I used to start my GOTY lists with a reflection about my year as a whole, but I have a separate post for that now! So instead I'll just talk about the year as it stood for me as far as games. It wasn't bad! It gave me one of the best games I've ever played in my life, which is nice. More importantly though, one of my resolutions was to *finish* games this year, and I feel like I pulled that off pretty well, so that makes me happy. I didn't feel as cynical about games this year, and I feel like that's been the trend the past few years for me, more or less. There was at least one title that I absolutely loved every month of the year, if not more than that. This list is specifically about games that came out this year! But at the bottom you'll find a list of stuff I liked that didn't come out this year too. With that said: let's get it! ## Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092349542.png]] The year started off with a bang. **Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth** may not have had the best story in the **Yakuza** series, but it made up for it with the QOL changes that came from learning from **Like a Dragon**, as well as the absolute deluge of content. I put 80 hours into this game in two weeks, almost like it was nothing. When an RGG Studios game gets announced, it just shows up in my Steam cart. I don't have to think about whether I'll enjoy what they put out. I'm just gonna get it. They've never let me down. ## Unicorn Overlord ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092404962.png]] This might be my favorite Vanillaware title?? Not only were all the game systems [[Thoughts on Unicorn Overlord|incredibly satisfying]], it was the perfect game to play while I felt the sickest I've ever felt in my life. "The game was too easy!" is a common criticism of this game, but it's easy to not care about that when your sinuses feel like they're about to explode. Let's get more Ogre Battle-likes please. ## Nine Sols ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092435597.png]] [[Nine Sols is a Masterpiece|Not much to say besides this]]. ## Ys X: Nordics ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092549805.png]] I approached **Ys X** with trepidation - I was [[2021-02-15-thoughts-on-ys-ix-monstrum-nox|unbelievably disappointed with Ys IX]] and was worried I'd see more of the same bad politics and weak combat. **Nordics** still has, in my opinion, a terrible start. It's too slow and plodding. But once it finally lets you off the leash, it reaches **Ys VIII**'s heights and then some. I'd argue, quite easily I think, that **X** has the best combat of any **Ys** title, once you get the intricacies down. Swapping between each character to build up SP before burning it in duo mode, countering enemies to do cool anime cutscene attacks and playing around with a needlessly complex pesudo-sphere grid all reminded me of the PS2 era of JRPGs in the best way. Also it doesn't have any of the terrible politics that **Ys IX** did, so it could only be up from there! ## Tales of Kenzara: ZAU ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092603597.png]] **Kenzara** wasn't a perfect game by any means, but it being made by a Black guy and also tackling a topic that I struggle with on the daily means that it stuck with me long after I finished it. It's a game that deals with death and grief in ways that I wasn't expecting and absolutely resonated with. Granted, it's also about loving and missing your dad, but...you know, you can't have it all I guess![^1] ## Arco ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092622136.png]] You know when people say they want shorter games with worse graphics and yadda yadda yadda? I don't believe you. I don't believe you because **Arco** came out and about 10 people played it. **Arco**, like a lot of my other favorite games of all time, is a game that's so good that I struggle to write about it. Its powerful story about colonization and its masterful writing had me in awe from beginning to end. It's like, so good and so distinct that it doesn't feel like it's my right to explain why it's so powerful. All I can say is: please put your money where your mouth is and play this game. Also it doesn't even really have "worse graphics," it's absolutely gorgeous lmfao. And that *soundtrack*- ## Dragon's Dogma 2 ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092650264.png]] I love this stupid game. It was hyped way too much by people that had no idea what they were getting into, I think. It was more of the same **Dragon's Dogma** weirdness but cranked up to 11. It was absolutely delightful having a thread set up in my personal Discord and having my friends and I discuss all the different things we were discovering. It's a game that is unapologetic in its vision. I will never say that **Dragon's Dogma** is for everyone, but I will always say that it's worth trying. I truly think Capcom took a blow in losing Itsuno.