2024 was a light year of video games for me. I ended up not playing a lot of big games in the latter half of the year so this year I have three games I consider my 2024 games of the year.
Here they are.
Table of Contents
Alan Wake 2
I’ll quote from my review here.
Narrative? Oh man, this game is a total mindfuck. Just when I thought I was beginning to understand what was going on the game threw me into another loop that shifted my understanding of the game. The narrative of this game are like the shifting sands of a desert, changing around you but ever mesmerizing. Its hard to talk about the narrative without spoiling it but I’ll just say that the ending has left me asking a bunch of questions.
Review: Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 came out late last year and I got around to it in January of this year. January 2024 feels like forever ago. I almost forgot that I played this game but it is definitely the most unforgettable game I’ve played this year. I still haven’t gotten around to playing the DLC for this game and hopefully that is something I will do in this upcoming year.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
I’ll quote from my review here:
Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that its truly incredible just how much of this game’s plot centres around a certain VTuber personality. Of all the aspects of the plot of this game, I suspect this particular bit won’t age very well as it really is a very contemporary thing to put in the game. That said, I found it very amusing and it was written well and made sense in context of the overarching narrative.
Review – Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
I still don’t know why this game has Infinite Wealth in its title. An eternal mystery I suppose. That said, I definitely enjoyed this RPG romp along with the return of both Ichiban and Kiryu’s characters. I am looking forward to what else the developers RGG cook up in the future.
Horizon Forbidden West
A quote from my review.
So when a sequel to Zero Dawn was announced, I was very much excited. Unfortunately for me, like Zero Dawn, Forbidden West was initially going to be exclusive to Sony’s console, the PS5 in this case. So while the game came out in 2022, I did not play the game until it released on PC this year. So I have waited 7 years for this game.
Review: Horizon Forbidden West
Of the three games I have on my list this year, Horizon Forbidden West is my most favourite. That I suppose is not a surprise because Horizon Zero Dawn was one of my favourite games of all time, I bought a console just so I could play that game. As I mentioned in my review, the sequel was better in every conceivable way and the DLC left me with a heartwarming little narrative beat at the end of it.
We are probably not going to get another iteration in the Horizon series if we get one at all. So if this is the last game in the series, goddamn did they go out with a banger.
Honorable Mentions and Conclusions
Before I close out this year’s GOTY I would like to give honorable mention to three things – the Steam Deck and two video games – Balatro and Vampire Survivors. I bought a Steam Deck in the second half of this year as a way to play games in a more portable fashion.
The Steam Deck has ended up being my Balatro and Vampire Survivors machine. Both of those games are perfect fits for the Deck and it led to me actually getting into both of those games I hadn’t been into before. Have I become a card game sicko? Not quite but I’m definitely very much into Balatro.
I mentioned at the top of this post that 2024 was a light year for video games for me. Let’s try another adjective – weird. My interactions with video games as a medium shifted almost imperceptibly in the second half of the year due to the mental breakthroughs I had. I don’t know what the future holds as far as my interactions with video games are concerned and that is an exciting place to be.
See y’all next year fellow gamers.
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