It's TIME to announce the winners! This was difficult for me. Each game that was nominated in each category is a fantastic game. I am immensely lucky to have played all the wonderful games that I did in 2023, and, no matter who wins in each category, I think we can all agree that we gamers are the real winners of 2023. Yeah that was cheesy. Let's get rolling!
Byte-Sized Award
A special ArCadey Award given to the greatest "small" game of the year.
Skator Gator 3D came out of nowhere for me. I don't remember how I saw the game's first trailer, but from the second I watched it I knew I had to play it. It's a pure platforming gem with some amazing ideas, a fantastic sense of 3D control, and phenomenal level design. Its only crime is that there isn't enough of it. Even with its brevity in mind, however, its levels and movement mechanics are so well done that replaying the game in its entirety is a total delight.
Radical Moment Award
A special ArCadey Award given to a game that had a particularly memorable, unique, and/or exciting moment.
Hi-Fi Rush is a fantastic game, and this is easily my favorite scene from the whole thing. It's so rare for the gaming world to have moments of physical comedy, and it's even more rare for those moments to be genuinely funny. Bursting into the bad guy headquarters to discover that you've stumbled into the evil henchman cafeteria while they stare at you and slurp their sodas all while The Prodigy's "Invaders Must Die!" starts up in the background before you start a lunchroom brawl that ends in a climactic fight against the samurai chef? Immaculate.
Best Multiplayer
This award goes to the game that is not only best played with friends, but that offers a highly replayable experience.
Any of the nominees listed could have won this category, but what really gives Monster Hunter Rise the edge is the simple fact that working with your friends to take down an enormous monster is an incredible premise. Of course, Capcom's devs don't rely on that premise alone, and they deliver oodles of monster fighting spectacle that can be enjoyed again and again.
Best UI/UX
This award goes to the game that created a superb user experience through intuitive and creative user interface design.
One of my least favorite things is when a game's UI is so loud and obtrusive that it gets in the way of what you're playing. I personally think that the less we see of your game's UI, the better. So, when Pikmin 4 comes along and has a UI that's literally woven into the fabric of gameplay and it works really well? Well, geez. That's some impressive work.
Best Boss Fight
This award goes to the boss fight that managed to keep me on the edge of my seat while providing plenty of challenge and spectacle.
Annihilation is the very definition of a final boss. Bigger, grander, and more punishing than anything else that comes before it, and taking it down feels incredible. Its theme song is one of the best pieces of music of the year, its fight had me sweating bullets, and I finished Remnant II feeling completely satisfied. Add in the fact that its second phase is one of the most creative second phases I've ever seen a boss have, and it's a done deal, homie.
Best Song
This award goes to the individual, original song that was my personal favorite for the year.
Again, I think any of the nominees could have won here. However, I've given it to "Pseudo's Theme" from Clash: Artifacts of Chaos because Clash is a game that looks nothing like any other game out there. How on earth could any music fit the delightfully bizarre world of Zenozoik? Well, "Pseudo's Theme" is as unique-sounding as Clash is unique-looking, and the song actually works as a perfect microcosm of the entire game's vibe.
Best Soundtrack
This award goes to the game that had the greatest overall original soundtrack that elevated the gaming experience with consistently high-quality music.
GOOD GRIEF I had a hard time picking a winner in this category. However, it's gotta be Remnant II. It has music that deftly transitions between moodily-atmospheric and heart-poundingly invigorating. Most impressive, however, is the fact that Remnant II sees you hopping between five completely unique worlds across space and time, but the music in each one is perfectly tuned to its setting. Rob Westwood did a phenomenal job.
Best Environmental/Level Design
This award goes to the game with level design that was a pleasure to explore while also presenting a unique environment.
I had never played the original Resident Evil 4 from 2005 until this year, but I did finish it before jumping into and completing the 2023 remake. The original has some pitch-perfect environmental and level design. Stuff that's so good that it's permanently etched into my brain. I can picture the exact layout of the village, castle, and final island all at once. For the remake to take all of that while adding just enough changes to make it original and fresh is a genuine achievement.
