The BEST And WORST Games of 2023

2023 will go down as one of the craziest and most entertaining years in gaming history 2023 was a year of extremes we reached New Heights with balers Gate 3 and we sunk to new lows with the day before which has allowed scientists to discover a layer of Earth beneath the inner core I don't even know how that's possible as developers in the industry continue to push the boundaries of what is possible other developers push the boundaries of what they can get away with balers G 3 and the day before are like our North and South polls you can put every other game released this year in between these two and as we move onwards into 2024 I thought it'd be fun to look back at every accomplishment and failure in the world of gaming these are the best and worst games of 2023 Although our first topic isn't a video game it is based on one The Last of Us TV show premiered on HBO early this year I knew this show was good because my parents who haven't played video games since the any s asked me if I had heard about it the marketing must have been phenomenal if it could capture the attention of my parents you're a weird kid you're a weird K sounds like Sony managed to make a show based off a video game that appealed to a broader audience I wonder how they did that it couldn't possibly be as simple as Faithfully adapting the incredible Source material to a television format right oh interesting season 2 of the Halo TV show comes out in February don't know why I brought that up Last of Us was amazing nominated for 24 prime time Emmys and it became one of the biggest shows in HBO history that success is well earned and The Last of Us demonstrates what can be achieved when you properly adapt a beloved video game into a TV series but the first major game release this year showed everyone why why sometimes it's okay to have a silent protagonist I just move [ __ ] with my mind perhaps our connection has somehow awoken some abilities I just moved [ __ ] with my mind I just keep hearing I I I I just move [ __ ] with my freaking [Applause] mind yeah okay that is something I do now I do magic talk to sent cuffs kill jacked up beasts you know what I'll probably fly next now you're just being ridiculous so like let me get this straight I'm like recording a video right now that I'm going to post to my YouTube channel and people are going to watch it that's just like something I do now although the combat and traversal and for spoken looked kind of cool what's not cool is being subjected to nuclear levels of cringe every time the main character opens her mouth guess that's why they called it for spoken because it should have been forbidden to have spoken dialogue this bad hey that really sucks for spoken was lampooned and Meed into Oblivion and that's pretty much all it's going to be remembered for it's like the morbius of video games a lot of people wanted to experience it just to know for themselves how bad it really was this is one of those games where the content in videos made about it are more entertaining than the game itself that is something I do now I do Magic Talk sent cuffs kill jacked up beasts after for spoken poor sales numbers the studio behind the game luminous Productions would shut down on May 1st which is kind of sad but at least we got the worst game of 2023 out of our system early right right right can't po possibly get worse luckily the very next day a miracle occurred an amazing unique XBox exclusive was announced during the Xbox Bethesda showcase and then it was released on the same day I don't believe it I give Hi-Fi Rush the most pleasant surprise award because it's pretty shocking that an action rhythm game would have mainstream appeal especially after the Rhythm genre got milked to death in the late 2000s and everyone got [ __ ] sick of it it is somewhat interesting that the protagonists and trailers for high-fi Rush and for spoken are similar because they're both trying to sell you a main character with attitude so why does high-fi rush get critical Acclaim and for spoken becomes a laughing star well making a good video game has something to do with it but it's also because trai is much more likable and he's not constantly trying to tell us how cool he is highi Rush has a similar art style to games like Jet Set Radio Future and Beautiful Joe it's a visual style that if Done Right will look good for decades it was nominated for five different categories at the game awards and I'm happy it earned at least one titles like high-fi Rush that are this unique deserve to succeed and be celebrated the day after high-fire rush came out we got what is arguably the best Indie title of 20123 pizza Tower made as a love letter for fans of the warrior Land series Pizza Tower successfully captures the identity of those games it acts as an unofficial spiritual successor Nintendo hasn't made a warrior land type game since 2008 so this has filled a market that Nintendo hasn't been willing to tap Pizza Tower was nominated for best indie game debut but lost to cocoon still that's one hell of a debut with 98% positive reviews on Steam it's nice to see Indie titles like this get the praise