If we dive into the topic of the Top 5 Games of the Year for 2023 and 2024, we have 5 main contenders in the battle: “Lethal Company”, “Baldur’s Gate 3″, “Battlebit Remastered”, “Palworld”, and “Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom”. We will review and rate them without bias in 4 areas: Gameplay, Gameplay Mechanics, Price, and Popularity.  

1. Baldurs Gate 3

“Baldur’s Gate 3” is a multiplayer role-playing game that supports up to four players at once in a group. Although “Balder’s Gate 3” is a bit pricey ranging from 60$-70$ USD, the number of hours of gameplay and the gameplay itself makes it well worth the cost. The game’s complex gameplay mechanics can allow for all types of fun. “Baldur’s Gate 3” also had a whopping 875k players as its player peak, although that it isn’t the world record for the player peak which belongs to “Fortnite” with a player peak of 44.7 million and 102 million hours played in one day, it still quite a large amount of players in one day.

The New York Times also commented on the game, saying “Baldur’s Gate 3’s rocket to the top of the video game charts is a long and complicated story, but here’s the short explanation as to why players are infatuated with the game: it drops you into a rich fantasy world full of history and larger-than-life characters, and it gives you the freedom to tackle the problems and quests.”

Another reason why “Baldur’s Gate” is number 1 on this list is that it has broken the standard for modern video games, with more and more hidden gems having the spotlight every few weeks! Many game companies have said that the expectations because of “Baldur’s Gate” were too high for multi-billion dollar companies. Another source to support the claim made above is, “They are basically afraid that gamers will hold them to higher standards if BG3 is a success and they are trying to convince us that BG3 is an anomaly and that it’s not a game good for the industry as they can’t make games like that and will cause gamers to hold them to higher standards” (GameSpot Baldur’s Gate 3).

2. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 

“Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”, or “Legend of Zelda: TotK” for short, is a single-player action-adventure game for the Nintendo Switch made by Nintendo. It takes place around 2-3 years after the end of “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” when Zelda had been teleported. The game still takes place in an open adventure world in the kingdom of Hyrule.

The sales and feedback will most likely pave the way for another Zelda game that will hopefully be as innovative as or more innovative than “Breath of the Wild” and “Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.” Although the game is said to be good, there are still some criticisms, such as getting rid of iconic weapons, and a poorly delivered narrative, and the game is said to be easier than the other Legend of Zelda games. Even so, the game is still said to be extremely good by many.

3. Palworld

“Palword” also has a very high player count of 3 million players daily and sold over 7 million copies in the first five days of its launch. The game takes place on the Islands of Palpagos which have many diverse biomes on each island ranging from peaceful plains, harsh deserts, large woodlands, and freezing winter wastelands to a scolding hot volcanic island. 

Although “Palworld” has a few controversies such as players thinking how the “Pal’s” looks, their mechanics are somewhat lazy (referring to them being “Pokemon ripoffs”). The game is still substantial. It is often said that “Palword” is better than what the “Pokemon” franchise has made in many years because it takes the ideas / mechanics of “Pokemon” and does something new and what some people call better, even though it’s still in early access. This does mean it still is quite buggy and there are plenty of glitches which is expected in a game that’s in early access. However, even with a few bugs here and there, it is still said to be an excellent game.

4. Lethal Company

“Lethal Company” is a multiplayer survival semi-horror game that took the internet by storm. It was made by a solo developer (Zeekerss) who used to be a Roblox game developer. The game quickly became one of the most popular games of 2023 and outsold the multi-billion dollar company Activision (“Modern Warfare 3”) which also helped push the idea that most triple-A games are effortless/lifeless cash grabs which use the same washed formula that lacks innovation. Another reason why “Lethal Company” did so well is that it is genuinely fun to play with friends or other people and its low poly textures that can make them quite nostalgic too. It also uses innovative features that are quite rare in games such as using your microphone’s audio to alert certain monsters.

