To think, there was a time where we thought that 2024 was going to be a quiet period for the video game industry. 2023 was a generation-defining year, with titles like Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Spider-Man 2, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom raising the bar for their respective genres to seemingly unreachable heights. But if last year set high expectations, 2024 subverted each and every one of them. This year's titles delivered in ways that surprised and delighted at every turn, with the best games of 2024 speaking to the reasons we all fell in love with gaming to begin with.
There's been experiences like Astro Bot, certifying PlayStation's new mascot just in time for PlayStation' 30th anniversary. Helldivers 2 proved that there's still promise in the live-service model yet, a raucous multiplayer shooter that demonstrates the power of online multiplayer. A salvo of excellent RPGs highlight that the genre still has plenty of room to grow, while Final Fantasy, Persona, and Silent Hill revivals showed that the past can have a hand in shaping the future. The independent development scene continues to deliver formative works, and… honestly, I could go on and on.
