As 2023 rapidly draws to a close, so does our annual recap of the best new games of the year. We’ve already hit the best Switch games of 2023 and the best PlayStation 5 games of 2023, and if you know anything about games the next list should’ve been obvious. Yep, it’s time to chew on the best Xbox Series X|S games of 2023, as the headline above should’ve made obvious. Headlines: they tell you what you’re about to read.
The Xbox certainly had some games this year, right? In addition to console exclusives like Hi-Fi Rush and El Paso Elsewhere, Xbox owners got to dive into some of the year’s best multiplatform games, including Alan Wake II, Armored Core VI, and the RPG smash Baldur’s Gate 3, which just hit the Xbox family of systems this week. 2023 was truly a plethora of riches for the Xbox connoisseur. Of course, constant layoffs and studio closures might have made this an absolutely miserable year for the artists who make these games—so terrible that it’d be irresponsible to not mention it, even in what is otherwise a celebration of the games we loved this year. Hopefully 2024 will reverse the trend of smaller workforces doing more and more work to make the stuff the rest of us use to goof off with.
But hey, that’s 2024. That shit doesn’t even exist yet. We’re talking about 2023, the here and now and soon-to-have-been, so let’s get to it. Here are the best new games released for the Xbox Series X|S in 2023.
15. Laika: Aged Through Blood
Over the last decade, there’s been no shortage of videogames about sad dads, but we’ve been deprived of similar stories following gruff, melancholic moms. Laika: Aged Through Blood , the latest from the Madrid-based developer Brainwash Gang, fills this gap. Laika is a canine gunslinger tasked with protecting her daughter and village from the encroaching imperialistic might of the Birds, a quickly expanding military force that seeks to dominate all non-beaked life. Amidst a Western-tinged wasteland that is bracing for the end, our hero is forced to rely on her six shooters to shield those she cares about from impending doom. Although it has some rough edges, between its slow-mo motocross shootouts, grim but not overbearingly nihilistic backdrop, and thoughtful exploration of imposed sacrificial motherhood, it blends its inspirations to create something tonally unique. Despite its extreme violence and unapologetic bleakness, Laika is defined by a surprising emotional range thanks to its compelling protagonist and her brutal quest to save those she loves.— Elijah Gonzalez
14. Baldur’s Gate 3
Much has been made of how the Dungeons & Dragons-based videogame Baldur’s Gate 3 adapts its tabletop origins, but what’s most interesting about it comes from its videogameness. One of the things that is so thrilling and strange about tabletop to me is that it is negotiable. We can discuss everything, the course is far from set. A videogame, by nature, is bound to its code. There’s unpredictability, sure. But even in a game as big as Baldur’s Gate, there is a single course that all players must chart. There may be hidden secrets, oft-discarded paths, but the general arc of the game is recognizable and familiar to every player. It’s unwise to characterize Baldur’s Gate 3 as a tabletop sim for exactly that reason. It has limits that friends around the table do not have, but that also means it cannot be negotiated with.—Grace Benfell
13. Jusant
Don’t Nod’s mountain climbing game Jusant feels like a full body experience. The triggers, which in any other game are defined by verbs like “punch” or “aim” or “shoot,” instead control the grip of your corresponding hands. Climbing isn’t as simple as pressing forward on a vertical surface, it’s rhythmic and full of split-second decision making and considerations. This rhythm entranced me, blurring the lines between realities in my head as I squeezed the triggers for dear life, wholly believing I’d actually plummet from the couch in my living room in Brooklyn if I let go at the wrong time. You know how sometimes you’ll be playing a tense game, need to peek around a corner, and find yourself mimicking your character and craning your neck around the TV? I had a similar experience the entirety of my time playing Jusant. Lunging from one handhold to another, I reflexively found myself pulling back and then jumping forward in my seat. In one of the later chapters, one particularly long, beautiful and harsh climb basically left me winded, though the reality was that the palpable tension of the sequence subconsciously made me hold my breath until I hit a checkpoint. That’s why it’s one of the best Xbox Series X|S games of 2023.—Moises Taveras
12. A Space for the Unbound
One of the best trends in the modern videogame industry is that it feels like works from all over the world are finally getting their due, allowing developers to tell stories about their own specific cultural experiences. An excellent example is A Space for the Unbound, a narrative-focused adventure game from Mojiken Studio set in ‘90s Indonesia that uses gorgeous pixel art and a cast of sympathetic characters to paint an achingly particular picture of this time and place. We follow Atma and Raya, two high schoolers who uncover a strange phenomenon that threatens their small town. Over the course of this story, it’s hard not to internalize every corner of this neighborhood, from the local arcade full of Street Fighter references to a bridge foregrounded against an impossibly vibrant sky, these backdrops dripping with nostalgic details that make them feel pulled from memory. However, more than just delivering an idealized vision of the past, this well-rendered setting ties us to the emotional journey of its cast, building towards reveals about the dark feelings lingering in their hearts. It may be a slow burn early on, but it all culminates in a powerful climax that thoughtfully handles depictions of mental health issues like depression, making for one of the most moving finales in recent memory.—Elijah Gonzalez
11. Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars taps into heaps of the nostalgia for a bygone era of RPGs, conjuring and bottling this magic that made me fall in love with the genre to begin with. For me, it’s the next Golden Sun, but to others it could be the next incarnation of a Breath of Fire or Chrono Trigger. At the end of the day, this ultimately means that it’s a tale of friendship featuring an eclectic cast of playable characters (spanning the pair of Solstice warriors, an assassin and more) set in an isometric RPG with a kinetic battle system. It’s literally colorful, with wonderfully intricate pixel art that puts the biggest games’ artistic direction to shame. Its story, a humdrum coming of age blown up to world-ending proportions, is sweet, if basic. And then Sea of Stars does what its developer, Sabotage Studios, does best and zag where everyone else would zig—giving us one of the best Xbox Series X\S games of 2023.—Moises Taveras
10. Dredge
Dredge is over before you know it, in part because it’s genuinely a short game, but also because it kind of wraps you in its eldritch tendrils and doesn’t let go until you’re done with it. I’ve rarely played a game with a more satisfying and simple loop in an intriguing and dubious world I just wish I could’ve seen more of. Between the cults (yep, this game has got those too) and the sort of unexplained nature of Why This Stretch Of Sea Is Like This™, I think it’s actually a world ripe for even more exploration. But even if nothing more should come out of it, Dredge is a wonderful experience in smooth sailing over choppy (maybe even supernaturally charged) waters.—Moises Taveras
9. Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush is my dream game come true. I’ve always been a sicko for action and rhythm games, but have admittedly only excelled at the latter since music was a significant part of my upbringing. And though I’ve always heard the analogies about combos in action games being rhythmic, few games have ever taken the actual step towards visualizing that in the way Hi-Fi Rush does, or made it as simple to understand. That is just the first in a long string of things that the game gets right. Setting players up against a metronome that’s brought to life in the world around you makes the game feel magical, and by extension you are magic for harmonizing with it. I loved, for example, during one particular combo that needed me to hit the light attack four times with a rest breaking it up into two segments, that the rest was realized in the character model, clearly delineating when it was time to continue. Because of the constant visual and audio aids, slapping enemies with your magnetically assembled impression of an electric guitar to the beat has never made it simpler to execute short but satisfying combos, only made better by many of their flashy finishes, which also demand accuracy to land most efficiently. I swear the game will have you counting beats, and I often caught myself head banging ever so slightly to Hi-Fi Rush’s impeccable score while wailing away at enemy encounters.—Moises Taveras
8. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Most of what happens in From’s mech game Armored Core VI happens because something needs to. This is not a complex story, the themes are direct and unadorned. There are bits and pieces, information is withheld, endings leave room for speculation. But this is not a game for deep epistemological work. Etymology is explanatory, but not revelatory here. Rubicon has meaning in that From Software has at least done cursory reading of Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars. One of the first real challenges you’ll face is an unhinged, violent AC pilot named Sulla. Does this have any deep hidden meaning? No, not really. You can google it and learn all about Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix if you want. But it won’t truly deepen your understanding of Armored Core VI like every other piece of media, there is no “unlocking” done by understanding the origins of every term. Mostly things are named what they are because it suits a general theme, things need names, and some names just sound more badass than others. Rubicon, for instance, has plenty of historical significance, but mostly people invoke the word “Rubicon” (a truly uneventful river named because of the iron saturation of the riverbed) when they want to either let you know they think they’re being hard as a motherfucker, or they want to call upon the YOLO or Live Más mentality. You know what also sounds pretty hard? “Let us go where the omens of the Gods and the iniquity of our enemies call us. The die is now cast.” That last sentence is actually the translation for the third ending achievement. There. Saved you a trip to Fextralife.—Dia Lacina
7. Resident Evil 4
Where do you start when remaking a classic? For many, Resident Evil 4 is the quintessential survival-horror game. Time has proven that the game’s shift to action was ultimately the best move. Resident Evil 4 has long been considered an immutable text, and yet at the same time, a large enough contingent of its adorers have clamored for a remake, something that’d necessitate some degree of change to validate its costly existence. The answer, even if it sounds sacrilegious, has been to remix and refine what’s there for a modern crowd .The best possible thing you all could’ve hoped for did come true: The Resident Evil 4 remake is a smashing success. It’s both scary and thrilling, and clears up that not only was its initial success no fluke, but that few titles have properly challenged it ever since. Whether this is your first or most recent trip through its wacky Spanish cult-fest, I’m positive you’ll find lots to love in this game that seems built to last.—Moises Taveras
