InReview is pleased to announce its fifth annual Revvies site awards for 2023. The following have been selected by InReview’s editors and writers. To be eligible, all games had to be played during the calendar year 2023 and played by a member of staff.
Best mobile game
- Resident Evil Village
- Monopoly Go!
- Cat Sandbox
- Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis
It was a slow year for mobile gaming, but a trend that has quietly caught on in years recent has been porting console games over to the mobile sector. The concept isn’t entirely new, but in the distant past has forced compromise; games which have been brought from the big screen to a touch screen have typically sacrificed quality in numerous ways. However, Resident Evil Village is more or less a complete, whole port. The only minor hit it takes is to graphical fidelity. This impressive technical feat on a down year for mobile gaming gives it the gold for our Revvies.
Winner: Resident Evil Village
Best Indie Game
- Lies of P
- Darkest Dungeon 2
- Blasphemous 2
- Pizza Tower
- Wizard With A Gun
Winner- Lies of P
While it wasn’t a fantastic year for mobile games, the same definitely cannot be said about Indie games. In fact, this was a downright legendary year for Indie games. Each of these nominees would have been a slam dunk to win “Indie game of the year” on any other year. Yet, in the end, it would have to be Lies of P, a game that itself was nominated for Game of the Year honors at the Steam awards.
This game is essentially what would happen if Bloodborne got a spiritual successor. Gathering numerous comparisons to the cult classic, Lies of P is not held back by any of the same annoying technical maladies that befell Bloodborne, so it’s a really fresh experience.
Best Narrative
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Wizard With A Gun
Winner: Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
In addition to offering incredible second-to-second gameplay, Armored Core 6 was deeper than the sum of its parts. A powerful moral dilemma continually presents itself to the player as they go, and this underlying theme is supported by some of the best characters an action game could ask for. Perhaps most incredibly, these characters are exclusively portrayed by great voice acting and the various armored cores they’ve crafted and drive around, but we never actually see any of the characters. In spite of that, the likes of Ayre, Cinder Carla, Handler Walter and more make up a thrilling story to go with some excellent gameplay.
Best Overall Gameplay
- We Were Here Forever
- Lies of P
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Winner- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Overall, this was an excellent year for general gameplay. There were many nominees I wanted to go with here, more that are shown on this list. But it’s overall rather moot, because Armored Core 6 beats them all anyway.
Armored Core in general is akin to if From Software took Mario Kart and mixed it with Call of Duty. And it flows just as well as both games do. Even the simple act of moving within an area can be entertaining. Of course, gunplay has nigh endless amounts of variables depending on one of many, many weapons both sides are using. Both PvP and PvE offer compelling, robust and unique gameplay that will expose the player to a myriad of different ways to play the game. This gives it replay value in a game you wouldn’t think would have it to this extent. As such, Armored Core 6 was a clear winner of Best Gameplay.
Best Soundtrack
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Lies of P
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Winner- Persona 5 Tactica
Death taxes, and Atlus OST being an absolute banger are life’s inevitabilities. Even in Atlus’ lesser overall products, there is always an excellent soundtrack. Persona 5 Tactica is no exception- themes heard both in and out of combat are perfect in every single way. There were other nominees, but only as a formality: Persona 5 Tactica was 2023’s Soundtrack king.
Best Graphics
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- We Were Here Forever
- The Expanse: A TellTale Series
- SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake
Winner- We Were Here Forever
The Expanse was rotting garbage to play through, but it was really nice to look at. SpongeBob’s The Cosmic Shake was fun and had stellar graphics, but the product and appeal of said visuals are decidedly niche. Meanwhile, We Were Here Forever boasted fantastic graphics, with a chilling atmosphere in a game that is much more broad and likelier to resonate with more gamers. While The Expanse and Cosmic Shake were incredibly strong graphical and atmospherical showings, We Were Here Forever more or less won a tiebreaker off of that merit.
We Were Here Forever doesn’t try to blow the player away with its visuals, but rather uses them to establish an atmosphere. It does this masterfully, as the player finds themselves in a lot of different environments over the course of this game which can be hard to set the stage for. Between interacting with a small pond, talking to a giant sea monster, running around and digging up dead bodies or deciphering members of the royal court from members of a rebellion, this game does it all very well.
Game of the Year
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Baldur’s Gate 3
Winner- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Armored Core 6 was the best, most complete video game we got in 2023. It offers flexibility in and out of immediate gameplay to the player, and everything From Software tried to do with the game generally worked out. There are no serious flaws to this game, and a laundry list full of things it does incredibly well. This was more than enough to label the game InReview’s 2024 Game Of The Year.
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