and recognition they deserve I don't know why but this week in January was just [ __ ] loaded with games to talk about the day after Pizza Tower came something I've wanted for years a dead space remake yes yes oh [ __ ] yeah [ __ ] now and thank the marker this did not disappoint well the only disappointment was the story which I felt the dialogue and delivery were not as strong as the original but everything else was an upgrade this was my ideal kind of remake one that keeps all of the best parts but expands on it and takes Liberties to give us more of what we loved the changes to zerog were awesome as were the new a areas and changes to the trans system which unlike the original didn't lock you into one area throughout a level for any games in this list that I made a video on you could check the description if you want to hear more would you like to know more the first Dead Space is a masterpiece and luckily so is the Remake 2023 was a pretty good year for remakes and remasters and Nintendo finally decided to remaster the 10th highest rated game of all time on Metacritic Metroid Prime I'm still kind of shocked that a Metroid game is held in such high regard despite its relative obscurity compared to other Nintendo IPS and although the price tag might be a little questionable this remaster was long overdue now if they remake Metroid Fusion I'm going to [ __ ] my pants oh boy this was easily the most controversial game released this year Hogwarts Legacy what's life without a little drama right Hogwarts Legacy sparked a massive boycott because some people don't like what JK rling has been saying recently and because we have no concept of game development well let's throw all the developers under the same bus and just assume they think and believe all the things that she does it baffles me that some people are incapable of separating art from the artist you can absolutely disagree with everything JK has been saying and still enjoy Hogwarts Legacy for what it is the whole boycott Illustrated that external politics in the real world should not invade the process of reviewing a game based on its own merits this boycott backfired spectacularly inadvertently giving the game more press and attention making it one of the most successful titles released this year for fans of Harry Potter it was pretty much a dream come true aside from all those movie tie-in games which were a coin flip if they'd be good or dog [ __ ] this was the first time people had a chance to really immerse themselves in the World of Harry Potter and in Hogwarts to explore all the memorable iconic locations from the films and the books to fly around in open world RPG on a broom I mean what more could you ask for it was pretty magical hogwart's Legacy made a shitload of money and broke records for most watch single player game on Twitch of all time selling over 15 million copies and earning more than a billion dollars hogwart's Legacy proves that the World of Harry Potter still resonates with people even 16 years after the last book came out 2023 would be the comeback year for many games people had previously given up on Halo infinite is a good example it has made a startling comeback ever since the old leadership was AED and moved from 343 and now the game is uh getting consistent updates that are substantial and really good even added firefight man I mean that's Bravo I'm glad I gave Halo infinite another shot and I think it deserved a nomination at the game awards for either best ongoing or best community support like how the [ __ ] did Destiny 2 get a nomination Bungie has been imploding recently things are looking up for Halo fans but 343 will need some kind of of X Factor if they want this game to hit mainstream again as someone who Ador dead space and Resident Evil 4 2023 gave me more than I could have dreamed of the re4 Remake did exactly what I wanted it to re4 was lightning captured in a bottle impossible to replicate and although I prefer some of the voice acting and dialogue in the original this is as good as you can get to recapturing that same lightning Leon was given a bounty of phenomenal one lers to spout off constantly they really dived into the campy nature of the game and the combat was [ __ ] amazing The Mercenaries mode incredible and they recently released separate ways DLC now if you'll excuse me it's Bingo night we also got to finally see the Super Mario movie it was so cool despite the jokes we all made when all the voice actors were revealed they did phenomenal jobs and for what it was I thought this was a great video game movie apparently so did a lot of people because it made like over a billion dollars if you're going to keep making good movies I'm going to keep paying to see them so let's get a Legend of Zelda film shall we maybe Jedi Survivor is another game on my backlog although I'm sure it's just as good if not better than fall in order Survivor was plagued by performance issues at release I believe this was exclusively on PC because like nobody's computer was strong enough to run this game properly still that only seemed to be a temporary setback and let me just say I love that this is the new style