Metacritic published their “best of 2023 so far” list, and Tears of the Kingdom is killing it

Metroid Prime Remastered is second

Metacritic has released their “top 20 games of 2023 so far” list (which covers January through June), and the results are somewhat expected, but fascinating nonetheless. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom towers over the competition with a 96/100 combined critic Metascore, followed closely by Metroid Prime Remastered at 94.

After that is a decent run from the PS5, cleaning up on multiplatform releases, followed by some smaller games filling in the top 20. Let’s look at the full breakdown without the piecemeal gallery format of Metacritic’s site.

Metacritic’s top games so far (as of the end of June 2023)

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) – 96/100 Metascore
2. Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) – 94
3. Resident Evil 4 remake (PS5) – 93
4. Street Fighter 6 (PS5) – 92
5. Dead Space (PS5) – 89
6. Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) – 88
7. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch) – 87
8. Hi-Fi Rush (Xbox Series X) – 87
9. Diablo IV (PC) – 87
10. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PS5) – 85
11. Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (Switch) – 85
12. Humanity (PS5) – 85
13. A Space For The Unbound (Switch) – 85
14. Octopath Traveler II (Switch) – 84
15. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (PC) – 84
16. Hogwarts Legacy (PS5) – 84
17. Cassette Beasts (PC) – 84
18. Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society (Switch) – 83
19. Age of Wonders 4 (PC) – 83
20. Doomblade (PC) – 83

Here’s how everything plays out cumulatively, platform-wise:

• PS5 – 7 entries
• Switch – 7 entries
• PC – 5 entries
• Xbox Series X – 1 entry

Let’s unpack that data for a quick minute

Before we unpack anything, it’s important to note the nuance of platform choice. Take Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for instance, which has an 85/100 Metascore on PS5, and a 78/100 on PC. Metacritic has a qualifier for that, noting: “If a game was released on multiple platforms, we included only the version receiving the largest total number of reviews (usually, but not always, the PS5 or PS4 version).”

A few remakes and remastered snuck in too, thanks to this clarification: “Multi-game compilations and newly released ports of games released in recent years on other platforms are excluded, unless they are substantially different from the prior release(s) (for example, an HD remaster that also adds some new content or is multiple hardware generations beyond the previous release). We have also excluded expansion packs and other DLC.” “Multiple hardware generations” would allow Metroid Prime Remastered, Dead Space, and RE4 to claim spots.

With that in mind, the most obvious takeaway is that Nintendo is killing it. It’s tied with the PS5 in terms of total entries in the top 20, but it also snatched up the top two slots with exclusives. Sony isn’t doing too badly itself, because while it doesn’t command a lead in terms of first-party exclusives, this data does showcase the company’s raw multiplatform dominance. Speaking of PS5 exclusives, Final Fantasy XVI snuck in there at the last possible second, racking up an 88/100 Metascore and taking sixth place overall.

Beyond the fairly expected mostly-AAA top 10, the presence of some indies/oddball games on this list is fantastic, especially Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo.