From Astro Bot to Prince of Persia: 15 best video games of 2024

Super Mario Party Jamboree

Switch Mario Party is a dependable choice for casual group play or a family game night. But, unexpectedly, Jamboree is the absolute height of the series. There is a variety of playable characters, more than 100 great new minigames, seven unusually interesting and diverse game boards, and extra modes for playing on your own or online with randos. But the icing on the cake is the ability to enforce “pro mode” to make the winner less chance-based, opening up the possibility of truly competitive play, and it’s so much fun.

It may take its broad structure from one-third of a decades-old game, but Rebirth has plenty of originality.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

PS5 I was expecting a middle chapter for Square’s epic three-part remake of a 1997 classic, but this turned out to be so much more. From the layered character customisation and combat systems that feed into one another seamlessly, to the completely optional collectible card game that I quickly became obsessed with, this is unexpectedly a much broader, deeper and more open game than its predecessor. An astonishing RPG that more than stands on its own merits, and even overshadows part one for ambition and creativity, it’s a remarkable achievement.

Star Wars Outlaws

PC, PS5, Xbox A streamlined and multi-planet take on Ubisoft’s familiar open-world action, paired with an original-trilogy-era Star Wars tale that follows an up-and-coming scoundrel rather than a Jedi or Imperial, Outlaws has everything a long-suffering franchise fan could hope for in a sandbox scum and villainy game. The overarching story is a bit of a letdown, but the main appeal here is simply being able to exist in this rich and incredibly well-realised universe, being a dirtbag and pulling off heists.

Fans of Monty Python or The Mighty Boosh will find a lot to love exploring Barnsworth.

Thank Goodness You’re Here

PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox A cartoony and hilariously vulgar adventure set in a small northern England town, this is a point-and-punch exploration game that’s fondly reminiscent of classic daft British sketch comedy, with funny visuals and sound effects plus the voice talents of Matt Berry and others. Mechanically it couldn’t be simpler, but the writing and timing are masterful. From an unexpected exposed penis in a seagull-gathering side-mission to a prolonged sequence combining fish and cigarettes, it’s crassly artful and unforgettable.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Switch Despite her name being in the titles, Princess Zelda has had few starring roles in Nintendo’s beloved adventure epics. This game marks a change in that regard, and introduces a brilliant new approach to items and combat where Zelda can copy and paste objects and enemies to fight and solve puzzles, but it’s otherwise business as usual for the series; this is a beautiful, joyful and surprising fantasy world to explore, with just the right mix of nostalgia and innovation.

Eventually you’ll be filling out pages of details before you can even grasp the nature of the crime you’re supposed to be solving. And you’ll be loving it.

The Rise of the Golden Idol

Netflix, PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox The first Golden Idol was a wonderfully epic tale of paranormal serial murder, and Rise is even better. Set 200 years later, you’re tasked with solving 20 crimes, each painted as a beautifully grotesque moment. You analyse the scene to collect clues, words and names, then use those to fill in the blanks and uncover the truth. It’s like a multidimensional murder sudoku, which only gets more complex and tells a compelling alternate history detective story.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

PC, PS5, Xbox Bioware is responsible for some of the greatest role-playing games ever, but this is their best in more than a decade. The narrative and fantasy settings are incredible, and the action-focused combat feels great, but the true strength is in the constant choice-making that affects your friendships in real and unexpected ways. Early on, the game makes you choose between two companions, the consequence of which leaves one with permanent visible bruises and scars for the rest of the game. This is Dragon Age telling you how it’s going to be.

Unicorn Overlord

PS5, Switch, Xbox Vanillaware has spent two decades crafting interesting and complex games with astounding hand-drawn art. The studio has a cult following, but I think Unicorn Overlord might be its first true breakout hit. It’s a twist on the traditional turn-based tactical RPG, where instead of just skirmishing you define the parameters of each unit’s actions and priorities ahead of time, and then watch as they play out in battle. And, of course, it’s gorgeous.

Sonic x Shadow Generations

PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Since 2011’s excellent Sonic Generations was already a reimagining of the series’ high points, half of this new package is arguably remaking remakes. But the other half – an all-new campaign featuring Shadow the Hedgehog – contains some of the most excellent 3D Sonic gameplay ever made. It serves as a great introduction to the character alongside his big-screen debut, but it also presents his tortured backstory and most memorable game moments in a surprisingly cohesive and enjoyable manner.

No combat, no explanations, just a blob in a cursed VHS tape of ghostly animals.

Animal Well

PC, PS5, PS Plus, Switch, Xbox Animal Well, another amazing work from a solo developer, is on the surface a stunning CRT-filtered Metroid-like game with a spooky animal theme. But dig a little deeper past the cursed herons and sleepy capybara, and you’ll find a complex latticework of puzzles combined with interesting power-ups, a focus on physics play and a near total lack of combat. Some secrets require specific power-ups from around the world (a yo-yo, a slinky, a Frisbee), while others need lateral thinking or knowledge gleaned from other areas.

UFO 50

PC A package of 50 new games, styled and presented as a library of retro titles by a fictional company for their fictional home computer, this compilation evokes the feeling of finding a dusty 1980s machine and a box full of disks, and putting them in to see what you find. The games are all surprisingly full in scope, and they run the genre gamut from beat-’em-ups to top-down driving games, to narrative horror. Best of all are the two-player options, which offer a peerlessly strange retro bonding experience.

The Great Circle takes Indy to many cultural epicentres around the globe, from Italy to Egypt to the Himalayas and more.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Game Pass, PC, Xbox Games based on movie franchises can go very wrong, but MachineGames (the Swedish studio known for the Nazi-hunting 2010s Wolfenstein series), had a clear vision for the world’s most famous archeologist. Each level is an exploratory puzzle with dozens of smaller riddles within, filled with fascists to sneak around and artefacts to recover. Combat is slapstick, gunplay is scarce, the iconic whip gets plenty of creative use, and voice actor Troy Baker puts in an astonishing Harrison Ford impersonation. The narrative overall (concerning a trek across the globe to stop the Nazis achieving a mystical power) is the best the franchise has seen since 1989.

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