Last December I did an end-of-year recap thing that got a lot of fun comments. Thought I'd do it again this year! What games did you complete (or just play a lot of)? What did you think about them? Highlights? Lowlights? Might be a good chance to find some hidden gems while the Steam sale is on too.
I finished a surprisingly large number of games this year. Sorted by date completed, oldest first...
A Short Hike | 8/10
Cute, short, and fun. Perfect game to start the year.
Inside | 8/10
Limbo was the very last game I completed in '23, and I definitely preferred Inside overall. I liked the atmosphere, visuals, and puzzles more here.
Hook 2 | 7/10
NABOKI | 6/10
Up Left Out | 6/10
I bought these three as part of a bundle. Short and fun puzzle games, nothing super memorable.
Firewatch | 7/10
Definitely an enjoyable time, great voice acting, but the ending was kind of underwhelming.
Cyber Hook | 7/10
I really like this style of 3D platformer, but there aren't a lot of them. The only other one I can think of is Grapple, which was hugely underrated.
Lunistice | 6/10
Cute art style, but I remember the controls feeling a little bit janky.
Slay the Princess | 8/10
Fuckin' weird, I love it.
Unpacking | 6/10
I was disappointed that I didn't vibe with this one very much. Telling the story through the items you own is a super cool idea, but I just couldn't get myself to really care about where to place the items which is the entire gameplay loop.
Hades | 10/10 (Top 3 of the Year)
I don't like roguelikes, so I skipped Hades for a long time, but I finally gave in. I LOVED my time with this. The meta progression was done well enough that I felt like I was still making progress overall so the roguelike-ness never bothered me, and every other aspect of this game is perfection. My highest rated game of the year because I cannot find a reason to take a point away.
Trail Out | 7/10
Something something imitation, something something flattery. This is a Flatout game, but it's honestly a pretty good one. I had a fun time with it, but I'd never take this over Flatout 2.
art of rally | 7/10
I'm not a huge fan of top-down racers but with some tweaks in the camera settings it's bearable. What really hurts this game is the penalty/recovery system, it's so eager to reset your car the moment you go off the track, even if only by a hair, it destroys the flow. Graphics are beautiful though.
Hot Wheels Unleashed | 6/10
It's fine. Super repetitive, lootbox-esque progression is stupid, but it's mechanically sound. I would only recommend if you're desperate for arcade racers like I am.
Loddlenaut | 7/10
I love how cleaning games have become a genre. This is a short and sweet game about cleaning the ocean, I had a good time with this one on the Steam Deck.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 | (the PS2 one) | 9/10
There's a decent chance this was the first video game I ever played. If not the first, it's at least among the first couple. I've started so many saves but never actually finished the career mode until now. Aside from the career structure being a bit boring, it's still a highlight of the franchise for me. Beautiful tracks, beautiful cars, top tier early '00s soundtrack, great handling, I love this game.
Gear.Club Unlimited 2 | 6/10
Look, I'm really desperate for arcade racers, okay? This one isn't a live service, isn't always online, no lootboxes, no battle passes, I'll take it.
Toem | 7/10
Cute, but there were several times throughout my playthrough where it felt like what should've been the solution wasn't, and the actual solution made less sense than what I was trying to do, which was a bit frustrating.
Hi-Fi Rush | 9/10
The score went up an entire point when The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die started playing. I really hope this gets a sequel.
Burnout Revenge | 9/10
Another game I've started many times and never finished. NFS:HP2 may have been a nostalgia-driven 9/10, but this is a genuine 9/10. Absolutely puts everything from the past 10 years of this genre to shame.
DiRT 4 | 6/10
Painfully dull. DiRT Rally is a way better sim, DiRT 2/3/5 are way better arcade racers, there is no reason to ever touch this. I finished it because I am desperate for racing games.
Ghostrunner II | 7/10
This one didn't vibe with me as much as the first, and I'm not really sure why. The bike levels were a bit janky but were still fun for variety, and I still liked the game overall, but I'm more likely to replay the first than this.
SPRAWL | 9/10 (Top 3 of the Year)
If SPRAWL didn't have a soundtrack, it would be an 8/10, good time, recommend. However, I have had this goddamn soundtrack on repeat since playing it. This is my favorite video game OST and it's not even remotely close. This is a neurofunk album with a video game tie-in.
