Let’s be real, odds are that 2024 will not reach the level of 2023 for video games. 2023 was a historic year, as I showed in a previous article. However, that doesn’t mean 2024 won’t be a banger of a year. After doing the research, there is a lot to be excited about in the world of video games for the coming year, and that doesn’t even include the many games that will drop this year that we don’t even know about yet. To set the tone, here are the games I most have my eye on as we enter the year.
Note: I did not include games that are anticipated to have an early access release this year, so no Hades 2.
10. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
I view Suikoden as one of the best RPG franchises ever. So many RPGs have you fight against entire armies with your party of four adventures. Suikoden dared to say, “what if you actually fought armies with another army?” So you could recruit 100 party members, and this would affect both your base, and your army strength. It’s a very cool and rewarding structure, but we haven’t had a Suikoden game in well over a decade. People still crave that sort of experience, so it’s no surprise that when this game was announced on Kickstarter it was extremely successful.
You can recruit 100 party members, upgrade your base, fight big army battles. If this is anything like Suikoden, even if there are other holes in the game, that satisfying loop should make this a very fun throwback experience. And having it on Game Pass makes it that much better.
9. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Silksong is starting to come dangerously close to getting Duke Nukem levels of jokes on its mysterious delays and release window, as we reach 7 years since the first game. I’m sure someone will see this and think I am a naive fool for expecting Silksong to come out this year. But I think it is logical to expect a release at some point this year!
Back in June 2022, Silksong was part of the Xbox showcase that was supposed to all be games that were releasing within 12 months. Obviously, that did not happen. But looking back at all the games in that showcase, there are actually quite a few games that still haven’t released from it, and most of them have real release dates in the first half of this year. If Silksong really was that far along in June 2022, I have to think it comes out in 2024. It is also very possible that Team Cherry saw how insane 2023 was for games and decided to opt in to a slightly softer year instead. Eitherway, Hollow Knight was a great game, and there is no reason to think Silksong will be any different.
8. Avowed
I really like Obsidian Entertainment. They are pretty much the ultimate 8.5/10 factory for me. I think every game I have ever played from them has been in that range, and that is not something to scoff at, most games don’t reach those heights. This looks like Obsidian’s own Elder Scrolls lite. We haven’t seen tons from the game outside of a short trailer that showcased some pretty fun looking combat. I’m sure there will be plenty of deeper RPG elements that get revealed at the upcoming Xbox Developer Direct as well. In the end, I have enough faith, and the general concept seems cool enough that I am very bought in on Avowed, and I won’t be shocked if this goes up a few ranks after we get more info in a week.
7. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
The original Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite games of all time, and I also loved MGS2. For whatever reason, MGS3 just never clicked for me gameplay wise. And that is a shame, because it’s the story I see the most discourse about when people talk about the series. Being able to see that story in full for the first time, with more modernized gameplay is a dream for me. The fact that so many developers have been doing such a great job with remakes in recent years gives me a lot of faith as well. We still haven’t seen much, but the little we have seen looks quite good to me, and I really hope it does actually come out in 2024.
6. The Plucky Squire
I’m not sure you could do a better one minute gameplay trailer than Plucky Squire did last year. It’s tough to tell exactly what this game is, as it looks like a mix of an old school isometric Zelda game, but also a 3D platformer, where you are Pikmin sized. In the trailer, the creativity is relentless, as you see these styles coalesce in interesting ways. This looks like the kind of game that will just keep surprising you with cool moments, and I won’t be shocked if it is my indie game of the year in 2024.
5. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
By all accounts, this will be the biggest Yakuza game to date, as well as an emotional capstone to the story of Kazuma Kiryu. This game also appears to be the most ambitious Yakuza game with mini-games, including a whole Animal Crossing type of island management game on the side. This looks like a huge game that might attract more people than ever to this series.
I could honestly see this going as high as #3 for me, but the one thing holding me back is the combat. It really wore me down in the first game. There looks like there will be some smart tweaks to the occasion this time around in terms of movement in battle and avoiding battles all together. We will see if those enhancements are enough for me to at least moderately enjoy the combat. Because if the combat here is good, this has serious Game of the Year potential.
4. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
I have had suspicions for months that this could be a stealth Game of the Year contender. The gameplay clips looked so fast, fun, and challenging, you could just tell it was going to feel good to play. It helps that the developer has also made one of the best 2D platformers of all time in Rayman Legends.
After playing the demo today, this game definitely has real Game of the Year potential. The combat is so fluid and varied, despite being easy to pick up and play. The parry feels excellent (see clip) The platforming is at the perfect challenge level where it gets intense but not overwhelming. And the exploration is really well done, with lots of very rewarding upgrades to find.
And they are innovating the genre as a whole, with map markers that take a picture of the actual zone you are marking. So basically, no more going to every marker once you get a new skill to figure out if you can unlock a new area. If you leave enough markers, you can always look at a picture before backtracking. This is a feature I expect anyone developing a Metroidvania will take note of.
3. Star Wars Outlaws
Back to back Ubisoft games! In 2024! Wow!
This game is almost giving me “too good to be true” vibes. This seems like a crazy mix of Star Wars, Cyberpunk, and maybe some Assassin’s Creed, maybe some Watch Dogs, and add in some very fun looking space battles as a bonus. Considering it was just announced, I’m pretty shocked that we already have a 10 minute gameplay video for this, and it is extremely impressive. The stealth, gunplay, cinematics, a little bit of player choice, and space elements all seem really fine tuned and polished. This feels like it could become a very special IP in the world of video games. I think the only thing holding it back for me is just legitimately wondering what the catch is. That’s kind of unfair, and maybe it’s anti-Ubisoft bias, but eitherway, I’m clinging to hope that it really does play and perform as good as it looks.
2. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Despite not being my #1, this is the game I can say with the most confidence that I will absolutely love this year. There is no way this can fail me. The original Final Fantasy VII is a top three Final Fantasy game for me. The 2020 remake was my second favorite game of that year, only behind my favorite game of all time, Cyberpunk 2077. And that game had some limitations, with how cramped and linear it was that this game will not. They seem to be going all out with the world and the minigames. The combat should be awesome again. And now we have reached a point where the plot of the game can be tweaked or all together changed, which adds an incredible extra level of suspense that was not there when we played part 1. This is going to rule, plain and simple.
1. Metaphor: Fantazio
I’m not exactly sure where Persona 5 ranks on my favorite games of all time, but it has to be in the top 20. So when Persona developers are working on a new IP, I am paying attention.
As awesome as Persona is, I wouldn’t call it particularly “epic”. It’s fun, it’s quirky, it’s impactful, it’s meaningful, but you don’t have quite the same scale of big moments as you do in those Final Fantasy games for example. Metaphor: ReFantazio seems set to change that. The fantasy setting, the stakes, the music, and the voice acting all really foreshadow a plot with high stakes and big battles.
It looks to really take the gameplay to new heights from the Persona series too, with what appears to be a mix of real time and turn based battles. There even seems to be set piece moments in spots.
With the brains behind it, the Persona framework, but with some intriguing innovations, I am beyond hyped for Metaphor: ReFantazio, and I hope it turns into something that becomes as important of a franchise as Persona.
Big Nerd Gaming 
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