Alex's Games of 2024

 

Hello, it's that time of year again.

10. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

I have a fairly deep attachment to the Crash Bandicoot series, the third game having been my first experience on the PS1. For quite some time the 'fourth' entry (there have been others that apparently don't count) didn't click with me, perhaps because I had played the remake trilogy not too long ago. Towards the end of 2024, I finally dived properly into Crash 4 and I'm glad I did.

This many-years-later sequel is filled with interesting level design across various cool environments, gorgeous enemy animations, devious placement of boxes to infuriate completionists like myself, and a plentiful supply of tough-as-nails challenges. Even the 'run toward the camera' sequences that the original games were somewhat notorious for, in this entry have a sensation of fairness to the player that was definitely absent in the 90s. If Crash 4 also passed you by a few years ago, I heartily recommend giving it a try.

9. Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line

When compiling this list I had to double-check that the words "Final Fantasy" really weren't included in the title of this one. An odd choice by Square Enix given the trickiness of correctly typing Theatrhythm" into google.

Rhythm games and me don't always get along: if I do have an internal metronome, it certainly doesn't always work properly, or maybe I can't hear it sometimes. When I click with a rhythm game it's typically a joyous experience, at least until I hit that picky metronome's limits. And there aren't many video game franchises with as strong a a collection of soundtracks as Final Fantasy.

There's a powerful combination at play here. A rhythm game that was honed on the 3DS and now looks lovely on a more modern console. Some of the most beloved music in the history of gaming, and not just for pure nostalgia - revisiting these soundtracks highlights the supreme quality of the music, even in FF games I was not familiar with. A surprisingly deep RPG-like system layered on top of the rhythm gameplay, with a dizzying number of combinations of party members and abilities. And of course the breadth of the FF series: sixteen numbered entries and countless spin-offs deliver a huge trough of gaming ditties to pig out on.

While playing Final Bar Line, I did pick up on an insidious ulterior motive to this title. The nostalgic release of dopamine obviously tempts one to return to these old classics, and there is no lack of remasters/remakes on current gaming storefronts. I could see exactly what Square Enix were trying to influence me to do, and my response was: ok, you win, I'll play a lot of Final Fantasy this year.

8. Balatro

I'm aware that listing this at number 8 will cause some consternation for some reading. Balatro is a fantastic game, but it didn't monopolise my attention to the extent it famously has for many people.

For the uninitiated, Balatro is poker-themed but is not really about poker: if you learn poker from this game you're going to get into some fights. Balatro is about playing hands of poker in an effort to amass enough chips to defeat the "ante" you are up against (the computer opponent you're playing, not a minimum bet; you don't bet at all actually... you're not learning poker here) and continue on to bigger challenges in a familiar rogue-lite fashion. At first you have a standard deck of cards, but you quickly acquire jokers that twist and then thoroughly break the logic of poker hands: bonus chips for playing a certain suit, multiplying your chips for using certain cards, and some much crazier, anarchic actions that I won't get into. It's also presented with an aesthetically and aurally pleasant user interface, again in a way that certainly draws from casino environs, but without a whiff of actual gambling. You're not betting, you're building an absurd new form of mathematics.

I've completed several runs of Balatro and as mentioned, I didn't fall all the way into its addictive clutches. But it's entirely possible I'm just hovering on the edge of the abyss.

7. Final Fantasy XIII

As mentioned above, I decided to indulge in some Final Fantasy this year. The thirteenth entry had long been one I had passed over - at the time of its release, there was something of a backlash to it relating to some fairly significant changes to the series' formula and I was particularly attached to previous entries, so it didn't appeal. I now realise this was too dismissive: FFXIII is different but brilliant.

Older Final Fantasy games had turn-based battle systems, but as time went on the series moved towards more direct, action-ish combat. FFXIII occupies an unusual crossroads of those two styles: characters take turns and you select spells and abilities and such via a menu, but the battle is never paused for you to weigh up a strategy, and the central piece of this combat system lies in the "Paradigm Shift". This essentially allows you to change your team's character classes on the fly, jumping between all-out offensive strikes, buffing/debuffing strategic options, defensive roles focused on healing etc. Eventually the game hands over the keys and lets you customise six different Paradigm Shift loadouts, and this is when I started to find a deep enjoyment in the game. Suddenly it was less about picking individual attacks and more about changing the flow of the battles; or as I came to regard it, "Final Fantasy by way of Football Manager".

