PersonZ's (not really) game of the year 2024?

It’s been an interesting couple of years for me when it comes to playing video games. I used to basically start a ton of games and finish next to none of them but in recent years I have forced myself to sit down and play through my backlog, one game at a time. Unfortunately for me, my backlog is over 1000 games long, so that means I rarely am able to justify purchasing anything new but I figure why not rank the last 10 games I have finished that way I can actually write something for a change.

Unfortunately this means some real bangers get bumped off the list but I will do my best to name a few honorable mentions in other games that do not make the time-frame cut. Without further adieu, here are my top 10 games of the last 10 games I actually finished:

1) Breath of Fire 3

Breath of Fire 3 kind of surprised me in a way. It’s a game I tried playing once before but bounced off. Mostly because of the chosen platform I tried playing it on. I originally tried playing this with my PSP way back in 2011 when I was in the mid-west of the United States but the odd sound issues coupled with my self inflicted analysis paralysis had me stop before anything really got me hooked in the game.

Fast forward 13 years later and I found myself trying to rush through the game in order to not be spoiled on the game's story from a podcast I regularly listen to. Not only does this game have one of the most metal openings to a JRPG I have ever seen but the story (as simple as it is) had me going for the entire run-through. How much of that is nostalgia for old school JRPG’s? Probably a lot, but even still I was shocked how many systems were in this game compared to what I was used to with the older games in the series. Even having previously played 4 many years ago. I found that 3 ended up usurping 4 to take the spot of my favorite in the series.

The story itself actually goes by pretty quickly but I think it does a good job of constantly moving the plot forward. There are a few things that feel like filler along the way but those tend to end up being pretty funny so I wont hold that against the game. If you are a fan of old school JRPG’s or even if you just like RPG’s with systems that allow you to truly break the game, I would highly recommend giving this game a shot.

2) Half-Life 2: 20th Anniversary Update

Some of you may be wondering: How the heck has someone over 30 years old not already beaten Half Life 2 until recently. Well I have an answer for you. Too much time playing MMO’s in the 2000’s. Half -Life 2 is a game I have started many times, but ended up stopping multiple times due to me just getting distracted and forgetting to get back to the game.

This year with the release of the games 20th anniversary update I resolved myself to sit down and finally finish the same thing. As it turns out I had been around 80 % of the way there multiple times but I guess I kept getting distracted at the “follow freeman” portion of the game. What can I say about Half-Life 2 that others have already not? Honestly not much, aside from the vehicle sections in the main campaign. It’s a solid first person shooter that has good encounter design and some of the best levels I have played in a first person shooter in years.

This probably would have been lower on the list if I had just stopped at the main campaign but the inclusion of both episode 1 & 2’s DLC campaigns brought this one up quite a few spaces. Episode 1 was the most fun I have had in a FPS in a long while and it achieved it without giving me access to a single traditional gun. I liked the concept so much that even during the half way point of the campaign where they finally give you access to guns I ended up deciding to stick with the gravity gun the whole way through the campaign.

While Episode 2 was overall less impressive to me, I still thought the campaign overall had some great moments and encounters. It’s a shame we will likely never see a follow up to the story of Half-Life though. I suppose there is the VR game Half-Life Alyx but from what I understand that is a prequel to 2. So if you are looking for closure after the cliffhanger ending of Episode 2 I suspect Alyx is not what you would be looking for.

3) Yakuza Kiwami

I never really played the original, and aside from experiencing a roommate play through games 3 & 4 of the series several years ago I never really paid much attention to the Yakuza series. Now did I decide to start playing the series out of the blue? The answer to that is no. This website in particular ended up goading me into giving the series a shot with Yakuza 0 and since that game ended up being one of my favorite games I have played in the last 4 years I had pretty high expectations for Kiwami.

While I did know this was essentially a remake of the first game on the PS2 I had no idea what to expect story or gameplay wise. Kiwami feels much more grounded than 0 in terms of story. While this was a bit disappointing I still very much enjoyed my time with it, and the inclusion of the Majima Everywhere system ended up giving me a good amount of the nonsense that I craved from the last game I played.

Would I recommend it over 0? Probably not, but 0 doesn’t qualify for this list and Kiwami is still a great time. Definitely worth a play-through if you liked 0 and have somehow never played another game in the series.

4) Black Myth Wukong

What’s this? A recent game on this list? Your eyes are not deceiving you. While I did make a point of avoiding purchasing new games until I hammer out more of my backlog this game essentially dropped into my lap via way of a Nvidia Promotion. I purchased a new PC this year and the GPU came with a code for Black Myth Wukong. I figured since I have a new PC and all I should give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised by the game. While not exactly a soul-like, the game does share many similarities in its combat. The game also moves at a decent pace and has some pretty challenging bosses. Aside from the game's final chapter which had me perplexed as to where to go, it was pretty straightforward as well. It was also easily the most visually impressive game I played in recent years which I guess is the reason why Nvidia had the promotion for it.

Would I run out and buy this game at full price? Probably not, but if you’re a fan of Souls-like games and you have any affinity to Journey to the West then I would say this is a solid game to spend your time on. It’s a shame that the last chapter is structured the way it is, otherwise I probably would have ranked this higher.

5) It Takes Two

I have made it kind of a point to play at least one co-op game a year. Specifically during the Giant Bomb Community Endurance one. This one is kind of a special case. I technically started playing this with a friend back in 2023 and only ended up finishing it this year in April during the most recent GBCER. Don’t let that make you think I did not enjoy my time with the game though. This is easily one of the best co-op games I have ever played. They constantly introduce new mechanics each chapter so you don't find yourself doing the same thing over and over again.

