Plok (269471) on 12/30/2024 10:17 AM · Reply · Permalink · Report

For me, it was a one-two punch of turn-based tactics:

• Tactical Breach Wizards - I had high hopes for this one, having played two public(ish) playtests and already liking Gunpoint by the same developer. Even with such a bar, I was still blown away by the game. It's creative, its gameplay is tightly designed and has no useless characters/abilities, the difficulty is just right (doesn't hold your hand but doesn't give you anything unsolvable), its writing is sharp and funny. Shame it's not mentioned much, but it launched around the same time as Black Myth: Wukong, but sold well regardless.
• Metal Slug Tactics - it's Into The Breach, but more. More room, more options, more enemies, more actual characters. The unique syncing mechanic allows combat to escalate and help offset higher time-to-kill and larger mobs, though it can't be played in short sessions anymore. Having a lively art style is just icing on the cake.

Honorable mention to Age of Mythology: Retold, which broke the AoE Definitive Edition launch curse and kept everything good about the original game I loved way back and washed off the stain of the notoriously buggy 2014 version.

vedder (75617) on 12/30/2024 11:05 AM · Reply · Permalink · Report

I got a Switch late last year and travelled by train a lot. Had fun with some of the Nintendo essentials, like Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild and Metroid Dread. Also spent quite some time with Subnautica, but never managed to finish it. Invisible Inc was great, but I never really felt compelled to finish it at higher difficulties, so it was a short romp. Of the games above Mario Odyssey was the most fun (and first non-2D Mario that managed to keep me hooked), but like a lot of people this year, I had most fun with Balatro.

On PC I also played some real treats. The Talos Principle II was great, but didn't quite live up to the expectations. The Case of the Golden Idol was a great puzzle game. Currently playing Pentiment, which was harder to get into, but is evolving into a great whodunnit!

twitek (15029) on 12/30/2024 11:49 AM · Reply · Permalink · Report

Satisfactory took the most time to play. But it often ran in the background to finish some construction.

Core Keeper was fun. But some bosses just wouldn't go down. Git gud.

Megaquarium is a very good builder. I really liked it.

Dave The Diver left the biggest mark. The most unusual game in a long time.

Drayman (3) on 12/31/2024 10:14 AM · Reply · Permalink · Report

When it comes to hours invested, it would be Lost Ark, but it's normal to play an MMORPG for a long time.

The top 3 games are (drum roll)

1. Stellaris (still addicted)
2. Hearts of Iron 1 (tried it for the first time, and that old game from 2002 is still great)
3. Morrowind + Add-ons (in my heart it will always be the best of the series, because of the sheer amazement I had when I first entered it, and it has more variety in design than the newer one. And since I played it this year again, it has to be on the list.)

Daniel Saner (3515) on 12/31/2024 11:07 AM · Reply · Permalink · Report

2024 was not a game-playing year for me. According to Steam, I played 2 games for a total of probably just around 10 hours. Most of that went to Ride 5, which I only picked up in a sale in December. It's actually quite well done, it's nice to see when a developer has the opportunity to work on one genre, improving their product, over a decade or more. I think I last checked in with Ride 2 almost a decade ago, and it's definitely a lot less iffy and buggy than it used to be. I guess I'm in the mood for that kind of game because, fingers crossed, hopefully next year I'll also finally get around to doing my motorcycle license in real life.

Steam isn't the whole story, though, and one thing that definitely left a mark is quickly getting in The Crew earlier in the year, haha. I only started playing it after the shutdown was announced, and kind of hoped that I wouldn't like it, so I wouldn't miss being able to play it. Unfortunately, I quite liked it, and I got in several dozen hours before it closed, finishing the story and completing all challenges. I started the game again the day after the supposed shutdown, and still got in. Played for a bit, chatting with a few other confused players ("I guess someone forgot to flip the switch"), until about half an hour later, the server connection dropped forever.

I started playing The Crew 2 right after, only to find that in my opinion, it's a much worse game. Especially graphically, it just looks like a cheap budget title, compared to the first one. I'm still confused how a sequel, with a much larger team and budget, can look so much worse than its predecessor. Everything is mushy, bland, low-detail, the wrong size, etc. It's still not a bad racing game, it just really doesn't hold a candle to the original, it's considerably worse in almost every respect.

I do plan to play, and contribute, a bit more next year. A happy new one to everybody!

