Thank you for the shoutout to my colleagues Jon, it's been a tough year for the industry, mainly coming from terrible decisions to double down on live services from people high up the food chain. I was not affected by lay offs as I consciously never wanted to work on that type of game. We really do appreciate the support either way.

This feels like the first proper discussion about Pikmin 4 on this channel so glad to finally see something about it. Also how high is placed for you!

20:58 "And by that time, we'll probably have the next Zelda" Oh Jon, you optimist you

2023 was such a huge and absurdly stacked year for games that it almost feels impossible to pick a mere *ten* of them. But from the ones I managed to squeeze in time to play, these’re definitely some of my favorites: 10. Metroid Prime Remastered 9. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe 8. Super Mario RPG Remake 7. Hi-Fi Rush 6. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 5. Pikmin 4 4. Spider-Man 2 3. Resident Evil 4 Remake 2. Super Mario Bros Wonder 1. Tears of the Kingdom

Jon coming through with the Octopath 2 inclusion 👌

I couldn't agree more about TotK. A lot of people focus on how it doesn't stand out as much as BotW, and they're right, but that's because BotW was grenre-changing when it came out. It's a more condensed experience that others have and will follow. An iteration won't stand out as much, and TotK is complicated in a way that will be hard to be derivative of. That being said, I've never had more fun with a videogame than I have with TotK. Its abilities mesh together insanely well, and absolutely nothing can match the feeling of building something ridiculous to solve a puzzle and having it work.

I think the great thing about TOTK that it partially took/is inspired by BOTW is the choices you can make. You mentioned that building vehicles and other contraptions was the core of the game for you, but for me I didn't really build much beyond the simple gliding machines and other auto-builds. Instead exploring every nook and cranny, completing side quests, finding rare and cool looking gear was what kept me so invested and unable to put the controller down. BOTW had exploration and side quests, but eventually the exploration reached a peak and the side quests weren't as immediately engaging. TOTK has so many side quests with interesting ways of drawing me in, I was shocked at how many I wanted to complete before finishing the main story. TOTK might reach a point where the exploration loses it's fun factor, but given how much time I spent playing and replaying BOTW, I think TOTK won't reach that point for a long time. My only wish is a Master Mode update, Gave me so many more replays with BOTW when that game got it, so I hope we get it in TOTK, even just as a free update.

Jon, you are one of my favourite commentators and you have been since Nintendo Life. Thank you!

I refuse to believe that "Give Me Toilet Paper!" didn't make this list.

I think with Armored Core VI, the word you were looking for was “bombastic”. “Bodacious” was a fun substitute though, lol

1) prime remastered. 2) TOTK 3) Jedi survivor

My Top 8 Games of 2023 (Yeah I only played 8 I liked enough to list, wanna get around to Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 especially) 8: Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe Got into Kirby with Forgotten Land and this was a delightful follow up 7: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Great game and the ultrahand stuff was impressive but it didn't fix many of my big issues with BOTW 6: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Not the biggest Mario fan ever but this game wonderful (hah) and the first 2D Mario I seriously into since New Super Mario Bros DS 5: Metroid Prime Remastered This is actually my first Metroid game and I'm not even into Metroidvanias in general, but holy shit I see why this is considored one of the greatest games of all time! 4: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk The spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio I've waited over a decade for since playing the HD port of the original! 3: Hi-Fi Rush This game was a hell of a surpise, unique take on the character action genre with a great art style, characters and soundtrack! 2: Resident Evil 4 Remake I only got into Resident Evil a few years ago with 2 Remake and I've only played a little bit of the original RE4 before dropping it due to the controls, but I think I'll have to give it another try because damn this remake is good and I wanna see how it differs from the original for myself 1: Spider-Man 2 I'll admit it's less genre re-defining than most of the other big games of 2023 but I just love Insomniac's take on Spidey this one lived up to my expectations personally, I'm just in awe that Insomniac managed to release Spidey 2018, Miles, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart and Spidey 2 within roughly 5 years in an industry where triple A studios often take that long on just one game... Please let these folks tackle Jak & Daxter!

Jon made a good point that TotK basically had a ten year development time and it's hard for other developers to replicate the things that it achieves. Most open world games don't even have physics as intricate as BotW's because of how complex it is to put everything in a huge world into interaction. TotK is just that but to an even crazier degree with the building and the crafting. It would be hard for other devs to devote such time and resources into making a system that's similar. There are few devs and franchises out there that could even afford the time and energy needed to develop this kind of system. I'm thankful that Zelda decided to do this, and we have two really special games in our hands. Aonuma has already said that Ultrahand will not return in the next Zelda. I think that's a good thing mechanic-wise, but I don't believe this physics engine is simply gonna be abandoned. It is almost a gaming legacy at this point and IMO it would be silly for Nintendo to just ditch this valuable asset. It would be interesting to see how the next Zelda implements it.

