by marino
Twenty Twenty-Four.
One of these years, I'm going to be able to write an intro about how awesome the year was overall, right? Right? Probably not. At least there a lot of great games to distract us; probably more than we expected at this time last year.
Anyway, here's my Top 10 for this year preceded by some honorable(ish) mentions.
[OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING]
Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition
The sequel may never actually come to fruition, but this game is still quite good. The stuff they added to build up the sequel (prequel) feels like false hope, but is interesting nonetheless.
If you love Advance Wars and have realized Nintendo is never going to let Intelligent Systems stop making Fire Emblem, then this game is for you.
Disclaimer: I was paid to help get their official wiki up and running.
I played the first game long after it came out and didn't fully understand the hype about it, but I was interested in the sequel partially because it was so surprising that it got made. For better or worse, they certainly made another one of those. I liked it, but didn't finish it.
It may be rare on this web site, but I like Horizon. This thing, however, is super weird. Unfortunately, it's not even a very good LEGO game. It's just so bare bones from the level design to the gameplay.
The Show has been great for a long time, but never gets recognized. I will admit that some of their standard modes are getting a bit stale, but the Storylines feature is incredible. There's a love and respect for the history of baseball in there that's fun to see and recreate.
I got more enjoyment out of watching other people play this and collectively laughing at the absurdity of it all. Playing it wasn't as fun.
Tomba is one of my favorite PlayStation games. It's that unique brand of weird that helped make that console great. Unfortunately, a couple of the trophies were broken when this launched, so I put off playing all the way through it. I think it's fixed now, though? So, I should get back to it.
Finally being able to play as Zelda is cool. There were also a bunch of fun ways to break the game that felt like "Am I supposed to be able to do this?", which was similar to Tears of the Kingdom. But, unfortunately, the echo system doesn't work as well as I'd hoped. It's clumsy in large part due to the UI, which makes finding and selecting echoes tedious. This leads to just using the same handful of echoes over and over. It doesn't challenge you to find new ways to do things. Being able to transform into Link lets you temporarily circumvent some of these frustrations, but simultaneously undercuts the entire premise of the game (playing as Zelda). I didn't completely dislike Echoes of Wisdom, but it's not going to crack my Top 10 Zelda Games list.
I love me some Picross. I'll buy just about anything Jupiter puts out there, but even I will say their normal releases have gotten a bit stale. I love when they do special projects like Pokémon Picross or Twilight Princess. But, Jupiter has stated publicly that Nintendo is increasingly difficult to work with. See, Nintendo owns the Picross name, but Jupiter has been making almost all of the games dating back to Mario's Picross on Game Boy. Jupiter wants to do a 30th anniversary game next year, but didn't get approval for it, so they made Logiart Grimoire, which released on Steam last year, then on Switch this year.
The gimmick with Logiart is that you're crafting each Picross puzzle before you can play the puzzle. For example, once you've completed a Picross puzzle for images of wood, stone, and string, you can combine those to create a new Picross puzzle that, once solved, will create a bow and arrow. Later, you can combine that with the image of a human to create a puzzle that creates an archer. Combine the archer with a forest and you get an elf. And so and so on for hundreds of puzzles. It adds a fun, extra layer of puzzle solving to the experience. Sometimes you'll try to combine something and it'll create a puzzle, but it turns out to be a shitty drawing from one of the wizard's failed experiments, which is funny. I hope they get the opportunity to do more creative takes on Picross.
I played Persona 3 Portable on a Vita. So, for me, Persona 3 Reload wasn't just an HD remaster. It was the first time I got to see all of these locations in full 3D. If you don't know, P3P was limited to 2D maps except for when you're in the dungeon tower. P3 is still in incredible story and the quality of life improvements that are added in Reload make it an even better game that it already was.
It still has its warts. The story takes a while to really get going, there are a bunch of days on the calendar where there's basically nothing to do, and a few of those social links are... let's say... questionable. Despite the old flaws, I loved playing through it again in a new way. I love these depressed kids. They also went out of their way to make the UI/menus super stylish; maybe even more so than Persona 5. The flaws also showed me how far the studio has come. They definitely still have some issues, but more on that later.
What a bittersweet situation this game is. The Lost Crown is an excellent search action game that brings innovative concepts to the genre, which other games should immediately steal. The screenshot map marker mechanic is one of those things that instantly makes you wonder why no one has thought of this before. I also loved the combat and movement in general. They boldly don't give you a double jump for quite a while, which is actually a testament to how good the gameplay is. I almost forgot I didn't have it, so when it finally showed up, it felt like a whole new world had opened up. At the time, this felt like it could become a refreshing new direction for the series with multiple sequels, but now Ubisoft has disbanded the team. Fuckin' hell.
Eleven years. It's been eleven years since we've had a college football game. And three years since they told us it was coming back. Of course the big thing is that we now have actual players' names and likenesses in the game thanks to the relatively new NIL rules in the NCAA. So, that's cool. But, more importantly, it's fun to play. I haven't played Madden in many years, but based on what I'd seen in recent years, I fully expecting a bunch of wild bugs here, but I don't recall ever running into any. The package is admittedly a little bare bones, but that's to be expected on a first year sports game. It's almost like a launch title. I just hope that they have a lot more features to implement over the next several years. Right now, I'm just glad it's back. Roll Tide!
