A consensus holds that this has been a par ticularly strong year for games, and in pure statistics, based on the average Edge review score, you’d need to go back to 2013 to find a better one. That may have been skewed by the volume of reviews in 2023, though: reflecting the glut of releases big and small, and our desire to cover a wide spread, we delivered verdicts on more this year than at any time over the past decade.
Another pair of maximum scores for the second year running – heading up a top ten that would have extended to 13 had we included ever y 9 – reflected, in part, the positive side of pandemic delays. Teams were given extra time to not just finish their games but to send them out in their best possible state. There is a tendency toward more cerebral fare, with three outright puzzle games, and three more featuring brainteasers of sorts. Yet we also saw standout entries in the competitive FPS, platformer and fighting genres. In other words, whatever your poison, 2023’s games had plenty to surprise and delight.
Over the next 18 pages are example after example of the creativity of developers large and small – from intensely personal, poignant stories to blockbuster adventures as expansive as they were expensive. If we could judge the progress of the medium on its output alone, the quality and variety on show would suggest we’ve never had it so good.
PLAYSTATION GAME OF THE YEAR
RUNNER-UP MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2
Developer/publisher SIE (Insomniac Games)
Format PS5
Has Insomniac quietly become Sony’s most valuable asset? Certainly, there is a confidence and flair to the game-making here that suggests a studio operating at something close to its peak. And beneath that glossy surface lies a blockbuster of rare charm and charisma, making a rather stronger case for ongoing superhero sagas than the MCU itself has of late.
RUNNER-UP SEASON: A LETTER TO THE FUTURE
Developer/publisher Scavengers Studio
Format PC, PS4, PS5
A delicate elegy for good things coming to an end, Season proved sadly prophetic for its developer, the controversy-mired Scavengers, which laid off half of its staff after the game failed to find its audience. A cautionary tale, perhaps, for indie exclusives on Sony’s machines – but you shouldn’t let any of that sour this transportive, heart-piercing journey.
WINNER HUMANITY
Developer Tha Ltd
Publisher Enhance
Format PC, PS4, PS5, PSVR, PSVR2
At first glance, this puzzler might not seem an obvious hardware showcase. But not only does it makes great use of DualSense haptics – Enhance never misses a chance to put good vibrations out into the world – it’s a spectacular advert for PSVR2, which has you towering over these DIY art installations, driving home their hypnotic power.
XBOX GAME OF THE YEAR
RUNNER-UP FORZA MOTORSPORT
Developer Turn 10 Studios
Publisher Xbox Game Studios
Format PC, Xbox Series
Limited? Sure. Bafflingly old-fashioned? Occasionally, yes. But set aside Forza’s conservative campaign structure and focus on what’s beneath the bonnet: never has Microsoft’s flagship racer felt quite so good in the hands. Against the vastly improved AI or, better still, human opponents, complaints melt away during the exhilarating races.
RUNNER-UP HI-FI RUSH
Developer Tango Gameworks
Publisher Bethesda Softworks
Format PC, Xbox Series
We could do with more surprises like this: here’s a new Tango Gameworks game and, oh yes, you can play it right now. Yet Hi-Fi Rush was much more than a novelty shadowdrop: a combination of rhythm action and character action so potent that Shinji Mikami paid it the ultimate compliment by quitting assured his studio’s future was bright indeed.
WINNER PLANET OF LANA
Developer Wishfully
Publisher Thunderful
Format PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Charm is a difficult attribute to qualify, but Wishfully’s puzzle platformer possesses it in spades. In the growing bond between its intrepid lead and the cat-like creature she befriends, it captures the Studio Ghibli spirit for which it’s clearly aiming. But it has a character of its own, too, refusing the easy crutch of simply copying from the best.
NINTENDO GAME OF THE YEAR
RUNNER-UP
PIKMIN 4
Developer/publisher Nintendo (EPD)
Format Switch
Among the many very good games Nintendo has released this year (not to mention two copper-bottomed classics), the fourth in its undervalued pastoral strategy series gets the nod from us for its expansive postgame. Belatedly, the game bares its tactical teeth, demanding more thoughtful marshalling of those adorable, flower-topped minions – and is all the better for it.
RUNNER-UP
SUPER MARIO BROS WONDER
Developer/publisher Nintendo (EPD)
Format Switch
