by ilythium
After the absolutely phenomenal year for video games that was 2023 we may have been expecting 2024 to be a bit of a quieter year, but we were once again treated to another sensational assortment of games to sink hours upon hours of our free time into. Whilst the industry at large sadly still suffers from constant layoffs, the quality of the games being made is still exceptional.
Unlike the last couple of years, I didn’t have any big international trips, milestone life events, or new puppies added to our little family in 2024, but I did finally get myself a Steam Deck as an early Christmas present! So I expect to spend a lot more of my downtime catching up on my Steam Backlog, and as I also picked up a PlayStation Portal, 2025 may well end up being the year of handheld gaming for me.
This is my personal list of the top 10 games I played in 2024. As in previous years, I tend to play a lot of games on PS Plus or Gamepass and don’t always jump on the newest releases so this list may not be exclusively games from this year. There may be slight spoilers but I do my best to keep things as spoiler free as possible.
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
10. Star Wars: Outlaws I will be the first to admit that I’m a particularly biased Star Wars fan. I will consume everything Star Wars, even in the current much maligned Disney era. Hell, I even enjoyed the Acolyte despite its obvious flaws. And speaking of flaws, Outlaws is not without its fair share of them, and as a result took several hours to get its hooks into me. However as a Star Wars property it’s an immediate feast for the senses. Walking around soaking up all the atmosphere of these marvellously detailed Star Wars locations was an absolute treat. And eventually when I came to terms with what the game wanted me to do I was able to lose myself in the world and characters and was thrilled to be along for the ride. Also ND-5 is one of the best Star Wars bots since K-2SO.
9. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth Whilst still a fantastic follow up to my game of the year of 2020 in Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is in many regards just more of the same and unfortunately also suffers from a massive amount of bloat. I loved my time with Rebirth but once I was done with it I was admittedly a bit burnt out. Still an incredibly gorgeous looking game, it plays even better than the first remake and adds an insane amount of mini games in every new area. The in universe card battling game Queen’s Blood being an outright standout. The ending was fairly divisive but I am still all aboard for the next installment as I have been fully invested in the ongoing narrative and look forward to seeing where they go with the changes they have made from the original story.
8. Thank Goodness You’re Here As a New Zealander I’ve always greatly appreciated British comedy as there are a lot of parallels with our Kiwi sense of humour. Thank Goodness You’re Here expertly brings that playfulness into the medium of video games in the most comical way. Slapping bums and getting sausage glory holed whilst trying to help everyone with their mundane tasks in a small English Town. It packs in a lot considering the short runtime and that your only interaction is to slap anything and everything. Never has a game had me cracking up with such regularity from start to finish.
7. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle As someone who has never been the biggest Indiana Jones fan, my expectations for this game were reasonably muted but I was willing to give it a chance since it was going to be included as a part of the Gamepass Subscription. It turned out to be one of the most surprising games I played this year given just how much I ended up loving it. Troy Baker gives an amazing performance as Indy and I often found myself forgetting that it wasn’t Harrison Ford voicing the character. The locations are epic and sprawling with a slew of activities to complete and tombs to explore. Moments of levity are used to perfection which feels extremely authentic to the character. In my opinion the game does a better job with Indy than most of the Indiana Jones movies.
6. Silent Hill 2 The original Silent Hill 2 remains one of my favourite games of all time and has been since I first played it on my PS2 back in 2001. Like most other people I was somewhat pessimistic for this remake given the reputation that Bloober Team has for survival horror games they have produced. Safe to say as soon as I got my hands on this all my reservations were alleviated. This is an incredible remake in almost every way. The oppressive atmosphere delivers a sense of tension that doesn’t let up for the entire run time. It’s a good thing I was streaming my entire playthrough of this game as it gave me the push to keep going when I otherwise may have been too terrified. It adds plenty of extra hours of gameplay by extending several sequences and makes some unexpected changes to combat, puzzles and boss fights which arguably improve all of these aspects whilst still remaining faithful to the source material. This is an excellent way to experience one of the greatest games ever made.
5. Astro Bot When the PS5 launched with Astro’s Playroom we were all saying the same thing. They need to make this exact thing but just do more of it. This is exactly what this new Astro Bot game delivers. Astro is sent on a mission to rescue his fellow bots who have all been scattered amongst various alien worlds. It revels in gaming nostalgia as you rescue special bots representing gaming franchises past and present. A 3D platformer that excels in doing the basics perfectly, and adds variation with assorted special abilities peppered throughout the different worlds. There is something in this game for almost everyone and is one of the most compelling reasons to own a PS5. It is profoundly pleasing that a platformer can still deliver such an extraordinary adventure in 2024.
4. Tactical Breach Wizards I am a sucker for turn based strategy tactics games, and Tactical Breach Wizards is an outstanding one of those. You play as a team of wizards and witches who are outcast special forces operatives in an urban fantasy setting. It alleviates a lot of frustration these types of games often have as you can see how your actions will play out before you lock them in, and can rewind time to change them if the outcome is undesirable. This is due to the abilities of one of the characters who can see briefly into the future, which allows for experimentation in tactics that you would not otherwise be afforded. The dialogue is terrifically well written and the banter between the characters made me laugh out loud constantly. I did not expect this game to be as funny as it is. A healer who can only heal people by killing them and then immediately bringing them back to life is just a very amusing concept to me. If you are a fan of tactics games you need to play this game.
3. Balatro As soon as I first heard about this game I knew it would be right up my alley. I got swept up in the poker boom when I visited the USA and spent a few months there in 2005 and I have been an avid poker player since. Unfortunately all that poker expertise means surprisingly little when it comes to Balatro as other than a basic understanding of what a poker hand is, this game doesn’t really require any prior knowledge of poker to be enjoyed. The game throws out the rule book with its game altering Joker Cards that can completely switch up your fortune. Extremely easy to jump in and start a run, but difficult to put down, as that next run may well just be the one where you finally get that dream combination of Jokers. Balatro is highly addictive and will be a game that I regularly go back to in the future.
2. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the game on my list that just felt the best to play. The movement is magnificent, the combat is fast, gratifying, and allows for experimentation which can be adjusted to your own personal play style once you have unlocked the requisite abilities. The range of upgrades gave a real sense of progression and it was a thrill to finally unlock that double jump and be able to access all those areas which were previously out of reach. Thankfully I knew precisely where all of those areas were due to the innovative and remarkably useful memory shard system which allows you to save a screenshot of the area on a map so you could remember exactly what ability you needed in that zone. The story was nothing special, but the gameplay is so utterly exceptional that it really doesn’t matter. The Lost Crown is the best Metroidvania game that I have ever played, and it is criminal that it sold so poorly that the team that made it got disbanded and any chance of a sequel has been extinguished. At least we can always go back and play this absolute gem on repeat.
1. Helldivers II Easily the best experiences I had playing games in 2024 came from Helldivers 2. Nothing else compared to jumping in with a full squad of mates, fighting to survive against devastating odds and just barely making it out alive as the horde of enemies swarm your evacuation zone. Equal parts exhilarating and hilarious, as a mission can go from under control to falling apart in a heartbeat, especially if you accidentally drop an orbital strike on your teammates and kill them all. Steadily challenging, thoroughly satisfying, and chock full of satirical humour. I hope to keep fighting for Democracy for many years to come as the game continues to evolve. For a game that would’ve been barely on my radar before it was first revealed it immediately won me over as soon as I first dived in and is a deserving winner of my Game of The Year.