of Star Wars single player games keep them coming the reason Star Wars Jedi Survivor is on my backlog is because I spent time instead playing redfall a game so bad that not even the developers at Arcane wanted to make it they thought it would be cancelled I don't know why it wasn't the game featured brain dead AI that predated the original Doom yes the one from 1993 Graphics that failed to impress and a general lack of fun combat things that make a video game feel like a video game it all made redfall one of the most boring titles I played this year no fun Allowed no fun allowed red fall was a red fail and much like for spoken most of its entertainment value came from making fun of the game this is especially concerning if this is the type of first party uh products that Xbox is going to push out there and Market as Xbox exclusives I mean red Falls presence on Steam is I don't think any update is going to salvage this game and in my review I said I think we should start making predictions on what's going to win worst game of the year well ain't no point making predictions cuz ladies and gentlemen this year it's redfall are you sure about that I never imagined that this clip would Age poorly breath of the wild is one of the bestselling video games of all time so Nintendo saw that and was like well let's do that again so they did tears the kingdom is pushing the hardware of the switch to its absolute limits and Nintendo continues to prove that creativity is more important than raw power you just have to imagine what kind of games they could be making if they made a new switch with the same level of power as the PS5 or series X TI also continues the long-standing tradition of main Zelda games being universally loved by everyone the new building and crafting mechanics were a great gimmick it's kind of like a modern-day Majora's Mask in that its predecessor was so [ __ ] good they didn't need to build a new Foundation or change much about it in the sequel just add some new Bells whistles gimmicks and critical Acclaim awaits ye I love when developers know what we want and love and just opt to give us more of it instead of trying to reinvent the wheel so many good games came out this year man but the Lord of the Rings Gollum is not one of them the gollum game is so awful that the developers couldn't even spell the title right in their apology post we would like to sincerely apologize for the underwhelming experience many of you have had with the Lord of Ring Gollum the Lord of Ring do I need to say any anything more I mean that kind of sums it up Gollum was picked by many as the absolute worst game of this year but it wasn't the developers day doic canc plans for a second Lord of the Rings game and shut down their Development Division probably the wise choice 2023 was filled with many long- awaited sequels and 7 years after the last main entry Street Fighter would make its triumphant return I've never been the biggest fan of traditional fighting games but Street Fighter 6 was very addicting last time I played a new Street Fighter was four and I didn't have a [ __ ] clue how to do any special moves but Rejoice fellow noobs like me for Capcom added a control scheme that makes the game accessible to degenerates like you and me this also helps that uh the online mode seem to work from day one which you can't say about every fighting game also the fact that they let you create and fight with your own Abomination is just perfection I hope Street Fighter fans are happy with this one because Diablo fans on the other hand do not seem happy with their long- awaited sequel Diablo I as one famous YouTube comment wrote doesn't matter you bought supported blizzard you deserve a bad game I must have been high on crank methamphetamines and PCP the day I bought D4 because some part of me felt like I would get to experience the same thrill and excitement I felt from the first two games I completely forgot that Activision Blizzard these days only pumps out soulless Factory line garbage devoid of passion life and respect for its fan base and franchises most of Blizzard's existing fan base I feel are people like me who stick around in vain desperately trying to relive The Glory Days those days are long gone unfortunately Diablo 4 was fun at first but it quickly became apparent that the game was as wide as an ocean deep as a puddle designed more to exploit the player than to give them enjoyment worth $70 every rotten tactic you can think of was used to artificially increase player retention and these tactics don't work on me because the best tactic is to just make a fun video game while franchises like Zelda Pikman Street Fighter and Dead Space can take five plus years to release a new game they make it worth it they make it for the fans blizzard does not and Diablo V is one of my three nominees for most disappointing game this year by the Rings a new Pikmin game after an entire decade the patience of Pikmin fans has paid off for many years shiru mamoto had been teasing us even going as far back as 2015 when he said the game was nearly complete that was eight years ago but I remember your famous quote and the game is fantastic