PlayStation owners had a roaring year, with plenty of excellent games new games available on PS4 and PS5 – and one blockbuster exclusive that made a hearty impact. Whether you spent your days gliding and swinging through New York City, or just trying to escape the dark tangle of your own mind, the best PlayStation video games of 2023 had many adventures in store.
In this year’s best games, there were spy stories, and superheroic triumphs, and dismembered clowns, dinosaurs in places where they shouldn’t be, and writers getting up to no good. There were also horrific monsters (plural), gorgeous aliens, sandy assassins, and much more.
Here’s the GamesHub list of the best PlayStation games in 2023.
How does GamesHub pick its Game of the Year list?
GamesHub’s Game of the Year picks are selected collectively by tenured staff and regular contributors. Each participant puts together a ranked personal list of their favourite games released in 2023, and titles are given a score according to their rank, with 10 being the highest, and 1 being the lowest. The scores are collated, and the games are ranked by their collective score, with staff members adjusting where necessary before locking in the final list.
Our Top Picks
Honourable Mentions
Before we kick off, let’s celebrate our honourable mentions – all the PlayStation games we loved in 2023, but ones that didn’t quite make our top five list. First up, huge shoutout to Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, an excellent game adaptation that expands the world of James Cameron’s Avatar in delightful, gorgeous ways. We’ve also got Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which successfully revisited the classic Assassin’s Creed formula, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, a sweeping spy adventure with neat genre twists.
There’s also the Resident Evil 4 remake, which we loved for its revamped horror survival gameplay, and finally, Street Fighter 6, a community-minded fighting game perfect for newcomers and returning franchise fans.
Now, onto our top five PlayStation games for 2023.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is a breathtaking achievement. A soaring, cinematic narrative adventure with high stakes, an incredibly well-written narrative, and action that moves along at a frantic clip. There’s so much going on in this game – from the appearances of Kraven, to Black Cat, Venom, and more – and it’s all so well-balanced. In many ways, the game feels like it’s the perfect distillation of comic book bombast, with over-the-top battles, heightened drama, and plenty of crowd-stopping moments.
Read: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Review – Swing, Swing
Insomniac Games clearly tackled Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 with a view to go bigger, better, and bolder than the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, which was – as you might remember – an award-winning and highly-lauded game. The studio certainly succeeded in its goals, producing an incredible, amazing, and spectacular sequel that celebrates superhero excess in all the best ways. – Leah J. Williams
Lies of P
- See Lies of P on Amazon.
For all the games inspired by Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the rest of the FromSoftware repertoire, I’ve never seen one that has completely enamoured people like Lies of P.
Perhaps it’s the stunning art direction, featuring Victorian costumes and creatively macabre mechanical terrors. Perhaps it’s the inventive reframing of the story of Pinocchio, and how the game uses it to do something interesting in examining themes of self-actualisation. Or perhaps it’s the tight and exciting combat, featuring inventive weapons and an entertaining array of prosthetic limbs, whose abilities can completely change the way you approach things.
Read: Lies of P Review – The Perfect Game Isn’t Just a Fairy Tale
Whatever it is, it’s clear the developers at NeoWiz have been able to tap into what makes the Soulslike genre resonate so strongly, and have excelled at putting their own unique spin on things. If you’re a Souls fan, do not sleep on Lies of P, and keep a close eye on this studio. – Edmond Tran
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 positively blew me away in 2023, after more than a decade of waiting for it. Frankly, Remedy Entertainment outdid itself with this sequel. It’s creepy, and gorgeous, and extremely obtuse, in a way that’ll have you salivating for answers, generating conspiracy theories, and going deeper into its strange, winding lore. Remedy is a company known for its storytelling, and Alan Wake 2 represents the best of what the studio is capable of.
It’s a multi-threaded monster. A literature-minded horror adventure with sprawling plot threads that dangle and tease, inspiring questions, curiosity, and an ever-forward march as it spins a complex web of terrors. But while it weaves a tale that seems to dance out of reach with every strange chapter, as the interlocking stories of Saga Anderson and Alan Wake play out, deft writing and a strong plot means the answers eventually coalesce in gripping fashion.
Read: Alan Wake 2 Review – Save The Writer, Save The World
That’s not to mention that Remedy hid a full-blown musical in this game, and plenty of other quirks besides. It’s a phenomenal experience and one well worth exploring yourself. – Leah J. Williams
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an incredible role-playing experience that seems to change shape based on individual players. Nearly all of my friends became Baldur’s Gate 3 stans in 2023, and we all played the game in tandem, making for an ultra confusing time when we frequently wound up in different areas, meeting different people, and experiencing different events. I will never forget when someone told me they’d just fought dinosaurs, and I had zero clue how that was even possible.
Read: Baldur’s Gate 3 Review – Glory, guts, and brain worms
In true Dungeons & Dragons fashion, it’s a game that gets incredibly wild, and one filled with wacky, wonderful moments at every turn – whether you choose to indulge in mind worms, romance a Mind Flayer, piss off a genie, find the pieces of a dead clown, or otherwise spend time actually playing through the game’s sweeping plot. No matter what you choose, you’re in for some real gold. – Leah J. Williams
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Even more so than its previous games, FromSoftware’s Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon makes every major victory against its overwhelming odds, and its fearsome boss characters, feel exhilarating, well-fought, and hard-earned. In a desolate far-flung future where industry mars the world, corporations are at each other’s throats, and alliances change on a whim, it feels like there is no hope. But that’s what makes charging through the awfulness feel so liberating.
Read: Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon Review
No RPG levelling, no hand-holding – it’s just you and the mech you built against the world. If you fuck up, maybe you change out your parts, your weapons. But at the end of the day, it comes down to you and your persistence, your focus, and your mettle. It’s a power fantasy you have to work hard for. When you hear the crunch of metal and see the dramatic slow-motion effect when your killing blow lands… it feels like you could punch the moon. – Edmond Tran
Catch up with more of GameHub’s favourite games of 2023, including platform-specific lists and picks from special guests in our Best of 2023 roundup.
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