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[Mayar]

To ease the tension on the forum a little and bring a note of positivity, I decided to create this topic. We have almost reached the end of 2024, have gone through all the major releases of this year, and soon we will all sit down to celebrate the holidays. So I think we can sum up the interim results of this year, but in an interesting way. Choose one event in the gaming industry (It can be anything, an announcement, a release, some event, games you liked) that impressed you the most this year, and the event that upset you the most this year. As an example, I will start with myself.

+ This year I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of good RPGs (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, Persona 3 Reload, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, Visions of Mana, Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Dragon Quest III) and I would like to separately note the tactics (Unicorn Overlord). That's why it was a very pleasant year for me =)

- This year there was one thing that probably upset me the most, because it happened with one of my favorite franchises that I grew up on as an RPG player - Dragon Age: The Veilguard, this is probably my biggest disappointment this year.

 

[Madflavor]

Most unpleasant was trying to put myself through those asinine Brutal and Legendary VR Challenges in FFVII Rebirth, and ending a game I was loving on a sour note.

Most pleasant was my 3 year old getting into video games for the first time by watching me play Dragon Quest III HD-2D. He loves the monsters.

 

[FunkMiller]

Batman Arkham Shadow proved to be an absolute, unexpected banger. That’s been the highlight of 2024 for me.

Haven’t really got a lowlight, as I’ve tried to be picky with what games I’ve played.

 

[Kacho]

Most pleasant was getting a Steam Deck in February. Steam OS + 60fps handheld gaming is the shit. I put in serious time on that thing.

Least pleasant was seeing Xbox commit seppuku. RIP

 

[Raven117]

This will be unpopular: slogging through BG3 was the worst. I wanted to complete it… so I just grinded my way through the whole experience. Honestly, I found most the characters not very compelling.

Also, consort radhan before the nerf. What the ever living fuck was that? Miserable. I downed him… but i hated it.

Best… also unpopular… I found I had about 8 months of Gamepass left (when I did that three year conversion thing years ago). Been playing Call if Duty black ops 6 campaign and persona 3 reload… with stalker on deck.

Honestly, it’s the most fun I’ve had playing video games all year.

(Slugging through bg3 really killed me)

 

[AzekZero]

For unpleasant event, its a toss up between the closure of Ouka Studios (Visions of Mana) and the mess that was DA:Veilguard.

Dragon's Dogma 2 was flawed, but I really liked it. Its my GOTY.

 

[DKPOWPOW]

Pleasant: METROID PRIME 4
UNPLEASANT: BEYOND is 2025 SWITCH 2 2025

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Most pleasant was a bunch of awesome games like Space Marine 2, Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Wukong, Relink, and a few more making it my favorite gaming year from this gen.

Most Unpleasant are the crappy games like Veilguard, Outlaw, Suicide Squad, etc etc.

This will be unpopular: slogging through BG3 was the worst. I wanted to complete it… so I just grinded my way through the whole experience. Honestly, I found most the characters not very compelling.

Also, consort radhan before the nerf. What the ever living fuck was that? Miserable. I downed him… but i hated it.

Yeah I didn't like BG3 either, don't like any of the characters and some of the things in game.

 

[Rentahamster]

It was both the same event and it involved some kind of beads.

 

[Edmund]

Most Pleasant - Running Stellar Blade in Pro mode at 80 fps.

Most Unpleasant - Buying the Nier Outfit for Stellar Blade and trying to look under the skirt and getting kicked by Eve.

 

[Itchy Tickles]

Most Pleasant - That Silent Hill 2 Remake was hit out of the park by Bloober Team. The game is fantastic, and my personal GOTY. (UE 5 be damned)

Least Pleasant - Nothing really new, but game companies no longer pretending to hide their disgust and hatred of us, while most of them still make millions. A few have fallen of course, but there is still room in that pit for more.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Most pleasant: MHwilds beta

Least pleasant: Everything DEI

 

[Stu_Hart]

Most pleasant: sonic x shadow generations, Metaphor, Elden ring shadow of the erdtree.
Least pleasant: Not as many quality games as last year, ps5 pro.

 

[_Ex_]

Best game I beat this year was Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4 version), absolute blast from start to finish.

Worst was the massively disappointing Endless Ocean: Luminous, complete farce compared to the majesty of the previous Wii entries.

 

[FunkMiller]

This will be unpopular: slogging through BG3 was the worst. I wanted to complete it… so I just grinded my way through the whole experience. Honestly, I found most the characters not very compelling.

A game that falls to pieces once you hit the third act.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Pleasant: Playing Trails Through Daybreak in English
Unpleasant: Watching them destroy Dragon Age Franchise

 

[touchfuzzy]

Pleasant: Astro Bot and Metaphor

Unpleasant: late November and still nothing on Switch 2

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Slugging through bg3 really killed me)

I couldn't force myself to do it, gave up on the game before even reaching the second act. I think it's a boring game, does nothing for me. Coming from someone who's played D2/3/4, Fallout series and many other RPG/action RPGs.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Pleasant: The Year of Atlus - Unicorn Overlord, Persona 3 Reload, and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance all in the same year

Unpleasant: Metaphor ReFantazio released too and I decided to put that one off until 2025 because I played 3 Atlus games which ran me over 100 hours each in the same year

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Pleasant:

The removal of the microstutter on Portal.
Gamechanger, as most of my gametime is spent on Portal.

