Community MetaCouncil's Game of the Year Awards 2024

Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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Oct 10, 2018
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Welcome to MetaCouncil's Annual Game of the Year voting! Vote for five of your favorite games of 2024.



Check out our GOTY's for past years:
GOTY 2023
GOTY 2022
GOTY 2021
GOTY 2020
GOTY 2019
GOTY 2018

Rules are as follows:
The categories for voting are:
  • Game of the Year 2024 Award (main award)
  • Best of Last Year (optional) (new this year!)
  • Ongoing Game of the Year (optional)
  • Early Access of the Year (optional)
  • Best Soundtrack (optional)
  • Best Old Game (optional)
  • Turd of the Year (optional)
Rules specific to the main award:
  • Up to 5 choices can be submitted (ranked voting without point):
    • 1st Choice
    • 2nd Choice
    • 3rd Choice
    • 4th Choice
    • 5th Choice
  • You can submit fewer than 5 games, but you must submit at least 1 game as your 1st choice.
  • For the 1st Choice, you have to write a short text to explain why you have chosen it as your GOTY. It could be a sentence.
  • Do not submit the same game for several Choices of the main award.
Eligibility criteria for each category:
  • GOTY 2024 Award:
    • Any game fully released in 2024 is eligible.
    • This includes remakes and remasters, provided that they are new to your platform of choice. (For example: Ghost of Tsushima new to Steam.)
    • Episodic content is eligible if the last episode was released in 2024.
    • As MetaCouncil is a predominantly English language website, any game getting an English translation in the correct time frame can be eligible.
    • As to be clear, you can choose VR games for the GOTY category.
    • You can submit games from any PC store front and Console and even Phones.
  • Best of Last Year
    • Any game from 2023 that you played this year.
    • Otherwise the rules are essentially the same as for the main award.
  • Ongoing Game of the Year
    • Any game fully released prior to 2022 which received content updates in 2024 is eligible.
    • New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes.
    • This includes massive expansions, as long as it requires the base game.
  • Early Access of the Year
    • Any game released into Early Access (or equivalent) in 2024 is eligible.
  • Best Soundtrack
    • Did any 2024 game have a stellar soundtrack? You can now vote for that too!
  • Best Old Game
    • Maybe you played a non 2024 game this year and it completely blew everything else away and you want to give some acknowledgment.
  • Turd of the Year
    • Any game fully released in 2024 is eligible. We're looking for the worst games.

To Vote send a PM to me Le Pertti with the subject GOTY2024 and format you message as follows:

Code: 
GOTY 2024
1. Game Title
2. Game Title
3. Game Title
4. Game Title
5. Game Title

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Your awesome text.

Best of Last Year:
Game Title

Ongoing:
Game Title

Early Access of the year:
Game Title

Best Soundtrack:
Game Title

Best Old Game:
Game Title

Turd of the Year:
Game Title



Deadline:
January 15th 2025
 
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I was wondering about a thing, what do you all think about cutting games of that only have one vote? For example a game might have one vote but 5 points, but another game has 2 votes but only 4 points. Feels like the game with 2 votes should take priority right? Since we are very low on voters this year lol it feels weird that a game should be in the top 10 with only one vote?
 
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Le Pertti said:
I was wondering about a thing, what do you all think about cutting games of that only have one vote? For example a game might have one vote but 5 points, but another game has 2 votes but only 4 points. Feels like the game with 2 votes should take priority right? Since we are very low on voters this year lol it feels weird that a game should be in the top 10 with only one vote?
Click to expand...
I would go harass people a bit more in the main Steam thread first. Lol. Hopefully drum up some interest and get votes in to even things out
 
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Why is everyone so secretive about their votes? :thinking-face:

1. Zenless Zone Zero
This is an interesting one. Live service games are constantly growing and evolving, and this one evolved rapidly, to the point where it was almost a detriment. But only almost: credit where credit is due, the devs did a phenomenal job reworking some of the foundations while also constantly releasing new stuff and the recent 1.4 release has cemented this as my top pick. Really fantastic conclusion to the first story season and great changes all around. But even beyond the newest stuff the game has always had really good and rewarding world building, a great soundtrack, lots of mini-games, casually fun and satisfying combat that can scale all the way up to giving me the same rush From games do with their boss fights in challenging side content, and above everything: the vibes are just immaculate. The city of New Eridu is just a super fun place to be in.

