My Favorite Games of 2023

Last year feels rather strange to me in that I didn't complete any RPGs and I'm not entirely sure how that happened, since I usually manage at least one of them. That said, it felt like such a good year for enjoyable gaming. I only list games I liked enough to finish, which usually means I felt they were good or very good, but great games are fewer and further between.

I usually designate these great games as my Top 3 picks each year by marking them with an asterisk (*) and I was pretty sure that I knew what my Top 3 were going to be as we went into November as I'd played what I thought was a shoe-in for my third stellar game in October, but even if Tempest slid in at the end of the year and blew me away, so I'm going to call out Ghost Trick as an honorable mention. In another year it probably would have made Top 3 and it is still a solid game I highly recommend.

With that said, these are the 12 games I liked the most out of the ones I finished in 2023, in the order I played them. If the game is available on multiple platforms, the one I played on is listed first.

OPUS: Echo of Starsong (Switch, Windows, Mac, iOS) *

More often than not, I find one of my favorite games of the year at the start of the year, and that was definitely the case with OPUS: Echo of Starsong, making it one of the few linear games where I dove back in immediately after I finished. Told from the perspective of an elderly Jun Lee, he reflects on the short period of time he knew Eda and what being with her meant to him. If you want an intimate piece of space opera with deep lore and some far future Chinese flavoring, all wrapped up in 12-15 hours of gameplay, this is a must-have, but bring tissues. That's not a spoiler. The frame story makes it clear that Jun and Eda are deprived of any happy ending.

Ambition: A Minuet in Power (Switch, Windows)

When Yvette arrives in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution, her fiance mysteriously does not pick her up, nobody seems to want to associate with him, and he's left her paying for the rent and the maid at what would have been their home. Refusing to return to her village, Yvette forges a new life in Parisian high society, and the player can decide whether she reunites with her fiance or discovers a new love entirely. With a tight calendar system and selling gossip for money, Yvette can nudge the tensions in Paris one way or another. Probably more fun if you like French Revolution stuff, but also good if you just like being a schemer. You can make Yvette somewhat upstanding if you want, but there are a lot of options to play as an awful person.

Buried Stars (Switch, PS4, Windows)

Mystery/suspense visual novel in which a group of aspiring k-pop stars and their floor director are trapped inside a collapsed building. Despite the unusual choice in cast (I never thought I'd be putting on my detective hat with a pop star as my protagonist), the mystery is effective and had me on the edge of my seat through much of the main game. The game's UI is a little misleading in regards to how the story will actually play out, and there are some obvious translation errors, but despite the bumpiness I think this will end up one of the more memorable mystery VNs I've played. Saying why would be a spoiler, but I talk about it here.

My Sweet Bodyguard (iOS, Android)

Part of the Love 365 library app. A college student discovers she's the long lost daughter of the Japanese prime minister and is threatened by unknown forces who want to influence her father. Fortunately she has a crack team of bodyguards looking out for her in what is a surprisingly upbeat and light-hearted romance adventure. It also gets really silly on some routes, so don't come here for any realism. Each route may as well take place in a different reality since plot points and villains generally don't cross over.

Frostpunk (Windows, Mac, PS4, XB1) *

Brutal survival-based city building game. After a deep and potentially neverending frost settles over Victorian England, you play as the captain in charge of a new settlement that strives to survive heading in an unknown future. Though it is possible to make a relatively comfortable life for your people once you know how the game works, I think most first time playthroughs will either end in failure or with barely anyone alive (and you might end up a despot on top of that too). I like how the game makes you consider which lines you'd be willing to cross in order to allow your city to survive, and if you fail, was it because of poor planning or because you valued your morals?

Piofiore: Fated Memories (Switch)

Liliana has grown up as a ward of the church, but for reasons unbeknownst to her, she is extremely important to varying factions fighting for control of a city in 1920s Italy, thus sparking a journey with various men from one of the city's three mafia families or an agent of the church. It's otome, but darker than usual because none of the guys can really say they've walked away without killing someone, though they're generally presented in a nicer light if they're Liliana's current love interest. While I bought this as a fan of anime takes on mafia, it's worth mentioning that Liliana is a civilian, so even if she's present during the action bits, she's usually a non-participant, and some of the heavy decision making by the men happens in scenes when she is not around.

Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders (Windows, Switch, PS4, XB1)

Series of murder mysteries in the style of the old point-and-click pixel adventure games, starring a fictionalized version of Di Renjie, more popularly known in English as the protagonist of the Judge Dee books/movies/TV series, but was a real historical person. This Di is portrayed as relatively young and new to his work, though historically he would have been pushing fifty by the time of the game, which mostly involves solving a series of murders on behalf of Empress Wu Zetian. It's a fairly short game, with some of the usual point-and-click genre problems of not being able to figure out what you missed, but otherwise a fun bit of intrigue. Good if you don't have a lot of time or want a quick palate cleanser before diving into something else.

Radiant Tale (Switch)

It took me a few games to realize that found family is one of my favorite tropes in otome. I love when the entire cast is a group of friends who support each other through thick and thin, so when I realized Radiant Tale shared staff with Code:Realize and Cafe Enchante I knew I had to get this. Tifalia joins a performance troupe called CIRCUS and gains a wacky surrogate family that includes personalities as varied as a fun-loving dragon, a flashy noble, and possibly the world's most unfriendly clown. They're on a JRPG-eque quest to free the kingdom's prince from the spell that has frozen his body and heart in time, and only by literally bringing joy to the world can they heal him. Despite the overly bright and optimistic theming, some of the routes can get unexpectedly dark.

Ghost Trick (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows, DS, iOS)

HD remaster of the underappreciated mystery solving puzzle game for Nintendo DS. You control an amnesiac ghost who has a number of "tricks" he can perform in order to manipulate the environment and the living around him in order to figure out who he is and why he died. Without spoiling too much, I think pet lovers will enjoy this game. It's not too long, but not too short either, being the rare game that is just the length it needs to be and no more. Fans of Ace Attorney will recognize writer/director Shu Takumi's brand of character writing, though Ghost Trick is less episodic since there is only one central mystery that covers the entire game.

Ten Trials of Babel: The Doppelganger Maze (Windows, Mac)

Indie puzzle adventure game where humans and various fantastical races are unwillingly placed in a survival game where the winner can ensure the continued existence of their race. English translation is usually pretty good, which makes it more obvious when it's not. Puzzles will give you a pretty good workout if that's your thing. Best played with a pad of paper next to you in order to make notes. Though it's probably possible to reach the best ending without romancing anyone, Xixy needs a certain level of friendship with her main three party members to open the way to the true ending.

even if Tempest (Switch) *

I was truly blown away by the narrative in this game, which is marketed as otome, but aside from affection-related dialogue options, plays out more like Raging Loop since it also features one love interest per timeline and a protagonist who tries to abuse timeloops in order to solve a problem. The worldbuilding is fantastic and Anastasia is one of the most engaging female protagonists I've ever had a chance to play, getting to be both strong and vulnerable, vengeful and kind, and rising from a childhood of abuse to being the person she wants to be. She is willing to do whatever it takes to save the ones she loves, and some of what she does is truly heartrending both for her and the player. There are witch trials which will likely appeal to Ace Attorney and Danganronpa fans, with the unique twist that they are playing out in the court of public opinion in which judgment is less a matter of truth than what the jury comes to believe.

The Last Matches (Windows, Mac)

Indie visual novel based on The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. It's very short (about an hour to play through), but felt like a fitting title to close out the year given that it takes place around Christmas. Both the original tragic ending of the story and a happier one are available for our protagonist. I liked the sad ending better, perhaps because it pulls from the original and works better thematically, but also because the happy ending feels surreal, like I can't tell if it really happened. Still, it's a nice little package if you want something quick that will pluck at the heartstrings.