GTramp (81951) on 1/1/2025 4:57 AM · Reply · Permalink · Report

Happy New Year everyone! This year, I thought, I didn't play a lot of good games, but now checking my Backloggery year's history I see that I thought wrong. There were a lot of fun ones. Now, chronologically:

• River Tails: Stronger Together (PC) - surprisingly fun in co-op (just ignore the challenges which can be brutal);
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (PC) - not as good as the prequel but it still has all the mechanics and little things that made its predecessor an ultimate game;
• P.O.W.: Prisoners of War (NES) - I had it since childhood but finally took time to beat it this year. A fun, if repetitive, beat-‘em-up from SNK, and you don’t get a lot of beat-‘em-ups from SNK;
• A Plague Tale: Requiem (PC) – loved it, a good sequel and the conclusion to a sad story;
• Toodee and Topdee (PC) – another surprisingly good couch co-op game;
• Burning Force (GEN) – Space Harrier-inspired shooter which I also had since childhood but never played seriously. The soundtrack rocks and it sounds better than the Arcade version, although the tracks are too short;
• Sega Ages 2500: Vol.13 - OutRun (PS2) – OutRun is always fun;
• Des Blood (PC) – this early 3D porno adventure / shooter hybrid is fun for what it is. It’s from Illusion, it’s Japanese only and it has a lot of voiced dialogue with no subtitles. So I had to figure out a way to record the game’s video and audio and then have some online software transcribe it into text and then feed it to a translator. And I was able to beat it this way. I still have my savefile right before the ending if anyone needs it (maybe to submit the game’s credits or whatnot);
• Guilty Gear (PS) – I love fighting games but I’m bad at them. Still, I beat it with all characters;
• Prince of Persia (SNES) – amazing remake of the original game;
• Goat Simulator 3 (PC) – fun open-world goat game, we played it in co-op;
• Indika (PC) – just a walking simulator with horror flavor, I liked it a lot;
• The Last of Us: Part II (PS4) – everyone knows about this game of course and the controversy it caused. I hated the direction they went with the story here, but in the end, I think it’s a milestone not only for the studio, but for the industry as a whole;
• Saints Row (Xbox360) – the first SR game is flawed but charming;
• Astral Ascent (PC) – another surprise – a fun rogue-lite with tons of content, but unfortunately it gets quite difficult in co-op due to the amount of visual effects on screen;
• Killer is Dead: Nightmare Edition (PC) – weird one but really fun (again, if you don’t try to beat all these extreme challenges and modes);
• Q*Bert (ARC) – a surprisingly deep early arcade game, and also the oldest game I beat the last year (released in 1982!);
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) – I try to beat a new Zelda game each year, and this one was fun;
• Shadowrun Returns Deluxe (PC) – I didn’t know what to expect from this game, and now I am a fan of the universe and the series (same thing happened to me several years ago when out of curiosity I tried Front Mission on the SNES).

Patrick Bregger (310730) on 1/1/2025 9:21 PM · Reply · Permalink · Report

This year I finished 65 games and the majority of them were good. This was a hard list to compile.

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak: A new Trails game is bound to reach the top of my GOTY list, and this one is no exception. It delivered everything I want from this series. I also played The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails.

2. Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story + Tetris Forever: Digital Eclipse continued their Gold series. Although I had absolutely no interest in the games themselves, the documentation aspect is worth every cent.

3. Neon White: Very fun to play, but I did not enjoy the friendship system.

4. Super Mario Maker 2: I loved this platformer, but did not play many user levels. I also played Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World.

5. I continued my journey through the Yakuza series with Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza 5, Yakuza 6. All of them have their issues, but I still enjoy them for their story. I'll definitely continue in 2025.

6. What the Golf?: It oozes creativity, and I honestly laughed out loud often while playing it.

7. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous: A great CRPG, but it is way too long, has too many bad systems, and the trademark Owlcat balancing.

8. The Rise of the Golden Idol: A fantastic puzzle game, though it doesn't reach the heights of its predecessor.

9. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox: The beginning is weak, but it’s still a competent Falcom JRPG.

10. Baldur's Gate 3: Another good CRPG which is way too long. It has higher production values and better writing than Pathfinder, but I prefer RtwP.

Dishonorable mentions:

Thi4f: It’s the 10-year anniversary of this stinker, so maybe it's time to let it go? Nah. Worst of this year, worst of every year.