Before I checked my list of most played games on PC this year, I had higher hopes for myself. But as it turns out, I’ve mainly just played toxic multiplayer games that did nothing for my mental health. I mean, Battlefield 2042 was by far the game I spent most hours in. Thankfully, I’ve weighed that up a little bit by finding some really great open world games.
Battlefield 2042
I’m usually a Call of Duty fan. I don’t think I had ever touched Battlefield until I picked up BFV a few years back. Since I mainly play PC games with others, that fact dictates what games I pick up. Battlefield 2042 would never have entered my Steam library if not for my siblings that I play a lot with. They are Battlefield fans, and since I played BFV with them, I tagged along.
But, as a lot of you already know, BF2042 was not a good game at launch. Today, it’s much better. It’s actually quite enjoyable although still not great. Better, if you mute the chat and play with friends or family… It’s by no means a cosy game, but it does scratch that FPS itch.
Rust
If I am to write a post about “my most toxic games of 2023” It’s basically just going to be the survival game Rust. It was not my first time playing in 2023. It actually helped crash a PC of mine back in 2018. Optimisation has always felt lacking in Rust, even today. Don’t get me wrong, Rust is good fun. IF you find the right server to play on and have a group to play with. Some of the servers, even the larger ones, are poorly modded and people can say the most horrendous things in chat, decorate their bases with swastikas and so on.
Thankfully, the group that I play with are like me, and we usually swap servers to one that might be smaller, but also less toxic. Rust is a great survival game where you can really dive deep into the grind and have a really fun time with friends. But as with BF2042, muting voice and text chat will save you a lot of sanity.
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky is a survival and exploration game set in space, and had a meh start at its release. Now, it’s a polished, deep and entertaining open world game that I had a ton of fun with in 2023. Normally I’m not much for games set in space. I’m also one of the few that never really got into Star Wars and Star Trek. But in No Man’s Sky there’s just so much to do. You can either explore space for hours and hours, or just settle down on a planet and build your base, explore at ground level, quest, or so much more.
There were some issues with multiplayer though. Some evenings me and my group spent half the play sessions trying to sort the issues rather than just playing. Despite that, No Man’s Sky was quite an enjoyable pastime during 2023.
Palia
I can not express how much I loved playing Palia last year. Throughout the years, I’ve played a lot of World of Warcraft, but I kind of grew out of it. Palia is an MMO just like any other in the sense that it’s open world and you meet other players, but then it differs a lot. You focus on building a house and sorting out a farm, then you go around farming materials, hunting and fishing. There’s no fighting other people or the end of the world scenarios. It’s just cosy and wholesome and people are so nice and there’s cute pets and… You get the idea.
I played Palia both alone and with friends, and it worked both ways. In the end we all ran out of things to do and paused until more content is added.
Diablo IV
I was so excited when Diablo IV was released, and it felt so good that one of my favourite franchises was alive and well. I know others had some issues with the game, but I never did. I had enough things to do, enough classes, enough content, enough promises from the dev team about upcoming additions. Diablo IV was also a game I played both alone and with friends, and had a good time doing both
The game becomes a bit repetitive though, as it almost certainly will become with these types of games.
