2023 is almost behind us. With four days left to it, we’ve decided to share our GOTY 2023 list. And we know, a lot of you are waiting for our Top 10 Optimized PC Games list. This will come out, most likely, on December 30th or December 31st. Until then, you can find below the games that pirovashMX, Spencer and John enjoyed the most.
pirovashMX – Resident Evil 4 Remake
Resident Evil 4, an iconic title that defined the survival horror genre, has been resurrected in the form of a stunning remake. Capcom’s latest rendition of this survival horror masterpiece successfully marries nostalgia with modern gaming technology, providing both long-time fans and newcomers an unforgettable experience.
The game’s atmosphere, a critical element in any Resident Evil title, remains as oppressive and suspenseful as ever. The lighting effects, enhanced by modern rendering, create an immersive and chilling ambiance that keeps players on the edge of their seats. The sound design, which has always been a strength of the series, receives a boost with reimagined audio that further intensifies the horror
experience.
Gameplay enhancements in Resident Evil 4 Remake are a double-edged sword. On one hand, the refined controls and improved aiming mechanics make for a smoother and more accessible experience. On the other hand, some purists may argue that the original’s deliberate, tank-like controls added to the tension
and fear, which has been somewhat diminished in this iteration (I prefer the latter). Nevertheless, the updated controls allow for a more seamless transition for players accustomed to contemporary gaming standards.
One of the standout features of the remake is the revamped enemy AI. The once predictable adversaries now showcase more dynamic behavior, adding an extra layer of challenge to the already tense encounters. The adaptive difficulty system ensures that the game tailors its intensity to the player’s skill level, maintaining a constant sense of threat without becoming overwhelmingly difficult.
In conclusion, Resident Evil 4 Remake is a triumph in revitalizing a classic while introducing it to a new generation of gamers. With its breathtaking visuals, refined gameplay, and a commitment to preserving the essence of the original, Capcom has successfully breathed new life into a title that has left an indelible mark on the survival horror genre. Whether you’re a seasoned Resident Evil veteran or a newcomer to the series, Resident Evil 4 Remake is an essential experience that pays homage to the past while embracing the future of gaming.
According to Steam Replay, this year 14% of my games played were 2023 releases vs. 9% for the overall Steam audience. Last year I was at 8% for current year releases and as regular readers might already know I usually play older content but 2023 was an absolutely stacked year, particularly on PC and on Nintendo’s aging Switch platform. I couldn’t help myself so I spent quite a bit of time on games like Atomic Heart, Diablo IV, Sonic Superstars, Company of Heroes 3 and Warhammer 40k Boltgun among some other new releases. However, I have yet to get my hands on some other heavy hitters released this year like Baldur’s Gate 3 or Hogwarts Legacy so with that in mind: My game of the year, truthfully, came down to Company of Heroes 3 or Atomic Heart and I ended up leaning towards Atomic Heart. Atomic Heart came out pretty early in the year and was surrounded by a controversy I didn’t quite understand so I won’t really discuss or cover it here. Company of Heroes 3 seems to be surrounded by a similar controversy to Company of Heroes 2 when it launched, it eventually recovered. I didn’t really get involved in either because I am here for single player campaigns when it comes to my RTS games and Company of Heroes 3 checks those boxes.
Anyways, Atomic Heart is essentially a Bioshock-lite that was incredibly well optimized, the game looks gorgeous on a Steam Deck and I played about three quarters of the title on Valve’s wunderkind handheld. Eventually I switched to my desktop because the game became too hard for me on Normal with dual analog controls and that’s when I realized it was probably one of the most keyboard and mouse biased first person games I had played in a while. Atomic Heart’s dodge system on dual analog just kind of sucks… In a weird way it was nice to play a first person game that was so heavily biased in favor of the superior way to play them. The combat feels genuinely smooth on keyboard and mouse. As for the rest of the package? I honestly found it impressive: an interesting setting, great visual design (it’s currently nominated for Steam’s Outstanding Visual Style Award and I’d say it deserves it), fun weapons with interesting mods and upgrades, good gameplay (excluding the open ended areas — I did not enjoy those), sound design and music are similarly high quality. The lead character can be a bit annoying at times and some character designs seem somewhat out of place but Atomic Heart is Mundfish’s first outing and while the game is very much imperfect and has some traditional small-time PC dev jank, these guys are absolutely a developer to watch heading forward. I struggle to think of another developer with a comparable freshman effort in recent years. Check it out.
