Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
We're at the halfway point of 2024 and have already enjoyed several great games both indie and AAA. While we've still got another six months of releases to go, we'd like to stop and pick our favorite games from the first half of 2024.
Question: What is your 2024 Game of the Midyear?
There's something to be said about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's incredibly big world, so big to the point that it's... probably too big, honestly. Even if the size of the world is overwhelming, I can't say Square Enix didn't make the most of it, offering so many activities, ways to explore, stories to experience, and so much more.
This is before even getting to the story, which is among the best I've played all year. While Remake felt like it had a heavy focus on Cloud, Rebirth feels like a true ensemble piece, giving shine to every one of your party members. I even felt emotion for Cait Sith by the end and he looks ridiculous!
Rebirth is a beautifully refined second act and stands above a crowded field. I'm not sure it'll stay at the top of my list by the end of the year, but it'll be hard to topple it.
Ever since I first laid eyes on Unicorn Overlord, I knew it was going to be good because I trust in VanillaWare’s ability to make good games no matter what they do. That said, boy howdy, did this one exceed my expectations. It’s a game that follows almost exactly the same formula as the classic Ogre Battle titles, right down to the active maps and formations of units as opposed to moving individual characters strategically.
And dang is the strategy good too. They made so many different units, many of them named and unique characters, for you to mix, match, and make into the squads that you favor best. I really enjoyed meeting all of these characters too, even if most of them are a little slutty looking. Even so, it’s got its share of cool non-gorgeous and showy characters too. I particularly like Mordon because he’s a chunky old man who swings a hammer like a hoss and loves a good brew - a man after my own heart.
When the dust settles on 2024, it’s going to be hard to truly decide what I liked best, but more appropriately, it’s going to be hard to decide if I liked anything more than I’ve liked Unicorn Overlord so far.
While it has been a great year for AAA releases, an indie game has captured my attention more than any other title has been Balatro. This brilliant combination of poker with roguelite mechanics has created a very entertaining gameplay loop that rewards players as they progress. While it might not have the highest production value of any video game shipped in 2024, its rewarding gameplay loop and excellent design have it sitting atop my games of the midyear list.
Look, I know that Dragon’s Dogma 2 had its performance issues, and the game still only rocks “Mixed” reviews on Steam, but it’s my pick for Game of the Midyear. What sold me? This excerpt from Donovan’s review. Yes, my Shack Chat answer is a quote from Donovan’s review.
“The thing is, the Pawns you hire don’t level up alongside you and your main Pawn. You can travel with them all you like, but eventually, you’ll outgrow them. There came a point where my main Pawn and I far out-leveled Shinra, and it was time to bid him farewell. A few hours later, I was exploring a cave with my new and improved party when we got ambushed by Saurians. All three of my companions were incapacitated and I was struggling to fend for myself. Suddenly, I could hear blades clashing as another character appeared in the cave, attacked the Saurians, and eventually helped me kill them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this Good Samaritan was none other than Shinra himself! He was wearing some new clothes but still rocked his signature bandana. He said it was good to see me again, and I re-hired him and we finished the quest together.”
Dragon’s Dogma 2 truly captured the sense of wonder for me. I completely missed out on the first game, so the sequel was my introduction to the universe and its systems. The way Capcom approaches narrative and an exploration in an open-world blew me away. I got lost just wandering around the map, experiencing random events and changes in the lives of NPCs with the passage of time. Every decision I made, even deciding where to go and in what order, felt important.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 also has the best combat I’ve played in an action-RPG maybe ever. There’s a beautiful flow to fighting alongside my Pawns, unleashing an arsenal of unique skills and abilities, taking advantage of my opponents’ weaknesses, and putting the environment to use.
Speaking of pawns, how about a round of applause for the best way to engage with NPCs since the Nemesis System. I spoke at length in my review about how Pawns transformed my experience, but I’ll reiterate; the pawn AI in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the closest a single-player game has made me feel like I was playing a game with friends.
It’s hard to believe that the year 2024 is half over already. I’ll give you two that I loved playing this year. Both of these games were played on the Stevetendo show as well: Another Code: Recollection and Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. Another Code: Recollection is two games in one but I’m counting it as one game for this topic. I didn’t know what to expect going into that playthrough but I loved my time with the game. The writing was interesting and I got to know and enjoy the characters. That was done even better in the second game. I really had no idea where the story was going and it was fun to play along with the Stevetendo show viewers who also had no idea what was going to happen next. The puzzles weren’t too challenging but still were tough enough that you actually had to think about them.
The other game I had a blast with this year was Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. The game was a love letter to the Legend of Zelda CD-I games and it was so well done. If I didn’t know better you could think the cut scenes from this game were right out of the Zelda CD-I games. I played it at PAX East this year and on the Stevetendo show and had a great time with it. It really felt like I was playing a CD-I game from the 90’s. I have never played the CD-I Zelda or Mario games so it felt like cool being able to go back, in a way, and play the Phillips CD-I. The only difference was that Arzette was actually a good game. So to recap, my game of the mid-year has two games to pick from, Another Code: Recollection and Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. The best part is this in my opinion and you’re probably going to disagree with me.
Those are our favorite games of 2024 so far. What really stood out to you in the first half of the year? Sound off in the Chatty!