Community MetaCouncil's Games of the Year Awards 2023

[Le Pertti]

Welcome to MetaCouncil's Annual Game of the Year voting! Vote for five of your favorite games of 2023.

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Shamelessly copied and changed past work done by Wok

Check out our GOTY's for past years:
GOTY 2022
GOTY 2021
GOTY 2020
GOTY 2019
GOTY 2018

Rules are as follows:
The categories for voting are:

• Game of the Year 2023 Award (main award)
• Ongoing Game of the Year (optional)
• Early Access of the Year (optional)
• Best Soundtrack (optional)
• Best Old Game (optional)
• Turd of the Year (optional)

Rules specific to the main award:

• Up to 5 choices can be submitted (ranked voting without point):
  • 1st Choice
  • 2nd Choice
  • 3rd Choice
  • 4th Choice
  • 5th Choice
• You can submit fewer than 5 games, but you must submit at least 1 game as your 1st choice.
• For the 1st Choice, you have to write a short text to explain why you have chosen it as your GOTY. It could be a sentence.
• Do not submit the same game for several Choices of the main award.

Eligibility criteria for each category:

• GOTY 2023 Award:
  • Any game fully released in 2023 is eligible.
  • This includes remakes and remasters, provided that they are new to your platform of choice. (For example: Spider-Man on Steam or Deathloop on Xbox, both are eligible.)
  • Episodic content is eligible if the last episode was released in 2023.
  • As MetaCouncil is a predominantly English language website, any game getting an English translation in the correct time frame can be eligible.
  • As to be clear, you can choose VR games for the GOTY category.
  • You can submit games from any PC store front and Console and even Phones.
• Ongoing Game of the Year
  • Any game fully released prior to 2022 which received content updates in 2023 is eligible.
  • New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes.
• Early Access of the Year
  • Any game released into Early Access (or equivalent) in 2023 is eligible.
• Best Soundtrack
  • Did any 2023 game have a stellar soundtrack? You can now vote for that too!
• Best Old Game
  • Maybe you played a non 2023 game this year and it completely blew everything else away and you want to give some acknowledgment.
• Turd of the Year
  • Any game fully released in 2023 is eligible. We're looking for the worst games.

To Vote send a PM to me Le Pertti with the subject GOTY2023 and format you message as follows:

GOTY 2023
1. Game Title (Platform)
2. Game Title (Platform)
3. Game Title (Platform)
4. Game Title (Platform)
5. Game Title (Platform)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Your awesome text.

Ongoing:
Game Title

Early Access of the year:
Game Title

Best Soundtrack:
Game Title

Best Old Game:
Game Title

Turd of the Year:
Game Title

Deadline:
January 5th 2024

 

[lashman]

let's goooo!

thanks for doing those again

 

[Valdien]

Aw yeah! Thanks for doing this once again. My GOTY pick is gonna be tough - can't decide between Hi-Fi Rush & Armored Core 6. I'll probably submit both as my GOTY because why not.

 

[fantomena]

When is the deadline?

 

[Le Pertti]

When is the deadline?

January 5th 2024.

 

[fantomena]

January 5th 2024.

Any possibilities it can be extended?

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Thank you for doing it again Le Pertti

 

[Parsnip]

I played very few new games this year so it will be an easy vote.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Nice one Le Pertti

Will start thinking about my list!

 

[Kvik]

Thanks again for organising this, Le Pertti


I have my nominations locked down (sort of). Just need to write down my rationale.

 

[Madventure]

Woohoo!

 

[Amzin]

Even though they probably won't place 1st on my list, there are two shorter games I want to finish first (Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood and Chants of Senaar) since I think they will be in top 5. Maybe. Rough year

 

[Cacher]

Easy vote.

 

[Sobatronix]

brothers remake?
Super sad game

 

[Alextended]

World of Goo 2! Why isn't this chat also?

 

[Sobatronix]

for real someone create that chatroom lol

 

[Dandy]

There is only one choice for me.

 

[Parsnip]

I have a few games that released this year that I might grab from the sales when the time comes and try to fit them in before the voting deadline, we'll see how that shakes.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Just voted, it's been in my opinion the best year in gaming since I was kid, super excited to finish up the games I couldn't play this year and dig into whats coming next year.

 

[Joe Spangle]

I voted. I didnt really have an early access or turd of the year so just left them blank, hope thats ok.

 

[Le Pertti]

I voted. I didnt really have an early access or turd of the year so just left them blank, hope thats ok.

Of course! Voting for just even one game is better than not voting at all.

 

[Parsnip]

I just bought couple of games from this year so I should probably play those so I can vote for them or not.

 

[kio]

Just voted.
Here's an idea for next year's vote, how about we delay it till the end of Q1? There's always a ton of things that release later in the year or things that you might want to catch up on during the holidays. I'm pretty sure if I had the chance to play Wartales this year, which I intend to get during this sale, it would probably end up somewhere in my top 5 but now it will be lost forever, like tears in rain...

 

[Parsnip]

I vote we extend the voting time this year already. There's no rush.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Man... I just bought Robocop and am rethinking my list... what a rad game.

 

[Mivey]

 

[thekeats1999]

And that is my vote submitted.

 

[Li Kao]

Vote sent.

 

[Durante]

I already played 2 games that will probably end up in my top 5 in the past 2 weeks, so I'll delay my vote until January in case another one pops up

 

[C-Dub]

Yeah, thought I was ready to write my list, then I started playing Alan Wake 2 and this is definitely going on the list.

 

[QFNS]

I voted. Not gonna get into Alan Wake 2 or Yakuza Man who Erased his Name. So I'm done.

