Honestly, looking back at the game of the year nominees 2023, it feels like we lived through a fever dream of high-quality releases. Usually, you get one or two "must-play" titans a year. In 2023? We got about six of them every single month. It was exhausting. It was expensive. It was arguably the best year for the medium since 1998 or 2004.
When Geoff Keighley stood on that stage at the Peacock Theater, the tension wasn't about who deserved to be there. It was about how anyone was supposed to choose. You had a CRPG that felt like it was from the future, a survival horror sequel that played with the very concept of reality, and a Zelda game that turned the sky into a physics playground.
Let's get into the heavy hitters that defined the conversation.
The Baldur's Gate 3 Phenomenon
Larian Studios didn't just make a game; they made a cultural event. Baldur's Gate 3 was the obvious elephant in the room. Most people expected a niche, complex Dungeons & Dragons simulator. What we got was a sprawling, horny, chaotic masterpiece that let you talk to every single animal and solve problems by stacking crates or shoving bosses off cliffs.
It won. Obviously.
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But it didn't just win "Game of the Year." It swept. Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, Best Community Support, and Neil Newbon took home Best Performance for his role as the sassy vampire spawn Astarion. The level of player agency in this game is still kind of hard to wrap your head around. If you want to poison a whole goblin camp, go for it. If you want to save them? Also fine.
The Battle of the Sequels: Alan Wake and Zelda
If any game was going to snatch the crown from Larian, it was Alan Wake 2. Remedy Entertainment spent thirteen years trapped in their own "Dark Place" trying to get this sequel made. When it finally arrived, it was a weird, meta-narrative horror experience that featured a full-blown musical number in the middle of a forest.
- Alan Wake 2 took home Best Game Direction and Best Narrative.
- It used live-action footage blended with 3D graphics in a way that actually worked.
- It introduced Saga Anderson, a protagonist who was just as compelling as Alan himself.
Then you have The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. How do you follow up Breath of the Wild? You give the player a "glue" ability and let them build tanks. It's basically Garry's Mod set in Hyrule. While it "only" won Best Action/Adventure, the impact of the Ultrahand mechanic cannot be overstated. It turned every player into a makeshift engineer.
The Other Heavyweights
It’s easy to forget that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was also in the mix. Insomniac’s sequel was a technical marvel. The way you could swap between Peter Parker and Miles Morales instantly—no loading screens, just a quick camera pan across New York—felt like the first true "next-gen" moment for the PS5.
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Then there was Resident Evil 4. A remake. Some people get annoyed when remakes get nominated for the big one, but Capcom’s reimagining of Leon S. Kennedy’s trip to rural Spain was flawless. It took a legendary game and somehow made it better, tighter, and scarier. It won a ton of "Horror Game of the Year" awards elsewhere, even if it didn't take the top spot at the TGAs.
And don't overlook Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It was the first 2D Mario in over a decade that felt genuinely fresh. The "Wonder Flowers" turned levels into psychedelic trips where pipes crawled like inchworms and the perspective shifted entirely. It was pure Nintendo magic.
Why the Game of the Year Nominees 2023 List Was Different
Statistics from Metacritic actually back up the hype. By October 2023, there were over 25 games with a score of 90 or higher. That’s a record. Experts like Swen Vincke (Larian) and Sam Lake (Remedy) have noted that 2023 was the culmination of pandemic-era delays finally hitting the market at once.
We also saw a massive shift in how "indie" games were perceived. Sea of Stars won Best Independent Game, and Cocoon (from the lead gameplay designer of Limbo and Inside) won Best Debut Indie. The line between AAA and Indie is blurring. People just want games that respect their time and offer something new.
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The Full Nominee List for the Record:
- Baldur's Gate 3 (Winner)
- Alan Wake 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Actionable Insights for Players
If you’re looking to catch up on this legendary year, here is how you should approach it based on your playstyle:
- For the Story Seeker: Start with Alan Wake 2. It is the most "prestige TV" experience you can get in a game. Just be ready for some jump scares.
- For the Tinkerer: Tears of the Kingdom is your playground. Don't look up guides; just try to build the most ridiculous flying machine you can imagine.
- For the Roleplayer: Baldur's Gate 3 is a 100-hour commitment. Don't rush it. Let your failures happen—some of the best stories in that game come from rolling a natural 1.
- For the Completionist: Spider-Man 2 is a very "achievable" Platinum trophy. It’s fun, fast, and doesn't overstay its welcome.
The reality is that 2023 wasn't just about one winner. It was about the industry proving that it can still innovate on a massive scale. Whether you’re swinging through Queens or fighting Mind Flayers in the Underdark, the game of the year nominees 2023 offered something for literally everyone.
To get the most out of these titles today, ensure your hardware is up to date. Many of these, like Alan Wake 2, require high-end SSDs to function properly. If you are playing on PC, check for the latest "Community Patches" for Baldur's Gate 3, as Larian continues to add new endings and features long after the awards ceremony ended.