Eight. Eight years since Tekken 7 came to consoles, and... this is some good ass Tekken! They also beat the curse with this one because, up until now, the even-numbered Tekken games were always the not-as-good-and-arguably-bad entries in the franchise. The addition of the Heat system creates some dramatic situations in fights without feeling too gimmicky and the slow-mo on final hits is still one of the greatest additions ever to the entire genre. Even though I don't particularly like playing as Jin, I still enjoyed the main story campaign, The Dark Awakens. It's the right level of absurdity we've come to expect from Tekken, especially when it comes to the finale against Kazuya in the middle of a hurricane. Luckily, the other single-player offering, Arcade Quest, lets you choose whoever you want. More importantly, this mode does a solid job as a tutorial. I learned some new tricks in here that I wouldn't have normally found.
Admittedly, it's a bit scummy that they added the Tekken Shop as an onslaught of micro transactions after launch to avoid negative reviews. I just chose not to participate in it, despite the character customization being comparatively bare bones without it. Overall, though, I've had a blast playing Tekken 8, and I'm looking forward to future seasons of characters drops.
Side Note: I went to EVO for the first time this year and had a great time watching the best of the best despite the shit show that the event organizers put us all through on Finals Day. I'd love to go back, but not until they've proven they can fix those issues.
Where do I even start with Rebirth? It's such a massive game; for better or worse, but mostly for the better. It improves upon many elements of Remake, expands upon the lore of the world in new and exciting ways, and dishes out a metric ton of side content. I thought they had nailed the combat in Remake, but it's even better here. My opinion on the matter was further solidified by how boring I felt the combat was in Final Fantasy XVI. The new "synergy" tag team moves are incredibly fun and I often found myself in a flow state switching between characters in fights almost like keeping plates spinning.
I'm generally the weirdo who simply must complete every blip on the map before moving on to the next area, but the combat is so good, it helped push me even more to do all the side stuff. The reward for doing all that is XP of course, but specifically for unlocking "folios" (it's a sphere grid, y'all) for even more skills and tag team moves. Not all of the side missions are combat of course. Many of them help flesh out what it's like to live on this dying planet outside of the not-so-friendly confines of Midgar.
The star of the numerous mini-games and side content, though, is clearly Queen's Blood. Back in the day, I spent countless hours playing Triple Triad and Tetra Master, and they got me again. Why is it so damn good? And that whole tournament on the boat? Hilarious. And the overarching story surrounding the history of the game? Wild.
The main plot (chasing Sephiroth) does get pushed to the back burner a bit during this lengthy journey. It's a weird middle chapter of this trilogy and feels like they're saving a lot of the major plot points for the finale. This could be a detriment to Rebirth, but for me it wasn't. Not only because I liked the majority of the side content, but also because the stories that they do take the tie to tell here enrich the personal relationships between the main characters. Tifa and Aerith's friendship is the prime example as it feels so genuine. But there's also Barret's story with Dyne, Red's discovery of the truth of his family, and everyone's separate dealings with tragedy and grief while in the Forgotten Capital. Some truly heart-wrenching, heavy stuff here in a game that also tilts back towards the goofy and cheesy side often. It's a good balance. The ending is a bit messy, but I'm still excited to see where they go with the third entry.
Shit. I didn't even talk about the music.
I love Dragon Age. And, as we're all aware, the wait for the fourth installment has been quite long. There were countless stories about development hell, starting over, and even renaming the game. So, after all of that, what are the chances this game would even be good?
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is awesome. The combat never gets old and the team-up "detonations" are always satisfying. Are there signs of previous versions of the game all over the place? Yes, definitely. But, it doesn't matter. As a long time fan of the series, this game did more than I expected in filling the gaps of the lore not just on the personal scale by answering what's going on with Solas after the Inquisition, but on the world scale with things like the origins of gods and why certain races are the way they are.
The world also rewards you for exploring off the main path. Even if it's just a little bit of gold, checking around that corner over there is going to be worth it. Every time. Often times, checking around that corner also leads to something else entirely; just tangent after tangent. The only gripe about the level design is that you do come back to the same zones repeatedly throughout the adventure and there are often areas arbitrarily blocked off until the game decides you need to go over there. It's not as bad as the repeated areas in Dragon Age II, but it's noticeable and feels like another sign that they had to redesign so much of this game and patch it together as best they could. Again, though, overall they pulled it off.
All of the characters on this Mass Effect 2-style suicide mission are great. Also similar to Mass Effect, the loyalty missions are some of the best parts of the journey. They even work it into the main story after a failed attempt at killing one of the gods, where it's decided that they need to resolve everyone's personal issues first so they can focus on main goal. Each member of the Veilguard gets their time to shine if you invest the time in them and there are some truly heartbreaking moments towards the end. When I got to the final decision in Emmrich's quest, I literally set the controller down and thought about it for like 15 minutes (I told him he should accept the offer). I also enjoyed how individual crew members' actions changed based on my own. For example, you can choose to romance any of them and I chose Harding as my partner. Later, Neve and Lucanis started developing a relationship. That wouldn't have happened if I had chose one of them. I should also mention that the banter between teammates while out exploring is some of the best BioWare has ever done.
