomized weekly pet pack is a perfect mode that keeps the whole player base on their toes. As long as you’re not too obsessed with optimal strategies and don’t take a run of bad luck too seriously, Super Auto Pets might be up your alley.

Why is Super Auto Pets #7?

A weirdly themed game in a genre I was completely new to is a surprising inclusion on this list. But the beginner friendly and yet strategically deep gameplay is very addicting and laid-back. I am now a little interested in auto battlers, thank you Super Auto Pets.

8. The Last Spell

I haven’t beaten all the maps in The Last Spell, but I feel done with the game. The first 50 hours was an absolute thrill ride, only being bogged down by slow meta-progression and tedious gear optimization. Runs are long but maybe not what you would call a campaign, think 10-15 hours. Run strategies don’t feel all that different, building economics and good hero builds always work. 70 hours in and I don’t have a whole lot of motivation to continue. Many of my favorite games: Rimworld, Battle Brothers, FTL, the list goes on, I bounced off of the first time around. I enjoyed them, but was too fatigued to finish them, I saw their greatness but didn’t have close to a complete understanding of their mechanical depth. The Last Spell might fall in this category and only time will tell. The bones of something great is here, the snappy, stylish turn-based combat, the flair in the presentation with a dynamic and genre-spanning soundtrack, the fun and flexible classless hero builds, all highlight some exceptional game design. So, while I might be done for now, I look forward to revisiting The Last Spell with a fresh set of eyes in the future.

Why is The Last Spell #8?

I could see this one rising in the future but the first time around, I lost interest. Not a good first impression and therefore I can’t see it being much ranked higher.

9. Noita

Noita can be serenely tranquil. Noita can be utter chaos. Minutes of routine exploration can quickly crescendo into fighting for your life against your enemies and the environment. One minute you’re struggling to take down one enemy with your nerf gun-like wand and the next you find a wand that melts everything in your path. You enter one level and cleanly explore every nook and cranny leaving safely on your own terms. The next level you can’t seem to not catch on fire, at every turn you’re stepping in toxic slime, and water is nowhere in sight so you must use the blood of your enemies to extinguish the flames and wash away the toxins. You have to rush to the end of the level because you can’t afford another misstep, but as a consequence leave most of the level unexplored.

This is the dichotomy of Noita. When you combine that perfect wand build, a set of great perks, and excellent game knowledge you can cruise through the chaos and feel like a true battle mage. The majority of the time and especially early on when learning the game, you’ll feel like a conjuror of cheap tricks and rinky-dink spells. But that’s ok, Noita excels in the chaos and the more uncontrolled the better.

Why is Noita #9?

I really like Noita and I finally beat it after coming back to it for the 5th or 6th time. It gets docked a bit due to being previously ranked and my opinion of it not shifting much.

10. Gloomwood

Gloomwood feels both deeper and shallower than its influences, perhaps only because its unfinished. It is clearly inspired by the art direction and stealth of the Thief series, some survival horror elements of Resident Evil, the intertwining map design of Dark Souls, the limited HUD of Dead Space, the list goes on...

This early access game was quite fun and functional for a 10-hour playthrough. It's clearly still a work in progress but that won't hold up your enjoyment. I encountered zero bugs and had no crashes. Gloomwood currently feels like it has the incredible bones of what could be a genre-melding, indie classic. I’m definitely excited to try this again, but the full game feels probably 2 to 3 years away from being complete.

Why is Gloomwood #10?

This is pretty good for an early access game that has a long way to go.

The Hall of Fame

Renovation Update

Recently I overhauled my Hall of Fame page to actually be a Hall of Fame. Before, I did this power ranking thing where games shifted over time as my opinions ebbed and flowed. Now there will be Hall of Fame wings that have games inducted into them on an annual basis. This will allow my thoughts to simmer before making a decision on inducting a game and recognize the importance of a game at a specific time in my past.

The Kiln of the First Flame Wing will be the premier status achievable for a game, only for the best of the best, named in honor of the game that sparked this all in the first place. This is essentially what my power ranked top 10 were. For 2023, two new wings were opened: The Survival Horror and Roguelike Wings. The idea for more wings stemmed from wanting to recognize more games for excellence in their respective areas. Starting out, these are genre-focused wings, but going forward more wings may open up based on theme or time period or something completely random. One wing I have retroactively filled is The Nostalgia Wing, a bunch of games that either I played the heck out of as a kid or were very formative for my taste.

Enough with the preamble, let’s get into the Class of 2023 Inductees

🔥The Kiln of the First Flame Wing🔥

The first inductee into the revamped Hall of Fame’s prestigious wing is my favorite entry of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. In 2023, I played through the entire series again but like previously completely fell in love with Call of Pripyat. I think this is the third time now that that has happened, so this induction may be overdue.

🚪The Survival Horror Wing🚪

In 2023 I played two of the best survival horror games ever made. Signalis and Amnesia: The Bunker are modern classics with deep roots and make perfect sense as the inductees that open The Survival Horror Wing.

🏃The Roguelike Wing🏃

The Roguelike Wing would have opened with or without these two impressive follow-ups. However, it’s pretty cool to induct Spelunky 2 and Into the Breach in light of their predecessor's substantial impact on the genre.

