by kanelflarn
This list starts off incomplete. This year two games got released that I intend to play as soon as a Ps5 enters this home. Those are Astro Bot and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Both I'm certain has their place on this list. Thinking about it, I never got around to play Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom either. Which I'm certain would compete with a few mentioned below.
And another disclaimer. Back and forth, I finally decided against adding Hades 2. Since I didn't add the first game before 1.0. No matter having played hours of the early access.
With that said, at the time of typing these are the top 2024 has delivered as far as I can tell.
Honorable mentions:
Manor Lord I will keep an eye on this game as it's still in early access. A city builder I've fantasized about. At the moment it's a bit complex (which isn't necessarily bad).
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
The second Heist game is such a step up from the first. The Steamworld developers seems to make the number 2 greater. Just thinking of Dig 2 and Heist 2. I can't even tell what's different this time around. Just that I enjoyed the combat, progression and exploration alot more.
At first a simple card game. I found it opens up when the rogue lite mechanics became clear to me. I cannot rank it lower because it's been companying me along the year. Still coming back to it on the Switch.
Best Terraria-like that isn't Terraria to date. Does it well in top down as well. Yet to try it multiplayer. But being able to rank it this high, without that, is praiseworthy. Been on my mind.
Worthy follow-up to 2018's Gris. Though Neva also tends toward outstaying its welcome. This game is worth studying for junior game designers. These developers really knows their craft. They've managed to have intuitively nudging camera behavior, without losing the player focus or be annoying. As its indicate right way forward. Also the way they successfully teach the player new mechanics or remind the player of upcoming important indicators to be wary of. All the while I didn't feel like they're holding my hand. This craftmanship, sold by 2024's most beautiful art direction, Neva deserves to be on this list.
A solid Dragon age game. The series take another step toward Mass Effect, for better or worse. Don't get me wrong, I love Mass Effect more than anything but I'm not certain Dragon Age needs to be it. The first game was fine. I liked 2. And Inquisition was even more fun. In my book. Veilguard comes a long way on the combat mechanic being quite fun. At the early hours I'm not sold on the semi open world. Though aestethically it looks amazing. For me it's not placed higher mostly because it's not that much on my mind compared to other games.
Only recently picked this up to play with a couple of work mates. From a few sessions I rather like the game. Though it seems a bit unstable still.
A good metroidvania. Trudging along it becomes apparent that it's the genre game type based on backtracking. Which isn't necessarily my forté. It has been done to my liking, but this wasn't one of those implementations. Tired of travelling far and wide just to check what I've missed to be able to progress. In spite of a clever photo mechanic.
Great variation of the Survivor-like genre. In contrast to other survivor-likes this stands out with their own spin.
As I've been on the lookout for easy going open world playground games, with my 5 year old in mind, I came across Tiny Terry. It's sweet in its simplicity. A bit reliant on reading to be relevant to my kid, but still fun.
A free proof of concept that does the feeling of metroidvania better than some games that claims the same at full price.
