Talking Point: Are These The Top Xbox Games Of 2023 So Far?

RE 4 was great. It had me hooked for a full five playthroughs. Dead Space was also great. Five playthroughs as well. I was disappointed in Dead Island 2 and Diablo 4. The whole enemy scaling system was annoying. It made the end boss in Dead Island 2 impossible to beat.

For those who prefer text instead of video:

10. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
9. Monster Hunter Rise
8. Hogwarts Legacy
7. Age of Empires II Definititive Edition
6. Dead Space
5. Hi-Fi Rush
4. Persona 4 Golden
3. Street Fighter 6
2. Diablo IV
1. Resident Evil 4

So far it’s been a heavy loaded first half. Can’t remember a year when it’s been game after game to start the year off.

RE4R is my choice on the Xbox side.

Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo

Final Fantasy XVI for PlayStation 5

Now we await Starfield, Spider-Man and many more coming up in the second half.

Regarding the list picks.

Not a fan of Hogwarts Legacy (dull and uninspired gameplay IMO) and Hi-Fi Rush was too corny for me to stick with, couldn't get beyond the character's voice acting. Diablo IV is eating up all my game time lately. With a dash of Forza Horizon 5.

@sonicbooming Thanks for the list but we (and @HelloCraig) would love people to watch the video

Not sure I could name a top ten of 2023 but I'll try...
Okay after looking through the list of releases 2023 I've only played 2:
Tears of the Kingdom
Humanity
Guess I have a lot to look forward to then?

My top 3 games of the first half are:

1) Resident Evil 4 remake - prefer it over the original

2) Dead Space remake - same as above

3) Hi-Fi Rush - nice surprise from Xbox

Honorable mentions:

Hogwarts Legacy - it was good but overrated in my opinion

Ghostwire Tokyo - yes I know it's technically a 2022 game but the Xbox port came out this year

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum - the best game of all time

@sonicbooming Thank you for the list. I’m working so I can’t watch the video atm, but I can look down at my phone and type. I added the video to my watch later.

There are so many good games that came out within the past 6 months and a lot to look forward to. I was going to make a list but it would be way too large for a single comment lol.

Of these I’ve played Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Hogwarts Legacy, Dead Space, Street Fighter 6 and re4 all of which loved and think are all mist plays. Street Fighter 6 and re4 Being my favourites.

Hi-Fi Rush Just wasn’t for me

Diablo IV, I’d really like to get when I have the funds as it looks cool

Monster Hunter Rise would be my pick if I hadn't already played it on Switch.

@somnambulance Nice to see some Gal Guardians appreciation. Not sure how many people enjoy both Gal*Gun and Bloodstained, but as a fan of both, I felt like this was really speaking to me.

1. Diablo 4
2. Hogwarts Legacy
3. Dead Space
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Age of Empires 2
6. Railway Empire 2
7. Ghostwire Tokyo
8. Dead island 2
9. Marvels midnight sun
10. Redfall

I haven't played Jedi or street fighter so they could end up making the list (dont like fighters so SF6 is probably still out). I recognize that Hi Fi Rush was a well made game and technically better than something like Redfall but I did not enjoy it.

1. Resident Evil 4 / Dead Space - both are great, can't decide which one is better
3. Diablo IV - great game, definitely gonna check the incoming Season 1
4. HiFi Rush - more surprises like that please
5. Monster Hunter Rise - worse than World, but still 200h of good time for me,
6. Street Fighter 6 - it's great, but I'm so bad in fighting games so can't fully enjoy it
7. Hogwarts Legacy - nicely done game, bit overrated, sometimes boring
8. Ghostwire Tokyo - good, new franchise, bit repetitive, sadly it's not the Evil Within 3
9. Atomic Heart - just a good game, but one playthrough is enough, probably I won't touch any dlcs
10. Wo Long - not as good as Sekiro, I did enjoy it for ~6 hours and deleted it.

Diablo 4, 8/10. It was amazing for the first 100 hours but after that it became a real slog with glaring QOL issues. Despite this I still managed to push through and get to lvl 100 as Necro. I won’t be supporting the game any further with the inevitable microtransaction ridden, FOMO inducing future that it has.

Resident Evil 4 remake, 9/10. It was a fantastic game that I enjoyed playing through. It used to be a much harder completion than the original game at launch. The devs mitigated this by adding microtransactions later which allowed you to get the all too important upgrades for weapons earlier (Infinite Ammo Chicago Sweeper) than you otherwise would have gotten them.

