I played some great games in 2024, can't say I played too many new releases, including Indiana Jones and Silent Hill 2 remake with them coming out pretty late. I did make some dents in long standing franchises I enjoy like Yakuza and Ratchet and Clank, so onto what I did play.
Best DLC: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening.
I finally got to play DA and I loved it, which surprised me with how old it is too. I even contemplated making a character of the year award for how much I loved Alastair, he was my brother in arms. I very much look forward to continuing with thr franchise, but the best may have already been played.
Awakening I remember when it released back in the day how it was a huge expansion and the most expensive on Xbox Live at the time. It was pretty packed and I was happy to play some more and expand on the lore. I pretty much completed the game and then all the DLC's in the Ultimate Edition. Fantastic game.
Worst DLC: Saints Row: A Song of Ice and Dust.
Ignoring the main game for now, what a piss poor selection of DLC. A clone of Genki Bowl arena DLC that was locked to solo only, a forgettable short heist DLC that was forgotten while playing it and then this, this pile of burning dog shit.
The absolute worst part of the main game was this dumb, unfunny LARP section, they actually made a whole DLC for it, they were so proud of it. I hated it so much I can't even talk about it, worst season pass I've played possibly.
Best Co-op/Multiplayer: The Outlast Trials.
Hands down the best multiplayer I've played in a long time. I enjoy co-op escape room games, I "enjoy" Outlast, merging them together makes for the most brutal escape room ever.
Outlast is creepy, scary, and violent. Add in an online escape room and it becomes fun on top of all that. There was a good amount of content on release, it didn't feel repetitive, but there were some parts I didn't enjoy. With it sharing a few maps across a handful of games you will do new missions on repeated maps, but it was still great. I just didn't enjoy some of the tasks we were made to do a couple times.
I'm not sure how often content drops or will in future, but I'm all for it. I loved this and it exceeded my expectations and is without a doubt one of the best games I played that released in 2024.
Most Surprising Game: DREDGE.
Wow this was great, just like Vampire Survivors all the talk got me interested, but watching gameplay I couldn't see it, thought I would try and thank god I did.
The style of the game is beautiful, the addiction with catching fish and trying to fill the compendium, hoping you get the unique version of each fish and treasures, it was just so addictive. My next playthrough will be exclusively collecting every fish and I can't wait.
I played the first Ice themed DLC and it was great to be back, very much looking forward to the newer DLC, plus the cross over with Dave the Diver, I must make sure to play that after how great this was.
Most Disappointing Game: Alone In the Dark.
When they released the announcement trailer I was hooked, never really playing the franchise besides that poor Xbox 360 entry which I couldn't finish, this looked like I was going to love it.
Modern day survival horror looking similar to the Resident Evil remakes and what Silent Hill remake looked to be, but it just wasn't. A great cast of Jodie Comer and David Harbour as the two playable characters, but neither were interesting despite the actor playing them.
The game just wasn't interesting at all, the puzzles were looking similar to games like Resi, but as soon as I the compass tool and needed that multiple times for puzzles I checked out. Enemies, combat, story all bland, the mansion wasn't enjoyable to explore. Playing the game twice as two characters wasn't very unique, just playing with a different skin for the most part. This wasn't enough to bring the franchise back and I doubt we'll see Alone in the Dark for some time.
Most Anticipated Game: Grand Theft Auto VI.
Simple and no explanation needed, let's just hope it does come out and is not the first £100 standard edition game... lord knows I'll pay it.
Worst Game of the Year: Saints Row.
We all knew from the minute it was revealed it was not going to be good. My love for the franchise was enough for me to forget how poor it looked and try it in co-op, surely some fun right?
WRONG. The game didn't work on release, so bad I complained on X formally known as Twitter, and the devs actually replied asking "what's the issue?", I had to ignore because all you had to do was play this tripe and see it was broken.
Two years go by, let's try co-op, surely it works now right?
WRONG. Still a frustrating kerfuffle just to get in a game together. Ok ok but what about when you did play the game?
WRONG. Oh, not the time for that... Ahh Saints Row 2022, just so so awful. I didn't like anything, nada it was a chore and nothing fun about it. What sickens me the most was the developers thought they nailed it, their attitude towards complaints on Twitter, the jokes in game and missions they thought were great, THE AUDACITY TO SHOW THEIR FACES IN THE CREDITS like they made something great. Well you know what? You didn't and everyone told you and did so before release. And what happens? Violition is dead, the team that gave us Saints Row 2006 and Saints Row 2, this is not the same team, this isn't the legacy they deserve.
The main question I have is why reboot? Sure it went off the rails with aliens, superpowers, trips to Hell, but Gat Out of Hell redeemed it all, it literally gave them a way out to go back to normal and avoid needed reboot. Ok so you reboot, why copy the old SR but not have any reasons for anything, why are these called the Saints? Why do they have a church as their base? Simply because the old game did, but then why keep things the old game had and tweak them very slightly? A restaurant call FB, formerly Freckle Bitches in the old games. Jim Robs the mechanic formerly Rim Jobs in the originals, what no creativity? Keeping old things but half assed changes, but they seem so offended by the old game why keep any of it?
Now onto the characters, I hated them all. Genuinely if they died in the game I would've been happier. I'm amazed they didn't have a piss poor Johnny Gat clone, or a rebooted version of him. The new guys weren't gangsters, they were university students and made me cringe. You're telling me these guys formed the Saints? No chance, The Saints are modern day gangsters, drugs, guns money. This students are all about karaoke, baking and LARPing. There's so much more I can rant about, but I won't because thankfully, this game is DEAD.
Best Game of the Year: Astro Bot.
Astro's Playroom was a surprise hit, so it was no surprise a full fleshed out game was coming, it was also even better. Pretty much the original game but bigger and better.
A great hub world, filled with fun themed levels, fantastic music, great gameplay and plenty of new features. The addiction of saving bots and looking forward to who the next special bot was going to be, hoping your classic favourite characters would show.
There were great new abilities, fantastic boss fights and a galaxy to explore and find secrets. Free updates adding more bots and a Christmas level, I hope there's plenty more to come and I am already excited for a next game.
That's all for another year, I need to catch up on a few new releases, plus the massive backlog, blast through some more games from franchises I love and then all the games that release in 2025. Speaking of which, happy 2025.