 

[LEANIJA]

Voted earlier, and for ...reasons, here are my top ten, because I always find top fives so restrictive

1. Resident Evil 4
2. Hogwarts Legacy
3. Baldurs Gate 3
4. Trine 5
5. Lies of P
6. Diablo 4
7. Amnesia The Bunker
8. Boltgun
9. Street Fighter 6
10. Wizordum (early access)

still need to make my top 10 lists for music and other crap we should make a thread for that again

 

[d00d3n]

I voted like this:

GOTY 2023
1. Baldur's Gate 3 (PC)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Switch)
3. Astlibra Revision (PC)
4. Afterimage (PC)
5. The Talos Principle 2 (PC)


Short Motivation for GOTY:
Baldur's Gate 3 must be both one of the most entertaining and one of the most damaging titles to play if you want to outmaneuver every enemy and NPC, fully explore everything and miss out on nothing. I have had to replay hours of content several times due to missing out on great items, such as the conundrum of choosing the negotiated gift or the loot from the hag (solvable by buying the loot at an earlier stage when she was available as a merchant and choosing the negotiated gift later). Another highlight was optimizing trading, stealing, fast talking and killing in the goblin camp. I can't remember having this much fun save scumming a game since Deus Ex: Mankind Divided!

It seems like the most novel aspect of the game is how it reinvents 3d exploration in this type of CRPG. Critical paths and interactions are rarely highlighted, unless you roll difficult perception checks. Teleportation spells and jumping abilities that would be useless in a conventional CRPG can be some of the most useful and interesting abilities in this game. Environments don't come off as checklists, but as detailed 3d spaces with big rewards for noticing details.

My only major point of criticism would be that while ACT I and II were well designed for my chosen playstyle of power gaming, save scumming and leaving no stone untouched, ACT III in comparison had too many densely packed stones and too few offshoots into adventures and dungeons. The huge dips in frame rate despite overpowered hardware in ACT III made a kind of bad impression as well. The game is my clear GOTY, but it does not seem like the huge effort from the developer to create complex city environments in Rivington and Baldur's Gate paid off to make the game better.

Ongoing:
Vampire Survivors (PC)

Early Access of the year:
Sons of the Forest (PC)

Best Soundtrack:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo Switch)

Best Old Game:
Dishonored 2 (PC)

Turd of the Year:
Immortals of Aveum (PC)

 

[Paul]

Just voted. I wish I started playing Robocop sooner because from the first three hours it seems like it would take a spot in the top 5, but I will not be able to finish it in time. But hey, the other 5 games are great too.

 

[Durante]

I just voted, thanks for doing this!

 

[Stevey]

I voted, but hardly have played any games that released this year, they're still sat in the backlog :V

 

[Parsnip]

So no extension to the deadline?

I guess I'll cram as much Afterimage in the next few days as I can to see where it lands on my final list.

 

[Ascheroth]

I guess I'll cram as much Afterimage in the next few days as I can to see where it lands on my final list.

Haha I'm in the exact same situation, but I voted today anyway since I feel fairly certain of its place on my list now, though it would have been preferable to complete it. Alas.

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Here's my vote:

GOTY 2023
1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (PC)
2. Afterimage (PC)
3. The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails (PC)
4. Honkai: Star Rail (PC)
5. Digimon World: Next Order (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Just a great story with great characters in a great world. The conclusion to the Crossbell duology absolutely delivers.

Ongoing:
Genshin Impact

Best Soundtrack:
Honkai: Star Rail

Best Old Game:
Elden Ring

 

[Kvik]

I posted my votes in the Steam thread. Overall, I didn't finish plenty of games and only completed 23 games in total. Still, I enjoyed gaming a lot in 2023. Such a great year. And this year could even be better!

Community - MetaSteam | January 2024 - Let's get this year started!

I was gonna buy more but realistically I won’t play any of those anytime soon so eh. Oh I definitely won't be able to finish them. I just started playing Dead Space that I got in the last sale (maybe a month or so ago). But that definitely won't stop me from making questionable buying decisions...

metacouncil.com

 

[Li Kao]

I really hope some people voted for Turd of the Year.
Because as much as I hate the game I selected, it could be a little bit provocative if it's elected.

 

[ExistentialThought]

I voted, thank you for putting this together!

I did not play too many games from 2023, let alone beat many games.

That said, I just played like 15 mins of El Paso, Elsewhere and this would have been a good contender I think haha.

 

[Parsnip]

Sent in mine. Thanks for putting this together once again.

Spoiler

GOTY 2023
1. The Roottrees are Dead (browser)
2. Chants of Sennaar (PC)
3. Vernal Edge (PC)
4. Afterimage (PC)
5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Sleuthing games are so few and far between that every new release is a blessing. It also just so happens that this is a good one of those. (Are there even bad ones?) And free. Can't beat free.

Ongoing:
HITMAN 3 (Freelancer mode)

Best Old Game:
Ittle Dew 2

 

[NarohDethan]

I override y'alls vote by stating that Alan Wake 2 is the GOTY, thanks!

 

[Nabs]

I hope I wasn't too late.

Had to get my Bomb Rush Cyberfunk #1 in.

I had trouble remembering what I played last year.

My List:

Spoiler

1. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
2. Pseudoregalia
3. HiFi Rush
4. Smushi Come Home
5. Cocoon

 

[C-Dub]

I hope Starfield gets turd of the year - it deserves it.

 

[Le Pertti]

I override y'alls vote by stating that Alan Wake 2 is the GOTY, thanks!

Can’t do anything if you haven’t voted!