GameSpot's 10 Best Games Of 2024
December 10, 2024
Each year, the task of narrowing down our favorite games to a list of just the 10 best is challenging, and 2024 is no exception. We feel our list is best served by being composed of not just new, standalone releases, but also expansions and live-service games that continue to evolve. Our criteria for what’s eligible here are simple: games and expansions that have been released since December of last year, when we decided on 2023’s best, as well as live-service games.
We would be remiss not to also acknowledge that, as in 2023, 2024 was a rough one for developers–these are real human beings who are responsible for making the games we all love, and who have been subjected to waves of mass layoffs and general uncertainty about where the industry is headed. Without them, there are no games, let alone these 10 that we feel stand out as the year’s best.
With that in mind, let’s celebrate these 10–what GameSpot feels are the best games of 2024. These are listed in alphabetical order:
Astro Bot
Available on PS5
Two minutes is all it takes for Astro Bot to sink its adorable platforming hooks into you, as Team Asobi’s delightful adventure hits the ground running as perhaps Sony’s best game of the year. Effortlessly charming, Astro Bot knows exactly what type of game it wants to be, pulling out all the stops to deliver a best-in-class experience that feels like a breath of fresh air.
Astro Bot isn’t just an inviting platformer, but also an imaginative one that takes the best ideas of its genre and modernizes the experience. Team Asobi might be inspired by the past, but it also looks to the future with levels that combine tightly constructed gauntlets of danger with creative flourishes that add to the joy of Astro Bot.
Maybe you’re stopping time so that you can hop over a flurry of oversized playing cards that have been hurled at you, or maybe you’re bulldozing your way through the teeth of a giant ape thanks to the robo-pooch jetpack strapped to Astro’s back. The point is, just when you think you’ve seen everything that Astro Bot has to offer, it surprises and delights you with a new gameplay wrinkle. It’s that effort to consistently astonish that makes the game feel so special, restoring a sense of wonder to even the most jaded of gamers who think they’ve seen everything.
In an age of play-it-safe sequels and overly ambitious live-service games, Astro Bot just feels right. It’s a short-and-sweet blast of fun that works as a quick lunchtime diversion or for a night of collect-a-thon entertainment. Not only does it look incredible in action, but Team Asobi proves that it’s in a league of its own when it comes to squeezing out the best haptic feedback features from the DualSense controller and making them feel like a natural part of the game.
Balatro
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, and Android
Of our top 10 games of the year, Balatro is perhaps the most distinct and original of the bunch. Roguelikes have been all the rage for years, with many of them taking the form of either action games like Dead Cells and Hades or turn-based-tactics games like FTL. There have been wonderful card-based roguelikes, too, but Balatro found a unique spin on the format, blending it with poker to create something that stands out in a crowded genre.
Adapting to the randomized tools put in front of you is often the name of the game in a roguelike, but Balatro’s approach to this is particularly brilliant. Your strategy will revolve around maximizing the Jokers you acquire, each of which can offer radically different effects that can force you to thoroughly rethink poker hands–like allowing straights or flushes to be made with four cards instead of five, or providing a bonus that triggers every sixth hand you play. Alongside these, there are numerous other types of cards that provide various bonuses, but it’s a testament to the game’s design that it never becomes overwhelming to track. All of these factors will change how you approach a given hand, but it’s the interplay between Jokers, the passive bonus you get from your chosen deck, and the way you build your deck–changing the suit or rank of individual cards, adding or discarding new ones, and so on–that provides for a satisfying, wide-open array of possibilities that makes each run feel different.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One
Though more Elden Ring is always a good thing, you’d be remiss to call Shadow of the Erdtree simply more of the same. The expansion is a masterpiece, adding not only dozens of hours to 2022’s Game of the Year, but elevating the entire Elden Ring experience whilst creating a world and story that is fascinating on its own. With the addition of new weapons and items, bosses and locations that subvert expectations, and a somber story that presents both villains and saints in a new light, Erdtree is an essential addition to a genre-defining game.