2. Infinity Nikki
Open world exploration game with a focus on platforming and dress-up instead of combat, that is just a delightfully good and cozy time. Nikki is a fun protagonist, Momo a great sidekick, Miraland an interesting world to explore with already a lot of intriguing lore and world-building, there are ton of outfits to collect and craft and the gameplay is fun too.

3. KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX-
There are so many games in this collection that it's a bit of a mixed bag, but Kingdom Hearts 2 alone makes it worth it, still a very good game.

Ongoing:
Genshin Impact
Looking back at 2024, while I can't say there have been any misses for me personally, there was still so much incredible Gaming to be had that those ultimately feel like a drop in the bucket. Still one of the prettiest games ever imo and the variety is insane at this point.
Curious what the hell 2025 is gonna be bringing, lol.


Best Soundtrack:
Zenless Zone Zero

Best Old Game:
Outer Wilds
 
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My bad, I just totally forgot to cross-post it here.

GOTY 2024
1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2. Astro Bot
3. Silent Hill 2 Remake
4. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth brought back the wonder of the PS1 era of JRPGs with a massive world map to explore, beautiful cutscenes and over the top boss fights. This is the game I spent the most time with this year, and despite some of the open world bloat it remains at the top of my list.

Best of Last Year:
Baldur's Gate 3

Ongoing:
Helldivers 2

Early Access of the year:
Fallen Aces

Best Soundtrack:
Silent Hill 2 Remake

Best Old Game:
Umineko: When They Cry

Turd of the Year:
Unknown 9: Awakening
 
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Okay fine I'll tease you all with the definitive and correct Top5.

1. Metaphor Re:Fantazio
2. Balatro
3. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
4. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
5. Helldivers 2
 
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QFNS said:
Okay fine I'll tease you all with the definitive and correct Top5.

1. Metaphor Re:Fantazio
2. Balatro
3. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
4. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
5. Helldivers 2
Click to expand...
Great list! The only reason Metaphor and Space Marine 2 didn't show up for me is because I have not played them yet.
:surrenderblob:
 
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Think I finally settled on my GOTY list, it took different shape during the year, hell even the number one was very low on the list most of the time, because finishing it I was kind of tired of it because there was just so much game in it, but now that I have some distance I think much more fondly of it and I appreciate it much more.

So here goes!

1. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth
2. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
3. Dragon Age Veilguard
4. Banishers
5. Star Wars Outlaws

Harold Halibut was going to be my 5, but Indy was so good that Harold fell off.
 
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I have to decide on a proper order and check some dates for a few other games and then send the PM in, but my list will at least have Rise of the Golden Idol, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and Tactical Breach Wizards.
 
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Just sent my nominees.
I look forward to being the only one voting for these games but I'm happy to give them a bit of a spotlight.

GOTY2024
1. Steamworld Heist 2
2. Kingsvein
3. Skald: Against the Black Priory

Best of Last Year:
Wartales

Ongoing:
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Early Access of the year:
Beastieball

Best Old Game:
Horizon's Gate
 
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This was easier than I expected when I filtered SteamDB for my games released and played this year (why can't I do this in Steam, Valve? -- That's why they're all SteamDB links btw).

Here's what I settled on:

GOTY 2024

1. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6
I think I spent more time playing this than any of the other games on my list, and I enjoyed most of it. What's great about EDF is that it seems completely and utterly divorced from the general trajectory of game design. It's all about creating a fun and challenging set of co-op action missions, with character classes that play completely differently, and even several builds within those classes that are extremely unique.

What's not so great about it is that their technology stack feels like it's from 2004.

2. Ys X: Nordics
Ys X is not my favourite Ys, but nonetheless, playing Ys in coop is so much fun that I still have to rate it highly. And the new changes to the battle system are pretty well thought out and implemented overall, I just prefer the pacing of some of the other entries in the franchise.

3. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell
I really have a soft spot for the Momodora games, and the other Metroidvanias made by the same developer. A well-designed, polished, moderately-sized Metroidvania is something I can pretty much always play and enjoy (especially on the Steam Deck).

4. Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus finally manages to make a Nu-Persona-like game with decent pacing. Still too long (I lost motivation in the final stretch, will pick it up again probably), still not particularly cerebral in the battle department, still a technical mess, but of course it does have impeccable style.

