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RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Ben Love

Posted by Ben Love on February 2, 2024

Best Gateway Into Chinese RPGs: Wandering Sword I had no idea what I was missing out on by not playing Chinese RPGs until I played Wandering Sword. The unique Wuxia-inspired setting, deep character building mechanics informed by martial arts fantasy, and ingenious mix of CRPG and JRPG influences com… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Jonathan Logan

Posted by Jonathan Logan on February 2, 2024

Best Game of 2023 (That I Played): The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was released in 2017, it was heralded as one of the greatest Zelda games of all time, if not one of the greatest GOATs, period. Knowing everyone was eagerly awaiting word of the… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Audra Bowling

Posted by Audra Bowling on February 2, 2024

My Top 5 RPGs: 5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Trails into Reverie reignited my passion for The Legend of Heroes: Trails series, making me extremely excited for what’s next. I adore its characters and story resolutions, and give special kudos to protagonist C for phenomenal character de… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Des Miller

Posted by Des Miller on February 2, 2024

Proof That Giving Gust Time and Money Is a Great Idea of the Year: Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key Ever since 2019’s Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout reignited the Atelier series, the Secret (Ryza) sub-series saw drastic improvements from one entry to th… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Neal Chandran

Posted by Neal Chandran on February 2, 2024

In 2023, I found myself most inspired by games with excellent writing. That is how I arrived at my top three picks for the year: Top 3 Games of 2023 Hush Hush – Only Your Love Can Save Them On its surface, Hush Hush appears to be a “fanservicey anime schlock” visual novel based on characters from an… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Zach Wilkerson

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on February 2, 2024

I’ve played so many stone-cold classics for Retro Encounter over the years (Mother 3, NieR: Automata, and even Disco Elysium) that it’s hard to pick a favorite. But I can confidently say that Bloodborne belongs in the same conversation. It’s been a bit of an odd year for me with many life changes —… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Michael Sollosi

Posted by Michael Sollosi on February 2, 2024

I had a difficult 2023 for several personal reasons, but finding excellent new RPGs to play was never a challenge. I’d love to talk about a few of them; first a few honorable mentions, then my six favorite 2023 RPGs. Missed Connections: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate III, D… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Tina Olah

Posted by Tina Olah on February 2, 2024

Hello, RPG friends! This year, I continued my grand tradition of playing short, 5 to 20-hour games, mostly on Steam and Xbox Game Pass. Below are some of my top choices from 2023, featuring new games and backlog classics! Best Fairytale World: Ravenlok In the ninth month of 2023, I wandered through… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Tyler Trosper

Posted by Tyler Trosper on February 2, 2024

Every year, I find myself behind in gaming. Not to say I haven’t played any games released in 2023, but I’ve found progress slowed by the number of amazing games over the past several years. TOO MANY GAMES! Unfortunately, several 2023 games will also spill over into my 2024 backlog. I will try my be… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Jimmy Turner

Posted by Jimmy Turner on February 2, 2024

Game I Can’t Believe Released in the Last 12 Months: Fire Emblem Engage The latest entry in the Fire Emblem franchise, Engage, released January 20th, 2023, but it feels much longer, likely due to the overshadowing influence of its predecessor. The megahit Fire Emblem: Three Houses may well be my fav… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Aleks Franiczek

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on February 2, 2024

Best RPG of 2023 that I Finished: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty I’ve already said enough about how impressed I was with Cyberpunk 2077’s first and only expansion, so I’ll give a quick summary here. Phantom Liberty condenses the base game’s greatest storytelling strengths into a refreshingly tight… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Patrick Gann

Posted by Patrick Gann on February 2, 2024

I played far fewer new games this year than typical. My backlog is enormous, and I didn’t get to three very important remakes that I wanted to play before declaring the best remake of 2023 (Super Mario RPG, Front Mission 2, Star Ocean: The Second Story R). However, there were a handful of stand-out… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Scott Clay