The cost-to-gameplay ratio is insane since it is only $10 for hundreds of hours of gameplay. The game is extremely mod compatible, which can add so many more hours of fun such as mods that let you control the monsters without others knowing, mods that completely revamp the game or add new monsters, items, maps, or even a mod that makes the monsters mimic your friend’s voice!  The game has also won a few awards such as the Stream Better with Friends Award and The Stream Game of the Year from the Streamers Awards and it was one of the most popular games of 2023.

5. Battle-Bit Remastered

“Battle Bit Remastered” is a low poly FPS semi-tactical shooter created by three indie game developers (SgtOkiDoki, Vilaskis, and TheLiquidHorse) which took 7 years! Even though they still had 9-5 jobs, the makers had undoubtedly created one of the most popular shooters of 2023 with 1.8 million copies sold in the first 2 weeks and had also made 27 million USD in the first 2 weeks. In addition to its success, the game has some rare innovative features such as almost all buildings being interactive and destructible, whether expanding a window or toppling a building. The developers are also heavily involved with the community, as they take advice from the community and make regular updates, showing their commitment to the worthy game.

In “Battle-Bit” two teams, USAF (U.S. Armed Forces) and RAF (Russian Armed Forces), compete in multiple game modes such as Capture the Flag, Conquest (the most popular game mode), Infantry Conquest (no vehicles except transports), and many more. In these game modes are many classes (character types) like Squad Leader, Assault, Medic, Engineer, Support, and Recon and all role providing strategic advantages.  Squad Leaders are able to build a rally flag so allies can spawn on it, while Engineers are able to repair/destroy vehicles and Medics are able to heal/revive teammates quickly.

“Battle-Bit” has been around for quite a while even before its official release with play-test servers. It has been mostly being played by people who are tired of effort-less triple-A shooters that are extremely micro-transaction based with most games being more like spending simulators instead of being passionate, cared-for games such as how Battle-Bit is. It also made a mockery of what Battlefield 2042 should have been on release, which is why it will take the number 5 place.

With that concluding the article I’d like to thank all of you readers who bore through my first article and my rant of the Top 5 Games of 2023 and 24 but before I end, I’d like to make a short honorable mention of one the newest and most popular game \ of 2024 

Helldivers 2 – (Exclusive to PS5 And PC)

“Helldivers 2” is the sequel to “Helldivers 1” (2015) which was an adventure top-view shooter. “Helldivers 2” completely changed the perspective turning it into a 1st/3rd person adventure shooter which was produced by Sony and Arrowhead Game Studios  The game’s main point is to prevent insects/robots from taking over and spreading patriotic freedom in a hostile galaxy in a multiplayer shooter. The game is also very popular because of the comedic value that can come out of it whether it’d be  “accidentally” nuking your friends, Losing a game of rock paper scissors and then pushing them off a cliff, or getting chased by huge bosses running away for your life.

Sources – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 

Balders Gate Sources –

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/265760-baldurs-gate-3/80513692

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/baldurs-gate-3-review/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fortnite-og-update-shatters-records-breaks-peak-player-ypgbf#:~:text=The%20Game%20Company,-Revolutionizing%20the%20gaming&text=In%20an%20epic%20twist%20of,on%20its%20biggest%20day%20ever.\

Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom –

https://www.cbr.com/is-totk-best-tloz-game/#:~:text=Summary,comes%20to%20dungeons%20and%20storytelling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Tears_of_the_Kingdom#:~:text=Tears%20of%20the%20Kingdom%20takes,causing%20people%20to%20fall%20ill.

Palworld Sources –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palworld#:~:text=Palworld%20can%20be%20played%20either,X%2FS%20in%20January%202024.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/31/24057131/palworld-steam-xbox-game-pass-sales

https://wccftech.com/palworld-the-pokemon-with-guns-launches-next-january-in-early-access/

Lethal Company Sources –

https://dotesports.com/indies/news/is-lethal-company-coming-to-nintendo-switch-answered

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1966720

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_Company

Battle Bit Remastered Sources –  

https://videogames.si.com/news/battlebit-remastered-update-2-0-patch-notes

https://battlebit.fandom.com/wiki/BattleBit_Wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleBit_Remastered

Helldivers 2 Sources –

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/helldivers-2/