My Top 5 Favorite Games I Played in 2024

Even games that didn’t come out this year deserve some love!

Well, with time ever marching on even when we don’t want days to pass, we’re at the end of 2024. That also means it’s time for all the Game of the Year lists to be released and, just like years past, I’m, doing two lists: one for games I loved, but didn’t come out in current year; and games that I loved and did come out in current year. Both are also going to be a Top 5 list where I agonized over which game to pick after I get the easy choices out of the way.

I also do have a couple rules:

1. It had to be games I completed (though endless games do get a pass if I played any)
2. It couldn’t be a game that was on any of my previous lists
3. It can’t have a release date for this year
4. The release date for the version I played counted as its release date for my list (like if the Steam release was last year, but it got a console port this year, it counts if I played the console port)
5. This is a strict Top 5 list (no runner ups or ties!).

So, without further ado, here’s the top 5 games I played this year that didn’t release in 2024 in no particular order:

Haven

|Review|

What, I actually posted a romance game on Valentines Day? Say it isn’t so! It’s a wonder that I managed to do that when other games I wanted to play to post on a specific date, like a horror game on Halloween or my favorite childhood game on my birthday, ended up not happening. Anyway, this year I finally played Haven and even made my goal for when I’d get the review done. I’m so glad I finally played this game as I loved the relationship Yu and Kay had and the story was quite interesting. I also liked the gameplay, even though there is that annoying seed contest side quest and the combat is admittedly the weakest part of the game. Some may call haven too sweet and wholesome, but it was just what I was looking for.

Control Ultimate Edition

It took me way too long to play Control, but it can’t be helped with how this game was handled. I went in not really expecting much, but came out really enjoying my time with it. Yeah, there were some annoying moments where I toyed with the idea of dropping Control, but I really did enjoy the gameplay here and I was really interested in the worldbuilding and seeing what was going to happen next in the story. Though, I still think the game should have had a proper ending (and also a better last mission).

Hynospace Outlaw

|Review|

I honestly was so reluctant to playing Hypnospace Outlaw and look at me now. Having played it finally and it making it to one of my favorite games I played this year! While I may not have had a great first playthrough of the game, my second playthrough really came through and got me to love the game and the world that it built. I wasn’t old enough to have been on or know about GeoCities, but man does this game capture the vibes that the archived pages presented and the vibe of the early internet (which I do remember and was on). I absolutely loved how well-crafted all of the pages were on Hypnospace. They all actually felt like they were made by different people, how it felt like you were getting to know them from what they were sharing online, and I loved how you got to see how their pages changed or how an event turned out when you progress to the next chapter. I loved figuring out the relationships between all the characters, finding all the hidden pages, and noticing the stories that are going on in the background. I loved Hypnospace Outlaw a lot more than I thought I would and I can’t wait to see what the developers are cooking up for its sequel.

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

I decided to get into the Legend of Zelda games I have in my backlog this year. I got to three, one that I ended up dropping, one that I’m still in progress of playing, and one that I completed and loved. Well, I loved it so much it’s making it on my list this year! I went into Spirit Tracks thinking I won’t enjoy it, as it shares forgoing traditional controls for DS gimmicks, but Spirit Tracks implements them way better and it felt more natural. The dungeons were great, with nice puzzles that were just the right difficulty, controlling the train was glorious, the game looks great even today, and the story was so fun and engaging. I loved having Zelda tag along to help Link as they try to get her body back and I loved how Zelda and Link were characterized here. I’m so glad I managed to pick this one up when I saw it at my local Gamestop (especially since they stopped selling older console games) and that I decided to try it despite disliking Phantom Hourglass.

Grapple Dog

Well, I think a common theme this year for this list are games that I’ve been interested in for a while, but just now played them this year. Grapple Dog was a game I talked myself out of buying a ton of times and I still can’t believe it took me this long to play it. Grapple Dog turned out to be a really enjoyable game. It was so fun traversing all the levels once I got the hang of the grapple hook’s momentum and each level was able to add something new to keep the game fresh. There were definitely moments that brought the game down, but it overall is a great game that I’m glad I finally played.