Blur 8/10
The fact that when I first played this I instantly got a message from a friend I hadn't talked to in years asking "HOW DID YOU GET A STEAM KEY" says so much about the legacy of this game. It existed for such as short period of time and was horribly underrated. (I wish I owned this game on Steam, but it was a non-Steam copy.)
Webbed | 7/10
Cute platformer, don't really much about it at the moment besides skateboarding spiders.
Bastion | 8/10
Played after putting many more hours into Hades to see where Supergiant came from. I was impressed by how well it holds up, fun to see earlier concepts that Hades would perfect.
Old School Rally | ?/10
Technically an early access game, but I finished all the available career events. Very promising PS1-style rally game.
Stories: The Path Of Destinies | 8/10
You ever have one (or hundreds) of those games you got in a Humble Bundle 5 years ago and just never touched? This was one of those, I randomly decided to play it, and it was great! Fantastic voice acting, fun story, fun combat, I wish I played it sooner.
Exo One | ?/10
I don't know what's going on and at this point I'm too afraid to ask. I think I launched a marble at Jupiter?
Hardspace: Shipbreaker | 8/10
This was my podcast game for a while. Not very deep, but it's fun to gradually tear ships apart. Definitely recommend playing on the lower difficulty, having to worry about O2 and stuff kills the vibe.
To the Moon | 5/10
Explaining why I don't like this game involves major spoilers. To keep it vague, I really don't like how they handled one of the characters in the story. If you've played the game, you either understand or think I'm insane because apparently this is a masterpiece.
ExoCross | 6/10
Very basic offroad racer. Used to be named "DRAG" but then the developers were bought by iRacing. The game seems like it was frantically rushed out of early access after that. The native Linux port is excellent though.
RUINER | 7/10
10/10 vibes, 5/10 gameplay.
Furi | 8/10
"That final boss sure was easy... oh? oh! OH FUCK!" followed by many deaths until I finally won.
Pseudoregalia | 8/10
10/10 movement/controls, but the environments felt a little bland. There's an accessibility option to put pants on your character.
Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition | 6/10
It's fine, but nothing especially noteworthy compared to other metroidvanias I've played.
Redout II | 9/10 (Top 3 of the Year)
(I played with the assists off because I am a stubborn bastard, I have no idea how the assists change the gameplay.)
Redout II will repeatedly punch you in the face until your brain wraps itself around controlling these 2700km/h deathtraps. But trust me, once you get good, it's euphoric. One of my favorite gaming experiences this year was missing out on a gold medal in a time trial by several seconds and thinking "how the fuck is this possible"? And then I tried again. And again. Going faster, and faster, until I had beaten the gold time by several seconds. Every time you think you can't go any faster, you're wrong, just be better.
Crayon Physics Deluxe | 5/10
Great idea for a puzzle game, but the janky physics made it more frustrating than fun.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | 7/10
It's fine, but doesn't really feel like it lives up to the hype surrounding it.
Mini Motor Racing X | 6/10
Painfully dull career mode, but I'm desperate for arcade racers.
Parking Garage Rally Circuit | 7/10
Short but fun.
Minecraft | ?/10
I haven't beaten Minecraft in probably 10 years, so I started and new save and beat the game again for the hell of it. I'm not sure how to rate Minecraft out of 10 at this point.
Jusant | 9/10
Super beautiful and chill, I recommend avoiding spoilers and just playing it.
Dome Keeper | 7/10
Trying to keep the Hades "maybe I don't hate roguelikes" thing going, so I got Dome Keeper. I feel like it's too easy and there's not enough variety in runs, but I still had some fun with it.
Dead Cells | 8/10
And finally, one more roguelike. I've "beaten" the game, as in I've reached the credits, but only 0BC. Still playing it, but won't be chasing 5BC or anything like that. I do wish there was more meta progression with this one, a lot of runs feel like a complete waste of time which is my main problem with roguelikes, but the core gameplay is excellent.
Trails in the Sky: SC 10/10
I actually started playing this in 2023 but finished it early 2024. I was hesitant to start this series because it's massive and I really wanted to try to play them all. I'm glad I finally got around to it. I loved this game. It's not for everyone but if you enjoy games with good world building, twists, tons of characters, and of course an amazing soundtrack, give it a go.
