A monthly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
Another year, gone. And what a year it has been. 2024 will go down in the record books as a year filled with changes. Changes to our website. Changes to the quality of our content. Changes within the video game industry that we love and cherish. Changes both personal and professional. Some of those changes were uplifting. Some changes were disheartening. Some changes impacted few people. Some changes impacted many. But one thing that will not change are the Whatcha Playin’ columns that I bring to you each month.
Each and every month, I receive entries from our writers, summarize the month’s events and then put together the majority of the elements that make up the column. Each and every month, I’ve repeated those three steps without question and without fail. Each and every month, I get a first-hand look at what our writers have been up to. And I feel so much joy at what these amazing people have accomplished, gaming-wise. It’s a treat, really.
I want to thank our writers for an amazing year of sharing accomplishments, both big and small. You all rock and I am extremely proud of you all. A massive thank you also goes out to our readers, for, well, reading the column! And a big shout out to Linguistic Dragon and Red for their continued support, despite all that’s changed these past couple of months. As for next year, I hope to continue celebrating the many achievements of my fellow writers and share them with the world. Why? Because the world deserves to know about them, duh!
As is tradition for the end of the year, we will be sharing our personal GOTY’s from 2024. First off, we’ve got to get to the highlights of this past month:
Starting off, Red reviewed DuckTales: Remastered; a remastered version of the original DuckTales game for the NES. Not only does it come with a fresh coat of paint and an updated soundtrack from WayForward, but it also manages to retain the same charm and feel of the original game. Next, Red covered Demon’s Souls for the PS5, itself a remake of the PS3 version. As a remake to the first ever Soulsborne game, Demon’s Souls is still the same maddeningly difficult game as the original. It also proves that FromSoftware are still the masters of providing controller-breaking, rage-inducing experiences. Git gud, scrubs.
All aboard and set sail as our good pal, Octorock_1982, shares his review of Mario & Luigi: Brothership for the Nintendo Switch. It’s a love letter to the original Mario & Luigi RPG series, with a humorous story and a tight battle system. It does take some time for the game to find its sea legs, though. Next, we trade cheerful, wholesome Bros. action for the grimdark settings of the 41st millennium in Warhammer 40K: Darktide, covered by the one and only J.R. Sommerfeldt. This co-op FPS title is a port of the PC version, which gained popularity thanks to the release of Space Marine II and its availability on Xbox Game Pass. In it, you’re a prisoner of a hive city under siege by the forces of Chaos. The only way to survive is to join a team of fellow rejects and criminals and face the horde head on. Gorgeous visuals and an epic soundtrack await players who check this out.
As the Christmas season approaches, we find Red unleashing some Christmas chaos of his own in his review of Untitled Goose Game for the Switch. It features both a simple, elegant art style and a premise: cause rampant, goose-inspired mayhem to the hapless villagers in the hamlet you’ve descended upon. An excellent title from a smaller creative team that deserves all the praise it gets. Plus, you cause havoc as a goose, C’MON! Red also rounds out the month and the year with a look at the indie sensation, Balatro, on Mobile. Take poker as the base ingredient, mix in rougelike elements, Jokers and other auxiliary cards that add layers of strategy and top it off with a simple interface and you got yourself a winning recipe for a global addiction that nearly won GOTY! That reminds me: I gotta pick this one up for myself.
With the wrap-up wrapped up, let’s find out how our writers have closed out 2024, as well as their personal picks for GOTY:
Winter break and holiday mayhem: on balance, we’re just about breaking even here videogame playing time-wise.
Just started Return of the Obra Dinn, a squelchy murder mystery wrapped in a seafaring enigma. Fitting, given that one of my favorites, Backlisted, just released their Christmas episode on Moby Dick, of all books. It’s a good one to play along with a partner, noticing stuff and piecing things together while trying not to be seasick from the combination of grisly death and walking-sim point of view.
Then there’s the unusually gritty world of Rogueport in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, that we’re about halfway through exploring in its Switch remake. From the noose hanging like a Shy Guy’s round mouth hole of surprise in the center of the marketplace to the traitorous supercomputer TEC learning about love from Princess Peach, the game is full of surprises.
