I did the thing.
Admittedly, when I decided to pull the trigger on this project for 2024, the game release schedule was significantly lighter and it was looking like a pretty weak year all things considered. Obviously, now in December, this is not at all what happened. I have no regrets about doing this or the pieces I put out and am extremely proud of keeping to the schedule. I mentioned it in the halfway point post but I am extremely happy I aimed for the every two weeks/26 posts in a year. There were for sure a couple times during the process where I REALLY didn’t want to do some old games and when my game slate was extremely loaded and needing to find old games that I both wanted to play and felt like I could say something about was quite difficult. I wrote 26 pieces about different games, but there are even more old games I played but didn’t write about or played some of but didn’t finish. This also is to say nothing about the, at time of writing, 76 2024 titles that I have played this year.
But let me look back at it. Let me do the final listicle. Lets stack rank the art one last time.
#26 - Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories
This should come as absolutely no surprise. Been hating on Chain of Memories for nearly two fucking decades. Will never be kind to this game.
#25 - Wario World
This game isn’t so much terrible as its just never gets an opportunity to really flourish due to the extremely short length.
#24 - Metal Slug X
This game made me not like Metal Slug anymore. Metal Slug Tactics also kinda sucked this year so there has never been a lower point for Metal Slug in my life than 2024.
#23 - Owlboy
I probably should not have spent my limited time in California playing a mediocre at best platformer. But I needed to meet some self imposed deadlines.
#22 - Resident Evil Revelations HD
Not story relevant and not fun. Play something like Fire Emblem Awakening on your 3DS. At least kinda technically impressive that it was on a 3DS. Fuck the circle pad pro.
#21 - Shovel Knight Dig
Need more than a good IP to be something amazing. Completely functional and decently designed but this game has a void where a soul should be. Good graphics though.
#20 - VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
Cool concept ruined by poor writing and memes. Would love them to take another crack at it and make a sequel.
#19 - Kingsway
Neat thing I never want to touch ever again but also would tell other people to at least check out. Frequently very cheap on sales. That is the correct price for it.
#18 - Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Kinda boring game but I am really glad I played this one for the purpose of studying so it is probably ranking higher than it should just based on the quality of the game. Its fascinating.
#17 - The Mummy Demastered
Witness the beginning of the Dark Universe.
#16 - Chibi-Robo!
Was really cool but not cool enough for me to actually finish. But was cool enough to get me to back the spiritual successor on Kickstarter this year. My brain is broken to the core, truly.
#15 - Valfaris
This is kind of the inverse of Kingsway where I could see myself going back to replay it but I don’t think I would ever bring it up in a conversation unless heavily directed to it. Good time.
#14 - Moss
A game can be really short and still be a really fun experience. I think this spits in the face of Wario World and shows that you can still do really compelling things with basic gameplay and a short playtime.
#13 - Quantum Break
Remedy I will eternally show up for whatever you put out. Even not doing your best work you still make some cool shit.
#12 - Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist
Such a cool little walking sim that is extremely funny, free, and very easy to just show to people. Short length helps with recommendations. But its no Beginner’s Guide. But nothing is.
#11 - Donkey Kong Country 3
The Alpha. It started the whole project but unfortunately can’t quite crack the top 10 this time around. Very enjoyable platformer though. I also actually really like the piece I wrote for this one. Good job, me.
#10 - Stories Untold
Despite bungling the ending this game still is really cool. Please go play this one. I might still print a physical manual of the stuff for posterity.
#9 - Mass Effect Andromeda
I am going to be defending this game until I die. I really hate that. Its hard enough defending 3.
#8 - Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 2
I never did Seasons 3 and 4 like I said I was gonna do. Started Season 3 and then lost the itch to play. Not because Season 3 was bad, I just wanted to pivot. People should really scope Season 2 though. Very good story.
#7 - LA Noire
The Omega. It is the worst of the deductive games on the list but still really fucking good.
#6 - Riichi Mahjong
The game that has the least buisness being anywhere as part of the project but goddamn it was a fun time to explore and learn during downtime at PAX.
#5 - Chants of Sennaar
Maybe could trim a bit of fat off this one but still an absolute instant classic of the deductive puzzler genre.
#4 - Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
#3 - The Case of the Golden Idol
Sequel is pretty weak but I am never gonna shut up about this game and trying to get people to play it. Absolute masterpiece in terms of puzzles AND storytelling in a world where games struggle to nail either one.
#2 - DUSK
Part of me has thought all the rest of the year after doing the middle update that DUSK might eek it out and take the #1 spot when I got to this point. However I can’t do it despite it being probably in my top 5 FPS games of all time. It was a called shot. Its a game I knew I would love and sure enough I did just that. But if my previous GotY rankings are anything to go off, its always the games with that X-Factor that come out at the top of the mountain.
#1 - Chrono Trigger.
This to me IS the game of the project. It justifies the entire thing for me personally because it is probably a game I wouldn’t have picked up and ever tried otherwise. I would go on to play 7 other JRPGs in 2024 because Chrono Trigger opened my eyes up to how good the genre can be. I understand the praise now.
The other thing I want to address are some of the questions I set out to answer at the beginning:
Is Moon: Remix RPG Adventure really that similar to Undertale? - Never got around to it.
Exactly how Remedy is Quantum Break? - As fuck.
Is Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy really one of the best Zelda games? - Absolutely not.
Was it a good idea to back Praey for the Gods on Kickstarter all those years ago? - Eh not really
Sphinx and Praey are both games I put multiple hours into and neither panned out and I found them quite boring with also nothing meaningful to say about them.
I had another small section calling out some specific titles I wanted to hit and I only missed one:
Dynamite Headdy for the Mega Drive - Its ok. Old game issues.
Mass Effect: Andromeda for the Xbox One - Biggest Surprise on this damn list
Owlboy for the Nintendo Switch - Biggest Disappointment on this damn list
P.N.03 for the Gamecube - Not great!
Spider-Man 2 for the Playstation 2 - I should really play this.
Dusk for the PC. - Almost the best
And thats the end. I would really encourage other people to do a similar project with their backlog. Very publically putting myself on the hook to do this and write about it kept me going. I achieved my New Year’s resolution.
But I will not stop.
I am going to use this blog and set a new resolution for 2025 extending into 2026. I am going to do the Assassin’s Creed retrospective. Some of you close to me are already aware of the work I have already done for this project but also know that I have a lot more to do. I am going to be posting my retrospectives once a month for the next 18 months covering:
Assassin’s Creed (2007)
Assassin’s Creed II (2008)
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (2010)
Assassin’s Creed Revelations (2011)
Asssassin’s Creed III (2012)
Assassin’s Creed Liberation (2012)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
Assassin’s Creed Rogue (2014)
Assassin’s Creed Unity (2014)
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015)
Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018)
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2020)
Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023)
Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2025)
Maybe another one in (2026)
These will include DLC. These will look at the context of when they came out originally and what its like to play them now. I will NOT be playing them on the original hardware and will generally be opting for the most recent release of any given one of them.
If you have enjoyed and kept up with this over the past year, I hope you will join me. I have been threatening doing this project for a long time and I want to finally put it to bed.