2024 In Games
It's that time once again! So after the huge release year that was 2023, and with the Switch 2 looming in the ambiguous distance, I figured 2024 would be a great year to catch up on some retro games. At some point I've got to start making progress on playing through the Bomberman series, or dig into all those NDS and Wii games I've been building up.
Alas!
Cool new games just release every week now. This is my life. Video games forever.
⭐ =Play If You're Curious
⭐⭐ = Generally Recommended
(YouTube links have been embedded into the games' titles.)
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~JANUARY~
 |
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
⭐⭐
For my first 2024 game, I finally dove into DKCTR. I had the game on WiiU for a long time, but was gifted a Switch copy by my wonderful partner 💖. I was honestly not a big fan of Donkey Kong Country Returns when it originally released on Wii; I found the controls and movement too stiff compared to the original DKC games, and collecting all the items in each stage ended up being more frustrating than fun. DKCTR seems to have learned some good lessons from the first game, and while I still do not like how Donkey Kong controls, the stages do a much better job of putting fun and spectacle before challenge. That said, the game really peaks early on, as around the middle of World 4, the game starts to get too challenging again. I did make it through the whole game, but I absolutely enjoyed the first half the most. I'm not likely to visit this game again, and honestly I still do not understand why it is held in such high regard. It's good, but I would not consider it among the best Platformers ever made. While I understand that my "I must get 100%" approach to Platformers negatively affects my feelings towards some of these games (I don't like Super Mario Odyssey!), I think it is perfectly fair to expect a fun game to still be fun if you want to go the extra mile when playing it.
⭐⭐
I keep hearing how much fun the Excite games are on Wii, so let's pop one in and see what it's all about. The verdict? I like it! Excite Truck is fairly straightforward, but if you like Arcade Racers like the recent masterpiece Cruis'n Blast, you'll dig this. Now I just gotta find time to try out ExciteBots: Trick Racing, which I hear is even better!
⭐⭐
They finally did it! A full remake of both Another Code games. Trace Memory on NDS was a favorite of mine, an adorable little Adventure game about a young girl looking for her missing father. We never got the Wii sequel in the US, and I went so far as to mod a Wii solely to eventually play it one day, but never spent the time to learn how to load an .iso. Fortunately! We finally have a way to play both games on Switch. Unfortunately! The games are drastically different on Switch, so I should probably still go out of my way to play the original someday. The story remains largely intact, however many of the puzzles have been stripped out. Likely due to both original games leaning heavily on the novelties of their respective hardware, but it would have been nice if the games did something fun with the Switch and the JoyCons, even if it meant you couldn't experience the whole game on the Switch Lite. Imagine if you had to put your Switch in the dock and take it out, like how you had to close the NDS console in the original game! There may have been missed opportunities, but what's here is no less wonderful. It's a touching story with great characters, and it ended up being one of my favorites of 2024.
~FEBRUARY~
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
(Switch, PS4, PS5*, XBO, XS, PC, MAC)
⭐⭐⭐
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the best Metroidvania I have played, and without question my 2024 GOTY.
So a few years ago, I finally broke down and played Hollow Knight once it dropped on Switch, after constantly hearing what a great game it was. And it was... fine. I didn't finish it. I totally get the appeal of it; a Metroidvania where, unlike, say, Symphony of the Night, it is about you learning and mastering skills in order to overcome challenging combat encounters. It's a lot of the same thing people love about FromSoftware's games. But here's the thing: I do not like difficult combat. I don't like strategically overcoming bosses. It's an annoying bottleneck for me. So I ultimately bounced off of Hollow Knight, and wondered what a Metroidvania would need to do in order to captivate me in the same way Hollow Knight captivated others. Well, thanks to The Lost Crown, I finally have my answer!
