It's Games Roundup 2023 time. The industry's in a rough place, isn't it? We're in times where a good release could have you lose your job and a weak one could have everyone in the entire studio lose their jobs. It made me realize that focusing on "best of the best" has drawbacks.

I still want to highlight my favourite games I played this year, but first I want to mention two titles, neither of which are even close to the top of this list: Raw Danger! [2007] from the Disaster Report series and The Last Remnant [2008].

These games are very different from each other. Raw Danger! is a fairly goofy approach to surviving a natural disaster in Definitely-Not-Japan, and The Last Remnant is an RPG focused on macro managing several parties at once in large scale battles.

Both are novelties in their genre. There's nothing else out there like the Disaster Report series nor The Last Remnant, yet they both are admittedly pretty flawed games. In today's industry climate, to attempt either would likely be sending your studio to its doom.

When you make something that breaks the mold, there is no tried-and-true formula. It feels so much more risky to strike out on one's own in that way, so why not acknowledge the weird and memorable? They might not be #11 or even #15 on the list but they're special regardless. And with that, it's top ten time.

10 - Chained Echoes [2022]
9 - Resident Evil Revelations 2 [2015]
8 - purrgatory [2021]
7 - Exit/Corners [2020]
6 - Parasite Eve [1998]
5 - Trails in the Sky SC [2006]
4 - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 [2022]
3 - The Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna [2015]
2 - CrossCode [2018]
1 - Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed [2023]

Played lots of great RPGs this year, so they kinda overwhelm the list. No regrets though!

Thanks for reading, Happy Janewary, and one last thing! This year marks my first real steps into making games! I made three small titles available for pay-what-you-want on itch. I'm most proud of The Fifth Floor:
https://marcomixgames.itch.io/the-fifth-floor