Here are my thoughts on the games I played in 2024.

Overall, I didn't play a ton of games that released in 2024 this year, but I did make some backlog progress (I also bought tons of new games though so welp). I've been keeping track of my games progress on Infinite Backlog and I wish I had more people on there. XD No pressure but I'd love to see what games you guys are playing too!

Lots of RPGs and other silly games as usual. I do try to play some different genres though, like a yearly Otome game.

Before I start though, here are my ongoing games from previous years:

Pokemon Go - Played less than last year, but I'm still enjoying catching Pokemon on my walks. I do hate how so many events now require a paid ticket to take part in though. I feel like the game has gotten less free-to-play friendly and I'm worried that it's dying down quite a bit, though lots of my co-workers still play it so maybe I'm just paranoid.

Fire Emblem Heroes - Played less this year too but I still like doing summons and getting new heroes.

Love Nikki - Wow I played it for over a year! I finally completed volume one and crafted the legendary Sea Star suit. I've started volume two, though sadly it's still not completed on the English server (Chinese server is on volume three) but it will be nice once I actually get caught up.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I played it a few times this year and I still have fun with it. Still not my favorite game in the series but it feels better now that all of the content has been added, though I still think they could have done more (but that's a whole rant I'm not putting in this post).

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle - A few months ago I had a strong desire to play this again and I ended up training a Chao for a few weeks. I was hoping for a Neutral power or flying Chao but I ended up with a normal Neutral Chao. I maxed out a few stats and would like to go back and train her more sometime.

Spore - Look, if you know anything about me you know I love this game. I start like one new save file per year. I think next year I'll finally do a Space Stage file with a Wanderer again but that's next year...

Age of Empires (1-3, but mostly 2 and 3) - I got random Age of Empires kicks this year. My childhood RTS game is still as fun as ever. It would be fun to host a game someday if I can ever find people to play with (preferably on AOE2).

Princess Maker 2 - I like to do one run of this game every year, and I'd like to think I've gotten somewhat decent at it. I keep getting the same endings though so maybe I should try something different.

And now for the games I played in 2024!

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Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince - A great new entry into the Dragon Quest Monsters series! I loved playing as Psaro and seeing all the references to Dragon Quest IV. Definitely has some performance issues, but nothing that bothered me too much. The plot would be very confusing to anyone who hasn't played Dragon Quest IV. I want to live in the Circle of Indulgence and eat all of the desserts. Hoping it did well enough to see more Dragon Quest Monsters games in the future!

Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator - The free-to-play gacha game that reminds me of Fire Emblem Engage/Heroes. It's okay, but it loses points for once again shoving Ryza in my face and reminding me that "she went on a summer adventure". I stopped logging in everyday after a certain point, but I'd like to do more of the story eventually.

Trip World DX - Finally got to play this after being curious about it for over a decade. It's a cute and short platformer. I'm surprisingly bad at it lol

Super Mario RPG remake - The remake was amazing! While the first two Paper Mario games are still my favorite Mario RPGs, I really enjoyed this. I previously played part of the original on the Wii U virtual console and I'm glad I could finally finish playing it. Geno and Mallow are pretty cool characters. This is also probably the first game that Bowser teams up with Mario in, which is kinda interesting to think about.

Eternal Radiance - An action RPG made by a smaller dev. It definitely has its flaws, but it was a fun little game. I think with a little more experience, the devs could probably create something really good so I'll be keeping an eye out for their next game.

Shining Nikki - Since I had been playing Love Nikki, I eventually became interested in its 3D successor, so I decided to give it a try. I found it kinda confusing at first, especially compared to Love Nikki, and due to running out of space on my phone I was forced to delete it. However, months later I got a new phone and decided to give it a second chance, and now I really love the game. Similarly to Love Nikki, it takes forever to progress and craft stuff but the serotonin you get when you do is amazing.

Dragon Quest VII - When the 3DS remake first released in 2016, I played so much of this game. It was technically the second mainline Dragon Quest game I played, and I was in love with exploring the world in this game. I made it all the way to the final boss, lost, and for some reason took until 2024 to finally try it again, but I finally beat it! DQVII has a reputation for being a long game, which is true, but honestly it's a great Dragon Quest game and I honestly think it's one of my favorites (though I say that about almost all of them lol). also spoilers but one of the party members leaves permanently and I'd still sad about it

Unicorn Overlord - Vanillaware always delivers. This is such a fun real-time strategy RPG with such gorgeous artwork. The story is a bit cliche, but I did enjoy the characters quite a bit. I do wish Alain had a little more personality, but I find it funny that he's like "sure you tried to kill me but you're strong so please join my army" to almost everyone.

Princess Peach Showtime - So happy that Peach got another game! It's a very cute and simple game, but I had fun playing it, and I think child me would have loved it a lot. I wouldn't mind if they did more silly spinoff games like this once and awhile.

