2024: A Year in Gaming
Two of Two so far, I’m doing well. A Year in Gaming isn’t about the wider industry as I’m no journalist, that’s a lot of information to trawl through and most of it has been very negative. Think of this Year in Games more as a YouTube Rewind or Spotify Wrapped, but for me and the games I’ve played in the year of 2024.
Catching up on Classics
Something I did try and do this year is get caught up on games that people believe to be the classics of the medium – some newer ones, some older ones: Super Mario RPG, Titanfall 2, the original 4 Sonic titles, Silent Hill 2 (via the Remake) and . There’s always room for more, still need to try out the likes of Half Life, Undertale
The Summer to Summer of Sonic has begun
Back in August, I made a point to start my journey playing all of the Sonic games – it’s a massive franchise that I’ve barely touched over the years. I’ve made a decent enough start having played the original 4 (1, CD, 2 3&Knuckles) via Sonic Origins as well as Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. A drop in the ocean considering how many games there are to go but I think I’ll have them done in time.
52 in 52? The results are in…
And unfortunately, I failed the challenge. I’ve conceded the challenge gracefully, acknowledging my faults and things I could work on. For the full breakdown, check back tomorrow!
A disappointing year for Star Wars (games)
There was at least 4 Star Wars games released this year. Of the 3 that I played, there was only one I even rated – that was Outlaws, #15 on my Game of the Year list, barely scratching in. The Nightdive remaster of Dark Forces is fine it’s just probably not for me which is perfectly okay. Star Wars Bounty Hunter is a different story though – I’ve tried it twice and I’ve hated it twice.
Considering Jedi Survivor got pretty high marks in my list last year, you can see where my disappointment lies.
I still don’t like Horizon
Speaking of trying games twice… I originally played Zero Dawn back in 2017. The problem I remember having at the time is coming off the back of a Witcher 3 playthrough, the lack of permanent mount proved a deal breaker. Trying it again in 2024 with no recent RPG experience, I did manage to get further but I still didn’t make it past the first act. There’s just something about the game that doesn’t do it for me. I think it might be the combat, I just find it not very engaging. Horizon looks like it’s just not the franchise for me - can’t say I haven’t tried though.
The other games I gave up on were less high profile, a range of indies that I just didn’t vibe with.
Platformers? We are so back
I grew up with Platformers, they’re my bread and butter genre. With that in mind, this year has been a good one. Of course the biggest thing is that the phenomenal Astro Bot got both rave reviews and took home the Game of the Year award, showing studios there’s life in this genre yet. Meanwhile the rerelease of Sly Cooper on the Playstations PS+ Premium tier led it to being the highest rated
game on the store front. The end of the year saw Sly 2 and 3 as well as a PS5 native version of Jak and Daxter releasing. If all that wasn’t good enough, Ubisoft confirmed that they’re working on some kind of Rayman project. Rumours say it might be two, a remaster/remake and a new game. Whatever it is I’m there on day one with as many copies as I can.
It just feels nice to have things to be excited about.
Mild Card game obsession – Gateway drug edition
We’re not too deep into things just yet, only two major ones this year. The first one wasn’t even a proper card game but rather the Queen’s Blood minigame from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I played every game I could including the optional tournament. If they released a standalone version of the game, I’d be all over that. As for the more recent one, I don’t want to say too much as it’s getting an extra article. All I’ll say is next year is when I start Slay the Spire…
—————
Only one more article from the end of year roundup before the return of the normal content. Stay tuned for tomorrow!
