Game On: A look at best video games of 2023

Looking forward to greater games in 2024

2023 stands out as the best year for video games in recent history, offering players a wide array of great games across genres, providing numerous reasons to celebrate. However, despite the accolades and successes, these games may achieve, their creators may not reap the benefits. This year has witnessed over 7,000 job losses across the gaming sector, a number expected to climb as studios and developers grapple with financial constraints.

The irony of financial uncertainty amid a prosperous year in game sales is poignantly highlighted by the CEO of Larian Studios, creators of the acclaimed ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’, expressing helplessness as he notes that almost nobody remains from the original team meetings. It’s crucial to develop sustainable practices in game development, ensuring both financial stability and environmental responsibility.

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Equally important is safeguarding decentralised paths of game creation to maintain a diverse and multifaceted industry. Now, to celebrate some of the finest games we had the joy of playing.

1. Category 1: The best all-round gaming experience

‘Baldur’s Gate 3’, hands down, seals this award. In a year where novel experiences were few and far between, ‘BG3’s strength lies in its ability to not just offer a playable D&D experience and a wonderfully refined RPG but to millions to experience the magic of what was once limited to very few. As a game, ‘BG3’ offers a wide variety of characters, classes, enemies, and challenges. A must play. Honorable mention: Hogwarts Legacy

2. Category II: The craziest a game can get

This one is a really difficult category to decide a winner for. How does one choose between the venomised combinations of duel Spidermen in ‘Spiderman 2’ and the wonderful crafting abilities in ‘Tears of the Kingdom’? The number of hours spent on both the games were far too many to count. One was the best to play on a weekend and the other in transit on a flight. However, ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ slightly edges it because of what the game’s makers could achieve on an ancient Tegra X1 and the Switch. Play both if you can, you won’t be disappointed.

3. Category III: A game where we lose heart while not saving the world

Three fantastic indie games make the list here: ‘Tchia, Venba, and Thirsty Suitors’. Each amazingly colourful, filled with radical possibilities, and offering us moments to cherish both emotionally and nostalgically. ‘Tchia’ and its magical archipelago, ‘Venba’ and its delightful idlis, Puttu rockets, or Biryani, and ‘Thirsty Suitors’ with Jala, basketball, and skating. All the three games are winners in their own regard. But yes, ‘Venba’ wins for its poignant story on the fear of standing out and its delectable music.

4. Category IV: The one where I dropped my controller admiring on-screen beauty

Two Ubisoft games make the cut for this — ‘Crew Motrofest and Avatar: The Frontiers of Pandora’. I struggle to pick between the paradise that is Hawaii and the night sky of Pandora – one is heaven on earth and the other ethereal and otherworldly. One breaks the map of the island down into racetracks and picturesque ‘Forza’-like sequences with its own twist, while the other tells us not just a tale of freedom but one that celebrates Na’vi culture. ‘The Crew’ must win, though, for its longer replayability and a wonderful collection of cars.

Here’s to hoping for great games in 2024 but hopefully in much more merrier spirits.