One of Erdtree’s more impressive feats is how it seamlessly embeds itself within the game’s core. However, this doesn’t mean it simply injects a few hours into the game’s second act. Much like Miquella’s Haligtree, the Land of Shadow is an unforgiving terrain that challenges even seasoned players. And yet by adding a new leveling system, From Software doesn’t relegate this chapter to merely being endgame material. What you then get is an experience that can either hone your skills for the rest of the game, or test your might, as battles and even traversal require more observation, strategy, and foresight than ever before.
New spells, weapons, and the inclusion of hand-to-hand combat encourage players to experiment more than ever before. Furthermore, all of these carry over to the Lands Between, giving the base game a refresh by virtue of their inclusion. But perhaps the most meaningful addition to the base game is the clarity Erdtree bestows upon its most prominent figures.
It is in Shadow of the Erdtree that some of the game’s larger-than-life figures are explored in deeply empathetic and humanizing ways. As you follow Miquella’s footsteps, witnessing him shed his humanity in favor of pursuing his goals, you also learn more about Marika, Mohg, Radahn, St. Trina, and the seemingly countless others who adorn their messy family tree. Similarly, you also learn more about the Hornsent, Shaman, and the religious and cultural battles that tore the world apart. These stories are beautiful, well-told, and important, in both the Elden Ring universe and fiction as a whole.
Helldivers 2
Available on: PC, PS5
Helldivers 2 is likely a game you know a lot about, even if you haven’t played it since it debuted early in 2024. That’s because the co-op PvE third-person shooter is a perpetual parade of comedic accidents and action all at once, making it a special viral video machine. Adopting nearly whole-cloth the satirical tone of Starship Troopers, Helldivers 2 casts players as highly disposable troopers who are sent to the frontlines of a multi-front war against monstrous bugs and intelligent machines, only to often die by being crushed under the weight of a friendly care package called in haphazardly amid total chaos.
Helldivers 2’s comedic voice is ever-present and intentional. Plenty of collectible lore items are written in a darkly humorous way that speaks to how little the people in charge care about the soldiers as individuals. You’re there to fulfill their demands, and should your character die, another nameless (and hapless) soldier will be right behind them. But its best attribute is how it exists as a palette on which you and three friends make yourselves laugh every time you drop into hostile territory. Needing to manage friendly fire while being flanked from all angles by enormous acid-spewing beetles should be stressful, and at times it is, but the game does a great job of feeling like emergent moments are happening at all times, be they action-packed or grimly goofy.
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle
Available on: Xbox Series X|S, PC
Like a haymaker coming out of nowhere aimed squarely at your face–a favorite move of the titular archaeologist–Indiana Jones and The Great Circle shocked us all by smashing its way into our top ten at the eleventh hour.
On the surface, MachineGames, the lauded developer of the modern Wolfenstein games, was a no-brainer pick for an Indy title: It loves to have the player take down Nazis. However, The Great Circle surprises in the ways it’s unlike those acclaimed games. In fact, Indiana Jones almost has more in common with Escape from Butcher Bay, a beloved game from the early 2000s that served as a prequel to the Chronicles of Riddick film Pitch Black–a game that many of the same developers worked on over 20 years ago. Rather than a relatively linear experience where Doctor Jones methodically tears through fascists on the path to his next objective, MachineGames was seemingly heavily influenced by its sister studio, Arkane, and its Dishonored series, opting for a more immersive-sim-style approach.
Having players become intimately familiar with its open locations, skulking from their intricately detailed, historically accurate points of interest on the surface to their fictional but no less meticulously designed underbellies, makes for a unique experience that couldn’t be mistaken for a Tomb Raider or Uncharted clone, two series that were themselves heavily inspired by the original Spielberg films.
