2024 was a pretty fantastic looking year for games, much like 2023, some amazing rpgs and a killer new 3D platformer, new silent hill games and some of the best otome games ever made being thrown in there, development hell games like granblue relink and refantazio finally releasing, wasn't all good, of course the rise of misogyny in the industry, mass layoffs, that shitty fucking monkey game, but i'm not really here to talk about all that, i barely played any new games this year, i'm just here to give shoutouts to all the best games i played this year and to serve as a total reccomendation list for everything i covered more or less plus a highlight reel of every otome game i played this year, starting with the best game i played this year!
game of the year: BUJINGAI: SWORDMASTER.
one of the first games i played this year and also the best, i had just gotten my first real GAMER CHAIR when i started this and it was the first game i played on it so i associate it a lot with that (the chair is bright pink with bunny ears, it's so cool) but the game is just, like it's made for me, almost. it's a DMC inspired hack and slash game with amazing music and GACKT in it, gackt was cool and hot once and here he is very cool and very hot, it has dumb cutscenes and bad voice acting and one of the best OST's of the year, plus the flashiest combat on ps2, one of my favourite games, especially action games, up there with the likes of DMC4SE and sengoku basara 4 sumeragi. it's got flashy parries and amazingly animated wuxia combat, Kowloon inspired levels (plus an amzing snow level and a cool bamboo forrest) and one of the best bosses of the year, a must play and one of the best games i've ever covered.
best replay of the year: DEVIL MAY CRY 4.
the best DMC game, one of the best games on PS3 and the *other* best hack and slash ever made. it gave us nero and lady, the best playing characters in the series, Nero's arm is the best weapon in gaming history and one of the only times i have ever found parrying fun, his gun is amazing and red queen is the coolest sword in the industry, even dante is at maybe his best here with pandora, lucifer and the on the fly style switching they added, lady plays like the ps3 gungrave game we never got, trish has some of the most fun hand to hand combat since godhand and even vergil is a great time, though less so than his 3 incarnation I think. the music is great, the story is my favourite in the series with some of the most fun bosses, nero and kirie have one of the cutest relationships in mainstream games and it has some of the coolest locale's in the series, plus add in things like the best version of bloody palace and the introduction of legendary dark knight mode to turn the game into a musou? the only reason this isn't my GOTY is because this is like my 10th playthrough.
most PS2 game of the year: SEVEN SAMURAI 20XX.
a late year contender that I had briefly considered giving the GOTY to over bujingai, this is a ps2 remake of a movie from the 1950's, giving it a cyberpunk makeover and some of the most fun hack and slash combat on the ps2, it has some of the coolest looking duel wielding in games that's only matched by bujingai, a great OST, some of the wildest names attached to a ps2 game (Ryuichi Sakamoto and mobius), very dumb cutscenes that rival the ps2's best, amazing designs which channel dirge of Cerberus of all things, some of the best towns in the medium and a story good enough to make me cry. the cast of characters is great with many being bosses, which are some of the best in any game I've ever played and some of which are some of the coolest optional bosses on the system. the kind of game that could only have ever happened at this very specific point in time which makes it just fascinating to me, and it's a fantastic hack and slash to boot.
best indie game of the year: SECRET LITTLE HAVEN.
while the aspects of the game that deal with its very specific queer topics were completely lost to me, i found the story about queer discovery via the early fandom and internet to be super heartfelt and emotional and i loved what it had to say about the net being a haven especially for people who may not feel so safe IRL, it felt downright inspiring in some ways for me to try and carve out a haven for myself, throw in some great aesthetics and a nice OST and it makes it one of the games this year that stuck with me the most.
best horror game: SILENT HILL: THE SHORT MESSAGE
who would have thought a free first person silent hill game would have been one of the best games of the year especially after i didn't really care for the last time they did something like this. it's pretty with some of the best environment work out there, it has a real, emotional and relevant story about the dangers of the net and social media, it's well told and well written, it doesn't overstay its welcome and it kept me hooked for its entire runtime, something first person horror games always struggle with to me, it hit me and it hit me hard, it's one of the best games in the series and a real must play for anyone with a PS5, plus its only 2 hours and free so what do you have to lose.
the otome game section: BEST OTOME GAMES OF 2024.: note: check content warnings on all of these games, most of them do tackle some pretty sensitive subjects and with otome especially i do reccomend knowing a little about whats coming because being blindsided by a triggering topic in a game like this can hit harder than anything else and not in the way you want it to.
otome game of the year: SYMPATHY KISS
the sweetest otome of the year, i loved the office romance vibe and it just felt like a joy to exist in this setting with these characters in a way only the best romcom otome can, it has many of the years best romances with YOFY (who's route got the game banned in austrailia), mitsuki, yoji, rokuro and nori (and the others are good too!), plus the music is so good, still not a fan of the choice to not give the protag eyes though, feels so strange, i know its there because that style is popular in korean and chinese comics but it just doesn't look good in an otome game, this is also much more NSFW than a lot of otome games are, so know that going in if that's offputting to you.
runner up: 9:RIP
a really cool horror themed otome with a shockingly high number of routes, sure they might not be as fleshed out as some other games, but the sheer variety in tone and style more than makes up for it with each of the 4 main sections revolving around wildly different themes and tones (one is about urban legends for example, another about a ghost story set in a school and the others are primarily about spirit worlds and the afterlife), it's got such a good atmosphere and it managed to scare me a few times too, my favourite routes this time were hibiki, sena, koyo, seiya, toka and minami
TENGOKU STRUGGLE: STRAYSIDE.
flawed for sure and maybe a little too extreme for some players with its vibe and contents (the guys in this one are more than a little misogynistic), this is still a really great game with a cool setting with more of a shonen actiony tone, a great MC and a good story, but the art style wasn't the best for me and i found the designs a little lacking. my favourites here were yona ,sharaku and kikunosuke.
CUPID PARASITE: SWEET AND SPICY DARLING.
a fandisc to one of the best romcom otome out there, this is really just more of what you wanted, it's funny and charming, the UI is still the best in the genre, the characters still funny and charming and the new guy is a lot of fun, being a psychic who can see the future through doughnuts, it's funny and just, nice, to be back with this cast again, though this is very much just for fans of the original, it won't sell you if you weren't already a cupipara fan.
