Best Action/Adventure Game of 2023 - Article

by Paul Broussard , posted on 11 January 2024 / 3,369 Views

"I was trapped, locked into the fight of my life. In my writing, I had constructed an awards article about the best action/adventure games of 2023. However, I had somehow become locked inside my own awards article, forced to compete with the best the genre had to offer in a do or die contest. My first opponent? Resident Evil 4, a title so good it had already won game of the year once, now remade for modern intuitions with improved gunplay, revamped level design, and a slick new parry system. Next was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel to the most critically acclaimed game of the last decade, with a vastly expanded Hyrule to explore and a wealth of deep construction mechanics to experiment with. Finally, there was Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which brought back its predecessor's web-slinging action in style, with multiple protagonists and an expanded New York. And I, Alan Wake, had to stand up to these giants, after a 13 year hiatus. Could my critically acclaimed storytelling, dramatically improved gunplay, and excellent intrigue carry me through this gauntlet of opponents? Only time would tell."

The Shortlist:

Alan Wake II

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Resident Evil 4

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

The Runner-Up:

Resident Evil 4

"I realized quickly that my opponents may have been even more formidable than I thought. Resident Evil 4 grabbed the runner up spot, with voters praising the myriad of changes it made to modernize the gameplay while generally preserving the atmosphere of the original.

The perfect balance that Capcom had struck between refining and updating the classic game fans knew and loved while preserving the campy atmosphere of the original was astonishing to me, as was the fantastic parry system and the improved gunplay. Resident Evil 4's remake had defied all odds and stood up as one of the best in the series, despite seemingly having such a great starting point that there seemed little room for improvement. With a game as impressive as that only being runner up, my odds of survival seemed slim."

The Winner:

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

"It was apparent that even my best wouldn't be enough. I quietly cursed myself for writing such strong action/adventure games into existence, while Spider-Man 2 stormed off, muttering something under his breath about 'being snubbed yet again.' The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had starstruck fans with its creative building mechanics, vast world to explore, and Chris Hackney's irresistible voice. The sheer expansiveness of the toolkit provided to players received widespread acclaim, as did an improved narrative and a vastly better final boss fight than its predecessor. Even against all this, I still maintained hope of winning; that is, until a giant 30 foot mech constructed out of logs and wooden planks with a flamethrower and mounted genitalia showed up to flambe my dreams to ash."

15 Comments

firebush03 (on 11 January 2024)

Gollum robbed

Leynos firebush03 (on 12 January 2024)

All about that Kong son!

UnderwaterFunktown (on 12 January 2024)

Hell of a shortlist. Almost exlusively 90+ games (Alan Wake is one point short on OC)

Zkuq (on 11 January 2024)

Yeah, no surprise here, considering the size of the Nintendo fanbase here. Not that it would have been a huge surprise elsewhere either, but even less so here.

xMetroid Zkuq (on 12 January 2024)

It won in this category at the VGA too

Zkuq xMetroid (on 12 January 2024)

I wasn't criticizing the choice, I was just pointing out that the game was a strong candidate with an even better chance here.

farlaff (on 12 January 2024)

Great write! I only had time to play ToTK, but to hear that praise in Alan Wakes "voice" was super cool!

coolbeans (on 11 January 2024)

"coolbeans was glad Alan Wake II made the cut, but had quietly hoped for more. He had no hard feelings against Link or Leon. Only that of all the ones listed, Wake's new adventure felt like it moved the genre forward in interesting directions; the synergy in both protagonists' diegetic mental space being one such example. Once that came to mind, coolbeans raced to his computer and turned it on. He gasped and stammered for moment. Those very thoughts were already written down waiting to be printed. And now... his every thought was being narrated by Matthew Porretta, giving an exaggerated sense of punch and gusto. Like Nightengale said, 'your pages aren't fit to wipe Raymond Chandler's ass.' Snapping back to the present, he hit Add Comment."

Azzanation (on 14 January 2024)

This was my personal GOTY. It lived up to the pressure of a sequel.

Garrus (on 12 January 2024)

Alan Wake and Spiderman are both overrated. So I agree with this list. Didn't have a lot of fun with TOTK either though.

Resident Evil and Dead Space were my favorites this year, which is weird as I usually hate horror games. Was a bit of torture getting though Dead Space because of all the horror elements.