John “john2gr” Papadopoulos – Wo Long – Fallen Dynasty
At the start of 2023, I was almost certain that a Yakuza game would have been my GOTY. After all, I’m a huge fan of this series. However, The Man Who Erased His Name really let me down. While it has an amazing ending cut-scene, its story is among the most boring ones I’ve ever experienced in 2023. That was a big shock as most of the previous Yakuza games had incredible stories. Hell, even the game’s side stories are nowhere close to what other Yakuza games have achieved. On the other hand, Like a Dragon: Ishin! was great but that was a remake of an older title so I can’t really let it get the award from a brand new game release.
As said, I’m mostly a story-driven player. Baldur’s Gate 3 is an amazing game but I’m not a big fan of this type of RPGs (I know, I know, shame on me). Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Alan Wake 2 and Hogwarts Legacy were great but not candidates for my GOTY. I also enjoyed Diablo 4, Atomic Heart, Dead Space Remake and Hogwarts Legacy. However, the games I played and enjoyed the most were Lies of P, Remnant 2 and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
What’s really funny here is that I’m not a big fan of the Souls genre. Despite that, Lies of P was so much fun. Remnant 2, which is Dark Souls with guns, was also an incredible game. But my GOTY was definitely Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a Sekiro-inspired game, and its gameplay mechanics are even better than those of it. The challenge in this game is reasonable, and you have a pretty wide window to parry the enemy attacks. Parry plays a huge part in this game and it works incredibly well. What makes Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty so great though is its fluid character movement and combat mechanics. Team Ninja has created something special here. Not only that but I never felt that the enemy bosses were “cheating” me (a big issue I have with most other Dark Souls games). Its Chinese theme was also fascinating (although its story is a bit chaotic and all over the place). I cannot stress enough how much fun I had with it (and that was at launch, without any of the boss buffs that Team Ninja brought to it)!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email
Alan Wake 2 and Resident Evil 4
Overall it was mostly RE4R that was the one I remember the most favorably limited to pc and 2023 it would be that in the AAA space. I frankly was underwhelmed by it may just be due to playing the older versions a few times, burned out I guess. The other major aaa ones I played were garbage in general. Some more passable then others, I did enjoy my time with Starfield but it’s not as engaging as fo4 was etc
TOTK in emulation was pretty fun also and I’m not into turn based DnD type stuff but many will likely say BG3. I played a lot of cp77 v2/pl as well which with all the mods was a lot of time spent. For open wheel racing New Star GP is amazing in the retro graphics and casual player genre, just fun out of the box.
I had more fun with older games consistently then anything released this year on pc, far cry 2 modded is one of my most played this year but Dead Cells was big too. Replays of RE8, FC3, FCBD, Alan Wake 1 original, Control replay, replays of all 3 GTA 3d era trilogy games but the DE versions, RDR1 ryujinx, COJ gunslinger replay, lots of RDR2 and modding that. Arkham asylum and a bit of Acity and Arknight etc
COH3 is not well loved by the community over at steam and Wo Long was a terrible mess and likely is still.
For me tears of the kingdom
I did not play BD3 yet
Alan wake 2 close second.
“Its Japanese theme was also fascinating”
Da fck John, the game’s happening in China FACEPALM
It’s weird how much of a weeb he is, but can’t distinguish these cultures. He probably has yellow fever, they all look the same to him.
He is the low IQ in chief of this website, you still get second place.
That can’t be right, he gets you to click on his UE articles on a regular daily basis. You have to be mentally rytarded then?
i’m able bodied, sorry to disapoint.
John has managed to keep his weebness in check so far. It is not as bad as Gematsu or Siliconera….yet.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/134a74b36a37ce173a90b4d8803998d1612e0381428b9e696a3b7dd97a6eefa4.jpg
Hey son, are ya watching those Chinese cartoons again?
Really good to see that people are that much impressed with the Steam Deck already, even though SteamOS is currently just a half-baked OS.
That being said, expect 2024 to be the year where it will make a huge step forward by switching over to this year’s 6.6 LTS version of the Linux kernel, among many other improvements throughout the whole software stack of SteamOS.
And of course 2025 is going to be even better than that…
As John likes to say: Stay tuned!
1.turbo overkill, i like fast paced boomer shooter and cyberpunk
2.robocop, accurate to the movies not a “reimagining it for a modern audience”
3.trepang 2 more like a combat demo than a game but the combat is good.