FFXIII was also criticised at the time for its linearity, that it was one long corridor that only opened up into a more expansive experience after 20-30 hours. By 2024 however, the world of gaming has certainly had its fill of time-consuming blockbusters composed of open world fluff, so this did not grate on me at all. During those linear moments I happily drank in the overly-convoluted story and marvelled at how the CGI cutscenes and character models have aged so gracefully - this does not resemble most games from 2009. 

Final Fantasy XIII is a superb game all these years later, and the best part? It has two sequels.

6. Final Fantasy X

When friends respond to my gushing about a Final Fantasy game with "I've never played a Final Fantasy game", there are a few entries into the series I consider recommending (I don't think of changing the subject, of course). FFX is definitely a strong choice in that regard: it has aged well and embodies many of the best elements of the series.

Around May 2024 I became quite housebound with a steadily worsening case of sciatica. I made the excellent decision to buy a Steam Deck, and the first thing I did with the Deck was to buy the remaster of FFX. I had played the original PS2 version to death many years ago, and was looking forward to diving headlong into nostalgia.

There's no 'but' in this story. Final Fantasy X holds up phenomenally well in 2024, the notable quality-of-life improvements in the remaster simply adding to a supremely well-made game that was ahead of its time in 2001. The turn-based combat system was brilliantly refined by this point, with deep layers of strategy one moment and frictionless quick battles the next. The way your characters progress boldly does away with standard XP-based levelling, opting instead for a "sphere grid" that foreshadowed countless future games' upgrade systems. The story certainly has its cringe-inducing moments and is no stranger to the tropes native to Japanese games of its era, yet it does this with a confidence that I think passed me by back in the day. It switches the tone smoothly from playfulness to solemnity, and its most famously memeworthy moment is firmly self-aware of its cringiness. This is all helped by an astonishingly competent set of voice performances, the first time ever for the series and they really hit the ground running (yes, less so for the English VA of the main character Tidus, but I will go to bat for Auron, Lulu, Seymour... we don't talk about Wakka).

The only significant criticism I will offer is the balance of FFX's late-game difficulty. There are a lot of optional and engaging activities to do towards the end, so I inevitably took my characters beyond the necessary power levels required to defeat the final boss. There are also a number of punishing but again optional bosses (the "Dark Aeons", for those familiar) at this final section of the game. I think something has gone a little bit awry if, like I found, after 75+ hours you can defeat the final boss with a single attack and also make nary a dent in the weakest optional boss. To those who put in the work to beat the Dark Aeons, I respect you but you only exist on Reddit.

5. Animal Well

Animal Well may have found fame thanks to its position as the first game published by YouTube giant Dunkey, but I like to think this indie gem would have found its audience regardless due to the mysterious atmosphere it exudes, its stunning visuals and delightful sound design.

That element of mystique is crucial to enjoying Animal Well, so I will have to be a bit vague and brief with my description of this one. It's a wonderful 2D world that feels small at first but may surprise you with its vastness as you venture further and further from the starting point. It reminds me most of an obscure PS3 game called Knytt Underground; most of won't have heard of that one, so just imagine your favourite metroidvania game, with graphics that evoke a retro feel but in practice have a beautiful, modern pixel-y beauty. The focus of the game is not on combat but exploration, a winding journey of "how can I get up there", "where does that path lead", "ooh I found a little secret area". I don't want to spoil a single one of the tools you'll acquire, because they're all delightfully unusual and ingeniously deployed in the traversal of the game-world.

For those who have already played and loved Animal Well, this is perhaps another controversially low place on my list. Objectively this is an extremely impressive game, and one I'm sure I'll return to just to absorb the vibes again, but this was a strong year for me in terms of gaming so this is where it sits (deal with it).

4. Dread Delusion

Another game I feel intensely nostalgic for at times is The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It was my first foray into Bethesda's brand of RPG's and I spent countless evenings getting lost in the bleak beauty Vvardenfell. When I chanced on a review of an otherwise little spoken of indie game that was drawing clear visual parallels to Morrowind, my curiosity was immediately piqued.