What HK does for combat, TLC does for platforming. You are given an ever-growing set of moves, much like any Metroidvania, however the real "boss encounters" come in the form of challenge rooms where you have to quickly and intuitively chain together your skills to overcome. The most challenging rooms are dead ends that lead to treasure, but many platforming challenges litter the hallways between destinations. And while the game does include limited fast-travel and a fun mechanic where you can skip past a room you've cleared, I never used the latter. I always enjoyed bouncing, swinging, and teleporting through a games various environments. If I had to fault the game for anything, it is just a bit too long. I don't think the game ever gets to the point where it overstays its welcome, but I do think the average person playing this is going to expect something about 20% shorter.
In addition to the stellar gameplay, The Lost Crown has a captivating story with great acting, a wonderful soundtrack, and stunning AAA-caliber art direction and visual design. This is the kind of game we can get when a big studio is allowed to fully explore something a little retro. Unfortunately, the game just did not find enough of an audience, and we won't be getting another one. What an absolute shame.
I am disappointed in every one of you that skipped this.
⭐⭐
Trip World is finally available in the US! This is a 1992 Game Boy Platformer by Sunsoft and fetches an astronomical price on the second-hand market. This is the kind of retro re-release we need to see more of. I picked up the Game Boy Color cartridge from Limited Run Games, and played a ways into it, but didn't quite finish it. It's short, but tough!
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion
(PSP, Switch, PS4, PS5*, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐
Well, I figured with Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth right around the corner, now might be a good time to wrap up my play-through of Crisis Core Reunion that I never finished. And hey, it's just as good as it always was. I didn't have the time or motivation to complete all the missions, but I did a good amount of them and beat the game before moving on. Also, man, that soundtrack is so good. Takeharu Ishimoto is a king among men.
~MARCH~
⭐⭐
After the incredible Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020, I was more than ready to return to this world and see how things were going to shake up in part 2. I'd say I am a little above a casual FFVII fan, having first played the game in 2003, explored a lot of the expanded universe in the years following, and even had my partner walk down the aisle to Tifa's Theme in 2022. I am well within the target audience of Rebirth, and was ready for it to be the biggest game of the year for me. Nearly everything on offer in Rebirth is not just good, but the absolute highest bar of quality you could experience; it is a gorgeous looking game with an incredible soundtrack that builds off of one of my favorite OSTs. The English voice work continues the trend of SquareEnix absolutely killing it, setting a bar in the video game space that is rarely matched. Much to the chagrin of the unenlightened, Rebirth is full to bursting with mini-games, recapturing a moment in time in the mid-late '90s when a marquee release couldn't just be one thing, it had to be as many things as possible. This was the true spectacle of games like Final Fantasy VII and Sonic Adventure, and what makes them genuinely fascinating to revisit.
Despite all this, I couldn't help but feel like Rebirth vastly overstayed its welcome. Nearly every sidequest felt rewarding, as there were constantly fun and enlightening character interactions, there were just too damn much of them! The game felt like it was never-ending, and every area dropped a huge load of new things to do. In the end, I put in around 120 hours, having done around 95% of the quests in the game, leaving only Hard Mode and a handful of challenges I was under-leveled for. Maybe it's my own fault for trying to do everything, but like I said about Tropical Freeze earlier, a game should be fun whether you do the bare minimum or go for 100%!
Regarding the story... Well I guess I can't really get into it here too deep, so I will just say that while I like that it turns out that we are not doing a multiverse story, I wish Rebirth made it just a little more clear what all the disparate realities actually are. I guess I'm still looking forward to the final FFVII game, but I hope the next one is closer to the length of Remake. Maybe in between now and then I will finally play through Dirge of Cerberus.
⭐⭐
I got my hands on a set of Wii maracas, so broke out my copy of Samba de Amigo. I had picked up Party Central for Switch a few months prior, but had never played the original! It's a fun rhythm game, with some light cardio, to boot!