4.everspace 2 got a bit repetitive later on and spacebourne 2 is not finished yet
5. jedi survivor yeah i know but still its the closest thing we have gotten to a classic action adventure game from a long time ago that games were good, has tons of issues though
6.armored core 6, some games dont need to be super long like elden ring and i like mechs so there we go
7. talos principle 2 not as good as the first too demanding
8. dave the diver great idea, i love underwater stuff not fan of side scrollers but it gets to repetitive i hate how cozy games rely so much on time wasting.
9. sprawl was ok at best, visually it looked good the music was top notch but it was too simplistic and linear and not every game has to be doom eternal combat damn it. I would prefer it if it was more action adventure like the old max payne games.
10. i dont know i think blood west but while i was enjoying the first hub, the second one was meh, i dont like swamps.
NOPE SYSTEM SHOCK I FORGOT SYSTEM SHOCK so yeah system shock is 7 and the rest move down a rank and blood west is out.
i dont like souls games so i will never play wu long, i played dragons age and baldurs gate 1 i did not like either one to continue past the first 2-3 hours, i dont like medieval fantasy i guess. Dont care about the re4 remake i prefer the original with mods. I have not played ghostrunner 1 let alone 2 and i heard colony ship is similar to fallout but in space. ill check that out later.
+1 for Turbo Overkill. One of the best boomer shooters I’ve played in a while. The last few levels are a bit too long though IMO.
I’m partway through Talos Principle 2 and I think it’s pretty good so far. Maybe my opinion will change as I get closer to the end.
**EDIT** Finished Turbo Overkill earlier today, and it just might be my 2023 GoTY.
Since I don’t have much spare-time for videogames, I increasingly like to play them on my Steam Deck OLED where possible, because of its really handy quick suspend & resume feature.
Thus, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Talos Principle 2 became Steam Deck verified, even though it’s an UE5 title.
In fact, Croteam even made a nice picture to go along with it:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f78ce015139ba337be14bb4c6ea253278e10b8a137bab6656bd61f85395f0397.jpg
Since then, I’ve already finished it there, and overall had a great time with it!
I really love puzzle games, but this one is one fücking boring fest with all that religion talk disguised as pseudo-psychology bullshït.
I played it for 3-4 hours and couldn’t get it anymore.
first game was more about humanity dying out due to a apocalyptic event and ai trying to claim its human.
And it was also boring. Why make a fücking huge and empty map just for you to run about and do 3 stüpid puzzles? These lads should take their shït together.
talos principle can run on a steam deck?
when ggmanshills called it “one of the best fps ever” i paused a bit but then concluded that he is right, same when he said trepang 2 has the best combat ever, not the best but one of the best, also i forgot system shock that game was my real number 7, felt so much like the original i forgot it was a new game this is why i did not play dead space and resident evil 4 remake.
Robo was absolutely brilliant, imo. I second you on that.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/06364c845218c7514fa99492ff6493c3491f27713b481d85bfc173483da7bb84.jpg
Lies Of P for me.
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Some game magazines used to include a score for replay value. A shame that is no longer included in today’s reviews, because BG3 would destroy every other RPG.
you mean trans gate 3? Balder’s gate was always RTWP. Turn based can go die in a fire.
Who asked for a popularity contest fact check?
Replayability and longevity of games matters, so you don’t waste $60 on something you play only once.
The fact Wo Long only has 823 players still playing the game, is abysmal.
Games with 0 Replay value belong on streaming services, not on platforms where you spend $60 per game.
I have nothing against games you play through once, but they better not charge $60 for a game you finish in 2 days and throw aside, money does not grow on trees where I live.
GoG is the first store that incorporated “HowLongToBeat” data for every game. So you get value for money. Xbox finally incorporated it too. Steam/Sony and Nintendo are unwilling to add this information.
I know this sounds negative but that sounds like a “you” problem. We all have different ideas on what our personal time is worth, what we can afford to spend, etc,. That said, value proposition is not the same thing as thoroughly enjoying one game over another. While cost is a factor in purchase it seems a bit silly in your context when someone else has identified their personal GOTY.
By his logic only GaaS games where people spend 1000 hours can be GOTY.
I will never stop mocking Bear Gate 3.
Balding Gay 3
Blending Gays 3
bear fckers 3.
