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What a year it's been for games. Every quarter has a stellar game that kept gamers engaged with new mechanics or great story telling. As we got towards the end of the year some really good games started to come out too. Here's my list for what I played this year and the good/bad from the list. The Good Lies of P (MultiPlatform) - I start this list with one of the better games I played that I really liked and wanted to be a GOTY candidate even if it's a souls-clone. The story is engaging and actually has some plot unlike your typical souls' games and the character progression system and weapon choices truly are what makes this game shine. I hope to see a sequel and more from this studio in the same genre of games, they know what they are doing. Are they better than FromSW? Not really but they do a good job. Legend Of Zelda (Switch) - Tears of the Kingdom - If there was a category for best game mechanics of the year this one easily wins it hands down. It's BoTW on steroids and as you start to build your arsenal and traverse the world Nintendo have created you start to appreciate just how deep this game can get. Baldur's Gate 3 (Multi-platform - Best played on PC) - Easily one of the best RPGs in a very long time for the PC. I played the Beta and was clamoring for more and the fact that its Larian making this game made it even more fun. They have history here and this is a refinement that truly deserves all the accolades it's getting. Spiderman 2 (PS5) - This is the PS5 game to get this year. It's open world system and the fact that you've got character switching is Insomniac truly using with the PS5 was made to do. Is it similar to the last two games they've made? Yes. Have they added fun elements to make it fresh? Yes. The story is also quite good, and I'd recommend this to anyone with a PS5, it's a must have. Alan Wake 2 (Multiplatform | Currently Playing) - I went into this thinking to myself that the first one was good and surely this would be better. It was good, really good. What they've managed to do here and achieve with the scares and the mechanics will keep you very engaged. Does it hold replay value? I don't think so but that's irrelevant as its very good. Sea of Stars (Multiplatform) - This is my vote for hidden gem of the year. It's so good that I had to get it for my Switch and its thoroughly engrossing as an RPG. Wo Long - Fallen Dynasty (Multiplatform) - When I first started playing this, I thought I'd get a Sekiro-like experience, but I was wrong, very wrong. What Team Ninja have done here and its very sneaky is they've found a way to make a game that I'd like to say teaches you the fine art of crowd-management. The bosses are ultra difficult and it gives you a very Elden-Ring feeling as every turn brings about a new enemy type that is looking to end you. I rank it higher than Lies of P in terms of achievement satisfaction and Lies of P is really very high on my list of games I played this year. Fire Emblem Engage (Switch) - I wish I had bought this when it came out as I really liked it and if you have played any of the others in the series you'll love the fact that they've gone back to proper tactical gameplay vs some of the other story-based modes they've had which were honestly just garbage imo. Super Mario Bros - Wonder (Switch) [Late Add] - Yeah its good and its quite nice that they've found new ways to keep you engaged too. Is it the best SMB out there? Not really but its still very good for the Switch. The Bad Robocop - Vice City (Multiplatform) - I like the general idea of this game but its so unpolished that even with the healthy helping of on-screen violence and the fact that your hand canon truly blows people's heads to bits it fell a little short of me. I'd like a more polished game with some better mechanics. I'd also like half my money back. Redfall - I went into this like I did with Prey and I left feeling exactly the way I did with Prey. This is 2023 and yet we're left with shaky camera control systems and just a horrible gaming experience all over. The Not So Great RE4 - Remake (Multiplatform) - I'd love to give this higher accolades but lets be honest here, its a remake. And no matter how nice a remake is, its just an upscale of an already existing game that for its time was revolutionary in a series that had gotten very stale from a games mechanic point of view. Diablo IV (Multiplatform) - I'd have given Blizzard higher marks here but they really have to ditch the engine they've used for the last few games and give me something fresh and new. They could have literally called this Diablo 3 The Expansion and I think it would have been just fine. Street Fighter 6 (Multiplatform) - After SFV I think Capcom really should have taken a long hiatus before coming back with another game. The mechanics are refreshing but this game honestly should have and could have been much better. At times it felt imbalanced and it feels rushed. Queued Up / Notable Starfield - I won't ever play this but I have heard "nice" things about it. I will say this though, please stop fucking around and give us an Elder Scrolls game please. Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Definitely next on my list after I put Alan Wake to bed. Star Wars Jedi : Survivor - It sort of fell off the radar with all the other games that came out this year that I really wanted to play but I definitely want to play it after I liked the first one so much. Hogwarts Legacy - Fuck anything Harry Potter. But it has been getting great reviews. FFXVI - This will get game time in the earlier part of the year. There were other games this year that I really wanted to play but just couldn't find the time and they will eventually go into the backlog but this is what I have for now and tbh this is one of the weird years in gaming where we've actually had some variety in gameplay across all contenders for GOTY. My Vote - GOTY What this game has achieved will pave the way for companies to copy in the future. It's a massive effort to bring to the table what Larian have achieved here. From the varied strategy systems to the player interaction modes that you get in this game it has it all and it's not shy to go off the rails every now and then making you curse your choices as you traverse the world created. You can spend hours here and walk away satisfied every single time. It's really that good. My recommendation is to play this on a PC if you can as its one of those sit down and have a run at it kind of games like the Divinity series which I think set the dev team on the right path to getting this done. What did you play this year that you really liked? Was there a game you thought was total garbage and really didn't deserve to be in the good/not-so-good category. As a final note, my most anticipated fun game next year is Dino-Swords and I can't wait to see what they do with it.