so I'll let it slide a lot of people speculated that Pikmin 4 was just going to be vaporware something that they would talk about but never actually finish and I'm glad they did here ye here ye the game of the year is here balers Gate 3 somehow managed to break into the top 20 games on Metacritic of all time that's no easy feat everything about this game is fantastic it represents years and years of investment in Talent from laran Studios while there is some discourse around whether or not people enjoy this style of turn-based gameplay spoiler I prefer Divinity original sin 2 but what I think everyone agrees on is that the RPG mechanics in balers Gate 3 are Perfection it's everything I've Loved about like cotour Dragon Age Mass Effect balers Gate 3 is going to be a landmark title for a long time a benchmark that many others will try to hit but very few will ever reach just 2 months after d4's release blizzard would continue their long streak of disappointing fans over promising features not delivering them oops you [ __ ] up again I mean OverWatch is always going to be fun I can play it right now and have a good time but lying about features promoting this PVE mode that you never intended on finishing using that to promote the game it's just all the [ __ ] around OverWatch 2 just left a bad taste in my mouth I mean this really was one of the laziest sequels I'd ever seen and I play Call of Duty okay like most of Blizzard's recent games OverWatch 2 released to overwhelming dislike they scrapped the thing most people wanted which was a PVE mode a story some semblance of a campaign now allegedly OverWatch 2 only came out because the higher-ups at Activision and blizzard wanted to make the company appear more valuable as they awaited the merge into Microsoft I wouldn't be surprised if that was true from software also threw us a curveball releasing armored cord six fires of Rubicon I reckon I'm one of many who decide to try this game out Simply on from software's reputation after falling in love with their souls games and it's pretty good kind of reminded me of Custom Robo the way you can change all your Mech weapons that's a lot of fun the only downside is stories non-existent but do I even care not really I just want to shoot robots ladies and gentlemen OverWatch 2 and Diablo 4 are two of the nominees for most disappointing game this year but Starfield is the winner now don't get me wrong I think this game offers a much better single player experience than Diablo I there are times when I've had a lot of fun with it but like Diablo 4 the longer I played the more boring it became which is kind of what you expect from most games and the reason I think it's the most disappointing game is because people expected a lot from Bethesda I didn't care for Fallout 76 or Fallout 4 so I've been waiting a long time to play another true Bethesda RPG I don't think it's a bad video game but it is quite mediocre and it runs its course way quicker than any of the other Bethesda RPGs I've played was also very controversial I mean a lot of people love it others really hate it I think given all the time they had and the expectations around Bethesda games it makes it the most disappointing so much of what makes Bethesda RPGs magical was lost in the pursuit of procedurally generated planets and automated content so many of starfields issues could have been fixed if it was just scaled down if the scope was smaller more focused if we got more handmade cure rated dungeons if they found ways to cut out the tedious overwhelming loading screens maybe Starfield will get better with updates but as of right now I'm not sure if I'll ever go back for a second playthrough ah payday 3 what a tragic tale well I called this game a certified Banger that was based on a version that me and other content creators got to play it was not the version released to the public which made me and other content creators look like we were Shilling a broken game when none of us knew that's how the game would launch I'd like to squash the rumors that I did some kind of paid review in this video I didn't play the full game so I didn't make a review it's also unethical to do sponsored reviews this is the only thing they told us to do raise awareness for the launch of payday 3 that's it so I could make whatever video I wanted about it and that's the video I decided to make and that's how I felt about payday 3 at the time so yeah this video was not a review it was first impressions my big mistake was not putting in a big enough disclaimer near the start that said hey this may not be representative of what the full game is like at release and for that I apologize pay3 was broken even in the public Early Access beta which by the way the beta came out like 10 days before launch and as a newcomer to the series I wasn't aware of the many downgrades from Payday 2 in a baffling decision starb elected to make the game online only which becomes a big [ __ ] problem if your servers don't work overall payday 3 was a massive disappointment for everyone involved myself included and I wish they had delayed it or been honest with us about the state it would release in we'll