Jon, you hit the nail on the head about the hoverbike in TotK. I never use the hover bike because of what you said. I think Tears of the Kingdom is my favorite game of all time now

TotK was my goty too. Wonder was great as well. I just started BG3 and it's also blowing me away.

Dear John, please indulge me in my minirant, which i’ll allow myself to adress to you as you are genuinely one of actors i value the most in the gaming world. I can also acknowledge the rut 2d mario had fallen into, but i’m always disapointed that there are barely any word about mario maker, which while it in no way replaces a mainline entry is a really special beasts that is saddly too quickly forgotten. Basically if you haven’t tried it go for it, they are wonderful journeys to experience in there; but also for people who have not revisited in a while, it is really worth it to fire it up again, not only are there always new levels, but depending on when you last played, entire updates to discover. I myself let the game iddle for a long time and was really glad to reignite the flame, it is now one of my go to again especially since the games lends itself so well to shorter sessions. Cheers john, happy holydays everyone

You got to the top 5 and I thought “aww no way Octopath has made his list. Well imagine my surprise! Loved this list and totally agree with it. Thanks Jon!

Agree on the travel in Tears. I loved just messing around until I found something that worked on water, or if I needed to fly for whatever reason. That said, I spent much more of my play time traversing the world on foot at the beginning to explore the entire map, then mostly fast traveled from there. Something about this world that I like traveling on foot much more. Even the areas I already explored earlier in game, or during BoTW.

This year had a ton of great games. Thought Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe was my GOTY. Due to the connection to the original being back and better than ever

Thank you Jon for taking the time to shout out the video game devs who have been dealt an awful hand this year with all the massive layoffs across the industry.

Thank you for giving Pizza Tower some love! Great game.

Can’t wait to see everyone’s videos! I can’t believe it’s that time of year already. Felt like I was just watching GVG’s GOTY vids a couple months ago

My top 3 games of the year are the same as yours Jon! Octopath 2 especially needs more love, what an incredible game.

Thank you Jon for this video and showing the respect to devs making awesome complicated games, its been a wierd and intense year for video games!

My top 5: 1. Totk 2. Pikmin 4 3/4: Super Mario Wonder 3/4: Against the Storm 5. Warioware: Move It A great year for Nintendo. Honestly, Against the Storm is so good that it's tied with Super Mario Wonder. Honorable mention to Starcraft 2's new maps :P

So for me, Tears of the Kingdom was pretty great, yeah. I got me a bike in my autobuilds, because really, nothing climbs as efficiently, and it was dirt cheap to make. However, I got to the point where I realized "the bike is great when I want to fly, but when I want to stay close to the ground, it's annoying and hard to steer, and is bad at carrying cargo, which you need good cargo vehicles. So first, I worked on boats. Got some fun boats, and had a fun one that was like 6 fans on the underside of a large plank of wood, which could also move around on land, but friction kept it from being too maneuverable. But it gave me a quest. I needed to build a hover craft. It seemed possible. I spent a long time on this, with a lot of different Zonai devices glued with fans. I had one for a while with the small wheel cart, which acted like a low friction ground thing but didn't REALLY hover. In the end, I found it - 5 fans, steering stick, and the Zonai sled as the base. This combo just stayed off the ground naturally, didn't float up too high, and thus could float in water as well (sometimes you had to angle it down slightly, but you could it to work.) It didn't have much lift, but it had enough to get up hills and even parts of mountains. And I was so happy. It was the culmination of a project with the weirdest craft at the start, where I was like "no, I want something that's basically a boat AND a horse". And I found it.

Octopath 2 has literally one of the best super secret final bosses in video game history. Fight me.

Octopath Traveler 2 is INCREDIBLE. My GOTY, easily. Such an epic adventure.

I agree with you about the bike build in Tears of the Kingdom. I was scrolling shorts one day and came upon the build and I wish I never had. I had less fun once I learned of it and started to use it. TotK was still my favorite game of the year, though. Whenever I go back for a second playthrough, I will never use that bike again. Also, great list, Jon. :)

Fantastic list, Jon ^_^ Haven't played Octopath Traveler II yet, but the more I hear about it, the more I want to! Just wanna quickly shout out Theathrhythm Final Bar Line from February. It was for me such a consistently fun experience, with great music choices from across the Final Fantasy series to get my toe tapping . It single-handedly inspired me to make FFXI's OSTs my most-listened to music in Spring 2023, despite my never having played FFXI.

This may be the best 2023 list video I've seen this year. Great job Jon

Thanks for sharing your list! I love watching your videos. Happy 2024!