⭐⭐
Seemingly out of nowhere, Super Mario Run started receiving updates again in October 2023 alongside the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Then, all throughout 2024 beginning in March, new challenges would be added each time a new Mario game released. Naturally, I played along, and even went back and finally unlocked and completed every level in World Star. This game gets some flack, as does the whole New Super Mario Bros. series, but honestly aside from the presentation of these games being bland, they're all fantastic. I never really stopped playing Super Mario Run, and it was nice to have incentives to pop in more regularly this year.
~APRIL~
⭐
I had been looking forward to this since the announcement, and all the pieces were in place for me to love it: the team behind Sonic Mania, including the great composer Tee Lopes, all coming together to make their version of a 3D Sonic game sounded too good to be true. And honestly, I just couldn't find a good groove in it. It is too difficult to build momentum, and it never clicked for me how to maintain it. I can tell there's something special here, but it just didn't click for me. Maybe I'll go back at some point, but with how rapidly games release these days, I likely won't.
(Switch*, PS4, PS5, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐
This one is a cute and enjoyable pixel-art Zelda-like I played as a palette-cleanser after finishing Rebirth and bouncing off of Penny. I had a good time with it, but don't really have anything compelling to say about it. I love Zelda and games that play like Zelda. This one is solid.
Yeah! You Want "Those Games," Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Clear Them!
⭐⭐
Yeah! You Want "Those Games," Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Clear Them! is a minigame compilation of those games. You know the ones. The games in the ads that you click on to play, only you can't play them because they're ads! So live out your wildest fantasies by clearing these games based on those games in Yeah! You Want "Those Games," Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Clear Them!
Oh, and there's a second one out now, too!
~MAY~
(Switch*, PS4, PS5, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐
This one is an interesting spin on the Metroidvania, where you are dropped off on an uninhabited island to seek out treasure, but must leave before the island is destroyed. However, a magical artifact turns back time, and you get to explore brief chunks of the island at a time, occasionally being dropped off in different areas to keep things fresh. It's a fascinating game, but I only ended up spending a couple hours with it. I'd like to go back and play more later, though I'd probably need to start over.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
⭐⭐
In May 2024, I returned to Tears of the Kingdom to do a 100% run. Now, with all my complaining about the game last year, you'd think I wouldn't do this. But see, Tears of the Kingdom is just Breath of the Wild in disguise. And I love Breath of the Wild. So of course I would come back for more!
Let's look at that breakdown:
2,492 Named Locations
1,000 Korok Seeds
509 Compendium Entries
253 Quests
152 Shrines
147 Caves
135 Armor Pieces Maxed Out
120 Lightroots
81 Signs
58 Wells
53 Paraglider Fabrics
34 Yiga Schematics
31 Old Maps
20 Sage's Wills
18 Memories
16 Energy Cells
12 Schema Stones
11 Horse Accessories
6 Monster Medals
All done in 275 hours of playtime. Wowee!
...
...
...What's that? I was complaining about long games earlier? I don't understand. I said this game was basically Breath of the Wild. See, this is a game I can play forever. It can't be too long. But I understand why you would make that mistake.
⭐⭐⭐
IT'S SO CUTE! I love this little guy, this game is so expressive, the dialogue is so charming, and it's short and sweet. Look, if you like cats and fun little Platformer games, you need to play this. And if you don't like cats and/or fun little Platformer games, why are you like that. Do better. Play Little Kitty, Big City.
⭐⭐⭐
A heck of a week in late-May dropped both Little Kitty, Big City and this, so I spent the weekend bouncing between both because I felt that the most relaxing thing I could do on my days off was give myself tonal whiplash. I really liked Animal Well, but in a shocking turn, I felt that it was too short?! I played through to the second of three endings, which ended up being about the right length for a little Metroidvania like this, but I really felt like the first portion of the game should have been about an hour longer. You can get through it in around 2-3 hours, but since a large portion of the map is inaccessible until you get the first ending, the game feels a bit unbalanced.
