We can talk about our Alan Wakes and Baldur’s Gates all we want, but the best video games of 2023 according to Metacritic Scores don’t quite match up with what you might expect. Metacritic is the people’s forum, the place where they can give whatever they want a 10 out of 10 and explain just what makes it so great – or leave a “game good” and nothing more. Some of the usual suspects are there – Mario Wonder, for example – but several that flew under the mainstream radar showed up as well. The variety makes it all the more interesting, so we scoured the platform and picked which Metacritic scores soared above the rest.
Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express
- User Score: 9.0
- Critic Score: 73
Folks sure do love their Agatha Christie. Even the fans who weren’t thrilled with Hercule Poirot’s portrayal here still enjoyed the puzzles and the broader whodunnit – as they should. Murder on the Orient Express is one of the best locked room, closed circle mysteries of the last century, and despite some wonky presentation issues, it – mostly – translates well in this latest mystery game adaptation.
Drawing From Memory
- User Score: 9.0
- Critic Score: N/A
Publications and critics have limited time and budgets for reviews, and some things just slip through the cracks. Drawing from Memory was one of them, and it’s kind of easy to see why. This is one of those games like Jackbox that’s fun to pull out at parties or for a stream. The goal is, well, drawing from memory. But human memory is fallible, and that’s a good thing. The silly, monstrous, and outrageous results you get from trying and failing are much more fun than perfection.
Pikmin 4
- User Score: 9.0
- Critic Score: 87
Pikmin 4 was a highlight of 2023 for critics and consumers. It launched a decade after the last game in the series and revitalized the RTS-lite formula in ways that were almost universally positively received. It’s a colorful, charming, and delightful Switch game that more than earned the praise it received.
RoboCop: Rogue City
- User Score: 9.0
- Critic Score: 72
Critics were split on RoboCop: Rogue City, but it had a devoted bunch of fans nonetheless. Folks appreciated how well it captured the vibe of the movies and enjoyed running around shooting things as a robo-cop.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- User Score: 9.1
- Critic Score: 90
This was one of the most highly-anticipated sequels of the year, so it’s really no surprise to see that consumers and critics lavished praise on Spider-Man 2. It progresses the stories from the first game and Miles Morales in meaningful ways and adds some excellent new villains and powers to the mix. Even putting the main story aside, Insomniac’s version of New York is the best possible playground to simply be Spider-Man.
Scramballed!
- User Score: 9.1
- Critic Score: N/A
Scramballed is another one of those fun party games that’s more enjoyable than its seemingly simplistic nature would suggest. You play as chickens who are batting their eggs back and forth in a fast-paced match best played on a couch with friends that can have you whooping and hollering if you get into it.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R
- User Score: 9.1
- Critic Score: 86
This remake of the only PS1 Star Ocean game that launched outside Japan found a welcome reception, thanks in no small part to its unique visual style. Square Enix ditched the HD-2D of Octopath Traveler for something altogether different and gave the English script a much-needed overhaul. Second Story R hasn’t made waves outside the RPG crowd, but at least they’re happy with it.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- User Score: 9.2
- Critic Score: 92
Here we have a rare case where user scores and critic scores are perfectly aligned on Metacritic. Mario Wonder is the shot in the arm the 2D Mario games desperately needed after years of the “New Super Mario Bros” style. It mixed up the visual style, injected weird and wild new mechanics, and even gave us a new voice for Mario himself. Most importantly, it felt like the kind of 2D platformer that only Nintendo could’ve made.
Resident Evil 4 : Separate Ways
- User Score: 9.2
- Critic Score: 88
Consumers only gave Resident Evil 4 Remake an average of 7.9, but the DLC expansion apparently had a warmer reception. Maybe there’s some selection bias there. If you buy a DLC expansion, then you probably enjoyed the base game as well and will have positive things to say. Either way, the ones who did review it appreciated Capcom applying the snazzy remake treatment of the mainline games to Ada Wong’s side of the story.
WarioWare: Move it!
- User Score: 9.3
- Critic Score: 75
WarioWare is wonderfully weird, but a little niche as well. These bizarre collections of mini-games aren’t usually what springs to mind for most people when Nintendo comes up. This latest WarioWare didn’t go over too well with critics, and the motion controls requirement seems outdated. Critics were lukewarm, but it went over pretty well with everyone else.
Slay the Princess
- User Score: 9.6
- Critic Score: 92
Slay The Princess slipped under the radar of many, but just about everyone that plays it has nothing but positive things to say. All you have to do is slay the princess, which sounds simple – until she tries to kill you. Or convince you to leave. Or turns into a horrible monster. Princess puts a fresh and exciting twist on the timeloop formula, with a streak of disturbing horror and an excellent story at the center.
Written by Ryan Woodrow and Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
