Metacritic, the renowned review aggregation website, has unveiled its highly-anticipated list of the highest-rated games of 2023 thus far (midyear). The rankings, which consider games released between January 1st and June 30th, were determined by Metascores “prior to rounding” and required a minimum of seven reviews from professional critics for inclusion.

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

Destructoid reports that seven of the listed games received the highest scores on the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, while five achieved the top ratings on the PC platform. Interestingly, only one game, Hi-Fi Rush, claimed the highest spot on the Xbox Series X. This discrepancy can be attributed to the fact that when a game is released on multiple platforms, Metacritic considers only the version with the largest total number of reviews, which typically favors the PS5 or PS4 version.

Metacritic applies additional criteria when compiling its rankings. Multi-game compilations and ports of games released in recent years on other platforms are excluded unless they feature substantial differences from the prior release. For example, an HD remaster that incorporates new content or several hardware generations beyond the previous version would be eligible. Expansion packs and DLC are also omitted from consideration.

In response to a concerning incident involving the review bombing of Horizon Forbidden West‘s DLC Burning Shores, Metacritic‘s Fandom has taken proactive measures to enhance its moderation processes and tools. The game’s DLC, which launched in April, garnered positive feedback for its stunning visuals and polished gameplay. However, due to a controversial plot point, the DLC received a barrage of abusive and disrespectful reviews on Metacritic. Consequently, its user rating plummeted to a shocking low of 2.7 before gradually recovering to its current score of 4.3.