Now, if you aren't super weird like me, what you'll actually find here is an incredibly atmospheric game, with a neat CRT/pixel-art aesthetic, and just the right balance of spookiness to make you feel uneasy without making it feel like a Horror game. A bunch of people were recommending to turn off the CRT aesthetic, but like why would you do that. That's what makes it look surreal and cool.
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
⭐⭐
So I finally dropped the bones on a copy of Billy Hatcher, and was pleasantly surprised at how fun it was! I only played a handful of levels, but I can tell I would have been really into this had I gotten it back when it was new. The energy and, honestly, clunkiness of the game remind me fondly of Super Mario Sunshine. I'll definitely be returning to this one at some point.
Tetris 2 + Bombliss / Tetris Blast
⭐⭐
So, I had played Tetris Blast on Game Boy before, but never tried the Famicom version. I ordered a copy, and spent a few days playing through some levels. It's a lot of fun! It is Tetris with bombs that you can set off to clear the screen, not unlike clearing colors in Dr. Mario/Tetris Flash/ Tetris 2. It's really interesting, and I recommend checking it out. If you're looking for a modern release, it's also in the Tetris Forever collection by Digital Eclipse.
(DC, Switch*, PS4, PS5, XBO, PC)
⭐
I've had my eye on the Cotton Shoot-em-Up games since they've been getting re-released, and figured I'd jump in on Rainbow Cotton, just because it looked really unique, being the only 3D entry. It didn't really grab me though.
(Switch*, PS4, PS5, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐
I had my eye on this since it was shown off in a Nintendo Direct, and while the story didn't grab me right away, I did end up enjoying it a lot. It's a basic Point & Click Adventure game about a mother and daughter learning about the grandmother's life. It's a very touching story, and I recommend checking it out if the trailer grabs your attention.
~JUNE~
⭐⭐
This is a very silly co-op game where you are a chaotic possum trying to eat the king's food. And also every other piece of food in the kingdom. While avoiding the cops. Relatable media, tbh.
⭐
In my quest to prepare for Metroid Prime 4, I booted up Hunters on NDS. I had played the demo years before, and was always curious about the full game. As a NDS game, it's a graphical stunner, and a marvel to play. The controls are intuitive, the environments are detailed and eerie, and the action is exhilarating. As a Metroid game though, it is preeeety straightforward. There are four worlds to explore, and the platforming and level design lacks much depth and diversity. It's a cool game to play around with, but not one that you need to finish, and without question the weakest Metroid I've played. Now I just need to make time to play Prime 3 sometime this year!
~JULY~
(PS2, GCN, XBOX, PS3, 360, Switch, PS4, PS5*, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐⭐
Beyond Good & Evil is an all-time classic. Ubisoft's take on Ocarina of Time remains, years later, as rich of a world and as compelling of a game as it was 20 years ago. It was an absolute delight to revisit this game, and a grim reminder that the ship has sailed on any possibility of a sequel, as Ubisoft continues to insist that this sequel they first showed off 17 years ago has any chance of being finished.
But for real, if you haven't played this one and you want to see what occupies the space between an early 3D game like Ocarina of Time and a modern narrative Action/Adventure like Horizon, look no further.
⭐⭐
Ever hungry for a modern spin on late-90s 3D Platformers, I discovered Cavern of Dreams on the eShop and gave it a spin. It's really charming! Fun, intriguing, and a bit spooky, just like the games then were. It even has a fuzzy overlay that simulates how shitty N64 games used to look. A+.
⭐⭐⭐
One of my favorite games from 2023 got a little free DLC patched in this year, and it was a delight going on another adventure with my little mushroom friend. If you like cute little Platformers, please play this one. It's wonderful.
