After 2023 was one of the deepest years in video game history, it was natural to expect a bit of a drop off in 2024.
That has not been the case. 2024 has been off to an incredibly hot start, with every month so far having at least a few incredible games released, and that does not look like it is going to stop for the rest of the year. I’d say that my top 10 through the first half of 2024 is solidly better than my list from 2023. At this point in 2023, I had Dead Island 2 as my #10 game of the year. I would give that game a 7 or a 7.5. My current #10 received an 8.5 from me. I picked a great year to start game blogging!
The two “big” games I haven’t touched yet this year are Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. While I think I’ll like both games, I’m kind of doubtful that either would have made this list. I’m also not very far into Persona 3: Reload, but I just haven’t been feeling it much, probably because I played through most of Persona 3 Portable last year. Other than that, I’ve played pretty much every major release that got decent reviews.
I’ve also played almost every big indie release that has been on consoles, but I haven’t played any of the ones that are PC only yet. I don’t include early access or DLC in lists like this, so Hades 2, The Rogue: Prince of Persia, and Shadow of the Erdtree all wouldn’t be here even if I had played any of them. With that, let’s get to listing!
(Most of the games have links to my previous thoughts on them if you are curious for more details)
Honorable Mention: Helldivers II
It’s probably unfair that Helldivers 2 isn’t on this top 10 list. Some of my most memorable gaming moments this year have been on that game. And every time I have managed to jump on with some friends, I have had an incredible time. This is also an easy contender for most intense game of the year, as I am absolutely on the edge of my seat for 20+ or 40+ minutes whenever I play.
Honestly, this is only an honorable mention because I’ve only been able to play it for about 12-15 hours. I find this game to be a slog when I’m solo, and I haven’t had much luck with finding fun parties while matchmaking. It’s tough to coordinate with friends, and I don’t really enjoy just playing every few weeks, as then I’m kind of re-learning the game every time I pick it up. If it was more fun to just jump in by myself, I think I would have stayed a bit more engaged with it. Regardless, if you are open to co-op games at all, and especially if you have people to play with, you should definitely give this game a try.
10. Animal Well
Animal Well is one of the most clever and intuitive puzzle games that I have played in a long time. Animal Well plops you into its world, gives you some tools, and lets you go wild. It pretty much never tells you how to solve its many puzzles, but because the tools you get are all real-life toys, you can figure out plenty of them with some real-world logic. And for the ones that don’t work that way, the game generally gives you just enough context clues to help you figure it out in a way that will make you feel like a genius when you do. This is the exact kind of game that you can only find in the indie space, and I love it for that as well. I do think the Metroidvania elements and platforming hold it back a little bit, but this is still a unique and fantastic video game.
God damn, I love the combat in this game. Whatever problems I have with Rise of the Ronin go away the second the combat starts. I truly adored how balls to the wall and intense the combat is from the moment the game starts. There is tons of flexibility for how you can play, too, and I loved mixing around my weapons and styles depending on the enemy. The open world elements of the game let you play at your own pace, and I did have fun with those as long as I wasn’t trying to accomplish everything. I haven’t bought any Team Ninja games in over a decade, and playing Rise of the Ronin made me realize that Team Ninja needs to be an auto-buy for me going forward. I don’t think I have a more effective way to convey how much I enjoyed this game.
Harold Halibut has been one of the highlights of the year for me in terms of both story and art direction. The story in the last 60% of the game is about as good as I could ask any narrative game to be, and the game is surprisingly packed with touching and funny optional moments as well. When I do my “top 25 moments of 2024” list at the end of the year, I expect to have 3 moments from this game on it, which is a big deal. There are a lot of top-tier characters and very strong voice acting as well. There are a couple of lows early on, but the highs easily outweigh those for me. This was a splendid narrative game.
7. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is one of two games I haven’t completed yet on this list, but I am very close to the end. I am waiting for the right time to just pick it up and sprint to the finish. It may sound bad that I’ve put this game on a pretty long hiatus, but I still really love it in so many ways.
More than any other game in series’ history, Infinite Wealth nails the side content, which is high praise for a series that prides itself on that. I have had so much fun with Sujimon and Dondoko Island, and with some tweaks and a low price point, both could have been fun stand alone games The characters are so good as well, and there are so many cool moments where you get to know them better. I also like the story overall, even though it has had some serious lulls, especially in the Kiryu potions. The main thing holding me back right now is the battle system, which I like, but don’t love. Unfortunately, there is a lot of that battle system, and fights are not particularly snappy, like, say, Persona. Despite being a bit burned out, I have to acknowledge how much I loved this game for 60+ hours, and I know that when I lock back in to finish it, I will most likely be all in on it all over again.
6. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
I’m only 50%ish of the way into Banishers, so this one could fluctuate the most of anything here, but I feel pretty good about where I’m putting it. Banishers has drawn me in right away with its story and hasn’t let go. This is my favorite story of the year so far. The main characters are both up there for some of my favorite characters, as well as two of my favorite performances of the year. The world, the vibe, the art direction, and the music all hit perfectly, too. Banishers also has some of the best side content of the year with its hauntings that always seem to surprise me in one way or another. I recently compared the hauntings in the game to something like a supernatural version of Law and Order: SVU, which is high praise.
