The Totally-Not-Made-Up DearGamers GOTYee Awards – 2023
Here at DearGamers, we are all about celebrating video games. I love games, you love games, we love games, he/she/it/they love them games – why else would we be here?
We also take things super seriously, and so to make sure we are powerscaling our enjoyment of games effectively and definitively documenting the most bestest of best games as dictated by us, the arbiters of peak gaming quality, we are inaugurating the first ever DearGamers Game of the Year awards.
SO.
Here are your 2023 DG GOTYee award winners, presented by Manchego (aka Manny) the GOTYee Goat. Join us in celebrating some truly amazing (and seriously deserving) games:
Michaela’s picks
Best Fighting Cook
On any other site, this award may just be “best new character” but here at DG, we don’t settle for generic NPC 1 or humdrum sprite A.
Winner: Garl, Sea of Stars
Coming from one of the best indies, best RPGs, and best all-around games of the year, Garl is a standout character in a game that’s got character in spades. Sea of Stars pays homage to the classics but with a humor and a style that is all Sabotage Studio, and no one character encapsulates that spirit more than the cook who kicks ass, Garl.
Best Localization
Awarded to a game whose localization and translation efforts are make-or-break for the experience, and ultimately deliver above and beyond expectations.
Winner: Master Detective Archives: Rain Code
As a spiritual successor to the Danganronpa narrative adventure games with tons of dialogue and important character moments, this game lives or dies by its localization. And honestly, any game that manages to translate “dummy thicc” deserves to be recognized for something (ifykyk but do I really need to say more?)
Best Squenix Pixel Art Wet Dream
Awarded to the two games that really deserve it. Well, technically there’s one winner but this is our site and you can’t stop us from loving all the games we wanna love so deal with it.
Winner: Octopath Traveler II
The original Octopath Traveler lit a fire in the gaming world with its HD-2D art style that everyone and their mother is now trying to imitate. But no one does it better than good ole Squenix and somehow, it’s even prettier in the sequel. The lighting, the environments, the sassy character sprites, the WATERRRR. If it wasn’t so damn sexy, I would’ve been happy to give this to Star Ocean: The Second Story R for it’s mix-media pixel/non-pixel art style, but alas – here we are.
Best Power Fantasy
Some games, we love for the challenge. Others, we love for the not-that. Those special games that let us power-level and become a virtual god among ants. Ants that we can squish gleefully.
Winner: Star Ocean: The Second Story R
If you know what you’re doing, Star Ocean: The Second Story R will let you grind so efficiently that you can absolutely snap the game logic in half. Unlock the right abilities, and you’ll level up faster, summon trash mobs in droves, auto-battle and insta-delete them, and net bonus experience like nobody’s business. Then you can hop on a magic bunny and nope away over mountains that would gatekeep juicy treasure chests till the late game in any other title. It’s amazing.
Best Bloodborne 2
That’s right gamers! It took years of waiting, but it finally happened! Bloodborne got a sequel and so we’re celebrating it!
Winner: Lies of P
Just kidding, this ain’t no FromSoft game. BUT it comes so much closer to being the Bloodborne successor that fans have been waiting for – all while still managing to make meaningful iterations on the FromSoft formula that give the game its own identity and avoiding the sense of Soulsborne clone fatigue. Pinocchio as a murder bot in Bloodborne 2 shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does.
Best Mech Fantasy Sim
Best action game? Nah brah we can do better than that. Awarded to the game that lets us become Voltron – I mean… well yeah it’s my fantasy and I said what I said.
Winner: Armored Core VI
So while FromSoft didn’t actually release Bloodborne 2 or any other Soulsborne game this year, they DID release a banger of an action game, reviving the Armored Core franchise with buttery smooth action combat, deeply customizable mech building, and gorgeous vistas that’ll have you wanting to take in the sights in between bouts of asserting your mechanical dominance.
Best Visual Novel that Actually Got me to Play a Visual Novel
Visual novels aren’t for every gamer – including me. Or so I thought. The winner of this award finally changed my mind.
Winner: Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
It’s not often that a game can break us out of our set patterns, not only getting us to try a new genre, but to find a budding new obsession for said genre. Through sheer force of quality storytelling and unique aesthetics, Paranormasight finally knocked down my “I don’t play visual novels” walls and brushed aside my “I don’t enjoy horror” vibes, and opened a door to a whole new genre for my gaming library.
Best Lovecraftian Fishing Addiction
RPG fishing mini-games move over. This one goes to the game that is part nightmare, part dream, and all fishing.
Winner: Dredge
There have been fishing sim games, but none compare to Dredge. The unique art style and the twist of terrors lurking in the deep caught my attention enough to make my JRPG-addicted ass put down the JRPGs long enough to become a Dredge-addicted ass, making sure I fished every fish – even if it meant getting nommed on by that giant monster over ther- OH GOD IT’S BACK.
Best DLC I Bothered to Go Back For
DLC: some people love it, some people hate it, others ignore it. I’m usually one of said others – but not this time.
