Deck the halls, write to Santa, and update your respective consoles before the traditional Christmas network outages. ‘Tis the season, so we’re wrapping up another year of gaming at Destructoid with 2023’s best games, and that includes a heavy-hitting category of PlayStation nominees.
Destructoid’s process is pretty simple, our very own Eric Van Allen explains as much in his Indie Nominees rundown. Games can only be nominated in one category, and our ‘year’ begins in December 2022 — December 2023 games don’t make the cut.
Anyway, in the spirit of kicking another holiday hornet’s nest, here’s our nominees for best PS4 / PS5 game of the year.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac’s last Spider-Man game launched in 2018, thus kicking off this category’s theme of “What year is it again?” — I had to double-check that after suggesting we just got one of these within the last couple of years.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the quintessential Sony recommendation for folks looking to buy the current-gen PlayStation. It’s polished to a degree that remains beyond impressive and captivating, even to those not into the whole superhero scene. Miles Morales steals the show as a series favorite, and all of the usual staples like webslinging, New York neighborhoods, and, of course, Venom, return in a show of Spider-Man’s best. It’s one that really sold me on Spidey’s direction going forward, and I certainly wasn’t the only one.
Final Fantasy XVI
Though it just launched in June this year, Final Fantasy XVI was one of those games I was certain came out last year, but no, I’m just turning into dust. The hazy time-lapse is equal parts owed to the build-up and fanfare around another entry to the Final Fantasy series and how much of the year RPG lovers spent sequestered off with a screen.
In our review, Eric confirmed one of my biggest suspicions: Final Fantasy XVI is a Final Fantasy game. Perhaps it’s not my favorite, but that’s not much of a critique in a series full of titans that established and inspired developers for decades. Clive’s journey is a flashy, Devil May Cry-inspired adventure fusing some of the best inspirations from the sights and sounds of FFXIV: Heavensward into a lengthy, single-player RPG.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
As a mech girly, I’m always rooting for any game with gargantuan robots and metal-on-metal sparkling firefights. Thankfully, this year didn’t leave me wanting as Armored Core 6 debuted to critical praise, and that includes our own review where Destructoid’s head honcho Chris Carter reassured longtime fans that “the spark of the series is still very much alive” in Fires of Rubicon.
After such a lengthy stint between series releases, Armored Core’s 2023 resurrection was certainly among the year’s bigger surprises, but FromSoft more than delivered yet again. I’ve probably hit a fail state in Armored Core VI more times than all of the other games on this list combined, but I keep going back to it for more. That’s more impressive when you consider there’s a rhythm game below.
Street Fighter 6
There’s a reason talk of a Capcom “Golden Age” keeps happening, and Street Fighter VI feels a bit symbolic of that. The classic fighter saw plenty of praise and held its own in a year packed with other Capcom darlings like Resident Evil 4 and Monster Hunter.
As a button-masher, it’s one of the few fighting games I’m willing to revisit when the shine of “new release” wears off and my friends have moved on. Its sprawling roster, upcoming collaborations, and support from Capcom turn Street Fighter VI into a constant spectacle that’s just as much fun to bumble your way through as it is to watch on the big screens of EVO.
Theathrythm Final Bar Line
Ah, the bane of my existence, Theathrythm. I say that in the most loving way possible, as my endless Theathrythm replays on 3DS destroyed my handheld’s buttons, and I figure the same is soon true for my PlayStation controllers.
That’s a very roundabout way of saying Final Bar Line absolutely rules. While the bar (ha, bar, get it?) for spin-offs isn’t very high, there’s nothing about this latest entry that feels like a cheap afterthought. It’s just as much proper rhythm game as it is impassioned love letter to Final Fantasy. All year long, I’ve lost nights to replaying a handful of tracks, desperately honing my skills to crank the difficulty up just a little more. And even if that’s not your cup of tea, its guided tributes to the past are still worth the time.
Alan Wake 2
As an editor, I’m obviously partial to the work my team does, but if we had a category for ‘review of the year,’ I’d throw Smangaliso Simelane’s piece on Alan Wake 2 into the ring for the title without a second thought. In the 9/10 review, Smangaliso concluded:
“I can say that it’s one of my favorite titles in an extremely competitive year. Not only has it redefined what I believe video game narratives are capable of, but it also left me invigorated to see how Remedy will innovate once again.”
Sold — anyway, with how everyone talks about Alan Wake, I deeply regret not diving into the first one. Remedy’s gorgeously dismal setting calls for me in many of the same ways Control initially did, using bold, striking pops of light and color for the initial hook. Then, it’s suddenly 3 a.m. on a Monday, but I swear I only meant to play an hour or two.
Octopath Traveler 2
It’s 2023, but this looks like what I imagined games would as a little thing in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Octopath Traveler 2 squared up in a year full of other gorgeous pixel art games like Sea of Stars, but held its own as an RPG powered by industry veterans.
Even as someone just a few hours in with an end-of-the-year cram session, the second game seems to fix some of my pain points from the original Octopath Traveler, all while maintaining the art direction and music I adored. Of course, once again, my RPG-enthused coworker Eric Van Allen reviewed the classic throwback, noting: “It somehow has everything I’d want out of an RPG inspired by the old days, but moving forward into new ones too. “
What’s next for Destructoid’s GOTY?
For those of you curious as to where we’ll land, check back on December 18 for our best of PlayStation winner. And with all of that said, here’s our quick, bulleted nominees list to refresh you for discussions:
Destructoid’s Best PS4/PS5 Games of 2023:
- Spider-Man 2
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Armored Core 6
- Street Fighter 6
- Theathrythm Final Bar Line
- Alan Wake 2
- Octopath Traveler 2
