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31.12.2023 - 00:31 / pushsquare.com / Best
Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Story Game of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. This category highlights the best adventures you can venture on from a narrative perspective on PS5 and PS4. With an intriguing main plot, wonderful characters, and fun distractions of the core path, they'll keep you engaged with their story no matter how long it takes to roll credits.
The story of Final Fantasy XVI comes in fits and starts, to the point where you can go from slaying one of the world's biggest bosses to picking flowers for a non-descript side character in the space of five minutes. It most certainly has its highs and lows, but boy is it high when it reaches those peaks. That's what sees the story of Clive and company make it on this list; a main character all up in his feelings that wants to rid the world of evil. The cutscenes too are consistently incredible with ludicrous production values, elevating the narrative above its usual standard.
There's the traditional way of telling a video game story with cutscenes and character dialogue, and then there's what Remedy gets up to. The Finnish developer takes those two core elements and goes to town with them, using more fascinating ways to tell an interactive narrative like FMV and musicals within Alan Wake 2. Introducing Saga Anderson as a co-lead character alongside the famous writer, the two plots can be approached independently of one another, allowing you to see what Alan's up to in the Dark Place and then switch to Saga in the «real world». It's a plot that's gripping throughout, and with its inventive ways, goes down as one of the most unique takes on how to tell a story in games.
The Yakuza / Like a Dragon series has been focusing on newcomer Ichiban Kasuga for a little while now, so as veteran protagonist Kazuma Kiryu is set to return in 2024's Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, what's he been up to in the time since The Song of Life? You'll find your answer in Like a Dragon Gaiden, a sort of side game designed to fill in the blanks. Let that optional nature take nothing away from what is an essential and emotional story for franchise fans, though.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll remain gripped through a roughly 12-hour narrative that documents the highs and lows of Kiryu's retreat into hiding as his own death is faked. One that'll seriously pluck on your heartstrings, it all comes together for a final chapter that won't leave a dry eye in the building. This is why the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series really is one of the best.
The main objective of Baldur's Gate 3 is actually a very simple one: remove the parasite a Mind Flayer placed inside your head at the start of the
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Puzzle Game of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. In this new category, we're highlighting the best games that make solving puzzles their main gameplay element. These titles will test you in creative ways, resulting in a ton of satisfaction once solved.
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2023. Today, it's the turn of assistant editor Robert Ramsey.
Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Developer of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. Here we'll crown the best studio of the year and recognise teams that have gone above and beyond for their titles, from releasing lots of games within the 12-month period to those supporting them after launch.
All throughout 2023, we saw plenty of people asking whether the year would go down as one of the best ever periods for new game releases. Indeed, it was an objectively stacked 12 months — and we're not even thinking about non-PlayStation platforms when we write that.
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2023. Today, it's the turn of editor Sammy Barker.
The time has come to unveil the best PS5 and PS4 games of 2023… according to readers of Push Square! As is tradition, we presented the community with a shortlist of 50 PlayStation titles near the end of last year. Readers were asked to vote for up to five of their favourites.
The UK's final weekly chart of 2023 for physical games is here, and it's Hogwarts Legacy that takes the top spot as the year comes to a close. However, WB Games' open world Harry Potter title has achieved more than that — as reported by GamesIndustry, it's the UK's best-selling boxed game of 2023 overall. Usually, that title goes to EA Sports and its annual football game, but Hogwarts Legacy won out over EA Sports FC 24, ending a 10-year streak.
The decisions made by outgoing Activision CEO Bobby Kotick actively made Call of Duty games worse. That's according to Christina Pollock a programmer who previously worked on the series. Pollock, along with many other former colleagues, made their feelings regarding the controversial exec known on social media once it was confirmed he had definitely left the building.
Eagerly anticipated ghost-hunting game Phasmophobia was a hit on Steam, and the wait for it to come to PlayStation has been torturous, plagued by repeated delays and at least one fire. Developer Kinetic Games posted a development roadmap, which still doesn't give us a date but does promise that the console release, when it does arrive, will benefit from gameplay reworks and performance upgrades.
CD Projekt Red has provided a quick update on the commercial success of Phantom Liberty — the big Cyberpunk 2077 expansion that released back in September of last year. The DLC launched alongside the game's 2.0 Update, which once again propelled the open world RPG back into the spotlight.
Our Game of the Year coverage continues with the Best PS5, PS4 Indie Game of 2023, of which a top four has been put together by the Push Square editorial team. This category focuses on the best PS5, PS4 titles from indie developers not afforded the big marketing pushes and significant production budgets, and a fantastic experience has arisen in spite of that. At the end, we'll list some honourable mentions.