It’s almost the end of the year of our lord 2023, and every time we’ve updated this compilation of the best games we played, we’ve reflected on just how many good games came out this year. This final update before we start our Game of the Year discussions at Kotaku has some real bangers, big and small. As great as 2023 has been for the people who play games, it’s also been one of the most fraught years for people who make them.
Hundreds of game developers have been put out of jobs due to a never-ending wave of layoffs, and at the very least, we want to recognize some of the best games these talented people have been working on. That said, let’s delve into more of the very best games of 2023. Alan Wake II 13 years ago, prickly writer Alan Wake vanished into a nightmare realm called the Dark Place at the end of the game that bears his name. One of the quietly thrilling things to me about its excellent new sequel, Alan Wake II, is that it actually recognizes the weight of those years, mirroring that real-life passage of time in its narrativ