Octopath traveler 2 was my GOTY until I played alan wake 2. Definitely deserves the praise

So glad you gave attention to Armored Core 6. It feels like From Software just got kinda ignored this year because it wasn't a Souls game, but in my opinion it was the best game they've ever made and the best game to come out this year. I was worried it wouldn't be able to top the masterpiece that is Armored Core Last Raven, but they absolutely did.

Though nothing can dethrone Tears of the Kingdom, I cannot agree more on how fantastic Octopath II is, great list Jon!

Sea of Stars is my GOTY. It left the biggest impact on me and I was completely hooked from release until I 100% completed it. I don't normally do new game + playthroughs but this game was like a ride I didnt want to end.

Octopath 2 was largely overlooked and it's a shame, because it's really worthy. Great list!

Pizza Tower was my Game of the Year. I'm glad to see you're giving it the respect it deserves, even if it's way lower than I would rank it.

Great point on F-Zero 99! I was so baffled watching AntDude laugh about "how pissed off F-Zero fans must be". I didn't see any of that and I was thrilled. (love AntDude tho)

Merry Christmas John

Star Ocean 2 R was like being back in the 90s again- loved it! Way more than Octopath traveler.

I haven’t played too many 2023 games tbh, but my ranking looks like this: 4) FE Engage 3) Kirby’s Return to Dreamland DX 2) The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (yes, really) 1) Ghost Trick (played the new version for the first time this year, my goodness what a game!)

HELL YEAH, PIZZA TOWER! Definitely my Game of the Year and one of my favorite games of all time now! I'd also like to shout-out Born of Bread, just came out December 5th on all platforms including PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and the Xbox consoles, really funny and charming game heavily inspired by classic Paper Mario, a nice way to hold yourself over until TTYD remake comes out next year!

Jon is the only one that played up to 10 games this year. The rest don't got the time to play games like that.

Zelda and SF 6 were my top 2!! Great list! BG3 was my most anticipated game this year but I just started it so it got put off… RE4 was definitely a great too…. And Pikmin 4 was tops for me as well. Great year! Can’t wait to try armored core 6 and octopath!!

Spread the Octopath love ❤

Jon I think the b word you were looking for in regards to armored core was bombastic

I actually played more new games in 2023 than in most years previous, and even then I haven't played many! 1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed 2. Sea of Stars 3. Zelda Tears of the Kingdom 4. Metroid Prime Remastered 5. Reaident Evil 4 6. F-Zero 99 7. Pikmin 4 8. Super Mario RPG And while I haven't played them yet, Hi-Fi Rush and Final Fantasy XVI are easy contenders as well.

As much as I love Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I feel like they're the two most similar games in the series. I do hope they go in some crazy new direction in the next one, but I also hope they'll find a way to keep making traditional Zelda games as well.

Great list, I have to play that Pizza Tower game for sure. Have you played Hi-Fi Rush? It is in my top 3 of the year, a game 10/10.

I will shout from the rooftops with Jon about Octopath Traveler 2. It’s my GOTY.

Jon is just that dude 🙏🏼 🐐

Octopath Traveler 2 was exceptional. I think it might very well be my favorite JRPG.

I just bought Octopath Traveler II. I'll play it next year, I don't have heard good things from it, I've heard GREAT things from it!

Incredible!

Yea, 2024 looking good. All those nice games. And I am especially happy about Silksong releasing in 2024! Right, guys?! Right?..

18:37 agreed, unfortunately after dozens of hours it gets harder to make those random contraptions when getting somewhere when you already have a blueprint to something that would solve it Before I got more efficient using found items on the sky islands was super fun

Good on you, Jon, for remembering the terrible treatment of workers in the gaming industry. It's shameful how they have been treated, both when at work through crunch, and through the horrendous lay-offs. It's a great irony that it's been a banner year for games and this is how the workers are treated. Plus, a great list as always.

Your review of Octopath Traveler 2 inspired me to check the game (series) out! Specifically it was when you mentioned that it was as great as Final Fantasy 6, before you mentioned 7. Final Fantasy 6 is hands down my top favorite rpg of all time - so I'm very much looking forward to playing Octopath Traveler II once I get to it. :) Is it necessary to play through the first, before I play the second? Is each game a whole different world/story, like Final Fantasy or instead are the games connected in one way or another? Would appreciate any feedback! Thank you so much for the video! :)

Your sweater is my favorite game of the year!

