Games Happy

Whereas a lot of 2024’s speak within the gaming business revolved round being a “gradual” yr for the AAA house, it quietly turned considered one of my favourite current years for video video games. There have been an avalanche of area of interest video games that caught my consideration, though fairly a handful of them went below the radar. It was a incredible yr for RPGs as properly, which helps this web site proceed to function I suppose.

In reality, there have been so many video games I liked in 2024 that… I occurred to finish up with 9 Honorable Mentions that I actually, actually wished to place in my high 10 and it simply didn’t sit proper with me to not acknowledge them in any respect.

The High 9 Video games That Didn’t Make the High Ten (in no order)

• Destiny/keep evening Remastered – Surreal to see an official western launch for this after 20 years. I can’t look forward to Destiny/hole ataraxia Remastered.
   
• Megaton Musashi W: Wired – Criminally missed mecha motion RPG with one of the absurd storylines in current reminiscence. I partially blame Stage-5 for doing their greatest to not market this recreation within the west in any respect. Learn my overview of Megaton Musashi W: Wired to seek out out why it is superior.
   
• Warhammer 40,000: Area Marine 2 – Strong follow-up to the primary Area Marine, regardless of my gripes with how sluggish it’s to navigate its house base menu.
   
• Unicorn Overlord – Vanillaware reintroduced the trendy world to Ogre Battle and whereas it isn’t good, the flexibility of its unit administration programs made my mind worms blissful.
   
• Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Membership – I lastly sat down and marathoned the 2 Famicom Detective Membership remakes and this brand-new entry in every week. Nonetheless torn on how the finale and epilogue have been introduced, however I love the audacity to do it in such a style.
   
• Balatro – Intelligent poker roguelite deckbuilder that proves you solely really want One Catchy Observe to maintain you coming again.
   
• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance – An above & past expanded launch of SMTV that not appears like abysmal dogshit to play as a result of it’s on extra highly effective {hardware} now & if there was a class for “Finest & Most New Music in an Enlargement”, this could in all probability win it.
   
• Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Caught in a well-documented hell of improvement for a few years, Granblue Fantasy: Relink captured the RPG world earlier this yr briefly and have become considered one of my favourite success tales. It has an extremely stable basis and I hope to see a giant sequel to it sometime that irons out its tough edges.
   
• Full Steel Daemon: Muramasa – Didn’t launch this yr, however I lastly bought round to studying it as a result of I bought right into a Massive Visible Novel Temper that lasted roughly two months. Unbelievable piece of literature with a novel center-aligned presentation and fascinating ensemble wrapped up in some cool mecha combat sequences. Truthful warning for those who resolve to learn this – it’s not for the weak of coronary heart and comprises some particularly graphic and brutal scenes.

10) Tsukihime -A bit of blue glass moon-

Again when Witch on the Holy Evening introduced that its 2022 remaster can be receiving an official English launch within the west, I hurriedly expressed my pleasure mere hours after it was introduced. I dared to dream that maybe we’d even see a western launch of Tsukihime -A bit of blue glass moon- finally and this yr, Sort-Moon and Aniplex answered these needs; hell, they even lastly formally launched Destiny/keep evening within the west after twenty years, too.

I used to be so totally engrossed and impressed on the manufacturing values of Tsukihime -A bit of blue glass moon- in how a lot it re-envisioned the Arcueid and Ciel routes (particularly Ciel) of the unique visible novel. There is definitely nonetheless benefit in studying the unique and I believe it’s value studying each variations.

Whereas I admittedly am a much bigger fan of the Far Aspect routes which have but to be tailored within the second half of the Tsukihime remake mission, what -A bit of blue glass moon- presents has me very desirous to see how these prove. For my full ideas, learn my Tsukihime -A bit of blue glass moon- overview earlier this yr.

As soon as once more, I dare to dream even larger and bolder now… an earnest want to see a worldwide simultaneous launch of Tsukihime -The opposite facet of purple garden-.

9) Satan Blade Reboot

Developed throughout 6.5 years by Vanillaware artist Shigatake, Satan Blade Reboot is a mesmerizing, blood-pumping shmup that completely captures the purity of the style on a scientific and inventive stage. Its controls are extremely responsive and its risk-vs-reward mechanics based mostly on proximity to enemies may be very simple to know, but exhausting to grasp particularly on increased difficulties. Shigatake additionally rebuilt the whole authentic Satan Blade recreation that this remake is predicated off of on Taking pictures Recreation Builder and included it in Satan Blade Reboot as an unlockable, so gamers can see what the unique recreation was like.