6. Cocoon
Beyond its visual strengths, one of Cocoon’s most fascinating aspects is how its mechanics amplify the mind-expanding qualities evoked by its aesthetics. Just as you’re getting a read on certain repetitive, game-y patterns, such as when a monster encounter or additional power are likely to materialize, things veer off course as the puzzles become increasingly interesting. As its challenges become more complex, they also become increasingly based around cosmic proportions, causing us to feel the odd metaphysics of this space slide around in our gray matter as we undergo a miniature metamorphosis. It’s a genuinely cool effect that feels like the underlying purpose of this endeavor.—Elijah Gonzalez
5. Venba
This short, bittersweet visual novel / puzzle game hybrid examines the immigrant experience through the crucial cultural bedrock of cooking. Set across three decades in the lives of an Indian family who’ve resettled in Canada, Venba is yet more proof that games have the unique capacity to engage us emotionally in ways that other mediums can’t. Like the best meals, Venba ends too soon, but it’s so rich and fulfilling that it’ll leave you satisfied.—Garrett Martin
4. Street Fighter 6
All long-running games eventually have to figure out how to attract new players without disenchanting their fans. It’s even tougher with fighting games, and especially one as old, beloved, and rich in history as Street Fighter. Street Fighter 6 has figured out how to cater to its massive following while still welcoming new players, and then providing both with the innovation of a surprisingly deep RPG on top of the core fighting game. Whether you’ve been mixing it up in those streets for decades or never even reeled off a single hadouken before, Street Fighter 6 should be on your fight card. It’s the new standard in fighting game excellence, and one of the best Xbox Series X|S games of 2023.—Garrett Martin
3. Thirsty Suitors
Thirsty Suitors is a rich narrative that carefully and truthfully deals with culture, family, LGBTQIA+ issues, relationships, and self-expression. You meet and interact with a diverse range of characters in terms of race, personality, and gender and sexual identity, and each are developed and dealt with in their own unique ways. The plot introduces a number of different stories for Jala Jayaratne to unearth and resolve. When you’re trying to repair familial relationships, save Timber Hills’s skateboarding scene, and reconcile with exes, it’s hard for each of those stories to develop in complex and evenly-paced ways, but Thirsty Suitors does its best by giving every story its own focused element that defines it and supports the other stories.—Maddie Agne
Jala is the cool and alternative skater girl I dreamt up when I was younger and wondering what my type was. She’s a vision. She also eschews many of the tropes of romantic characters in games, who are sometimes flattened by the need to be appealing to players by being the multi-faceted protagonist of the story. Sometimes Jala is even unlikeable, lending her dimensions that make her feel like a real person. Rather than turn me away from her, it only solidifies the crush I’ve developed on this character who skirts the line between reality and fantasy wonderfully.—Moises Taveras
2. El Paso, Elsewhere
El Paso, Elsewhere does something exceedingly difficult: it’s an action-first game that still focuses heavily on its story, and pulls everything off with a consistent level of care and quality. It’s an intentionally “weird” game that doesn’t owe too much to overly referenced cultural touchstones like Twin Peaks or hoary conspiracy theories, and it’s also blatantly indebted to turn-of-the-century gaming without feeling cliched or unoriginal. (Think Max Payne or PS2-era shooters—that’s what El Paso yearns to evoke.) It invites all manner of comparisons and references, and yet defies almost all of them across its 50 chapters. It stirs a lot of echoes, yet makes a sound that’s entirely and unmistakably its own. It does the job and does it well, with the kind of cohesion you rarely see in games: an expertly calibrated suite of mechanics that interconnect flawlessly, combined with a smart, well-written story and an intricately interwoven soundtrack. It’s easily one of the best Xbox Series X|S games of 2023.—Garrett Martin
1. Alan Wake II
Sam Lake reaches the apotheosis of his postmodern kick with this sequel to one of 2010’s most interesting videogames. The Remedy Entertainment head has long tried to break down the barriers between games, film, and literature in a knottier, more avant-garde fashion than the many major studios making “cinematic” games, influenced as much by Pynchon and Twin Peaks as noir or horror movies, and with Alan Wake II he’s crafted another impressive combo of commercial blockbuster and trippy experimentalism. A survival horror game that explores notions of free will, destiny, authorship, and ownership, Alan Wake II doesn’t come close to answering all of the questions it asks, but it raises them with such style, confidence, and confusion that you’ He’ll realize the answers don’t matter. It’s far from a perfect game —the investigation mechanics are inelegant, and Lake’s big narrative swings don’t always connect—but Alan Wake II does more than any other game to undermine the bullshit dichotomy between “AAA” and “indie” games. Just because a game has a budget and a large team doesn’t mean it has to be a safe, hackneyed, overly familiar genre workout.— Garrett Martin