Looking at the year’s notable video essays, many grapple with issues at the heart of contemporary media itself. There are dissections of video-playing tools, exposés of how corporations restrict access, contrasts between tropes and reality, and thorough investigations of trends in plagiarism and/or fabrication. As the essay landscape refines, it seems to peer inward as much as out.
The Best Open-World Game of 2023
11.12.2023 - 15:31 / ign.com / James Cameron / Best
From bustling New York streets to rolling Hyrule fields, 2023 gave us our fair share of fantastic open worlds to get lost in. With vast maps full of combat, puzzles, and intrigue, everyone steps into a new game world looking for something different, but all searching for escapism like no other genre can provide. This year, they took us to places rooted in the real world and fantasy, as well as our distant past and future. We unlocked the secrets of Hogwarts, slid through the shadows of ancient Baghdad, swung between Manhattan skyscrapers, leaped around the floating islands of Pandora, and dived into the Hyrulian depths. But which of these proved the most fun to spend time in? These are the best open-world games of 2023.
First up is the most recent open world to bless our consoles in 2023 - Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Massive Entertainment brought to life James Cameron’s moon packed with big blue cat people and seemingly endless species of flowers in a stunning interpretation of the inherently cinematic setting. It takes the film’s explosive action and places you at the centre as you tussle with weird and wonderful beasts and mechanical metal monsters.
It’s not just how good it looks to run, shoot, and fly around in – thanks to your loyal flying banshee Ikran – but also how much you’re encouraged to respect and engage with Pandora’s natural world through gameplay. By placing an emphasis on treating wildlife with care and hunting responsibly, such as using a bow and arrow to take them down cleanly rather than messier, bullet-powered methods, it connects itself to the movies through more than just presentation. It’s a thoughtfully designed open world and one of this year’s best.
Seeing as this is the award for best open-world game, it should come as no surprise to see yet another Ubisoft entry onto this list. From a far-flung future sci-fi to an opportunity to relieve historic fiction in the ancient city of Baghdad, coming in fourth is Assassin’s Creed Mirage. A throwback to the tighter, city street nature of the original AC games, this year’s entry focussed on delivering a single location full of fun verticality, social stealth opportunities, and malleable combat arenas.
Admittedly, what Mirage gained in returning to its stealth roots it arguably lost when it comes to an engaging open world. Baghdad is still a fun, gorgeous city to parkour to your heart’s delight in, but a level of discovery and quality of side quests was lost in the transition from the likes of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. Side contracts, strongholds, and synchronisation points return, but side stories are kept at a real premium with the narrative focussed largely on the main questline. That lack of invention is made up for to an
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polygon.com
27.12.2023 / 17:02
The best TV episodes of 2023
All TV is told through episodes, but not all episodes tell the best version of TV. In truth, the “best episodes” are a completely separate metric from the best shows — one tells the story of the whole, while the other examines how much a particular chapter was able to stand on its own.
polygon.com
26.12.2023 / 18:27
The best documentaries of 2023
One of 2023’s biggest cinema trends was the way accomplished filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, and many more delivered some of the most creatively and commercially successful work of their careers. There was just something in the air this year, as one major artist after another took big swings that connected.
polygon.com
26.12.2023 / 17:01
The best movie performances of 2023
There are a lot of ways to judge a great performance. In 2023, as in every year, some of the year’s best movies were quirky, colorful, boundary-pushing challenges to the cinematic status quo, and some were low-key, emotionally intense stories, either tracking the lives of famous historical figures or just trying to evoke the pains of real life. Our list of the best performances of the year honors both extremes: outsized performances that tickled and surprised us, and realistic ones that made us forget we were watching a performance. Here are our favorites among the many great performances we saw in movies in 2023.
rockpapershotgun.com
20.12.2023 / 19:17
Looks like the Jet Set Radio reboot will be an open-world game full of rollerblading and graffiti tagging
The reboot of noughties gem Jet Set Radio teased with ruthless efficiency during The Game Awards has had a smidge of new information revealed. For being such a small detail, though, it’s a very intriguing - if perhaps a tad predictable - one indeed.
rockpapershotgun.com
19.12.2023 / 22:09
Two of the best indie strategy games are now Steam Deck verified
It's nearly the holidays, which means some of you might be looking for something to play on your Steam Deck while you're away visiting family. The choice just got a little harder: beautiful early access tactics game Songs Of Conquest and clever fantasy citybuilder Against The Storm are both now Steam Deck verified.
gamesradar.com
17.12.2023 / 18:31
One of this year's best open-world RPGs is also the biggest VR hit since Half-Life Alyx
Asgard’s Wrath 2 is the most acclaimed VR game since Half-Life Alyx, mainly because of how it seamlessly adapts the open-world RPG experience onto virtual reality goggles.
polygon.com
16.12.2023 / 15:01
Nemesis, one of the best modern board games, shatters records on Gamefound
In 2022, upstart crowdfunding website Gamefound left beta to go head-to-head against Kickstarter, at the time the world’s premiere crowdfunding platform for tabletop games. More than a year later, the Polish company has proved its worth with a cavalcade of high-profile campaigns by CMON, Everything Epic, and Chip Theory Games among others. Now its own imprint, Awaken Realms, has achieved something remarkable: It’s campaign for Nemesis: Retaliation, the third in its series of Alien-inspired board games, is now the third most-funded tabletop game of all time. It closed Thursday with nearly $12.2 million earned. Delivery is expected by April 2025.
polygon.com
11.12.2023 / 22:19
The best last-minute gaming gifts
The holidays are right around the corner (or might already be here, depending on how you celebrate), which leaves you in a bit of a tight spot if you’ve still got some names to cross off your holiday shopping list. If you’re still struggling to find something special to gift to the gamer in your life, our collection of the best last-minute gaming gifts is here to help.
gamesradar.com
08.12.2023 / 13:13
Monster Hunter sleuths think Wilds is the open-world game we've been waiting for
Some Monster Hunter Wilds fans are convinced the new game has a fully open-world design, a big departure from the Capcom series' usual formula.
wccftech.com
08.12.2023 / 08:27
Last Sentinel Is a Gorgeous Open World Game Set in Dystopian Sci-Fi Tokyo
While TGA 2023 undoubtedly featured many gorgeous games, Last Sentinel was easily one of the most impressive. This is the debut project of Lightspeed LA, a California-based division of Tencent's Lightspeed Studios.