Best Art Direction of 2023

by
Taneli Palola
, posted 22 hours ago / 1,130 Views

Art direction is an element that can often go unnoticed and overlooked when discussing the quality of a game, but that’s often by design. Art direction is usually meant to support and enhance other aspects of a title, from its story and characters, to the atmosphere and even gameplay, but it obviously takes great skill and care to achieve that. The following five games all succeeded in conveying the desired atmosphere and tone with their art direction, but only one can be the best.

The Shortlist:

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Hi-Fi RUSH

Octopath Traveler II

Alan Wake II

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Runner-Up:
Alan Wake II

Leaning further into horror than its predecessor, Alan Wake II not only had to create a very tense and uneasy atmosphere for its various different locations, but also achieve that in two very different ways thanks to the dual protagonist approach. With Saga Anderson in the real world, and Alan Wake still trapped in the Dark Place, Remedy had to balance both realities in its art direction. One is more rooted in realism, with hints and touches of the supernatural seeping through, while the other is practically drowning in the strange and unusual, and the game manages to succeed in making both styles impeccable.

The Winner:
Hi-Fi RUSH

What makes Hi-Fi RUSH’s art direction truly special is how every aspect of its audiovisual presentation is in sync to facilitate the rhythm-based gameplay. More than in pretty much any other title released in 2023, everything had to look and feel just right to make the game feel as natural and fluid to play as possible, and a huge part of the credit for making everything work as amazingly well as it does goes to the wonderful art direction at play. Not only are the visuals crisp and detailed, but each element is easy to distinguish and make out amidst all the chaos and movement that occurs during gameplay. Tango Gameworks has achieved something exceptional with Hi-Fi RUSH, and the game is more than worthy of winning the award for Best Art Direction of 2023.