RADIANT TALE: FANFARE.
in the same vein we have radiant tale: fanfare. this was very much the year of the fandisc it feels because we have so many localised fandiscs from some of the best recent otome and this one is again, really good, i was dying for more zafora and this game hit the spot like you have no idea. it's very standard fandisc stuff, though i did love the new jenana stuff and the interlude section, showing sides of the original game from different perspectives, was very cool, well worth it but much like cupid, only worth it if you liked the original.
VIRCHE EVERMORE: EPIC LYCORIS.
the year of the fandisc continues with the most anticipated one for me; virche was my favourite otome of last year, i loved its tone and art and writing, the dark gothy scifi setting is one of the coolest in the genre and the design's may very well be *the* best, going all in on androgyny to amazing effect, and the darker, more toxic romances worked perfect for me, this is just more of that, it's not as good and maybe a slight let down for some, but the new takes on the routes from the first game are fun, the real ankou route is just, so nice to have since i loved him so much and desperately wanted more out of him and the rest of the smaller stories are great too, super recommended but don't be expecting something on par with the original game.
HANAEMU KARE TO & BLOOM
a unique otome game based on a series of drama CD's each with a unique MC and LI, similar to the likes of norn9 but on a smaller scale, this is a cute little florist themed otome, it includes info on the flowers to read up on in a little index as you're introduced to more in the story, it's cute! and a really unique time, it had a weird release with it only being released in japan, but in english, but later this year it's being given a full localised boxed release, which is great, super reccomend this one if you want something that has a far different structure than your usual otome, ginnosuke and tenya were my favourites here.
CELESTIA CHAIN OF FATE.
sadly probably my least favourite of the big console otome games of the year, this is much closer to an OELVN in tone and structure and it is a fairly barebones mobile port (that wasn't really advertised as one), the writing isn't the best and neither are the LI's, it's not bad but its a little bland and basic with a super low budget and no voice acting, i'd reccomend basically everything else before this one, ash and val are the best routes, but luke is still a solid choice.
THE CRIMSON FLOWER THAT DIVIDES: LUNAR COUPLING.
one from last year that i somehow missed finishing, this is a solid older otome game that randomly got localised in english last year,it's a censored version of a PC NSFW game and it does show, but from what i hear those scenes aren't anything special anyway, it's got a cool desert theme and some super varied routes but it's a little on the iffy side with its content and i find that the setting just doesn't do much for me, but it's still solidly written if middle of the road otome, worth it if you want something a little extra though~
MEIJI TOKYO RANKA: FULL MOON.
one that i still haven't finished yet but this is another older japanese game randomly localised, it's got a funny tone and a killer setting in meiji japan, the writing is fun and the art is beautiful, though the design's haven't fully grown on me yet, i still reccomend it but since i'm still actively playing it you can take that with a grain of salt, i am super enjoying it though!
HAKUOKI: CHRONICLES OF WIND AND BLOOM.
there isn't much to say about this but did you know a new hakuoki port came out? this year? with an asian english physical? yeah a lot of people don't, it combines both games into one but lacks the vita versions DLC or any fandisc content from say the ps3 or 3ds versions, it's not a great port and i'd still say to get the vita version over it, but it's not a bad way to play and is a lot better overall than the ps3, psp and 3DS versions since it has all the new routes included.
STEAM PRISON: BEYOND THE STEAM.
i bought this one but haven't played it yet, on account of it being *another* fandisc, but this time for a game i have not played! it seems good though and i figure i'd mention it anyway since it's really the only other big boxed otome release of the year, there were more digitally like dozens of voltage games and the very well recieved even if tempest, but i don't buy downloads so sadly these are just not on my radar yet (voltage has also begun reportedly using generative ai in their upcoming game "the red bells lament" so i'm a little sus of them for now).
best joseimuke of 2024!
ENSAMBLE STARS
a mobile rhythm game i still play tons of and don't have a ton to say about here., i'm just so invested in the cast and the music and i love the rhythm gameplay, basic though it might be, it has some of the best and most varied music in an idol game with visual kei'ish rock, theatre music, multiple variants of rock and even a more traditional enka/rock-inspired band (we don't talk about U.S.A though) and it's got such a nice cast of voices, tatsumi and the valk boys are my personal favourites (i even have tatsumi on the sidebar of the site!)
OF THE RED/NIE NO MACHI:
two games i'm still slowly making my way through both from the same developer, these are two really stylish and cool BL vn's that recently got localised and ported to switch! of the red is a really stylish horror'y VN set in suburban japan, it focuses heavy on folklore and spirits and it has a super mysterious tone and some of the best character and background art i've ever seen in a VN, it's just so unique and cool looking, i can't go much farther in than that because i also haven't fully finished it yet, but i would 1000% recommend it. nie no machi is one i've played a little less of, it's a full on horror VN set in a more rural japanese setting that gives me sweet pool vibes like crazy, it's got a super unsettling atmosphere and some really nice CG's, though i'm still fairly early on in it, it also has a fandisc coming later this year if that gives you any incentive to pick it up and give it a try before then.
INFINITY NIKKI.
while i dislike it's monitization something heavy, it's also hard to deny just how good this is to see. it's a real AAA game made for women and women alone, it's unashamed about what it is and is catering hard to its demo. it has amazing designs, the weirdo lore you've came to expect from a nikki game, one of the best and best looking open worlds around with some super fun traversal mechanics like one of the most fun bikes in any game and a really interesting story and cast of characters, it manages to full on just one of the best AAA games out there, i even spent real money on it to get that menhera outfit day one, an outfit that's been my main ever since. i love this game and once i finish the story i do plan to fully write about it, it's a very special game.
HYPNOSIS MICROPHONE 1ST PERIOD.
a rhythm mobile game about rap battling homoerotic twinks in dystopic future(ish) japan and this switch version is a port of the first few years of content from the mobile version. it has all the cards and story, events and songs from that time which gives the game a ton of stuff to do, it's missing a lot of later stuff granted, the fem fatale group only has a single song featured for example, but what is there is impressive. it has tons of great songs with solid remixes and the story and worldbuilding is really good for a mobile game, plus it has some of the best designs and characters in the genre, it even has Takaya Kuroda here playing not-kiryu. i love this series and i beg you to check it out in any form, the game, the anime, even the music is super accessable on places like youtube and spotify, there's so much care and love put into it and i wish it got more recognition than it does.
