The results for the 2023 Game Awards are in! 2023 has been an amazing year for gaming, seeing the release of the phenomenal Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Spider-Man 2, and many more. I am going to be covering the winners of this year’s big awards. 

Game of the Year:

The winner of the 2023 Game of the Year was Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian Studios. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a top-down RPG game where you lead a party of adventurers through the universe of Dungeons and Dragons (DnD). The game is renowned for its in-depth mechanics and fun gameplay. Although many people are angry about its victory over Spider-Man 2, I believe that this was a fair choice.

Best Narrative:

The winner of the Best Narrative award this year was Alan Wake 2, from Remedy Entertainment. Alan Wake 2 is a survival horror game that follows the game’s protagonist Alan Wake who has been stuck in an alternate dimension for 13 years. I think the game looks phenomenal, and the story seems very interesting. My one criticism is that the PC requirements for the game are extremely high. Such is the price of progress. I also feel that I should mention the incredible musical performance that the main cast for Alan Wake 2 put on at the game awards. It was simply amazing. 

Best Score and Music

 Surprisingly, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XVI took home the award for 2023’s Best Score and Music in a video game. The composer for the game was Masayoshi Soken. The soundtrack is a mixture of classical orchestral music and dramatic choral music. The soundtrack is very reminiscent of the music from the Dark Souls franchise. I was initially skeptical about Final Fantasy XVI winning this award, but after listening to it I understand why. The soundtrack is phenomenal, and even though I know nothing about Final Fantasy, it has led me to want to play the game. 

Best Ongoing Game

The winner of this year’s Best Ongoing Game Award was CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (Rightfully So). Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world RPG game set in an alternate timeline where cyber ware and Megacorporations rule the world. Cyberpunk 2077 had an incredibly rocky launch. It was riddled with bugs and borderline unplayable. However, over the last three years, CD Projekt Red has done an amazing job fixing the game and adding new content. I think that this was the best choice for the award. For a game to change from being a complete bomb, to one of Steam’s most-played games in only three years is amazing. 

Best Action/Adventure Game

This year, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo), took home the Best Action/Adventure Game award. TOTK is an open-world action-adventure game, where you play as Link, to save Hyrule yet again. I am very conflicted about whether or not this game should have won. While it is an amazing successor to Breath of the Wild, I also feel Resident Evil 4 should have won. RE4 took an already amazing game and improved on it in almost every single way, and I feel like that should’ve been awarded something. But regardless of what I think, there is no denying that TOTK is a phenomenal game. 

And that is the most important award from the 2023 Game Awards show! 2023 has been one of the best years for gaming in the last decade, and overall, I have no complaints about the recipients of the awards.