Mr. Hunter’s Top 10 Games Of 2024

Much like last year, this was another pretty great year for games, far too many to play them all! Of the ones I did get to play, there were a few that really stood out. This time around, I have full reviews for at least a few of these titles, so maybe I’ll get through my list without pages of writing this time around, no promises. 

10. Granblue Fantasy: Relink

This one was a pretty nice surprise early in the year. I knew very little about Granblue Fantasy as a series, and just was looking for something to play, little did I know I would end up spending a fair amount of time in this game. 

The story mode was fairly meaty, and once the credit rolled I found myself playing online for another week or two, enjoying the fast paced action combat. It had a satisfying monster hunter-esque loop that always made for a fun time. Though like any game, that began to wear thin the longer I played. Maybe someday I’ll boot it up again and see the new updates they’ve been adding. 

9. Phantom Brave 

Feels a bit like cheating to pick an RPG from 2004, but I finally finished this game this year! Borrowing a lot from Disgaea, but adding its own unique spin to the combat, this is a unique little strategy RPG that I’ve always had a fondness for. Shockingly, we’re also getting a sequel early next year! 

While I played this as part of the NIS classic collection on switch, there was also a surprise port that came to playstation just this year! My timing for finally finishing a game from the golden era of ps2 RPGs, weirdly, couldn’t have been better! 

8. Zenless Zone Zero 

While this game didn’t quite have the same grip that Honkai Star Rail had on me last year, it felt like my time with it burned a little brighter, but faster. I still put over 70 hours into this game in the two or three months I played, and they continued to roll out interesting characters, and smart events. 

I liked the story, characters, and world building of this game far more than the other MiHoYo games, but an action game always makes it a bit tougher to grind daily. It's not like this game has been replaced either, I’ve just fallen out of the free to play gacha game sphere, at least for now. 

7. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake

While this game looks fantastic in the HD-2D style, it is odd how this game almost feels like a paint by number RPG. You play a silent teenage hero, joined by a silent party, and go fight a bad guy who’s name I never bother to learn. Yet it feels barebones precisely because this game became a foundational text for all the RPGs that game after it. 

Even if the game is almost painfully straightforward, the combat remains strong, and the game oozes the classic Dragon Quest charm. It's also nice to play a game where you really need to engage with the NPCs and explore the world yourself, it's a type of exploration that I feel like modern games are really missing out on. 

6. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

The classic Atlus re-release with extra content, though I never seem to mind, since it’s always a good excuse to replay a game I really enjoyed. It is somewhat stark how much better the writing and story feels in the added canon of vengeance mode however. My biggest issue with the original was the lack of a narrative thread to carry you through the excellent, and challenging turn based combat. 

Many of the tweaks they added feel like smart additions, and sand off a few rougher edges of the original. There's new quests, new demons, more to love. Though this game is still very combat heavy, and while it scratches a great itch in my brain, it can wear on you without anything to break up the constant encounters. 

5. Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth

I had been meaning to play this game almost all year, but never quite finished its predecessor. Eventually, I pushed through, finished Like A Dragon, and booted this game up. As the game started to unfold in front of me, with the stunning new location of Hawaii, plus past locations, I knew I was in for yet another meaty RPG, that improves on the last game in almost every way. 

There’s silly mini games, an improved job system, drastically more interesting combat, and an ever growing cast of lovable characters. It's a game you can easily sink dozens of hours into, even after the credits roll. 

4. Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree 

Wow. Not only is this a DLC the size of an entire game, it also might be the best DLC I’ve ever played. Now, that’s slightly unfair, because it really is just more Elden Ring, which was already a masterpiece of a game. 

You get sent to a brand new area, with some new enemies, tough as nails bosses, and another inscrutable story. To prepare for the DLC, I replayed the entire original game, and was somehow still content to spend another 40 hours battling my way through the new content. It does end on a bit of an anti-climatic note, but otherwise it's an incredible experience.

3, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth 

Now, I have plenty of gripes with this game. I think on the whole it wastes the interesting premise promised by the previous game, which is truly a crime. However, the combat remains top notch, the music is excellent, and the characters are exceedingly charming. 

Like it or not, I’m on the hook for whatever they do for the final game. This game covers the second act of the original game, and is the middle game in a planned trilogy, the task it was given was never an easy one. It might be a meandering middle act, but it’s probably the best meandering middle act I’ve ever played. 

2. Unicorn Overlord 

Oh boy, like Fire Emblem Engage last year, Unicorn Overlord became my goblin mode game this year, keeping me up flipping through menus fiddling with my team. It's an excellent strategy RPG with a killer art style that I just couldn’t get enough of. 

I do wish its highest difficulty was available on a first playthrough, because rarely did the game push back enough to really warrant the optimization I was doing, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The story is pretty bland, but I never really expected to be blown away by it. The characters are likable enough, but pretty flat. Its mix of real time tactics and squad based battles is really unique, and made for a fun experience the whole way through. 

1. Metaphor: ReFantazio 

When this game came out, I was surprised so many critics described this game as coming out of nowhere, or wasn’t on their radar. This was my most anticipated game of the year, and I was not disappointed in the least. 

To me, this game takes the best parts of the SMT and Persona series, mixes them together, makes some smart tweaks, and delivers an incredible overall experience. The story is strong, the characters are great, the setting is unique, and the art direction sells a game that has clearly been in development for a long time. 

Most of my nitpicks have already begun to fade from my mind, while the highs are just as clear as when I first experienced them. I hope they either continue this series as a third pillar of Atlus, or we at least get more games from this team, because they’ve really delivered something incredible.