I didn’t play nearly as many games in 2024 as I have in previous years. Thanks to a combination of having a more loaded schedule, and not that many games releasing that I was genuinely interested in. Plus, I tend to avoid playing games right after they come out. I know the current state of the gaming industry. A game isn’t complete until at least a month after release.
However, in total, I completed 23 different games. Not counting the new PS5 ports of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus and Sly 2: Band of Thieves. And I was pleasantly surprised with the variety. I played some amazing games this year, and some pretty bad ones. Though very few were as bad as games I’ve played in previous years.
So, in the spirit of reflection, I’m looking back at the 3 best and 3 worst games I played all year. Keep in mind, these aren’t all games that released this year. Simply ones I played for the first time this year. And this isn’t a list of the best and worst games of the year. There were some huge successes I ignored, and dumpster fires I wisely steered clear of.
The Worst
Sometimes, playing a bad game can be fun. Like playing the Saints Row reboot to see just how far a series can fall thanks to a creative team lacking their namesake. Or playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 so you can make a 360p YouTube video where you comically destroy it with a weapon of some sort. But that’s not what these games are.
These are games that, for the most part, I did not enjoy playing. Whether it be a grim and stark reminder of the major flaws of modern AAA gaming, or a glimpse into the biggest flaws of a bygone era. Including one that may just be the worst game I’ve ever played! What fun!
The Casting of Frank Stone
Anyone’s who seen one of my articles before probably knows that I’m a huge fan of Until Dawn. Supermassive’s horror homage magnum opus where your choices mean life or death for everyone involved. The studio has struggled to reach those heights again since then. And nothing exemplifies their shortcomings more than their Dead By Daylight tie-in game: The Casting of Frank Stone.
At least I got the high score
The Casting of Frank Stone tries to do too much and ends up accomplishing nothing. As someone with no DBD knowledge, this game didn’t get me interested in the lore or the characters. As a horror fan, the game fails to deliver any kind of meaningful tension or scares until the final act. And as a Sci-Fi fan, the science fiction elements feel wholly out of place and aren’t explained at all. It’s a disjointed mess.
The genius of Until Dawn was how it told two seemingly isolated stories, each effective in their own right, before slowly revealing that they’re a lot more connected than they seemed. Some elements of the story don’t hold up to scrutiny, sure, but the package itself does. The Casting of Frank Stone tries to juggle way too many things, and ended up just making a mess everywhere.
Dead Island: Riptide
I promise I like horror games. Though few things upset me more than a bad horror game. The original Dead Island is far from perfect, though I mostly enjoyed my time with it. Dead Island 2 was surprisingly very good for a large stretch. And sandwiched right in the middle of the two is this atrocity. Like asking for no onion on your burger and biting into it to find they left a wasp’s nest in it.
(Yes, I know Escape Dead Island exists too. See above about dumpster fires)
Horror games need to let go of swamps and sewers
Dead Island Riptide is essentially a stripped down version of Dead Island that has no reason to exist. Almost the entire game is simply go from Point A to Point B, then do some tower defense. Rinse and repeat for hours on end until a final act I genuinely can not remember a single thing about. The repetitiveness of Dead Island‘s combat and gameplay loop is one of the series’ biggest flaws. And Dead Island Riptide highlighted those weaknesses while hiding all of its strengths.
Honestly, you can skip every game in the series and just start with Dead Island 2. There isn’t much that you’ll miss out on aside from Sam B and “Who Do You Voodoo?” But if you’ve already played Dead Island, or you don’t like playing sequels without playing the original, you will gain absolutely nothing from Dead Island Riptide.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Were there worse games that came out this year? Yeah, probably. Games like Dustborn and Skull and Bones were also received overwhelmingly poorly. And Concord was so bad it basically didn’t come out. But not only was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League a bad game, it was an insulting game. Seemingly dead set on upsetting every Batman Arkham fan for no logical reason.