Best Puzzles
This award goes to the game that offered the most unique and satisfying puzzle-solving moments.
Why is Metroid Prime Remastered the winner of the Best Puzzles ArCadey? Because Metroid Prime is one giant puzzle. The entire 3D environment is a massive metroidvania puzzlebox that's a nonstop joy to solve. I'd never played Metroid Prime until this year, and I can't believe how many years I wasted.
Best Combat System
This award goes to the game that introduced the most engaging and satisfying combat system.
Yes, I know I'm enormously biased toward giant robots and mechs. However, the combat in Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is just that good. I reached all three endings of the game, and I still wanted more. Flying, customizing your weapons, dodging a million projectiles, and blasting baddies away? It's poetry in fiery, metallic motion. Moving around a building-sized mech has never felt this good, and I can only hope and pray that FromSoftware will make an Armored Core VII.
Best Sound Design
This award goes to the game that created a superb audio experience in both menu navigation and gameplay.
When you play Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, a lot of visual information is gonna be thrown your way. Hordes of baddies, your teammates dying, and a deluge of fire, smoke, bullets, explosions, slime, blood, bright copper kettles, and all kinds of my favorite things. What's amazing is how each and every sound in the game is communicated so clearly. If I ever pull off anything cool in this game, I feel like I was able to do so because of how well-structured the sound design is. Not only that, but it's immensely satisfying to hear an Ogryn swing their club through a plethora of heretic skulls.
Best Animation
This award goes to the game that brought its world and characters to life through finely tuned and expressive animation.
Other than the weird face that Luke is pulling in the picture above, I think the biggest accomplishment for Street Fighter 6 is that their delightful cast of characters finally look good as 3D models. A large part of that is surely due to the modeling and art direction, but I don't think their 3D presence has ever been this well-animated. Every single fighter's repertoire of moves is a perfect display of a talented animation team serving up both form and function.
Best Art Style
This award goes to the game that displayed the most enthralling, atmospheric, and unique visual style in all aspects of art design.
Heavens above this was another brutally difficult category. We had loads of games with wonderfully-detailed and original visual styles this year, but Hi-Fi Rush has to take the cake for me. I think people throw around the comparison of "comic-book like" visuals too liberally, and Hi-Fi Rush is one of the only video games that actually manages to channel that bright, fun, and frenetic energy in each of its frames.
Best Storytelling
This award goes to the game that took full advantage of the medium to present a unique and compelling story.
There's lots to VR that I'm still on the fence about. I'm not exactly sure it's the next big thing for gaming, but Moss: Book II is the best case for VR's continued existence that I've seen. It creates a magnificent story that could literally only exist within the context of a VR game. Having the main character, (Quill, the brave, little mouse) form a gameplay and narrative relationship with you, yes you, the player is an ambitious design choice, but one that Polyarc pulls off beautifully. And that ending?? That ending????!?! Goosebumps for days.
Game of the Year
This award goes to the. . . well, the Game of the Year! The game that I consider to be the best that I played during 2023.
It's not the most polished game of 2023, and it's certainly not the most well-known. In fact, I'm sure many of you that see this will never have heard of it before. However, Clash: Artifacts of Chaos is one of the most unique experiences I've ever had in gaming. As mentioned above in the Best Song category, nothing looks like Clash does. It has a fantastic art style with this crosshatching texture over everything, bizarrely appealing shapes to its environments and characters, a deeply satisfying and customizable combat system, a heartwarming story, and a stellar soundtrack throughout.
It might seem strange to call it my Game of the Year when, as I said, it's lacking polish in some areas, but that's part of its appeal. In addition to everything that it does so incredibly well, Clash is a deeply human experience. Ironic, given its freaky-looking cast. The passion of every single person that worked on this game shines through, and it knows exactly what it wants to be, do, and say. It's the game I've thought the most about after completing, and the one that I most enjoyed playing in 2023. When ACE Team reveals its next game, I'm going to be the first in line.