Atomic Heart ‘was’ looking to be interesting and I have a reasonable tolerance for bad game design, but after playing the demo it was doa. And by that I mean the voice acting is terrible and completely over the top, to the point it ruins the immersion each and every time. WTF they just didnt get an native english speaker to go through and vet the dialoug is beyond me.
Atomic Heart is absolute trash
Sadly! And I had hopes for this one, the setting was appealing to me, also, the music. In the end, it was a huge disappointment. Bland to stüpid dialogues and ridiculous story.
This studio and the makers of rogue trader and pathfinder are a stain on russians, not the war in ukraine, how the fck can you be a russian studio and write like a soy californian? I blame reddit. Like i said before atomic heart is a western game made by russians.
Agreed 100%.
i wouldnt call it trash but instead of being like system shock and bioshock its a meele focused game with little ammo and one giant loot hoarding fest to get enough resources to upgrade weapons but the game prevents you from having too many weapons and powers while the bunkers where the majority of the game takes place are boring and the outdoors are an endless enemy respawn, the story sucks and there is way too much blah blah chatter as if the player will pick a gun and shoot themselves if they are not constantly chatted by the game. MEH.
Have they fixed Wo Long by now or does it still run like crap?
I have about a gorillion hours in Nioh 2 and the only thing that stopped me from getting Wo Long was the overwhelming number of reports of terrible optimization. I don’t think I can stomach a fast faced action game with a choppy framerate or stutters.
Perhaps I’m being too pessimistic but overall I don’t really see 2023 as a great year for games. Their were some over hyped releases by mainstream media like Starfield which actually turned out to be pretty mediocre and disappointing. Then there were some real failures too. (I’m looking at you Gollum).
Maybe things will turn out better for 2024 but frankly I’m a bit skeptical.
2 games out of… thousands?
Imho, there wasn’t a single game released in 2023 worth of buying a graphics card to run it.
yeah, if anything i want frame gen on old games that are good.
That’d be awesome, indeed.
anyone who says 2023 was a good year for gaming are coping over the fact that the last 3-4 yeas sucked as well, also i have zero interest in any AAA 2024 games.
2023 was a great year in gaming due to:
BG3
Zelda
Super Mario Wonder
But there were tons of mediocre games:
Starfield
Woo Long
Lies of P
FF16
Armored Core 6
Robocop
Hi-Fi Rush
All of these games are very mediocre games with 70%-80% metacritic scores from both users and reviewers. They are nowhere as good as BG3, Zelda or Mario, they are average, and most people agree they are average.
People just enjoy being edgelord contrarians on this site. I aM gOiNg To SaY ThE ExaCt OppOsItE oF ThE MaiNsTreAm!
you mean cuckers gate 3?
Well this site is primarily a PC-centric so console games are only covered if it has a likelihood of being ported to PC or if it’s playable through other means.
You can’t really judge those other games if you haven’t played them. But I will say from my perspective they just don’t provide me that same level of intrigue which older games still do. However, those top 3 games you listed certainly seem more appealing than the others below it with the exception of Robocop, Hi-Fi Rush and Atomic Heart which isn’t listed.
I agree on Atomic Heart and I even loved the DLC. So many people would spend limitless effort b*ching about this game (some politically motivated) but all it took was just install a weapon damage rebalance mod and this game is just fantastic. I played it 28 hours with complete joy.
There is already a politically motivated lunatic cursing people for enjoying this game, it’s quite sad.
Now say the same about people enjoying Forspoken, STALKER 2 or Spider-Man 2, hypocrite.
Stalker 2 wasn’t even released yet, lol. I’m a fan of the original trilogy btw. I haven’t played the others, so i can just not say anything, the perks of not being a unhinged lunatic…
stalker 2? Thats out?
It’s not out but zigger c*nts already slam that game for the sole reason of being Ukrainian and for 1 damn letter because of UA spelling. Yet, communist “atomic flop has “no politics” to them.
Atomic heart’s name character is named after a communist leader and the story is about him been brainwashed, hate them and hate the game if you must but its not pro russia or pro communism . so i would agree that the game has “no politics” in it, if anything its politics are cringe redditor writing, i call it a western game made by russians in cyprus.
Also yeah stalker 2 is never coming out because russia won the war.