Chico and the Magic Orchards DX
⭐⭐
In an effort to plow through a bunch of short games on my Switch Wishlist, I grabbed this cute game that feels a bit like if Link's Awakening had a ball you rolled around, like how you roll Kirby in Tilt 'n Tumble. Anyway, it's charming and fun, and if you are looking for fresh Game Boy inspired games, I recommend it.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
⭐
This feels like a follow-up to NES Remix, but not quite as compelling. I also feel like we're a little too far away from NES nostalgia to keep milking it at this point. Still, it isn't a bad game by any means. Having little speedrun challenges is fun, and this is a really good way to test the waters on speedrunning as a hobby, as well. If it looks interesting to you, you'll like it, but it's not one I'm going out of my way to recommend.
⭐⭐
I adore Siactro's games, particularly the Toree series. This one is a compilation of three different approaches to Toree gameplay, and while fun, definitely leans more towards the higher skilled player compared to the last two games. Still, it's a nice appetizer while we wait for this year's Toree Saturn.
⭐⭐⭐
And playing Toree's Panic Pack reminded me that I never played the free DLC for Super Kiwi 64! This one really captures the aesthetic magic of Rare's N64 Platformers, and I simply can not recommend it enough. And the hilarity of this DLC being a big crossover event for Siactro's larger world is amazing. I love it.
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
⭐⭐⭐
This was one of my favorite games this year. A smart Zelda-like where you move the row or column you are standing on to "slide" across the world, and put things both into and out of place. It is difficult to explain, but will click immediately when you see it in action; though whether the puzzles click for you immediately is another matter entirely! I absolutely loved this one, and kind of hope it gets DLC or a sequel? It felt like it could have been just a bit longer. I think there's enough ideas here to continue iterating, but whether they do or don't, I recommend this to anyone out there that loves puzzle games.
~AUGUST~
⭐⭐⭐
This fuckin' game man. What a trip. Look, if you liked the chaotic energy of Untitled Goose Game, and you enjoy regional British humor, I highly recommend this little Adventure game. It's hilarious and surreal the whole way through.
⭐⭐
If you've played one Puzzle Bobble, you've played them all. It's a fun series, and this one is fun, too.
⭐⭐
I don't like Puyo Puyo. However, I do like Tetris and Sonic the Hedgehog, two things that this game does have. So once it dropped to $5, I picked it up. I even tried some Puyo Puyo again. Still don't like it.
Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand
⭐
Ys V is one of the last Ys games I needed to play through, and at least the last canon one. I really should have played this before Ys IX, which calls back to it. Alas. What finally pushed me over the edge was a friend of mine online that is working his way through the series, so we decided to play alongside each other, which was fun. It's a nice little game, if not a bit basic by Ys standards. Still, there's something special here, and I think a remake done similarly to Ys: The Oath in Felghana would be excellent.
Incidentally, Oath in Felghana is coming out on Switch and PS5 this month, so you should all absolutely play that one.
⭐
Oh, yeah? Well if Popeye is so good, where's Popeye tw... OH SHIIIIIII...
(Switch*, PS4, PS5, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐
This one looked more promising than it ended up. It reminds me a bit of both Drill Dozer and Grapple Dog, though it never quite reaches the highs of either of those. Still, it's short enough. If it looks intriguing to you, it's worth checking out.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
(SNES*, GBA, Wii, 3DS, WiiU, Switch)
⭐⭐⭐
You know it, you love it, it's the GOAT of GOATs, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The Kit & Krysta community did a replay of this in August in preparation for Echoes of Wisdom, so I plugged in my SNES copy and did a full run in a couple days. It's actually been a long time since I've played it last. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this one.
Emio: The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
⭐⭐
When the Famicom Detective Club games were remade for the Switch, the hope we all had was that we might get a new game soon after. Well, that time finally came, and while I don't think the game overall is quite as strong as The Girl Who Stands Behind, it is still a very compelling narrative with a gut-wrenching final chapter. While I could probably pick out a dozen or so more compelling visual novels, that doesn't mean this one should be skipped. It's not often we get something like this, particularly directly from Nintendo, and it is exciting seeing how they handled it.
To think we got two traditional Adventure games from Nintendo this year. What a time to be alive.
