Steve Kim’s Top 5 Games of 2024

As the major platforms dole out their individual 2024 wrapped stats I’m finding this was another banger year filled with games. Hundreds of hours spread across Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC with more still spent on phones and tablets in the liminal spaces between other activities. Some titles spilled over from the previous year, and a handful of them ongoing as this year comes to a close. Of the * checks notes * 48 games I’ve touched in 2024, here are my Top 5 Games of the Year:

Nobody is immune to the warm comfort of nostalgia and as the well from which it’s drawn grows deeper by the year, I find myself becoming more fond of retracing the virtual steps of my youth. Final Fantasy VII Remake easily made my 2020 GotY list and I’m happy to report that Rebirth has done the same for 2024. I have a terrible memory and there’s a lot I don’t remember about a game I played 25 years ago but I’d frequently hear a line of dialog, listen to a piece of music, or hit a story beat and the vibes would sync up perfectly in my mind and I’d briefly exist in two periods of time at once. When Remake came out, I saw this commercial and still feel it’s one of the best commercials for a remake I’ve ever seen.

The game feels like hanging out with old friends, rebuilding long lost relationships, and going on one last adventure. The combat is still exciting and fun to engage with. The world is vast, interesting to explore, and gorgeous to look at. And as long as you don’t get bogged down trying to do every little thing, the story moves along at a nice clip with the side missions you choose to take on rewarding you with little character development moments and collectable trophies.

Nothing is sacred and I’ve embraced this revisit of the Final Fantasy VII story as its own thing that’s self-aware of its history and its own story to tell. Things feel like they’re going off the rails but in a way I’m thoroughly enjoying, bumps and all. I hope Square gets to finish out this trilogy and I hope they continue to deliver in a way where the final episode will make a future list as well.

I thought I was done with online multiplayer games. Helldivers 2 got me to drive out to a Best Buy and pick up a headset for my PC so I could talk to people in-game. That’s how ridiculously hooked I got on this thing. Despite delivering about as bad a launch experience as you can with a multiplayer game e.g. a busted ass queue that took hours, losing days worth of experience and unlocks, in-game syncing issues… it didn’t stop me from logging back in to kill more bugs and robots.

Whether playing with friends or randos, this game was always a good time. Every round packed with absurd action movie-like moments of triumph and equally euphoric moments of failure. Incredible triple A level graphics, bombastic music blaring as you’re calling in for a final evac, pointlessly wonderful flowing cape physics… Win or lose, it was always a good time and that’s just not something you typically get playing with others online.

It also helps that the entire game is drenched in satire and as long as you’re relatively sure you aren’t playing with an actual fascist, yelling “For Democracy!” as you blow up 5 story tall bugs is a good ass time.

Pure joy delivered in a way that’s typically reserved for Nintendo platformers.

If Final Fantasy Rebirth was drawing from the nostalgia well, Astro Bot is tying bricks to your feet and pushing you in. The game is a non-stop feast of classic PlayStation that rewards you for being around since Sony’s entry into gaming. I imagine the game is still fantastic for younger gamers due to its impeccable platforming controls, polished visuals, and mastery over the full set of DualSense features, but for us folks with some grey in our hair, it’s a smash and grab through memory lane while strapped to a dog rocket. (You’ll understand that reference if you play the game) I’d say it’s not a trick they can play twice but this happens to be the twice since the PS5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom was the first. Maybe it’s not a trick they can play thrice?

I don’t know what’s next for Astro Bot but it says a lot when a game doesn’t overstay its welcome and you’re left wanting more. Here’s to hoping the PS6 has some tiny robots that need rescuing in its future.

In my head, I can hear the chanting.

I fell off Persona 3, skipped Persona 4 entirely, started Persona 5 in 2016, took a 5 year break, then finally beat it in 2021… I don’t have the best track record with Atlus’ JRPG series. Metaphor: ReFantazio I played start to finish. Clocking in a whopping 79 hours that only felt like… well… It felt like 79 hours. But it was still great and one of my top 5 games for 2024!

They took the strong elements of a Persona game, swapped out the parts that were holding them back, and then swung for the fences. The fantasy setting let them go all out with their pretty explicit commentary on race and class while expanding the scope of the story from a city to an entire continent. Taking it out of a school setting lets them give you party members and relationships that aren’t locked into the perspective of high school teenagers. The calendar system served a dual purpose of pushing the story along while also forcing you to engage with its various time based systems. The relationships let them build out the characters and deliver both backstories and gameplay perks. The sense of style is still hitting the high notes of P5 and the combat is the most enjoyable it’s ever been with the added bonus of just being able to beat the shit out of enemies from the overworld if you’re a high enough level.

I had a great time with this game from start to finish and for something this long, that’s a hell of an achievement on the game’s part. I don’t know that I’ll come back for what they do next but this sets them up in a way where I’ll at least take a look.

Every year there’s a game I play through with my daughter that we both get way into and this year it was Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. I’ve enjoyed all the Paper Mario games but somehow skipped this one when it came out and the remake provided the perfect opportunity to give it a shot. Damn if it wasn’t fantastic.

I have no complaints. The paper mechanics were great, the gameplay engaging, the story endearing, and the characters lovable. It’s fun to explore the world Paper Mario inhabits and the game is built in a way that lets both myself and an 8 year old get invested.

As an aside, I grew up with Nintendo and they were great. As a teen and young adult, I still enjoyed all their games but wondered why they didn’t take a more mature angle as Sega, Sony, and Microsoft were fighting in that space. As a parent, I’m back to being very fond of Nintendo and their family friendly stable of games and characters. Also, the game lended itself perfectly to the video game themed birthday cards I’ve been making her the past couple years =]