Composer hasu did a completely stellar job respiration life into Satan Blade Reboot’s OST and it’s simply considered one of my favourite soundtracks in 2024. Even for those who’re not planning on shopping for the sport, I closely advocate testing the sport’s OST at hasu’s Bandcamp web page.

8) The Thaumaturge

From Polish developer Idiot’s Idea, The Thaumaturge is a darkish horse RPG set in an alternate historical past 1905 Warsaw the place its historic context parallels real-world occasions with a supernatural twist. You play as a detective that may faucet into the darkish arts to properly… name upon what are principally Personas, although they’re all derived from widespread native folklore and myths. It is among the most immersive video games I’ve performed this yr that’s not like another recreation I’ve performed in current reminiscence in the case of its setting and environment.

The forged in The Thaumaturge is an fascinating bunch that carry the sport’s emphasis on character interactions properly above their weight. Though it initially didn’t launch with help for Polish voices, Idiot’s Idea fortunately patched it in a post-release replace and that cause alone warrants a second playthrough from me down the road. Extra individuals ought to play this recreation; it lately launched on consoles a number of weeks in the past as of the time of writing and it launched on PC again in March that I reviewed.

7) 1000xResist

A buddy gifted me 1000xResist a number of days after it was launched again in Might. He instructed me that I completely needed to play it and didn’t elaborate any additional. Left befuddled, I skimmed its Steam web page and nonetheless didn’t have a transparent image of what I used to be being signed up for. I booted it up, shut it off after about 1-2 hours, and repeated this course of over a number of days.

It was the one recreation this yr that made me really feel like I used to be drowning as I performed it – and I didn’t hate it for making me really feel like this. In reality, I wrote extensively about why it made me really feel this manner and what makes this recreation particular to me.

I believe my buddy advisable it to me as a result of he knew I loved sci-fi video games that make use of the medium of video video games in narratively intelligent methods – similar to 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Gnosia. 1000xResist isn’t so totally different from them from that lens, however its strategy and the themes it convey are vastly totally different that make it completely compelling.

1000xResist always made me query the scope of its framework and the way it has a lot to inform in what looks like a comparatively tight, tiny bundle at first. Plus, it has among the greatest natural-sounding voicework in video games this yr which is a giant plus to the form of narrative it’s presenting. Unbelievable from high to backside.

6) Astro Bot

Positive, I received’t deny {that a} share of Astro Bot’s attraction is the fixed feeling of “holy crap that character confirmed up” and is the one new recreation that dares to recollect Arc the Lad within the yr 2024. Nostalgia is a strong factor and it’s all the time going to be troublesome to judge the worth it brings as a result of its value is all the time going to be totally different on a person foundation.

Fortunately, Astro Bot is greater than only a ultimate resting place of many forgotten characters in gaming; it’s a well-made platformer that had me smiling from begin to end. I recognize video games that allow me freely transfer stuff in them and Astro Bot delivers that in spades with quite a lot of objects – cube, gems, bones, and so forth. – that allow me mess with their physics as dozens of them fly throughout the display screen with each swipe from my cute little robotic dude. I nonetheless take into consideration that one stage with the day and evening cycle toggle as a result of that stage’s music was a bop.

5) Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth

Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth is a genuinely spectacular follow-up to FFVII Remake that one way or the other manages to totally visualize the whole world of FF7 with seemingly minimal compromises. Whereas it does endure from some repetitive open-world actions and pockets of horrible segments (you already know, the Cait Sith one), it’s exhausting to refute that video video games of FFVII Rebirth’s caliber aren’t actually made like this anymore. There’s a nice stability between its imaginative and prescient, its scope, and its ambitions that totally make the most of fashionable applied sciences to gas the worlds we imagined in our heads as we witnessed the unique iterations of those adventures on earlier {hardware}.

I don’t know if the ultimate a part of this FF7 remake trilogy can surpass the quantity of enhancements seen from Remake to Rebirth, however I’d like to see them attempt. I’ve additionally developed a honest respect for Hamaguchi-san as a result of he simply appears so earnest and enthusiastic when he speaks about his time creating Rebirth with the event workforce. Hoping he continues to maintain up with that vitality as he tackles the final a part of this monumental mission.

4) Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven

When Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven was first introduced at that Nintendo Direct, it blindsided me. I didn’t count on this remake in any respect. After Xeen’s work on the stable Trials of Mana remake, the event workforce went really above and past in making Revenge of the Seven fairly probably top-of-the-line SaGa video games ever – one that may be really loved by each newcomers and veterans alike.

Romancing SaGa 2’s authentic launch felt like a recreation with limitless potential particularly for those who went in blind with out utilizing any guides; the quantity of various situations and the distinctive methods they may resolve themselves out of your direct actions have been extraordinary for the time. Xeen faithfully recreated all of that in 3D, added much more content material, and revamped plenty of the underlying gameplay programs to make it a smoother expertise with out compromising on the issue of the unique launch. As soon as Revenge of the Seven clicked with me, it was exhausting to place it down. After I first went hands-on with it at a preview occasion, I may already inform it was shaping as much as be one thing particular and they didn’t disappoint me.

3) Metaphor: ReFantazio

When you’ve learn my previous works for a while now, you already know that I’m an enormous fan of builders and publishers taking a threat on a brand-new IP – particularly one on the dimensions of Atlus today. By overly counting on new additions to Persona and Shin Megami Tensei in recent times (let’s not discuss Soul Hackers 2), their output hasn’t actually been as numerous as their days on the PS2 and DS.

Metaphor: ReFantazio has been within the works for a lot of, a few years and it’s superb to see it lastly repay in a giant means. What caught me off-guard was how a lot it appears like a celebration title for Atlus as a developer. It amalgamates quite a few programs from their different titles in a reasonably elegant style with a number of new bells and whistles thrown into the combo. If you wish to know extra of what I thought of top-of-the-line RPGs this yr, learn my Metaphor: ReFantazio overview!

Metaphor: ReFantazio can be the key vessel that the builders used to not-so-subtly convey they wish to make a brand new Etrian Odyssey and in the event that they have been counting on metrics to see how a lot of this recreation’s playerbase caught on to that, then the probabilities of a brand new EO coming anytime quickly is just not wanting too good…

2) Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Because the second turn-based RPG entry within the mainline Like A Dragon sequence, it’s astounding how a lot suggestions RGG Studio took to coronary heart for Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth after the Yakuza: Like A Dragon experiment. I used to be uncertain how they’d deal with the Ichiban and Kiryu twin protagonist angle, and it actually, actually labored for me. Hopefully Infinite Wealth is the precise true ultimate recreation for Kiryu’s time within the highlight as a result of a lot of the sport revolves round Kiryu’s decaying situation and the way he has to deal with his mortality; attempting to tug him again for yet one more installment would really feel like (one other) betrayal of that sentiment.

I don’t know if it’s simply me, however the speak surrounding this recreation appears like a gradual downward slope because the yr went on. There’s plenty of fixation concerning the final third of Ichiban’s route and his finale. Whereas I admit its execution isn’t good, I imagine the ending captures the essence of what makes Ichiban such a worthy particular person to hold Kiryu’s torch. There’s an apparent message that Infinite Wealth yells to its gamers that everybody deserves an opportunity to redeem themselves by the top if we take some time to increase our arms out; cynicism and pessimism might make it unrealistic to many, however Ichiban is constructed totally different. He’s him. I gave Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth a ten in my overview of all of it the best way again in January and I nonetheless stand by it.

1) Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Competition

I promise you this isn’t a joke. Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Competition lastly escaped Swap exclusivity and launched onto different platforms this yr. A number of years in the past, I made an oath to myself that if a Taiko no Tatsujin recreation ever got here to Steam, I might choose it up and get a pleasant drum controller to study it correctly if it was good.

So right here I’m on the finish of 2024 and I’ve invested a complete of ~$278 into the sport with zero regrets; $67 for the Setlist Version of the sport, $7 for the 90-day Music Subscription Go that provides like 800 songs to it plus steadily provides extra month-to-month, and $204 for the TDC10 taiko drum controller. I’ve been taking part in it nearly every day and whereas I’m not a god at it, I can really feel gradual regular enchancment and it feels very rewarding. There’s been no different recreation that I’ve come again to time after time after time after time time and again with a powerful need for self-improvement. My TDC10 drum controller sits proper by my PC setup able to hook up in mere seconds ought to I get the itch to drum and that itch comes usually. I really like this recreation and I’m very blissful that this sequence lastly got here to Steam. It might have price me a reasonably penny to get the whole lot, however each second I drum on this recreation has been value it.