It's that time of year again. Time to look back at all the stuff we've played this year, for better or worse. Now this is probably gonna be the most interesting and surprising list I've ever done, simply due to the stuff I've played this year and how many games I've played this year. With the preamble out of the way, let's get to the rankings.
9: Marble It Up: Ultra
Remember the days of browsing the Xbox Live Arcade on 360 just to see what neat demos you could find? Well, as a kid, I was obsessed with one game called Marble Blast Ultra. It was a 3D platformer where you'd roll a marble through colorful obstacle courses. Well, I was pleasantly surprised this year when its spiritual successor got an enhanced version this year. In addition of adding new cosmetics, brand new courses, and brand new multiplayer modes, this enhanced version was gifted to all existing players free of charge. I adored the original and a free excuse to revisit it is exactly why I'm starting my list with it.
8: Risk of Rain Returns
Risk of Rain 2 is a phenomenal game. However, I always felt that the first game never got enough love. Well, Hoppo Games must have thought the same thing because we've now got a full fledged remake with great quality of life features, additional content introduced by Risk of Rain 2, and wholly new original content made just for this game. If you enjoyed Risk of Rain 2 or are looking to see what the Risk of Rain hype is all about, I strongly recommend this one.
7: Astral Ascent
Hoo boy. Where to begin with this one? I had been following the progress of this game on Twitter for a while and it finally came out this year. What is it? It's a rougelike game in the same style of Dead Cells. But what makes this game really stand out is the presentation. From the voice acting, the character art, sprite work, animation, and music, this game is dripping in style. And the gameplay is combat is fast paced and energetic, always keeping you on your toes as you find new spells and modifications to your abilities. This game has been seriously slept on and I've been absolutely blown away by my brief time with it.
6: Pizza Tower
Wario Land 4 is one of the earliest platformers I can recall playing so it's no surprise that I'm a fan of Pizza Tower. I will admit to taking a bit longer than I should have to finally check it out but I'm incredibly happy that I got around to it. This game is over the top in many ways. The momentum, the music, the gameplay, the art, and most especially, Peppino's expressions. It's wearing its influence on its sleeve and that's great because if Nintendo won't make another Wario Land, the indie scene has us covered and then some.
5: Dead Space (2023)
Top five time! This one has been a long time coming. I've only ever played Dead Space 2 and I never finished it. So seeing this remake coming out had me really excited to finally see one of these through to the end. And it was so worth the it. One thing that I really enjoyed is the story mode. I'm a big ol coward so having the ability to make the game easier with the new Story Mode setting was phenomenal. This however doesn't take away from the claustrophobic and tense atmosphere of the Ishimura and the threat of its new nightmarish crew. All in all, even if you choose to opt for a Story Mode run, you'll have a great time playing this masterclass in horror gaming.
4: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Tears of the Kingdom is a game that had been in the public zeitgeist for a while now. Once it had been announced, everyone waited in deep anticipation to see what a direct follow up to Breath of the Wild would look like. What we got was one of the best open world games I've played in recent years. In addition to the Sky Islands, we got new abilities, the return of Ganondorf, foes and allies new and old, and a whole other massive new thing that was intentionally kept out of pre-release footage, we were greeted to a Hyrule that felt familiar to returning players but with enough new experiences to make exploring and saving the same kingdom of Hyrule even more thrilling than the first time.
3: Super Mario Bros Wonder
Now we're getting into the top three. Naturally, I felt this belonged here. This is the most I've ever enjoyed a 2D Mario game. I knew this game was something special after getting the Wonder Flower in the second level. This game is vibrant in its color palettes, whimsical with its musical score, and incredibly approachable with its gameplay. However, it's not a complete walk in the park. The Flower World might actually be the single most difficult challenge I've ever experienced in a Mario game. Will I ever play the Flower World again? Nope. Will I revisit the Flower Kingdom again to experience this wonderful game again. Absolutely.