~SEPTEMBER~
⭐⭐⭐
I am so delighted that we finally got a full Astro Bot game after the VR and PS5 tech demo games. Even after three games, it still feels so wonderfully "Nintendo", perfectly capturing so much of the wonder and sensibilities of Nintendo's own Super Mario team. Every stage has a new idea, and the feedback from the controller never fails to make me smile.
All that said, the game lacks sauce.
The character design is so bland. Astro is barely a step above a Funko Pop, and the enemies are some of the most dull designs I have ever seen. The main theme has a solid motif, though it has been kind of the same for three games now. It is wild that so much of this game can be so incredible, while still dropping the ball so hard here. I do hope we get another one, even if we stick with the boring designs.
⭐⭐
I adored the first Grapple Dog, but boy did this one release at the worst possible time. September was an absolute monster of a month, possibly the worst I can ever recall in regards to new games releasing that I want to play. Still, I went ahead and picked it up and played a handful of stages. I like the new character a lot, though switching between the two characters between stages means I have to switch my brain over, since each controls a bit differently. I haven't gone back to it in a bit, but I absolutely do plan on finishing this one. Even with just a few stages done, I can tell it's going to be just as good as the first one.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
⭐⭐
It's happening!!!!! We finally get to play as ZELDA! Yayyyy!!!!
Zelda is my favorite series, and I am always there day one for every new entry. This one, while it has an intriguing hook, does end up with some of the same issues as BOTW and TOTK. The ability to summon items and enemies at any time trivializes many challenges, and while some challenges are smartly designed, I don't envy the people having to figure out designing traditional Zelda gameplay with freedom of choice. Honestly, the game just lacked punch and memorability. It came across as a fairly weak entry, barely beating out games like Minish Cap for me. I also just do not like this art direction at all. I didn't like it in Link's Awakening HD, either. I think Grezzo has almost got it, and I'm hoping they still have more ideas for whatever comes next for them.
I feel like I should have more to day about a new Zelda game, but I really just don't remember what happened in this one.
~OCTOBER~
⭐⭐
Astro Bot made me want to play Ape Escape, which I have never played. So I overpaid for a PS copy, because I couldn't find it on the PS3 or PS5 shops. It's really fun! I only played a few levels, but I'll definitely play more eventually!
⭐⭐⭐
I love the Ys series so much. Easily my current favorite RPG series. The new entry, Ys X, is one of the most fun entries to date. It is a bit easy, which Falcom is frustratingly addressing by repeating what they did with Ys V in the 90s and releasing a harder version in 2025 with extra content. I don't love that, but I do love Ys X. The combat system has received an overhaul, and instead of a three-member party, we are down to two. In addition, now that our main party is only two people, we are able to get way more characterization out of our secondary character, Karja, than we have with other characters in past games. They really went all-out with Karja, too, and she might be the best character to date in the Ys series.
The game also introduces naval navigation and combat, which honestly takes a dozen hours or so before you have enough speed and abilities to really have fun with. Ys X is a game that incentivizes backtracking and exploration, but like many games of that ilk, it gets much easier to do if you have the restraint to wait a bit instead of backtracking right away.
One thing this game really gets right is the length. I spent around 50 hours to 100% it, which means you could probably do the main quest in sub-30. An amazing length for such a rich RPG, especially in contrast to the bloated FFVII Rebirth from earlier this year. And lastly, as always, the soundtrack totally owns.
I really recommend this one. It's not quite as strong as Ys VIII, but it is a bit shorter and easier to dig into.
⭐⭐⭐
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore
⭐⭐⭐
Many, if not all of you reading this, know about the CD-i Zelda games. I know this because you keep bringing them up when I say things like, "Every Zelda game", and think you're being funny.
Stop. Get help.
But before you seek therapy, check out this rad as hell tribute to those games. Arzette plays like what a fully-formed Wand of Gamelon might have played like. And it's super good! What's more, Limited Run Games released the CD-i controller as a modern USB controller, and not only did I buy that work of art, I played through all of this damn game with it, like an insane person.
