A-to-J Connections' Favorite Video Games of 2024!

1/7/2025

We always have a lot of fun with these End of Year articles, and the gaming one has quickly grown into one of our favorites. It seems that every year we do more and more gaming content, and we've definitely found ourselves into a comfortable niche this time around. We've reviewed well over a hundred games this year, played several on our Twitch channel, and have played even more in our free time. A-to-J is made up of quite a few gamers, and we have quite the varied tastes when it comes to our favorites. Always random and always fun, we hope that our selections make it into your gameplay rotation if they haven't already. Enough rambling though, it's time to dive in! Also, be sure to let know your favorite gaming picks of 2024 too!

Bea: Staff Writer / Correspondent

Mouthwashing is a game that blew past any realistic expectations for indie game fandom, entering the bad take stratosphere while simultaneously managing to dodge any mainstream game of the year discussions. Wrong Organ's latest is a claustrophobic crawl through hell, standing out as some of the most skin-crawlingly memorable horror of the decade thus far. Each crew member aboard the doomed space freighter Tulpar is a wonderfully realized character, inhabiting a dreadful setting with a personality of its own. Horror fans owe it to themselves to give this frighteningly bad time a go.

Ivan: Photographer / Correspondent

For my favorite game of 2024 I chose Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut by Sucker Punch Productions. The game was released on Steam in May 2024, and was developed by Nixxes Software. The original release was also chosen as Game of The Year at The Game Awards 2020, and it's sold over 13 million copies.

Ghost of Tsushima is an action game where you play a Samurai trying to defeat the Mongol Invasion by participating in open world combat and completing missions. The two main weapons at your disposal are your Samurai sword and bow. From the story to the graphics, to the music and gameplay, the game is widely praised for its high quality.

I have always been a fan of open world gaming like The Legend of Zelda and Grand Theft Auto, and this game excels in this experience while taking place in a feudal Japanese world. The NPC sidequests are rewarding by having to solve problems while you progress in the rich story, and level up your gear and skills. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is an cinematic masterpiece and feels like your in a playable version of Shōgun.

The graphics are rich and detailed, and make use of a high end graphics PC, or the PlayStation 5.

J.D.: Moderator / Contributor

Somehow, it feels like 2024 slipped by without me playing a lot of new games. I have so far finished 25 games this year but only four of them: Mario vs Donkey Kong, Another Crab’s Treasure, Balatro, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. I considered talking about Balatro to make sure more people knew about it, but someone else called it first so let’s talk about the popular thing.

I love The Legend of Zelda series. Tears of the Kingdom was my GOTY last year, and was so surprised when a new game was announced earlier this year. They already had my curiosity but when they announced that it would be in the style of the Link’s Awakening remake and for the first time, Princess Zelda would be the playable character of a mainline game, they had my attention.

I love the Echoes system. When Zelda finds a new item or defeats a new type of enemy, she can copy its Echo and use her Tri Rod to recreate it. It adds a lot of what I love about Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom to the top-down Zelda formula. If I needed to get to a higher level, I could just stake up a bunch of tables and trampolines and jump up to the top. I could also stack up a bunch of water echoes and swim up.

It also changes up how combat works. While Zelda possesses the ability to fight directly in shorter bursts, the main way to fight enemies is by summoning Echoes of other enemies to fight in her stead. Lots of time a slow and powerful enemy will do but other times, especially when you’re dealing with an elemental enemy or one that can fly, you’ll have to experiment and find out which other enemy might work as a good counter. I really hope this system comes back and gets pushed further in another game even if it’s not a Zelda game.

As for the other games, Mario vs Donkey Kong was a decent and fun game. The difficulty in the second half felt kind of uneven with some difficult levels followed by absolute cakewalks. Another Crab’s Treasure was a fun Soulslike that had a lot of accessibility that I feel is missing in the FromSoft games. Despite that, it was still a very challenging game that had me going through cycles of frustration at bosses only to be completely ecstatic when I finally beat them. Worth checking out if you like the genre or want a good starting point for it.

That’s it for this year. Maybe next year my game of the year will be on whatever the Switch successor ends up being. Until then.