[^2] ## Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092711134.png]] 1. **Castlevania: Symphony of the Night** 2. **Metroid Prime** 3. **Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown** I feel no fear in saying this. **The Lost Crown** is one of the greatest metroidvanias ever made, and definitely my personal favorite, to the point where I used a Ubisoft Connect trial to play it and then bought it on Steam anyways so I can play it again one day. A phenomenal game with so much style, a perfect blend of combat and exploration, a steady drip-feed of cool power-ups, cool puzzles, cool characters, cool music - it's just a *cool-ass game*, and I'm so sad more people didn't give it a shot. Not that Ubisoft made it easy, but still! Please play it! ## Astro Bot ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092833963.png]] I will never forgive Sony for getting rid of Japan Studios. That's why, despite loving **Astro Bot**, it still makes me a little bitter. Bitter still that it won Jeoff Keighleigheley's GOTY awards. Do you get it Sony? [That's what we've been waiting for](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=midzgCDtncA). Just make some good, videogame-ass videogames. *Please*. No franchises, no more depression simulators, no more Zionist propaganda. Just some good damn games!!! ## Rise of the Ronin ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092906204.png]] I don't think **Rise of the Ronin** is Koei Tecmo's best game to ever be released, but it doesn't particularly matter. KT games fall under the same umbrella of RGG ones - you know exactly what you're getting into whenever you pick one up. That is, godlike combat design, fun dress-up, and probably too much loot. And oh, the dress-up. More than anything else, glamour is probably going to be what I remember most in **RotR**. There's so many pieces of individual pieces of clothing, armor, hats, and shoes that you can wear and layer in different ways. I spent so much time kitting my protagonist out that I probably kept the war raging in Japan way longer than I should have. It's disappointing this was a Sony-published game, because even though it sold very well, we didn't even get DLC! But if your game's biggest problem is that I didn't get more of it, then you've knocked it out of the park yet again, I think. ## Another Crab's Treasure ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092926085.png]] I can't help but be impressed by Aggro Crab. The fact that they made my favorite Soulslike this year is no small feat - particularly because I hate Souls games lmfao. **Another Crab's Treasure** gets away with it though, because it has a bunch of accessibility options you can use to get through the game. Proof that you actually can have those in these types of games! Don't @ me about that. **Another Crab's Treasure** is about a little crab that simply wishes to be left alone, and that plotline is incredibly interesting and thoughtful by the end of the game. What does it mean to be alone? Is it worth it to isolate yourself? And how can we truly affect change in a world that seems so resistant to it? Very rarely do I walk away from a game pondering how to be a better person, so it definitely deserves a spot on this list. ## Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219092940552.png]] I think this might be Kawazu's big break. After years and years and years making weird games that no one but he cared about, **Romancing SaGa 2**'s remake seems to have broken into the mainstream - or at least, as much as a niche game within a niche genre can. But my God is it so deserved. **Revenge of the Seven** is the most ambitious, most accessible, most polished **SaGa** game ever made, to the point that I feel no need to recommend any other games to people that want to dive into Kawazu's strange little series. The developer, Xeen, is on a hot streak between this and **Trials of Mana**, and I can't wait to see what game they pull from Square Enix's backlog and give a second lease on life next. If you have even a passing interest in JRPGs, or if you pride yourself on enjoying [[Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain|goop]] above all else, you owe it to yourself to check it out. ## Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093015583.png]] I mean, I don't really have much to say here. It's the version of **SMTV** we should have gotten, and it's not confined to the Switch anymore, so it can run well, like God (or I guess the Devil - it *is* Shin Megami Tensei after all), intended. The best game to come out of Atlus this year, and no I didn't stutter. ## Dungeons of Hinterberg ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093051715.png]] I was a bit wary of **Hinterberg**, because I find myself dissatisfied by "cozy" games. They just never seem to have enough mechanical depth for me. But **DoH** is just a 3D Zelda game! And that's pretty neat, in my opinion, especially given that we haven't really gotten one of those since **Skyward Sword**, which came out in...well, don't worry about it. But yeah, it's a 3D Zelda game, with great pacing, fun puzzles, and some charming atmosphere. It also has a very interesting story, which I wasn't expecting! I can sum the whole experience up as "pleasant." Just a nice, pleasant game from beginning to end. ## Visions of Mana ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093109784.png]] The first original **Mana** game to come out in like 1000s years is a triumph all on its own. The fact that it ended up being pretty damn good is just icing on the cake. **Visions of Mana** isn't going to take over **Trials**' mantle as my favorite in the series, but it's easily taking second place. I love me a Class system, and the story is