SLOW DAMAGE
another GOTY contender for me but one i haven't gotten around to writing about since i still need to go back for a few bad endings. this is stylish, it's perfectly written, has a great OST, one of the best UI designs in the artform and its routes are all amazing even when i wasn't into how the character was designed, it's one of the darkest games in the genre and is not for people who can't handle extreme content, but if you can handle that it might very well be one of the best games ever made, plus towa is one of the best design's of any character in any game, he's so cool looking.
I-CHU.
one of the years biggest surprises for me was this, I-CHU for the switch, it was a port of a mobile game, which i knew going in, but it's a cute little rhythm game with cards and cute boys and a *really* long storyline,it preserves all the events and stories and it's all just nice fluffy niceness, my surprise was that it was by the same people who brought you one of my favourite mobile games: A3! a game i really hope also gets this treatment some day, it's got some really good music and kyosuke is one of the years best characters for me, 100000% reccomended, though if you know japanese get that version, the localised version cut all of the romance storylines for some reason.
B-PROJECT: RYUSEI FANTASIA.
the marketing for this one was a little confusing at first but it's a idol based VN about making friends with and managing the boys, it's not a rhythm game or anything and it's not really an otome either. it's got a lot of charm though and some very impressive and well animated live 2D sprites, i liked the routes a lot and though i still haven't finished it, each one i played was really well done and varied, you have something like 14 routes here which is very impressive for any VN, though i do think a rhythm mode would have been nice to have, it just feels incomplete without it!
TEARS OF THEMIS.
my main mobile game the past few years and still maybe the best with it's take on "what if ace attourney but all of the men are hotter and have a thing for you". the story is great, the events are fun, the boys aren't the best around but they're all consistantly so nice to be around and the events have such varied outfits that they feel so much more varied than they should. the writing is great, the minigames are fun, the card combat is fun if very shallow, the actual trials and investigation are great and the music is nice, it's just an all around great package, though i do wish they were less stingy with pulls.
LOVE AND DEEPSPACE
this is a game i'm still trying to beat so i can write about it but that first came on my radar in 2024, it has a lot of good going for it, charming love interests (caleb and sylus especially) AAA tier 3D graphics that look more final fantasy than anything, cool loveplus'y lifesim/interactive productivity stuff like asking the boys for meal ideas and period comfort, some really surprisngly horny outfits and events (that god damn bondage one last month was really something, i love my bdsm sylus card) and it even has a cool as hell hack and slash combat system that lets you duel wield guns! it's all very impressive, but it is let down by some bland writing and, sigh, use of AI at multiple points that holds me back from reccomending it at all, a real shame, we deserved better than this.
now for the best of the rest of the year! this is everything else good that i played this year and a few that i want to call out as my least favourite.
best American made JRPG: YIIK: A POSTMODERN RPG.
the last game i covered before i begun to make my list. it's a much maligned game even i wasn't fully ready to give a chance to at first but once i realized what the game was trying to do, i fell in love with it, it has an amazing story, a really damn cool setting with a beautiful graphical style to boot, one of the most interestingly developed protagonists in the medium and an OST that rivals the best of the year with music from people like Michael Kelly and toby fox, it has its shortcomings, a few underdeveloped party members and a battle system that has some real issues, but it doesn't get in the way of what i loved about it. might be a tough sell for some but if you want a unique rpg about the dangers of internet radicalisation? you can't do much better than YIIK.
best game I have not finished: GRANBLUE FANTASY RELINK.
not eligible since I did not beat it but would have probably been my GOTY from this year if I did. possibly the best combat of the past 2 generations, amazing and varied characters, fantastic music, killer RPG towns, great boss fights and more variety in character playstyles than many musou games, with guns, swords, scythes, daggers, magic and even flowers being weapons here, add in a killer multiplayer mode and a fun story and yeah, this absolutely rivalled the years best. a real contender for next years acual GOTY, especially if it continues to get more characters and updates.
best game involving ZANE: HYPNOSPACE OUTLAW (replay)
an amazing internet-simulartory-vn'y adventure game played by browsing a fictional 90's internet, it's charming and funny and surprisingly emotional, it's got some of the best humour in games, ZANE, some really cool puzzles and one of the best soundtracks in an indie game with music by HOT DAD, it's super well written and accurate to the time and it's a real one of a kind project, i don't want to spoil too much about it but it goes places and has a lot to say that's still super relevant to the direction the net is going, if you're the kind of person to wind up here on this tiny part of the net reading my garbage, this game will 10000% click with you in a special way.
best detective simulator: PARADISE KILLER.
one of the years best OST's and also by far one of the prettiest games of the year too with its vaporwave style and music that made for one of the most memorable experiences of the year. it's a cool mix of collectathon open world and detective sim with you finding clues and abilities and doing some basic platforming to get around in first person, it has an amazing cast, some super fun writing (I love all the cast names, like LYDIA DAY BREAK and DR DOOM JAZZ and WITNESS TO THE END) and I really love what it has to say about choice in games with its "truth and facts are not the same" deal and it had one of the best developed worlds i may have ever seen in a video game, I loved it and it was probably the second best indie game I played all year and a great example of a game that wears its inspirations on its sleeve while also striving wholly to be its own thing above all else.
most ambitious game: THE SNIPER 2.
a game with no budget trying its best to be a MGS style political thriller with voice acting and big cutscenes and big ideas, this game is ambitious far beyond its means and i respect it so much for it, it helped me better articulate just what i look for in games and how to me the intent and meaning behind a game matter much more than the execution most of the time, this game is really special and it even has one of the coolest OST's in the whole simple series, sure it's flawed and barely functional, but it's a fun few hours with it's cool sniper puzzles and it even has a cool side mode thrown in involving UFO's and references to they live that just rounds out the game perfectly, i love this game unconditionally.