While everyone was napping the other day my now 5-year-old and I got out our 2DS and started a new game of Pokemon: Fire Red. William chose Charmander. He’s just setting out in the Pallet Town of his life’s way, so for now at least he still needs me there to read him the signs and dialogue.
Finally, as the time passes 2024, I’ll pass along a friend’s recommendation of a music genre, Zelda Wave. In particular the Astral Observatory/Mayor’s Meeting mashup from Majora’s Mask perfectly captures the anxiety and wonder of that game, and of this time of year.
Ah, the backlog. Last year, I vowed to make a dent in it. I succeeded, but not in the way I imagined it. I played through a ton of games on the list and swiftly retired a good two-thirds of them. Some were shmups, some were platformers or strategy games that I got frustrated with after playing for an hour or two and others just weren’t up my wheelhouse. I’ve narrowed the list from north of 120 down to 70, which is pretty impressive. I’m hoping to continue chipping away at that next year. But onto this month’s shenanigans.
I finished Super Mario RPG, extra fights and all! What a trip! I loved every moment of it, especially the ultra-tough post-game boss fights! I then returned it and borrowed Detective Pikachu Returns from the library this month. A follow-up to the 3DS title, it sees its titular character and his human partner, Tim, uncover a sinister plot in Ryme City during the course of Pokémon Friendship Week. I also played a LOT of Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy (not the mobile one, but I do check it from time to time.). Kid Espresso and I are playing that one together. I also cleared out the legendary SEGA arcade shooter, Space Harrier II, played on my Genesis Mini 2. That was a lot of fun to get through! Speaking of SEGA games, I also managed to finish Bonanza Bros. right as the year ended, bringing the grand total of games that I finished in 2024 to 24. Pretty poetic, huh?
As for my GOTY, I still say it’s Sonic x Shadow Generations. Everything about Shadow’s campaign is just tight from a gameplay and story perspective. It’s given me a lot of hope for future Sonic games. Sonic Generations is no slouch either, considering it’s one of my favourites in the series. Heck, this year alone was probably one of the best to be a Sonic fan, especially after the latest movie WHICH WAS AMAZING, BTW. I’m excited to see what will come about for the Blue Blur in 2025.
Happy New Year! I’m unsure what my GOTY was for 2024. Usually I like to nominate something that released in the year in question and I also like to try to finish it, but without a game that quite fits those traits plus my exacting standards, I’m going to have to default a GOTY. That’d be Unicorn Overlord. Not quite finished, as mentioned. It’s a doozy of a game with innumerable battles and a huge world. It’s fun to play but part of running out of steam may have been the lack of a linear narrative with real character development. Still, it’s the closest to a new Ogre Battle and I’ll take that any day.
Last month I finished off The Final Fantasy Legend which represented returning to my roots. This was the first Final Fantasy title I’d ever played and potentially the first RPG I ever played. How I defeated it as a child, with its weapon durability system, curious character selection, limited revives, and aimlessness I’ll never know, but it brought a smile to my face as I laid up with a busted knee through the holiday season. That’s worth its weight in gold.
Speaking of RPGs, I’d like to cordially CHALLENGE you to our #2025RPGchallenge event! This year, we’re picking 12 RPGs we started but never finished and determined to beat them. Additional rules, as well as my personal picks, through the link. It is, after all, the 50th anniversary of computer role-playing games so it seemed fitting to undertake a daunted but doable task. The aforementioned Unicorn Overlord is on my list. I’ll beat that nasty empire yet!
Care to join?
Happy new year, everyone! On Infinite Backlog, someone was asking “what do you think the best recent year for games was” with a poll. It’s fairly close, but right now 2024 has been winning, and honestly, that’s where I voted too. It’s been a very good year for games.
