The Best Games of 2024 So Far 

Sega’s marketing did Banana Rumble so dirty, so many people went In not even realizing there was a main single player mode or thought the battle mode was the main event and thought the whole game ran at 30.

Omg, the Brandon-Daniel voice over bit was such a cherry on top to this vid. I love these longer-form discussion videos, but I’ve kinda been conditioned to expect them to be very casually edited unscripted vids. Coming in with the panel flip was such a fun touch!

For me, my favorite game this year is Persona 3 Reload. It is, in my opinion, a beautiful remake that faithful recaptures the spirit of Persona 3. The new soundtrack, gameplay, voice acting, and the gorgeous graphics and UI really made me fall in love with again alongside it's beautifully tragic story and writing. Following it up are Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance, and Tekken 8.

Another Crab's Treasure is my favorite game this year, so far. It is *the* game that opened my eyes to why Soulslikes are fun. It showed me how rewarding they can feel. (So much so, that I decided to buy Elden Ring a couple months later, and I'm enjoying it too.) I just adore the comedic writing, and the main character. There are stories where a pure-hearted protagonist saves the world with kindness-- but in Another Crab's Treasure, the world is unmoved by kindness. The naive Kril must partake in the use of *force* that catalysed his quest, in order to succeed... unapologetic satire on our world, wrapped in the colorful, cutesy realm of crab people.

Having just gotten my first ending, id say SMT V Vengeance has been one of my favorites of the year

My GOTY 2024 so far; Balatro It’s an indie, slay the spire-like, based on poker. A simple card game rouge like with fantastic psychedelic visuals and an unforgettable main musical motif. If you like slay the spire, give it a shot.

Animal Well is a masterpiece, and I say that without digging much deeper than rolling credits. I started TUNIC at the same time and ended up focusing my energies on the Golden Path and all of the hidden stuff in that gem instead. Animal Well will be there when I decide to return. Shoutout to BALATRO (released in February) for any soul who hasn’t discovered it yet. What a game.

My favorite game of the year so far is an indie 3D Platformer called Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom. It's only on Steam so far but I hope they can put it out on consoles so more people can play it. The movement is so fun and it's got a bright and colorful art style

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown ❤️ Metroidvania with a good budget, meaning excellent production values… strong exploration and fun obstacle-based puzzles… but the combat! Maybe the best I’ve experienced in a Metroidvania, better than Hollow Knight’s. It returns the series to its 2D roots with a flourish, and may even outshine Sands of Time. Good pick, John!

Stellar Blade was a really fun surprise, and Shadow of the Erdtree is just full of content. I've been having a blast.

One reason Rebirth is really high on my GOTY list so far is because I treated it as an incentive to pass my driving test. A decision that proved worthwhile. 😁

Nine Sols getting overlooked is a worry. Only Prince of Persia getting mentioned as the years metroidvania, and Animal Well for an unconventional one.

Animal Well won't stop winning.

Excellent edit at the end, Daniel!😭

Brandon's right: PM64 has much better exploration than TTYD.

As a fighting game head Tekken 8 is one of mt favorite games to come out rhis year. Also shoutout to steeet fighter 6s season 2 which fixed alot of mt gripes with it.

So glad Persona 3 Reload was mentioned. I was worried that because it came out so early in the year, it would be forgotten even only a few months after it came out. (Should note it’s also my game of the year so far).

Prince of Persia The Lost Crown needs to be played by more people. Such an awesome Metroidvania

Tekken 8, FF7 Rebirth and Paper Mario have been mine but I love these picks, you have me making some purchases today.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake is the only game that came out this year that I've played and wasn't disappointed by the slightest. I already beaten the game and 100% it. I can say without hesitant that this is the best way to play the game. Along with Metroid Prime Remastered and Kirby: Return to Dreamland Deluxe as far as superior versions and are more cheap to get than the originals were. Now let's hope the next Paper Mario game goes back to it's roots as how the first 2 Paper Mario games were.

Gamers are eating pretty good this year, all gamers 💪🏼

Man I just love this channel, it’s always so fun and positive

Shout out Brandon for making the DUNKEY GAME his goty 😉

So glad to see love for Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. That is certainly one of my favorite games this year so far too. A little charm can go a long way, and a LOT of charm can go the distance. I've interacted with characters in Arzette that have already made it to some of my favorite / most memorable NPCs I can recall. And it is quite a novelty to play what feels like a truly decent Philipps CD-i game, but made that way on purpose.

The lost crown and Animal Well were my highlights so far. But I am quite sure my Game of the year will just be the Beyond Good and Evil Remake. It may be Nostalgia, but I still love it. And the lore they added is amazing❤️

Rather than top 5 top 5, you guys should do a collective top 10 just to ovoid overlap and have more games to talk about.

Why is the music so loud 😅

Great picks! One of my unexpected favourites from this year has to be Surrmount! Such a fun and quirky game, it has that DS-Wii era Nintendo vibe to it and the gameplay is a lot of fun!

I played Penny’s (demo) and it’s so smooth. I want to get it. Happy to hear Jon appreciates it, I feel like it should get more love!

