A Year Of Transition
After a year like 2023, it would be easy to write 2024 off as a down year. That’s far from being the case, however. While we’ve perhaps not had the one or two games dominating everything else in 2024, this year is deep with wonderful titles that will appeal to pretty much every player out there. Finding the right titles is the trick though. That’s where we come in. Over the next several weeks sit back and let us recommend some of the very best titles and gifts for every player in your life.
There were times when 2024 felt like it was going to be a lost year for Sony. Some great third party games of course released over the year, but their first party output looked borderline nonexistent for long stretches of it. They didn’t totally solve this, but somehow they snuck one of the very best games of the year out without letting us know until it was nearly ready. This gives us hope that they have a lot more in store for 2025, even if we don’t know much about their plans for the year just yet.
Astro Bot
Platforms: PS5
Team Asobi has done it again. They made the best PlayStation VR game, and I might argue the best VR game period. They then made the best PS5 launch game, which you didn’t even have to pay for. Now they’ve made one of the very best games of 2024. What do these games have in common? They all star Astro Bot, one of the best new mascot characters in decades. This latest Astro Bot title may have drawn the most acclaim of any of his three titles, but it doesn’t really reinvent the wheel. Instead, it goes wider, giving players more levels, more ways to use his awesome moveset, and more nostalgia than you can shake a PocketStation at. This is a game that has something for any player, of any age, and any skill level. It’s the kind of game that makes players fall in love with video games.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Platforms: PS5
Despite the success of Final Fantasy VII: Remake, Rebirth arguably had the larger challenge. The original game opened up in a big way right after the events that ended part 1 of this remake project and while that first part expanded the early parts of the game to great effect, fans weren’t going to accept anything less from the next chapters of this adventure. To say Square Enix nailed it though would be an understatement. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is a far more open game than its predecessor, offering mountains of content for players to dig into. The combat is even better than the last game and new characters have greatly expanded the game’s versatility. We’ll be looking at even more of them in the project’s conclusion and while that may be a few years off, we can’t wait for it.
Helldivers 2
Platforms: PS5, PC
Astro Bot wasn’t the only major PlayStation release of 2024 that felt like it came out of nowhere. It isn’t that we didn’t know about Helldivers 2. The first game was a modest success, with excellent action and plenty of content, but there are limits to how many players are going to get into a top down action game. By pulling the camera behind the back and focusing on the online element, Helldivers 2 became one of this year’s most unexpected success stories, finding a massive audience and offering even better action thrills. War may be hell, but in Helldivers 2 it also feels like an awfully fun time.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
A lot has changed about this series in recent years. Its genre. It’s protagonist in the last mainline title. In the west its name. Now we’ve changed the primary location has shifted to Hawaii, though players will still spend plenty of time in more familiar surroundings. What hasn’t changed though is the series wonderful sense of humor, the character building the series does so well, and how much we love these games. Infinite Wealth may not be as tight an experience as its predecessor, but in expansion they’ve provided so much variety that we really can’t complain. Dondoko Island alone, one of many minigames here, could be its own game and we’d buy it. Whatever you want to call it, this series keeps moving from strength to strength, and Infinite Wealth is no exception, offering nearly infinite entertainment.
Visions of Mana
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, PC
It’s been a long time since we got a truly new Mana game. In recent years the series has survived purely on remakes and remasters, but the team at Square Enix were finally able to show in 2024 that they still have a vision for this series. Visions of Mana may not be wildly new, but by embracing heart and a more old school vision, they’ve given this title an identity that stands out from the rest of the genre and what is on the market. If you like your action RPGs with a little less modernity and a little more old-school charm, Visions of Mana is a must play.