For December, I finished my attempt to beat every Amanita Design game with Creaks and Machinarium. As popular as Machinarium is, I honestly think Creaks is probably my favorite of the Amanitas. I mentioned last time how Amanita has two types of point-and-clicks. Turns out, they do a third type of game: puzzles. Very good puzzles. The atmosphere is the same slightly creepy, slightly whimsical world that Amanita excels at, but instead of figuring out what goes where or clicking on what makes what happen, you navigate the world with using lights to immobilize enemies and proceed. I was fully charmed.
I also completed Escape From Mystwood Manor, a very small escape room game that I felt was a bit lacking; Slash Quest, a clever adventure game where the sword leads the way and the poor Shepherd’s along for the ride with driving-style controls; and Steamworld Dig, a mining adventure exploring a deep underworld in search of treasures.
Now, at the end of the year, I’m slowly working my way through UFO 50, a collection of 50 retro-style games of all shapes and sizes. I’ve only beaten two so far. They know how to do Nintendo Hard at Mossmouth studios.
So, how did my 2024 end up? According to my tracker on IB, I have completed (drumroll please)
132 games in 2024.
Now to be fair, a good chunk of those were small, free games, and a good chunk of THOSE were hidden object games, many of which only took a few minutes to complete. Removing the tiny hidden object games, I’m at 90, but you know what? A game’s a game, no matter how small. Someone made it, someone put it out there to play, I’m counting it.
It’s been my goal to hit 100 games in a year for some time. Having finally achieved it, it’s time for a new set of goals for 2025. This year, I’m aiming for 52 games: two A-Z challenges to beat a game for every letter of the alphabet. One challenge is for Steam games I’ve never beaten, the other for RetroAchievements games. Whether I’ll go in order or not, I don’t know. I’ve already picked my games, though. When the clock hits midnight, I just have to get started.
My game of the year 2024? Crypt Custodian. It really is an excellent Metroidvania. You can check out my overall thoughts in my review, because I really don’t have more I can say about it than I said.
Damn, what a year it’s been. A blur of stress, punctuated by fleeting moments of gaming. With such little time on my hands, handheld systems have been go-to platforms. I recently picked up two First Person Shooters for the GBA, curious as to how the scrappy little device would handle the genre. Both Duke Nukem Advance and Doom 2 were found at separate game stores (thanks, Kraken Gaming and Outlaw Games!), but each was developed by the same studio: Torus Games. As such, both shooters handle similarly, with the GBA’s shoulder buttons acting as the ever-important strafing. Whether you’re getting attacked by Pig-Aliens or just plain ole’ demons, side-stepping is essential to staying alive.
Duke Nukem Advance carries all the swagger it’s titular character is infamous for, albeit toned down for the system. Believe it or not, both of these games have Teen ratings, so the splatter is considerably reduced. Unsurprisingly, Duke’s naughtier content was also axed. Despite that, you’re left with a solid shooter that handles well. Perhaps a bit slidey on the character movement, but you adapt to it quickly. Duke talks up a storm during gameplay – all macho one-liners – and the voice quality is pretty good for a handheld system.
Doom 2 also has voice effects, though more in the sense of growls and screams. Handling is similar to Duke, just with a different weapon orientation. Enemies come in large droves, but luckily, the super-shotgun is found early. As far as toned-down content, the usual shower of blood n’ guts has been replaced by green goo. However, gameplay remains solid, classic-Doom. I was impressed by the better draw distance compared to the SNES Doom, which isn’t a bad port, but is made more difficult by monsters in the distance appearing as pixel blobs until you get close.
All in all, Torus did a fantastic job shrinking both games down to fit the GBA hardware. If you ever encounter one during a game-hunting adventure, I’d recommend a pick-up.
Happy New Year!
Call me Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom, because it’s done.
…no no no, not the year. I mean I polished off Ultima IX: Ascension, thus accomplishing my goal of playing through the whole series (or at least what’s considered the core of it) over the course of 2024. Ascension gets a bit of a bad rap among the Ultima crowd (okay, that’s a considerable understatement), but from what I’ve dabbled with it before, I think it’s overblown. Seeing it through to completion this time around, I only think so all the more – yes, it’s flawed, but I hardly think it an unfitting conclusion to the series. In a lot of ways it harkens back to elements of my favorite entries in the series, and while it certainly stumbles in doing so, I still had a satisfied smile on my face when the credits rolled. A prime example of a game’s reputation (good or ill) not necessarily being indicative of one’s own personal experience with it. It’s one I’ll be happy to revisit, myself.
