Favorite Video Games of 2024

At the end of every year I think back on the games. The below titles are grouped by theme, series, or some other criteria that makes sense to me. But this is an unordered list. There is not any kind of ranking. There's no association with completion. It's just what I thought was cool, what resonated with me.

The Terrible 2s

There's too many of these sequels and I played too many of them.

Being able to exit the game on my own terms helped me stay positive on Dragon's Dogma II. There's a sense that Dogma rushed to hit a release target and an expansion could bring more life to this game. Like gear that matters for more than just fashion. And a real difficulty curve instead of a cliff that hurt to climb. But once you get said cliff, you can throw your friends' inexperienced pawns off for laughs and not even worry about having half a party. That those pawns saw the whole game and could report it back to my friends who didn't finish fills me with joy.

I'm having a similar sense of being rushed with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. One time I went to bed, my character closed their eyes, and then they never woke up again. My key binds for forward and backward are E and D, but I can't rebind moving up and down a ladder from W and S. So W and S it is until they fix that. The occasional NPC tapping away on a tablet (that isn't there) is phenomenal motion-capture work, and that extends to the tense cut-scenes. I genuinely care about what happens to The Zone and its inhabitants. I can't wait for the rough edges around this game to be sanded away so more people can enjoy this wild ride.

More complete than the previous mentions is Helldivers 2. As a multiplayer sequel to Metal Gear Solid V it was fun. I still don't understand how somebody could manage to take a design and balance all the enjoyment away. But I watched it happen. It was great while it lasted.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape hangs in this conversation for the co-op campaign. A celebration of characters. A culmination of investment measured in years. A great opportunity to cut a friend off and say "goodbye" before things can further sour.

The co-op campaign for Space Marine II was also enjoyable. Unlike everything else mentioned so far, I have no caveats. Fire heavy bolters with exploding headshots! Cut xenos to pieces with a chain-sword! It's the best, most progressive, and least offensive Gears of War title ever released.

Into Early Access...

But already standing out.

Abiotic Factor is the Half-Life survival game I never knew I wanted. But it delivers so much more than that. Equal parts delight and surprise. I'm not going to spoil anything.

There's a lot going on with Atlyss. If parts of the aesthetic aren't your thing, there's sliders and toggles to tone the game down. Circle strafing dumb mobs has Phantasy Star Online vibes which sold me. Still very early access though. Some enemies didn't even have readable attack windups. If the landing sticks this will be coming back to my favorites list in 2025 or whenever ver. 1.0 launches.

Windblown knocked me over. This is isometric rogue-like action in the vein of Hades by way of the Dead Cells developers. There's co-op! It's brutal and fast with a dodge on short cool-down.

After shitting on Witchfire for being an early access release with a $35 price tag I'm still eating crow. This game is worth every penny. I don't know if the new Doom series can keep interest when it has you clear arenas. Witchfire asks you how far you want to push your luck. Low on health and ammo? Maybe extracting, getting the fuck out with your meager loot you scavenged, is the best option. But the weapon designs put Destiny and Borderlands to shame. It is too fun not to use them.

... And out Later

The early investment paid off.

Imagine humans go to bed like any other normal night. But when they awake this time Dracula's castle has manifested from nothing just next door. V Rising's delivers on that fantasy. Stunlock's application of MOBA controls to shoot chaos magic missiles and screaming skulls makes skill shots fun. A Castlevania crossover with the formal release compelled me to return. Aged like a fine red wine and still delicious after 100 hrs. of playtime.

My interest was piqued by Wayfinder until it was revealed to be another short-lived live-service game. Than Digital Extremes bailed and Airship Syndicate refactored the game to be playable offline with peer-to-peer co-op. It has some interesting, noninvasive echoes from its original business model. Like a player house and cosmetics that don't get in the way of the fun third-person action dungeon crawling. It's a relatively happy ending. A stark contrast to a year of countless layoffs and closures.

The Grand Winter Blues

Or Granblues perhaps.

Where others set up automation using in-game accessibility options to AFK-farm, I used mods to adjust the abysmal drop-rate of some items in Granblue Fantasy: Relink. It's more power efficient and satisfying, and didn't stop me from replaying the awesome boss fights. I appreciate being dropped in front of those bosses with no fluff, as was also executed in Armored Core VI. Co-op. Great soundtrack. Great characters. Great story with a hot villain redemption arc.

I drove my partner nuts using a fight stick with Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising. Fortunately for them, I just don't have the time and energy to devote to sticking to a fighting game. That's really the only reason I'm not spending more time with this. It taught me how to block and poke and footsie and to not jump. Fun for a few weeks with charm. An easy recommendation to anyone who does want to give an anime fighting game a try.

Indie Goodness

With laughs aplenty.

If you're looking for a change of pace in turn-based tactics, Arco hearkens back to Frozen Synapse. Each turn allows for a movement and action that play out in real time with all of the other characters. You can dodge bullets and hit amazing trick-shots. The dark story is steeped in American culture south of the U.S. border with comedic tone speaking to my sense of humor.

Thank Goodness You're Here! transported me to a British hamlet inhabited by the Monty Python troupe. Matt Berry voices a gardener! It's weird in the best sense of the word and gets to the point before it can wear itself out. You can't fathom what you'll stumble into or upon next.

Out of Time

I wasn't able to put enough in to properly recognize these.

Sadly I wasn't able to get as much time to play everything I wanted to this year. The games I'm going to try and play more of because they might be something I love include:

• Caves of Qud
• Core Keeper
• Dungeons of Hinterberg
• Kingsvein
• Skald: Against the Black Priory
• Tactical Breach Wizards