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But if last year set high expectations, 2024 subverted each and every one of them.
The truth is, it’s been another banner year.
And yes, it was difficult to narrow it down to just 25.
Game of the Year 2024
25.
Combat is kinetic, encounters varied, and enemy design a constant surprise.
Though it makes the game difficult to compare, it also makes it singular.
“Unicorn Overlord’s secret sauce is how your characters play off of each other.
It is a bunch of beautiful systems interacting beautifully.
For years, there has been a distinct lack of something akin to Final Fantasy Tactics.
And yet here we are.
Enemy AI is domineering, shifting weight around improvised combat arenas with little regard for your safety.
The comedic writing, visual jokes, and brilliant voice acting become more chaotic as you complete tasks.
Then you’ll start digging into the details, tweaking your mini-factory to improve efficiency.
Soon you’ll find Satisfactory to be all-consuming, industrialization of an alien world infiltrating your dreams.
“Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is one of the best RPGs I’ve played in years.
It’s impressive then thatCall of Duty: Black Ops 6feels like such a breath of fresh air.
Omnimovement was born, a movement system which allows for sprinting and sliding in any direction.
In Black Ops 6, you get a glimpse at the future of Call of Duty.
A thing of pure beauty.
“Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is an intricate puzzle box of interconnected parts.
Developer Simogo has delivered a truly mesmerizing non-linear mystery.
Frostpunk 2
Developer: 11 Bit Studios |Platform(s): PC
Death comes for us all.
Frostpunk 2 is beautifully, brilliantly brutal in the best possible sense.
Complex resource-management systems allow for rapid expansion, and oversight of workforces and population relationships are an ever-present burden.
You get Persona 3 Reload, one of the best RPG remakes ever.
This mega dungeon is still a grind, but has been much improved in Reload.
But best of all are all the seemingly small touches that bring Dragon’s Dogma 2 to life.
Sprinkle in phenomenal combat (did I mention you’re free to grab people?)
and you’ve got the makings of an all-timer RPG.
Hellblade 2 is a journey well worth taking.
There’s no combat, no direction given, and exceptionally basic puzzles to solve.
A lo-fi Metroidvania with a stripped-back pixelated visual style.
This is a game of discovery, after all; an astonishing achievement from a solitary developer.
As we said in ourAnimal Well review, it’s a pure, singular delight.
Such a simple idea executed with absolute precision; navigating a labyrinthian world has never felt so purposeful.
“In its most inspiring moments, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a wonderful Metroidvania.
There’s more to The Lost Crown than a few neat tricks, mind.
That Rebirth is such a resounding success only speaks to the quality of its production.
Rebirth is a true system showcase for the PS5.
Square Enix really did achieve the impossible with Rebirth.
Space Marine 2 feels like the modernization of a third-person shooter formula which died in an older console generation.
Part of it is the way characters interplay, breathing life into the complicated machinations of the wider narrative.
The studio needed a win, and it needed it badly.
Sharp character writing intersects brilliantly with sweeping narrative arcs, and snappier action-RPG combat ensures that momentum rarely subsides.
Regardless of your history with the series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard isthebest RPGof 2024.
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s time to look back on the year.
