10 Worst Video Games Of 2023 (So Far)
No good, no bad. Just ugly.
We're only just past the halfway point, and 2023 is already a terrific year for gaming. Street Fighter 6 turned out better than anyone imagined. The Resident Evil 4 remake improved on its predecessor in many departments. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom surpassed expectations, despite being hyped to mythical proportions.
But that's not suggesting this year hasn't had its fair share of disappointments.
The System Shock reboot failed to capture the magic of the original. The PC port of Jedi Survivor was in shambles, and Fire Emblem Engage was a rare misstep for the series.
The games on this list didn't just fall short, they obliterated any chance of redemption. There have been so many inferior IPs over the last few months (Atomic Heart and Forspoken didn't crack the top ten), but if you thought those duds were as bad as it gets, the bottom of the barrel goes much, much deeper.
Although the year is only half-over, it's difficult to believe 2023 could churn out anything as inconceivably shabby as this trash.
10. Stray Blade
After the Soulslike sub-genre skyrocketed in popularity, barely five minutes went by before a batch of Dark Souls clones were on the scene. Unsurprisingly, few of these copycats, if any, came close to matching Hidetaka Miyazaki's work.
Sadly, 2023's Stray Blade fits into this bracket. What makes this dud so frustrating is the fact it could've been something special. Rather than duplicating FromSoftware's aesthetic and atmosphere, Stray Blade only takes the core concept. Instead of making everything atmospheric, dark, and cryptic, Point Blank's indie is filled with vivid colours, charismatic characters, and charming performances.
Unfortunately, this Soulslike is let down by, of all things, the Soulslike part. As simple as the combat should be, facing enemies is a drag, due to the imprecise fighting mechanics and sluggish gameplay.
Because of constant bugs and unresponsive controls, the player will die repeatedly through no fault of their own. If a bit more time was spent removing these glitches and refining the gameplay, Stray Blade would've been a lot of fun, and could've served as a nice gateway game for more hardcore Souls titles.