When the video game industry’s award season hits the fall, a slew of massive games all vie for the title of Game of the Year.
Bethesda’s first new IP in decades is a major contender. Its high-concept postapocalyptic world is a feast for the eyes, and its maturity and darkness are sure to please fans.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The successor to 2017’s breakout hit Breath of the Wild is an action-adventure that reinvented the franchise in a big way. The massive sequel offers an expansive open world map, a wide variety of gameplay elements, and a story that is darker than fans might expect from the Zelda series.
Tears of the Kingdom also features a unique crafting mechanic that allows players to build an endless array of contraptions from the game’s inventory. From maniacal torture devices to fully functional war machines, the possibilities are truly limitless.
With a stellar Metacritic score, runaway sales success, and viral popularity, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a strong contender for Game of the Year 2023. However, it will have some stiff competition from other high-profile games releasing this fall. The likes of Larian’s Dungeons & Dragons riff, Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Armored Core 6 all have the potential to be big contenders for this year’s award.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a massive game that features a ton of things to do. There’s always a citizen to save, a collectible to hunt, a science experiment to conduct or roller coaster to ride. It’s an insanely fun title that many consider to be a Game of the Year contender.
Set 10 months after the events of the first game, Peter Parker and Miles Morales continue to balance their civilian lives with their superhero duties. Peter teaches physics at Brooklyn Visions Academy while Miles works as the new editor of the Daily Bugle. They witness Kraven the Hunter capturing super-powered individuals for his bloodsport, including Martin Li / Scorpion, Lonnie Lincoln / Tombstone, and Felicia Hardy / Black Cat.
Meanwhile, the symbiote Venom hijacks the meteorite that brought it to Earth and invades Marvel’s New York City, transforming its host into a monstrous creature. It’s up to Peter and Miles, along with Rio Morales and Norman Osborn – who have been cured of his comatose state by the Emily-May Foundation – to stop the symbiote invasion and save their friends.
Armored Core 6
Armored Core 6 isn’t like the FromSoftware games that have dominated Game of the Year conversation over the past decade. Instead of a dark fantasy world filled with cackling downtrodden soldiers, this mech-on-mech actioner takes place on the mining planet of Rubicon and features the mercenary piloting of massive robots.
Its sci-fi aesthetic and fast-paced battles immediately stand out in a crowd of blockbuster releases. And if the first weekend sales numbers are any indication, it’s off to a mechtastic start. It reportedly pulled in more players than Madden NFL 24 and the other top-selling titles, according to Steam’s data.
Its masochistic formula of hardcore mech battles and customization will certainly please FromSoftware fans who’ve been waiting a decade for the studio to return to its roots, but it’ll have to overcome stiff competition to be named Game of the Year 2023. This year has already seen some awesome surprises from developers like Hi-Fi Rush, Dead Space and Hogwarts Legacy.
Baldur’s Gate 3
In a banner year for role-playing games, Baldur’s Gate 3 stands above most of the competition. It delivers on the cravings of many players for robust exploration, a deep story with companions that rank with the best in the genre and combat encounters that feel tough and memorable.
It also doesn’t shackle the player with a limiting UI or force them down any particular path. This approach allows the player to meet the Dungeon Master halfway in the act of play, trusting that they will make their own choices and be rewarded for doing so.
The unapologetic freedom of Baldur’s Gate 3 is reflected in the game’s platform reviews, which currently hold the highest combined score on Metacritic. It is ahead of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime Remastered and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition. It remains to be seen whether it can hold this lead and go beyond it, but it is a strong contender to win 2023’s coveted Game of the Year award.
Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush is a gleeful game that hits all the right notes. Its environments fizze and bops to the beat, its characters are well-voiced and slickly animated, its combat is controlled chaos that makes it fun rather than frustratingly difficult.
The licensed music used is great, too; a mournful Linda Ronstadt song in the midst of a post-apocalypse and Nine Inch Nails’ whirring beats during the final level are perfect fits for their respective themes. There’s even a handy “streamer mode” that replaces the soundtrack with original tracks so players can share their gameplay online without worrying about DMCA notices.
Tango Gameworks’ work on the Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo suggests they could be pigeonholed into a genre, but Hi-Fi Rush proves they can create an exciting new style with their own twist. And if that’s the case, Hi-Fi Rush might just be the Game of 2023.
Diablo 4
It’s hard to predict which game will become the GOTY of 2023. This year has been a banner year for games in general, with many big titles earning critical praise and massive sales success. This includes a host of sequels (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Remnant 2), old-school action titles (Baldur’s Gate 3, Armored Core 6), and surprisingly good indie hits (Dread).
Diablo 4 was one of the most highly-anticipated releases of the year, and it exceeded expectations upon release. Blizzard’s magnum opus managed to marry frenetic action with deep RPG systems and dark tone, creating a game that players were happy to spend hundreds of hours on. It’s a worthy contender for GOTY.