Pure Xbox’s Game Of The Year 2023
Well, well, well. If it isn’t the end of another tortuous year on the hellish space prison that is planet Earth. 2023 has been a real one alright, simultaneously jam-packed full of some of the best games we’ve ever clapped eyes on, whilst the industry itself faced widespread job losses and closures that were, for the most part, due to good old-fashioned greed. Goodwill to all men and that.
On a more positive note, well, games. Lots and lots of beautiful games. There’s been plenty of chatter over the past few months as to whether or not 2023 has been the GOAT as far as quality is concerned and, honestly, besides perhaps 1998, it’s very hard to argue otherwise. It’s been a nonstop onslaught that kicked off with January’s sublime Hi-Fi RUSH and kept on keeping on through the likes of Resident Evil 4 Remake, Diablo 4, Starfield, Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.
We’ve had so many great exclusive and multiplatform AAA titles this year and, as per usual, a torrent of incredible indies to keep us glued to our screens at every opportunity with Sea of Stars, Cocoon, Jusant, Chants Of Sennaar, DREDGE and much more providing enough variety to keep us all well and truly entertained.
Of course, in keeping with established tradition round these parts, we recently asked you lovely people to vote for your favourite games of 2023 in order to once again crown Pure Xbox’s Game of the Year. These votes have now been fed through a complex system of futuristic machines located in a bunker deep beneath the earth’s surface and, with the aid of several of the most talented counters in the country, we’ve been able to form the following Top Ten list, as voted for by you. Yes that’s right, you. There’s nobody else to blame here…this is 100% your mess.
So, ready to find out which games made the cut and who exactly has been crowned overall winner? Grab yourself a few festive refreshments, find a chair that doesn’t have a sleeping relative in it and let’s jump in!
Publisher: EA / Developer: Respawn Entertainment
As much as this particular writer struggled on numerous occasions to get fully involved with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order when it released back in 2019, there have been no such problems with its top-notch sequel. No sir, this one’s a belter.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor sees Respawn more fully realise the original vision they set out in their first SW vehicle, giving us a Cal Kestis who now knows the ropes of being a Jedi and can get busy building upon his powers, giving him a more developed and enjoyable set of skills to deploy against a threat that feels far more epic in scale and scope this time around.
This really does feel like a dream game for wannabe Jedis, with a huge open world full of jaw-dropping locations, tight platforming, clever puzzles, cool as hell enemies, loads of cameos, excellent combat and enough secrets, lore dumps and cheeky little nods to keep the most ardent of Star Wars fans very, very happy indeed. It had its bugs and performance issues at launch, for sure, but this is a game that’s been patched and improved since release and now stands as one of the very best adventures you can blast into on consoles, whether you’re into space pew-pews or not.
Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Capcom
We weren’t sure they could pull it off if we’re being completely honest, but Capcom has been on a hell of a roll recently and Resident Evil 4 Remake confirmed that the studio isn’t set on quitting its hot-streak anytime soon.
Remaking what is often regarded as the greatest action game of all time is no easy task and, with Resi fans watching on nervously, Capcom returned to this bonafide classic in order to rebuild from the ground up, resulting in a version of Leon’s adventure that can, quite unbelievably, stand shoulder to shoulder with its predecessor. This is Resident Evil 4 modernized, revamped and reworked in spectacular fashion, and all without losing the essence of what made it so special in the first place. As we said in our review back in March;
“You can feel the care and attention to detail in every aspect of how Capcom has handled this remake. Combat has been improved and expanded without destroying the all-important feel of how Leon does battle, iconic boss fights and locations look and feel better than ever and carefully considered additions to areas allow for more exploration between confrontations without ruining the tight and taut flow of the adventure.”
Publisher: Blizzard / Developer: Blizzard
Diablo IV definitely feels as though it’s been overshadowed by other games as this crazy year has drawn on, such is the way of things when the industry just keeps on dropping amazing works of art for us to dive into, but rest assured this is very much Blizzard operating on top form.
While we all wait for the meaty expansions and additions that’ll bring us right back into the fold (Vessel of Hatred drops in 2024) what we’ve got here is a base game that delivers us some of the most fiendishly addictive – and relentlessly bleak – action in the entire series. As we said back in June;
“Diablo 4 is a natural evolution of the series with its new open-world design and gameplay, enhanced social and multiplayer experience, and a live service that promises to keep players returning to the world of Sanctuary for years to come. These strong foundations and scale of the whole experience, combined with the five unique classes and seemingly limitless customisation options for builds, should keep even the most diehard demon slayers busy for a very long time.”
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios / Developer: Turn 10 Studios
We expected Turn 10 would deliver the goods, and they didn’t let us down. Forza Motorsport is a fantastic racer that swaps out the open world action of the Forza Horizon series in favour of closed circuit racing on some of the world’s most famous courses.
With jaw-dropping visuals, tight handling and a level of detail and fidelity that’s a match for Sony’s competitor, it may not have launched with an exhaustive array of play options but this new Motorsport feels like the beginning of something special, as we pointed out in our review;
“Forza Motorsport feels like a game that’s set up for the future. The technical underpinnings on show in Turn 10’s Xbox Series X|S debut are remarkable, and this sort of solid foundation is always a good start. When Turn 10 gets around to adding more unique career events, tracks and bonus features, this could become one of the very best sim racers ever to grace Xbox. For now, it’s a brilliant effort that doesn’t quite finish in first place.”
Publisher: CD Projekt Red / Developer: CD Projekt Red
Yes. Cyberpunk 2077, the game we rewarded a 5/10 to at release due to…well…let’s just say we all know the story by now. It’s been a long hard road with this one but, fast-forward almost two years and the hard work and dedication that CDPR has put into righting this particular ship has paid off.
We may not have though it was possible, and it hasn’t fully erased each and every one of the bad memories from our minds regarding the inconsistencies and untruths that accompanied the pre-release hype, but credit where it’s due, they finally turned it around. With a huge big update full of improvements and fixes dropping alongside Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty itself, we can now say we’ve been served the experience we wanted from the get-go, it’s as simple as that.
Combat has been revitalised through brand new skill trees and perks, entire systems of new cybernetic tricks and abilities have been ushered in to better suit the world and give you more options as to how you approach action. NPCs have been improved, traffic now works like should, cops have been fixed, bugs have been squashed and the whole thing now looks and plays very well indeed, thank you very much.
Throw in a fantastic narrative that feels as though it just gets the overall vibe a whole lot better, a stellar turn from Idris Elba, and a story that flings us between the sort of excellent set-pieces we were crying out for in 2020 and well, this is Cyberpunk 2077 stepping up and becoming the game we always knew it could be. From our review;
“We’ve had our ups and downs with this one, oh boy it’s been a rollercoaster, but entirely reworked skills and perks, refined and refreshed combat, retooled loot and menu systems and a cracking new slice of CDPR narrative magic makes for a game that we’re finally able to recommend wholeheartedly. They’ve only gone and bloody done it.”
