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[M.W.]

Maybe if you started gaming 5 years ago.

 

[analog_future]

OP you started gaming this year?

Maybe if you started gaming 5 years ago.

Started gaming in 1991!

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

I'm not saying it's the best, but it's definitely what we God damn needed after the last 2 years minimum

 

[NikuNashi]

1998 was nuts.

Just had a look, man what a year. I remember playing Banjo then spending a few months playing OoT and then Biohazard 2 then I got Aplha 3, didnt have much time for the rest. It was banger after banger.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

Normally, I'd say hard NO, in favor of 2001 where GTA3, FFX, Devil May Cry, and MGS2 were all released.

That said, this year has been really strong and while some of the titles listed in the OP are just noise, I can't help but think maybe nostalgia is creating a bias.

FF16
ToTK
BG3
Starfield
Phantom Liberty
Spider-Man 2
SMB Wonder
Armored Core VI

These titles alone make for a pretty strong case for one of the best years for gaming in a good long while. A new Zelda, Mario, and FF in one year?!

And BG3...I'll sayless.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Maybe if you started gaming 5 years ago.

This

 

[ReBurn]

It is good. But it isn't the best.

 

[nial]

You're joking, right?

2004:

Half Life 2
Doom 3
Far cry
Unreal Tournament 2004
GTA: San Andreas
Halo 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
The Sims 2
Burnout 3: Takedown
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Pikmin 2
Jak 3
Fable
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic
World of Warcraft

(... holy shiiiiiiit, AND THERE'S MORE!)

Rome: Total War
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Counter Strike: Source
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Star Wars: Battlefront
Viewtiful Joe 2
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
Painkiller
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Gran Turismo 4

Then there's 1998, you dont wanna see that list. Anyway, don't get me wrong, 2023 is a great year, so were other years. 2007 is another strong highlight. But calling it the greatest? Nah.

1. 1998
2. 2004
3. 2007
4. Every single year since. Good years, bad years, they're all completely irrelevant compared to 2004, let alone 1998. Maybe some can arguably compare to 2007, dunno.

Jak 3? Now that is some filler, alright...

 

[64bitmodels]

I've had a lot more fun this year than any year previously that's for sure. Been having lots of fun playing new releases

 

[Tedditalk]

I think it pretty much is. Born in 1997, and been gaming since the 2000s. I think this topic really gonna showcase an age divide more than anything. There is something to be said though about innovation, as gaming hit a wall in design at the start of PS4 era (arguably late ps3) and has not really progress past that point.

 

[Ivan]

If you were born recently, it might be for you...

 

[ManaByte]

Ocarina of Time
Metal Gear Solid
Symphony of the Night
Gran Turismo
StarCraft (and Brood War)
Half-Life
Pokémon Red/Blue
Baldur's Gate
Fallout 2
Grim Fandango
Final Fantasy Tactics
Thief
Unreal
SHOGO
Banjo Kazooie
Resident Evil 2
Parasite Eve
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Xenogears
Suikoden II
Myth II (RIP your C:\ drive)
Starsiege: Tribes
Tekken 3
Dreamcast (Japan)
Sonic Adventure

/thread

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Very unoriginal empty retort

I could set my watch to you peoples weak replies. Always the same thing.

*venerates a year/game user sees as old*
“Psh! Take off the nostalgia glasses bro” it’s so tired

The very fact that they are remaking/remastering games from the past is proof that they are not just nostalgia. Apparently there's something timeless about Silent Hill and MGS that still works.

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

“This is not the greatest gaming year of all time, a bunch of previous years were much better” = stupid and ridiculous?

No, you actually said this:

If you’re a Gen Z kid maybe.

Basically any year up until ~2018 mops the floor with this. The famous 2007. 2011. 2009. 2013. Then you go before my time to like 2001, 1998.

The fact that we think this is one of the greatest all time years says how much modern standards have plummeted

My first post was only responding to you saying basically every year before 2018 was better than 2023 which I thought was a ridiculous statement You took great offense to my reply and lumped me in with 'you people' and those who say 'take off the nostalgia glasses' if you like a game more than a year old, whoever those people may be. Taking a hint from you, I then lumped you into an 'everything sucks now' guy group. You again took great offense to that characterization, completely failing to see the irony. And continued deflecting giving an actual defense for most every gaming year being better than 2023 (the only thing I ever took issue with) while constantly doing personal attacks instead.

Well, I stand by it being a completely ridiculous statement, one you haven't backed up in a single way. BUT coming back now and summing up our little interaction like you only ever said

“This is not the greatest gaming year of all time, a bunch of previous years were much better”

is a pretty amazing deflection and reducing your point to something that no one would have argued with in the first place. If only you had actually said that originally. Sorry, you're a decent salesman, but I ain't buying.

I do think you completely came up short in this disagreement though

Right back at you, sir.

 

[wipeout364]

A game 20+ years old being remade or remastered is not meant for the people who already played it. An entire generation has entered the gaming space since these games originally came out.

I'm almost 30, and got to play Metroid Prime and RE4 for the first time this year, and very glad I got the chance. I would not have done that if the new versions hadn't been released.

