2023 was a busy year for video games. As it’s almost over, it’s also an opportunity for the Tech&Co editorial staff to share with you their favorite games of the year. Triple AAA, independent games: there is something for everyone.
Pierre Monnier: War Tales
Available in early access from late 2021, war stories It finally presented its version 1.0 in April 2023. In this French game, developed by the Bordeaux studio Shiro Games, the player takes command of a small troop. You are then free to choose your future with a very appreciable level of customization.
The entire principle of the game consists of moving your party of characters within a vast world. Inns will allow you to obtain quests (and recruit team members) to earn money and reputation. Each member of the team will be able to show off their talents by forging weapons or making potions.
Above all, war stories Offers a lot of turn-based tactical combat. As the adventure progresses, the player must direct the progression of their characters. The specialization of archers, warriors or other brutes promises to take the strategy that each one will implement on the battlefield very far. All during games that last several dozen hours.
war stories It is available for PC, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch. The game is also available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog.
Melinda Davan-Soulas: Songs of Sennaar
The year 2023 was also rich in must-see blockbusters. There is something for everyone. It was also full of French surprises, from Tchia has waning going by Dordogne. But above all she gave Songs of Senaara strange and colorful fable that recalls the myth of the Tower of Babel.
This UFO from the RunDisc studio is magnificent and at the same time appeals to the player’s intelligence, logic and listening skills. It is becoming rare and very valuable. Songs of Senaar It puts us in the shoes of a translator who must understand each town he encounters in order to move forward. And to understand you have to know how to listen and look.
To decipher languages, it is above all necessary to understand the other. This is also the strong point of this game: mobilizing our intellectual and video game faculties to care about others. It was this bet achieved by a very small team of three people who, by getting along, produced a great game.
Songs of Senaar It is available on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Julien Bonnet: FC 24
We take (almost) the same ones and start again! It is inevitably a game always eagerly awaited by virtual football fans: the new FIFA. Except this year it changed its name to become FC24. And this is, ultimately, the main change to highlight because the title developed by EA Games continues to be an evolution of the last installment. FIFA 23without changing much to an already very effective recipe.
In this way, FC continues to be the reference soccer game, refining its gameplay a little by favoring attack over defense, sometimes too much. Result: sometimes River scores during online matches, but at least we don’t fall asleep before a soporific 0-0. Long live champagne football!
FC24 It is available on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series and One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Pierre Berge-Cia: MyHouse.wad
This is not a new video game strictly speaking, but a new level of the cult game. Bane II. This was created by enthusiasts and revealed thirty years after the initial release of the id Software title. He is soberly baptized. micasa.wad.
Regular visitors, however, may be surprised. Get out of the Martian world or the military-industrial complex. The setting is a modern, seemingly ordinary house. It’s easy to believe that you can finish the game in 10 minutes and move on. But if we look at the details of the level, a vast, nightmarish world opens up. Throughout the player’s discoveries, the house reveals many dark secrets hidden in the bowels of its walls.
Using a logbook, photographs and an amazing narrative, the author evokes themes such as nostalgia or transidentity. But what this video game experience offers above all is a reflection on love and grief.
Beyond the technical performance that this level represents (taking into account the limitations of the game engine), micasa.wad allows you to rediscover Bane II in a new light. The ingenious treasure hunt managed to attract a new audience and impress big fans of the legendary shooter.
micasa.wad is available through the game Bane 2 on PC. To install it, you can use this tutorial.
Victoria Beurnez: Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI It is not the best of the saga nor the worst. But after years of waiting, we immerse ourselves in the universe again. Final Fantasy did not leave the fans indifferent. With a more mature theme and characters, an inspiration completely assumed in theheroic fantasy – a welcome return to the basics of the franchise, the work guided by Clive, its main character does not disappoint.
If the road trip side of Final Fantasy XV, published in 2016 was particularly shocking for many players, in Final Fantasy XVI, its successor, is the discovery of the kingdom of Valisthea, especially through its varied peoples, that seduces. But Final Fantasy XVI It is above all a favorite because it allows you to rediscover a saga that, for many, marked a turning point in the passion for video games.
Final Fantasy XVI It is available exclusively on Playstation 5.
Source: BFM TV