2: In Stars and Time
I thought long and hard about how to begin this one and I think the best way to do it is with a little story. See, I wanted to have this list out at least two days ago and I was playing this at the time. I said I'd play it just for a bit longer and I'd swap to something else so I could formulate my final GOTY thoughts on other stuff. Needless to say, that kept happening for two days. Now, lemme go into what's the deal here. In Stars and Time is turn based RPG with a helluva gimmick. The player character is your generic RPG party member but they're caught in a time loop on the day they're set to face off against the big bad of their story. So you have to take advantage of the loop to solve puzzles and find secrets to get to The King and save the country.
What really sells this game is the writing. This is, without a doubt, the funniest game I've played all year. Everyone from the main cast to the NPCs in the starting town are absolutely hilarious. That being said, there's a lot of serious stuff that the cast is dealing with and you can use the loop to piece together what's going on behind the scenes. On top of that, there's a deeper mystery at play that I won't speak much further on but once I'm through with this list, I'm going right back to delve deeper and all of this makes for one of the best RPGs I've ever played. And that's saying a lot considering that I usually don't vibe with turn based RPGs. Granted, besides Pokémon, I've only ever finished one other turn based RPG but that's a story for another time.
Before we get to the coveted numero uno, I'd like to make a pit stop first.
Honorable Mention: Suika Game
Now here's an interesting one. So, this came originally came out two years ago exclusively on the Japanese eShop on Switch. This changed when Japanese VTubers started streaming it. It blew up so big that it eventually lead to a worldwide release back in October. What is Suika Game? Fruits drop into a jar and you have to try to match them until you get a watermelon and the game ends once the jar overflows. Imagine 2048, and Tetris, and Jenga had a colorful baby. That's Suika Game and it's a great little puzzle game.
Most Disappointing: Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Yeah. If you know me, you're probably either shocked to see this here or probably saw this coming. Lemme be clear about this. I really enjoyed my time with Spider-Man 2. I really did. But this game tried its best to make it as unpleasant as possible. This might be the single buggiest AAA game I've ever played. Here's just a brief list of things I encountered during my time playing the game.
- Models getting caught on the environment and stretching all over the place
- Glitches in the audio with no audio playing or loud shrill feedback playing
- Multiple instances of the player character model just not having any animation
- Peter straight up losing the ability to web swing
- The FNSM app menu remaining on screen, making it impossible to pause the game or open the map
- Miles's final suit straight up no longer appearing in the suit menu
- And lastly, a collectible required for the platinum trophy not spawning in
Now that collectible did eventually spawn in but it is so far after I hit that roadblock, I got the platinum, not out of joy for playing the game, but out of a sense of necessity so that I could get it done before something else broke. Which really breaks my heart because I never want to feel that way about a game, let alone a Spider-Man game.
But enough of that. The ArachnoVolt 2023 Game of the Year goes to...
1: Sea of Stars
Remember that story for another time I mentioned earlier? Yeah, this is that story. Sea of Stars gets this spot for a multitude of reasons. For starters, it's the first and largest pledge I've ever made to a Kickstarter projet. Secondly, it's a direct prequel to The Messenger, an incredibly good platformer from several years ago that I also adore. So going in, I was probably gonna enjoy it. But like I previously said, I normally don't vibe with turn based RPGs outside of Pokémon. So for me to not only, finish the game, enjoy it, and go back to do literally everything possible on the default save before starting a new game plus run, that goes to show how much I love this game.
From the gorgeous art of the characters, enemies, and environments to the incredible soundtrack I'm jamming to as I write this. From the great combat system to the stellar writing that had me in tears from laughing and sadness. This game is a phenomenal game in its own right but it's a magnificent addition to the world and lore of one of my absolute favorite games in recent memory. I'm absolutely confident in saying that Sea of Stars is, without a doubt, the most I've enjoyed a game all year long and I'm super excited to see what the future holds for it and Sabotage Studio.