5. 1000xRESIST
This one really grabbed me. A lot of things that could and probably should be improved, which is why it's not higher on the list, but still worth playing.

Notably, I played Animal Well too, and I'd have put it on the list if it had more space.

Best of Last Year:
WitchSpring R

Ongoing:
Vampire Survivors -- Specifically, Ode to Castlevania

That was easily the best value DLC I've bought in my entire life. And the midway point was absolutely hilarious.

Best Soundtrack:
Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Old Game:
Rain World

The description for this part of the vote says "Maybe you played a non 2024 game this year and it completely blew everything else away", and I can't remember feeling this as much for any other game as I do for Rain World in at least the last 5 years.

Absolutely fantastic game design, sense of exploration, and dare I say wonder.
 
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I voted like this:

GOTY 2024
1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
2. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
3. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell
4. Nine Sols
5. Astro Bot

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Unexpectedly immense, beautiful, nostalgic and more fun to play than most other AAA games.

Best of Last Year:
-

Ongoing:
Vampire Survivors

Early Access of the year:
-

Best Soundtrack:
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Best Old Game:
Teardown

Turd of the Year:
World of Goo 2
 
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GOTY2024

1. Abiotic Factor
- Black Mesa SCP survival sim with fun humor

EDIT: Abiotic Factor is not eligible as it is still Early Access. It's still my GOTY but I understand it will not be counted on the overall pool.

2. Pacific Drive
- Station wagons are back, baby!

3. The Planet Crafter
- Terraform the planet, incremental style

4. Shapez 2
- Friendliest factory automator out there

5. Caves of Qud
- Who do you want to be today?

Best of Last Year:
My Time at Sandrock

Ongoing:
Anno 1800

Early Access of the year:
Abiotic Factor (also my overall GOTY)

Best Old Game:
Immortals Fenyx Rising

6. SKALD: Against the Black Priory
- Return to the golden age of DOS rpgs

7. Elin
- Rare extreme-sandbox rpg sim with jrpg trappings

8. Farming Simulator 25
- Extra dev time made substantial improvements this time out

9. Riven
- I can't believe I'm exploring these prerendered backgrounds in real-time

10. POOLS
- Pure Zen like an art-exhibit walking sim

Melvor Idle
The Talos Principle 2
EDF5
We Happy Few
Showgunners
Overload
 
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I was wondering for next year, maybe there shouldn't be as strict rules? As I see it, why the rules are strict is to highlight games that are specific to the year. Also if the rules were more loose I fear we would just have one long list with every game getting one vote.XD

Thoughts?
 
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My philosophy has always been that if a title is newly released in that year, it is eligible for a GOTY vote. Simple as that.

In my post above, Abiotic Factor was easily my GOTY this year regardless of Early Access status. It's the most enjoyable game I played in 2024 that launched in 2024.

And being quite honest, if Abiotic Factor releases 1.0 in 2025 or 2026, there's a strong chance I will be focused on other releases during those GOTY seasons anyway. After all AF is my favorite game of '24, not '25 or '26.

Now I don't feel the rules need to change based on all I've said above. But it won't stop me from publicly recognizing my true faves of the year that released in that calendar year (respecting that they won't be tabulated).
 
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Le Pertti said:
It does not, I don't know what to do when people have it in their list other than to remove it and move the others up the list.
Click to expand...

I understand there are rules here but I played Erdtree for longer than most of the other games on my list. It deserves to be listed as a full game and deserves a spot. It's a new game not DLC IMO.
 
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Durante said:
This was easier than I expected when I filtered SteamDB for my games released and played this year (why can't I do this in Steam, Valve? -- That's why they're all SteamDB links btw).
Click to expand...

What I do is: sort my Steam library by release date and put everything released in 2024 in a collection – "games of 2024" – then sort that by play time. It is a bit tedious, however, if the number if games is larger than, say, ten ... but I keep the "games of 20xx" collections per each year updated throughout the year (as a sidenote, I do the same on Spotify, each year I'll have a "Albums of 20xx" playlist).

