Game of the Year 2024

[Maf]

1 hour ago, mfnick said:

Don’t know why but I’ve had a strong feeling this year has been a bit poor for games but looking at my Top 5 it’s actually been a banger! 

Are you also playing Sparking Zero?

[mfnick]

Nah, the Tenkaichi games have never done it for me. Preferred Budokai 1-3 and FighterZ.

 

Thanks @Nag I’ll update  

[Maf]

As much as 2024 is a good year for quality games, and I’ve still more to play, I’m really struggling to think of or find a game that I want to champion and really hold up as great 

 

Feel like it’s been a very 8/10 year, which is good, but there’s nothing I particularly want to celebrate or make a list out of. It’s all been good, but nothing especially stand out or special 

[Maryokutai]

I can kind of see that. For me the first two games on my list hit all the right notes and the rest were really good, like you say, 8s, but there hasn't been a game I'd go on a pseudo marketing crusade for, like I did for Chorus and Dread in 2021.

 

But there have been more interesting releases than I have time for still, so I can't complain.

[mfnick]

Been a great year for me. My top 6 are proper “love them” games. Big drop after 6 though. 

[Nag]

Just to say, you'll have until midnight Saturday 11th January to get these completed... I'll be tallying on Sunday 12th January... be there or be a motherfucking square. 

[Maf]

3 minutes ago, Nag said:

Just to say, you'll have until midnight Saturday 11th January to get these completed... I'll be tallying on Sunday 12th January... be there or be a motherfucking square. 
 

11th January..2026? 

[Maryokutai]

8 minutes ago, mfnick said:

Big drop after 6 though. 

 

No need to tell us your potty schedule.

[Nag]

4 minutes ago, Maf said:

11th January..2026? 

 

Do you want banning from this?... tbf maybe I should ban you, your list will probably just be multiple Dragon Ball games or Guilty fucking Gear.😋

[one-armed dwarf]

No, he thinks Guilty Gear is a bad game now because they fixed a broken move in it

[Maf]

But they didn’t fix all the other broken moves the fuck is that 

 

Looking through the lists for ideas the best game I actually played this year that had me grinning ear to ear almost the whole way through was Paper Mario TTYD. But I would put that on the “games not from 2024” section 

 

Sparking Zero is a better game than Silent Hill 2. There’s no Ultra Instinct in Silent Hill so worse game by default 

[Nag]

Silent Hill doesn't gave a load of man children screaming at each other though... winner by default. 

[Maf]

It does when I play it 

[Nag]

😂😂

[one-armed dwarf]

I'll just reiterate that Balatro is a perfectly executed concept, simultaneously time devouring yet easy to just pick up and play for a few minutes. Have spent 10-20 minutes here and there, was in hospital all day yesterday and just played it constantly on my phone. It gets ten times the mileage out of 100 times less than a lot of the other games we're listing on here, if we're talking about games putting content ahead of design which we seem to a lot then Balatro is your panacea for that

[Maf]

It has cards in it. Lose by default 

[Maf]

Game of the Year 2024 - WIP

 

1 - Persona 3 Reload

2 - Balatro

3 - Astro Bot

4 - Metaphor: ReFantazio

5 -  Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

6 -  1000xResist

7 - Senua's Saga: Hellblade ll

8 - Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

9 - Indiana Jones and The Great Circle

10 - Slitterhead

 

Reserve - List of games I'm unsure about and may come back to later or need another think

Spoiler

Penny's Big Breakaway

Dungeons of Hinterberg

Helldivers 2

Europa

Nine Sols

Still Wakes the Deep

Stellar Blade

Bakeru

CYGNI: All Guns Blazing

 

 

 

Game not from 2024 discovered in 2024

 

1 - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

2 - Sonic X Shadow Generations

3 - Castlevania Dominus Collection

4 - Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

5 - Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics

 

Most anticipated game of 2025

 

1 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

2 - Fable

3 - 2XKO

 

The Hit List - Must play all these games by January 11th...2026? 😓

Spoiler

• Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island
• Tekken 8
• Ultros
• Pacific Drive
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Unicorn Overlord
• Alone in the Dark
• Dragon's Dogma 2
• Princess Peach: Showtime!
• Rise of the Rōnin
• Freedom Planet 2
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
• Sand Land
• Indika
• Animal Well
• Crow Country
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Luigi's Mansion 2 HD
• Zenless Zone Zero
• Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Pizza Tower
• Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
• Star Wars Outlaws
• The Casting of Frank Stone
• Age of Mythology: Retold
• The Plucky Squire
• UFO 50
• Ara: History Untold
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Silent Hill 2
• Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero
• Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
• Metal Slug Tactics
• Mario & Luigi: Brothership
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
• Marvel Rivals
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

 

[one-armed dwarf]

UFO 50 is a whole project by itself so you can safely skip that one. It's just mammoth

[Maf]

I'm still interested in playing it. That, Animal Well and Baltaro are going to be the first games I get on Steam Deck (I know I could get them now, but would prefer to play smaller games on handheld) 

[retroed]

I would say 4 of the 5 games in your games not from 2024 could go in the regular game of the year list @Maf. They're going in mine, anyway (well, 3 of them are).