VN Talk: My Sweet Bodyguard - Part 6: Mizuki

I left Mizuki for last, not out of a sense of saving the best (or second best) for last as I sometimes do, but because I didn't know what to make of him and sometimes seeing a character on someone else's route is what I need to pique my interest.

Unfortunately, I still didn't know what to make of him by the time he was the only one of the initial five routes left. We know from the prologue that he's a former pop star who decided to change careers and become a bodyguard, which is a little weird, and for someone who must have spent a lot of time in front of crowds and cameras, he comes off as a rather muted personality. If there was a vote for bodyguard most likely to fade into the background, the winner would be Mizuki.

He has no prior connection to the MC, he's not in the command chain, and he's not outgoing enough to make an impression. For much of the game he occupied a nebulous space in my mind as "that fifth guy" which made me a little hesitant to buy his route, but since the series was on sale I figured it would be roughly equivalent to losing $3 if I didn't like it, so I picked it up.

And Mizuki is initially weird... really weird. He immediately comes off as serious about his job, and directly tells the MC not to fall in love with him, but then he's also talking to animals like a fairy tale princess, which is probably one of the last things I'd expect of a crack bodyguard. (He says he can't really talk to animals because that would be silly, but even if he can't literally talk to them, he can get them to do some very non-instinctive things for him.)

VN Talk: My Sweet Bodyguard - Part 5: Sora

I was looking forward to Sora's route since he's a bright and optimistic personality on the other routes, even if he tends to get a little too huggy with the MC, but by the time I finished it, I wasn't sure I liked him as much anymore. It wasn't that he turned out to be a secret jerk, but there were two things about him that bothered me on his route.

The MC meets Sora first out of all the bodyguards during her rescue in the prologue, but she thinks she's being helped by another woman, who turns out to be Sora, who sometimes crossdresses as a disguise. He looks really good as a woman, and given his upbeat personality and that he's even enthusiastic about it on other routes, I assumed he was fine with it. And I actually think that he is fine with it, and proud of how well he passes, since he even has a photo album of him in his disguises which he admits are all of him dressed as a woman.

Given his protests on his own route, I suspect the problem is that Sora doesn't want to look feminine in front of a woman he's attracted to, but even if the MC is nothing but supportive he always feels resistant about it. It's not until the ending when the MC tells him his disguise is what allowed them to meet that he kind of dials it back, but it doesn't feel like there was a solid resolution on how he really feels about it and I didn't like the "I can't look girly in front of my woman" vibe I was getting.

VN Talk: My Sweet Bodyguard - Part 4: Subaru

Subaru, though seemingly the poster boy of My Sweet Bodyguard, actually pissed me off in the prologue for being rude and arrogant, so I wasn't inclined to like him, but he becomes a lot more tolerable later in Katsuragi and Kaiji's routes, which softened my impression of him. I especially liked seeing him discombobulated by Kaiji's sisters, which showed that he wasn't as put-together as he pretended to be. (And his freak out expression is a nice contrast to his usual smug one.)

It admittedly helps that the MC's internal commentary after choosing him is full of snark. She's impressed by his resume (Harvard grad, studied in Paris, professional accolades, etc.), but not his personality, which makes it a little weird when she starts falling for him about a third of the way in. There is the "there's only one bed" trope which results in them awkwardly sharing it, and unlike the other love interests, he passes himself off as the MC's boyfriend to cover for his need to shadow her 24/7. This produces some expected emotional confusion, but he doesn't act terribly boyfriend-like other than physical proximity.

I guess it's nice that he cleans her place and cooks for her (because those are always boyfriend points), but the way he does it suggests more that he thinks her standards are below what he can tolerate if he's going to be living with her. It's like no good deed he does comes without a put down, but the MC is attracted to him anyway. In universe multiple people comment on how attractive he is so I suppose it's possible the MC just can't get over how gorgeous he is, but as the player I think his character design is just "okay" and not obviously more attractive than the other love interests.