Posted by Scott Clay on February 2, 2024

The Go Away Rean Schwarzers Award I’m seeing double here: four winners! Congrats, Rean Schwarzer, you somehow won this award again for the fourth time. So yes, notice the plural. There are two of them now. Yep, two of them. I can see the developer meeting now. Falcom: Everyone loves Rean, so w… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Tim Rattray

Posted by Tim Rattray on February 2, 2024

New Guy Walks in With an Obvious Game of the Year Pick: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom What can I even add to the conversation here that hasn’t already been said? Tears of the Kingdom is just that awe-inspiring. It’s the perfect balance of sandbox freedom, bespoke puzzles shrouded in a de… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Izzy Parsons

Posted by Izzy Parsons on February 2, 2024

2023 was an incredible year for video game releases (and a disgusting one for video game company layoffs. Let’s hope 2024 makes huge improvements there). Still, I always manage to play far more “old” games than games from the current year, so I split my selection into two categories — games first re… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023 ~ Editors’ Awards: Mike Salbato

Posted by Mike Salbato on February 2, 2024

Favorite Game of 2023: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom If you ask most people what seasons 2023 had, you’ll get, well, a funny look but also an answer of the expected four. But for me, I missed summer. My 2023 was late winter, spring, Zelda, autumn, and winter again. Tears of the Kingdom w… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Ongoing Game

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on January 26, 2024

Winner: Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker It’s telling that, even in a year that most would agree was on the weaker side for Final Fantasy XIV, this game still sits at the top of this category. Really, it’s a testament to Final Fantasy XIV that we even think this year is weak; we still got so much good c… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Game of the Year

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on January 26, 2024

Winner: Baldur’s Gate III Though it had been floating around in early access for a couple years, Baldur’s Gate III still felt like it snuck up on us, partly because we didn’t expect it’d be this great. BGIII caught the essence of Dungeons & Dragons at an opportune time, coinciding with a new har… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Mobile Game

Posted by Ben Love on January 26, 2024

Winner: Honkai: Star Rail Honkai: Star Rail’s launch proved that HoYoverse could capture lightning in a bottle twice. Combining traditional turn-based RPG combat with their signature gacha character acquisition was a recipe for success, rocketing the game to the top of the mobile charts. The game is… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Unconventional or Hybrid RPG

Posted by Hilary Andreff on January 26, 2024

Winner: Theatrhythm Final Bar Line No more seeking out All-Star Carnival in random mall arcades! We finally got the robust musical Final Fantasy experience we’d all been waiting for with Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. This latest iteration in the Theatrhythm franchise is grander than ever, boasting a v… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Remake or Re-Release

Posted by Neal Chandran on January 26, 2024

Winner: Star Ocean: The Second Story R Star Ocean: The Second Story R is the poster child of how a remake should be done. It beautifully blends the nostalgic sprites of yore with stunningly redone environments that look even better than we could have imagined. This iteration of Star Ocean: The Secon… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Sleeper Hit

Posted by Michael Sollosi on January 26, 2024

Winner: Dave the Diver Dave the Diver is a fishing roguelike, a business management sim, a bullet heck shmup (not brutal enough to qualify for “bullet hell”), and completely addictive and charming. The gameplay loop of exploring the ever-changing lagoon as Dave and running a restaurant with your mys… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best DLC

Posted by Tyler Trosper on January 26, 2024

Winner: Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed The Xenoblade Chronicles series gained a reputation for extensive DLC expansions, such as Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden County and Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition: Future Connected. Thankfully, Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeem… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Combat

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on January 26, 2024

Winner: Octopath Traveler II It’s no small task to improve on Octopath Traveler’s combat. Every skill is so carefully chosen to make the Break/Boost system work together with the visible turn order to create a thoughtful, strategic experience in the original. Somehow, though, Octopath Traveler II im… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2023: Best Visuals

Posted by Des Miller on January 26, 2024

Winner: Final Fantasy XVI The Final Fantasy series is known for having the most gorgeous, bombastic, and high-budget visuals in the industry. From Final Fantasy VII’s bombing mission intro, FFVIII’s blend of CGI and real-time rendering for dramatic setpiece moments to FFX’s stunning art direction an… Read More »

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