And now? It is my turn to get help.
⭐⭐⭐
I bought this multiplayer free-for-all battle game on a recommendation from a friend, and it is so much fun! I picked it up ahead of a game night, and we all had a blast with it. The more people you've got, the more chaotic and fun it gets. This will absolutely be in regular rotation for my parties.
(Switch, PS4, PS5*, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐⭐
IT'S THE YEAR OF SHADOW LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 💥💥💥
Okay so, I like Sonic Generations, but I was never the biggest fan of it. It was doing what I felt Sonic Colors had already done super well the previous year. So initially, I had planned on skipping this remaster, until all the Shadow content started getting shown off. Shadow Generations takes the gameplay concept of the main game, and pairs it with the open world and moveset of Sonic Frontiers, which elevates the whole experience to near-perfection. Seriously, this is peak Sonic gameplay, without any of the downtime that plagued the pacing in Frontiers.
We are so back.
~NOVEMBER~
⭐
It is so over.
Brothership really misses the mark on several key points, mainly overworld navigation and how the gameplay manages Luigi, that are just total dealbreakers for me. I played around six hours before moving on. Maybe I'll go back and play more, but with it being, no joke, the longest Mario RPG to date, I can not promise I will decide it is worth my time.
Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket
⭐
I've been playing this since launch, and it's fine, but it's super barebones, and battling feels a little rote. It would be more interesting with better deck restrictions, specifically modes that lock out EX cards. idk. It's something to do, I guess.
(Switch*, PS4, PS5, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐⭐
This one had my attention early on but, as with many games, it released in September! Fortunately, Brothership ended up being a dud, and I found myself with some extra time. And a good thing too, as this ended up being another favorite of mine. The Metroidvania aspect ended up being a bit basic, but throughout the map there are terminals that you can access where you play little Shoot-em-Up minigames to unlock routes or upgrades. It's a great mix of gameplay styles that stays fun throughout (though the final two boss encounters are ridiculously hard compared to the rest of the game). Also, the soundtrack and voicework are stellar! The music reminds me heavily of The World Ends With You, so I think people that love that OST as much as me will also find a lot to love here. As for the vocal performances, Jenny Yokobori's performance as main character Emi might be my favorite game performance of 2024; she had me cracking up constantly.
Man, what a great time to be alive and love Metroidvanias.
~DECEMBER~
Tomb Raider I-II-III Remastered
(PS, Switch, PS4, PS5*, XBO, XS, PC)
⭐⭐
I bounced off of these games in the '90s, largely due to the tank controls, and it wasn't until Tomb Raider: Legend that I started playing every game. This was a good opportunity for me to give these games another shot. I still can't handle the tank controls, but the modern controls work well enough. Unfortunately, I got a little stressed out in those creepy environments, so I am currently taking a break a little over halfway through the second level of TR1. I don't think I'll play all three games, but I'd like to at least make it through the first two.
⭐⭐
And why not round out the year with one more Zelda-like? I'm currently stuck playing games in my game room, but it's too crowded to mess with my retro systems, so I went through my Switch Wishlist to look for something short, and remembered I really wanted to play this. The combat is a bit rough, but the puzzles and exploration are great, and at around 10 hours long, it's an easy rec if you're still somehow hungry for Zelda-likes. And why wouldn't you be? I know my appetite for Zelda is insatiable, at least.
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And that's a wrap for 2024! A year full of Metroidvanias, Zelda games, and too many RPGs. I also picked up Fantasian and Visions of Mana, which I have yet to play. Ys: The Oath in Felghana releases this week, but after that I'm gonna tackle one of those other ones. In addition, two more games from September, The Plucky Squire and Bakeru, get physical editions in February! So far, 2025 is shaping up to be just leftovers from 2024. But with the Switch 2 certainly on the horizon, who knows how crazy this year might end up. Until next time!
Beat:31
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