My predictions were close! I didn't think the Elden Ring DLC would be eligible. Balatro ended up being the indie nom, which I enjoyed on my phone for about a week but didn't get hooked like so many others.

Game of the Year:

Astrobot
Balatro
Black Myth: Wukong
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Metaphor: ReFantazio


Second half of the alphabet got screwed.

I haven't played enough 2024 games to really make a good analysis of these. I liked Helldivers 2 and Brotato alot, more than Balatro, but were they better than the 4 I haven't tried yet? Probably not.

Elden Ring being the first and only game to win Game of the Year twice would be well deserved, but also would feel pretty unfair to all the developers that started from scratch (ish.) Silent Hill, Stellar Blade and Like A Dragon fans are rightfully upset for being snubbed. So I think that backlash will cost it the win and the other rpgs will cancel out each others votes. Black Myth has a niche but dedicated fanbase, but I'm sticking with Astrobot for my prediction.

Still haven’t finished Final Fantasy VII part 1

Astro Bot wins.

Bigger news- Naughty Dog finally announced their new game, Intergalactic, and it looks awesome!

Its kinda funny that an adorable platformer would win in the year that Nintendo didn't get any big nominations.

Astro Bot looks like a more chaotic version of Mario Odyssey without the same level of atmosphere.

Looks like a game I'd want to play for once

About halfway through Astro Bot (depending on how many secret levels there are) and it is an absolute delight. Can see similiarities between it and Galaxy/Odyssey but it also totally feels like its own thing. Its hard to understate how much of an impact the controller has and I don't think any other game on the ps5 has ever taken advantage of all the features the dualsense offers. A blind man could play the game and tell what type of terrain Astro Bot was in.

Also, even with Astro Bot I still don't feel great about making a 2024 best-of list yet considering my count is only up to 4 new games, 3 annual franchises, one dlc and one remake. But, since I'm now almost always a year behind in gaming, I can make a solid top 5 for 2023 lol.

1. Hogwarts Legacy - 9.5/10 holding down its top spot despite some fierce competition
2. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon - 9/10 Fromsoftware is on a roll for the history books.
3. Final Fantasy XVI - 8.8/10 Surprisingly great combat and an epic story. Plus Clive is cool af, one of my favorite protaganists in the series.
4. Have A Nice Death - 8.5/10 always love a good roguelike.
5. Diablo 4 - 7.5/10 not my favorite in the series but I still had a good time

Zelda and Spidey are booted out by the newcomers. I have the Resident Evil 4 remake ready to go after Astro Bot. Mario Wonder is also still just sitting around waiting to be played. Not sure I'll ever play Baldur's Gate at this point.

My wife played a lot of Hogwarts Legacy. Seemed fun in that you could explore Hogwarts, but lacked the charm of what can make video games great. Almost uncanny too with the graphics

Going back to Majora’s Mask. Easily the best written Zelda game. Certainly up for debate as the best one as well

10/10 for Astro Bot. My first 10 since God of War Ragnarok in 2022. I'm actually sad that I completed it and might go through it again and again. Such a fun world to be a part of.

Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League is "free" on playstation plus less than year after release. Guess its time to see if its as bad as everyone says lol. Hoping that I'll at least get some joy playing as Harley and King Shark.

Also started Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. First few levels are solid, really does make you feel like Indy. But its also a slow stealth game and I dunno if I'll have the patience to get through it. Will try my best since im liking where the story is going.

Update: The Indy game is actually pretty great! Once you accept it for what it is (aka not Uncharted 5) then the pacing is fine. Feels like a classic Indy adventure.

Civ 7 in a few weeks!! Decided I'm gonna get the physical disc version for ps5, then sell and rebuy later on for Switch 2 with the inevitable DLC. Just don't think my laptop can handle it anymore.

Switch 2 direct on April 2nd ... or maybe February 4th? Does Japan write the dates like US or Europe?

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle - 8.5

A classic Indy adventure! Highly recommend to all fans of franchise.

Nothing will ever top the Fate of Atlantis.

Got an XBOX for Christmas…thinking Boulder’s Gate

Civ 7 reviews ... seems like they streamlined it a bit too much. Still looking forward to it though

Probably a good choice to start with as it seems a game with endless content.

Are you gonna get Game Pass?

I don’t play enough video games to justify that

Astro Bot wins at DICE in case there was still any doubt about it being the one true game of the year.

Anyone play the new Civ yet?

I really wanna get it but every one and their momma is saying to wait. I bet ps5/xbox versions will be on sale for half off within a few weeks and the game will be running better.

Did you get Baldur's Gate? How does it play on console??




As for me:

Super Mario Wonder - 7/10 - OK so the last like dozen levels, starting with the lava world through the final Bowser fight, were awesome. So I have to give the game a good score overall just for that. But.... I dunno, it felt like it took way too long to get there. I get that the first world is always gonna be kind of a tutorial, but it felt like that part lasted for half the game. The levels were just too damn short really. So its like you get in, spend 30 seconds on the normal part, hit the wonder seed and then do 30 seconds of the remixed level. And then its over just like that.

Maybe I just got spoiled by playing Astro Bot and Mario Galaxy remastered recently. The Elden Ring effect but for platformers instead of open world rpgs lol. I know they aren't the same type of platformers, but a great 3d plat is just too hard to come down from I guess lol.

Along with the credit I already gave for having a great ending, I'll also give it credit for feeling and playing like a current generation game. Cannot say the same for the new game I started - Avowed. For many (many) years it was billed as being the next Skyrim, and that sounded awesome ... until I realized that also meant ps3 era gameplay lol. It feels so slow. The graphics are really nice though and I am intrigued by the world. So I'll keep at it for a bit longer ... or I could just get frustrated, quit and download Dragon Age 4 on ps+ (already "free" after releasing at the end of October - what a flop.)

OK I'm tapping out on Avowed. It's just a chore to play and there's no reason to continue on with so many other choices out there. I'll give what I played a 3.5/10.

Neon White on the other hand is fantastic so far! It got great reviews back in 2022 (stacked year) but I had avoided it because I figured the speed running aspect would turn me off. Luckily it does not, there's just too much fun to be bothered by it, though it does hurt my hands sometimes. Glad I'm playing it on xbox and not ps or switch or else my joysticks would start drifting lol.

So there you have the duality of Game Pass. The one I was looking forward to for years is shit while the one I was skeptical on is amazing. All for like $8 a month lol (though I heard xbox has been cracking down on cheap foreign codes ... I'll have to see about that soon enough.) Still, even at $20 that's 3 months of gaming for the price of one Avowed (which, again, is crap.)

Just started Boulder’s Gate. Cool how it follows DnD rules, but it lacks the story creativity that can only be captured in the actual game with fellow creative friends. The controls took a while to get used to but it seems good thus far