Honorable/Dishonorable Mentions

Great Replays

Half-Life RTX
Half-Life has aged pretty nicely for a 90s shooter. With the RTX mod the environments are simply gorgeous without disrupting too much of the original vision. Gameplay is fast and responsive as usual.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
I highly recommend the entire S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and many of its mods. Weirdly enough, Shadow of Chernobyl might be my least favorite to play out of the main-line trilogy. Many believe it is the best game out of the bunch. I do not necessarily disagree, but to me the campaign feels a little too long and the gameplay mechanics are a bit thin. However, those comments do not stop SoC from being an absolutely essential experience. Anyone who can withstand some endearing jank and is interested in the origins of modern titles like Metro, DayZ, and Escape From Tarkov should take a look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R., starting with Shadow of Chernobyl. The Zone simply provides an experience unlike any other in gaming. I was glad to be back with the first of the series and I know it won’t be long until I return again.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky
My 4th playthrough and finally my 1st time all the way through. I played the Last Fallout Overhaul (LFO), a x64 bit remake. A good experience held back by buggy AI, crashes, etc. Visuals and gameplay were great. I want to replay in the future without LFO but not sure how. Vanilla CS was even giving issues, crashing a lot. Gunfights were awesome but could’ve been so much better without bugged AI. Extra maps/missions made it feel bloaty. Loved the faction wars in concept. The Clear Sky/Renegade war worked well and felt great fighting alongside other Stalkers. Freedom/Duty war bugged out for me, very disappointing. Anomaly hunting is a great addition to the series. Retreading old locations is no big deal, I actually love it.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
My 2nd playthrough using Gunslinger. Nothing very new to say, other than I fucking love it. It would be in my top 5 again if it wasn’t pretty much the same experience from a couple years ago.

Failed Replays

Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight falls in the "not for me" category. I recognize the excellent production value, the high-quality visuals, and beautifully somber tone but for a first foray into the Metroidvania genre, maybe it was a poor choice on my part.
My 11ish hours with the game span a handful of frustrating attempts to get into it. I think every attempt was thwarted by the infamous tedium of redoing a boss run. This is something I knew of going in but was not discouraged due to my experience with Souls game, Dark Souls 1 being one of my favorite games of all-time. It's hard to put my finger on, but everything in Hollow Knight feels unforgiving to the point of not being fun anymore. Platforming feels as if every platform is a couple pixels smaller than it looks visually. Your hitbox feels a couple pixels bigger than you look. Enemies feel tough to hit as if there is too small a difference between your sword's hitbox and your own. I say all this in criticism but am fully aware of my own inexperience in the Metroidvania and platforming genres. Hollow Knight just rubbed me the wrong way. Coming off playing an excessive amount of Spelunky 2, where I fell in love with platforming, Hollow Knight proceeded to push me back into the dumpster and tell me I'm nothing special.

Thief Gold
I beat a few more missions but ended up uninstalling before finishing. I don’t know…. Thief is such an iconic game, but the level design can really lose me sometimes. They’re too big I think with not enough going on to support that size. You need a lot of patience in this game. I don’t mind this in theory but in practice I have 30 minutes at night to play something and find it unsatisfying to dedicate time to learning NPC routes/behaviors and doing the whole quick save, quick load routine. In that time, I need more in your face gameplay decisions and interesting moments that have conclusions (ex: FTL and Into the Breach).

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Wow, I have once again played through White Orchard in its entirety then proceeded to lose interest in Velen. The idea in my head of replaying The Witcher 3 is so much more appetizing than actually playing it. I think I need to get a completely different gaming setup to enjoy these types of games again (and I need more time). A couch with a controller might help me enjoy all these cutscenes and such much more.

Fallout 1
I made it to The Hub this time! But at the end of the day (literally), I don’t have the time or interest to invest into Fallout. The world is incredible. I love the art style, world building, claymation characters, but everything else is a drag. Combat is terribly tedious, the world reactivity to your actions is very poor, and the quest design while admirably intricate and open-ended at times can be very obtuse. I feel like this would’ve been my favorite game if I had been a teenager in the 90s.

In the Conversation

Risk of Rain 2
I came back and beat it, but that was it. I don’t really feel compelled to do anything else. I’m not a huge fan of the gameplay. Deaths either feel like a mystery as you get one-shot out of midair, or you just aren’t doing enough damage anymore.

Duskers
It’s weird but cool one that got interrupted by FTL unfortunately. I liked the ship scavenging but the larger run to run progression kind of confused me. I need to get into it more to understand it better.

Most Anticipated Games

Replays

Half-life 2
I’ve been thinking about this one for a while. An RTX version just got announced that I’m very intrigued by so I’m going to wait for that!

Dark Souls
Dark Souls on the Steam Deck? Why not.

Project Zomboid
Whenever the next huge update comes out, I’m there.

New to Me

Resident Evil 4 Remake
The original was never my favorite Resident Evil, not even close… but this remake got resounding praise, so I’ll try it on sale.

Metal Gear Solid Collection
Seems like a serviceable port, kinda… I’ll get it on sale probably… but SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK KONAMI!!! I really don’t understand why any company would treat their best-selling, most notable, culturally iconic IPs this way. Release good shit and people will buy it. Now I feel pretty much compelled to wait for this collection to be on a deep sale and hope Konami or modders fix all the issues. I would’ve paid full price! But no, Konami go ahead and shoot yourself in the foot again.

Cyberpunk 2077
Looks like the full game finally came out. Still pretty unsure if this type of game is something I’m into. Like I mentioned earlier, I haven’t even enjoyed returning to The Witcher 3… Still Night City seems pretty incredible, I might try this.

Cobalt Core
A roguelike deckbuilder that seems like a combination of FTL and Slay the Spire, say no more.

Unreleased

Open X-Ray Gunslinger
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
I’ll play it when it comes out, whenever that is. That's if my PC can run it.

Menace
Recently announced, Menace is the Battle Brothers developer’s next game, and I couldn’t be more excited. A tactics game with a gritty sci-fi setting… my most anticipated game by far.

Backpack Battles
I played the demo quite a bit and it hit that chill auto-battler vibe of Super Auto Pets really well. The full release has a lot to live up to.