Another Code: Recollection - I was always interested in Trace Memory on the DS, so when they announced a remake of it and its sequel on the Wii I was pretty excited. They're both fun little adventure/puzzle games. I liked the story more in the first game. The second game was good, but one of the storylines ended really abruptly. Both are still pretty good.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Remake - The original is already one of my all-time favorite games that I've played multiple times, so I knew I would love this remake. I'm mixed on the soundtrack, some of the new songs are really good (shout-out to Vivian's theme!!) and I like most of the remixes, but my nostalgia for the original music is strong. Some of the dialogue changes are also weird, like I preferred the "The Shadow Sirens" over "The Three Shadows", but we did get trans Vivian so that's what matters. B-) I wasn't big on the voice grunting at first but it grew on me. The sequence that plays in the middle of the final battle was done really well in the remake!

Marl Kingdom Chronicles (Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom) -The two sequels to Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure finally left Japan! These games were an absolute joy to play from start to finish. They do have some flaws (confusing dungeon designs and kind of grindy) but the story and characters are so charming. I think the second game in the series is my favorite of the three, and my favorite song in the game is "The Little Princess's Resolve". idk I just really love these games and I would love it if Nippon Ichi Software made another one, preferably with sprites and not their newer 3D models. Heck, they could at least localize the one game in the series that still remains Japan-exclusive.

Olympia Soiree - The Otome game I played this year. It had an interesting setting and some cool stuff going on, but holy heck was it sexual...like too sexual for an asexual person like me. |D Like some of the scenes were borderline H-game scenes. Despite that, the overall story was good, and I'd be tempted to check out the sequel whenever it releases. I personally think Himuka should have been the true route though, but maybe he was just my favorite? I think my other complaint is that there were a lot of recurring characters that lacked portraits. It's understandable that not every character will get a portrait, but when they appear in every route I think they should get one. idk the villains in this one were pretty trash but sometimes trash is good

Final Fantasy I - Finally dipped my toes into an actual Final Fantasy game! I played a little of this one on Wii virtual console, but I never got very far. Now that I have the Pixel Remaster, I was finally able to finish it. It's a pretty simple but fun RPG. I really didn't struggle much until the final boss, but somehow I managed to kill Chaos. I think my only real complaint is that I don't like how Black Mage loses his iconic look when he gets his class upgrade. >:U Where'd his hat go???

Atelier Rorona DX - Finally played one of the "scary time limit" Atelier games (unless you count Ayesha but that time limit wasn't bad). Rorona was fun, though it had some anime nonsense I could live without (I blame Astrid). The time limit wasn't bad at first, but near the end it got pretty stressful. I didn't have too much trouble finishing assignments, but completing side quests and character events was a struggle, and I sadly missed the requirements for Sterk's ending. ;_; But one day I'll do a new game plus run so I can try for that and the true ending.

Yo-Kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls - Okay so similarly to DQVII, I originally played this when it released in 2016, got to the final boss, lost, and then didn't pick it up again until this year. |D God I sucked at beating games back then. I did finally beat it though! Yo-Kai Watch is such a fun series and I'm sad that the games are stuck on the 3DS and going up in price. Sadly can't remember if I liked this one more than the first one but it was a fun time!

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory - So I thought I played the original Cyber Sleuth like two years ago, but no it's apparently been like four years?? Anyways I finally played the sequel/interquel. It plays very similarly to Cyber Sleuth but with a few quality of life improvements and new Digimon. It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did I was hooked. I think at first I was comparing it too harshly to the first game, and when I finally let it be its own thing it finally clicked. I was sad that I couldn't play as a girl, but things get a little gay at one point, so maybe I can excuse it (just please let me play as a girl in the next Digimon Story game). The story was really good, and th ending was sad. There were a few times early on where the game was like "remember this character from Cyber Sleuth??" but it stopped doing that after awhile. There's a really cool sequence late in the game I really want to talk about, but it's such a big spoiler so I won't. It's a very visually amazing part of the game though, and if you play it you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you see it.

Infinity Nikki - It's finally out!! While I'm not as far into it as I'd like to be, so far Infinity Nikki has bee an absolute joy to play. I'm also just really happy that the series is getting a little more well known thanks to this entry. One day I'll have all of the cute outfits.

Flight Rising - A co-worker got me into playing this (find me here: https://www1.flightrising.com/clan-profile/725949 ). I'm having fun collecting dragons and playing around on the site. I'm definitely turning my dragons into OCs eventually.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - While I played Dragon Quest III a few years ago, I couldn't resist getting this remake! So far it's been very fun and enjoyable. I'm not going to be finished with it before the year ends, but it will just be the first game I finish in 2025! I made the poor decision not to start with any priests, which is starting to kill my party a lot but I'm almost at Alltrades Abbey so I'll be able to fix that soon. idk I thought it would be fun to start with a different party than last time, but I'll probably end with the same classes. |D

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And those are all of the games I played in 2024!

My favorite game that released in 2024 would either be Unicorn Overlord, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake, or Infinity Nikki. However, my favorite game that I played in 2024 would be Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess. Overall it was a fun year for me game-wise. Looking forward to next year!

What were your guys' favorite games this year? Please let me know!