Doing a bi-annual gaming list because fuck it, talk about games I played and I wanna seem cool. Focusing on games I played last year (2024) and how they stood out. Yeah, I still held out on the best games like Metaphor and smth smth Crow County. Fair chance I may mention games from 2023. Ech, we do this

Tekken 8 - Uhhh, good game. Not a fighting game fan, so hard to judge. I mean, it's fan to mess around with the character creator. I made my character Master Chief and beat the shit out of other people. (They beaten me over and over...)

Arzette and the Jewell of Faramore - Okay, it must say something if I beaten this game three times over and platinum'd this. There's apparently a cheat mode too? Well, anyway. This game is just a sleazy masterpiece of a shitpost. I can think of a few complaints, but with the nature of this game, I can let it all slide. The game has the same structure of the games it was inspired by, but if it played competently. The Zelda Cd-I games, while still subpar, make for a decent metroidvania game. This game doesn't do much better outside of having the proper tape together. The cutscenes are technically worse than the original CD-i games due to the art style feeling like belonging to different genres, but I'd say they give the vibe of a playable Multi Animator Project. That's... something we don't get much of.

Penny's Big Breakaway - a worthy successor to Sonic Mania that gives me Bomberman 64 vibes. I never grew up with the Sega Saturn, but I wanna say it's a good call back. Can anyone confirm that?

Helldivers 2 - When I played this game, I learned something important about myself. Something I never truly considered until recently. Racism is fun! I guess I have to admit I have assholery in my bloodline, so the act of imperialism to the enth degree makes my blood boil the right way. I kinda wish gaming would embrace racism more, in the ironic way. The CoD shit, that borderlines unironic, can fuck off... Also, the use of friendly fire makes the game pure blooded,

Killer Klowns - A worse version of the Friday 13th game. The adage of multiplayer killers is okay, I guess, but main appeal of Friday is trolling players with voice chat. At most, this game is okay with friends. The use of respawning killers kinda kills it though. A near immortal killer who can only be killed in a certain fashion adds to the horror.

Dead Rising (2006) - Game's frustrating, hard to focus and the use of the time limit makes everything limiting. Oh, I don't see the point in the remake. Have to see the remake, but it still seems pointless.

Deadlock - I suck at MOBAs. I like the VAs, but you can tell they don't have the same talented writers on board. Also, the Elvis monkey is the worst character.

Dungeonborne - good concept, but again, not my cup of tea. Ignoring my bad gamer skills, I wanna say it's p2w.

Liar's Bar - removing points for possibly using AI. The characters sound like text to speech to me. Haven't played Buckshot Roulette, but this is my kind of high stake gaming. Also, has the proper use of voice chat.

Sonic x Shadows Generations - Firstly, fuck the Colors era Sonic writers. Ian Flynn btfo of them. The rewrites in Generations is fine. Still a good game, but the use of DRM takes 60 points away. The decent Shadow campaign gives it 20 points, but Keanu's wooden delivery in the dlc takes ten away.

Marvel Rivals - I think it sucks, because I suck at hero shooter, but am competent at this one. Thanks, Franky Wood.

Baldi's Basic Plus - I still hate roguelites. Interesting premise, but it wears out quickly even after updates.

Ufouria - It's cute. Reminds me of the newer Yoshi games. Not my ideal Metroidvania, but I'm down to play more.

Hi Fi Rush - Amazing Beat em up, inspired me to consider music and consider the intricacy of it. Might have kickstarted my vinyl collecting addiction... I just want to get gud...

Silent Hill 2 - yeah, this is a good remake. I know The Medium is controversial, but there's moments of it where they showed themselves as SH fans. They followed the formula and it worked. All I hope for know is that their Dead Space clone is good. It's,... intriguing.

Mario Kart Double Dash - because I was too lazy to play MK8D, but needed the MK fix. Is good, helped me appreciate the series. There's more to it than nostalgia. Just figuring out how to maneuver the kart, drifting, and the use of items.

Now,... my Game of the Year is....

Astro Bot

Yeah.... it's a good game. The type of game I wanted from Sony for years. I mean, I wish they'd have a balance of great story telling and gameplay, but I'd rather have gameplay over story telling. It appeals to my nostalgia in all the right ways. Well structured level design, use of characters, and fair difficulty. I referred to Arzette to a game I platinum'd, but I felt the need to dedicate getting 100%. I loved seeing everything and all the characters I'd find. I simply felt like Leo DiCaprio in that one meme. Also, yeah, it felt like Mario Galaxy and that's okay. Yep yep yep.

Yep yep yep. There's better games out in 2024, games I need to catch up on and more to look forward to. Realistically speaking, I'd say we all won. I left out a lot of games because I still need to sit down and play down, and absolutely see the need to label them highlights. I look forward to them and what 2025 has to offer.