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[Punished Miku]

July 1st 2024, half way through the year. What is everyone's short list looking like for the year so far? There's still a long way to go before anything is finalized, but its nice to check in with everyone and see if anything needs to be on people's radars.

I always use this to review the year, but it's not fully comprehensive.

2024 in video games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What's made it in your top 10?
What's disappointed you?
What are you looking forward to but haven't played yet?

 

[TintoConCasera]

What's made it in your top 10?

Both released Yakuza/LaD games, Dragon's Dogma 2, SMT V: Vengeance and Elden Ring's DLC. Unless I'm forgetting something, those are all the games released this year that I've played.

SMT V: Vengeance is super cool, better than I was expecting. Same for Elden Ring's DLC, kinda feels like it's own game.

What's disappointed you?

Like a Dragon: IW, game's piss easy and I wasn't enjoying the story near as much as previous titles. Dropped it on Chapter 4 or 5, can't remember.

Also Dragon's Dogma 2. As a fan of the first game I had a ton of expectations for this one that it didn't met. Still a fun game, beat it and got the true ending and all.

What are you looking forward to but haven't played yet?

Out of the already released stuff? Nothing really.

Earth Defense Force 6 comes out later this month. That should be fun.

 

[Punished Miku]

• Botany Manor - A nearly perfect puzzle game. Really enjoyable difficulty level that is just about perfect. Explore an English manor and collect clues to create the conditions to grow rare flowers. Way better than it sounds.
• Hellblade 2 - My personal GOTY still so far. Blown away by the quality of art design, sound design, cinematography and graphics. Loved it, and hope they make a part 3.
• Ato - One of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played. It's like the combination of Legend of Kage with Super Metroid. Each boss fight feels intense and fair.
• Penny's Big Breakaway - One of the most inventive and polished platformers I've played in recent memory. You can play the entire game with jump and dash on the triggers, so that you can aim with the right stick at all times.
• Hauntii - A phenomenal indie game mixing slow and moody indie aesthetics with the design philosophy of Mario 64. Each screen in the game is the equivalent of a stage in Mario 64 with stars to find, puzzles to solve, and items to collectathon. Phenomenal art design.
• Harold Halibut - The strangest game I've played this year, but definitely left an impression. This likely wont stay in my top 10 by the end of the year, but it's there now. Top tier art design, great character moments and an interesting story. Extremely minimal gameplay, and some glacial pacing issues. Probably the most alienating game I've ever seen, and will not be for most people.

Haven't played yet but will:

• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - This is almost surely going in my top 10. The demo had phenomenal combat and some great UI map additions.
• Crow Country - This is almost surely going in my top 10. Retro survival horror in Dreamcast style graphics.
• Indika - Not expecting a ton, but it seems like a creative story based game.
• Balatro - I don't know how to play Poker, but everyone says this is amazing.
• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake - Never played the original. The graphics look great.
• Eiyuden Chronicles - Seems average at best, but I'll try it.
• Little Kitty Big City - Seems average, but charming.
• Still Wakes the Deep - Looks great, just haven't gotten to it yet. It's installed.

Disappointed:

• Persona 3 Reload - Too much filler content and time wasted. Great art design, great UI design, fun battles. I didn't hate it and really wanted to like it more, but it's been a struggle. I still put in 20 minutes every once in a while to chip away at it.
• Rise of the Ronin - Too much filler content and time wasted. I set the horse to auto-travel for probably 60% of my playtime. Battle system is a ton of fun though. Also didn't hate it, but bailed around the middle of Act 2. Just felt I saw most of what the game had to offer and enjoyed the battles and had enough.
• Open Roads - A huge disappointment all around. Probably the worst game I played this year. Just seems low budget, low quality, barely anything interesting going on in the story, gameplay, or visuals.
• Another Crab's Treasure - The battle system felt like a slog so I used the handgun cheat in the options menu to roll through this one. There's a couple areas with cool design, but not many. A below average souls clone with a unique premise.