I also bought both Banana Mania and now Banana Rumble basically on Jon's recommendation and it is indeed amazing, loving it and it really feels way better than Mania, the spin dash and the new levels really make it feel way better to control than Mania and it is fun just launching all over the map with the spin dash and trying those speed run-like tactics

I've not played many many "new" games this year: I still have yet to play FFVII Rebirth and LAD Infinite Wealth, and I have strong confidence that both will be a great time for me. From what I HAVE played though, Persona 3 Reload is so far my GOTY: the presentation is phenomonal, combat was stylish and smooth, the redone soundtrack is so groovy and I love the new story additions. If I bring in games I simply played for the first time this year into the discussion though, I'd say I REALLY enjoyed Octopath Traveler 2. I played through it and 1 for the first time this year and while I expected to like the games going in, I walked away loving them instead. The stories, break/boost combat system, gorgeous HD-2D presentation and superb soundtracks pulled me in HARD, and made for some of the most fun I've had in 2024.

Dropping my wish for more What’s That Track here…

I'd also throw Tekken 8 & Dragon's Dogma II into the pile, with Tales of Kenzera: ZAU being my sleeper hit (specifically post-patch after they got rid of the weird bug that didn't maintain movement after you exit the pause menu).

Aside from Paper Mario: TTYD Remake, there is one game that I finally got into. Kinda wished I looked into it when it came out last year, but I realized it had a demo and the demo made me go for it. Dave the Diver.

Out of all the game’s I’ve played this year thus far, I’d say my top 5 are most definitely: 1. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door 2. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth 3. Persona 3 Reload 4. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance 5. Penny’s Big Breakway Some honorable mentions also go to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Another Code Recollection and Animal Well.

I honestly haven’t played many 2024 games; the only ones I’ve played are the Apollo Justice trilogy and Duck Detective: The Secret Salami. Been playing Dual Destinies through the AJ trilogy, so I guess that one. This will probably change soon tho, as I’m getting PM TTYD remake soon. Still gutted I’m unable to play Persona 3 Reload, hopefully it’s a launch title for the Switch successor

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is my favorite so far this year. I’m a big 2D Zelda fan so maybe Echoes of Wisdom can dethrone it.

@Jon please make a video explaining how to play all microgames of Wario Ware D.I.Y on 3DS, in 2024! Begging you.

What fun lists - Myself I've been quite picky with games this year but the ones I have bought have been amazing, all featured on your lists Unicorn Overlord is my #1, Prince of Persia is my #2 and Paper Mario is my #3 ( by default because I only bought 3 2024 games :P)

I tend to spend most of the year playing older games, I've only played 3 2024 games so far. Likr a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Persona 3 Reload (I'm like not even halfway through it). Prince of Persia definately wins for me so far, really fun Metroidvania. Persona 3 will probably win out in the end but the story hasn't quite grabbed me as much as 4 and 5's stories did so far

My top 3 games of 2024 so far are Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake; obviously because it is an fantastic remake with many QOL improvements and shown why we loved Paper Mario to begin with, Stellar Blade; for being an phenomenal triple A game that Sony has been making in quite an while, and Prince of Persia: Lost Empire; mainly as an Metroidvania fan & it does an solid job on representing the genre.

GotY: Unicorn Overlord 2: Gran Blue Fantasy Relink 3: Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door 4: Stellar Blade 5: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

My two favorite games of the year so far are Megaton Musashi Wired and Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island. More people need to check them out!

Top 5 is hard at this point, but top 3 is easy. 3) Monkey Ball 2) Stellar Blade 1) Persona 3 Reload

Brandon sure looks different these days!

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is my favorite game of the year and it isn't even close

What’s the song in the beginning of this video it rules

I'm going to be completely honest: the only 2024 game I have played so far is princess peach showtime, and that was a weak 7 out of 10. However, trails through daybreak comes out today and I have been anticipating that game for over a year: if I want about that maybe my favorite game of 2024

Love the Daniel appearance!! Hahaha

This year has been pretty dry. Especially for Nintendo

I think Granblue Fantasy Relink is my top pick.

Lovely music 🪈🎶🪈🎶 🍀🍀🐷🪴🐷🍀🍀

Yakuza 8 is my fav, FF7R and Another Crab’s Treasure follow up, then animal well, Elden ring DLC and Nine Sols

2024 has some great games!

My top 4 favorite games of the year so far are Persona 3 Reload, Animal Well, Paper Mario TTYD Remake, and Balatro. I played Persona 5 for the first time last year and loved it, so I was really looking forward to Reload, and I ended up loving it as well. Animal Well was a fantastic Metroidvania with a great atmosphere, TTYD was a great remake of one of my favorite games that adds nice presenatation and quality of live improvements, and Balatro is a very addictive Poker roguelike.

Monkey Ball games rock and especially the new addition Banana Rumble on the Nintendo Switch! 💪

The only new games I've played so far this year are Princess Peach Showtime, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Of those PoP easily wins my GOTY, but when the new Zelda, Astro Bot, Mario & Luigi, and others come out its gonna be a much harder battle for the Prince.