Hearing Octopath 2 appreciation? Marvelous! I adore Octopath 1. The birth of HD-2D in combination with argueably one of the best OSTs ever, was enough for me to make it outstanding. It never bothered me that the Travelers didn't interact besides travel banter and battle quotes, because I was always under the impression that this game was meant to have 8 seperate paths to follow, hence the name. Nowadays it makes sense for HD-2D to just be overlooked when it comes to talking about Octopath because it's being pretty much standardized by Square. Although VGM appreciation has risen over the years, for many people gameplay is everything (which is fine). Which leaves us with what? People getting destroyed by Galdera and people expecting more from the story. Add a sprinkle of criticizing AAA being the trendy thing to do and we get in this situation where Octopath 1 gets trashed on a lot for comparedably little reason. It's a shame that Octopath 2 just got swept away by that and the fact that Square was just kinda ignoring the marketing. At least it seems like Octopath 2 gets a respectable hidden gem status kinda like Triangle Strategy which is good to see. It still deserves better but oh well... I don't think it does everything right(a bit too easy to get busted and story is still just solid), but it's nonetheless absolutely a masterpiece of a JRPG and I hope the series still has a bright future^-^ ... .. . ... Also, Hikari is the best Fire Emblem character of 2023 :3

SO glad you’re giving Street Fighter 6 the love it deserves. It’s such a terrific game.

Nice list. Now with Bladiurs Gate 3 the developers have decided to sell physical copies of it from their own website and I’m glad they are doing this.

Oh this is where Jon moved to after nintendo life. I have subscribed jon. I will be contributing to your videos

Good stuff Jon

Awesome list, but I hope that you enjoy Sea of Stars when it releases physically

I've focused on my backlog of games this year. The only new games of 2023 I've played are Warioware Move It!, Suika Game and F-Zero 99. finished Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition and definitely loved it! It took Smash's 5th year anniversary before I fully appreciated Spirit mode. I'm also finishing Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.

Finally some recognition for octopath traveler 2.

I’ve mostly been playing through my backlog, so I only have a top 8. 1. Sonic Dream Team 2. The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom 3. Super Mario Bros Wonder 4. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 5. Super Mario RPG 6. Sonic Superstars 7. Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe 8. F Zero 99 Honourable mention to the free content updates to Sonic Frontiers

I would this video on #1 of my top 10 ASMR top 10s of the year

Jon has got a point, Wonder is definitely a videogame of the year. Again, I really wish the game has a bit more challenge despite the last few levels in the Special world, and the bosses again suck. But I definitely still have so much fun playing the game, and definitely is at least top 10 games of 2023.

I love Jon so much oml

I agree about the flying bike in TotK, but the Depths, for me, were better because of it. When I'm out and about in the world or in the sky then I avoid using the bike.

Thank you for putting up with American hours.

I built a robot a giant mech in tears just building stuff it’s so fun

Everyone needs to experience that Pizza Tower finale because it’s so unhinged

Curious if you considered XBC3 Future Redeemed for this list but it didn't make it, or didn't even consider it because it was technically a DLC

How’s the Phillips adverts going?

Tears of the Kingdom is an incredible achievement in gaming, I mean it. The Zelda Cycle already has some hating on the game but I stand by that it is the perfect evolution of BOTWs gameplay

I don't give youtuber's much praise (which is prob unfair)... but love your particular presentation skills. Good luck and looking fwd to more in 2024!

PIZZA TOWER

Is that Hexadecimal in the background?

Picked up Humanity after watching. Loving it so far!

in my totk replay i avoided the hover bike at all cost… hover bike is for helping in post-game completion

As a fighting game connoisseur I’m happy that Street Fighter 6 is in your top 3!

I wish Jon had his own KZfaq channel

Next evolution of Zelda formula is ... Zelda 99!

Jon! Somehow, you need to borrow Steve's PSVR2 to play RE4 Remake in VR. It is the "Wii" version of the game, if that makes sense and easily the best way to play.

I don't know if I did something wrong while playing Octopath II, but that game really frustrated me with all that grinding. And that's kinda weird since I've always loved old JRPGs like Dragon Quest 🤔

I think Totk was goty. Now time to farm the comments of people saying it was $70 dlc after 4 years of that petty argument.

Octopath 2 lets GOO!

I knew this list was going to be good when he put RE 4 at 10. Nothing against RE4, just appreciate someone with different taste. Thanks Jon. Happy holidays

Definitely wanna try tears for all the new stuff they introduced, but I honestly was let down by botw so much it's hard to justify full price on the risk personally. tears really feels like it pushes the game mechanics far harder though. I respect it though. Overall really good list, got such a huge spread of good games on here. Also really appreciate the dev shout-out at the end. Its such a rough field for so many people (unless your like a billionaire CEO or something)

I’m soooo addicted to FZero 99

Jon is goated

This year was the best year for games,but the worst year for game developers and that really sucks

Did F-Zero 99 get a physical release to be eligible for this list?

me when i see a video game 4:47

Jon please play bomb rush cyberfunk pleaaaase most slept on game of the year

let go jon