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Last active December 5, 2024 04:29
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Eliot's 2024 GOTY list!
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2024GOTY.md

Presenting, Eliot's 2024 GOTY list!* ** ***

* Games do not necessarily need to have been released in 2024

** I reserve the right to update this list if I play something amazing before the end of this month (I think the only one that might happen for is Anthology of the Killer)

*** Some games may be for boomers

  1. Riven (2024). This game fulfills a childhood fantasy of visiting one of my favorite games of all time for real (VR is the next best thing,) as well as being the culmination of a very long effort by fans to do a 3D remake known as the Starry Expanse Project, so this title has been one of my most anticipated for many years, and they reimagined things enough to keep them fresh without losing what made the original special. It didn't disappoint me and was worth the wait. Recommended if you enjoy Myst and Myst-likes.

  2. Sayonara Wild Hearts. I didn't first play it this year but it's recently become one of my favorite games. It's the perfect "music video game" and I get into a real flow state when playing, especially when revisiting my favorite level "Begin Again." I think I will be revisiting this one for a long time.

  3. Citizen Sleeper. I fell hard for this game. A cyberpunk VN with queer characters, anticapitalist themes, and TTRPG-inspired mechanics is extremely my shit. My main criticism is it gets a bit too easy to stack resources in the late game stage which evaporates a lot of the tension of the early-mid game, and all the classes kind of level up to be the same mega-class with basically the same skill tree in the endgame as well. I think they are trying to address some of these issues in the sequel. I loved it but I also don't feel the need to revisit it, although I am excited for the sequel and loved the Next Fest demo.

  4. Kentucky Route Zero. I had played episode 1 a bit when it came out but didn't really take the plunge till this year. It's an adventure game with no puzzles, a magical-realist journey through the highways and underground rivers of Kentucky, and a meditation on pain, precarity, and what it means to build a community as a refuge from these things. It doesn't lend itself well to an elevator pitch.

  5. UFO 50. I have been enjoying casually participating in the Eggplant Podcast's UFO 50 book club which has made this more than just another indie game release and into a real community event. Still, I have bounced off or just not gotten that into a lot of the games so far, and I find a lot of games fun to try but frustrating to attempt to beat. Early 1P favorites are Bug Hunter, Mortol, and Pilot Quest. Early 2P favorites are Attactics, Mooncat, Caramel Caramel, and Mortol II. I don't think I've even launched half the games in this collection yet though, there's a lot more here to explore. I anticipate UFO 50 will be on my GOTY shortlist again next year as I discover more of what it has in store.

  6. Marvel's Midnight Suns. I have only begun to scratch the surface of this game but it's already won me over with its blend of satisfying tactics gameplay that's easy to pick up with some nice depth, and a Mass Effect-style squad conversation and story mode. I think this game is definitely underrated.

  7. Queer Quest: All in a Gay's Work. I am still in the middle of this game but is already proving extremely charming, with a huge cast of queer characters, irreverent humor, and nostalgic point-and-click gameplay. Also, the soundtrack is incredible, I hope they release it at some point!

  8. Before your Eyes. A beautiful, relatively short experience with a unique control gimmick - you play mostly by blinking at your webcam. It's more than just the gimmick though as the story of the game brought me to tears, and the art style is beautiful. I'd definitely recommend it.

  9. Doom + Doom II. Nightdive has done it again with this top-notch remaster, coming out as a free update for everyone who already owned the game. I haven't played it much, but I spent some time digging through all the new unreleased assets that are included, it's an incredible treasure trove for Doom nerds and modders like me.

  10. Mass Effect Legendary Edition. This is perhaps an indulgent pick for me as it's really not new in terms of game experience but this is a very well done remaster of one of my favorite game series of all time. The only real downsides I've run into is the always-online EA launcher, and the fact that you can't access pinnacle station to re-spec in ME1 (this is because the source code to that DLC was unfortunately lost.).

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