Dread Delusion is more than just a wistful low-polygon rehash of early 2000s PC games though. It discards elements that aren't needed these days. No over-encumbrance from carrying too much junk. Experience is not earned by fighting, but by exploring and following questlines to their conclusion. No save-scumming, you have to live with the impact your choices have on the world and therefore think about them carefully.

I don't think I can praise the writing in this game effusively enough. Small moments are as well-crafted as the larger narrative arcs. A cartographer cursing the forest of giant fungi he's mapping for aggravating his allergies. A guard in the city of the Endless - immortal recovering cannibals that have forsworn human meat - informing me that he won't eat me, but he really wants to. The broader themes of the story are inventive and probably wouldn't have been out of place in a Discworld novel, and discovering the details of this world is a large part of the fun so I will just summarise the premise: you are forced to act on behalf of the Inquisition of the Apostatic Union, a political entity determined to eliminate all deities and root out pockets of illegal deity-worshippers following the upheaval of the God War. I'd say it's an excellent shades of grey story but the colour palette is closer to the maroon of deep bloodstains.

The main knock against Dread Delusion is its facile combat. There's just not much depth to it and not a shred of challenge after the first few hours. I built a protagonist tuned towards magic but I was frustrated at the complete lack of offensive spells in the early goings, and by the time I did find some they weren't exactly necessary to progess forward. Nonetheless, I heartily recommend you lose yourself in the rich tapestry of Dread Delusion's storytelling.

3. Final Fantasy VII Remake

One of my great gaming sins has long been my disinterest in Final Fantasy VII, a game universally ranked among the best of all time. To me, it didn't match my love for Final Fantasies eight, nine or ten; I played it well after the PS1 era, and the reverence for FFVII was a bit lost on me.

As part of my gorging on Final Fantasy, I decided it was finally time to check out the much-hyped remake of FF7 released a few years ago. And despite starting with an indifference to the source material, I had a fantastic time and I believe I now understand some of the powerful acclaim for FF7. The remake is being split into three separate games, and this first part expands the opening few hours of the original into a richly detailed and lengthy experience in ways that weren't possible in 1997. I was awed by the depiction of the dilapidated undercity below the disc of Midgar. I got to know some of the most famous characters in gaming - Cloud, Aerith, Barrett, Tifa - in a new form, delving into their complex neuroses and humanising them with endearing moments of playfulness. And oh boy did I get into the gameplay.

FF7 Remake builds on the core ideas I touched on above in FFXIII, and provides a superb blend of frantic action and considered turn-based strategy. Each enemy is susceptible to a given strategy, and as the game progresses the push and pull of the battles grows yet more fascinating to unpick. By the end of the 50 hour campaign I had no hesitation in attempting a second playthrough on the hard difficulty, and I was rewarded with an even greater appreciation of the nuances of the combat system. Defeating the final boss on hard mode will remain one of my most satisfying achievements in gaming for years to come.

Some might knock FF7 Remake for slower sections replete with padded-out errands, but personally I enjoyed the downtime between the dramatic story beats. At several points the game doles out optional minigames that are entertainingly mundane: winning a pull-up contest at a gym, smashing boxes in the kids' hideout in the slums. If only I knew what I was getting myself into.

2. Astro Bot

If you've been paying attention to these lists over the last (oh God) ten years, you may noticed that I am partial to the platformer video game genre. You may also have noticed the word nostalgia cropping up quite a few times. Astro Bot is absolutely right up my alley, and judging by its popularity, I'm clearly not the only one.

This is actually the third Astro Bot game, following its debut on the first PSVR headset. Astro Bot Rescue Mission made my top 10 that year. Astro's Playroom comes pre-installed on every PS5, and if you haven't played it yet, you really should. It made my top 10 that year. And now we have a fully-featured, full scale, full length Astro Bot game. I'm delighted Sony's new little mascot has been given this much of a chance, because all three games operate at a level I could only have dreamed of aeons prior. Inventive levels that are rewarding to explore. Joyful music and overall just exceptional sound design. Outstanding platforming gameplay, striking that balance of being very approachable but hiding secrets that require practice and skill to uncover.

Astro Bot builds on all of the above with dozens of levels across a lot of interesting settings, and it's a phenomenally consistent, fun experience. I want to stress the quality of the sound design again: I've never played a game that made better use of the controller speaker than this one. We've come a long way from the cute chirps that a Wiimote could make - but you'll have to play Astro Bot to understand what I mean. And despite coming out awkwardly around the timing of the PS5 Pro announcement, it looks gorgeous and runs perfectly on the launch PS5, pumped full of colour and cuteness.