best boss of the year: DEVIL MAY CRY 2 (replay)
arius is one of the best boss fights in any video game, i do not care. anyway this is my second favourite DMC, it has an amazing atmosphere and soundtrack, some of the best levels in the whole series and one of the best looking games of its era, the wallruns are one of the best additions to the gameplay formula period and i wish it was kept in later games, the story is great, the new additions like flying and bloody palace are great, it has some of the most fun series gameplay period, lucia is amazing and i love her route, plus she's super fun to play with (and so is trish!), plus its easy and i like that, this is DMC at its most stylish and i love it deeply, don't believe the hate, this one is great.
game i wish was easier: DEVIL MAY CRY 3: SPECIAL EDITION. (replay)
while it's far from my favourite DMC, it's still a great game with some super varied and fun levels, great, if too difficult, bosses, some of the series best weapons, with agni/Rudra and the Cerberus nunchucks and lady's bazooka is always actually the best weapon any time it shows up, a fantastic story and cast that manages to make me cry every time, some amazing music and it has my favorite playable rendition of vergil, it's only real issues are its difficulty and being sandwhiched between my actual two favourite games in the series, but it's still a classic and one that's about as good as you have heard.
worst redesigns in an otherwise good game: DEVIL MAY CRY 5 (replay but first time playing special edition)
while it's tied with 1 for my least favourite DMC, it still has some of the series most fun gameplay, V is a fantastic new addition and one of the series most fun characters to play, great versions of dante and vergil (and a far worse version of nero), great new additions like the bike weapon and the new take on cerberus and, even though he plays worse overall, Nero's fun arms, it has great bosses, a few good story beats and a killer OST, but it's held back massively by a bad story overall, bordering on character assassination, some weird misogyny moments, very boring and bland levels and the series worst art direction that removes almost all style from a series all about style, plus it didn't bring back lady and trish as playable characters! a real shame, but it is still good overall. this is also the first time i ever played a game with raytracing in the special edition, it seemed really unimpressive, this isn't a knock against DMC5 just, raytracing seems a little lame and unessesary to me.
best RPG: I AM SETSUNA.
a sad and tragic retro style rpg, the first game by a new favourite studio of mine in tokyo rpg factory, this is a retro style RPG that still does its best to be a wholley unique experiance instead of relying on nostalgia and references. it has a super interesting world with an amazing set of snow levels, the whole game is a big snow level really, one of the best OST's of the year which is almost entirely composed on piano, a heartbreaking story, some really fun battle mechanics, a great cast and some amazing writing, it's easily one of my new favourite RPG's and it's a must play to me, give this and the rest of tokyo rpg factory's games a try, please.
best GAAS game i still play: MY HERO: ULTRA RUMBLE.
over a year on and i still play this game daily, it's fun, pretty fairly monetized even after last season kind of fucked it up a little, it has some of the best gameplay in any game I've ever played and i have almost 400 hours in it, it might be my favourite multiplayer game and i'm still having as much fun with it now as i was at my peak of playing, though it had more issues over time with things like balance issues (the speed meta with hawks, mirio and toga was a real low point) and the fact quirk skillsets still aren't playable with tickets does drag the experience down a little, though the characters and maps released for the game are very consistently fun and i loved the changes made to the town map recently, made my favourite map even more fun and the new one added is just as good, plus i got a new main with nejire, so i'm happy with the game for now and i'm very excited to see where it goes in the future.
best DLC: DMC: DEVIL MAY CRY: VERGILS DOWNFALL
a fun 2 hour adventure that explores Vergil's backstory in the reboot, it wholly takes place in the limbo levels which were some of the coolest in the original and it has a ton of fun encounters and a great final boss at the end, Vergil himself is super fun to play and it has maybe the games best cutscenes too, it's more DMC:DMC and that alone will tell you weather or not you should play this, the gameplay might not be as fun as dante's but vergil is still great here to play and he has some really fun moves like his doppleganger style as his DT and the way it handles his weapons is super fun with the angel devil mechanic, plus it even lets him use bloody palace and he has some cool unlockables to boot, plus its free in the ps4 port of the game! i love DMC:DMC so i really recommend it, give this, and the basegame, another chance, i promise you it's good.
best MMO: FINAL FANTASY 14 AND ITS PATCH QUESTS.
a game i never thought i'd get into, final fantasy 14 can be a very slow game and it's one that has a few big issues with it, but once it clicks it really clicks and there isn't much else like it out there, an amazing story and characters, one of the best OST's of the past few generations, some amazing towns and locations and arguably the best catboys in the industry (mine included, i have grown so attached to him), it's one of the nicest worlds to just exist in and i had a great time playing with friends and getting into dungeons, trying out new classes (i love the healing white mage and the gun using mechanist a lot) and the nature of it being an MMO i'm super far behind on means there's still tons to find, like the new towns expanded on in the games post-basegame updates and a story that just keeps going, adding great new characters and cool locations and i only just hit the expansion around the new year, very recommended if you have the time and patience for it to really click with you.
best dungeon crawler of the year: RESIDENT EVIL GUN SURVIVOR 2: CODE VERONICA (replay)
it's like doom but better and i actually like it, a weirdo remake of code veronica made for arcades and that plays like a shooter from a good decade before it was made, but it's cool, you see the code veronica levels from a new perspective and I've always loved how it controlled, it's a super unique game and i think it's really fun, there's a short and fun arcade mode but the real game comes in the form of the dungeon crawler mode where you go through huge dungeon levels and do various objectives, which is a first for the series, it's great! sad the cutscenes don't have any voice acting though and it's both exclusive to Europe and it's pretty rare if you want it in English. oh and it's got nemesis in it, for some reason.
best romance mechanics: HAVEN.
being a really cool mix of an otome game and a 3D platforming JRPG. haven is a really unique and cool indie game focused around cleaning up planets and finding gear to repeair your ship, with a heavy focus on the relationship and how it develops throughout the story, it makes a cool choice with having the main couple be a couple throughout and it handles romance better than almost any game outside of the otome genre ever has, it's sweet and cute and wholley original, sure the battle mechanics aren't great and the world can be a little bland, but the writing and story more than make up for it, plus with a newer update you can even play as a gay or lesbian version of the romance if you want and it's handled with just as much love and care as the default one
most fun shooter: MAX PAYNE.