Released for Early Access in January, Pocketpair’s latest game, Palworld, practically took over the gaming sphere. The game released in as much as a complete state as one should expect from a AAA game that releases in a “finished” state. Described as “Pokemon with guns,” that is far from what the game is. While there are strong elements of Pokemon, it plays more as a survival builder, and in fact that’s what keeps players like me coming back for more. If the game was just “Pokemon with guns,” I don’t believe it would be as successful as it would have been. Most Reddit posts I’ve seen aren’t even about capturing or battling, they’re about base building.

Why I choose Palworld as my game for 2024 is simple, it’s on a similar level to games like Minecraft and Skyrim for me. When it came out, it was not a game I even knew I would be excited for. So, because it was coming to Game Pass, I knew I could at least check it out. I did not expect to fall in love with it. At least for now, all updates are completely free. These updates are full-fledged experiences too. Like Minecraft, Pocketpair has said they have no plans to charge for updates in the future. One of the few companies I want to give my hard-earned money to.

What I love about Palworld is the fact that Pocketpair listens to and loves gamers. Having inadvertently fixed a bug that allowed you to capture the first gym leader, Pocketpair said they were sorry for accidentally fixing that bug only because they were fixing another. With servers now up and running between all consoles, both private and public, the game somehow feels more open and expansive. There are also numerous videos on how to set up your own dedicated server from your PC, in case you were looking to run your own without the use of third-party tools. Their community is also very active, both on Discord and Reddit, and no question it looks like it is to remain just as active years down the line. Pocketpair has expressed they will continue full support until the end, wherever that end may be.

There’s an entire world to explore, from a boss that lives inside a volcano to new islands and areas to explore added every few months. There’s also a leveling system that doesn’t feel too grindy, along with a multitude of weapons, items, and protective gear to follow. Placing bases around the ever-expanding world is just as satisfying as building them, especially when strategically placed near bosses, major mining areas, or over breathtaking ravines. In my mind, I’m thinking “what can I do with a new base? What should I build? How should I build it?” Generally, that’s what the game boils down to, building and having fun while doing it. Capturing monsters is great, but the aesthetic of it wears out quickly, just like the original Pokemon games, at least to me. It’s whatever is outside of that original scope that keeps long-term investment. Like Minecraft, Palworld has succeeded outside of the scope of “Pokemon with guns,” and transformed itself into its own solitary IP.

What really shook me when I first went into it was how easy it was to understand overall. Very few times did I ever feel lost. I went at my own pace, developed my own narrative on what I wanted to do within the game, and while there was no real end goal, I feel I never needed one. It brought me back to old school MMORPGs, you have all these quests and stories, but you get a sense it will never officially end. With any good MMORPG, you don’t want it to end. That’s the feeling I get right now. I never want it to end, and I want to enjoy it years later with an entirely new group of online friends. Palworld is one of those games that deserves to be in everyone’s top 10 lists. It certainly earned a place in mine.

I.. Uhh... Did it? (JT_Scout_Photography)

Manuel: General Manager / Editor-In-Chief

2024 was an odd year for me as far as gaming was concerned. I played about 200 new games, but I had a hard time thinking of any of them as being my all-around favorite of the year. That's not to say that none of them were great, or amazing even, but I just didn't have that spark with them. Let me start with some rapid fire game suggestions that just fell slightly off that #1 spot.

Caribbean Legend was probably an early contender for my favorite game of the year, but its release left me thinking that more could've been done to make it accessible to new players. Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist is an Action RPG Roguelite, and I only left it off because I was put off by the fact that it used library music. (Yes, I know that can be seen as a petty reason!) Meta Meet Cutie!!!+ is an amazing and wacky visual novel, but it's not perfect. WitchSpring R is a great RPG, but it feels too much like the remastered mobile game it is at times. Retro Mystery Club Vol. 2: The Beppu Case was just as charming as the first game, but felt lesser somehow nonetheless. Iron Meat is a cool take on the Contra formula, but also felt like it was missing some modern touches. Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is not only a good game, but it also is a way for people to get a taste of Malaysian culture. It also is far from polished. Realm of Ink and Lotus Lantern: Rescue Mother are both well-executed takes on the Hades style of gameplay, and both were recently removed from Steam for reasons that aren't totally clear at the time of this writing. I can go on like this, but I think you get the point.

