Topic: Share Your Personal GOTY 2024

This is a rare year where the only new release I have purchased is Vampire Survivors so it would be unfair to call it Game of the Year. I did enjoy my time with it, especially as it was only a few quid but by the time the Platinum was earned I was happy to put it away. Trying to be frugal this year so nothing new swayed me to get day 1 but a few added to my wishlist for later.

Spent a lot of time getting my backlog down this year but of the games that were new to me, my favourites were Aliens Dark Descent and Kingdom Come Deliverence. The former was greatly influenced by my love of the IP so I would say KCD is my personal Game of the Year. Lots of minor frustrations but overall very immersive and I was quite surprised by the level of writing. I will admit I haven't quite finished it yet, it's my most played game of the year but I had a bit of a gap from gaming right when I was getting near the end. I plan to finish it off closer to the release of the sequel so it's fresh in my mind.

@colonelkilgore OMG The Saboteur one of my favorite games of all time. I really hope we get a remake or remaster anytime soon but I don't think EA would ever think about reviving it.

Here are my GOTY this year.

Platinum: Like A Dragon - Infinite Wealth

Quoting what I wrote in the Push Square article:

My Game of the year would go to Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Simply put, it's the best Like A Dragon / Yakuza game ever.
In previous titles you always feel there was something a little bit underbaked. But with Infinite Wealth you feel like RGG finally perfectly cooked everything in the game.
From minigames to story and ending up with combat, it's simply great and no other game I played this year comes close to it.

Gold: Dragon Age Inquisition

I replayed the game and got the platinum trophy as I was getting myself ready for the long awaited sequel The Veilguard. And I was surprised by how the game still holds up pretty well even if it didn't get the new Gen treatment or even the PS4 Pro enhancements. The world is so gorgeous and awesome, loved the story and most of the companions too. Cassandra romance was peak and loved it. A lot of memorable High dragons fights. I thought Veilguard will top it but it couldn't.

Silver: The Last of Us Part 1 Remake
Believe it or not but I never played TLOU until this year. TLOU Part 1 is one of the best games I've ever played and I guess I'm lucky to play it nowadays while having a 7 years old daughter because I felt 100% emotionally connected with how Joel feels through the game. The gameplay was good although it's better in Part 2 but if I'll choose between both of them overall I would go with Part 1.

Great game overall.

Bronze: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

The game is better than the Remake in every aspect. I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the gorgeous world. Apart from the Queen's blood card game most of the Mini-games were really annoying especially if you're hunting the Platinum Trophy.

@Khwarezm89 yeah a sequel would be a dream come true… a remaster would be awesome too. As you say though, little chance of either unfortunately.

I'm going to have to add Indiana Jones as that is clearly a very, very good game. The more I play of it, the more I think it is right up there with the other titles people have mentioned as favourites from this year.

5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6: This was the first time in a long time I really connected with a COD release. The gunplay, movement, map design, and Zombies are top notch this year. The campaign is incredibly well designed and one level in particular (without going into spoilers) scared me more than a lot of horror games ever have.

4. Path of Exile 2: Diablo 4 was a massive disappointment for me, so my isometric dungeon crawling itch had yet to be scratched. Enter PoE 2. From the jump, this game instantly tickled that part of my lizard brain that craves this type of game. PoE 2 is everything I wish Diablo 4 was. There are some issues that need to be ironed out but what I've played thus far has greatly impressed me.

3. Balatro: Holy hell, what a game. This game snuck up on me and hasn't released its grip on me since it came to PS5. Deceptively simple yet surprisingly deep, Balatro lures you in by presenting itself with a seemingly straightforward premise, beat the blind. This number starts small (500-1000) but quickly balloons into absurd and seemingly impossible numbers (10,000-100,000). Enter the unique multiplier feature. Crafting poker hands in tandem with joker cards and tarots that offer different conditions and modifiers to enable to reach these huge blinds. I constantly found myself saying "one more game" only to look at the clock and realize its 2 am and I should be in bed.

2. Baldur's Gate 3: I'm late to the BG 3 party (a year late) and holy *****, what a party it is. The characters, story, gameplay, and writing are to put it simply, peerless. What Larian studios has managed to accomplish here is nothing short of sensational. The amount of freedom and creativity afforded to the player is so smartly done that I'm at times speechless regarding what I'm able to do in the game's various scenarios. The sheer amount of content is staggering and puts other studios efforts to shame. All this and coupled that with the continued support, updates, mods, and QOL improvements makes BG 3 not just one the best games in recent memory, but one of the best games ever.

1. Dragon Age The Veilguard: This game proved to be divisive (in some ways valid and in a lot of ways unfairly) but by the time the credits rolled on my 1st playthrough (I played as a Mourn watch rogue), I had put 90 hours into it and immediately jumped into a 2nd playthrough (Antivan Crows Warrior) and have already clocked 60 hours. The combat is punchy and incredibly satisfying, the story is interesting (for the most part), the classes are fun and can be customized to fit multiple builds, the world you explore is varied and interesting, and the characters, both main and side, are awesome (special shout out to Manfred, Bellara, Emmrich, and Assan). The dialog can be.......clumsy at times but is overall fairly good and I found myself very invested in learning more about my companions and the surprising amount of depth I uncovered. This game will not get a fair shake in today's climate but I implore anyone to give this game a chance. It might surprise you.

@LordGlarc I've been on the fence of checking out Black Ops 6 now that I'm done with Indiana Jones and still have a few weeks left of my Game Pass subscription. It's very tempting as so many people, including you, have showered the game with praise.

