I gotta say 2024 has been a rough year for the industry; loads of layoffs, companies going under and good games going largely unappreciated; it’s tougher than ever before. With completing my book and games that I was working on I didn’t even get the chance to finish as many games as I do usually. I did play a bunch though, those were my 10 favourite ones!
10 – UFO 50
An offer that’s hard to resist. Featuring 50 thoughtfully designed games created by skilled developers, this collection offers a wide range of complexities and playstyles. You’re almost certain to discover a game—or even 10—that you’ll absolutely love, along with many others that might not catch your attention at first but will gradually grow on you over time.
9 – 1000xResist
A thought provoking narrative tale about surviving a pandemic and living to tell the tale in a sci-fi setting that has a lot of Nier Automata and Anime influences. This game has a bunch to say, and it does it in a very eloquent way.
8 – Thank goodness you’re here
This game made me laugh way more times than I expected! It’s hilarious comedy and dialogue is something that’s really hard to describe until you journey on in yourself.
7 – The plucky squire
I really liked a link between worlds, I also liked super punch out, metal slug and so many other games that inspire the plucky squire. I loved playing them in one package and enjoyed how they were presented! The unmistakable art style merges those different types of play and transition between 2D and 3D beautifully!
6 – Astro Bot
I like that Sony realised: “Hey! We’ve been around games for 30 years now and people feel nostalgic about our stuff too!” Thank god for that! There’s a wealth of memories for myself and many like me that’s connected to the PlayStation and team Asobi makes the best of it with this Nintendo-esque 3D platformer that not only properly celebrates games history but also those of 3D platformers bringing in polish and quality of the highest caliber.
5 – The legend of Zelda: Echos of Wisdom
Yes you can finally play as princes Zelda in main line Zelda game! She’s armed with new powers too! She can manifest anything to use in traversal, combat and puzzle solving. When I say everything I kind of mean it. You can stack beds to create ladders, spawn enemies to fight on your behalf or manifest your own crate to do your crate puzzle. Delightful game in the art style of Link’s awakening from a few years back hits some nice highs though not at the same level of the usually expected highs of the series.
4 – Balatro
The game dev dream; a solo dev somewhere absolutely nails a game experience and it becomes a global sensation over night. It’s one of those why-didn’t-i-think-of-this games that feels so simple once you’ve seen it. What happens if poker meets slay the spire? Balatro happens. And it’s really fun!
3 – Helldivers 2
What I love about this game the most is that you can see that the team really identified what their source inspirations are and they just had fun with it. The tongue and cheek satire of Starship Troopers feels more at place now than ever before coupled with the pure joy of coop bug squashing action; it’s exactly the type of experience we’ve come to expect from arrow head and boy did they deliver. We will see the insulation and impact of their approach to live service in games for years to come.
2 – Metaphor Refantazio
The persona team has done it again, this time it’s under a new name from the same publisher; they’re not fooling anyone however. The DNA of what makes a super compelling persona game are all there. Addictive turn based jrpg systems, Building connection with characters help you in combat, a fomo inducing what-should-I-do-today progression system completely packed with one of those guys’ best stories in years. Something that feels so contemporary but not pretentious while being thought provoking and a commentary on the current state of the world today.
1 – Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
I usually don’t consider remakes or remasters for these lists, let alone for one to make it to the top spot on here. I think it’s because how much more than the source material the game ended up being. Far from its turn based Jrpg origin, this is a fully fledged open world game, with lots to explore and what you’d come to expect from the genre with a heavy nostalgic coat of paint. Key thing that got me though, is even that I know the original by heart; they changed just enough things in the story that they peaked my interest of what will they keep or how will the story diverge; definitely the game that I’ll will remember most of 2024 and the one I sank the most time into.
Fawzi Mesmar 
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