Ultimately, the game I chose to go with was The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication. I'll admit that part of the reason I went for this game is the fact that I got really into the franchise earlier this year, but I also found The Bridge Curse 2 to be a much better game than the first. I also feel that I had to give the nod to a Chinese-language game since I didn't pick a Chinese-language song this year around. Going back to the game, it focuses on several ghost traditions and urban legends of Taiwan, while adding in plenty of original twists too. Similar to how Paper Ghost Stories contains bits of Malaysian culture for the player to absorb, there's some of that for Taiwanese culture here as well. It admittedly is nowhere near the level of Paper Ghost Stories, but you'll definitely get a feel from the game that you wouldn't from a similar title from Japan. It's also more horror-centric than your typical survival horror title. Your goal here isn't to kill the monsters, but to simply survive.

Besides story and culture bits, I felt that the gameplay formula was really refined in the sequel, and it wasn't nearly as hard or wonky as the first game was. You're still mainly running from ghosts, but you do have a limited attack of sorts at times that levels the playing field a bit. There's also a lot more variety in the environments and ghosts themselves. You're trapped in a school setting, but it never feels limiting. The characters are also well-written, and the small cast means that you'll likely get to know the ins and outs of all of them. Also, I liked that the game centered on a group of students working on a film. It was a bit nostalgic to me considering I had aspirations to be a filmmaker at that age, and it gave the game a believable setup. It's also a relatively short game, so you don't have to worry about too much of a time investment if that's a concern. That said, it is still highly replayable, and you can get into the first game, and the two movies they're somewhat based on, if you want more. I like to compare games of shorter length to watching a movie, and I'd be hard pressed to think of a movie-like experience better than The Bridge Curse 2. I for one hope that the franchise keeps going, as I think there's a lot that can be explored within the series' premise.

Oh, and in case you're curious, while the first game and the first live action movie do share some plot points and characters, that isn't the case in the sequel and the second movie. So that means there's already a plot there if the developers want to make a Bridge Curse 3...

Teepu: Project Leader / Staff Writer

Another year has come and gone and while people keep saying this generation is a non-generation and that there’s barely anything to play. I’m yet again overwhelmed by the number of solid-looking games that came out during the year that I wish I could have played. While tackling my backlog I had to be quite selective with what new games I played. Even so, I had three specific games that stood out. While Astro Bot and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom were some of my favorites, they are not my choice.

Ultimately, the one game that stood out the most to me was Stellar Blade. Considering Shift Up’s previous game, I was expecting a mediocre game with heavy fan service in it. Well, one of those things was true, it certainly is full of fan service (there’s ways some body parts jiggled I didn’t even know I’d ever see in a game). Still, looking beyond that there is a very full and very well crafted action game akin to the Nier or Devil May Cry games. The controls are top-notch, and the fights are varied and full of satisfying moments. The story is surprisingly engaging. The main character grows from an innocent dolt, to somebody who understands her purpose, and is willing to die for her beliefs. The game is also gorgeous. There’s lots to do and the content keeps rolling in with a solid amount of free updates, and only one paid DLC.

I spent around 100 hours with the game, and every time I think I'll shelve it, some new update comes out that makes me want to pick it up again. It’s not often a game inspires me to play it that much, and to constantly play in varying difficulty levels, but here we are. I hope Shift Up keeps the great games coming with the quality of Stellar Blade, because man was that a surprisingly fantastic game.

Special shout out to Infinity Nikki too, which very likely could have been my favorite game of 2024 had it not released near the end of the year with not enough time to play it. 2024 was fantastic, and 2025 is shaping up to be even better.

Seeing as this is the third year in a row where we shared our favorite games of the year with you all, I think we're finally getting into the swing of things. We still can sometimes be all over the place, but that's half the fun with articles like this. We hope that you enjoyed our picks, and we'd love to hear some of yours too. We're heading into 2025, and we're positive that gaming greatness is just on the horizon! Thanks again for letting us show you what we love, and here's hoping that we can continue bring you more great content throughout 2025 and beyond!

-Manuel & the rest of the A-to-J Team!

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