Robert's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023 | Push Square

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Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2023. Today, it's the turn of assistant editor Robert Ramsey.

The Trails games have become a staple of my gaming diet over the last few years, and while I don't think Trails into Reverie quite measures up to the series' best instalments, it's still a fantastic way to round off a saga that's ten titles in the making. It isn't necessarily Reverie's character-driven, epilogue-like story that won me over, though. What I really love about this RPG is its gameplay depth, allowing you to build countless teams out of its absolutely massive roster of playable heroes. I must have ran through the game's procedural Reverie Corridor dungeon a thousand times, and I enjoyed every minute of the grind.

Fate/Samurai Remnant was the surprise hit of 2023 for me. I knew I'd enjoy it based on gameplay previews and the like, but then I reviewed it, and the action RPG resonated with me in ways I never anticipated. It was the storytelling that was key; the twists and turns of Miyamoto Iori's unlikely tale are genuinely gripping, and I ended up rooting for the lead like no other protagonist this year. I think it's also worth highlighting the game's superb sense of progression, as Iori's swordsmanship slowly but surely blossoms over the course of his adventures — the kind of growth that very few games manage to properly portray, both in and out of gameplay.

I think truly great games are made of memorable moments. And although Final Fantasy 16 certainly has its flaws — some of those side quests are woeful — its biggest, craziest moments will always hold a place in my heart. Without going into specific spoilers, the Titan fight