Layered on top of this open exploration is an improvisational combat system that harkens to the somewhat slapstick comedy of the movies, with Indy using his wits and whatever items are on hand to interrupt the actions of his fascist foes. The Great Circle’s gameplay might have been enough to get it into our best games of the year list, but the cherry on top is Troy Baker’s Indy himself. You’d be forgiven for thinking at times that MachineGames used some offensive AI technology to replicate a young Harrison Ford with how uncannily the seasoned actor inhabits the role. The fact that it is pure Baker brings a texture to the game that few other titles are afforded.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Available on PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PS4
Few games have latched onto my mind the way Simogo’s Lorelei and the Laser Eyes did. It’s an intricate and carefully crafted puzzle box brimming with mystery, artistry, and wonder. For a solid week, it was all I could think about. It took over my life in a way that only the best games can do. Twenty in-game hours later, I had dozens of pages of notes and a new appreciation for what a puzzle game could be.
But to simply call Lorelei and the Laser Eyes an excellent puzzle game doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s a psychological horror game filled with twists and turns to punctuate its brilliant enigmas. Lorelei wears its horror influences on its sleeve and tells a compelling story that could only work in a game like this. After you’re invited to an old hotel somewhere in Europe, you’re tasked with uncovering the truth about its outlandish owner. For every answer, a new question arises, and it all culminates into one of the most satisfying endings in recent memory that blends your knowledge of the story, its themes, and its puzzles.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4
Shortly after Metaphor: ReFantazio was announced and its Archetype system was briefly explained, it was given a new title by both fans and cynics alike: Fantasy Persona. With a team of Persona veterans at the helm, Shigenori Soejima’s signature art style on full display, turn-based combat doled out by creatures born of their owners inner strength, and plenty of social-sim elements, it’s easy to see why it was so quickly regarded as more of the same, even if it did boast a different setting. Once you start Metaphor, however, it doesn’t take very long to realize just how different and innovative Atlus’ latest venture truly is.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is an adventure in the truest sense, complete with a memorable party, spectacular set pieces, and plenty of twists and turns that will keep players on the edge of their seats. Within it exists a sense of time, place, movement, progression, and anxiety that is entirely its own, while marked improvements to combat and gameplay showcase the team’s focus on elevation rather than emulation.
Turn-based combat gets an upgrade thanks to a sleeker UI, more flexibility, and new mechanics that reward exploiting weaknesses and taking the time to truly tailor your party more so than ever before. Social links feel more fleshed-out than in Persona, with both party members and tertiary characters possessing gripping stories that reflect the game’s themes and feel rooted in empathy rather than being transactional. Even more impressive is how every system, mechanic, and even the game’s various stylistic choices mesh together perfectly, making for a seamless and intentional experience.
Metaphor is also perhaps the most earnest and compassionate game from its developer, with a focus on injustice, reparations, and compassion, delivered in a way that is neither hamfisted nor superficial. It is a game that understands how art, fiction, and everything we consume ultimately shapes our world and being–and you can tell this is an idea and responsibility that the developers at Atlus take seriously.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
A breath of fresh air in a genre that sometimes risks growing stale, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown reinvigorated the popular metroidvania this year. It’s an accomplishment made all the more impressive when you consider that Prince of Persia is not historically a metroidvania at all: Its long history has been as an intricate puzzle-platformer, often with action elements. All of those ingredients are still present here, but by adding the wrinkle of a large interconnected world to explore, the series unlocked something truly special and revelatory.
The Lost Crown distinguishes itself from other Prince of Persia games with a completely new story, starring not the titular prince but rather an elite member of the royal guard, called the Immortals. As the newest member of the superheroic bodyguard team, you’re caught up in a tale of intrigue as the prince is abducted and taken to a cursed mountain. That setting allows for a wide variety of distinct areas to explore, from a glowing crystal cavern to a sterile prison–complete with an enchanted guardsman who steadfastly hunts for intruders. The biomes all feel and look incredibly different from one another, each with their own depths to plumb for secrets.