Winner: Horizon Forbidden West: The Burning Shores
I’m the kind of gamer who usually beats a game and moves on – I don’t often go back for DLC. UNLESS. It’s a game I love and it adds meaningful content with new stories and gameplay experiences. And following in the footsteps of The Frozen Wilds (the first such DLC to break my non-DLC playing streak), The Burning Shores does just that.
Best Port that Let Me Both Add and Remove a Game from My Backlog
Ports, remasters, remakes. They’re contentious in awards season. BUT TOO BAD GAMERS. I needed an excuse to laud this game.
Winner: Persona 4 Golden
We waited SO LONG for P4G to be released on modern consoles. Sure, it got ported to PC not that long ago, but when I tried to play it on my laptop the screen tearing was so bad, I couldn’t even get past the title screen. But 2023 FINALLY brought this beaut’ of a JRPG goliath to PS4/5, Switch, and Xboxes galore. While P5 is still my favorite, P4G merrily consumed my life for over 120 of well-spent gaming hours.
Best Spin-Off that DIDN’T Turn Out to be a Cash Grab
Spin-offs and side games aren’t always the highest quality gaming experiences. But sometimes, right when we’re expecting the cash grab, we actually get slapped in the face with our money’s-worth instead.
Winner: Persona 5 Tactica
Persona 5 has had more than its fair share of spin-offs. Even we hard core fans can admit that. And does Tactica live up to the shockingly high bar that Strikers set for P5 spin-offs? No, not quite. But does it get closer than I thought it would? Hell yes. It has genuinely good tactical turn-based battles and a fun narrative (minus those few times when some rando ninjas were chopping all those onions in my apartment). Shit goes harder than it has any business doing.
Best Nioh Game
Awarded to the game that I had to reach to make up a category for because it’s getting forgotten too much already and I’m a Nioh stan.
Winner: Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Ok, not really but Wo Long was my video game popcorn this year that let me kick the shit out of bitches with my feelings right when I needed it. It’s Nioh meets Sekiro with a backdrop of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (aka the Dynasty Warriors setting). The story presentation is absolute gobbledygook but if there’s one thing Team Ninja does right, it’s making a fast-paced combat system that SINGS.
Best Anime Game that I Only Played because it’s Turn-Based
Anime games are a dime a dozen – but sometimes, they’re actually good. Awarded to one such game that broke the mold for the franchise.
Winner: One Piece Odyssey
One Piece has had plenty of video game adaptions in the past, but this one did something I loved: it risked it all on a turn-based JRPG. And ya know what? The turn-based system was actually unique and engaging – splitting your party up into different arenas in each turn-based battle with a spin on old school rock-paper-scissors type advantages. 2023 was a banner year for us One Piece super fans.
Best Complete Package Experience
Awarded to the game that has it all – and makes it fun to see and experience everything it has to offer. This game is the complete package, with a rewarding completion experience from start to 100% finish.
Winner: Sea of Stars
Most games don’t entice me to chase down a platinum or go for that 100% completion. But Sea of Stars was such a love letter to fans of classic 90s era JRPGs with the irresistible personality that’s rapidly becoming Sabotage Studio’s signature that I just couldn’t resist. Not to mention, the devs made the completion experience extremely player-friendly to navigate and exceedingly rewarding to hunt down – right to the final secrets and Easter eggs that I won’t be spoiling here.
Jason’s picks
"Michaela said I wouldn't like it so I went ahead and nearly Platinumed it" Award
Winner: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Something about anime-styled anything annoys me. I'm not completely sold on it, but I can appreciate a phenomenal game. I’m definitely more than likely to check out the rest of the games in the series.
“I play a ton of roguelites but never would have I thought to mash it up with a sports game” Award
Winner: Tape to Tape
The NBA Jam style has been done for other sports over the years but you rarely see the meta progression associated with roguelites baked right in. While still in early access, there is plenty to be excited about in the current state of the game.
"This was supposed to be the game that you had to drag me away from for every new release" Award
Winner: Diablo IV
Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time playing through the campaign. As a veteran of Diablo 3, I know how the seasonal structure would work but I thought there would be more for my launch character to do. Granted, they have made strides towards that very thing but it's almost a "too little, too late" scenario as I lost interest in returning.
"The closest to Dead Cells and permanent installed fixture on multiple platforms" Award
Winner: Astral Ascent
When you play a ton of platformers and roguelites, you get a lot of inspired by X or Y. The biggest one for me is always Dead Cells comparisons. I can pick up Dead Cells at any time and play for a bit. I don't even need to complete a run to enjoy myself. Astral Ascent managed to echo that sentiment. I own DC everywhere. I think I'll be grabbing AA at least on one of my portable systems too.
"I wrote an article about why you should play a game for 50+ more hours after beating it and now I tripled that and haven't slowed down so my article needs to be amended" GOTY Award
Winner: Remnant 2
Remnant: FTA was my favorite game in 2019. I had no doubt I would love the sequel in the same way; I expected to like each Uncharted as I played through them and every Borderlands as they came out. R2 exceeded those expectations by light years. The fact that I could play almost 300 hours, have a different experience each time AND expect to play at least half that amount with the upcoming DLC in 2024 is absurd.
