Multiplatform titles asserted themselves in thrillingly weird style.
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Is the era of the blockbuster console exclusive coming to an end?
In 2024, the conspicuous absence of big-name, first-party titles certainly made it feel that way.
Sonys major exclusive wasAstro Bot, a brilliant if modest platformer compared to theGod of WarandHorizongames.
Even more telling was Sony and Microsofts efforts to release games beyond their respective consoles.
With a lack of major console exclusives, 2024 presented an opportunity for multiplatform games to assert themselves.
10.I Am Your Beast
10.
(PC)
I Am Your Beastplays like a first-personJohn Wickmovie set to a constantly ticking clock.
Except Harding wont go, and certainly not quietly.
Like 2022sNeon White, this is a shooter with the DNA of speedrunning.
The mission is simple: wipe out the military-industrial complex.
Just make it look effortlessly cool.
9.Astro Bot
9.
But even this flagrant corporate cheerleading cannot sully the sheer moment-to-moment joy of playingAstro Bot.
The Tokyo-based studio Team Asobi has crafted Sonys most unabashedly fun game in years.
Read Lewis Gordonsfull review ofAstro Bot.
8.Anthology of the Killer
8.
ButAnthology of the Killerhas no precedent; it is a work of singular, outsider brilliance.
7.Pacific Drive
7.
(PC, PlayStation 5)
Few games operate at such tonal extremes asPacific Drive.
6.Indika
6.
The titular Indika is a young Russian nun in a fantastical version of the nineteenth century.
Read Lewis Gordonsfull review ofIndika.
5.Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
5.
4.Metaphor: ReFantazio
4.
Expectations were sky-high for the studios follow-up,Metaphor: ReFantazio, and the game duly delivered.
is basically a civil, functioning democracy.
3.Balatro
3.
2023 gave usDave The Diver; the year before that offeredVampire Survivors; 2024 has yieldedBalatro.
At first,Balatroplays a lot like poker in the real world: Two pair?
These might be holographic, steel, or gold versions of cards that confer multipliers or additional chips.
Tarot cards are even part of this unruly equation, transforming your deck in strange and interesting ways.
Within a few rounds,Balatrotranscends its everyday inspiration to become a kaleidoscopic blur of numbers and color.
Its poker but not quite as you know it poker that feels nearly psychedelic.
2.Animal Well
2.
The pixel-art graphics sell the dank, eerie loneliness of this gameworld.
Just as impressively,Animal Wellpossesses a wonderful, and rare, sense of physical cohesion.
1.Dragons Dogma 2
1.
The latter, said director Hidetaka Miyazaki, is defined by hardship.
The formers crucial quality is closer todelight and surprise.
Talk to absolutely everyone because quests do not just fall into your lap.
Listen to what they say because quest markers, for the most part, simply do not exist.
Read Lewis Gordons fullreview ofDragons Dogma 2.
Many of those selections appear above in his top-ten picks.
Beyond its hyperstylized, graphic-novel-esque visuals,Phoenix Springsoffers smart updates to the point-and-click formula.
The result is a supple, modern take on the genre governed by a free-associative dream logic.
Like an arthouse movie, dont expect this unsettlingly beautiful game to answer every one of its tantalizing questions.
It is as brilliantly miserable as the esteemed original.
The presentation, which leans hard on photogrammetry, is ravishing in its ornateness.
This gorgeous, unconventional assembly of elements casts the most beguiling of spells.
Still Wakes the Deep
Christmas 1975: an oil rig off the eastern coast of Scotland.
Read Nicholas Quahsreview ofLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Getting out doesnt just require thumb-shredding dexterity, wit, and guile but also fittingly for its premise patience.
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