The Writing on Games 'Top Five Games of 2023' List

It's the ninth annual Writing on Games Game of the Year Awards! Join me as I review the 2023 that was and analyse my favourites of the year.

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I imagine every game of the year list is going to start with some variation on "it was an incredible year for games but a bad year for the people making them." While I definitely agree on the latter, I'm not so sure the former rings true for me. 2023 was a year with a *lot* of games, but staggeringly few left much of a lasting impression on me. That said, those few that did will stick with me for a long, long time to come.

The question is though, which game will take the prestigious number one spot? Baldur's Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? ARMORED CORE 6?! Or something completely unexpected? Keep watching this review/analysis of the 2023 that was in video games to find out!

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Creator shoutouts:
Video Games Are Bad - @VideoGamesAreBad
Pixel a Day - @PixelaDay
eurothug4000 - @eurothug4000
Kurt Indovina - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5NQVh73-Yk&list=PLa6be5-uMcnVqZ38Mne6lEaNFko-oAZMM&index=1
Lambhoot - @LambHoot

Other cool stuff worth your time:
Gene Park's interview with Sam Lake for Alan Wake 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/video-games/2023/12/16/sam-lake-alan-wake-2/

Game Informer's excellent documentary on the making of Humanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdU3FIKry8c

JEMAPUR's transcendent soundtrack for Humanity: https://jemapur.bandcamp.com

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0:00 - Intro
3:50 - Game 5
8:18 - Game 4
12:27 - Game 3
20:40 - Runner Up
29:53 - Honourable Mentions
35:07 - Game of the Year
42:17 - Creator shoutouts
46:11 - Outro

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Text animation intro by Isaac Holland - http://twitter.com/drazgames