I was talking with some friends yesterday and we made some Games of 2024 lists which was really fun and thought it'd be neat to put a write-up about my super serious and totally correct picks here!
Favorite Game of 2024⭐️: Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition. It's not too far of a stretch to say that Xenoblade might be the most critically acclaimed JRPG of this century so far. I started this game years ago but while on summer break visiting my friend Whiskey (who is also a massive Xenoblade fan) I hunkered down and finally finished it and now I get it. Really great game, it had the only straight romance story in it that I actually got really invested in and didn't feel stupid and shoehorned in.
Best Story📔: Bubblebeast Digidungeon. This game is short and sweet and free on Steam, please go play it it's awesome. Cool rhythm based puzzle game mix, it gets best story for being very based and I love the cool evil wizard jester borzoi with all my felt heart.
Favorite Art Style🎨: Vividlope. The art is gooooooooooooood, love photos for backgrounds and that good good y2k and bright poppy colors and flat shading.
"I'll finish it someday."💭: Railbound. Good game and very cute but I cannot think that hard sometimes and find myself at a roadblock, Xenoblade 2 would have been here but I've been chipping away at Railbound for longer.
Big Personal Impact💥: Xenoblade Chronicles: Amazing game and story as previously stated and I'm also really grateful. Emio the Smiling Man: Responsible for the two longest posts on this blog.
Best Combat⚔️: Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The way I usually describe this to friends is that it plays like Better Pokemon, elemental match-ups still play an element to battles and you still only have four moves but you also have other party members with their own three other Blades (the pokemon equivalent here) just like you and you have to manage all of them and choose strategic options that'll involve the other party members to pull off strings of specific moves to being the enemy down. And unlike pokemon the game has a rewarding difficulty that isn't just "higher number wins" sorry not sorry. Xenoblade 1's combat is also really good but I'm putting XC2 above it because pulling off a smart string of combos is more satisfying here I feel and I get catharsis being able to point at a JRPG with a partner based battle system that plays way better than Pokemon could ever dream of lmao.
You Like, but Everyone Hates💢: Xenoblade 2 again. Whiskey who is a big fan of Xenoblade is not the biggest fan of XC2 and I've definitely seen the same sentiment online before and also in way more heated ways. Idk I really enjoy the gameplay and story enough to where I'd say I enjoy it a lot. It is kind of weird about XC2 in contrast of the first game and I definitely prefer the vibes of the first one I think but it also doesn't cross my mind when playing and I'm sort of just enjoying it as it's own thing.
You Hate but Everyone Likes💔: Emio the Smiling Man, see my blog posts. I don't know, when I've tried looking at reviews after making my blog posts I only found ones praising it or even calling it a masterpiece which irks me, the only negative ones I could find were about how the evil Nintendo lied to their most dedicated gamers about getting a survival horror IP when it was really some lame reading gameeee. Which makes me upset in a totally different way cause visual novels can be cool just say you hate reading lmao. Anyways it honestly makes me want to make a video or something to express my thoughts in a way more people will actually see than just on this blog so there's at least one out there that's more critical of the game and it's execution than just whining about visual novels merely existing or calling it a masterpiece.
Underrated🎖️: Xenoblade 2 is often reduced to "cringe anime boob game", it's better than that I think.
Overrated🏚️: Xenoblade 2, I've also seen lots of praise for this game that I think comes from it naturally being the game most fans started with cause it came out in 2018 on the Switch. I also get nothing from Rex and Pyra's relationship, it honestly feels like it's not even there until Rex is just talking to himself about how much he cares while Pyra blankly stares at him from the background. Granted I haven't finished the game yet but I don't feel any chemistry between them, they're absolutely no Shulk and Fiora.
"Why do I like this?"❓️: Sonic 4 Episode 1 is kind of charmingly bad to me idk, like the whole look of it's terrible faux non-committal plasticy type aesthetic and pngs are bad but I also think it's very unique and immediately identifiable from other Sonic games. Also unlike Episode 2 this game has the excuse of being a low budget mobile spinoff, and for that scope I think it's commendable they really got a pretty half decent platformer onto mobile so early. Also in the initial 1.0 version of the game Sonic used his model from Rush which is great and he had a unique idle animation where he pulled out a smartphone and started busting it down which idk is also really charming to me lol.
I also have a sentimental attachment to Splash Hill Zone's music specifically since it was used in the Sonic 1 Special Version rom hack which I played a lot of when I was younger, so it feels kinda homey to me in a weird way idk.
Game you always come back to⬅️: Lumines Remastered, I love Lumines. Any Lumines game could go here really but I do still play Remastered a lot on my Switch to where it's still been in my most played games list every year lol.
That Atmosphere...🛤️ Japanese Rail Sim: Sangi Railway, I love narrow gauge railways and engines and Sangi Railway is narrower than narrrow gauge, narrowest gauge in Japan (Narrow gauge is by default the standard gauge in Japan too iirc). I love the small yellow passenger cars that remind me of a classic raincoat or something and the history of the railway itself is real neat and interesting having been built on the remains of old minecart tracks and has given me a lot of inspiration for a project I hope to realize someday.
Bad Day Cure🌧️: Lumines Live, a new Lumines I got to cross off the checklist this year! Whiskey has a Series X so the moment I got to his place for vacation I immediately went to go download Live and the Rockin Holiday pack and was super happy about it. Being able to play through the Rockin Holiday pack on a big screen was awesome. (I also got to play a bit of Lumines Electronic Symphony this year too!)
Favorite Protagonist🏆️: St. Moritz
After Work Relaxation♨️: Japanese Rail Sim: Hakone, I played this a lot in-between and after my classes in 2024, became one of my most played games of the year. Playing a train sim is just chill sometimes.
Biggest Letdown👻: Emio the Smiling Man, see my blog posts lol.
"Back in the day" Game🕹️: Excitebots Trick Racing, Wii arcade racer I enjoyed playing more than Mario Kart Wii, and also think it is just kinda better than MKWii too and doesn't look like someone spilled oil all over the screen lol.
"Not the Best but Having Fun"🍋: Xenoblade 2 again, has issues like having the absolute genius move of putting a gacha in a singleplayer jrpg, I think if all the blades had quests and stuff with maybe more unique ones to meet it'd make the Better Pokemon point I made before make more sense lol. Part of me feels like they were aware of that and specifically went with something like a gacha to try and make it less Pokemon idk lol.
Criminally Overlooked🔭: Child of Eden, great game and the follow up to Rez on the Dreamcast, they're also tied lore wise too with a strangely horrifyingly existential plot to think about for such a frutiger aero rhythm based shooter?? Best Kinect game ever made, tho plays good on a controller too. Music is Genki Rockets and that's awesome.
Depressing Game🎭️: Xenoblade, Xenoblade...
Favorite Active Franchise🎬️: Xenoblade, games are still happening so, in a better spot than Lumines sadly lol. The Japanese Rail Sim series could also be here.
Indie Pick🟥: Tetrachroma! This game is awesome, very vibey and fun mix of Othello and Tetris. I think the Big Mode in Tetrachroma also plays a lot better than in Tetris as in Big Mode has basically become my main mode in Tetrachroma, it's reallllly fun.
"Not usually my thing but..."🙀: Station Manager, tycoon manager type sim game about running a train station. Been playing it way more than I thought I would since I don't typically play those sorts of tycoon games.
Phew okay theeere's everything, that took forever to write and this could definitely be the new longest post, not the most diverse portfolio of new epic Vdeo Gaming this year but I suppose there was still a lot to write about lol