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No Tears Here

Metacritic's highest rated games of the year so far has a very unsurprising title at the top

Yes, it's definitely the one you're thinking of.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom screenshot showing Link smiling for the camera, pointing upwards, Hyrule Castle floating in the distance behind him.
Image credit: Nintendo
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News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor
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We're halfway through the year now, and to mark the occasion Metacritic has highlighted the highest-rated games of 2023 so far.

As much as I don't want to think about it for the sake of my own sanity, it is now July, which means we've had six full months full of video games. Not all of them were amazing obviously, but there have been plenty of incredible ones - and Metacritic has kindly shown us the top 20 highest rated games that were released between January 1 and June 30. As noted by Metacritic, "titles are ranked by their Metascores (prior to rounding) as of June 28, 2023 and must have a minimum of 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion."

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Here's the full list, the number one spot belonging to a game that likely won't surprise anyone:

  1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) – 96
  2. Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) – 94
  3. Resident Evil 4 Remake (PS5) – 93
  4. Street Fighter 6 (PS5) – 92
  5. Dead Space (PS5) – 89
  6. Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) – 88
  7. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch) – 87
  8. Hi-Fi Rush (Xbox Series X) – 87
  9. Diablo IV (PC) – 87
  10. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PS5) – 85
  11. Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (Switch) – 85
  12. Humanity (PS5) – 85
  13. A Space For The Unbound (Switch) – 85
  14. Octopath Traveler II (Switch) – 84
  15. The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (PC) – 84
  16. Hogwarts Legacy (PS5) – 84
  17. Cassette Beasts (PC) – 84
  18. Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society (Switch) – 83
  19. Age of Wonders 4 (PC) – 83
  20. Doomblade (PC) – 83

It was always going to be Tears of the Kingdom at the top, with it also sitting as one of the highest rated games of all time on OpenCritic. Other games like Metroid Prime Remastered and Resident Evil 4 Remake also not being huge surprises, considering they're both highly regarded games in the first place.

Metacritic also noted that "multi-game compilations and newly released ports of games released in recent years on other platforms are excluded," unless they're very different from earlier releases (i.e., like Metroid Prime, which had a big visual overhaul).

You might also notice that there are some multiplatform entries that are listed under PS5 - Metacritic wrote that it opted to list "only the version receiving the largest total number of reviews (usually, but not always, the PS5 or PS4 version)." As noted by Destructoid, this left Hi-Fi Rush as the only Xbox Series X title listed, but hey, it's a damn good one to have on there.

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