—

my votes were as follows; with extra entries being other games I liked;

GOTY 2024
1. Horizon: Forbidden West
2. Life is strange: Double Exposure
3. Tiny Glade
4. Star Wars Outlaws
5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
6. Tactical Breach Wizards
7. Phantom Fury
8. Lollipop Chainsaw Repop
9. Dragon Age – the Veilguard
10. Tetris forever (but lets be honest, its main draw is playing the Gameboy-ish version; I havent watched much of the documentary parts)


Best of Last Year:
Baldurs Gate 3

Ongoing:
Elden Ring (Shadow of the Erdtree)
This would've been my top game — easily – if they had released it standalone. And they absolutely could've done that, given how big that was. It felt more like a new game than an expansion.

Early Access of the year:
The Killing Antidote

Best Soundtrack:
MULLET MADJACK

Best Old Game:
SimCity 3000

Turd of the Year:
—
 
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Le Pertti said:
I was wondering for next year, maybe there shouldn't be as strict rules? As I see it, why the rules are strict is to highlight games that are specific to the year. Also if the rules were more loose I fear we would just have one long list with every game getting one vote.XD

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I think we do need some focus because, as you say, we don't have that many people voting and otherwise it gets closer and closer to a flat list.

That's one of the reasons I was in favor of the "best last year" category, "Old game" is nice to call things out, but the chance that even a few people vote for the same thing is very small.

That said, specifically for Erdtree, I'm in the same boat that I spent more time on it than a lot of the other entries on my list -- and it's very good. We could have a rule that large, "true expansion type" DLC, that is a one-off release and not part of a GaaS thing, is eligible as a game, since I don't think this is particularly common or would change much. But I also don't think we need to make a specific Fromsoftware-and-CDPR-expansion-rule, we all already know about those games (and expansions) ;)
 
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In case of DLCs maybe it's better to analyze them on a case-by-case scenario. The standard DLCs/expansions shouldn't be eligible but maybe stuff like SotE or Phantom Liberty should, considering the size, time investment, changes to the base game, etc.
So maybe we can agree beforehand on a shortlist of what will be eligible which, honestly, is never going to be more than 1 or 2 games long for any given year.
 
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Just sent my message:

GOTY 2024
1. Nine Sols
2. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Short Motivation for GOTY:
I was quite surprised and impressed with Nine Sols when I beat the game. The game had great artwork, an interesting story, excellent music, fun combat, and some really outstanding boss fights. The final boss was one of the most satisfying in any game I've played and serves as the crowning achievement of this great gem.

Best of Last Year:
Baldur's Gate III

Ongoing:
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Early Access of the year:
Hades II

Best Soundtrack:
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Best Old Game:
System Shock 2

Sure, I played mostly older games this year, and I wasn't expecting anything to beat SMTVV at first. But then Nine Sols blew me away with it's presentation and great boss fights. Vengeance undoubtedly wins best soundtrack though:
 
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RE: Erdtree and such, I've always been of the opinion that if the dlc/expansion is meaty then I have no problem in seeing them in goty lists.
Even Geoff said so, so it must be true. :smart-thinking-blob:

==========================================================
Anyways, here's mine.

GOTY 2024
1. Tactical Breach Wizards
2. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
3. The Rise of the Golden Idol
4. Slider
5. 20 Small Mazes

Short Motivation for GOTY:
XCOM and Into the Breach crossover with wizards in camo is such a fun concept in on its own already, but the ability to always rewind inside a turn simply allows you to experiment endlessly with your tactics and abilities. It's quite genius. Everything else is neat too, great music, absolutely banging art style and spot on writing. It's the kind of fun writing that in lesser hands would spill over into whedonesque quip fest, but Breach Wizards absolutely nails the balance and tone. It's just masterfully executed all around.

Best of Last Year:
Chants of Sennaar

Best Soundtrack:
Tactical Breach Wizards

Best Old Game:
Hardspace: Shipbreaker
 
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Here are my picks for 2024.


GOTY 2024

1. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven (PC/Steam)


Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven takes the best things out of Romancing Saga 2 and elevates it in the ways that all remakes should strive for. A common complaint from people unfamiliar with SaGa series is that the mechanics can be a bit obtuse and sometimes unforgiving. This remake addresses all that complaints and then some. As we can expect, the classic SNES difficulty is still present, and it's still very easy to lock ourselves out of some of the best recruitable retinue and abilities, but the battles and dungeon exploration is still as rewarding as ever. A modern classic in every sense of the word.


2. Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC/Steam)


It's really easy to pigeonhole Metaphor as a Persona game with a fresh coat of paint. Even though it's not completely wrong, I feel it's only a surface level examinations of the presentation. Metaphor perhaps didn't quite offer a concrete solution of the societal issues they presented by the end of the game, but the way they navigated through these themes with certain finesse while presenting one of the best antagonists in ATLUS' repertoire of games is quite something to commend for.


3. Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid (PC/Steam)


A spiritual successor to Boku no Natsuyasumi series, Natsu-mon has a somewhat different vibe than BokuNatsu. While both series are still whimsical, BokuNatsu leans more heavily on nostalgia, and Natsu-mon on the other hand is more interested in looking forward to the future of its characters, which is perfectly in line with the turn-of-the-century setting (1999). The wonders of exploration are still as strong as ever, especially since platforming puzzles are more pronounced in Natsu-mon. Somewhat typical of Millennium Kitchen's older works, it's practically impossible to 100% the game in one playthrough.


4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (PC/Steam)


I enjoyed the new direction of the series after Reverie tried its best to salvage what's left in the wake of Cold Steel IV's ending. Van is a great protagonist, despite him still doing a somewhat stupid decision which was taken straight from Rean Schwarzer's playbook. Nevertheless, the new cast of characters in Calvard is enjoyable, and the social dynamics are probably the best Falcom has to offer right now. The localisation and the PC port is stellar too, I guess.


5. Unicorn Overlord (Nintendo Switch)
www.nintendo.com

Unicorn Overlord - Nintendo Switch - Games - Nintendo

Liberate Your Kingdom, Reclaim Your Destiny
www.nintendo.com www.nintendo.com

This game is perhaps Vanillaware's most polished work so far. The SRPG gameplay loop isn't quite the intersection of Brigandine/Fire Emblem that I was after, but it's enjoyable all the same. Alain as a protagonist is quite possibly the single weakest aspect of the game, since he doesn't have a memorable personality. Despite that, the large cast of characters has their time to shine. People seems to love the elven sisters. And so do I.


Best of Last Year:
GINKA (PC/Steam)


Perhaps one of Konno Asta's best work that I've read so far, GINKA didn't quite have the sci-fi flair that ATRI has, but the star-crossed lovers vibe is still there. I particularly enjoyed the remote island setting with their own special customs. Not quite Summer Pockets (or REFLECTION BLUE, even), but still a great read.


Best Soundtrack:
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
ototoy.jp

真・女神転生Ⅴ Vengeance オリジナル・サウンドトラック / アトラスサウンドチーム / ATLUS GAME MUSIC on OTOTOY Music Store

「SMTVV hallucination」など全89曲の試聴・ダウンロード：ハイレゾ音楽配信と音楽記事はOTOTOYで！ 『真・女神転生Ⅴ Vengeance』の新規楽曲すべてを収録したオリジナル・サウンドトラック！アトラスサウンドチームの小塚良太が手掛けた全89曲ををぜひお楽しみください。
ototoy.jp ototoy.jp
Composed by Ryota Kozuka (ATLUS)

In a somewhat a departure from the older entries, I enjoyed the overworld themes more than the dungeon themes for some reason. But the battle themes, though— This is where I believe SMTVV excels at. Some absolute bangers below. Especially the acid track ("alkalic acid rush").






And my picks of the overworld themes. The dark and brooding "Da'at: Kabukicho" is my personal favourite.






Best Old Game:
Judgment (PC/Steam)


It's kind of refreshing to play someone else than Kiryu after 6 Yakuza games. After some of the stupidest decisions Kiryu has made, Yagami's detective work is kind of a breath of fresh air. Not all the time, though. Things got stupid again at some point, but it's also the best kind of stupid. Also Yagami can have up to 4 girlfriends without any repercussions. What's up with that?


Special Mentions:
SaGa Emerald Beyond — I enjoyed it a lot, but its experimental nature might not be for everyone.
Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town — A great ADV game that's not quite the BokuNatsu clone I was after, but it's still enjoyable. Artwork looks great. I can see why Kaz Ayabe praises it.
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection — It's Edgeworth at his best. The final case in 2 was practically the primary antagonist pulling a Keyser Söze. Absolute Cinema and all that.
 
