Most games these days appear on the PC, but to be a truly great PC game, it really has to take advantage of what the platform can do. That’s been a tougher task than ever in 2023, with the rise of handhelds like the Steam Deck challenging the expectations of how a PC game should look, control and perform. These three games, though, stood above the rest.
These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2023 archive.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R
This remake of an RPG classic puts its own spin on the “HD-2D” idea, retaining the nostalgia of tri-Ace’s PS1 original but with a new sort of look. And if you know, you know, but The Second Story R is a great opportunity for the tons of players who missed the game the first two times to see what makes it so special. After the last, you know, decade or two that the franchise has had, it’s refreshing to see it revisit its more successful past.
Fate/Samurai Remnant
Wait, wait, don’t scroll past just yet! We know the daunting reputation the Fate franchise has to new players. Fate/Samurai Remnant’s musou-like action is wrapped in a story that’s standalone enough to be approachable without knowledge of any lore, and… we did just say it’s musou-like, yeah? So if you wanted to give Fate a shot but were intimidated before, maybe start here.
Siliconera PC Game of the Year Winner: Baldur’s Gate III
It’s tough to follow in the footsteps of an all-time classic, and even tougher when the intervening decades put nostalgia-tinted goggles on players’ expectations. Larian, though? Larian was building to this opportunity. Baldur’s Gate III puts the systems and ideas of the studio’s Divinity: Original Sin games together with the huge, established D&D world and the backing to put a ton of effort into every area and system. The result is as impressive and engaging as you’d expect. Baldur’s Gate III is our PC Game of the Year 2023!