Mostly spent this year playing indies, and backlog stuff that doesn't count for 2024. Been going through the entire Gears of War library. Blown away by Lamplighters League currently. Playing some older stuff as well like the Shinobi original arcade game. Did you know that was on 360 from Digital Eclipse, and it's nearly identical to Shadow Dancer? I somehow never knew that all these years.
The end of 2024 is packed with stuff I'm looking forward to trying. Kunitsu-Gami, Flintlock, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Replaced (hopefully), Indiana Jones, Avowed, Astro Bot, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Starfield: Shattered Space, Stalker 2, CYGNI: All Buns Blazing, Steamworld Heist 2, Witchspring R, Demon School, Metaphor, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Slitterhead, Fantasian, Dragon Quest 3 HD, I expect my list will drastically change by December.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

1. Shadow of the Erdtree
2. FF VII Rebirth
3. Unicorn Overlord
4. Helldivers 2
5. Rise of the Ronin
6. Prince of Persia - The Lost Crown
7. Stellar Blade
8. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
9. Tekken 8
10. Animal Well

Next on the buy list is Darkest Dungeon 2 releasing in a couple of weeks. Most anticipated for the rest of the year is Astrobot and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Cautiously optimistic about Wukong and Silent Hill 2. Also looking forward to Warhammer and Dragon Quest 3, there are a couple of things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Edit: and if we're including games that weren't released in 2024/aren't "new" then Tomb Raider Trilogy and Have A Nice Death are up there too.

 

[acm2000]

first half of 2024 has def been a slow one for me, Hi-FI Rush was a lovely surprise and Hellblade 2 was a fantastic cinematic experience but thats about it, everything else ive been playing is older/indie stuff.

 

[Shifty1897]

The only game I've played that was released this year is Unicorn Overlord, so that's my GOTY so far.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Elden Ring DLC

Helldivers 2

Nothing else really comes to mind. This years lineup so far has been pretty shitty imo. FF7Rebirth might be my biggest letdown.

 

[AmuroChan]

Persona 3 Reload
FFVII Rebirth
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Stellar Blade
Helldivers 2
Trails of Cold Steel 3-4 PS5

 

[MH3M3D]

FF7 Rebirth is GOTY
Stellar Outfits was good
Alan Wake 2 was a lame walking simulator
Hellblade 2 was torture

 

[Magic Carpet]

Talos Principal 2- I think this was released last year but I finished it this year. I'm currently playing through the DLC. Most hours I've put in a game in 2024.
Ghost of Tusihma- was released on Windows this year does that count? I've still not finished but I've got over 25 hours in and It should stay on my list of 10 this year.
Harold Halibut- I'm going to put this on my list because I finished it and it was unusual. I like the story, setting and handmade look of the game. VERY SLOW.
Max Mustard- The only big new VR game out this year. My biggest gripes are all the levels have the same look. Not enough variety.
Pennys Big Breakaway- I have not finished the game but I think more people should check it out. My samey level look gripe is here too.
Little Kitty Big City- This is a short cute game that you can explore around. I liked it.
Botany Manor- A short puzzle game that has an interesting simple look that works well and has a nice little story to go with it.
Open Roads- Sorry Punished Miku but I liked this little story based walking sim. Had a nice twist at the end.

 

[Topher]

Best games I've played this year are all remakes/remasters....

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on PC
Persona 3 Reload
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered

I played Dragon's Dogma 2, Hellblade 2 and Helldivers 2, but none are GOTY worthy, imo.

 

[Punished Miku]

Open Roads- Sorry Punished Miku but I liked this little story based walking sim. Had a nice twist at the end.

Damn, now I will probably re-install it.

 

[Bartski]

I hate trying to quantify this so in no particular order, top 5:

- Elden Ring : SOTET
- TLOU2:R (No Return)
- Stellar Blade
- Outlast Trials
- Hellblade 2


honorable mentions:


- Alan Wake + DLCs
- Dead Island 2 DLCs
- Alone In The Dark
- Still Wakes the Deep
- Evil West doesn't count, old game

and

- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends... still playing it weekly same

 

[IAmRei]

Not in order:
- Like a dragon infinite
- Gran Blue Relink
- Dragons Dogma 2
- Rise of Ronin

- SMT VV (havent bought it yet)
- P3R (havent bought it yet)

Waiting for YS:X, uma musume dash, zelda, and Reynatis soon

 

[ssringo]

What's made it in your top 10?

Stellar Blade - Had a lot of fun with my first playthrough. Haven't had the chance for a hardmode run yet due to other releases. Will be a day 1 PC purchase as well. Current GotY.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Great fun as usual with the franchise.
Granblue Fantasy Relink - Enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. I only burned out once I hit the endgame grind.
Dragon's Dogma 2 - I very much enjoyed my first playthrough of the game. It's inferior to the previous game but hopefully an eventually expansion will do what Dark Arisen did for the first one.