Would you say that you need to play all the prior Black Ops campaigns to fully enjoy this one? I've played the first two Black Ops but not the third and fifth games (I believe the fourth one didn't have a campaign?).

@LtSarge I would play Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 as well as Cold War to get the full context. There's a lot of nuance you might miss without doing so.

@Th3solution Thank you! I should warn you, BG 3 is a time sink lol But so worth the investment.

I don’t exactly plays games too much outside of what I play with my brother. But personally what I own, my game of the year is Pokémon Yellow Version. Although it probably doesn’t count since it’s 25 years old. What I did like most from this year I got to play a bit of are:

1. Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution. I really enjoy these games. My brother is a huge fan so I get to experience them whenever he plays them. I occasionally take a turn myself.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Same as above really. I felt this game was very creative for how you can come up with solutions for everything.

3. Dragon Ball Sparking ZERO. We played this a bit. It’s definitely not perfect, but it was so much fun! Hopefully the DLC starts coming out soon.

I also really like Infinity Nikki, but it’s rather unplayable for me in its current state. I wanted to love Stellar Blade, but I just couldn’t really get much into it unfortunately.

@Th3solution
I have indeed thought about picking up Balatro. I have tried to not think about it and concentrate on the games I already have and want to play instead. And now with all the GOTY lists around I'm having to try really hard to avoid thinking about purchasing it!
Thanks though.

@sorteddan I’ve tried to be the same — that is, purchasing very few games and trying to focus on the backlog. Balatro was the only new release I bought all year, and actually I didn’t even “buy” it, I used my PS Stars credits and got it for free. The barrier to entry was really low! But it can become a big time sink, so save it for when you feel it will fit in to your schedule. It can be played in ver short gaming sessions though, so it’s quite flexible.

@GirlVersusGame Whst did you think of Final Fantasy XV? I assume that’s the one with the car you’re referring to. It’s actually one of the few mainline FF games that I have yet to play. It’s also one of the most divisive.

I haven’t played any Disgaea games before. I’m not sure if I would click with them.

I used to play a lot more JRPGs but have been leaning more toward Western developed games over the last two generations. But if you liked Persona then you have P3 and P4 which are great. And apparently Metaphor Refantazio is right there and basically a Persona game in everything but name, although I’ve not played it. The Trails of Cold Steel games are very Persona like in their approach if you want more of that. Of course there’s lots more FF games too, both old and new. One of my very favorite games is Nier Automata, so for a more action-based JRPG with a weird twist, try that. And not a weird twist like Doki Doki, but more of a cool futuristic and philosophical vibe with frenetic action combat. If you liked how Disco Elysium messed with your mind, then I think you’d like Nier from a narrative standpoint. 😄

@Jimmer-jammer You played a lot of new releases this year! Of your list, Astro Bot will probably be the first one I’ll get to, and then either RotR, Rebirth, or SH2. My backlog is so big that I might not get to any of them soon though! 😄

@HallowMoonshadow That is indeed an eclectic list! But interesting to read, for sure. The one that really jumps out to me (besides BG3 which I already have on my “To Do List” for 2025) is Gnosia. That’s very high praise for a lesser known game. I think I had heard about it but hadn’t given it much thought and I’ll definitely now keep an eye out for a sale or PS+ inclusion of the game. A good VN is nice to have in the library for when the mood strikes.

Also, what’s your plan in playing GoW Ragnarok and Mass Effect 2? I have both on my list to get to, hopefully this year depending how things go, so was wondering if we might end up playing them in proximity.

@HallowMoonshadow A little bit of both. I don’t play games a whole lot myself. I have an Xbox 360 I only played twice and haven’t touched in two years. I spend a lot of time with my brother though. He’s highly autistic, so I mostly just do whatever he is into. Lately we play games a little bit, but mostly just watch TV, a few months ago he was very into Lego so I did that with him. We also play cards on occasion. And yeah, I definitely loved Pokémon Yellow the most this year. Learning how to use glitches or sequence break was very satisfying.

@HallowMoonshadow Between BG3, Stellar Blade, and Astro Bot, you’ve got your hands full for a couple months. I’ve got several lined up as well to start the year. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll pick back up with my Renegade FemShep this year.

Mine are:

1. Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
The crazy people at MachineGames pulled it off with one of the best "licensed" games. Great characters. Terrific voice acting. Brilliant level design. Loads of humour. Excellent gameplay.

2. Prince Of Persia The Lost Crown
This is the type of game that Ubisoft should make more of. Brilliant Metroidvania gameplay with excellent platforming and puzzles.

3. Another Crab's Treasure
One of the best Souls-like title to come out. Even has an easy-to-understand story and excellent cast of characters. Love the art style. The Shell system is brilliant.

@SingleStooge Great to see PoP in your list. I sometimes wonder if a later release in the year might have bolstered PoP's narrative around 'GOTY' discussions in Nov/Dec... and if the early 2024 release hurt it somewhat?

I know sales weren't great, but I agree that it was a breath of fresh air - from Ubisoft of all places (!). In my top 10 for sure from 2024, and so many great QoL features in the MV genre (in game map photos for eg., so aid backtracking)

Did you play Nine Sols? If you enjoy MVs and Souls-style games, it is really great...like a 2D Sekiro

It's not my GOTY24, but I really enjoyed the overlooked Robocop: Rogue City.

Enemies are just cut and paste, and reminded me a lot of Time Crisis/Virtual Cop, but it's a damn satisfying game - The shooting feels and sounds fantastic, and while it won't win any awards for graphics, something about it, aesthetically, looks great; especially walking around the little Detroit hub.

Just a nice little satisfying game, with a lot of fan service. I'm glad it got made.