Forge’s Games Editors share their favourite release of 2023.
Aaron Byrne
Now that 2023 is nearing its end, I’ve been stuck staring blankly at my monitor for about an hour trying to figure out what game was TRULY my game of the year.
There were multiple titles this year that could’ve snatched the spot as mi numero uno, but it’s been almost impossible to decide, especially with masterpieces like The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, and Skull Island: Rise of Kong both competing for that top place on my podium… (sarcasm there if you couldn’t tell).
Objectively, I’ve clocked about 170+ hours on Forza Motorsport since its launch in late October – making it my most played game of this 2023 – so on paper that should probably be it, right? Not necessarily.
I loved Resident Evil 4, the Dead Space Remake was remarkable, and to be frank with you I forgot that Hogwarts Legacy even came out this year – yet I remember spending countless hours playing that, too. But amidst all these big-budget, heavy-hitter AAAs, was one game that I don’t think had NEARLY enough of the attention or recognition that it deserved when it launched back in May.
Therefore, I’m gonna be annoying and quirky and pick an indie game because I wanted to highlight something for its gorgeous art style, awe-inspiring soundtrack and beautifully-moving story – as I’d finished it twice-over, and achieved 100% completion within the first week of its release.
This game was Planet of Lana, which was a debut from Swedish developer Wishfully Studios.
To call this game a work of art would be an understatement. It’s one of those rare games that you could screenshot at any given moment – and, without any context, could assume that it’s a simply a piece of digital art.
The story of Planet of Lana is simple, yet gracefully told. You play as a young girl named Lana as she traverses through a planet with her feline companion Mui, in order to save her sister who’s been abducted during an invasion from alien AI machines.
Its gameplay is similar to games like Limbo and Inside – where you solve puzzles as you travel through a two-dimensional world in (mostly) one, continuous direction. This kind of gameplay gives the game such great pacing as you feel like you’re constantly advancing through the story – and every time you enter into a new biome/area – you feel a real sense of satisfaction and progress.
But what makes Planet of Lana so special, is that it takes these tropes, and decides to flip it all on its head towards the climax of the game – where you end up in what can only be described as a colourless, abstract, mind-scrambling void – which completely contrasts the colourful, gentle pallet of the majority of the game.
Its short and sweet, and a delight to be able to sit down and play in one-sitting. I genuinely can’t recommend it enough, and with it being their first-ever release, it’s safe to say that whatever Wishfully are hiding from us will be sure to be incredible – and I can’t wait to see what’s next from this small team of Swedes.
Ornella Bressan
With the Games Awards 2023 hitting our streaming screens December 8, one of the following game titles will win the crown of being The Best Game of the Year: Baldur’s Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda – Tears of a Kingdom, Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4 and Marvel’s Spider Man 2.
If I had played Baldur’s Gate 3, there would have been a 99% chance of me going on a passionate rant of why I think that’s the best game ever, paired up with the fact that I’ve heard many of my friends speak highly of it.
But since I did not play it, my passionate rant will have to go towards a game you might have started hearing about online: Lethal Company.
I believe Lethal Company will definitely receive a nomination next year since it came out not even a month ago, but I can’t help but say that it is by far one of the best games so far because it truly shows that sometimes less is more.
With simple graphics and easy rules, Lethal Company is a game everyone should try out with their friends at least once – only to come back for more.
It’s an horror co-op game where your goal as a loyal employee to The Company is to venture into alien planets, loot as much as you can, and get out of there before midnight — all of this whilst trying to avoid dying to jumpscaring monsters.
If you don’t reach the quota, you get fired and floated out of the ship to meet your death.
Same thing if all members of the group die trying a day before the quota is due since you lose all the loot you got the previous days.
What makes this game fun is the option to play with your friends as you can only be a maximum of four (unless you mod it) and the proximity voice chat.
If one of the group screams before dying from the giant spider, you best believe you’ll hear an hilarious cut-off.
Most of the time that happens to be me because I get paranoid and scared to the point where I’ll run ANYWHERE the second I see a monster coming at me. One time I met my death by accidentally jumping over the rail.
If you have more of a cold blood, you’ll see that with the right tools and momentum, you can actually kill those beasts.
I had the honour of having my first kill not even 24 hours ago from the time of writing this piece. A worm attacked my friend and I finally had a stop sign in hand that I could use as a weapon and hit it with it. Sadly, that led to not only killing the worm but two of my friends as well because we were in two trying to save him, but we accidentally hit him too many times.
At the same time, the friend who helped out was already in critical conditions so when the worm fell to the ground, it touched my friend, killing him instantly.
With hidden lore in the game and hilarious characters who walk as if they literally have a stick up their bums, I adore this game, and you should too.
