Gosh, it only feels like twelve months since the last time I wrote one of these lists. Wait… it was? Well, well, well, doesn’t time move chronologically?
There’s already some buzz about 2024 being a ‘mid’ year for gaming, but I don’t think this is true. It’s more that 2023 was so heads and shoulders above recent years that any comparison is almost unfair. I wouldn’t see myself placing any of the games on this year’s list above my number five from last year, so I understand the impulse to denounce 2024 as a disappointment; I do love these games, though. They’re still good and worth highlighting. I’ve played 58 games over the past 12 months, and these are the ones that stand above the rest.
10 Fields Of Mistria
Fields of Mistria has been criticised for its unrelenting approach to cosiness that leaves it without a single drop of friction, but this is precisely why I love it. Not all games need teeth.
Mistria has been a charming escape. On the advice of fellow TheGamerer Jade King, I made it my Steam Deck go-to, and I’ve spent quite a few evenings listening to vinyls and playing Fields of Mistria while lit by fairy lights and expensive candles. They’ve been among my favourite nights this year.
9 Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance
Reviewing an entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series was one of those ‘wow, if only little Ryan knew he’d end up doing this’ moments that make this career worthwhile.
To make things even better, SMT5: Vengeance is a really fantastic game with a super amount of complexity and difficulty that manages to stand leagues ahead of the Switch-constrained original.
8 The Crimson Diamond
Despite being brought up on point-and-click adventure games, it took me until 2024 to finally give a text parser adventure a go. The Crimson Diamond is a terrific throwback that manages to capture a certain era of gaming so well that I am surprised to this day how large an impact it had on me.
There’s something meditative yet ingenious about the incredibly limiting control scheme; forced to navigate a mystery with raw logic, eschewing dialogue trees and throwing items at the wall until they stick, The Crimson Diamond sticks with me as a true delight in puzzle and adventure design.
7 Persona 3 Reload
What can I say here that hasn’t been said a thousand times since the original game’s launch in the mid-2000s? A gripping, emotional story that deals so explicitly and consistently with death and grief is incredibly compelling to me, and I loved Reload’s approach to remastering a classic.
6 Ace Attorney Investigations Collection
No objections here, I hope. Miles Edgeworth is one of my favourite video game characters, and having his story finally available in the West was a big moment for me. It was another one of those ‘hey, little Ryan, look at this’ deals.
5 Unicorn Overload
I do so love a tactical RPG that goes all-in on depth and complexity, and Unicorn Overlord is situated right in that niche.
I really adored this game – from stomping on weak fodder with overpowered units to breaking out spreadsheets to create super-tuned formations to take on the hardest challenges. A joy from beginning to end.
4 Astro Bot
I’m not incredibly big on platforming, but I know what I like. Astro Bot? I like. My nostalgia wasn’t tickled, and I’ve no love for Astro Bot as a mascot, but creative and satisfying level design mixed with tight, fun controls made this a wonderful timesink that I’m a little gutted ended so soon.
3 The Rise of the Golden Idol
I really do _____ puzzle games that take a _____ approach to telling a _____ , and I found The Rise of the _____ _____’s _____ to be expertly told, gripping, and super-fun to piece together.
Jokes aside, this is the game from this list that I’m most likely to tell anyone unfortunate enough to sit near me at a party for at least seven minutes to play, regardless of that person’s tastes or inclinations.
|
Story |
Game |
Adore |
Hate |
Novel |
|
Boring |
Exciting |
Rise |
Golden |
Idol |
2 Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
Straddling the border between ‘classic throwback’ and ‘modern marvel’, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes absolutely hit the right spot for me. It strikes the ideal balance of open-ended exploration versus tight storytelling, mechanical complexity versus difficulty, and minigame density with minigame satisfaction.
In a lot of ways, Eiyuden Chronicle was, for me, everything that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth should have been.
Honorable Mentions – Games That I Still Really Loved
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, Isles of Sea and Sky, Amber Isle, Phoenix Springs
1 Dragon’s Dogma 2
Playing Dragon’s Dogma 2 and working on its coverage was one of my professional highlights this year. It’s a remarkable game that scratches the same needy itches as the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Final Fantasy 16, and uncovering its secrets, piece by piece, was unbelievably satisfying.
There are some games on this list that gave me higher highs and some I’ll undoubtedly play more in the coming years, and so many games have changed places on this list in the past few months, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the only one that has remained top of my list from the moment I rolled credits.
The real credits, not the fake credits.