one of the most fun shooters I've ever played and also one of the best written. while i'd played many of its various inspired games over the years like WET and STRANGLEHOLD this was my first time sitting down and playing the real game itself and i loved it, while i do think some of its clones have more fun gameplay it's hard to deny just how good this is to play and how all the levels you play in are perfect for it. it's super pretty with its snowy new York setting, the story is amazing and it has some of the best voice acting on the PS2 with an all timer performance by james mcaffre as max, plus those cutscenes are a joy to watch even when the game itself gets heavy, in some years this could very well have been my GOTY and i'm excited to check out the sequels.
best shmup: SILPHEED: THE LOST PLANET.
a very cool shmup made in conjuction between trasure and game arts, this is a pretty neat game with some super cool looking levels and some neat sqaure enix style cutscenes, it has a surprising amount of story for a shmup and a really nice OST, it's not too hard too beyond the last few levels and is pretty accessable by shmup standards, reccomended especially for beginners or people who want a shmup but with a little more going on beyond just the gameplay.
best 3D platformer: ASTRO BOT.
sure the references might not be for everyone and it is an IP graveyard, but the game is just so fun to play, with so many great levels, fun tech uses and cute gimmicks that i can't find myself disliking it at all. the references are fun and get you in through the door but what keeps you there is the amazing levels and gameplay, it's also just beautiful and the level themes are all super pretty and fun to explore, plus it has the best use out of the ps5 rumble so far and even the adaptive triggers have some cool moments, plus its still being updated with cool new levels up to and including a gex cameo, it's not my GOTY but i can absolutely see why it managed to be it for a lot of other people.
best cinematic platformer: THE MISSING: JJ MACFIELD AND THE ISLAND OF MEMORIES.
much like with secret little haven, i can't really comment on the queer themes here since it's not something i really know about, but it seems to really resonate with the people the game is made for, and on top of that it's got some really cool puzzles with its dismemberment and immortality mechanics super reminiciant of neverdead, a personal favourite of mine. the story is well told and interesting, the characters are super likable and it has a really good atmosphere to it, cinematic platformers are usually one of my least favourite kinds of games but this one for sure won me over.
best WIIU game: PUSHMO WORLD.
a cute little puzzle game for wiiu, this is a game all about cool perspective tricks and stretching blocks, it's got a really great ost and some super creative puzzles, especially when the game decides to make its levels almost like an interactive picross map, it's really creative and with hundreds of levels it has a ton of stuff to do, though it's also a really difficult game i found myself having to use a guide for in its later segments, still super worth it for being one of the few remaining, and best, wiiu exclusives.
coolest open world of the year: DEAD RISING 2 (replay)
deadrising 2 is a game of extremes, both in it's gory and sexual content and in its gulf in quality, while it has some of the most fun gameplay of its generation, tons of creative weapons with even more added thanks to the amazing combo weapon mechanic, an amazing open world that's always fun to explore, real improvements and additions on deadrisings already amazing mechanics, fun bosses and a great OST, it's also dragged down by having some of the worst writing and one of the worst stories of its generation, it's crass and mean spirited and just not a good time to have to sit through, still super recommended if you can put up with its issues though, it's really that fun.
best remake: RESIDENT EVIL 2.
one of the very few remakes that manages to justify its existance, this is a really solid and fun take on an already great game, sure it's not as good as the original and i'm still not convinced it needed to happen at all, but it's so different that it's mostly an original game. the gameplay and tone and vibe are all radically different, i think the changes to the levels are all really neat (though the original did have a better opening), the new art style with the gore systems and perfectly done lighting and even the changes to the story are all pretty neat and they all combine to make it worth playing even if you've beaten the original dozens of times like i have. it's not perfect in that i think it's far too hard and i do think that the changes to mr x do make it an overall worse game on return playthroughs, but especially for that first run it is a terrifying game and one that is well worth playing, even if i do reccomend the original above it in most ways, shoutout the new leon too he's a total cutie.
most tragic development: ONINAKI.
a fantastic action rpg with a solumn and sad world, it's got some issues like a very lacking soundtrack but this is a one of a kind rpg with a super interesting story told in a cool way, the ways it tackles death and the afterlife really spoke to me and i think the topics it handles are things that most games would struggle to do respectfully, but this consistantly manages to be mature and thoughtful it's entire runtime, it's characters are interesting and the world is really fascinating to learn about, plus the top down action combat feels like how games like hades should play, with tons of moves and depth because of it's super cool weapon sets that you gain along the way and it even has some cool stuff with how you can switch between the world of the living and the dead on the fly to fight different enemies and find treasure. it's just sad this was the last game by its developer: tokyo rpg factory, a dev team i became super familiar with the work of this year, but it's one hell of a swan song and it feels oddly fitting to have been the game they went out with, in a sad way.
nazi killing game of the year: WOLFENSTEIN: THE OLD BLOOD
a game i didn't get into my first attempt with it, but upon going back and trying it again on easy i fell for it hard. some great levels, an interesting story with some fun turns and some amazing final levels that go places you won't expect, fun weapons and a *lot* of nazi killing make this a must play, especially now, i mean it lets you murder hundreds of nazis with duel weild shotguns, what more do you need out of a game.
fighting game of the year: FIGHTING EX LAYER.
while its on a budget of some bread and a penny it's still a super fun fighter with tons of the best SFEX characters returning, it has some amazing music and i had a great time with it, the depth here is very impressive but do know going in that it's not super offline friendly and has very little to actually do in it, really mostly for super hardcore SFEX fans, but if you don't mind the lack of stuff to do you can still have a good time here with whats there.
best perv game: VALKYRIE DRIVE: BIKKHUNI.
a game that by all accounts i should dislike, if there's any genre i hate it's yuri, but this game won me over with it's charming characters, shockingly long and dark story, some of the most "vita" graphics around and by having some of the best hack and slash gameplay i'd ever played, throw in a great soundtrack, a full blown smash clone buried in the multiplayer along with a very good versus mode and a very varied and deep set of characters and mechanics and you have one of the best action games on the vita.
weirdest existance: RATCHET AND CLANK (2016)
a movie game based on an adaptation of a game, a game that this is also remaking, it's a confusing thing but the game itself is super fun, sure it's a bad remake and it's worse in most ways vs the original, but it still makes enough changes to be worth playing on its own and the gameplay really shines here, it's a great time and it's cool to see these locales in this fidelity, though i'd reccomend the original over it in all cases, this is really more a high quality novelty than anything, but it is a very good novelty at that.
