The best games I played in 2024 - puzzles and souls-likes
It was a great year of gaming for me. I tried to focus on the most highly-rated games I own so that I don't feel I'm just trying games for the sake of it.
I seem to have focused on Puzzles and souls-likes. Here's a list of the top games I played this year:
(disclaimer: as of January 2025, all games discussed are over 12 months old)
- Cocoon (2023) - 10/10 - a great mind-twisting and beautiful 2d puzzle. I had a blast with this game! Highly recommended and not too long or too difficult
- F1 23 2023) - 9.5/10 - I played over 50h this racing game. I highly recommend it. The new tracks are awesome and it feels there are not a lot of annoying things in the car handling.
- Dark Souls 3 (2016) - 9/10 - I played it in coop and solo. It was super fun and quite polished compared to DS1 or DS2.
- Demon's Souls (2021) PS5 - 9/10 - I bought this with my PS5 but delayed it... Don't ask me why. I really enjoyed the gimmicky bosses. This game is beautiful, too! I actually grinded to a platinum trophy, but the game becomes quite hard if you try to go from full white to full black tendency... it wasn't a fun process. But overall the game felt different from other souls games.
- Grand Theft Auto V (2013) - 9/10 - Finally, I decided to play this gem. The world was lively, but the story was so-so. I didn't feel it a chore while playing but I felt I was done when I saw the credits. The multiplayer didn't intrigue me - felt more of the same. Maybe the score should be less 🤔
- Return to Monkey Island (2022) - 9/10 - as a fan of the series, I delayed playing it as much as possible for when I'm in the right mood. I breezed through it but... something was lacking... maybe the conclusion, maybe the repeated structure... it didn't feel fresh enough to me... still a solid game.
- The Messenger (2018) - 9/10 - a great funny platformer! I was really hooked! Recommended hands-down... unfortunately, a few bosses took one too many tries to beat...
- Vampire Survivors (2022) - 9/10 - too addictive... don't try :) You'd want to try another hero or another weapon and a week has passed playing it in particular...
- Code Vein (2019) - 8.5/10 - Very fun anime souls-like. I enjoyed the different environments and bosses. The refreshing part was the ability to unlock new skills throughout the whole playthrough. I usually play as a big-sword-wielding fighter, but this time I changed to a caster or support to my AI-controlled companion.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem (2022) - 8.5/10 - bigger, prettier but not better than the original, IMHO. Improved combat and a more satisfying conclusion, though.
- Escape Academy (2022) - 8.5/10 - simple and enjoyable puzzle with a time limit :)
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! (1996) - 8.5/10 - I played it as a kid, but now I understand the jokes! A great, naughty, hand-crafted cartoonish, point'n'click adventure about a below-average-looking dude, trying to find true love but always finds himself among inappropriate bimbos.
and my game of the year is...:
- ⭐The Talos Principle II (2023)⭐ - 10/10 - this is the game that has all the right characteristics for me as a gamer:
- beautiful environments
- challenging but not repetitive puzzles ordered in a logical way;
- intriguing philosophical story
- not too long
- great conclusion!
- and made by fellow Balkans from Croatia!
....
Wdyt ? :) Does your opinion differ a lot from mine?
Next year I hope I can finish a few more GOTY contenders from my backlog like:
- Witcher 3 (quite excited about it as a fan of the books, but I feel I haven't had enough time for it yet)
- Zelda Totk - I expect great puzzles here
- Sekiro & Elden ring... both of which I bought back in 2022... and I waited for the right moment :)
- Disco Elysium
- Mass Effect 2, 3 but I'll need to replay ME1 cause I don't remember much
But all these seem too long, so maybe I'll mix them with shorter games between them :)
⭐ I wish you all plenty of good luck and a successful 2025! ⭐
(1/3 of all games I played are in this list, the rest were disappointing or not that great)