I never said anything bad about the remakes I love them too. My point is that a remake/sequel is not something I would use to define the greatest year in gaming if all we are doing is recycling content.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

Nah. Look up 1998. The year Half Life and Ocarina of Time came out. That was a year for gaming. Where titles could get released and completely change what people thought the limits of video games were. Metal Gear, Starcraft, Banjo Kazooie, Resident Evil 2 just to name a few.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Dunno about best but shaping up to be one of the best.

 

[Puscifer]

This nigga really said Goodbye Volcano High

 

[Gojiira]

Pretty good except Metal Gear Solid, a game which literally changed gaming as a whole came out in 1998 along with another revolutionary game called Ocarina of Time. These two alone did more gaming than anything this year.
Now if Elden Ring came out this year it would be a draw but as it is 98 was the year…

 

[cortadew]

No 1998 will forever be the best and never topped.

Boomer thinking

 

[bitbydeath]

Nah, last year was better and even that wouldn’t be considered as the best ever.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I think it pretty much is. Born in 1997, and been gaming since the 2000s. I think this topic really gonna showcase an age divide more than anything. There is something to be said though about innovation, as gaming hit a wall in design at the start of PS4 era (arguably late ps3) and has not really progress past that point.

"greatest" is subjective at best, enigmatic at worst. Some hold innovation highest, others fun factor. I'm in the latter camp.

 

[arkhamguy123]

No, you actually said this:

My first post was only responding to you saying basically every year before 2018 was better than 2023 which I thought was a ridiculous statement You took great offense to my reply and lumped me in with 'you people' and those who say 'take off the nostalgia glasses' if you like a game more than a year old, whoever those people may be. Taking a hint from you, I then lumped you into an 'everything sucks now' guy group. You again took great offense to that characterization, completely failing to see the irony. And continued deflecting giving an actual defense for most every gaming year being better than 2023 (the only thing I ever took issue with) while constantly doing personal attacks instead.

Well, I stand by it being a completely ridiculous statement, one you haven't backed up in a single way. BUT coming back now and summing up our little interaction like you only ever said

is a pretty amazing deflection and reducing your point to something that no one would have argued with in the first place. If only you had actually said that originally. Sorry, you're a decent salesman, but I ain't buying.


Right back at you, sir.

You write me a novel but I took great offense. Alrighty. Well I mean dude look, recounting the events from your not at all one sided telling of it doesn’t win you this argument.

Especially when it’s THIS erroneous. Because A. my statement still doesn’t fit in your strawman B. I never threw personal attacks? C. I provided a myriad, a myriad of counter arguments to what youre saying of which your only recourse was to flail and tout some of the weakest arguments I’ve ever heard (ie. Agree with me or you’re wrong anyways and I still win because I made a misguided claim)

In your own recounting you literally proved my point by like your second action being “I then proceeded to lump you into my premise based off my own distorted arbitrary metrics”. You’ve provided zero substance for me to chew on or dissect, zero refutation, zero anything. You repeat yourself, you say things that are blatantly unfounded, and you think smugness is a substitute for actually making a point. So yeah I’m sorry man but again, you came up way short

EDIT: also i still stand by that. You could’ve saved yourself a lot of time and said that you disagree with my opinion instead of trying to make some objective argument and completely losing the discourse. Because we’re talking about the quality of gaming in a year. Not the temperature water boils. There’s an element of subjectivity. You saying it’s stupid and ridiculous shows that this for some reason upsets your ego and set you off on a tangent

 

[West Texas CEO]

I'm still fond of 1998, but there's no question that 2023 will go down as one of the best.

 

[arkhamguy123]

The very fact that they are remaking/remastering games from the past is proof that they are not just nostalgia. Apparently there's something timeless about Silent Hill and MGS that still works.

Dude exactly. The top rated games this year are games from the PS2/PS3 era lol

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

EDIT: also i still stand by that. You could’ve saved yourself a lot of time and said that you disagree with my opinion instead of trying to make some objective argument and completely losing the discourse. Because we’re talking about the quality of gaming in a year. Not the temperature water boils. There’s an element of subjectivity. You saying it’s stupid and ridiculous shows that this for some reason upsets your ego and set you off on a tangent

So, in an edit very far into the interaction you finally, sort of address the only point I ever took issue with. What took so long?

And yes, there is an element of subjectivity. And you are blowing way past it. I would love to go through every single year with you, so we can see how 'almost all' of them wipe the floor with 2023. I'm sure very quickly you'd need us to be broadening the definition. Which is why when you later re-stated your argument you said, 'a bunch of years' Well sure, a bunch could be 5-10, that's easy. But that is still less than half of half the years that gaming has been around and put you a far ass cry away from 'almost all'.

Your first post was bait, and I fell for it hook line and sinker. Props to you.

 

[ksdixon]

Nah, 1998

 

[arkhamguy123]

So, in an edit very far into the interaction you finally, sort of address the only point I ever took issue with. What took so long?