MOBA of the year: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.
yeah i only played this for the first time this year, but i had a great time, i loved playing gwen and briar and vi and akali, i love the side stuff like the solo games and K/DA and i think the world they set up is super interesting, though i did have my best matches with bots and the learning time was steep, once it clicked i had a great time and i still go back sometimes to do matches and unlock new characters, i think the gameplay is a lot of fun and i like the aesthetic a lot, plus it feels so fresh and new to me as someone who only plays console games full time, i wish there were more maps though.
most impassable game: HUNGRY GHOSTS.
a game that's basically impossible to actually finish even if you know Japanese and possibly impossible to really start if you don't, the game is a super in depth immersive sim set in the buddhist hell, it has systems upon systems that judge you for even the most minor of actions and something as simple as picking up the wrong consumable can lock you out of an ending, it's fascinating in how obtuse it is to the point i would highly recommend it if you know enough Japanese to get into it, without though i'm not sure i can, it's just too much of a brick wall without the dialogue hints the game gives you but if you're dedicated enough i imagine you can still get something out of it. it has a fantastic atmosphere and some amazing dialogue for the people who can stick it out though, a true one of a kind game.
best wrestling game: RUMBLE ROSES.
one of the bigger surprises of the year was this, rumble roses, it's pervy and not usually the kind of game i would play, i don't know anything about wrestling, but this was a lot of fun! it's one of the best looking and animated games on the console, it has some of the dumbest and best cutscenes on the system, some killer music and to top it all off it's actually really fun, there's a lot of depth here and some surprisingly varied character playstyles, if you can get passed the perv stuff this is a genuinely great game!
best card system: CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON.
giving you a pretty fun castle and one of the coolest card based magic systems I've ever seen, it has some cool non-linier stuff, tons of cool optional weapons like an amazing rose sword and it actually was super fun to find out all the fun combinations with the cards to get neat spells, though the movement system and difficulty really could have used some tweaking and toning down, many rewinds were used. killer OST too, though it ended up being my overall least favourite of the GBA castlevania titles, but also not the worst castlevania i played this year (that was Dracula x)
most GBA GBA game: CASTLEVANIA: HARMONY OF DISSONANCE.
at a tie for my favourite GBA vania this game shocked and surprised me, an amazing aesthetic with some great box art, a great map gimmick with 2 subtly different castles to explore, super varied environments like a crystal cave and THE BONE ZONE, a cool book based magic system with tons of variety, a great furniture collecting system that really made me want to scour the map so i could decorate my own little room in the castle, plus the best OST maybe on the gba period? made this one of my favourite games of the year, it even has a front dash which gave it the best movement in the entire series, a real must play game and a possible shoe-in for my favourite 2D castlevania.
worst grind of the year: CASTLEVANIA: ARIA OF SORROW.
a fantastic game with one of the worst grinds i have ever had to endure, it has a great OST, one of the coolest magic systems with the souls system (something i would love to see more games take on, i know nioh 2 does), fantastic aesthetics and fun gameplay and a shockingly good story for the series with some memorable characters that feels very reminiciant of how ps2 games told their stories, great designs on them to boot. it's really only held back by it's grind to the true ending and a pretty not-great castle design, still absolutely worth playing and it has probably the best gameplay out of any of the GBA-vanias.
best reboot: TOMB RAIDER (2013, replay)
an amazing modern take on the series, this is a lot more dark and violent and actiony but it all works, the survival elements fit super well and it manages to somehow out-uncharted uncharted with its gameplay and setpieces, it's fun to play and amazing to watch in action, it has some seriously unforgettable sections and it tells an interesting story and has a damn good take on lara too, sure it's lacking in puzzles with most being optional side tombs, but those puzzles are still all really good, do check the content warnings going in though, this is a very violent game, the death scenes may even be too violent if i'm being honest.
best marsupial: CRASH BANDICOOT.
it's shocking it took me this long to play this but i had a great time with it, it's really fun and charming and it has some amazing levels and manages to stay fun and interesting for its entire runtime, i love how all it's levels are made and paced, that kind of linier 3D platformer really gels with me, plus that soundtrack, wow, it's mainly held back by its difficulty which keeps it from being one of my favourite platformers but throw in some cheats and it becomes a better experience, i had a great time regardless and i'm super excited to see how good the sequels are!
best frog: STAR FOX 64
a short and fun rail shootery experience with some cool flightsim'y levels thrown in. it has an amazing ost, one of the best of the year even, really fun and varied levels with different routes you can take through them which gives the game crazy variety for its short runtime and it's got so much charm with its dub and fun characters, it might have been too difficult at times but its perfectly beatable most people, 100% recommended in any form you can play it in, it's one of the rare Nintendo games that i find is as cool as nintendobro's will tell you.
best new devils third: WANTED DEAD.
while it was pretty disappointing in retrospect, this is still a super charming and funny take on the devils third style of gameplay, it has some of the funniest cutscenes of the year, some of the best voice acting, a great OST with some fun licenced picks and great minigames, it's so wholly it's own that even with my issues with it i have to recommend this just for the amount of passion radiating from it, this is the kind of passion project that so rarely ever gets greenlit anymore, though i do have to say that it is a little too and while the melee x shooting combat it takes from devils third is fun, the lack of any side weapons, the nerfed slide and inability to shoot someone with a bazooka while you slide on the floor makes it just not play as well as devils third and it struggled to hit any of the high notes of that games combat, fun though it's focus on gun parries might be.
