The Games I Loved In 2023

The year 2023 is quickly coming to an end, so it’s time to gather up all the games I have played to either completion or enough to have solid thoughts about it.

Pokémon Violet

The start of 2023 began with Pokémon Violet. This was a game that I looked forward to, but with the expectations that this would not be the dream Pokémon game that I always wanted. Because I got the game a few weeks after launch, I knew that the game was, functionally, not the best. But, no matter the amount of technical flaws, I just wanted to see the direction the games were taking.

Boy was I right to tame my expectations. The game was not the smoothest game I’ve played this year, but in the end, it was still really fun. I got a lot of hours out of it by trying to complete a living dex and shiny hunting. New Pokémon were all over the map and there were so many cute designs, I was able to collect a full party of six with just the new Gen. 9 Pokémon, so that was very satisfying. The overall challenge level was pretty minimal aside from a few hard fights from the Team Star Base leaders which I found super enjoyable.

Splatoon 3

I jumped into Splatoon 3 towards the end of last year, but really got into it with the Splatfests this year. I’ve been trying out new weapon types and I’m getting more comfortable with different playstyles. I have even tried out playing the ranked modes to switch it up from Turf Wars. Salmon Run being accessible anytime is another great feature that I love with this new entry. This is not a game that I come back to often, but I love jumping back in for a weekend whenever a Splatfest pops up.

Kirby dreamland deluxe

Having played a lot of Kirby games on the DS and Wii, I was excited to hear about a Switch port of a past game that I never got a chance to play. It was a decently long game and even though it wasn’t very challenging, it was a real joy to just go about my little journey and find all the hidden items.

The game is full of little things to do. Getting all the collectibles is one thing that I am still striving for and I want to get high scores on all the mini-games. The inclusion of a whole new epilogue where we get to play as someone other than Kirby was a great addition. I love how the gameplay from the main story plays so differently from the epilog’s story, it shows that effort was put in for this rehashing of an old Kirby game.

Pikmin 3

A cute little puzzle game that I binged within a week. I had no expectations going into Pikmin 3 since this was my first time with the series. I had no idea what the game had in store aside from using cute little creatures as my minions. All this game offers is collecting different colored Pikmin to help collect fruit and defeat enemies while trying to get your ship restored. Honestly, that’s all it needs to be, I’m glad that it is pretty simple, this game is one of my top “cozy” games for the year. I loved this game so much that I snagged the Pikmin 1 and 2 physical release when it came out because I needed something to hold me over before my mom gifts me Pikmin 4 for Christmas.

Honkai Star Rail

The new game from Hoyoverse that’s actually fun to play… until I got bored because I played all the content. I liked how Honkai Impact 3rd went with their direction, so I was thrilled that Honkai Star Rail did that instead of the Genshin Impact route. This game is funny and easy to play. It’s great for a gacha game. The game has received several updates that added new content and characters, so I have hopped back in once in a while. I still want to continue playing this game, but it is not super high on my priority list.

Pasmaphobia

A ghost-hunting game that I was talked into buying so my friends could have another game to play.

I feel bad that I don’t care for this game. It’s fun, you gather a group of friends and try to find clues for what type of ghost is haunting a house, but I just could not get into it. It is fun if you want a goofy game that can jump-scare you.

Tears of the Kingdom

The sequel to what many agree was the best game on Switch.

I don’t think much has to be said about Tears of the Kingdom. It is one of the best games I have played, hands down. This game shoved so many things to do into an open world, which was already huge, to begin with, and then they decided to more than double it. The new mechanics just make this an amazing sandbox game to play around in. I have put so many hours into this game already and I don’t think I am close to finishing the story. I need to get back to it, but since I’ve put the game down for a bit, it’s a bit daunting to jump back in.

Okami HD

That is a lovely roommate recommendation. This was 100% recommended to me because you play as a white wolf that gets to bite people. This was one that I played my fill of and then decided to put it down before I began to dislike the game. I enjoyed the lore, the story was good, and the art style was great. There was just not enough range in what I was doing. The gameplay loop was a little too tiny for me to play this for over 30 hours.

Little Nightmares

This was a game that I played in October for the sole purpose because I wanted to play a ‘scary’ game but I’m too scared to play a real horror game. Thus, Little Nightmares will be scary enough to spook me without having me scream.

The game was a perfect little story that had me play the whole mainline campaign in one night, with the DLC getting knocked out the next afternoon. It’s just a great way to tell a story that you actually affect. You can tell that this is good storytelling because nobody has any dialog, but you can so easily understand what is happening.

Pikmin 1

Going back and playing the first game in a series after the third was rough. I knew going in I would lose a lot of features that I took for granted, but it still took a while to get used to the new limited control. I grew to enjoy my limitation of only the original three types of Pikmin, they made for simple puzzles and I focused on growing my numbers.

Pikmin 2

I love the inclusion of caves! This is the best thing that I have experienced with the Pikmin games and I can’t wait to explore more caves in Pikmin 4. Adding the new types of Pikmin that I couldn’t multiply in the overworld stressed me out. I kept them in the ship unless I ABSOLUTELY needed one of them.

Mario Wonder

Wonder was a magical game to play. Having a new 2D Mario platformer is always something that I will love. The new kingdom, the new enemies, and the new badge system were so refreshing and the game was just a fun time. The range of challenges per level was my favorite part of the whole thing. Some levels, I could breeze through and others, I would spend an hour on.

Dave the Diver

The game that came out of nowhere and completely stole the year for me. This game quickly became my favorite game of the year. The way it blends different gameplay loops makes it perfect because you will never get bored. As I get further into the game, the more things I unlock. The more you play, the more things you have to divide your time on.

This year was a great year with some great games, I hope to play more games in 2024 because there were certainly games that I wanted to play and didn’t get around to starting.