What's disappointed you?

Elden Ring SotE - It's definitely not bad and will likely still be in my top 10 but I was very underwhelmed by the time I was done. It's not the general formula as I still enjoy the base game a lot.
Momodora: Moonlit Farewell - A good game that I 100% but very much felt like the dev was going through the motions to round out the franchise. Had hoped for more but the previous game is far superior.
FF7 Rebirth - After Remake I wasn't keen on continuing the other "remakes" but the very positive reception caused me to go against my gut. No chance for the 3rd one. Characters and designs are great. Hate pretty much everything else.

What are you looking forward to but haven't played yet?

Gestalt: Steam and Cinder - July 16
Kunitsu-Gami - July 18
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles - August 7
Visions of Mana - August 29
Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP - September 25
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - September 26
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - November 14

 

[Borowski_1]

10? lol

Have 10 games come out this year?

FF VII Rebirth
Planet of Lana
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Pepper Grinder

And that's it

Still need to play Stellar Blade, Hellblade, Little Kitty Big City and Paper Trail

 

[Magic Carpet]

Pepper Grinder

I didn't realize Pepper Grinder was already out. How is it? Any major complaints?

 

[Borowski_1]

I didn't realize Pepper Grinder was already out. How is it? Any major complaints?

It has some great levels and creative ideas. The artstyle is really good too. Every stage/level has new mechanics and gimmicks

The only issues is that it can be on the short side for some people (4-5h) and the bosses can be hard

It was a fun time, so i can recommend it

 

[Bert Big Balls]

I've played FFVII Remake, Stellar Blade (probably GOTY so far), RE4 Remake (loved it), Dragon's Dogma 2 (dropped, something about it just felt off). Then on my PC just fucking around with LOTRO, modded Skyrim.

 

[Punished Miku]

Also I'd like to try and get to Lorelai and the Laser Eyes and 1000xResist. Too many indie games man. Carrying the whole 1st half of the year for me.

 

[Fatmanp]

Fell off games the first few months of the year and have just jumped back in. LAD Infinite Wealth and Helldivers 2 are the only ones I have played. I have a few chapters of LADIW left and it’s nowhere near as good as LAD but still very good. Played 30 mins of Helldivers and enjoyed it.

 

[Alpha Male]

Let's see, my top list would just be the only 2024 games I have played so far:

Homeworld 3
Tomb Raider Trilogy Remaster
Dragon's Dogma 2 (really enjoyed but was also quite disappointed in the end)

I've yet to play Prince of Persia Lost Crown or that would be on my list too probably.

For the 2nd half of the year I'm really looking forward to Flight Sim, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Broken Arrow, Sins of a Solar Empire, Stalker and Ara

 

[Big Baller]

Let me see what I finished lol

ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree
Still Wakes the Deep
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Tekken 8

 

[Mossybrew]

A lot of stuff so far this year has been average to mediocre. Really my only standouts so far would be:

Helldivers 2
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Pacific Drive

 

[Dazraell]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Banishers: Ghost of New Eden impressed me a lot and are favorite games I played this year

I would also add Alone in the Dark as a honorable mention. I don't think I will include it on my GOTY list, but I really liked its art direction, the setting and general concept

 

[ValiantTraveler]

Final Fantasy VII Remake: remarkable, I love the combat so much I don’t mind the added padding.

Bloodborne: as great as everyone says.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: as good as expected. Having a blast.

Baten Kaitos Origins: not as good as the first but still very solid. The difficulty can be insane sometimes.

Have yet to play:
Armored Core VI
Shin Megami Tensei V
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

 

[SmokedMeat]

1. Dead Island 2
2. Ghost of Tsushima
3. Uncharted 4
4. Warhammer Boltgun
5. Grindstone

So far from what I’ve played.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I haven't played ten games released this year, but the second half looks much more promising.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

I have not played 10 games from this year...


1. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake (kind of doesn't count since it's a remake of one of my fav games ever)
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
3. Shadow of the Erdtree (this may change after I finish)
4. Animal Well
5. Helldivers 2

Upcoming games on my radar:

Mario & Luigi: Brothership
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Hades 2
Silksong (lol I know)


Looking forward to eventually playing, but maybe not this year:

Persona 3 Reload
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Silksong (more likely)

 

[acidagfc]

Disappointments:

LAD:IW was mostly diappointing to me, as the story was revolving around Kiryu once again.

Dragon's Dogma 2 and Unicorn Overlord did not exactly click with me. I may get back to UO later, as the art is gorgeous, but DD is just meh to me.

Persona 3 Reload was good, but I prefer P4 and P5 story and characters.
Finished P5R immediately after P3R and honestly liked it much better.

Liked:

Hades 2 is on track to become amazing. I put 15 hours into it and had a blast. Will probavly pick back at release, as a lot of things are still missing.

Currently playing SMTVV and it actually may become my favourite new game this year so far.

Overall, so far this year is meh.
I am kinda burnt on the Elden Ring after my 200 something hours in the original, do not even want to start the DLC.
Western AAA? Lol, no.
Indies are cool though, have a lot of Steam indies backlog to go back to.

But I am looking forward to 2 possibly amazing things - Metaphor: ReFantazio and Path of Exile 2.

 

[Regginator]

Games that released this year or games (that may have released earlier but) I played this year?

If the former, then literally just Animal Well (4.5*) and Elden Ring SotE (4*).
If the latter, then the list becomes significantly bigger:

• Red Dead Redemption II (3.5*)
• The Order 1886 (2.5*)
• MGS V Ground Zeroes (3*)
• MGS V The Phantom Pain (4*)
• Dragon Quest XI S (3.5*)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (3*)
• Resident Evil 2 Remake (4*)
• Resident Evil 3 Remake (3*)
• Ghost of Tsushima (3.5*)
• Sekiro (4.5*)

Those are the 'new' games I played. I also replayed some this year:

• Disco Elysium (5*)
• Dishonored (5*)
• Dishonored 2 (4.5*)
• Dishonored DotO (3.5*)

At the start of the year, I wasn't sure if I'd hit 12 (new) games in the whole year, but now it seems I'm pretty much already there halfway through the year. Pretty happy with this sizable dent in my backlog.

 

[TheStam]

1. LAD: Infinite Wealth - Pretty easily GOTY for me so far, warts and all.
2. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut PC - It's Assassin's Creed with better gameplay and a cool theme and story, but I am a bit too burnt out by the Ubi formula.
3. Indika - Creative storytelling with an interesting theme, but some frustrating mechanics at times.
4. Balatro - An alright roguelike deckbuilder that I enjoyed but didn't love as much as many people did.
5. Inkbound - Pretty fun roguelike, but not as good as their previous game Monster Train.
6. Helldivers 2 - I'm sure it's a great game if you like that sort of thing, but I just don't enjoy many grindy online games anymore sadly, why did I even buy it.

The fourth season of Diablo IV made that game good, so spent a lot of time playing that. The only game this year I'm kind of looking forward to is Veilguard which might turn out to be awful.

 

[Zarak]

FFVII Rebirth
Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth

Both fantastic but outside of that it's been a dead year for me.

 

[Kings Field]

1. Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree
2. Stellar blade
3. Destiny 2 The Final Shape
4. Dragons Dogma 2
5. FF7 Rebirth


Helldivers 2 would make the list but nerfing shit in PVE made drop the game.

 

[R6Rider]

My GOTY so far: Stellar Blade
DLC of the year so far: Shadow of the Erdtree

 

[Labadal]

It's been a solid year for me, and I haven't picked up a lot of cool looking stuff. Some of the stuff I have picked up, I haven't even unwrapped. In alphabetical order:

Archaelund - First person exploration, isometric combat. Turn-based with a party. Early access, still.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes - Spiritual successor to Suikoden. Slightly below S1/S2, but still worth it.
King Arthur: Legion IX - Standalone expansion to the strategy rpg King Arthur: A Knight's Tale.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Yakuza 8, what else could one want?
SaGa Emerald Beyond - I was sceptical of what I saw, but having played it, I have to call it good.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance - Pretend that the original version does not exist.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory - Old schhol rpg, inspired by the older Ultima games. Turn-based, with a party.
Unicorn Overlord - Vanillaware's spritual successor to Ogre Battle.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy - Lots of reading, lots of giggling.

