by adzpearson
It's that time again! This year has had quite a lot of strong releases...but I haven't played much from this year, so it's business as usual from me! :P Here are the five games (out of sixteen total) that made my final list...
(I've had to scale back a bit from my original plans, due to a variety of reasons; including having an uneven amount of things to say about certain games. Instead, I'm going to keep my thoughts on the short side for all of the games featured. Heck, this list nearly didn't happen at all, as I haven't been feeling great. But, I've at least improved enough to do this much!)
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It took me a while to finally play this, but I got around to it this year...and it was definitely worth the praise I'd heard a lot about. It does so much right, and it had my attention right until the end. In short, the game is set thousands of years in the future. As Aloy, you set off on a journey to not only take out an imminent threat, but also to figure out what happened in the past. For me, it ticked off so many of my boxes (the sci-fi setting, gameplay, side missions), that it was easily my gaming highlight of my 2024!
...And it's all indie games for the rest of this list, starting with this wonderful narrative experience that takes place on a social media platform! You play as Emmett, a teenager who loves to talk to people on Videoverse (a social media platform for a console called the Kinmoku Shark), as well as playing a game called Feudal Fantasy. One day, he encounters an impressive piece of fan art for the game, and decides to contact the person behind it. Throughout the game, you end up talking to her, as well as the rest of the varied cast. It's such a touching game, and it explores some aspects of social media in an interesting way. If you like narrative games, check it out!
Another great narrative game. It's also set in the Philippines, which is pretty unique, as far as I'm aware. You play as Mark. After a series of disasters around the world, everyone is trying to recover in their own way. However, after it becomes apparent that people are myteriously disappearing, as well as experiencing some contradictive memories, he is gradually drawn into figuring out what's going on. Most of the game takes place in a school setting, and it's interspersed with mini-games. It also deals with some pretty heavy subjects, but they're all handled respectfully. Like Videoverse, it's a very touching game. Another solid recommendation for fans of narrative games! ...Also, Cath is the best! (Note: As this game came out in 2024, you could consider it my 2024 GOTY...of sorts.)
Signalis is a nice homage to PS1 survival horror games (Silent Hill and Resident Evil, mainly), while also being its own thing. You play as Elster, a 'replika unit' (basically an android with copied human memories), in a dystopian future. After waking up in a crashed shuttle, she sets off on a mission to find the pilot of the ship. Most of the game takes place in a mining facility, where it's clear something terrible has gone down. Multiple replika units have seemingly lost their minds, and Elster might fight her way through to complete her goal. The atmosphere can be likened to Silent Hill, while the inventory management takes more cues from Resident Evil. There's also a lot of puzzles, something that both franchises cover. There's multiple endings, so if that's your kind of thing, you can try to get all of them.
For the 2024 list, I added a rule that I would consider anything I finished in 2023 AFTER I had already posted my list, as it didn't seem fair for games to fall into a 'void' where they'd never get rated. This game benefited from that rule, as I finished it at the tail-end of 2023. From the makers of The Red Strings Club, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is another narrative game that tries to do something a bit different. Simply put, you play as a witch who has been exiled to an asteroid for a thousand years. She decides to make a contract with a demon-like creature in order to practice magic again. This magic takes the form of tarot cards, and they play a big part in how the game progresses. The game is open-ended, and the outcome is determined by dialogue, and how you choose to interpret the card readings. It was definitely in my wheelhouse, and the atmosphere provided by both the music and visuals really added something! Oh, and you can design the cards yourself, which is pretty cool!