Speaking of cute, I must touch on the nostalgic element of the game. Every level features a number of bot companions to rescue, and a large proportion of those are dressed up as some form of reference to PlayStation games of yore, from Ratchet & Clank to Tomb Raider to Resident Evil to Parappa the Rapper. Each cosplaying bot is then whisked away to the game's hub area, with unique animations you can access that add yet another layer of wistful gaming references. There are well over a hundred of these referential characters, and although there is more than a little navel-gazing from Sony evident here, it's nonetheless touching and the bots themselves are cute as fuck. For me the novelty of this part of the game did start to wear off as the sheer number of the little guys were doled out, and some of the references are beyond obscure (but no doubt very welcome to those who get them). Several franchises with especially strong ties to Sony's past are singled for entire levels where Astro Bot inhabits the main character of that game, and the gameplay is accordingly mixed up in hugely impressive ways. I won't spoil any of those, as they are firmly the best parts of Astro Bot.

It almost physically hurts me not to award Astro Bot my Game of the Year. But it was beaten to the punch by a true monster of a video game.

1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

 

 

I've already talked at some length earlier about FF7 Remake. Rebirth takes what Remake achieved and goes to absurd places. I'm not sure I've ever played a game so packed with fun and interesting things to do, and I'm aware Rebirth has its detractors, but in my opinion there is no bloat on display here. There's a level of consistency and value in all of the optional content that I feel sets a new standard for open-world games.

The combat from Remake is still there, only with more playable characters, more useful strategies available, and in general it's an improved, refined version of an already great template. The characters and the scenery looked beautiful in Remake, and they're improved here of course. Technically it's far from a perfect showcase of gaming tech, but the art direction is phenomenal with a wonderful variety of environments to stimulate your eyeballs. The music takes the original FF7 soundtrack and finds near infinite ways to play and experiment.

So it starts with superb foundations, and then fills vast explorable areas with some of the best open world activities I can recall in gaming. Many of them are small enough that they can be ticked off quickly, but they all serve a purpose greater than the obligatory, video-gamey collectathons they could have otherwise have formed. Equipment, character development or world-building is present in all of it and that made me feel like I was never wasting my time - though it certainly enabled my completionist tendencies. Side quests develop the relationships between the characters yet further and are many and varied.

And then there's the minigames I hinted at earlier. There's a ridiculous plethora of these, often obviously riffing on well-known games such as Rocket League or Mario Kart (to name just a couple). Every new zone of Rebirth introduces at least one minigame, and sometimes it drops off a lorryload of them. Most impressive of all is the deep-as-the-ocean collectible card game Queen's Blood, which is firmly in the same territory as Gwent from The Witcher 3.

The story is probably Rebirth's most unwieldy element, perhaps inevitably given how often I was invited to deviate from the main path for hours on end. This ended up being a 130 hour journey for me, which means that the earliest chapters were quite distant memories by the conclusion. Even so, the presentation is so adept and polished that what my aging mind did cling to I remembered very crisply. Others might also have less patience for the amount of convoluted nonsense in the later sections of the game, but I watch anime.

I did not land on this as my number 1 without some hand-wringing. Astro Bot is perhaps a more pure, closer to perfection video game. Rebirth is definitely not perfect, it has rough edges -those story elements and the sheer volume of content can be overwhelming. Any long game can be tiring, and I was fairly exhausted by the combat but only because, including Remake, I spent 250 hours with the modern FF7 in 2024. Basically the parts I love about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are so strong that they blow its problems out of the water. It's the best game I played in 2024.

Honourable Mentions

Final Fantasy - the first one holds up today (in the Pixel Remaster version anyway)

Final Fantasy XVI - Epic kaiju battles and you can pet the dog too.

Cocoon - a brilliant and unique-looking puzzle game that I was surprised my brain could encompass.

Pistol Whip - along with Beat Saber I continue to love rhythm games in VR

Puzzling Places - a 3D jigsaw puzzle game in VR. It's awesome.

Gato Roboto - short but stunning retro metrodvania, and funny too.

Kya: Dark Lineage - an obscure gem from my PS2 past re-discovered thanks to the Steam Deck.