Dalton Cooper’s Top 10 Video Games of 2024

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 31, 2024 5 Views 10 Min Read
Dalton Cooper's Top 10 Video Games of 2024



While 2023 is championed as one of the best years in gaming history in terms of new game releases, 2024 was certainly no slouch. All year long, gamers were treated to all kinds of high-quality new game releases from a wide range of genres and platforms.

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Game Rant’s Top 10 Games of 2024

Game Rant counts down the top 10 games of 2024, highlighting the best interactive experiences the industry offered this year.

I played dozens of new games in 2024, with these 10 standing out as my favorites. In fact, some of these games have become part of my all-time favorites, and I can see myself coming back to them for years to come. Please keep in mind that this is my own personal top 10 list, and not reflective of Game Rant’s official top 10 list.

My 10 Favorite Video Games of 2024

10. Neva

9. Animal Well

8. Marvel Rivals

7. Metaphor: ReFantazio

6. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

5. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

4. Silent Hill 2 (2024)

3. Balatro

2. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

1. Astro Bot

When it comes to 2024 games, few have quite the emotional impact of Neva, an engrossing puzzle-platformer about a woman going on an epic adventure with her wolf to rid the world of evil. Neva‘s gorgeous art style and brilliant musical score combined with its heart-wrenching narrative made it impossible to put the controller down. Neva is a brief but incredible experience that has stuck with me in a way that few other games this year have. But Neva wasn’t the only amazing indie to release in 2024. Joining it is Animal Well, the first game published by Dunkey’s Bigmode label. An eye-popping Metroidvania, Animal Well‘s gadgets ensure that the gameplay is constantly evolving, giving players new ways to tackle its various platforming challenges.

As far as competitive multiplayer games go, I had a hard time choosing between Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Marvel Rivals when putting together my list of favorite 2024 games, but I think I have to give the edge to the latter. I’m a huge fan of Overwatch and have been playing it regularly for years, but Marvel Rivals is the first game to really pull me away. It’s somewhat light on content right now in terms of maps and modes, but Marvel Rivals‘ huge roster of 33 playable heroes ensures that there still hasn’t been a dull moment. It’s become my new go-to PvP shooter game, and I can see it being my most-played game of next year.

Another 2024 game I plan on revisiting in 2025 is Metaphor Re:Fantazio. Metaphor: ReFantazio pulled me into its game world and never let go throughout its entire runtime. A gigantic JRPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio takes elements from the Persona games and applies them to a medieval fantasy setting, complete with political intrigue, plenty of surprise twists and turns, and all sorts of grotesque monsters. Metaphor has become one of my favorite turn-based RPGs ever, and I can’t wait to dive back into its world.

Prince of persia the Lost crown

Metaphor was one of my favorite games to release in the back-half of the year, but 2024 didn’t wait long to put out bangers. One of the first major new releases of the year was Metroidvania Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. A criminally underplayed Ubisoft game, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown features some of the year’s best boss fights, brought to life with intense action and flashy visuals.

The Lost Crown was an excellent new entry in one of gaming’s longest-running franchises, and so too was Echoes of Wisdom. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was, in my opinion, the best Switch exclusive release of 2024. Bringing back the cute diorama art style last seen in the Link’s Awakening remake, Echoes of Wisdom finally put Princess Zelda in the starring role. It also outfitted her with the Tri Rod, which lets her clone objects and enemies to solve puzzles and fight monsters. A short but sweet Zelda adventure, Echoes of Wisdom was one of the most consistently engaging games I played all year.

The same goes for the Silent Hill 2 remake. Like many other Silent Hill fans, I was skeptical Bloober Team would be able to pull the remake off in a way that lived up to the high bar set by the original, but I was wrong. The Silent Hill 2 remake successfully brings the PS2 classic to modern standards with its haunting game world, expanded areas, and simple yet brutal close-quarters combat. It’s now one of my favorite horror games and has left me incredibly excited about Bloober Team’s future projects.

silent hill 2 remake fan makes hilarious alternate intro with james

I’ll also be keeping an eye on future games made by LocalThunk. The solo developer’s Balatro, a roguelike deck-builder that brilliantly leverages Poker elements, is one of the most addicting new games released this year. Nominated for a Game of the Year award alongside giants like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Balatro has a sort of timeless quality to it that reminds me of classic puzzle game Tetris.

Puzzle game fans had a lot of high-quality games to choose from in 2024, but none quite match Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes pays homage to classic survival-horror games in terms of its structure and exploration, but trades combat and scares for brutally-difficult puzzles. It’s one of the most fascinating, unique games I have ever played and, while it’s certainly not for everybody, it’s one of my favorite gaming experiences all year.

But the game that is my favorite new release of 2024 is by far Astro Bot. With Astro Bot, Team Asobi has delivered one of the best 3D platformers of all time, a game that can stand tall with the Super Marios of the world. Astro Bot‘s only goal is for the player to have fun, and in that, it excels. Astro Bot is a masterclass of game design, taking full advantage of the PS5’s unique capabilities. Astro Bot has only gotten better since launch, with new updates that have added fresh levels for players to conquer, including speedrun levels and an adorable Christmas-themed stage.

2024 featured some amazing games, and 2025 looks like it could be even better. Between the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 and the launch of the Switch 2, 2025 should be a tremendous year for the industry.

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