Unfortunately, the combat in Banishers isn’t the best. Navigation can also be a bit annoying when you are backtracking in particular. I wouldn’t call either of those things outright bad, though. If Banishers keeps up the pace it is on, it even has some potential to rise up a few ranks for me, but with its flaws, I kind of doubt it. Banishers is another one that I expect to have a lot of moments on my top moments list, too. Look out for more content from me on this game after I beat it and during awards season!
5. Balatro
Balatro is my favorite indie game of the year so far, and probably the frontrunner to win the best indie prize at most of the awards shows this year to this point. Balatro takes the now very popular card-roguelike genre and throws poker into the mix to make it super easy to pick up and play. They also throw a staggering array of power ups and a damn near unlimited amount of content to top things off.
I think that the poker element simplifies things to an extent where it didn’t have me engaged for nearly the amount of hours as some of the best games in the genre, like say Slay The Spire, but I was very addicted to this game for some 40+ hours, and it is very deserving of all the praise it has received.
It’s funny reading reviews for Hellblade II because they contain some of my strongest disagreements with reviewers this year. I mostly oppose the constant critique that this game is entirely a tech demo. I understand where that comment comes from, but I think it really sells short how intense the combat is this time around, especially if you move the difficulty up to hard. The mix of motion capture, fidelity, and very tight parry windows leads to one of the more intense combat systems of the year for me. Obviously, it’s not the deepest system, and there is plenty of walking and mediocre puzzle solving, too, but I genuinely think the combat is very good in Hellblade II. It has real gameplay, damn it!
And of course, it nails the graphics, art direction, sound design, voice acting, and story as well. This is a thrilling experience that is so good that I’m actually excited to replay it this year with its cool New Game + features (admittedly, it being short helps there, too). I was thrilled to be able to play this game on Game Pass, but even at its 7-8 hour run time, I would have gladly paid the full $50 for it. It’s that good.
3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Right up to the very end of writing this list, there are several games here that I really debated sliding up or down a few slots. But I feel rock solid about my top 3. These are easily the top 3 games of the year for me, and while I expect at least 4-5 games to stay in my top 10 for the end of the year, these are the only 3 that are absolute locks to remain.
I worry a lot about The Lost Crown not getting its due come awards season. It has the unfortunate mix of not selling well and being released in January. Games in that situation tend to slip from peoples’ memories come November and December. This game should absolutely not be forgotten, though. The Lost Crown has both the highest level platforming of any game I have played this year, mixed with one of the more fun combat systems this year as well. Yes, I wish the story and the Metroidvania elements were better, but it’s just so rare for any game to be so good at both of these things. The platforming, in particular, has some devilishly hard optional areas that I still think about. Do not forget about this game at the end of the year. I’m begging you.
I know a game is special when I get near the end of a 60+ hour journey, and I feel a mix of chills and sadness. I mostly played Unicorn Overlord in short spurts over a 4+ month stretch. Generally, by the end of such a long journey, I’m very ready to move on and play something else, but I really didn’t want this game to end. This is the pinnacle of SRPG gameplay for me by deftly interweaving many of the best systems from Ogre Battle 64 and Fire Emblem. Every element of this combat system is so carefully honed. It’s almost unbelievable how close to perfect it was. If I cared about the story more, this might have been a top 10 of all time for me, but it is still an all timer in other ways. I didn’t even expect to buy this game, and now it’s sitting very comfortably as my second favorite game of the year. If you haven’t played it yet and have ever enjoyed any SRPG, you should really be jumping on this. Like, right now.
It’s going to be VERY hard for this game to be moved off of #1. This isn’t just my favorite game so far this year. It is one of my favorite ever. It might just be in my top 5 all time.
Rebirth takes the fantastic combat from Final Fantasy 7: Remake and perfects it. It also adds in multiple small open worlds that are diverse and gorgeous. And then of course, it features many of the most iconic moments from the original Final Fantasy 7, except now with top tier production values, and some of the best voice acting in all of video games.
And you know what? Yes, there are a lot of minigames. But the minigames are mostly pretty fucking fun! I liked them! Sue me! I didn’t try to 100% everything and complete every minigame on hard mode, so that definitely helped, but outside of a few areas, the minigames are optional and actually greatly enhanced the game for me at times. Especially with Queen’s Blood, Chocobo Racing, and the piano.
In the end, I’d struggle to make a top 10 best moments from any one individual video game in most cases. With Rebirth, I managed to put together a list of my 25 favorite moments. That is amazing, and that is exactly why I think that this game is iconic. It’s not just the big stuff, either. They pack so many small moments in here that absolutely rule. When the end of the year comes, Rebirth will still likely be standing in this very spot, and I won’t be mad about it.
Big Nerd Gaming 
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