Hogwarts Legacy, 9/10. As a fan of the Harry Potter movies, even seeing the first movie in cinema way back in 2001, this was everything a Harry Potter fan could have hoped for with an open world RPG based in the Wizarding World. It is held back by a huge collectathon and repetitive side questing that is on par with Assassin’s Creed games, most of which is optional to the main story.

As for the other 7 games mentioned here, I have played most of them and have mixed opinions on them, but these three games stood out above the rest for me so far this year.

Planet of Lana would be on there for me. Love those kinds of Limbo styled games. Played through it in one sitting as couldn’t put it down.

Lego 2k drive was good fun. I’m really looking forward to punch club 2 as well.

Off the top of my head the games I've played to completion this year (that are available on the XBox) are RE4, Dead Space, Jedi Survivor, Planet of Luna and Hogwarts Legacy. And if I'm honest, against all odds my favourites are the last 2. Probably because of lack of anticipation (I don't care about Harry Potter and knew nothing about Planet of Luna), but Resi4 and Dead Space just weren't that memorable to me (possibly because I'd played the originals over a decade ago) and Jedi Survivor just wasn't as engaging as the Fallen Order.

But in all honesty, Tears of the Kingdom dwarves everything else released so far this year, and I really can't see it being topped anytime soon for me

@Legend_Au Diablo 4 seasons are free. There is no pay for power. You can buy outfit upgrades but it’s optional and only adds cool factor. The seasons look to be a lot of fun and again free. 😊

Diablo 4 and Street Fighter 6 for me. I still want to check out FF16 and resident evil 4 is something that interests me but i would buy it at like $30 or under. Played it so many times before. If the Red Dead remake is real and it’s out this holiday i would flip out and put it number 1-A and Diablo 4 1-B. Likely it’s a 2024 release if it’s even real.

Seems about right. I put roughly 600 hours into MH: Rise on the Switch. So...I kinda like it. I also will not start over without cross play so I won't be booting it up on the X unfortunately. But it is good.

I love Hi Fi Rush and Street Fighter. SF is my current Xbox goty. But it probably isn't as good as the Switch's Bayonetta Origins for me. That's the best game I've played in 2023. I don't see it being topped by the slate of games releasing.

@somnambulance Probably a good call. Happy wife, happy life, or something in that vein.

I feel like it benefits a lot from understanding the boatload of references to older Gal*Gun games. Still good fun, though, and, yes, a fantastic multiplayer experience.

I'd love to see a follow-up at some point, since I think they're probably done with the Curse of the Moon games.

Wo Long and SF 6 for me. Really getting a lot of enjoyment from them.

I played most of these on PC to be honest, but my Xbox games of the year so far are:

1. Resident Evil 4 Remake
2. Dead Space Remake
3. Jedi: Survivor
4. Hogwarts Legacy
5. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath
6. Redfall
7. Bramble: The Mountain King
8. Atomic Heart (did not finish, probably will)
9. Hi-Fi Rush (did not finish, probably won't)

It was far from perfect but I enjoyed Callisto Protocol.
Lovely graphics.

@HonestHick Everything you mentioned here doesn’t subtract anything away from my original paragraph regarding Diablo 4. It will still have a microtransaction ridden, FOMO inducing future from my perspective. I wasn’t using the term ‘microtransaction ridden’ interchangeably with ‘P2W’.

I’m glad that you are looking forward to the seasons as I’m sure many other people are. Each to their own.

1. Street Fighter 6
2. Resident Evil 4 remake
3. Like a Dragon: Ishin
4. Hi-Fi Rush
5. Wanted: Dead

@Legend_Au i just wanted to make sure you knew nothing was pay to win and the seasons are free. Many games have battle passes that stink. This one is free or you can pay to get outfits. Seemed fair to me. I seen some folks thinking Diablo 4 was turning into a pay to win and it’s not.

I'm going to have to disagree with all of you and go with Redfall. That game just blew my mind in every way possible. Absolute next gen masterpiece. I'm going to be telling my grandchildren about that one. I'm going to find a way to keep the Xbox Series X running all those years until they can actually play it for themselves. It's just that damn good. I cannot wait for Redfall 2.

So is Diablo 4 really that good? I just started it yesterday.

@slatyatpion Not yet, but I wonder if it will be once the acquisition goes through.