CORE 398: 2023 And Me (Patreon)

Well what do we have here? Our year-end MASSIVE round up of the best games of the year, including a load of categories you won't find anywhere else. Check the RSS feed or Patreon for a FULL text list of the games we covered. Can you guess our number one? Listen and find out!

Uncut video: https://youtube.com/live/B-zXGXZla2I?feature=share

(Pre-show ends at 38:32 into the episode if you prefer to skip that part.)

Group Category #1 - Most Anticipated Games of 2024:

    Scott:

        Space Marine II

        Shapez 2

        Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League

    Jon:

        Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

        Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

        Dragon's Dogma II (Honorable Mention: Hades 2)

    Beau:

        Like A Dragon 2: Infinite Wealth

        Hades 2?

        FF7 Rebirth

Scott's Game of the Year Award Categories:

BEST LADDER CLIMBING

The Finals

GAME THAT MADE ME LAUGH HARD

Lethal Company

BEST CITY BUILDER

Against the Storm

BEST GAME WITH CARDS

Wildfrost

BEST GAME I SLEPT ON TOO LONG

Marvel's Midnight Suns

GAME I THOUGHT I WOULD BE ALL INTO BUT HAVENT

Darkest Dungeon II

BEST VAMPIRE SURVIVERS LIKE

Death Must Die

BEST LATE TO THE GAME AWARD

Hogwarts Legacy

BIGGEST EARLY SURPRISES I WANNA GET BACK TO

Hi-Fi RUSH

EVERSPACE 2

TOP GAMES THAT PULLED ME OFF BALDUR'S GATE 3

Starfield

Sea of Stars

BEST CHORE GAME OF THE YEAR

3. Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator

2. Mars First Logistics

1. House Flipper 2

BEST OLD GAME I PLAYED THE MOST

1. Cyberpunk 2077 replay up to PL

2. Papers Please

3. Broforce

4. Mark of the Ninja remastered

SCARIEST GAME I PLAYED

Amnesia: The Bunker (could not finish that or even continue)

GAME I STARTED THINKING I HAD ALREADY BUT NEVER DID

Batman Archam City

BEST SPORTS GAME

Super Mega Baseball 4

Tape to Tape

BEST BOOMER SHOOTER

Prodeus (on steam)

GAME THAT SHOCKED ME HOW FUN IT WAS

RoboCop: Rogue City

BEST MMO HOURS SPENT

1. Dragon Flight WoW

2. Guild Wars 2

GAMES I MOST LOOK FORWARD TO CONINUING INTO THE NEW YEAR

1. The Finals

2. Lethal Company

3. 40k Rogue Trader

4. Hogwarts Legacy

5. Alan Wake II

6. A load of Nintendo stuff I missed

GAME I BOUGHT TWICE SO I COULD HAVE IT ON STEAM DECK

Diablo IV

Group Category #2 - Biggest Surprises of 2023:

    Scott:

        Robocop

        Death Must Die

        The Finals

        Lethal Company

        Rogue Trader

    Jon:

        Remnant 2

        RoboCop: Rogue City

        Bang on Balls

        Death Must Die

        House Flipper 2

    Beau:

        WoW SoD

        Dead Space Remake was actually really good

        AR is better than you think (Quest 3 is awesome)

        M$ actually bought ABK

        WoW SoD

Jon's Game of the Year Award Categories:

    Top Reasons to Still Have Friends in 2023

        Lethal Company

        Fortnite

        The Finals

    CORE Doesn't Talk About Nintendo Enough Award: Super Mario RPG

    Top Transformers (I Bought) of 2023:

        Transformers R.E.D. Shockwave

        Studio Series Megatron "Gamer Edition" from War for Cybertron

        Transformers Earthspark Flip Changer Wheeljack

    Game of the Year that I Didn't Actually Play: WWE 2K23

    Game I Need to Mention to Stop a Bunch of "It was snubbed memes": Marvel's Spider-Man 2

    Best Games I Didn't Get to Play Enough of in 2023:

        Alan Wake 2

        Sea of Stars

        Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Group Category #3 - Best Non-2023 Games of 2023:

    Scott:

        Mark of The Ninja

        GW2

        WoW: Dragonflight

    Jon:

        World of Warcraft - Retail, Classic, & Hardcore

        Octopath Traveler

        Transformers: War for Cybertron

    Beau:

        Yakuza: Like A Dragon

        Darktide

        Stacklands

Beau's Game of the Year Award Categories:

    Best Adults In Diapers Award: Furious Baby Patriarch Gondawara, Yakuza: Like a Dragon

    Best Worst Class to play Diablo 4 Hardcore: Rogue, I just ripped AGAIN

    Best K-POP act to watch in Venta-X: Dreamcatcher, runner up Kwon Eunbi (or Zara Larrson in AmazeVR)

    Best You Will Cry Like A Baby Moment: Like a Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name

    Best Ongoing Development of a Game Award: Darktide

    Best VR Modded Game: Portal 2

    Best Deserved an Award but Didn't Get One: Jedi Survivor

    Best VR Made for VR Game:

        Asgard's Wrath

        Assassin's Creed NEXUS VR

        Vertigo 2

        Pianovision

        Borderlands 2 VR

The CORE Crew's Top 5 Games of the Year:

    Scott:

        BG3

        Phantom Liberty (yes it counts)

        Starfield

        Sea of Stars

        Diablo IV

    Jon:

        Baldur's Gate 3

        CyberPunk 2077 w/ Phantom Liberty

        Final Fantasy XVI

        Resident Evil 4 Remake

        Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

    Beau:

        Baldur's Gate 3

        Dead Space Remake

        Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name

        Wartales

        Diablo 4

CORE's 2023 GAME OF THE YEAR:

    Baldur's Gate 3