I haven't even played 5 games from 2024 yet

My top 5 favourite 2024 games as of right now: 1. Balatro 2. Minishoot Adventures 3. Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom 4. Paper Mario TTYD 5. Helldivers 2

“Play videogames” they say. But how do I have time for that when I also always have to stay up to date with RU-vid content??

Only game i have played that came out this year was Animal well. Which I thought was fine. Still want to play the new monkey ball, smt5v and elden ring dlc tho. And really looking forward to Epic Mickey rebrushed and metaphor refantazio.

How in the world could Brandon forgot about Prince of Persia 😂

For me so far it's easily Another Code 1+2 remake. The vibe + music are so well made.

I really loved FF7 Rebirth and might be one of my fav games ever, but I think it does have pacing issues in some parts. There were chapters/dungeons that took way too long and kinda made me like "okay so when will this end just let me move on". They aren't bad chapters, just taking too long and felt meaningless. But still every chapter in this game was damn amazing even if the pacing was a little bad sometimes. I hope you get to play it soon jon and would love to hear your opinion.

I’m so excited to eventually get Prince of Persia. Just waiting for the inevitable Ubisoft price drop

Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth is my favourite game this year, it was a fantastic send off for Kiryu and the improvements to the combat system were welcome, one of the memories fell flat though, due to the fact we never got Kenzan localised I still really want that, anyway nothing else will beat Infinite Wealth for me this year, i've already done 3 playthroughs

*spoiler* THE DANIEL CAMEO WAS SO GOOD!! Pretty amazing he can sound just like Brandon like that!

Only games that released this year that I played were Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. PoP I beat but on easy mode with modifiers because it was waaaaaay too hard for me so Paper Mario wins be default for me. Great game.

FF7 Rebirth takes the cake for me hands down. Legit, one of my favorite games I’ve ever played.

So far for me--- Yakuza Infinite Wealth Paper Mario TTYD remake Unicorn Overlord Pocket Jockey Wild Card

Not even a mention of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is so cruel...like I get that I'm pretty sure none of the GVG cast are big LAD fans but still...

Infinite Wealth?

No Palworld or Helldivers is crazy!

Should I jump straight into Banana Rumble, or play through Banana Mania instead?

ARZETTE MENTIONED

My favorite game of 2024 is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

UNICORN OVERLORD MENTIONED JON WITH ACQUIRED TASTE GRAHHHHH

Nintendo weren't mentioned in this video (inserts Paper mario). . .

Palworld is the best one that’s not a sequel or remake.

What music 25:30

Tekken 8, Rebirth, 1000xResist

Infinite wealth

Shaodow of the erdtree isnt a game though its a dlc

Thousand Year Door for me. Erdtree and Dragon's Dogma II both disappointed me this year sadly.

Where is infinite wealth guys

Where is it?

😊

Riven by far

Bought my first Monkey Ball off Jon's recommendation. It's delightful! Anyways just for the sake of jogging my memory; Dragon's Dogma 2 Unicorn Overlord Elden Ring 2 (:P) Another Crab's Treasure (!!!) Persona 3 Reload I've surely forgotten something and never the great stuff I first played that's not from this year. Pikmin 4 will be on MY goty list for sure because its one of the best game I played in 2024 ya know?

Balatro, hands down is one of my favorite games of the year

Despite their technical incompetence particularly on PC, a DLC is being put on games of the year list. 🤦‍♂️ 5:43 to skip DLC discussion in goty video.. ....... I'm so sick of elden ring Similarly, I wish the 50/60 Hz judder in monkey ball was being discussed in reviews. It's not a true locked 60 due to the way they've implemented the unity engine. It will always have judder. I'm at a loss that there is no PC version of this esp with the steam deck existing.

Prince of Persia is goty so far

what about pizza tower

I have a bad feeling that Nintendo will be snubbed from GOTY in the TGA this year. People will belittle Paper Mario TTYD remake, Zelda Echoes of Wisdom and Mario & Luigi Brothership, even if they all get high scores.

Sadly I just could not get into Paper Mario TTYD. I’ve played the original and even borrowed the remake from a friend of mine but the game plus the first Paper Mario game I can’t get into and funny enough it’s the combat system that’s not doing it for me. I got bored of it honestly. Guess I just got a weird taste seeing that I actually enjoyed the Paper Mario games that came out after the first two in the series. Super happy the game is out and people are enjoying it though. My five 2024 games so far are: FF7: Rebirth, Another Code Recollection, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance & Unicorn Overlord. Tekken 8 is an honorable mention.

Thousand Year Door is my biggest disappointment. Most of the quests are just "walk to one end of the area, then walk all the way back, then back to the end again." I can't imagine how annoying it was if the backtracking is actually improved in this version.

Persona 3 is a great game, but Reload is a bad remake. It's the Majora's Mask 3D of Persona games

Lol, Eejis? Its pronounced eye-giss and it's spoken several times in the game. SMH guys....... Oh crap!!! You guys got me, lol. Paused when I first heard, lol!

wtf would they want to make a game honoring the CDI games? Those games were trash. They’re not worth having nostalgia for. 😂

No i don't love ttyd, It's not for me. Origami king for life