Too many games that I want to play.

 

[T4keD0wN]

What's disappointed you?

The most disappointing are Homeworld 3 and Dragons Dogma 2, those were the only games ive refunded this year (hellblade 2 would be there too if it wasnt for gamepass, although my expectations were very low for it)

What's made it in your top 10?

Havent played much, most of the stuff i want to play is yet to come, Best stuff so far is:
1. Ghost of Tsushima PC - nearly done with main story, its the 3rd best game ive played this decade so far
2. Prince of Persia: The lost crown - best metroidvania in my book
3. Forbidden West PC - little bit cheating with this one since ive turned off the subtitles + audio and supplemented the story with House of the Dragon, Frieren and Band of Brothers on my second monitor, wouldnt have watched those otherwise and i ended up greatly enjoying my time
4. Hades 2 - so good ive played for 5h despite wanting to wait for 1.0
5. Persona 3 Reload
6. V rising
7. Banishers - exceed my expecations the most, the combat kind of sucks though

What are you looking forward to but haven't played yet?

I have a huge list of potential stuff i want to try this year:
Space Marine 2 (bought already)
Metaphor: Refantazio (bought already)
Black Myth Wukong
Stalker 2 (bought already)
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Shadow of the Erdtree (bought already)
Nine Sols (bought already)
The Alters
SW: Outlaws (U+)
Indiana Jones (GP)
Avowed (GP)
Age of Mythology: Retold (GP)
GoW: Ragnarok
Snake Eater
Still Wakes the Deep
Life is Strange: Double Exposure

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

Erdtree
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Rebirth and Helldivers

 

[Punished Miku]

The most disappointing are Homeworld 3 and Dragons Dogma 2, those were the only games ive refunded this year (hellblade 2 would be there too if it wasnt for gamepass, although my expectations were very low for it)

Havent played much, most of the stuff i want to play is yet to come, Best stuff so far is:
1. Ghost of Tsushima PC - nearly done with main story, its the 3rd best game ive played this decade so far
2. Prince of Persia: The lost crown - best metroidvania in my book
3. Forbidden West PC - little bit cheating with this one since ive turned off the subtitles + audio and supplemented the story with like 3 amazing tv shows House of the Dragon, Frieren and Band of Brothers carried the experience for me
4. Hades 2 - so good ive played for 5h despite wanting to wait for 1.0
5. Persona 3 Reload
6. V rising
7. Banishers

I have a huge list of potential stuff i want to try this year:
Space Marine 2 (bought already)
Metaphor: Refantazio (bought already)
Black Myth Wukong
Stalker 2 (bought already)
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Shadow of the Erdtree (bought already)
Nine Sols (bought already)
The Alters
SW: Outlaws (U+)
Indiana Jones (GP)
Avowed (GP)
Age of Mythology: Retold (GP)
GoW: Ragnarok
Snake Eater
Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Totally forgot about The Alters. Too many games man.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

What's made it in top 10?

From what I've played, more like top 3 so far and which is not Eealy Access or ports of games I already played and finished before.

1) Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
2) Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
3) Dragon's Dogma II

What's disappointed me?

I guess Dragon's Dogma II so far, nothing else comes to mind. I even made a thread explaining why, so I won't repeat myself here.

As for everything else, I won't bore you with huge lists and stuff, there's a lot I haven't played / finished and looking forward to play / finish etc.

 

[AndrewRyan]

These are my favorite 10 games this year this year, but none released in 24. Steam Deck is my primary platform for now so new releases are not really on the menu.

1. AC6: Fires of Rubicon
2. Metal Hellsinger
3. Lies of P
4. DOOM Eternal: Ancient Gods 1
5. Hyper Demon
6. Prodeus
7. Hi-Fi: Rush
8. Penny's Big Breakaway
9. Steelrising
10. Robocop

 

[[Sigma]]

1. Helldivers 2
2. Helldivers 2
3. Helldivers 2
4. Helldivers 2
5. Helldivers 2
6. Helldivers 2
7. Helldivers 2
8. Helldivers 2
9. Helldivers 2
10. Helldivers 2

No disappoints so far because Helldivers 2 is all I have played outside of Street Fighter 6 season 2 update.

Looking forward to playing Stellar Blade when I can make time.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Not even 10. At this rate I dont even know if Ill have a top 5 this year. Sad shit man.

