The new year 2023 is poised to become one of the best yet and while we wait for the games to arrive to see if that will come true, the already confirmed names for the next 12 months deserve more than that praise. There are indeed many upcoming games and a galaxy of luxury names.
Xbox Game Studios has the likes of Forza MotorSport back and has two new intellectual properties from Bethesda Game Studios on its hands. Starfield carries the weight of the world on its shoulders, the responsibility of becoming a universal reference game, a kind of demonstration of the power of Microsoft’s internal studies. Arkane’s Redfall also shares that responsibility, on a smaller scale, to show the world what Game Pass has to offer with novelties of a powerful calibre.
Companies like PlayStation and Nintendo still look very bare-bones for 2023, but with names like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and The Legend of Zelda already confirmed, the quality of their consoles is more than guaranteed. These two Japanese houses still have a lot to show, but the names presented make anyone dream.
From third parties we have an ocean of explosive names, from Street Fighter and Resident Evil to Final Fantasy and Hades, without forgetting some possible surprises coming from lesser-known studios, such as Black Myth: Wukong. Whether it’s in Europe with companies like Remedy and Ubisoft, in the US with the return of Rocksteady Studios or in Japan with Capcom and Square Enix poised for an explosive 2023, there’s plenty to get us excited about.
This article serves to share with you the thankless task of choosing three of our most wanted games for 2023. It would be easy to create a list with 10 or 20 names and still feel that something important was left out, but we decided to choose only 3 to make everything much more difficult.
Victor’s Most Wanted:
- street fighter 6 – After a false start with Street Fighter V, despite the subsequent improvements, it seems that with Street Fighter 6 the “fighting” franchise Capcom’s queen will return to the highest levels. Given the indications of the beta and those who have already played the game, we are about to have an exit like Street Fighter IV, the game that has practically revitalized the community. There are many tools and mechanisms that I’m eager to try as a longtime enthusiast.
- The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom Tears – For me any release with the name of The Legend of Zelda leaves me with bated breath and the desire to play, but I would be lying if I said that a new entry in the main series does not exceed that desire. Finally and years after the powerful Breath of The Wild, being able to interpret the sequel is a capital and crucial moment.
- Forza Motorsport 8 – Turn 10 has already proven to be a team capable of raising the bar in track and circuit racing at the highest quality levels. It is a production company that combines art and automotive detail with the full and epic definition of racing, in the American style, often acting as a counterpoint to that phenomenon of automotive culture that goes by the name of Gran Turismo. The technical dimension and at the same time the depth of experience dictate that the next issue of the series can become an automotive beacon for the decade.
Adolfo is the most wanted:
- Starfield – Starfield is in fact my big wish for 2023, hoping that everything turns out for the best and that this time Bethesda doesn’t make the same mistakes as Fallout 76. A promising year for Xbox Series X|S consoles.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Continuation is planned for 2023, and Insomniac Games surely won’t disappoint with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Just keep the foundations of the previous titles and add some robust additions to the narrative and other gameplay possibilities.
- Devil 4 – Sure it may sound unusual, but I’m a fan of games like the Diablo series. I’ve played endless hours of both Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. I’ve already forgotten many of the mechanics of the genre, but Diablo IV comes along to prove that Blizzard Entertainment still knows how to make good games.
Jorge Loureiro’s Most Wanted:
- Starfield – It’s hard not to get excited about Starfield. Even those who aren’t interested in playing should be curious to see what Bethesda has to offer. With each postponement, expectations rise. It is Bethesda’s first original intellectual property in 25 years, with a sci-fi environment and an open world with more than 1000 planets to explore (only in this sentence you can see Bethesda’s ambition). Will it be the RPG of the decade? The expectations are there.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Both the first game and the sequel (Miles Morales) were the funniest games ever, at least for me. There’s not a single thing that isn’t fun… even world travel, which is often a nuisance in open world games, makes you smile. I don’t know how Insomniac Games will get the two spiders into the game (will we be able to change?), but this sequel has the potential to become an eternal reference in superhero games.
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – The previous game took what was good about Star Wars The Force Unleashed (which was one of my favorite games in this universe at the time) and packed it into an even better package, with a story officially integrated into canon of Star Wars, more complex and refined fights and a lot of places to explore. I’m curious to see what’s new about the sequel and the continuation of Cal’s story.
Jorge Salgado’s Most Wanted:
- The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom Tears – A somewhat trivial choice, but still true; after several hours buried in Breath of the Wild, I’m very curious to see what the people at Nintendo have been up to over the past 5 years. If the new game has traditional dungeons and the weapon decay system is gone, I’m already happy.
- Hogwarts Legacy – As a lifelong Harry Potter fan, this sounds like the game I’ve always dreamed of. A realistic castle full of life, many missions, places to visit, creatures to discover. Everything seems to be going well but we already know that, when it comes to video games, our expectations are sometimes disappointed. I hope this is not the case!
- Resident Evil 4 – Capcom has completely reinvigorated the series over the last few years and I can’t wait to see the finished remake of Resident Evil 4. So far, everything shown seems to follow the original game, but with exponentially better graphics. Fortunately, the team learned from Resident Evil 3 Remake’s mistakes and didn’t cut sections of the game.
Bruno’s most wanted:
- Final Fantasy 16 – The life of a Final Fantasy fan isn’t easy and as easily as this series drives us to ecstasy, it also manages to knock us down. The efforts of the team led by Naoki Yoshida look simply spectacular and pretty much everything said about Final Fantasy 16 sounds right and makes me excited. I can’t think of any other game I’d like to play right now.
- Alan Wake 2 – I’m a big fan of Remedy, one of the first companies that managed to work on author’s projects for me. After Alan Wake, Quantum Break and Control, there’s no way you won’t be excited for your next game, especially since it’s the long-awaited return of Wake. Remedy’s methodology for graphics, gameplay, atmosphere, soundtrack and immersion is very distinctive and I can’t wait to play.
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – There are many games I could put here, but as an avid consumer of comics from the US, I decided to bet on Suicide Squad. I have no doubt Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 will be another golden moment for the studio, but Rocksteady Studios’ long-awaited return has potential all of its own. Its gameplay is more than acclaimed and imagining an evolution is exciting, but it’s playing the villains and facing the “heroes” that intrigues me with the possibility of an irreverent, intelligent and unexpected experience.