“all it took was to install a mod to fix the game’s awful combat” well call me back when you find a mod that fixes the grindy looting to level up your weapons and a mod to fix the awful level design, the endless respawning enemies outdoors and re write the cringy endless back and fourth between you and your glove. Also the dlc had a unkllable goose that insult you and attack you because untitled goose game and MEMEEEEES, its a mediocre grinding repetitive fest of a game with soy reddit writing and a bad main campaign with bad combat. The russians who wrote it should stop browsing reddit, the game has tons of cut content in it and this is why it feels like it is stitched together, because it was.
Which mod pls?
It’s called weapon rebalance on the Atomic Heart nexus, you basically replace one ini file which holds the weapon stats in them.
For the DLC I ended up using a trainer and put the damage at 1.5X as there wasn’t any mod yet when it came out.
Have they fixed Wo Long by now or does it still run like crap?
I have about a gorillion hours in Nioh 2 and the only thing that stopped me from getting Wo Long was the overwhelming number of reports of terrible optimization. I don’t think I can stomach a fast faced action game with a choppy framerate or stutters.
Spencer is zigger f**k.
***At the start of 2023, I was almost certain that a Yakuza game would have been my GOTY.***
Why wasn’t a great Yakuza game your 2022 GoTY, John?
Why did you enjoy Wo Long more than Ishin?
Guy can’t even enjoy a game without unhinged idiots calling him names, what has the world come to?
Funny, coming from unhinged idiot who’s butthurt himself when someone dares to enjoy “SJW” game.
atomic flop is a pro-terrorist s**t which only communist satanists enjoy. Period.
Funny how you lie in both paragraphs, such scummy behaviour.
“atomic flop is a pro-terrorist s**t which only communist satanists enjoy.”
I bet you support Israel genocide on Gaza.
Ziggers in 2022: “Nooooo you can’t support Ukraine becuz of muh “current thing””.
Ziggers in 2023: “free palestine”.
2 replies, lol. Shows who is butthurt, not that i need to prove it tough, you are still mad over a game that everyone already moved on.
Lie where?
***I bet you support Israel genocide on Gaza.***
You didn’t care about russian genocide on Ukraine, you hypocrite terrorist.
You surely didn’t cry when Hamas started war first by slaughtering Israeli citizens and guest tourists.
Oh and ye, F**k Palestine and its terrorist childrin.
>”Lie where?”
Start here: “Funny, coming from unhinged idiot who’s butthurt himself when someone dares to enjoy “SJW” game.
atomic flop is a pro-terrorist s**t which only communist satanists enjoy. Period.”
It’s not funny, i don’t get butthurt over people enjoying games and atomic flop is none of the things you claim.
“F**k Palestine and its terrorist childrin.”
Do i have predictive powers or are you a moron that is so easy to read? lol
“You surely didn’t cry when Hamas started war first by slaughtering Israeli rcitizens and guest tourists.”
There is still a debate over who had the biggest israeli bodycount: IDF or Hamas? They also killed lots of IDF soldiers, you can’t even honour their memory because lies and narrative are more important to you.
Fact: There are only 2 genders. It’s a biological fact. Anything else is lies by marxists trying to play identity politics. But you’re too stupid to see that.
RE4 is a remake. But the other 2 in this list are mediocre at best. This is reflected in their poor review scores by both reviewers and players.
2023 was a great year in gaming due to BG3, Zelda and Super Mario Wonder. Not because of “woo long” or whatever.
No System Shock?
My games of the year, ranked by greatness:
– Thief 1 Unofficial expansion – The Black Parade (not exactly a game, but come on)
– Jagged Alliance 3 (it’s woke, but well, I guess it’s better than nothing)
– Stronghold 1 – HD remake
– Shadows of Doubt (I haven’t played long enough, but the little I saw was enough for me to think it’s a great one)
– Army of Ruin (yeah yeah I know, a Vampire Survivors clone, go on, throw rocks at me. But that s*** is addictive!)
So, yeah… Only old games or mods/remakes or indie games.
AAA gaming is completely dead to me.
One recent 2023 i played is Wanted:Dead and despite the jankiness and being a obviously incomplete game (abrupt cutscenes, nonsense story and only 5 levels), it’s quite decent and worth a playthrough. I want to start The Black Parade, but i need a commitment for these games and i’m short on time.
Despite the bugs and the eventual repetitive gameplay loop, Shadows of Doubt is pretty decent and fascinating. If the developers can ditch mod.io and get workshop support, even better.
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