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capncococharms · 6 days ago

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Games I Enjoyed in 2024

It's that time of year again where I write about my favorite games I played in 2024!

Normally, I keep track of all this stuff on a Notepad app on my PC, but sadly, during the last bit of 2024, I had to hard reset my PC, and all of the old notes from previous years were lost.

Broke my heart a bit to lose a part of me to remember the games I played in previous years. It was like a personal journal entry of where I was in life. I do have the previous year's blog posts of SOME of the games that were highlights which is better than NOTHING, but man... (Rest in peace little file: 2018-2024)

Thankfully I could tally up all of the games I finished this year despite the loss.

I finished about 26 games in 2024 (two games were back-to-back replays so technically I finished 28 games but to keep it simple... 26). This is far LESS than last year, but far MORE than 2022.

I will keep most of these thoughts short since I did a stream on Radio PSI with Nightshade about my "favorite games in 2024." Here's a brief write-up.

Pikmin 4- (Nintendo Switch)

I'm sad I didn't get to play this at launch. I never finished 1, 2, or, 3 but once I was told that this game could be played as is without needing to play the other games, I decided to dive in, and I finally understood the appeal of the series. It's a comforting game to play and it's beginner-friendly so I don't have to feel too bad if I'm messing up.

From collecting the ship parts, exploring dungeons, collecting glow Pikmin, and upgrading myself and Oatchi... it was a treat and much more (especially with the post-game content). This is a game I'm glad I 100%'d. I hope to play the other Pikmin games in the future. It won't be the same as 4, but I love these little guys so much. The purple Pikmin are my favorite.

Incredible Crisis- (Playstation 1)

I was suggested to play this because a friend told me that my comic/ game idea had the same vibe as this game so I decided to try it out and... wow. They got me...

Take the wacky antics of Wario Ware and Bishi Bashi and slam them into a blender... you get Incredible Crisis. Some mini-games can be hard, but once you get the rhythm down it's not THAT bad. This game has SO many ideas and goofy things it tries to do that it is a personal gold mine of goofy ideas and things I want to try in my own projects so if you want something fun and unserious please check out this insane concoction of stuff that made me laugh and smile.

Also that OST by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. Perfection.

Chulip- (Playstation 2)

I played a LOT of Chulip-like games this year. Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Dropsy, Starstruck, and even For Whom The Frog Bell Tolls. Out of all of them... I loved them all equally. I couldn't rank them so technically they are all here in this spot. This is my list I do whatever the heck I want. Chulip is an insane game to pitch and market for a US audience, but I love games that break the norm. Simple premise, but you are thrown into so many moments, characters, and situations JUST to be able to kiss the girl of your dreams. It's stupid and obtuse, but that's the kind of game I want to play. It's all about the journey rather than the destination and Chulip makes sure that you remember this experience (especially at the end where the game THROWS a whole quiz on you to see if you remember everything you experienced). I want more games like this (Stray Children just came out in Japan and I am STOKED for a US release in 2025).

Splatoon 2- Octo Expansion- (Nintendo Switch)

I have NEVER finished a single-player campaign in Splatoon until 2024. Everyone told me that if there was ONE single-player mode to play it was Octo Expansion. I got around to it and I feel the best way to explain this campaign without saying much is that this is Nintendo's Portal 2.

Octo Expansion was awesome! The OST, the art, and the characters were a HUGE highlight personally. It's another game that inspired me creatively and that finale really put my skills to the test and left me VERY satisfied that I got to experience something like Portal 2 again. Good job, Nintendo.

Metroid Dread- (Nintendo Switch)

Before I could REALLY dive into this game I played all of Zero Mission and Fusion just to get myself ready and MAN. This game rules. I loved Super Metroid and I am SO GLAD I got to play this. I don't have much to say other than if you want to play a GOOD Metroid game and you haven't played Dread yet? PLEASE play Dread. Samus is the coolest lady in the galaxy... (this game prompted me to read the Metroid manga and now I am all about playing Metroid Prime 2 and 3 before Prime 4 is released so I am like on a huge Metroid fixation atm).

Before I talk about my personal GOTY I am gonna highlight some other games I enjoyed playing and finishing this year, but it will just be the titles (bringing the ones I already mentioned in passing here so it's not forgotten since I know not EVERYONE reads my silly ramblings):

Starstruck (PC)

Egg Squeeze (PC)

Corn Kidz 64 (PC)

P5 Strikers (PS4)

Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)

For Whom The Frog Bell Tolls (GB)

Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (DS)

Dropsy (PC)

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)

Ok it's time to talk about my favorite game I played this year that came out of nowhere and made me the happiest dude in the world...

Emio The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club- (Nintendo Switch)

This is one of Nintendo's most ambitious games to come out of the company in a LONG time. I NEVER thought I would see a new entry to this series EVER again. I had hope that MAYBE a remake of the Satellaview game would be in the works, but that was about it.

Nope!

When they first teased about "Emio" and left the internet stumped for about a week to figure out who the heck Emio is... I was like "ok this is a new approach of Nintendo that's cool". After the week passed and I woke up to see it was for Famicom Detective Club... I was probably one of the ONLY people who was VERY excited to see the news that Nintendo is giving me another entry to one of the most overlooked series in Nintendo's history.

I totally understand why a lot of people WOULD be disappointed when it wasn't a "real horror game", but I feel a lot of the promotion and pushing for this game means that Nintendo REALLY believed in this game and I was eager to see what the heck Yoshio Sakamoto wanted to share with this new entry.

To prepare myself I ended up replaying the older games and saw that they were doing chapter releases (sorta similar to Satallaview in a way hmmmm....) before the game was released. I basically sat down and marathoned it on Twitch.

I WISH I could talk about my ENTIRE thoughts of this game, but I feel that everyone should do themselves a favor and actually pick up and buy this game. There will NEVER be another Nintendo game like this again. Nintendo took a RISK to make this game and the story they wanted to tell is something I would never expect from Nintendo.

Never has a game broken my heart this much. There were many moments that caught me off guard that I will have a hard time forgetting about for the rest of my life. I can understand why Yoshio Sakamoto said that the ending will be very divisive. Even some reviews that came out afterward really showed who loved and who hated what this game was trying to do.

I feel this is the first time in a long time that Nintendo went out of its way to put so much money into telling a very human story that while not many people will see it for what it is, I'm putting Emio on my list as one of my favorite video games of all time. Unfortunately, the reception wasn't as big as it should have been and it may mean this series may be dormant once again, but there was a recent interview from Yoshio Sakamoto that FDC isn't QUITE done yet so I pray that means this IP has more moments to shine. This was a big surprise for me in 2024 and I truly believe that it's more important than ever going forward that people need to take time to enjoy something rather than trying to treat it like it's fast food or the flavor of the month. Emio proved that to me with its story, visuals, writing, and OST. I ended up playing this game TWICE and it's possible I may end up playing it a third time. The amount of new dialogue and new things you can find in Emio was surprising and it just made me love what Nintendo did for this game and I wish more people would give it a chance.

THANKFULLY you don't need to have played the other games in the series to play Emio. Yes, it DOES mention parts from the previous games in Emio, but they are more like little snippets that will lure you into wanting to play those games which I REALLY appreciate Nintendo doing. I'm happy that this new entry to the series is similar to how Pikmin 4 is a good intro game to the Pikmin series for newer players. I feel as time goes on that will be a game I gift to friends in hopes that everyone gives Famicom Detective Club another chance.

Welp... it's a new year with many more games to play and look forward to. Thanks to everyone who bothers reading these. Until 2026 when I'll post this again!

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capncococharms · 20 days ago