see what happens but for now you're probably better off playing payday to CD project red has spent years and a reported $62 million budget to repair their image and that of cyberpunk from the sounds of it they have succeeded in the eyes of many they've completed their Redemption Arc with Phantom Liberty and it appears the DLC is an improvement to the base game in virtually every category I'll make a video about it someday and bring back Johnny acting hand you thought Gollum game was bad Skull Island rise of Kong is here to shatter your concept of reality the budget for this game apparently was $3 and it clearly shows I I don't know what's more impressive that this game launched on every platform or that they're charging 40 bucks for this pig slop apparently rise of Kong had a rush development and the developers were forced to Crunch what the [ __ ] for what was the rush who was desperately awaiting this game they didn't even finish the cutcenes what did you think was going to happen when you launched the game like this rise of Kong is doubly bad because it's not nearly as cringe and funny as for spoken in redfall you can only tell one joke about this game wow it really sucks it's still amazes me sometimes that Nintendo continues to innovate the Mario franchise even after almost 40 Years of games when there is a fine addition to the series it's like playing a regular Mario Bros game but on acid lot of fun ah another year another Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 however broke new ground by becoming the lowest rated game in a series that produced Vanguard and ghosts luckily the multiplayer has a strong appeal to hardcore and Casual fans Sledgehammer are updating it constantly and doing their best to make fans happy we're not going to talk about the campaign though not only did we get a trailer for a Thousand-Year Door remake I'm so happy but Super Mario RPG also got a remake truly a blessed year for Mario fans this year Rockstar officially announced GTA 6 and put out a trailer that gained more views in a matter of days than the GTA 5 trailer did in a decade you don't have to be nrus to predict that GTA is going to have the biggest video game launch of all time and I'm excited to see what Rockstar has been cooking for the last however many years and this happens every time with a new GTA you already know 6 is going to spark the most annoying discourse you've ever heard around a video game last but certainly most least 2023 ended with one of the worst video games ever made the day before one of the most Brazen scam rug PS the industry has ever ever seen every time we thought video games had hit a new low another Studio came out this year to dig the hole deeper and fantastic has hit Bedrock we cannot get any lower any worse than this the studio shut down 4 days after the game released and steam has taken the unprecedented move of automatically refunding everyone who purchased it to my knowledge they have never done that before the day before rightfully earns worst game of 2023 but in their brutality the gods of gaming demanded one final sacrifice the Electronic Entertainment Expo has been cancelled permanently this is really sad I never got to go to E3 in person it was like the Super Bowl for gamers you know a celebration of everything awesome we love about this hobby so many iconic hype as [ __ ] moments happened during these shows so many incredible game reveals and trailers all good things must come to an end and after more than 25 years E3 has been retired for good partly due to co knocking things off track and all these Studios wanting to have their own press release on their own terms I understand why E3 was cancelled doesn't make it any better though but I'd hate to end this year on such a sour note 2023 may have been one of the best years in gaming honestly I'd say it's got to be in the top three it was a year of extremes we saw the best and the absolute worst that this industry is capable of I'm excited for 2024 but I doubt we're going to see as many exciting games I just want to take a moment to thank you all for supporting the channel continuing to watch hitting that like button and that subscribe and your notification Bell now but on the real 2023 has been amazing I've got a ton of great ideas moving into 2024 and I'm excited and thankful to have an audience as awesome and dedicated as you guys thank you for all the support this year I'll see you in 2024 all right everyone that's all I got for this year this is the act man signing out peace

Channel: The Act Man

Views: 1,148,432

Keywords: worst games 2023, worst games of 2023, act man, the act man, hi-fi rush, worst games, best games 2023, best games of 2023, baldurs gate 3, alan wake 2, starfield, diablo 4, diablo IV, overwatch 2, act man blizzard, theactman, the day before, Pikmin 4, Street Fighter 6, Payday 3, modern warfare 3, act man modern warfare 3, forspoken, dead space remake, dead space, re4 remake, resident evil 4 remake, hogwarts legacy, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, halo infinite

Id: R1ZVZppgsR8

Length: 25min 57sec (1557 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 05 2024