Is this a list of the "best" games I played, or a list of my favorites? What would "top" games of the year really indicate? Why do I have so many existential questions about something that really shouldn't be thought about in this much detail?

The only thing I think we can all agree on is that 2023 was stacked, from the jump, and there were just too many games coming out constantly and for the first time in my life my backlog got larger. And not just with older games, like, 2023 GOTY contenders are in my backlog and I still have four weeks to go. That's ridiculous, what a stupid year for the gaming industry.

Ran out of money and time, I'll get to them in 2024

"Baldur's Gate 3," "Armored Core VI," "COD: MW3," "Dead Island 2," "Redfall," "Dredge," "Venba," "Thirsty Suitors," "El Paso, Elsewhere," "Goodbye Volcano High," "Sea of Stars," "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" and "Humanity."

I played them but they did not make the list for one reason of another

"F-Zero 99," "Final Fantasy 16," "Metroid Prime Remastered," "Hi-Fi Rush," "Pizza Tower," "Coccoon," "Jusant," "Blasphemous 2," "Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine," "Atomic Heart," "Hogwarts Legacy," "Spongebob: The Cosmic Shake," "Warhammer 40K: Boltgun," "Remnant 2," "Lords of the Fallen," "Wargroove 2" and "Super Mario RPG

13. 'Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp'

"Advance Wars" games are better than "Fire Emblem" games. This proves it. Change my mind. Less talking and more combat, please!

12. 'Diablo IV'

I didn't get "Diablo 3," it was a big disappointment for me on launch. But "Diablo 4" clicked for me, and I had an enjoyable time playing it with my friends and building out the skill tree for different classes. But once it was over, everyone on the internet expected me to keep playing it into the "end game?" And I was like, "no?"

11. 'We Love Katamari'

The first two Katamari games are among my all-time favorite pieces of art, and this is just the second game. I love it! It's a remaster, not quite a full on remake like some of the games that made the top ten, but it's still absolutely worth picking up for first-time players.

10. 'Dead Space' Remake

This is better than the original — still great. It's just a really good time, but exactly what's promised and once it's over that's it. Thank goodness it came out at exactly the right time, or else this would be buried in an otherwise stacked year.

9. 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor'

This game was very buggy and glitchy on launch for me, and EA clearly had Respawn take some of the Dark Souls DNA out of this game, which makes me like it less. It's still good, but not the "WOW" I was looking for like Titanfall 1 to 2.

8. 'Marvel's Spider-Man 2'

This keeps happening to Sony's main IP! A ridiculously amazing game ("Horizon: Zero Dawn," "God of War 2018," "Spider-Man," "The Last of Us") comes out and is GOTY worthy, and then the sequel just isn't nearly as good IMHO ("Horizon: Forbidden West," "God of War: Ragnarok," "Spider-Man 2," "The Last of Us Part II").

This isn't as good as "Miles Morales," and I'm sort of shocked that nothing was improved except we got web wings to glide around for a bit. They brought back the Mary Jane stealth levels! The story isn't as interesting! The side quests and exploration were the same! What happened? There isn't even as much game here — they removed the cool Batman stalking missions and the suits no longer have unique powers. I just don't understand.

7. 'Super Mario Bros. Wonder'

I really thought this would be my GOTY, and I blitzed through this thinking it would be. But it was just a really good "Mario" game that didn't quite top the 3D games for me ("Galaxy 1" and "2," "Odyssey"). It was like a better and more improved "New Super Mario Bros." and not quite the "Super Mario Bros. 4" everyone keeps saying it is. At the end of the day, it's another "Mario" game, a fantastic one, but not a life changing one like "SMB3" or "World" were.

6. 'Starfield'

Everyone can agree on the flaws for this game, and there's no denying any of those. The travel, the menus, the lack of maps — all pain points. But man, did I just get lost playing this game for like 100 hours. A really terrific podcast game, just zone out and enjoy for an entire weekend (it's akin to time traveling). This is the best thing Bethesda has made in well over ten years, which isn't saying much, since so many RPGs have lapped it in many areas. But I still came away more positive than the previous two entries, which is saying a lot since I thought "Spider-Man" and "Mario" would be number one and two on my list back at the start of 2023.

5. 'Resident Evil 4' Remake

I still prefer the original to this game. For years I kept screaming at Capcom to not remake a perfect game, OG "RE4" was untouchable, the best game ever made, don't be greedy, stop it. Well, they delivered something that isn't quite the GOAT of video games like the first one, but it is really good and really fun. And the DLC was awesome, the optional costumes are fantastic, and I had a blast playing it, even though I'm still right it shouldn't exist. They should have remade "Code Veronica."

4. 'Street Fighter VI'

All I wanted from this game was for it to feel right, be better than "SFV" at launch, and not suck so bad that it would make watching tournaments miserable. Well, turns out this game feels perfect, plays like a dream, looks perfect, has the right vibe, has good online and EVO was great. The single player mode turned out to be a dud, and without any patches for balance playing against Kens over and over gets dull. But I'm sure the bones on this game are solid enough to make it one of the best fighting games ever, and for a long time too.

3. 'Lies of P'

If you had told me months ago that a South Korean team, famous for making nothing, would do a game that topped my end of year list over "Resident Evil," "Mario," "Spider-Man" and "Street Fighter," I would punch you in the mouth for even suggesting such an idea. Same goes for telling me I'd be playing a game that's as good as From Software soulslikes, I'd never believe you.

But this game is the closest thing to a "Bloodborne 2" the world will ever see, and it's such a glorious gift to us Miyazaki-pilled freaks out there. I put it up high on the list of best soulslikes ever made, and for good reason. This game is gorgeous, fun, smart and addicting. It was free for Game Pass subscribers, which is me, and it was a super long game with great pacing.

Sony please give us a "Bloodborne" 60fps patch for PS5.

2. 'Alan Wake II'

There were many points while playing this I thought to myself "I've never seen anyone do this in a game ever," "this is one of my favorite things ever" and of course "why did I die eight times in a row to this ridiculous boss battle and waste all of my ammo, oh my god, just let me get back to the story."

"Alan Wake 2" shouldn't exist, but it does. It shouldn't be SUCH a wild upgrade over every other previous Remedy production, but it is. It shouldn't be able to pull off all the things it's going for with such ease, but I kept being proven wrong. This is an accomplishment unlike any other attempted in the medium, a true experimental and avant-garde masterpiece that churns together so many references and genres and visual storytelling and meta narratives into a delicious stew.

1. 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom'

I don't know if this entire exercise is supposed to be the "Best" games of the year in my opinion (how can it be, no one can have objective truth over what artwork is best when I haven't played "Baldur's Gate 3" yet since I'm an Xbox owner) or "favorite" games of 2023. What I do know is that "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" is in the running for one of the best games I've ever played, and it sort of automatically has to go on the top of this list by default.

I had a blast playing it, don't get me wrong, but this is easily in contention for best game design I've ever seen on display. Only the most minor of quibbles detract (knowing where to go or what to do with the quests, the game runs on such old hardware you'd want it to look and run better, etc.). But there's no denying the miracle Nintendo pulled off making this thing and putting it out on a console with the power of two Gamecubes duct taped together.

Getting lost for hours in this game was utterly brilliant and it's hard to have complaints when you're having so much fun. Not even "Alan Wake 2" could make me forget about all the backtracking and lack of a mini-map on-screen, and I love that game.

Also that "Castlevania" DLC for "Dead Cells" was awesome but that doesn't really count as being a new game.