Additionally the story has some great moments. The only people I would not recommend this to is a kid whose parents are in the process of a nasty divorce as there is a good chance that it would hit way too close to home. Plus if they're young enough you may actually give them some sort of false hope or something. Which in my experience, usually just makes things WAY worse. Cool game though. Would absolutely play it again if not for the whole….. 1000+ game backlog thing.

6) Batman Arkham City

Another entry where it turns out I was super late to the party. Arkham city certainly inst new but it does have a reputation of being one of the best Batman games ever made. I was a big fan of Arkham Asylum when it first came out but I never really found the time to play City until December of last year. Arkham City ended up feeling like more of the same to me, I expected there to be vast improvements to Asylum but what I got was a game that felt very much the same.

I feel like the biggest mark against it is just how quickly the story goes. I kept feeling that there should be more to it but the game just kind of ended, and while I do think it plays overall better than Asylum I personally think I prefer the narrative in the original. Even if that game does also end very soon, and quite poorly with a silly roided out version of the Joker as the final boss.

That being said, it's not like I had a bad time, I just wished it was better, and running around Gotham doing side missions just did not seem appealing to me.

7) Prodeus

Boomer shooter time! Prodeus is a pretty simple minded first person shooter with linear level design but sometimes that’s all you need. There is not much to say about the game other than I enjoyed my time with it. The guns feel good, the levels themselves aren’t overly simple or too complex. It’s just fun to pick up and play.

Are there better boomer shooters out there? Absolutely yes, were they in the group of the last 10 games I played to completion? Absolutely not. Still a fun time if you happen to have it in your steam library thanks to a humble bundle or something. Plus it has a somewhat active community of the Steam Workshop making campaigns so it’s potentially an unlimited source content.

8) Tomba!

“Tomba!” is another one of those games that I have constantly started, but also constantly dropped due to distractions. I always loved the aesthetic of the game ever since I saw it in a demo disc as a child but it was not until spring of this year where I finally decided to hunker down and beat the game. I had an overall good time with it. Though the game itself certainly ends up devolving into a scavenger hunt, it does not take super long to beat.

It’s a shame this franchise never made it past 2 games. I did very much like the vibes this game was giving, and I suspect that if they kept making them they would have ironed out the problems it did have. Unfortunately Tomba! does have a bunch of problems so it does end up pretty low on this list, but please keep this in mind: I did like this game. It’s just that I liked the other games more.

9) The Count Lucanor

I suspect not many people know about this game. I find myself having a hard time even describing what it is. My best guess is some hybrid of a survival horror game mixed with an adventure game, only no real ability to fight back. The count Lucanor fell into my radar after I played Yuppie Pyscho (a game made by the same developer) back in 2021.

You could call this a Proto Version of Yuppie Psycho which is very much a similar game in both aesthetic and game-play; however, there are plenty of things holding The Count Lucanor back. First the game’s walk speed is much slower than that of the follow up game. Then there is the fact that there is no run button. I suspect this was on purpose to make it harder for you to escape the game's obstacles but in practice it ends up making the game feel much longer than it needs to be. While the story itself seems much shorter than that of Yuppie Psycho, the game itself feels longer just because doing everything takes longer.

It’s still overall a good game I would say, It’s just really hard to go back to if you played the studio’s more recent games of the same style. I would still suggest giving it a shot but if you happen to be one of the people who has already played Yuppie Psycho I would say you could easily skip this one.

10) Shift Happens

Shift Happens is a 2D co-op platformer game I ended up picking up as a potential filler game for the Giant Bomb Community Endurance run. I ended up playing through the whole thing with a friend somewhat recently and had a decent enough time with it. The main focus of most of this game's puzzles is the ability to shift sizes between yourself and your partner. They do sprinkle in new mechanics as the game goes on as well. There is nothing here that is super impressive but nothing really comes off as particularly bad either.

There are some competitive aspects to the game as well which oddly enough had me fairly engaged. Though that had more to do with the fact that I personally enjoy competition, and my friend provided an excellent challenge when it came to seeing who could get the better score by the end.

If you like co-op games it’s certainly a decent one of those. That being said I would have a hard time recommending it over other games in the Genre like the “We were here” franchise, portal 2 or It Takes Two.

Honorable Mentions:

Trails in the Sky FC:

This game absolutely would have topped this list if not for the fact that it is the 11th game I played over the last few years. It’s hard to describe what makes this game feel good to me but I can honestly say it’s easily one of the best JRPG’s I have played in a long time.

The story itself never really gets super high stakes, instead feeling like multiple chapters of an ongoing mystery that keeps popping up as the characters are on their journey, but the characters and their interactions with one another kept me interested in the game's story the whole way through. It also provides a decent challenge when playing on hard, which is a nice change of pace from what I am used to when playing JRPGS.

Now since this game is very much on point for a 3D remake I would say, maybe wait for that to come out and see if you’re interested, but if you are itching for an old school JRPG and somehow haven’t tried this one then give it a shot.

Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel

This game seems like an odd addition to the list but hear me out. There is no other game I have played more than Master Duel over the last 4 years. Can you actually beat Master Duel? Not really, but it’s easily the game I have put the most time into ever since it was released. Master Duels format is probably the most annoying it ever has been right now, but even still it’s probably the slickest game client for a digital TGC I have ever seen. If you ever enjoyed Yu-Gi-Oh in the past I would highly recommend it. Just don’t expect the “T-Set” and pass to be a viable strategy anymore.