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Here's my vote. I have only completed one (actually, four, including Ace Attorney Investigation 1) 2024 games.

GOTY 2024
1. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Ace Attorney series came back in 2024 with two stellar collections: Apollo Justice trilogy and Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. Seeing that nearly all AA games are now available on modern platforms warms my heart. Among the three games in this amazing collection, Spirit of Justice is my personal favorite. Conspiracy, tragedies and redemption in a mysterious country... I still remember the days when I was not able to put down the 3DS due to its captivating story. Fast forward to 2024, the 3DS in my hands was changed to a powerful and, more-importantly, user-friendly platform: my beloved Steam Deck. This masterpiece is now better and prettier thanks to the endearing developers at Capcom. It is arguably one of the best adventure games on Steam, and I can proudly recommend it to anyone who long for an investigative and emotional rollercoaster.

Best Old Game:
Watch Dogs 2

Le Pertti said:
For next year, I think I will add a "2024 Game I Wish I Had Played".:D
Click to expand...
I would vote for this category lol!
 
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I haven't gotten to all the things I wanted to play yet (mostly: Echo Point Nova, Shady Knight, 14 Minesweeper Variants 2) and I'm not exactly sure if the fifth spot should be Ace Attorney or Misericorde Vol. 2.
  1. Kill Knight
  2. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
  3. I Am Your Beast
  4. Phantom Spark
  5. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: The Prosecutor's Gambit
Best ongoing: DJMAX RESPECT V - mostly for the first V Liberty DLC.

Biggest disappointment (even if I enjoyed it mostly): Trails through Daybreak.
 
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I've ended up with this list despite not finishing everything (yet), weird year with little time and energy.

best game dlc:
Shadow of the Erdtree

2nd best game early access:
Backpack Battles

top 5:
1) Phantom Spark
2) Death of a Wish
3) Metaphor ReFantazio
4) I Am Your Beast
5) Balatro
 
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1. Dragon Age: The Veilguard
2. Sorry We're Closed
3. Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok
4. Neva
5. Last Epoch

I played less than ten games this past year, but even then it comes as a huge surprise to me that Veilguard is my GOTY. I had zero expectations for it, and little interest before release. What assuredly helps is that I haven't played the previous games in the series, nor do I typically enjoy particularly complex or difficult games. Veilguard truly surprised me, as I loved practically all the characters, the story was solid, dialogue typically much better than what many have said about it, the combat satisfying, and it's the first RPG in some years now to really click with me. It also helped distract me through a truly difficult time in my life.

Best of Last Year:
Dave the Diver

Ongoing:
No Man's Sky

Early Access of the year:
Hades II

Best Soundtrack:
Hades II

Best Old Game:
Fallout 76

Turd of the Year:
None
 
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GOTY 2024
1. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
3. Nine Sols
4. Animal Well
5. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Short Long Motivation for GOTY:
Indy Game - Nothing this game does is amazing on its own, but it just so happens to hit all of my sweet spots simultaneously. I love immersive sims, I love exploring, I love clockwork game worlds that let you wander as you may, I love well produced puzzles, I love being wreckless in stealth then brawling when I get caught. I love stealing everyone blind. My brain justs wants to be a Skyrim stealth archer who robs everyone. This game adds in immersive sims elements, Hitman elements and puzzles. I love all of this stuff. I never think about Indiana Jones, but this game makes me want to be him. It was a surprise mega hit for me.

The 57th Fantasy - I love the combat. Especially the boss fights. I live for them. The character antics, mini-games and sundry are the cherry on top. I didn't buy into the remake trilogy because of nostalgia. Remake's demo brought me in when I realized the combat had been completely changed. I love the battle system.

Cat's Gonna Need More Than Nine Souls - The most satisfactory parry in gaming. Exquisite boss fights accompanied by thrilling music tracks. The postgame has a boss rematch mode, and I did that A LOT. Man, the final boss is a work of artistry all on its own.

Well Filled with Health Violations - Exploring the well was nearly a spiritual experience. I was Isekai'd away to a world filled with animals, puzzles and secrets. I yelled out loud multiple times, "Wait, what!? Really!? Wow!" Genuinely shocking surprises. Delightful to figure out toys. Majestic animals in various states: ambivalent, frightened, indifferent, predatory, spiteful. Many thumbs up.