VN Talk: My Sweet Bodyguard - Part 3: Kaiji

As I mentioned in last week's My Sweet Bodyguard post, I was leaning towards choosing Kaiji as a love interest for being a similar age to the MC, and also being a childhood friend, which I thought could make for a more interesting dynamic than the other characters who are all strangers.

I thought it was off to a promising start. People who knew each other as children and then separated as they went to different schools, only to randomly meet each other again later in life is a thing that happens. So I wasn't bothered by the MC not remembering certain aspects of their childhood friendship, and though their romance does include a childhood marriage proposal, that's pretty much par for the course. I expect to be running into tropes in this game, so there's no harm in feeding the player the candy they're here for.

But even though I thought we were off to a promising start with the two getting reacquainted after an uncertain number of years (I think the MC moved away when she was about eleven, but the exact age is unclear), I found I didn't like their dynamic that much. Kaiji has a lot of fun teasing her due to their shared history, but otherwise spends a lot of time telling other characters how he's not interested in her. And meanwhile the MC spends a lot of time noting evidence that supports her theory that Kaiji hates women (he actually never says anything of the sort).

VN Talk: My Sweet Bodyguard - Part 2: Katsuragi

Picking Daichi Katsuragi first was a "me choice" rather than seeing who the protagonist seemed to mesh with the best. Voltage protagonists are never named, though they often come with their own personality, so they aren't completely blank slates. But when I first started messing around with the Love 365 app I didn't think about it so much as looking for a story with a love interest that I would find interesting. So those early days were a lot of hopscotching through the various titles to use my free reading time as much as possible before I had to pay.

What I'm getting at, is I was lured to My Sweet Bodyguard due to its premise (a lot of Voltage games are exactly what the name says on the tin) and then chose Katsuragi to be my protagonist's bodyguard because I thought if I was going to read a romance with any of these guys, I wanted the boss, who's older and more experienced than the others. (Might also be my own age talking.) I played about halfway through his story before my free time ran out and then set the game aside as I played other things.

Coming back after all this time, and having bought a bunch of other My Sweet Bodyguard routes while they were on sale, I restarted from the prologue and found I almost wanted to set up the protagonist with either Kaiji or Subaru, just so their age would be closer. Katsuragi's age isn't given anywhere to my knowledge, but since he's the only love interest who goes by his family name instead of his given one, he's probably several years older so they would not be able to address each other as peers. My personal guess is he's in his thirties since there are other love interests in Love 365 who are canonically in their forties and they look older than Katsuragi.

VN Talk: My Sweet Bodyguard - Part 1: Overview

In which I talk (write) about visual novels from a storytelling perspective...

Platform: iOS (also on Android)
Release: 2013

My Sweet Bodyguard is a Love 365 title, which means that it's a part of Voltage's pay-per-route otome library app. Though I don't usually gravitate towards a particular trope in my otome gaming, on seeing this title I was actually surprised that the bodyguard trope hadn't already been exploited left and right, and arguably hasn't since. (Shout out to Variable Barricade's Nayuta though for being the one otome bodyguard I like who isn't in this game.)

With a title like My Sweet Bodyguard I expected a guilty pleasure sort of game, being in general the otome-flavored opportunity to live out Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard. The game even name drops the movie in one route, when the main character's friend finds out about her situation. And in that respect it delivers.

My Sweet Bodyguard does not take itself seriously. The villains are often cartoony, the situations unrealistic, but all the game really wants to do is give the player a good time that involves the main character and her chosen bodyguard falling in love. Normally I prefer heavier stories, but I found the irreverence charming, and even the more contrived situations (like the ever popular faceplanting into a kiss) are just right when in search of popcorn fare.

As I did previously, this blog post series will only cover the first of what Love 365 calls the "Main Story" for each route, which is the falling in love part of the romance. There is fandisc-ish material that follows the relationship as it progresses, but it's unequally distributed among the guys due to the modular way mobile content tends to get updated and My Sweet Bodyguard seems to have wrapped up. At the moment, I'll only be covering the first five love interests, though I may add others at a later date if I get around to them.