GOTY 2024
Here are my lists from previous years:
List items
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The Famicom Detective Club series is very near and dear to my heart and the fact that we got a new entry this year is really something to celebrate. More so than even the other entries in the series, Emio is all about the long game. The slow build up to a gut punch of a conclusion. It may not be my favorite FDC title, that prize still goes to The Girl Who Stands Behind, but Emio was still a special experience that I treasured.
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The whole time I was playing Mouthwashing I just kept thinking, “Holy crap, they're doing it. They’re really doing it.” I first sat down with the game thinking I would only play the beginning but ended up finishing the whole thing in one sitting. Few games have knocked me off my feet like Mouthwashing and I’m so happy that I decided to pick it up on a whim.
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Recollection was another return of an adventure franchise that I love. While I wasn’t happy with every change or addition to the remakes, seeing Ashley and the rest of the cast in a new way was so joyous. It really did feel like I was seeing a beloved band get back together again for a remix of an old favorite.
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Cold Steel IV isn’t the best Trails game. It isn’t the best Cold Steel game. It isn’t even the best entry in the Trails series I played in 2024 (that prize goes to Daybreak). But Cold Steel IV is the game that took me on a rollercoaster of emotions like few games in the series have. I hated it, I loved it, I laughed, I cried, and I was reminded why I love Trails in the first place. This game marked a weird time and place for me. I may look back on its inclusion on this list as a weird decision but what can I say, Cold Steel IV was one of the most impactful titles I played this year.
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The first half of The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case is a history lesson. A fun revisit of a title that was very influential in Japan’s adventure genre. Just like most pioneering titles, it’s clunky and a bit hard to go back to while still having its charms. But I feel like the second half, the new sequel story, really puts the whole package into perspective. Going back to old locations that have changed over the years, seeing returning characters with a few more wrinkles on their face, it helped me feel nostalgic and melancholic for the original game. In some ways that makes it the perfect remake, because it gave me a similar feeling to someone that was revisiting the game after playing the original back in 1987. Also the part where you fight bears in RPG battles was pretty funny.
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One of My Favorite Games I Didn't Finish:
I wasn’t able to finish it but Unicorn was the game I played the most back in March. I enjoyed it a lot and those graphics are something else!
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One of My Favorite Games I Didn't Finish:
I only played the first two dungeons but few games gave me a blast of nostalgia quite like the Thousand Year Door remake.
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One of My Favorite Games I Didn't Finish:
The beginning of Tsukihime is such an exciting gut punch and the characters are a lot of fun. Really love what I’ve played so far.
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