That leaves me pondering what to make my gaming goal for 2025, and while I try to settle my mind on one option or the other, I’ve been dabbling with Assassin’s Creed. I’ve played it before, early in the pandemic when the lack of travel left me hankering for touring of virtual locales instead, and I’ve been having a grand old time parkouring across Damascus while humming Mary Poppins tunes to myself (O’er the rooftops, step in time! O’er the rooftops, step in time!).
As for my personal pick for Game of the Year? I didn’t play many current-year releases – I seldom do – but the one that left its mark on me the strongest is Skald: Against the Black Priory. I’ve already spilled a lot of ink over exactly why in my critique of it, so I won’t rehash it here, but suffice it to say it recalls to mind a lot of elements from other favorite games of mine – in ways that aren’t just mere imitation, but in ways that are measured, considered, and appropriate for what the game’s trying to do. It’s one that, as the internet would put it, lives rent-free in my head, moreso than any other current release I played, and for that I have to give it the nod!
As I type these words on a pleasant Christmas morning, I realise that, for the first time in months, I’ve played some new games!
Firstly, I’ve been a little addicted to the new Indiana Jones game, made by MachineGames. Just like their most recent run of Wolfenstein titles, it is polished, well put together and allows the player to smack Nazis about. Only this time as everyone’s favourite gruff archeologist. It has puzzles, punch ups, exploration and enough atmosphere to make you feel like you’re watching a new Indie movie (except it’s good!)
Secondly, I’ve been sucked into the unforgiving, frankly sadistic world of Stalker 2. GSC Game Worlds have done a great job of getting this game out there in the middle of a war and the heart shines though the occasional lack of polish (though it did just have a massive update, so watch this space!)
Exploring the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (or just The Zone to the pros) is a tense affair, managing your resources and picking your battles as you complete quests and take back loot to sell on each loop. It’s a fun, if bleak, adventure!
December is always a busy time for me, but managed to squeeze in a good bit of game time this month. After completing back to back big RPG adventures, a bit of a palate cleanser was in order. I played through and beat Donkey Kong Land on NSO, despite some aggravating final levels.
Then, prior to starting up Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, I felt it only appropriate to dust off the NES and finally defeat the Dragonlord in what is my favorite 8-bit game, Dragon Warrior.
Despite an enjoyable 10 hours in Dragon Quest III, I found myself with a moderate case of RPG burnout. So I switched my focus to the dystopian distant-future world of 1000xRESIST, a game that deserves a lot more attention than it’s received for its outstanding narrative, tackling themes of diaspora, global pandemic, violent protest and generational trauma.
The last few days of the year were spent cleaning up a couple of games I’d been close to finishing for a while. I completely the main story in Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, and then beat Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge on NSO.
2024 turned out to be a pretty great year for games. Overall beating 23 games, many of which being massive RPG adventures. The one that stands out from the rest for me is Unicorn Overlord. After 86 hours and completing just about everything there is to do in the game, I still didn’t want it to end. It will go down as one of my favorites of this generation.
–Adam
And so ends both December and the year, 2024. What have you been playing recently? What did you finish? What’s next on your backlog? How much of your backlog have you completed this year? And what’s your personal Game of the Year? Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you all again next month! Same Pixel Time! Same Pixel Channel!
Ryan Cheddi – our friendly, neighbourhood caffeine addict – is a man of many talents: an engineer, a gaming historian, a fiction writer and a streamer. He is also a self-avowed Sonic the Hedgehog fan. You can check out his cool beans at his site – Games with Coffee – or find him on Bluesky as @gameswithcoffee, and Instagram as @games_with_coffee. He streams on Twitch, also as GamesWithCoffee.