Exploration is a joy, thanks to an array of agile moves that only expand as you unlock more traversal tools. Combat is similarly nuanced, and beautifully complemented by your increased acrobatic abilities. This combination means that making your way through Mount Qaf is a thrilling mixture of tight platforming, fast and reflexive combat, and awe-inspiring exploration.
On top of those elements, The Lost Crown innovates in the metroidvania space with helpful quality-of-life tools. A subtle light trail will lead you toward the nearest save point, so you always know which direction to go when you’re in need. An optional Guided mode will lead you toward the next objective or let you know if a current gate is closed off with your abilities, so you don’t have to guess where to go. And most significantly, the Memory Shards system gives you an expandable, reusable resource to save screenshots with a single button press, pinning them to your map. In a genre that thrives on going back to areas you’ve visited, this is an absolute game-changer.
Silent Hill 2
Available on: PC, PS5
Remaking an all-time classic horror game is a tall task no matter the specifics–just ask the recent Resident Evil and Dead Space developers. But it certainly felt like the mission of adequately and respectfully remaking Konami’s landmark 2001 psychological horror game, Silent Hill 2, would be nearly impossible. Regardless, Bloober Team’s inventive reinterpretation of the hugely important game is one of the year’s most captivating triumphs.
2024’s Silent Hill 2 is a much bigger game than the original, with a typical playthrough taking about twice as long, and yet it rarely feels overstuffed. Instead, the team leans into all of the original’s most vital aspects and enhances them, adding little–and occasionally big–touches to alter the experience without ever fumbling its all-important, oppressive atmosphere.
The original Silent Hill 2 benefitted, intentionally or not, from technology that pitted the game in a dreamlike haze of blurry visuals and indescribable monsters, while the admittedly janky combat served the story well as the protagonist, James, ought to have felt disadvantaged and endangered anyway. The Silent Hill 2 remake is a much more polished experience. Yet it expertly translates these crucial attributes with tremendous care, ensuring this prettier version of the game is still nauseating in its sights and sounds. Its more responsive combat remains harrowing thanks to monsters that prefer to get right up in your face, making just two of them feel like a horde.
Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
Available on: PC, Xbox Series X|S
Stalker 2 is an anomaly. And no, I’m not talking about the physics-defying anomalies you’ll be tiptoeing around in the game, but an anomaly among all other game experiences I had in 2024. Stalker 2 is a game about friction. It’s a game that put me under an oppressive weight and challenged me to survive in a world that, at times, didn’t feel worth surviving in. After all, it’s the story of an alternate reality where a second horrific nuclear disaster occurred in Chornobyl. It’s par for the course.
Like surviving under such conditions, Stalker 2 is at times messy, convoluted, and difficult to understand. All of that is made a little easier to grapple with thanks to the people you meet along the way, undergoing the same confusing struggle that you are.
There’s just something about having wandered for hours in a desolate world, fending off rabid dogs, grotesque mutants, bands of other humans raiding the land just like you (all while being a little tipsy from the vodka you drank to alleviate radiation poisoning), only to make it back to salvation, and have a guy in a gas mask look you in the eyes and say, “Hey, dude!”
It slices through the tension like a knife, making its dour world feel a little less dire and a little more digestible. Hell, even a little more welcoming. Listening to other Stalkers gather around the fire each night to play the guitar, drink copious amounts of vodka, and talk about their daily woes expresses a sense of community amongst these survivors–a place to come back to after facing a day’s worth of horror. Their lives are hard, but still their humanity perseveres. There’s still camaraderie to have, all things considered in a decimated depiction of Ukraine. It’s a feeling I imagine reflects that of many real-life Ukrainians everyday.
Stalker 2 was made under the tragic conditions of a full-fledged war between Russia and Ukraine. From a global pandemic to a full-scale invasion, Stalker 2’s development team endured to see this game come to life, all while their cities were being bombed around them. Many Ukrainians–including the game’s developers–were displaced, fleeing the country altogether, while some joined armed forces to fight Russian forces, and others remained in Ukraine and adjusted to the new normal of a war-torn country.
Reference:
