Your Favourite Game Played in 2024

[randomdudeguy]

2025 is around the corner.

What's the best game you played this year? Bonus if you say why that is.

Doesn't have to be a new release.

 

[Yousef]

Hmmmm I’ll probably come back to this around the tail end of the year.

 

[Ajderniz]

Uhhhh... Um... Huh.... I don't remember which games I played this year?

 

[jankusanagi]

Undecided between 7th Dragon 2020 and Ys Seven... hmmmm

 

[Tetro]

Dragon Age Origins.
Yeah...

 

[OrpheusT-ELOS]

Released this Year: Metaphor ReFantazio, already in my Top 5 Atlus games of all time
Not Released this Year: Tales of Destiny DC, Great Combat and Great Characters one of the best of the series

 

[psvitaforever]

Final Fantasy XIII (already said that, but when I found a cheap xbox I bought it mainly for that title)
Before buying I was reading all the criticize about not being open world and the annoying characters, but after playing it I can say I've liked the whole cast, I didn't care about it being very linear and I ended up doing all the sidequests in Gran Pulse.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I don't have the money or powerful device to run a new modern game anyway so

1. Donkey Kong 1994 (Gameboy version)
This one has a special place in my heart. Making an appearance with many mechanics that would be used, change and improved for the 3D Super Mario series. For example, the handstand, double handstand jump and backflip. The levels too are amazing, so many classics with their own theme. One of the greatest game for the Gameboy

2. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
Other than the collectibles, the game itself is one hell of a journey. One of the only Zelda games made by other than Nintendo. The sprites is clean, the dungeons is great are some of the bosses are cool and funny. Highly recommended this one

I think both of them are what I enjoyed the most, maybe there's more but this is all I remember for now

 

[Stookymalarkey]

For retro, I'd say Parasite Eve. Something about that one is timeless for me. On PC, I loved Cultic. It's a FPS that definitely gave me Resident Evil 4 vibes since it involves a Private Eye basically waging war on a violent cult whose arsenal keeps escalating and there's a great variety of ways to dispatch them.

Also loved Ys X Nordics on PS4. The series never failed to entertain and I love the ship combat in it.

 

[Cu-Neo]

I am a broken record saying this: Crow Country. Short game with a lot of passion behind it. With cool unlockables. And the hard mode really changes the way you play the game. The best thing about the game was the idea of using the FF7 PSX "model art style" in a horror game in such an excellent way. And Mara Forest is such a great protagonist.

Now in terms of retro games, it would be Dishonored 1. I finished the game not too long ago, and I did it in a full night, but it was awesome. Getting the many options to approach a situation was very fresh, and the game even rewards you for not killing people. For example the levels are harder if you kill a lot.

 

[Not_Red]

Dragon Quest III HD-2D, the game was already a masterpiece and all the new additions it got on the remake just made it my game of the year by a longshot. The next game was the very first Xenoblade and I must say I was impressed by the gameplay even if it was all auto attacks from my party members.

 

[Cris_Agev]

This year I played the entire Growlanser series for the first time. My favorite is the first game(super honorable and special mention to Growlanser IV), its a tactical rpg; the story is nothing of the other world but it was ok for me despite being cheesy sometimes. Great music, there is a lot of battle scenarios and the music is perfect for it, energetic rhythm and catchy. I also like the vacation system that allows you to spend free time with your companions for bonding between missions. And the TIIPPPPPIII KIIIIICKKKKKKKK, lol. When you pick an insensitive answer or action, for example: someone in the scene is in danger and you try to walk away to previous map, the fairy that accompanies you will kick you furiously screaming. Collect all her kicks for her ending.

And the second that I have to mention is Ar Tonelico 1, despite having 0 challenge whatsoever in terms of gameplay I liked the artistic aspect of it, specially the music. Since songs here are like magic and the heroines have to sing, the game must put focus on it and it does so greatly. Its a good "the path of the hero" story, with sci fii elements that I enjoyed a lot. Now, I have never played a game with so much sexual allegory before lol, in the diving, the upgrading and in "medicinal administration", its funny. The game has even another game inside, one of the girls, when you reach her part in the story has and actual Visual Novel inside her head, and it almost made me cry, they wrote that so so... I don't know how to describe it, you know when the manipulate you with sad songs and shameless cheap sad moments but they work! well that.
Anyway, those are my two favorite games of this year.

 

[kuroninneko]

Very happy with Resident Evil 4 Remake.

 

[werewolfgimmick]

Im planning to play a few more short games before the year is over but i doubt i will like them more than Earthbound. Immaculate humor perfectly balanced with heartfelt sincerity all the way through, incredible use of subtext, bonkers soundtrack, maybe not the best combat seen in an RPG but certainly fun and challenging enough for me, culminating in one of the weirdest, most terrifying, yet beautiful finales i've seen, that managed to get to me even though i've had it spoiled for decades. I was honestly not expecting to like it way more than any of the of the games it inspired, hell i wasn't expecting to like it more than Mother 3, but it's really that good.

 

[jawgg]

Easily Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition, really impressive work done on the PC port of SH2. Probably the best way to play the original game in the modern day.

 

[VampireLord1024]

Laid-Back Camp Virtual - Lake Motosu, Laid-Back Camp - Virtual - Fumoto Campsite, Boku no Natsuyasumi 2, Natsu-Mon, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Sled Storm, Snow visual novel, Nekopara Vol. 2 visual novel, Air visual novel & Hogwarts Legacy.

 

[ZeroDuplicate]

UFO 50.
Is the type of game that you think will be fun for a couple hours, to try all the games included and what not, and when you realize it you've already played for 60 hours, and still have a lot to do. Pretty much all of the games are really well thought out, some could have been released on its own, yet they're all here in this "Action 52-type" collection made by an obscure 80's company. It's also very clever overall.

I also wanted to mention my second favorite this year, which was Mega Man Legends.
Sure, you have to get used to the tank controls but the game does explain to you how to control Mega Man. But I liked pretty much everything of the game, the characters, the story, the world, the voice acting, and the game has ways to help you if you're stuck or lost.

 

[ATenderLad]

Balatrooooooooooooo

 

[bjork]

Part of me wants to say Animal Well, because I really enjoyed it, but there's some late-game stuff that really put me off of it. Presentation-wise though, I love how it looks and sounds.

Part of me wants to say Fallout 76 because I played it the most this year, but it's really flawed and I've just found myself sucked into the routine of running dailies and trying to knock out all the achievements. I need two that I could boost in like an hour if I had a F76 buddy, so once I get that, the shackles come off.

So I guess I might say Dead Cells? I spent a lot of time with it this year, and still haven't finished the highest difficulty. But it has that thing where, once you find your groove and you're navigating without taking a ton of damage and finding the right combos of equipment that work for you, feels really great.

 

[vitad00d]

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island (Nintendo Switch).

The latest Shiren felt overlooked upon release, at least in the west, but has my vote for best Switch game of all time, while dethroning Nethack to take the title of my all-time favorite roguelike. After dedicating 1000+ hours to Shiren 6, I really can't say enough good about it. The quantity of content is staggering. The game loop is perfection (and the devs cleverly added tons of wrinkles to the formula in the wealth of themed side dungeons). Simply put, it's perfect.

My feeling after beating finally beating Heart of Serpentcoil Island is one of my favorite videogame memories, and the hunt for rare runes and overpowered weapons never gets old. A marriage of deep mechanics and compelling presentation, the entire series sensitively evokes the Japanese past with rich atmospherics and a feeling of connection to the natural world. Like the best Zelda games, Shiren the Wanderer has a feeling of walking into the woods and discovering the unknown. This is something Shiren 6 consciously leans into and perfects.

An out-and-out masterpiece that more people should have played. Fans of roguelikes, classic RPGs, dungeon crawlers, and compulsive loot seekers need to play it immediately.

(On a more individual level, this game is perfection for multitasking gamers who have lost patience with text-heavy titles and prefer to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while gaming. My gratitude to Shiren 6 in having been the perfect companion while listening to audiobooks all year is a hard thing to calculate.

**that said, Shiren 6's soundtrack is a delight, recalling, at times, the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto.)

 

[Mopeybloke]

For the first time? If then it's either Kathy Rain: Director's Cut or Half-life 2: Episode 2 if that counts. What a great time I had on episode 2. And then Valve's 20th Anniversary update came out towards the end of the year and I replayed all of HL2 and episodes I'd already beaten earlier this year.

Otherwise, I played a lot of Quake custom maps as usual, and some HL2 custom maps. I started a replay of Final Fantasy VII and am currently around the end of disc 1.

 

[DanCalibur]

Replayed Dark Souls 1 just for the Artorias DLC. A lot of Shining Force( Shining Force 1-2, CD, Final Conflict and Shining Wisdom) and Castlevania (Castlevania 1-2(Nes), Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow and Vampire Kiss). I don't know why but beating Manus(DS1) and Dracula(Castlevania 1 and Vampire Kiss) after getting killed a hundred times just feels awesome, so that's my top 3

 

[rosemarymenace]

Honestly a tie between MGSV and Forza Horizon 1
If NFS Prostreet Pepega Edition counts as its own game (which it absolutely should, it has an entirely new career mode) then it's a three way tie between that and the other two

 

[stealthRUSH]

Legend of Xanadu: Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu II on PC Engine-CDROM²



One of the games on my translation wishlist I decided to playthrough since a detailed GameFAQs guide exists. Being a late release it utilized all the bells and whistles to make for a memorable experience.

Excellent soundtrack from Nihon Falcom, beautiful graphics with some parallax scrolling, varied enemy sprites even towards the later levels, large bosses, lovely cut scenes with voice acting. But what initially caught my attention were the boss battles that switched the top-down gameplay to a traditional platform/side-scrolling hack'n slash style; complete with special moves, charge attacks with help from a ally of your choice (or you can swtich to them, fight solo, or have Player-2 control them).

It's broken up into Chapters which you can replay at the title screen (also boss rush) and the overall game is on the shorter side under 15hrs. If your into bumping RPG with a linear progression I'd strongly recommend giving it a try.

 

[SwordBreaker39]

Space Marine 2 and SteelRising. Reason both where fun do you need any other special reason? Game are meant to entertain are they not ?