best pause screen music: GOLDENEYE
one of the very few rare games i can honestly say i like, mostly, it's a genuinely really great shooter with some super varied levels with a cool system where your difficulty settings will give you more objectives to do in the level, it's really neat and it makes those difficulties worth checking out, plus it's really varied with its fun weapons and it looks great too, and it was seriously innovative for the time, it's only issue is the same one that hurts a lot of games i've talked about so far, it's just too damn hard!! it might even be the hardest game i beat this year and that's saying a lot, still recommended if you can handle it's ridiculous difficulty though! but i would recommend timesplitters or perfect dark over this any day.
best soundtrack: NO MORE HEROES 2: DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
a sequel a lot of people either seem to dislike or skip, this is one i think i might like more than the original, the gameplay is more fun, the bosses even more varied, the music is some of the best in the entire artform (the pal version of philistine might be my favourite game track ever), the design's are better than ever, it feels like the series is improving on how it treats women just a little by letting you play as shinobu and almost kind of seeming like it has something to say WRT to that with things like the kimmy fight and even chloe and i love its commentary on itself, the player and the nature of sequels, it's bitter in all the right ways and that final boss fight is very funny, it's for sure worth it and a lot more interesting than it ever gets credit for, i do miss that open town though.
best among us: DEATH NOTE: KILLER INSIDE.
a licenced multiplayer game that came free on PS PLUS and died as fast as it came, this was a pretty great little time, making a social stealth game that felt like it had a lot more going on mechanically than most, plus it had a cooler theme and a really nice art style that i liked a lot, like check those light and L models, they're so good, hard to get a game running though sadly.
best penguin game: FAAAST PENGUIN.
on top of being one of the best racing games i think I've ever played, it has a great aesthetic, some of my favourite music of the year, some amazingly varied maps and tons of super in depth mechanics that keep me coming back for reasons beyond how cute my custom penguin looks in a business suit, probably my favourite multiplayer game of the year after ultra rumble and it's one i'll keep coming back to for years to come, i even spent real money on it which is a serious rarity for me, it's just that fun and the cosmetics are just that good, i also just love penguins.
best cancelled game:CLOCKWORK AQUARIO.
a fun and really really really short arcade platformer by the people behind cotton, this is a really fun little cancelled arcade game that got brought back by the people at strictly limited and released on modern consoles, it's really short and there isn't a ton of reason to replay it (it's half an hour and also very easy) but the game is so fun that you might just want to go back and play for the fun of it, it's really just that good, it has varied and beautiful levels, great level theming, a killer OST and the gameplay is so fun it makes me wonder why it ever got cancelled to begin with.
best townbuilding RPG: EIYUDEN CHRONICLE: RISING.
a prequel to a larger kickstarter RPG that managed to hold its own and be better than most fully original games, it has one of the coolest, most developed towns in an RPG that you get to help slowly develop yourself by doing quests, it has great music, some very fun combat with some cool collectathon'y elements with its stamp system and even some minigames like fishing and farming. it even has a super fun story with memorable NPC's and it was written by Tadashi satomi, one of the best writers in the artform, a must play if you're into rpgs or towns.
best Ubisoft game: THE CREW.
the last real time Ubisoft ever showed any shade of their old ambition. the crew was an open world caRPG that tried its best to recreate the mainland US, missing Hawaii (which the sequel did) and Alaska. it was an impressive and ambitious game that even had a story mode and some cool online features and races that took you across the entire breadth of the country! though it had a pretty bad licenced OST, the rpg mechanics made the game fairly unbalanced and grindy and an always online connection required that now makes it so you cannot play the game in any form! it was cool while it lasted though and its ambition should not be understated.
weirdest PSN release: TRASH PANIC
a cute little puzzle game from Japan studio about compacting trash and being as eco friendly as you can while doing it, while it's too difficult in its main mode i do love the gameplay here, plus it has a great OST and some really nice effects for a PSN title, plus that weirdo release cycle was very interesting to look up, if it had some easier difficulty modes it could have easily been one of my favourite games on the PSN.
hardest game of the year: CRYSTAL DEFENDERS.
one of the hardest games I've ever played to the point i couldn't beat it without cheating, this game is brutal and really only worth playing the first few stages of unless you feel very confidant in your tower defence skills, but it's still a great looking and sounding game, has some cool mechanics like the RPG stuff and the round bonus system and those early stages are really great, plus it's final fantasy, i can't not give an FF game a year end shoutout.
scariest game of the year: DARK ESCAPE 4D
a game i haven't covered yet but plan to, i played this in an arcade in Manchester with (https://www.youtube.com/@LEXXPortPatrol) and had a great time, it's a rail shooter that tries its best to really actually scare you, with each stage playing on a different fear like a fear of spiders or darkness, each hit or jumpscare blasts air at you and the game measures your heart rate and judges you based on how scared you are, it really terrified me to the point i could not get passed the first stage alone but when we managed to beat it we had a great time, it looks great and it is actually that scary, well worth tracking down a physical cabinet for!
i couldn't think of an award for this one: HOUSE OF THE DEAD: SCARLET DAWN.
the last real house of the dead game but unlike time crisis 5, it's not the worst one. it's super short and actually very easy for an arcade shooter and it makes for a really fun time, it looks super ps3 and has some really impressive looking hoards to it, plus some really fun levels and bosses, though its cutscenes aren't as funny or iconic as some of the other HOTD games. worth a try if you can ever find the cabinet for it which shouldn't be too hard since this game seems very common as far as arcade cabs go.
best dead hero shooter: CONCORD.
i kind of liked it, awful design's, some unfun characters and some really bad game modes, but the gameplay was overall super fun, when the aesthetic worked it really worked and i did like that it didn't have microtransactions, it's a flawed game for sure and i don't think it should have been online only at all, but it is what it is, i'm happy i had the chance to play it and i'll eventually cop a physical copy to have.
best game from someone i know: PUSHOVER
a cute lil short game that can run on real Gameboy hardware, this is a fun 20 min game about making choices on a trip to town, it has really nice sprites and i liked it, not sure what else to say really, go try it now on itch and ideally throw some money towards it, link is + here
weirdest arcade cabinet: TIME CRISIS 5.
the worst time crisis game is still a great game, it has a weird release that feels almost like a scam but it's got some great levels, amazing cutscenes and a super cool ending and it's even more time crisis, it's well worth it for the cool gimmicks and those amazing cutscenes, but with the lack of a console port it might be a little hard to find.