There is a decision early on that results in one of the major cities being changed forever. While that was cool, I wish there a couple more situations like that to raise the stakes even more. Also, I wish there was an asshole on the team. There's no Zaeed to be a cold-hearted dick in all your meetings. Even though Lucanis is an assassin with a demon living inside him, he's mostly cool the whole time. There aren't really even any heated debates between them throughout, even when one of their homes gets destroyed while another is saved. Basically, I'm just saying everyone is too nice.
My main gripe, though, is that the story of this game would've worked better if they just let you play as the Inquisitor again. The crux of the story is dealing with Solas, so having some random person Varric found doesn't make nearly as much sense as it would to have the Inquisitor hunting that egghead down with a mostly new crew of specialists. It makes it worse considering that the Inquisitor is here, alive and well, but dealing with issues in the south except when their assistance is needed.
Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the 80+ hours I spent to platinum The Veilguard. It's also gorgeous. Can we share this hair technology around the industry please? I don't know if or when we'll ever get another one, but with the way they turned this one around, it gives me hope for that next Mass Effect game. Whatever it takes...
Ooohhhhh power of kings!
How is it that the Persona team's first foray into the fantasy genre is their realest game? Whether it's a tyrannical leader's cult of personality, the blinding effects of being in a religious bubble, or lower class groups being pitted against each other by the elite, Metaphor somehow tackles many modern day issues and does so in a way that had me invested in each of the characters' arcs more than ever before.
The game doesn't wander too far from the Persona framework of things like calendars, limited actions per day, and social links. But, it streamlines them in such a way that is much less opaque than the studio's previous games. Gone is the guesswork of who it's "worth" spending time with each day. The characters straight up tell you when they're ready to spend time with you. I appreciate this immensely as someone who has "am I doing this right?" paralysis and FOMO when playing these games. I was able to max out everyone's bond with about two weeks to spare. I feel like being outside of the Persona franchise gave them the freedom to tinker with the formula a bit more than they normally would, and now it should be the standard going forward.
The combat is also improved. Sure, it's still a turn-based trial and error to figure out enemies' elemental weaknesses, but now there's an increased focus on in-world attacks. We're not talking Devil May Cry level action game stuff here, but being able to eliminate some enemies without entering a full-on turn-based fight makes the grind more tolerable. I also loved all the unique intros for the team members when you successfully stun an enemy before going into a full fight. Once in an actual battle, the modified turn system is a lot of fun as it rewards you extra turns for exploiting weaknesses. Building up a few extra turns and then unleashing a devastating Synthesis attack is always satisfying.
Also, I love me a job system, and the Archetypes allow for a highly enjoyable ability to mix and match skills and customize each character's approach to battle. Being able to equip skills from previously mastered archetypes sometimes feels like breaking the game in the same way that fusing personas did in previous games.
I will say that dungeons continue to be the weakest part of this team's games. They're not as maddening here as in Persona 5, but they're never exactly fun to navigate. And while Metaphor oozes style, it's not a particularly beautiful game most of the time. In the grand scheme of things, though, these are minor gripes. The twists and turns of an incredible story combined with all the elements I previously mentioned made Metaphor: ReFantazio one of the best games of the year. It would be THE best if it weren't for...
Every once in a while, a game comes out that feels like it was designed solely for you. For me, Astro Bot is that. It's a game where I had a dumbass smile on my face for hours. Astro Bot Rescue Mission was the best VR game I've ever played and Astro's Playroom was my #2 in 2020. After playing those, the dream was a full-fledged Astro platforming adventure. And Team Asobi crushed it.
Obviously, the game is overflowing with PlayStation nostalgia including some ridiculously deep cuts like the chef from Ore no Ryouri or f'n Mr. Mosquito. This would've probably been enough to carry a mediocre game, but the nostalgia here is just the icing on the cake. And that cake is an incredible platformer that feels great and introduces new elements every 15 minutes. What's different, though, is that they're not teaching you an ever-growing list of skills to utilize deep into the game. Instead, each level has its own unique elements that are immediately thrown out the window when the level ends. It keeps the game fresh and exciting the whole way through. It's wild that they had the restraint to only use some of these gimmicks once. I'm looking at you, Downsize Surprise.
Another thing that surprised me is how much I enjoyed the challenge levels. I'm at a point in my life where I'm often setting games to easy and just enjoying the ride. I'm not here for the challenge. Not true for Astro Bot. While there were a couple that put the frustration meter into the red (I see you, Splashing Sprint), I thoroughly enjoyed figuring these out. The platforming is that fun. After I platinum'd it, I immediately played through it on a second save file collecting all 305 bots all over again.
Astro Bot is far and away my Game of the Year.
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