Game of the Year 2024 | Aarsal’s Top 10 Games

I’ll save the “Can you believe it’s been a whole year!” spiel because it has and 2025 is already upon us. But before we go rushing into the new year, let’s take some time and look back at 2024, a ‘banger’ year for gaming and Xbox both. These are my (Aarsal, ‘SoulBlazerz’) top games of 2024, including my Game of the Year.

Honourable Mentions

I played quite a few games this year and by limiting myself to my top 10, I had some titles not quite make the cut for various reasons. So here are some ‘honourable mentions’ that encompass games that I thought were still worth highlighting.

Dungeons of Hinterburg

You’ll find that I have quite a few “smaller” games on my list this time, and starting that up is the July release of Dungeons of Hinterburg. It’s a game full of charm with an intriguing storyline and a focus on well designed puzzles. The combat could get a little repetitive at times true, but the mix of social features, exploration and progression kept me hooked throughout.

Metaphor Re:Fantazio

Metaphor is a front-runner on many game of the year lists and it’s for good reason. The game looks and sounds beautiful, it tackles important and thought-provoking concepts in its story while pushing the Persona formula a step forward. Well, it does a lot more than just this but I’ve only been able to play the game for a handful of hours so far (a situation you’ll see repeat for one more title soon), so I couldn’t quite justify putting it on my ranked list.

League of Legends

Wait, that’s not on Xbox! That’s not even on consoles at all! True, but League of Legends once again devoured hundreds of hours of my time in 2024 and I couldn’t just completely ignore it when making the list. Is it a good game? Yeah, it’s a heck of a lot of fun and was in a good place last year (this year, with all its new changes, remains to be seen). Should you play it? Well…

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The last game on my honourable mentions is another that I simply didn’t have the time to play enough of. Not that I didn’t play Dragon Age this year, quite the opposite as I played through the entire franchise for the first time last year! With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I played enough to know that the game resonated with me quite well, especially with combat that felt like a big upgrade from previous titles.

Now, let’s get into my top 10 games of 2024.

10. Nine Sols

Masterfully crafted combat, a touching story, and great art design makes this game another great get for 2024’s Game Pass lineup and also for anyone looking for more Metroidvania’s to devour. With a heavy focus on parrying, Nine Sols at time felt like a 2D Sekiro and I say that in the best of ways. Be warned though, the game is not easy and you either learn the mechanics or you face constant death.

9. Balatro

You’ll notice that Balatro isn’t quite as high on my list as it is on some of my fellow staff members, but don’t take that as a slight against the game. It initially wasn’t going to even make the top 10, as I’d only played it on Xbox and beaten it just a couple of times. That was the case until a couple of weeks ago when I bought it on mobile (heresy, I know) and subsequently stayed up all night trying different decks and ways to win. At this point I’m sure you’ve heard more than you’d ever want to about this weird poker-centric game, but if you haven’t played it yet, just give it a couple hours of your time. I’m confident you won’t regret it.

8. Persona 3: Reload

Aha, I wasn’t able to put Metaphor on the list but Atlus showed up all the same! Persona 3: Reload was the first Persona game that I didn’t bounce off of in a couple of hours. Rather, it was the exact opposite. This game devoured most of my free time in early 2024, where I swear I’d spend more time on fictional friendships than real ones! While I do think the game drags on a little too long, the top-tier music, the well-written characters and the tight, stylish combat lead me to great enjoy my time with the game.

7. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Having not played the first Space Marine game, or any Warhammer 40,000 game in general, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into the sequel. So of course I spent several hours devouring 40K lore videos and they definitely elevated my enjoyment of Space Marine II. This game doesn’t really hold hands, it throws you into this universe and doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t. Namely, you hear a whole lot of “BROTHER”s and “HERESY”s and it works. With some of the coolest set pieces I’ve played and a great mix of melee and ranged combat, Space Marine II is a game that should be on everyone’s list of action games to play when they can.

6. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus

A second Metroidvania makes the list! Bo was a complete surprise for me, starting as a game I reviewed on a whim and ending up being one of my favourite games of the year, and among the best in the very saturated genre. It’s colourful, full of life, and blends in some elements from other games to create a breath of fresh air alongside a banging soundtrack. As I said in my review, if you’re a fan of Metroidvanias and especially if you’re still waiting for Silksong, you absolutely need to play this one.

5. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

While yes, Shadow of the Erdtree is a DLC rather than a standalone game, it still ranks amongst the best gaming experiences I had in 2024. Mesmer, in particular, is amongst my top FromSoftware fights period. While I do think some of the limitations of Elden Ring were starting to show, such as the aimless exploration at times, FromSoftware proved once again that any DLC they make is essential playing for any fans of the base game.

4. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Sadly it seems this one was forgotten by way too many when it released early 2024, leading to many missing what is absolutely one of the best games of the year. For years, folks online have been asking Ubisoft to release a good game that wasn’t a 200-hour AC adventure, and this year they did exactly that. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a game packed to the brim with memorable boss fights, top-tier level design, great voice acting and just all together a fantastic videogame. I cannot recommend this game enough for anyone even remotely interested.

And for those of you keeping count, yes that’s now the third Metroidvania on my list. So I like the genre, sue me.

3. Astrobot

The game on the featured image! You thought it was going to be number one, didn’t you? Well, while Astrobot may not be my game of the year 2024, it did very comfortably make my top 3 and for good reason. As a fan of more traditional platformers (sorry Nick, I just couldn’t get into Mario Odyssey), Astrobot is among the very, very best in the entire genre. It’s a game oozing with charm, life, and, well, just fun. You know when you’re playing something and you can tell right away that the developers had an absolute blast making it? Astrobot has that feeling pretty much all the time.

While a big focus in Astrobot, both the game and the online rhetoric around it, is the “Playstation” brand itself, I thought it almost made things worse at times. I mean after all, who’s so emotionally attached with a friggen PS5 that they resonate with the primary goal of fixing one? The biggest praise I can give this game is that even if you took out all the various callbacks to gaming IPs and the Playstation branding, Astrobot would still have been good enough to truly make its mark in gaming history. Or at least, I’d like to think so.

2. Indiana Jones and The Great Circle

Having just beaten this game this last week, yes there’s an element of recency bias here, but make no mistake, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is among the very best games released in 2024. And for a variety of reasons at that. Being my first MachineGames title I played more than a couple hours of, I went in expecting more action and fighting, especially shooting. So imagine my surprise when combat made up maybe 20% of my 25-30 hours with the game. This balance of fighting, exploring, and puzzling is what elevated this game from a good title, to a great one.

I genuinely think Machine Games have essentially cracked the formula in regards to this balance, with the puzzles especially. In a time where more games than ever are simplying their puzzles, or having a constant voice trying to aid you with them (yes Atreus, I know I need to freeze the water,) it was extremely refreshing being alone with only my thoughts and the notes the game provides when trying to open a hidden door, or solve a mystery. And heck, the few times where you do have someone with you, their initial comments helped me find things I had previously missed. Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or not, if you enjoy adventure games then you absolutely owe it to yourself to play this one.

1. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Oh no, I put an Xbox first-party game as my number one, that must make me a fanboy right? Especially a game so widely “disliked” by the gaming press, right? I apologize for the passive aggressiveness, but the disdain shown for what I consider to be one of the best games I’ve ever played has truly irritated me throughout last year. I care little about the droning on from the usual online crowd, but Ninja Theory deserve all the recognition for crafting an absolute masterpiece experience.

And yes, I use the word “experience” there for a reason. Hellblade II isn’t your traditional game, far from it, and at times it becomes more of something you simply experience rather than play. Yet those moments are still incredible and highly memorable. From traveling the beautiful vistas, to hiding from hidden enemies, to fighting for your life in a chaotic battlefield, this game never once stopped being engaging.

As for why it’s number one on my list? It’s pretty simple really, no other game I’ve ever played in my 30 years of existence, heck no other media property period, has left me silent, frozen, and sobbing as the credits played. This sounds a little dramatic, I know, and to be honest, it’s a little hard to write about at all, But by the time the last cutscene finishes and the ending song starts, something clicked in me and I understood on a very deep, personal level what the game was trying to say (or rather, one of its many messages) and what Senua herself was feeling. Not everyone felt this way, I know, and to that I’d say it’s probably a good thing that more didn’t. But this isn’t everyone else’s list, and to me Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was a masterpiece and is easily my game of the year 2024.