weirdly emotional and poignant, as **Mana** games are wont to be. Shout out to the studio immediately getting shut down after the game came out and was successful, though! We love the videogame industry. ## Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of the Phantom Mist ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093128812.png]] When **Astlibra**'s expansion came out, I literally groaned out loud. "Why now?" I thought to myself. I'm going to lose hours of my life to this damn game again. And lose my life I did. I don't remember anything else that happened when **The Cave of the Phantom Mist** dropped. Just a whirlwind of experiencing that unbelievably addictive KAIZO loop. The best part about this DLC is that it doesn't have the two things that make **Astlibra** suck: that is, horrible puzzles and needless sexism. Measured by that stick, the DLC might even be better than the original game! ## Slitterhead ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093145500.png]] **Slitterhead** is a game that continues the long-held tradition of Keiichiro Toyama making a banger that a dedicated bunch of freaks will hold up as a cult classic and which will get a 3 hour video essay on YouTube a few years from now. It is relatively ugly and rough around the edges, and it ends on a cliffhanger, which is extremely goddamn bold for a studio that is looking to make about $4 from this game. But as I said when I wrote about [[My Favorite Games - Top 10 - Part 2#^6ad5be]]: >[!Quote] Quoting Myself Like a Goober >The long and short of it is that Keiichiro Toyama doesn't give a fuck - about the industry, about how his games are received, about budget or genre. He just makes his weird little stuff, and I think if I can garner even half of his artistic energy, then I'm doing alright in life. Keep on keeping on dude. ## Webfishing ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093207651.png]] I think **Webfishing** is a fine game, if you can even call it that. It's more akin to a social hub. You know how Mark Zuckerberg has been pouring billions of dollars into the metaverse instead of ending world hunger and all that? No one wants that. It's extremely funny that this $10 game is the social hub that Zuckerberg wishes he had control over. In **Webfishing**, you fish! That's it. But you also talk about your day, and draw graffiti on the walls with your friends, and play dress up with your silly little cat / dog avatar. A lot of my friends live in my computer, and they don't all want to play fighting games. **Webfishing** gave us a wonderful little water-cooler that reminded me of the pandemic days - but, you know, in a good way. ## Marvel Rivals ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093225871.png]] Yeah I didn't think this game would be on my list either, but given I've put like 20 hours into it since it came out less than two weeks ago... I doubt I'll be playing **Marvel Rivals** for an eternity - unless they add Ms. Marvel I guess - but on launch, it gives me the same fun vibes as **Overwatch** in its early days. It's unpolished and chaotic and wild and that's part of its charm! Frankly I'd compare it more closely to **Team Fortress 2** in that sense. I'm sure, eventually, the meta will be discovered and toxicity will take it over like any other team-based game. But for now, getting to hang out with my friends and bully Bruce Banner has been a blast, and a nice way to cap off a hectic year. ## Sand Land ![[My Games of the Year 2024-20241219093248778.png]] Do you miss the PS2? I miss the PS2. It was the perfect mix of gaming's early wild west years, but with a better grip on what "polish" means for a video game. This combination of easy to make + powerful console was when we got dozens and dozens of games that would be considered niche, quirky 7/10s. Without the PS2 we'd never have gotten games like **Katamari Damacy**, or **Dark Cloud**, or **\[Insert Final Fantasy Spin-Off Here]**. I bring all of this up because **Sand Land** feels like someone unearthed it from a pile of unfinished PS2 games, polished it up, and shipped it out. It's an adorable little game with a PS2 budget and PS2 graphics and PS2 pacing and PS2 gameplay. And it *hits*. It was my most played game the month that I bought it, and it was the *only* game I played for that stint of time too - which is a big deal given my ADHD-addled brain. It's cute and fun and with Akira Toriyama's passing, it's a bittersweet send-off. I highly recommend it if it slipped by you this year. --- That's everything! With that said, here's a bunch of games that I finished that *didn't* come out this year that I liked to some extent: - Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut - Phantasy Star IV - Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Vagrant Story - Baiten Kaitos Collection (again) - Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (again) - Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 (again) - Another Metroid 2 Remake - Metroid Zero MIssion - FInal Fantasy V - Kurohyou: Ryu ga Gotoku 1+2 - Resident Evil 6 --- If you got to the bottom of this long-ass list: thank you so much! Tell me what games you loved this year and what you're excited for next year! [^1]: I'm sorry, I can't help myself LMFAO [^2]: but I mean, then they got Kamiya back for an Okami sequel, so it balanced out I think