Hello, rabbits! I’m Chantal Ryan, lead developer of darkwebSTREAMER and head of the studio We Have Always Lived In The Forest, meganerd, anthropologist, lit-enjoyer, horror fanatic and dabbler in strange and stranger things. I’ve successfully slipped parasitic worms into the brains of our lovely Kotaku Australia staff and am currently controlling their central nervous systems. As such, you get to hear from me today! Mwahaha. I’m going to force you all to listen to all of my opinions about my Best Games of 2023 list. Who knows, maybe I’ve snuck worms into your brains, too. You could try to check…
Small note: I played tragically few games this year, and even fewer games that were actively released in 2023. As such, let us all acknowledge (or let me force you to acknowledge) that this list could have been very different, but I yam what I yam. Sorry, Alan Wake II, you’ll have to be on one of my other lists next year.
I am not sure how long this whole nerve-conductor thing is going to last, so without further ado…
Baldur’s Gate 3
Look, I’m just gonna drop it up front so you’re not waiting for it. Baldur’s Gate 3, yo. What a game. I played the original Baldur’s Gate games as a kid and this was everything I could have dreamed of or more. They took everything to love about the D&D system, about action RPGs, about turn-based games, about modern technology, about humans making human games, and they mashed it all together in some kind of master symphony. I’m one of those obnoxious people who tend to be sceptical about the things everyone else is enjoying. But BG3 is just incredibly fun, simultaneously playful and mature, respectful of our intelligence as players, and more. It’s a feat and deserves every one of its accolades. And wait a minute… it’s also a game about worms in the brain… is this worm-ception???
Amanda the Adventurer
Here’s one you likely haven’t heard of but should. Aren’t you lucky I’m here to do that for you? Amanda The Adventurer is basically Dora The Explorer: Analog Horror Edition. It’s a piece of surrealist fiction, it’s an immersive experience, its an exercise in the experiental atmosphere of the uncanny. The game plops you into a dusty attic filled with the toys of childhood and expects you to go explore. To play. As you do, you’ll find a string of VHS tapes to watch showing various episodes and clips from Amanda The Adventurer, an exceptionally well-animated and perfectly voice-acted fictional children’s show. The team absolutely nailed the vibe, and it’s the convincingness of the execution that truly renders the creep factor present in the game as the show’s content begins to degenerate and the fourth wall begins to break — the latter being one of my favourite creative methods. It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s damn worth a play if you love weird things and psychological horror.
C-Smash VRS
There’s a chance you also haven’t heard of this PSVR2 exclusive, but if you have the means to play it, don’t wait. Full disclosure — this game was directed by Jörg Tittel, both friend and co-host of my video game podcast Directional, and developed by Wolf & Wood, but I have plenty of friends who released games this year who I (shamefully) haven’t put on the list so hey, I’m owning some neutrality. Don’t worry, I will deal with their feelings later and it will definitely not involve a Men-In-Blackesque neuralyzer-type device. Why would I do that when I have an advanced knowledge of neurobiology on my side? Anyway, C-Smash VRS makes it in here because it’s a play experience genuinely unlike one I’ve ever experienced before. Settling you into a serene minimalistic environment set in the midst of space, C-Smash VRS is essentially virtual reality squash combined with meditative experience—except done really, really well. This game is basically a flow generator, hitting all the right *ahem* neurological buttons to place you in an altered headspace, and its award-winning soundtrack moves you into vibe of otherworldliness as you hit flow. Lastly, and importantly to me, it has a multiplayer option, something that is still lacking amongst most VR games and that C-Smash does incredibly well. Trancing out with family and friends while playing squash in space is bonding goals IMO.
Dave the Diver
I ummed and ahhed over putting this here, and only partly because I’m so sulky about this Nexon-funded game continually taking up nomination spots on indie award lists. Buuut I will and I’ll tell you why. I am so here for genre fusion, genre smashing, genre madness. Much of what I loved about Dave The Diver was its embracing of different mechanics for different genres, as well as different tropes. Something of a swimming metroidvania combined with a restaurant sim combined with other elements more common to other genres, Dave the Diver reminded me of Sega Genesis era game Ecco The Dolphin-turned-actively engaging (but now with more violence!). I really enjoyed bouncing between the fishing and the restaurant simming, and the way the game expanded out.
However, the gameplay loop seemed almost too neat and too predictable — there was “progression” but as a designer it felt very repetitive in terms of, “hit this number cap and we’ll uncap it and pretend you’re really unlocking more game!” Further, some of the primary narratives felt too silly — there’s a place for parodying contrived stories, but at times they felt more contrived than parody. However, there was a lot of humour that did land, and much of that shone through the eye-wateringly well done animations. In short, I have a complex relationship with Dave The Diver but ultimately it’s here on my best of 2023 list, largely because I want to see more design experimentation and genre fusion like this. *intense stare*
World of Horror
Oh man. Full disclosure: this game had a huge impact on me as a designer and I often say darkwebSTREAMER is something of a “response to World Of Horror”, at least partially. I call this game a masterpiece and I mean it — it’s perfectly executed across nearly every element of its design, from its aesthetic to its UI to its narrative content to its gameplay loops. I first played this about three years ago when it was in early access, I mourned with the rest of the community when its designer, panstasz, disappeared for a long while leaving us in the throes of withdrawal, I rejoiced with the rest of the community when modders took up the mantle and began expanding the game out with new characters, items, missions and more. It was this latter experience that drove home how important providing easy-but-powerful modding tools is to the community, and why I ensured darkwebSTREAMER was built from the ground up with robust modding capabilities (and I promise this isn’t an ad for my game, it is just near impossible for me to talk about World of Horror without also talking about its impact on me as a designer).
If you’re unfamiliar, World Of Horror—officially released this year—is a 1-bit(ish) cosmic horror game set in 80s Japan. If you’ve played Arkham Horror the board game, it’s basically that but better. It’s, in essence, a procedurally generated narrative roguelite game in a world that has almost none of them. You play as one of a number of characters trying to stop an Old God from ending the world by solving “missions”, collecting skills and items, and surviving turn-based encounters with all sorts of terrible beings. Playthroughs are short, with victories often taking less than 2-3 hours and failures taking less than that. A nice thick game for people with not a lot of time. If you love horror, old adventure games, turn-based RPGs, or you’re just a generally cool person, you’ll probably love this game. Oh, and have I mentioned the badass soundtrack?! Also, it has a scene where you have to physically remove a friend’s eyeball due to a parasite having entered it, thus I feel very seen. And all we really want is to be seen, right?
Finally, I’ma throw some honourable mentions for games I suspect would have made it on this list but didn’t because I didn’t get to them in time:
Dredge
Alan Wake II
Venba
Thirsty Suitors
Lies of P
Stray Gods
Look em up, suckas. You have my vouch. (Disclaimer: this list is not exhaustive. Friends, do NOT make me use the not-a-neuralyzer-device).
And there we have it. You have successfully sat through to the end of my Opinions(TM). I thank you for your service. Go forth, play these games, let them seep in. Then commence distributing my purely metaphorical eggs amongst your friends, family and social environments. It’s fine, they’ll like it. We’ll be a society.
Much love and brain matter,
Chantal
Image: Wolf & Wood Interactive, Panstasz, MANGLEDmaw Games, jpgamedesign, Arcadim, Kotaku Australia
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