Poppy's Luigi is Missing - This game secretly houses Super Meat Boy 3. I had a blast with the precision platforming sections. Though not as good as Nine Sols's bosses, this one has great bosses too. The amulets you collect can drastically change your playstyle. The chakra vorpal storm cloud move is sick as hell. This one has a boss rematch system as well that I'll be making good use of.

Best of Last Year:
Street Fighter 6 - My favorite fighting game. Which isn't saying much given I play very few in the genre. I main Kimberly.

Ongoing:
Anno 1800 - I don't play this but seems like they've treated it well. Why not throw cold, tired and hungry Ubi a bone?

Early Access of the year:
Selaco - unless it's an immersive sim, I prefer my FPS games to be multiplayer. The drug is just stronger there. But Selaco is special. Just as intense as a multiplayer deathmatch.

Best Soundtrack:
Nine Sols - a sample boss theme:



Best Old Game:
Marvel's Midnight Suns - They transferred the RNG from attack accuracy to which attacks you draw and are able to use in a turn. That kind of random goes down the pipe much smoother. The life sim is overwhelmingly gigantic and not great, the only black mark on an amazing TRPG.

Turd of the Year:
Plank Builders - I like this game, and beat it, but it's broken and abandoned. The game deletes your saves randomly. Some blueprints "complete" before they're completed leaving a fifth of the model as a ghostly blue, a dead template of where the final pieces were to be. Your monkey helpers' pathing can entirely break down, leaving you to build huge structures, far from supplies, on your own. Still, it's a good podcast game, can't recommend it though.

I Don't Want to Rain on Your Parade But...:
Astro Bot - I haven't told a soul alive my opinions about this game. I will here. Then run away. Everyone on Earth loves this game, good for them. I think it's mid. If more of the levels were like the mouse shrink and the holiday level, I would have liked it a lot more. Astro's movement is too slow, his moveset is too sparse and the power ups are more like keycards than something you can use creatively. The level design is overly proscribed. There's a singular, obvious way to proceed, almost always. Often feels like there's only one way to do every part (I know this is not literally true, it's the vibe).

It's like playing a metroidvania that's a composed of only a single long hallway. Then you get a yellow power up. "Oh, I wonder what this will allow me to do?" Then you reach a yellow door two screens over, open it and that's it. Many of the powerups and obstacles are half automatic. The game half plays itself. The fake physics and the sometimes lack of physics bother me. On a level where you're standing on a ball, circus bear style, you stay still on a curved ramp (a quarter pipe). In a better game you would gently walk towards the bottom because of gravity, but in Astro it's de facto a flat plane.

The platforms are too large. The edge guard messed me up and never helped, it'd trigger when I didn't expect it to. It rarely killed me, but the inconsistent edge guard and the lack of coyote time in combination soured my mood. The camera rotation was very slow and couldn't be changed. I often tilted the camera to improve my depth perception, but the game would fight me constantly trying to run it parallel with the floor at all times. So I'd be sure not to miss the beautiful assets in the far draw distance. Feel is important to a 3D platformer, perhaps the most important thing to me. This game is full of small issues that deplete the sublimnity of the "feel". It doesn't feel bad, but it lacks all character.

Halfway through this game, I switched to Bowser's Fury and 100%'d it again instead. That was much more fun. Mario has weight and momentum, and a fun moveset. I will give Astro Bot this, I like it more than the game Fury is attached to, Mario 3D World. But both often give me the continual feeling of wanting to be doing something else.

Astro Bot was death by a thousand paper cuts to me. Also it's so easy that I'm only partially awake for 75% of the game. But I did platinum it, so it was a pleasant enough time. The music is great. I sing "I am Astro Bot" in my head at least once a day. It's "objectively" a great game with a first-class presentation. But for me it's a bit of a snoozer.

I will never speak ill of Astro Bot again and let everyone have fun again starting now.
 
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I'll post mine here since I DMd already:

GOTY 2024
1. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
2. Balatro
3. Metaphor: ReFantazio
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak
5. Tekken 8

Best of Last Year:
Final Fantasy XVI

Ongoing:
Street Fighter 6

Early Access of the year:
Selaco

Best Soundtrack:
Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Old Game:
DOOM + DOOM II

Turd of the Year:
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (this might be my worst purchase in over 5 years)
 
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