Stellar Blade and HiFi Rush (and that didn't even release in '24)

Oh and Banishers. Cant believe I forgot that one.


.....thats it

 

[mayham2199]

• Persona 3 Reload - Too much filler content and time wasted. Great art design, great UI design, fun battles. I didn't hate it and really wanted to like it more, but it's been a struggle. I still put in 20 minutes every once in a while to chip away at it.

in the middle of this now. Filler content has always been there for the Persona games. I think the difference here for this one to me at least is that unlike 5 in 3 the story seems almost in the background for a large part of the story. I think in a lot of ways it's a much better story than 5 but not executed properly. I'm at the end now and should get the plat tonight but It's weird I enjoyed it for all the things I love about Persona games but was also disappointed as it felt like a step back from 5 which makes sense really.

I started 4 and never finished it but I don't remember being as let down by the first 10 hours or so I put in. I hope they completely remake P4 like reload eventually.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

1. Helldivers 2
2. Elden Ring (base game)
3. Dragon’s Dogma II
4. System Shock Remake
5. Doom Eternal (replay)

Still to play this year: Tunic, D2 Resurrected, Alan Wake DLC and Path of Exile 2.

Not a whole lot of ‘24 titles, but I’m not complaining at all

 

[Danjin44]

And we are still not done with this year....

This was DAMN great year for someone like me who mostly enjoys Japanese games.

 

[R6Rider]

someone like me

I know exactly what you are.

 

[Paltheos]

Ranked by how much I liked them.

Single player games:
1) Persona 3 Reload - Altogether solid experience. The biggest demerit against the game is that some of the instrumentation on arranged, classic tracks is rubbish. Otherwise this is better than P3 FES in just about every way. Looking forward to the DLC in a few months.
2) Witch on the Holy Night -The most beautiful VN I've ever seen. Type/moon upped the game in production quality. Nasu's writing and the localization are also quite good. It's been a while since I've liked a set of main characters as much as I like Aoko, Soujuurou, and Alice. The villain's kinda weak but she was never really that important anyway.
3) Ys 6 [Nightmare replay] - I was a little anxious going back to it as Ys 6, being the first of the Napishtim trio, is famous for its clunkier controls, but it felt fine. Better than before actually. Otherwise it's still Ys 6 - just a great adventure. and my personal favorite romp of Adol's (even if it's not my favorite Ys game).
4) Elden Ring DLC - A solid step up from the base game. The game's still plagued by the occasional enemy that decides to do his long anime combo that you just have to watch until he's done (unless he also backs off) but the world's better built and there's much less repetition in the encounters. Also, after modding my controller layout in steam, I eliminated the input delay. Much better experience after that. I actually feel like most of the fights are fair now.
5) Unicorn Overlord - Big. Pretty, as Vanillaware is wont to do. The game systems tend to be overwhelming and also not necessary to dive into, so I didn't get as much of them as there is to mine, but I still had fun. After a difficult decision, I picked Eltolinde as my waifu.
6) Penny's Big Breakaway - Cool platformer. Needed a little more time in the oven as some of the systems did not have all their kinks banged out, but the core game is good.
7) Yakuza Kiwami 2 - It's Yakuza. There's nothing new here. Game systems are better than Kiwami 1, thank god. Substories are just not at the level of 0's, still. There were only a couple I really loved. Main story is... fine.

New multiplayer games w/friends:
1) Helldivers 2 - Took me a little while to get into but now it's a staple in my group's lineup. We pretty routinely clear level 7 missions.
2) Rogue Trader - 90% of the reason my friends and I play this game is to shittalk 40k and everyone in it. At least one member of our group enjoys killing civvies.

 

[Hudo]

GOTY candidates:

• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Unicorn Overlord (aka Waifu Overlord)
• Persona 3 Reload (OST of the year)
• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Disappointments of the year:

• Dragon's Dogma II
• Homeworld 3 (this hurts especially)

Surprise of the year:

• Slave Zero X

Note: I have not played enough of SMT V: Vengeance to comfortably be able to have an informed opinion about it.

 

[Roberts]

Haven't really played all that many '24 releases. Banishers, Hellblade 2, Batony Manor, Still Wakes the Deep, Brotato, Harold Halibut, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank are my faves so far and even though it is not a new game, Humanity has only come out on xbox this year and it kicks ass.