I still remember how smug I felt in 2023. After a year that felt like a greatest hits of game releases, I figured 2024 would be a breather. Boy, was I wrong. Looking back from 2026, 2024 turned out to be one of those relentless years where you could barely finish one massive game before three more arrived. Did it top 1998 or 2004? Maybe not for everyone, but it definitely tried. Back then, Marvel's Wolverine, Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater, and Silent Hill 2 Remake were still without launch windows. That only made the confirmed 2024 lineup scarier.
The opening months were absurd. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth kicked things off on January 26th, taking Ichiban and Kiryu to Honolulu City, a location roughly three times the size of Yakuza: Like a Dragon's world. Who doesn't want to surf, manage Dondoko Island, sing karaoke, and then cry through Kiryu's side content? Tekken 8 arrived the same day, and after nearly nine years of Tekken 7, the Heat System made even old matchups feel new. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered landed on January 19th with No Return, the roguelike survival mode. Was "remastered" a controversial label? Sure, but for ten dollars if you owned the PS4 version, it was a no-brainer.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown also gave us an early surprise, reminding everyone how good a tight Metroid-style platformer can feel. And then there was Helldivers 2, which transformed the top-down co-op shooter into a third-person democratic nightmare. Friendly fire? Still on. Bug planets? Still awful. But it was glorious. Pacific Drive, meanwhile, mixed driving, survival, and rogue-lite tension in the Pacific Northwest, which felt completely unorthodox and completely my thing.
Role-playing fans were eating well by spring. Dragon's Dogma 2 arrived on March 22nd, and I still think about how the day/night cycle and Pawn system made every journey feel dangerous. Rise of the Ronin launched the same day as a PS5 exclusive, blending Team Ninja combat with 19th-century Japan and branching story choices. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth dropped on February 29th, filling two Blu-ray discs with more than 100 hours of content. Was the 150 GB install brutal? Yes. Was Queen's Blood worth it? Absolutely.
Black Myth: Wukong later turned Sun Wukong's Journey to the West into a gorgeous, boss-heavy action RPG. Star Wars Outlaws let us live the scoundrel fantasy as Kay Vess, hopping between Tatooine and Toshara with seamless space-to-planet travel. It was the kind of year where your RPG backlog could swallow entire months.
Horror and moody adventures also had a strong year. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 was one of those long-promised projects that finally surfaced, sending Senua to Viking Iceland with all the psychological weight you would expect. Little Nightmares 3 added online co-op and a creepy new cast, while Still Wakes the Deep trapped players on a storm-battered oil rig with something hunting them. That one genuinely made me uncomfortable.
Let's not forget the smaller, stranger experiences. Hades 2 entered early access in Q2 2024 for PC, and even without the full voice cast at first, Melinoe's fight against Kronos immediately felt special. The Alters asked a wonderfully weird question: what if you had to cooperate with multiple versions of yourself to survive on a hostile planet? Frostpunk 2 returned to the frozen city-builder with more politics, factions, and impossible moral choices. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl promised a 40-hour branching trip through the Exclusion Zone, while Replaced offered a stunning 2.5D cyberpunk platformer.
Adventure fans had plenty to circle, too. The Wolf Among Us 2 was supposed to finally bring Bigby back after a development restart, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake brought the Josef Fares classic to modern consoles with local co-op. Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, from the Life is Strange minds, promised another 90s-tinged emotional mystery. Those games were more niche, but they rounded out a year that never stopped.
There were plenty of live-service gambles too. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had us skeptical, but the combat and Metropolis scale at least looked interesting. Skull and Bones finally, allegedly, escaped development hell. The First Descendant brought free-to-play Unreal Engine 5 co-op shooting, while Ark 2 promised a big overhaul with Vin Diesel leading a dinosaur survival sequel. Did all of them stick the landing? In 2026, we can argue about that all day. Even so, Destiny 2: The Final Shape aimed to close the Light and Darkness Saga, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown recreated Hong Kong Island at a 1:1 scale, and Earth Defense Force 6 finally hit the West with hundreds of new weapons. Their presence alone made the year louder.
Maybe the best way to sum up 2024 is simple: it was a year with too much to play and not enough time. Looking back, that's exactly the kind of problem I like to have.