game series i fully finished: ROCKET KNIGHT ADVENTURES.
lumping these all together because i don't super have a lot to say about each, all 4 are worth playing but difficulty and my own dislike of this specific kind of 2D platformer did hold them back from being personal favourites of the year, SNES sparkster with its cool levels and having my favourite gameplay and the overt XBLA energy of the ps3 game make those the ones i liked the most, but i do recommend giving them all a try for 2D platformer fans, the jetpack is a great gimmick and there is some *amazing* music to be found here, plus some of the best spritework of their era, and i mean sparkster himself is adorable, you can't top that design.
best knack game: MONEY KING: HERO IS BACK.
a cross production between a Chinese studio and the people at sony Japan studio this is a cool 3D platformer beatemup that takes it's biggest inspirtions from knack of all things, it's basically knack 3 but licenced, it's combat is a little repetitive and stiff and the VA is super strange, but it's a really good time with some nice levels and cool boss fights, plus that DLC was worth the price of admission alone and i think it's worth playing just to see japan studios last real game.
other shoutouts: STIMULATON CLICKER: a short little clicker game with a good message about overstimulation on the modern net, though it is a little streamerbaity, it gave me a direct headache also which i think is directly the point. HUNTERS ARENA:LEGENDS: a cool BR with DMC inspired gameplay and a really cool Chinese historical setting, just a shame it was always online and is now unplayable. ice cream surfer is an adorable cutemup with some really nice sprites, plus its on vita! super buggy and a little basic though. XDefiant is a COD clone hero shooter from ubisoft that's a lot better than it has any right to be, it's full of cool crossover maps and characters and the gameplay is surprisingly fun, at least in the games bot mode, i'm not skilled enough to play with real players, plus once it got announced for delisting the developers just threw *everything* they had into it, finished or not, including some assassins creed and blood dragon (ugghhh) stuff and even maps from prince of persia and RAYMAN, it's worth checking out for that reason alone. VALORANT: a fun enough tactical shooter with some really nice designs (killjoy and viper were my mains) and cool hero abilities, it's nothing amazing but i had a good time with it.
SUPERMARKET SHRIEK: a rare game set in my country, this is a cute little physics racer based on using the microphone with another player to control the cart through obsticle courses, it's a little too streamery for me but you can enjoy it for the setting and all the fun irish cultural references in a solo setting with just the triggers on the controller, plus it's one of the cheapest games physically for the ps4 period. POSTAL: while i disliked it really heavily, it's so interesting and divisive that it'd feel wrong not at least reccomending it to try if you're able to handle its contents(very extreme violence and some weirdo anti-japanese racism in the expansion levels), something which i very much could not do. ZENLESS ZONE ZERO: fun gameplay, maybe even the best gameplay in a hoyo game and some nice designs but i lost interest quickly, the style is good but the focus on the women over the men in the gatcha just meant i very quickly lost interest, especially when the few male designs the game does have just aren't all that good. SUPERLIMINAL: short and cool puzzle with some neat perspective gimmicks, not super interesting but it does what it does well. DANGEROUS GOLF: while their driving games aren't very good, the devs of danger zone and dangerous driving making a good golf game was a shocker for sure, it's fun and the gimmick of destroying everything in the environment with burnout crash time is really fun, plus its a reaal spectacle, unlike danger zone.
best game about a mentally ill frog: CRAZY FROG RACER.
one of the biggest shocks of the year was this, i mean, it's a racing game about crazy frog, it couldn't be good at all, right? well, yeah it is, it's a super fun wipeout clone with an OST full of tons of great European DJs. sure its short, has no track variety (its basically 3 tracks split into 20 all with the same theming) and is super unbalanced, but the sense of speed is very impressive and that OST is seriously fantastic, it's a perfect time capsule of a specific era of electronic music and i listen to tracks from it all the time.
best disqualified game: FOAMSTARS.
i wish i could give foamstars recognition, i really do, it has amazing designs by girihiru, amazing gameplay that manages to be as good as splatoon, a fun aesthetic and one of the best OST's of the generation, even the story is kind of fun, if very basic and repetitive, but it's use of AI for the ingame album covers (and also severe server issues) make it so that i just can't justify giving it anything more than this, a disqualification, it's a shame too since i was super excited for it and they added some great characters and maps to the game, they even made it free to play and gave it away on PS plus so i thankfully didn't need to pay anything for it, but it is what it is, i wish it was better.
dishonorable mentions: DEAD SPACE REMAKE, POWER WASH SIMULATOR, OFF THE GRID
dead space remake gets our first mention, not because it's unplayable or morally reprehensible, but because it's a game with no reason to exist, it's the kind of remake that aims to replace the original but in doing so it highlights why a remake can never replace an original, it's too safe and close to the original to stand out as its own game worthy of playing, but every change it does make to the original just serves to make it a worse experience like the backtracking and changes to the upgrade system that both serve to be nothing more than padding that kills the games pacing and a gore system that makes the gameplay less fun, to people who don't really care about games as art and that just want to play the game all shiny shiny, i'm sure its fine, but i'd never recommend it at all other than to see a mild remix of a great game, a great game you should just play instead of this version. there is also power wash simulator, a streamerbait "cozy game" that's more boring than cozy, it's tedius and expects such absurd meticulousness that after the first 50% of the level the entire rest is just the most boring pixelhunt you will ever experiance, plus throw in the fact the game has no music or real charm of its own (beyond the crossover levels which exist as the sole positive here with things like FF7, tomb raider and walice and gromit) it just exists as a game who's sole reason to be is to be background footage for streamers and podcast listeners, and that's a little sad. off the grid however is worse than either of these, it's a miserable, boring and unbalanced battle royale chock full of ai art, NFT's and other kinds of weirdo gambling scams, it's bland and basic and it's one semi-interesting system with the equipable arms just doesn't have the depth to save an otherwise boring game, if you want a BR game with cool game changing abilities, just play ultra rumble instead of this garbage, it's really only notable for being a vehicle for some hollywood director to put his name to something and for being the first NFT game on PSN, not awards even worth having.