And yes, there is an element of subjectivity. And you are blowing way past it. I would love to go through every single year with you, so we can see how 'almost all' of them wipe the floor with 2023. I'm sure very quickly you'd need us to be broadening the definition. Which is why when you later re-stated your argument you said, 'a bunch of years' Well sure, a bunch could be 5-10, that's easy. But that is still less than half of half the years that gaming has been around and put you a far ass cry away from 'almost all'.

Your first post was bait, and I fell for it hook line and sinker. Props to you.

I didn’t restate. I said “basically every year” in my very first post.

And I think I said in that post that even ones “before my time”, as I understand, were better. If someone had maybe a little better reading comprehension they could infer that I was talking about the years of gaming from my youth to present. So, modern gaming. I cannot believe you’ve been so dense and so incredulous, lacking any lateral thinking in this subject matter, to seriously think I’m saying goddamn pong and space invaders were better than this year. Use your head man.

Also I don’t do “bait”. I guess maybe it was bait to impetuous posters who are offended at others opinions and fancy themselves objectively superior in preferences lol

 

[genesisblock]

Greatest year in "current" generation gaming. Sure, I'll give you that. All time, nah? You need to play more video game classics.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Maybe if you started gaming 5 years ago.

Nah, been gaming since the 80's. How often do we have a new Zelda, FF and Bethesda RPG in the same year? And then there was Hogwarts Legacy, a very atmospheric title that fans seemed to love, including me. Octopath Traveler 2, phenomenal game. A trippy 2D Mario title. A solid Fire Emblem game. A world-class RPG in BG3. Seems pretty top tier to me.

 

[Puscifer]

I'm still fond of 1998, but there's no question that 2023 will go down as one of the best.

98 and 99 are crazy good

 

[64bitmodels]

Nah, last year was better and even that wouldn’t be considered as the best ever.

how was last year better? it had one standout in Elden Ring while we've got a lot more great games this year

 

[supernova8]

Nah, we're firmly into "oh yeah more of the same of what we got last year but looks a bit nicer" territory

Feels like we're getting the exact same stuff as last gen but just with higher resolutions, higher framerates, and faster loading times (not even that much more detail due to the aforementioned obsession with targeting 4K60). Those are QOL improvements but not enough to make me go "oh wow". Precisely why I went with a Series S because why bother with a Series X (or PS5) for that matter if they (the platformers, developers, and publishers) aren't even going to work for it?

 

[bitbydeath]

how was last year better? it had one standout in Elden Ring while we've got a lot more great games this year

How many would you consider as a standout this year since you are ignoring a ton of huge titles from last year?

Just BG3?

 

[GHG]

In previous "best of" years we got genre defining (or even games that created genres).

We haven't had that this year other than BG3.

 

[nightmare-slain]

For me the games I enjoyed this year are TOTK, Diablo, Hogwarts, and BG3.

Waiting for Armored Core, Forza, and Starfield.

The games that make this year better than some others are TOTK, Diablo, and BG3 but not sure it’s the best year ever. BG3 being the best PC game of all time and definitely makes it a good year to remember.

I think Starfield and Forza will be good but AC is the only one that stands a chance of being my GOTY. It’s too early to tell just how good 2023 is but it’ll be up there.

 

[majorgamer10]

It can only get better from here!

 

[cortadew]

My opinion on these matters is always the same: Time will tell.

 

[GrayChild]

Not even in the top 5.

As many others said, 1998 is still the best, with 2001 being close second. Hell, I'd put even 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2017 above it.

 

[Balducci30]

Best in a while. 2001 and 98 were above it tho

EDIT: why are people mentioning 2017?

 

[Syphon Filter]

It's not even top 10 in years. Rehashes of games like spiderman which is somewhat of a movie game and fallout with a space theme is not innovative at all. this year is actually boring.

 

[Mobilemofo]

.

no.

 

[Villy]

it's an incredible year for sure. Especially for RPG games. Probably second only to 2000.

- Diablo II
- Baldur’s Gate II
- Final Fantasy IX
- Deus Ex...

just to name a few..

Diablo, FF and Baldurs gate came out together before........

 

[Balducci30]

It's not even top 10 in years. Rehashes of games like spiderman which is somewhat of a movie game and fallout with a space theme is not innovative at all. this year is actually boring.

Movie game? Fallout with a space theme? That seems highly reductive

 

[GetInTheRobot]

2008 for me

fallout 3
gta4
mgs4
dmc4
left 4 dead
fable 2
braid
gow 2
persona...4

 

[coffinbirth]

PS9 has yet to be released, so no.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

I can think of at least 3 different better years.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Good yes. The greatest? Questionable .

 

[anthraticus]

I bet there's a thread like this every year

 

[Sentenza]

TOTK, Age of Wonders 4, Jagged Alliance 3, Baldur's Gate 3, Armored Core VI, Starfield. Yeah, it's looking pretty fucking good so far.

Especially if you're someone who actually likes to PLAY games rather than being a sad wanker about the good old times of your past adolescence.

It's good enough that even some of the leftovers I won't even bother praising (RE4 remake, SfVI, Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, Blasphemous 2, Shadow Gambit) in less crowded era would probably be noteworthy releases in their own right.