| Hi everyone, and happy holidays. Today we're going through the year's best games, but first... This week's top gaming news: One of my favorite things about covering the video-game industry is that it's always full of surprises. A year ago, who could have possibly predicted that one of 2024's most impactful games would be a "poker rogue-like" in which you try to rack up increasingly high scores by assembling flushes and straights? Who could have guessed that a comedy YouTuber would publish one of the best-reviewed games of the year? Not all of the surprises were welcome. Flops like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Concord led to layoffs and studio closures. The game I was most looking forward to, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, turned out to be a disappointment. The Switch 2 wasn't announced. Cries of "survive until '25" reverberated throughout the industry as countless workers lost their jobs. The console market appears to have plateaued. But it's always worth celebrating the greatest games of the year, and, as per annual tradition, I've picked my 10 favorites. First, a few strong runners-up: Tactical Breach Wizards, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, UFO 50, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. And now, presented in no particular order, here's the list:  Source: Playstack Balatro If your favorite game is missing from this list, Balatro is probably the reason. In recent weeks, whenever I pulled out my Steam Deck in hopes of catching up on some acclaimed titles I missed from earlier this year, I just kept getting sucked into Balatro. (Sorry, 1000xResist!) Balatro resembles poker, but in reality it's a game about building machines. Your goal is to accumulate as many points as possible through poker hands, and to do so you can manipulate a deck of cards using limited but powerful tools that pop up randomly in each playthrough. The appeal lies in figuring out the best synergies to make your machine hum. For example, one deck-modifying Joker might give you extra points for each face card, which seems OK until you find another Joker that makes all of your cards count as face cards. A full run takes around half an hour, or just enough time for your significant other to ask why you've been in the bathroom for so long. The only flaw? There's one build — abusing the power of compound interest — that breaks the game, sending your points into the kajillions and making other runs feel pointless … for a little while, until you're back on the Balatro treadmill once again, trying to chase that same old high.  Source: Bigmode Animal Well Think of this delightful puzzle-platformer as a game in three layers. Layer one is a traditional Metroidvania with half a dozen tools you've never seen in other games. Instead of a double jump and an air dash, you'll get a frisbee and a yo-yo. Layer two is a devious hunt for secrets among the nooks and crannies of the map, while layer three is a massive, brain-bending puzzle that can't be solved alone. Completing the first two layers is the full Animal Well experience — layer three is just a bonus — and it's a roaring good time. There's very little combat: just good vibes, serene platforming and some killer puzzles.  Source: Red Candle Games Nine Sols On the surface, this 2D action game resembles the ultra-popular Hollow Knight, but it's actually closer in design to the sword-fighting game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Set in a futuristic world that blends cyberpunk with Chinese mythology, Nine Sols stars a fox-like creature named Yi with a quick swing and a no-nonsense attitude. Betrayed by his compatriots, Yi sets out on a quest for revenge that involves exploring space stations, battling robots and parrying a whole lot of attacks. The story is tantalizing, the art is stellar and the bosses are tough as heck.  Source: Square Enix Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Remaking the classic 1997 role-playing game Final Fantasy VII was such an ambitious endeavor that it took three full games. Rebirth is the middle entry of the trilogy, and while it doesn't take the wild turns that its predecessor hinted might be coming, it does bring the original game's polygons to life in a way we never could have imagined a decade ago. Highlights include a flamboyant musical, the killer card game Queen's Blood and one of the best soundtracks ever recorded.  Source: Sega Metaphor: ReFantazio This spiritual successor to the Persona series, led by its top creators, takes much of what worked in those games and fixes what didn't. Metaphor: ReFantazio has the familiar rhythms of Persona, tasking you with balancing relationships and crawling through dungeons, but it feels much more modern. What's most impressive, aside from the flashy combat and addictive job system, is the originality. While most fantasy settings borrow heavily from Tolkien, the world of Euchronia is full of ideas you've never seen before, from the bat-like eugief tribe to the gauntlet runners (cars with legs).  Source: Pixel Ferrets Secrets of Grindea It took 13 years to develop this Zelda-like action-role-playing game, which feels like an undiscovered classic from the Super Nintendo days. What stands out most about Secrets of Grindea is the elaborate skill system, which lets you experiment with dozens of potential spells and abilities to take out enemies. The game looks beautiful and the puzzles are great.  Source: Sony Astro Bot Everything about Astro Bot is a joy, from the eponymous hero's gestures and expressions (my 2-year-old loves when he waves) to the special abilities themed around animals, like a bulldog rush and a chicken rocket booster. This is a game crafted with a stunning level of attention to detail. The constant barrage of PlayStation references can be cloying, but Astro Bot feels so good to play, it's hard to get mad. I recently spent some time with 2017's excellent Super Mario Odyssey, and I'm just gonna say it: Astro Bot feels even better to control.  Source: Playstack The Rise of the Golden Idol I could play a new entry in this brilliant deductive mystery series at least once a month. Probably more. The sequel to 2022's The Case of the Golden Idol doesn't change too much (other than a few usability tweaks) but it's just as compelling. Like its predecessor, The Rise of the Golden Idol presents you with a series of scenes depicting the aftermath of grisly incidents — usually murders — and asks you to figure out what happened, peeking into shelves and pockets as you hunt for clues. It's catnip for anyone who liked doing those logic puzzles in high school.  Source: Capcom Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit Although this game actually came out in 2011, it was released in English for the first time this summer as part of a remastered compilation. It was worth the wait. This is one of the best games in the long-running lawyer franchise, with a strong over-arching story and very little filler. The trick is the cast of characters. From the stoic-yet-vulnerable prosecutor Miles Edgeworth to the delightfully annoying Eustace Winner, this is a lineup worth spending time with.  Source: Square Enix Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Look, Dragon Quest games aren't for everybody. The gameplay can feel antiquated — especially in this modern remake of a product from 1988 — thanks to unwieldy menus and invisible random encounters. But I loved my hours spent exploring the world of this beautiful Dragon Quest III remake, exploring dungeons and grinding monsters while I watched TV in bed. Sometimes after a long day of writing and chasing around small children, it can be therapeutic to turn your brain off and just kill slimes for a while. | 
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