These are the idiots who kill some of the greatest superheroes ever
Kill the Justice League is an unremarkable droplet in the deep, brown waters of poorly made live-service looter shooters designed solely to drain your wallet. Featuring braindead game design like King Shark and Captain Boomerang only using guns the whole game. But the story is another monster entirely.
Who asked for a game where we have to kill Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Batman? Who asked for a game where Captain Boomerang urinates on The Flash’s corpse while everyone compliments his size? And who asked for a game where we have to kill one of Kevin Conroy’s most iconic Batman roles shortly after his death? It’s no wonder the lead creatives at Rocksteady left, and Warner Bros is desperately performing damage control with their other titles. Everything about this game was a mistake from conception.
The Best
I actually played quite a few very good games this year. Probably because I was a little more picky with how I chose to spend my more limited free time. And that’s not even taking into account the games with great reputations that have been sitting on my shelf waiting to be played. Games like Sleeping Dogs and Xenoblade Chronicles.
I would like to give honorable mentions to three games that just barely didn’t make the cut: Not For Broadcast, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Unicorn Overlord. All three of these games were great in their own right, and deserve some recognition. However, the three games below were just that little bit better.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Not every Super Mario RPG that came out this year was a success. In fact, the only one that wasn’t was the one that actually came out this year. Both Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Mario RPG spent years as the best Mario games Nintendo refused to ever acknowledge. Until they suddenly got Nintendo Switch remasters in the same year. And of the two, this is the one I played this year.
Hey look it’s Donkey’s wife
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the peak of the Paper Mario franchise. A charming adventure through the Mushroom Kingdom filled with memorable side characters, unique environments, and more storytelling than every 2D Mario platformer combined. From taking the full force of Rawk Hawk to investigating the Excess Express, every chapter stands apart from the rest. It may not be the best Mario game, but it’s certainly up there.
I fully plan on playing Super Mario RPG in 2025, so we’ll have to wait and see if it lives up to its lofty reputation. Though Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door being the slam dunk everyone told me it was has filled me with confidence. It’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.
Alan Wake II
I played Alan Wake II for the first time in February of this year, and I basically haven’t been able to escape it since. Picture that Among Us video but with more coffee and sentence fragments. You’d think I’d be sick of it by now. But it’s a testament to the game’s creativity that I’m not.
This only makes slightly more sense in context
Alan Wake II was everything The Last of Us II should’ve been. A long-awaited return of a horror game icon of the early-2010’s dealing with the fallout of their actions from the end of the first game. But unlike The Last of Us II, Alan doesn’t die an hour in. Instead we dive into the darkest depths of his mind as he tries to hold on to whatever sanity he has left. Oh and there’s something about an FBI Agent. But that part isn’t as good.
Alan Wake II is a psychological horror rock opera madhouse that almost never slows down. A sequel well worth the long wait if it meant seeing this vision fully realized. Not everything about it was a slam dunk, but the highs far exceed any depths the lows get to.
Astro Bot
Yeah, it’s game of the year. Astro Bot is simply what gaming is all about. A necessary reminder that games can just be enjoyable. They don’t have to be cinematic. They don’t have to be dramatic morality plays where “fun” is a naughty word. Interestingly enough, Astro Bot also flies in the face of everything Sony has been saying for years. Making it even funnier that Astro is their new mascot.
He is Astro Bot
Astro Bot is a throwback to classic mascot platformers like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Sly Cooper. Modernized and optimized to take advantage of the power of the PlayStation 5. Every level in every world is vibrant and unique. Chock full of parkour goodness. And stuffed with more PlayStation iconography than a collector’s display case. Brilliantly highlighting the massive catalogue of IP’s Sony claims they don’t have.
Not to mention the bouncy and charming music, the unique game-themed levels, or the fact that all the DLC so far has been free. Astro Bot was a treat from start to finish. And firmly cemented itself as the best game I played in 2024. And the best game of 2024.