Trails in the Sky: The Third 8/10
I almost skipped this one. I'd heard a lot of mixed opinions about it. It's a very different kind of game from FC and SC. It's more of an homage or send off kind of for the cast of FC and SC. The story here is good but it's not a grand scale story with conspiracy, plotting, and intrigue like FC and FC. Other than returning characters it doesn't tie into the first two much at all.
The whole game also takes place in a dungeon with multiple layers which makes it feel smaller and more confined than the first two games.
The final dungeon almost ruined it for me though. It's one of those types where you're forced to use all characters. Fortunately I had enough leveled characters to carry the weaker ones but I still didn't like it. The balance of the game overall is also just off. Most of it is incredibly easy until the final dungeon, partly because you're forced to use all characters.
As usual though the soundtrack is great. Overall a good game. If you enjoyed FC and SC definitely give it a chance.
Fire Emblem: Three Hopes 8/10
Took me awhile to get to this one but I'm glad I got to it. It's a great game. I hadn't played a Warriors game in years but after playing lengthy RPGs back-to-back, and BG3 not long before, I was looking for a change. The story was kind of hard to wrap my head around and it feels like there's a lot I missed out on by only playing one route in Three Houses as well as Three Hopes but the gameplay is a lot of fun and it was cool to see characters from Three Houses again. A voiced protagonist was also a nice change and I hope they keep this going after Engage and Three Hopes.
Trails from Zero 10/10
This game is just so good. If there is only one game in the Trails series you play, make it this one. Amazing soundtrack like usual, great world building here too. It's a bit smaller in scope than FC and SC but manages to find a good balance. I actually liked that the main party cast is much smaller than the previous three, much much smaller than Sky the Third especially.
It's connected to the first three but is the start of its own arc. It was cool to see some characters return.
I almost took a point off for no Olivier though.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed 9/10
This is DLC done right. It wraps up a lot of loose ends from XC3. It was really great to see old favourites return again. The combat is a lot of fun still and the soundtrack is great. It's missing some of the depth from XC3 but the collectopedia I think is done better here.
Persona 4 Golden 10/10
I actually played this way back on the PS Vita but never finished it. I decided to finally give it another go and it sucked me in. The story and characters are great, the music is great, and the gameplay is good. The dungeons can get a little repetitive and the balance is kind of off. I found the first two dungeons to be pretty hard but then by about the fourth dungeon things just kept getting easier and easier.
Persona 5 Royal 10/10
P4G but better. I liked the story and characters a lot more in this one. It's easier than P4G but had a smoother difficulty curve I found. The music is fantastic! It's loooong though. I was not prepared. I have no idea how people are finishing it in less than 100 hours. Tycoon is easily the best minigame in any game ever.
Echoes of Wisdom 8/10
I was looking for something different after playing a lot of heavy RPGs. I really liked this game! I thought it would a be gimmicky, but it really stands on its own. I loved looking through my list of Echoes and trying to figure out which would help solve the puzzle. Combat kind of sucks when your sword energy is empty though because you're stuck waiting for the Echoes to hopefully do what you need them to.
The Legend of Dragoon - in progress
Just started playing this recently. Really enjoying it. I had played it when I was a kid but just had an urge to play it again.
Some heavy hitters in the genre here!
Don't know how the narrative took hold in some spaces that it's skippable, but I'm glad you didn't skip Sky the 3rd. Hopefully you did most of the doors, especially Star Doors 8, 14, and 15. You'll likely appreciate the game more as the series goes on, and after Zero, you probably are starting to see why.
I'm excited-by-proxy for your journey through Azure. Enjoy.
Yeah I made sure to do all the doors. 8 and 14 seemed to be setting up plotting points in the overall series yeah. I knew Trails could be sad at times FC and SC had their emotional moments but door 15 was something else. I'm very glad I didn't skip Sky 3rd. I don't know why people say it's skipable. Zero and SC are tied for my favourite right now but 3rd is nowhere near as bad as some people say.
You‘re a JRPG machine! I also loved Trails in the Sky 1&2, complete surprise to me. I didn‘t think I‘d like it much just going by the completely dated graphics and gameplay alone, but the story had me enthralled. I‘m not sure where exactly it stands on my all time favorite stories list, however, top 10 easily.
Yeah I wasn't sure about Trails but most everyone I knew who played it loved it. After FC I was hooked. That cliffhanger ending especially! Looking forward to Azure after I finish The Legend of Dragoon.