Well, it’s finally over. The year of our lord, 2023, has been, gone, and will never return. We now stare down the barrel of 2024, and honestly, it’s looking pretty swanky in the gaming space. Grim everywhere else, granted, but the games look cool. Before we say goodbye once and for all, I thought it would be swell if I had a glance at some games that didn’t get much attention in 2023 and give them their time in the sun.
The headline implies that these are the ‘best’ games, but what does ‘best’ even mean? It’s all subjective guff and in reality, these are just 10 games I thought were kinda rad and I wanted to ramble about them. That’s it – that’s my criteria for ‘best’. I like them and maybe you will too. Let’s have a gander and find out.
HROT
HROT is part of the boom-shoot revival initiative that has taken Steam by storm these last few years. It is a love letter to classic FPS like Quake. Despite its roots being cemented, what HROT brings to the table is entirely unique – soul-crushing depression brought on by the onset of infinite brown voids, nuclear radiation, and communism.
HROT is as ‘Slav’ as you can get, and that vibe is a huge part of the appeal. Sure, the core mechanics and gameplay are very solid. But HROT thrives off its oppressive atmosphere that drowns you in a sea of thick, palpable tension. Everything is understated in a way that fuels a feeling of isolation and vulnerability. Then, out of nowhere, a sentient pommel horse caves your skull in. It’s great.
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
When I was a kid, I loved Jet Set Radio. Skating around in a yellow t-shirt, spraying stuff, avoiding the fuzz, and listening to some knee-slapping beats had me entertained for hours. The sequel is even more so. It’s a shame that the series died a death after that, and nothing has scratched that itch since.
Until now, of course. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a love letter to Jet Set Radio, and even manages to improve on just about everything that series did. I spent hours just grinding rails and getting wild combos – so much so that I forgot the game had a story multiple times. It immediately became my go-to comfort game and I can’t recommend it enough.
It just turns out Sega also announced a new Jet Set Radio in 2023 as well, so the genre is back, and I couldn’t be happier.
El Passo, Elsewhere
Max Payne was awesome. I played it way too young and it has stuck with me to this day. Awesome gunplay, slo-mo action, and a gripping crime noir story by the wonderful people at Remedy made for a good time. El Passo, Everywhere is a lot like Max Payne, and there aren’t many games that try to drink from that grail.
Heck, the game is a giant love letter to Remedy as a whole with splashes of Alan Wake, Quantum Break, and Control all thrown in for good measure. It’s a wild ride from start to finish and it’s cheap as chips to dive into. It has its issues for sure, but I couldn’t help but love it.
DUSK
I am cheating with this one. DUSK came out in 2018 and you better believe I am still putting it on here. Why? Because DUSK is arguably the greatest shooter to come out in the past 5 years and it deserves its praises to be sung every year. DUSK kickstarted the revival of classic FPS, and it still holds the crown as the very best example.
It also just got an HD makeover that makes it look a bit nicer. Does that make it a new game? No, but it’s my list and I am putting DUSK on here anyway. Play DUSK. It’s on everything. It’s awesome.
Whisper Squadron: Survivor
Survivor games (like Vampire Survivors) are a dime a dozen and making one that stands out from the crowd is getting progressively more difficult. But what if we told you Whisper Squadron: Survivor managed to break the curse and deliver something only a madman would dream of?
It’s Star Fox X Vampire Survivors, and it’s glorious. It looks beautiful, the gameplay is top-notch, and there’s plenty of content. The only downside is that it’s currently in ‘Early Access’. I still had a blast with it, so it’s making the list.
This Way Madness Lies
I have been a huge fan of Zeboyd for well over a decade. These guys are masters of making distillations of RPGs that cut out all the guff and leave you with solid mechanics and a short run time. Their biggest game was Cosmic Star Heroine, and that’s still my go-to game for a quick RPG fix.
This Way Madness Lies keeps with their style of game but cranks the theme to eleven. This is a turn-based RPG set in a ‘Magical Girl Anime’ universe with gorgeous sprite work. There is nothing like it, and I highly recommend it for fans of tightly-knit experiences that don’t waste your time.
Death Roads: Tournament
It takes a lot to make a roguelike deck builder worth playing. With titans of the genre like Slay The Spire and Monster Train having the genre on lock, is there a reason to look at anything else? In most cases, the answer is probably no. Death Roads: Tournament does just enough to break the curse though.
Imagine Mad Max, make it a deckbuilder, then throw in complex movement mechanics and a manual gear-shifting system and you have yourself a fun time. Oh, and don’t forget the weapons. This game is awesome, but it’s also hard as nails. If the theme speaks to you, then check it out. It’s a blast.
Squirrel Stapler
Squirrel Stapler is a game most people will never play, let alone hear about. It’s a game that costs very little, has a very short run time, and asks you to go out into a forest and shoot squirrels. That’s the whole game…kind of.
I can’t go into much about the game without spoiling it, but I beat this game in a single sitting and I enjoyed every second of it. There’s nothing quite like it and it deserves to be experienced. Go forth and do unspeakable acts.
You Will Die Here Tonight
You Will Die Here Tonight is a combination of Resident Evil and House Of The Dead in a roguelike package. You explore a familiar-looking mansion setting, solve puzzles and find keys. Combat thrusts you into first person and you get to blast away like an arcade light gunner.
Of course, then you die, and you have to do it all again – with a twist. The less you know the better, so we will leave it there. But like every game on this list, it’s well worth checking out because there is nothing quite like it out there.
Lunacid
The final game I am going to talk about is Lunacid, and Lunacid is special. This game takes nods from classics like Kingsfield but ultimately delivers an experience like no other. The game is slow, deliberate, and full of secrets. There is no map, so thorough exploration and pushing into the unknown is an oppressively addictive constant. Everything you discover is because you thought to abandon fear and step into the darkness.
Lunacid’s combat has a flow to it too, and more depth than you would initially think. Slowly dodging attacks, dipping to range, dismembering your opponent, and then ducking back out. Levelling up and evolving your weapons is a very satisfying loop that opens up in all kinds of wonderful ways, and frankly, it’s one of the most engrossing games I’ve played all year. It’s a slow burn for sure, but if you let it get its claws in you, you won’t be able to put it down.