Unpleasant:

Nothing really.

 

[Jesb]

Unpleasant. The closure of tango game works.

Pleasant. Just the excellent quality of cloud gaming (GFN). It’s basically allowed me to skip out on consoles or a PC this gen.

Another that stands out is the feel good story of blooper making a great game in SH2. I still need to play it but it’s great to see all the praise they received. I could totally see it as one of my best games this year.

 

[Fess]

Pleasant: Playing Stalker 2.

Unpleasant: No news about Switch 2.

 

[Calico345]

Most Pleasant: Astro Bot made me feel like games used to make me feel. It was a pure joy. Most excellent.

Unpleasant: Everything else. I choose a dour view on modern gaming.

 

[Raven117]

Most pleasant was a bunch of awesome

Yeah I didn't like BG3 either, don't like any of the characters and some of the things in game.

Glad I’m not the only one.

A game that falls to pieces once you hit the third act.

I somewhat liked the third act. The second to me sucked.

I couldn't force myself to do it, gave up on the game before even reaching the second act. I think it's a boring game, does nothing for me. Coming from someone who's played D2/3/4, Fallout series and many other RPG/action RPGs.

Crpgs just aren’t for me. Seems maybe not for you either.

 

[Roberts]

Unpleasant: Tango being shut down as well as many other studios.
Pleasant: Stalker 2 actually getting released and after playing it, seriously considering it to be my GOTY. Tango being salvaged by Krafton. Loading up Hellblade 2 for the first time and being blown away all the way until the closing credits.

 

[Aion002]

Pleasant: FFVII Rebirth and Erdtree were excellent for me.

Unpleasant: Ubisoft. I used to like their games so much, they peaked during the ps360 gen, after that it was just a non stop downfall and this year they reached new depths.

 

[Hydroxy]

Most unpleasant was playing Ghost of Tsushima and God of War ragnarok. Both very boring games that I couldn't play beyond first few hours. Extremely high expectations but terribly disappointed.

 

[CompleteGlobalSaturation]

Most unpleasant was playing Ghost of Tsushima and God of War ragnarok. Both very boring games that I couldn't play beyond first few hours. Extremely high expectations but terribly disappointed.

Ragnarok was shite but Valhalla was fantastic.

I'm interested in trying GoT - I heard very good things about the game.

 

[ap_puff]

Pleasant: Astro bot. Pure fun with no downtime and didn't drag or outstay its welcome.

Unpleasant: Plucky Squire was such a letdown, they had a really interesting concept and managed to do the most boring shit with it.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Good: Tons of new releases.

Bad: DQ3 remake being hit with the usual woke shit, wasn't exprcting that.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Most pleasant: the Mister Pi FPGA system.

Most unpleasant: finding out that the complaints about the difficulty in getting 100% in Crash Bandicoot 4 weren’t exaggerated in the slightest.

 

[Robb]

Just from the top of my head:

Pleasant:
- A new Mario & Luigi game released.
- New 2D Zelda and confirmation that Nintendo wants to do more 2D Zelda games going forward.
- First footage of Metroid Prime 4 Beyond.
- A new amazing platformer released with Astrobot.
- Sony’s GAAS initiative crashing and burning with Concord and woke games in general just being absolute dumpster fires.
-Nintendo’s new music app being surprisingly enjoyable.

Unpleasant:
- No “Switch 2” launch or reveal, every new release on current Switch runs like ass.
- Ps5 Pro reveal was very disappointing, both in terms of price point and features.
- Tango Gameworks being shut down.
- MS not keeping Toys for Bob in the ActiBlizz acquisition.

 

[Guileless]

Pleasant:

Steady stream of well-received JRPGs throughout the year

College Football released for the first time in eleven years

New Call of Duty - I don't play them anymore, but I'm glad they're still released. Makes me feel like some things aren't changing.

Unpleasant:

The ugly character models for games developed during the Great Awokening

 

[Judge Magister]

 

[mèx]

Pleasant: surprisingly, Granblue Fantasy Relink turned out really well. Put 100+ hours into it.

Unpleasant: started actively noticing how localizations tend to change the meaning of sentences too much. Obviously the main objective of localizations is to adapt text so that is pleasant to read in the target language, I have no issue with that. But sometimes translators seem to go too far.

 

[poppabk]

Unpleasant - Day 1 on Flight Sim 2024
Pleasant - Day 2+ on Flight Sim 2024

 

[cireza]

Pleasant : bought an Anbernic 406H and I was really impressed by the quality of it and the screen.
In terms of games, Shadow Generations and Tomb Raider I II III were my favorite games this year.

Unpleasant : Xbox abysmal communication/strategy. The poor message sent to traditional users that have been investing for 20+ years.
And the fact that the next Nintendo console still hasn't been announced.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Pleasant: watching Concord become perhaps the biggest bomb in video game history. Also playing Space Marine 2 and getting a desperately needed dose of fucking testosterone in the gaming world.

Unpleasant: seeing what the Queerosexual Gendermancer at BioWare did to Dragon Age. Fuck. I replayed Inquisition earlier this year to get ready for the new Dragon Age. But after that horrendous reveal trailer and everything I’ve seen since, there’s no way I’m touching that turd.

 

[Topher]

Pleasant: Platinuming Metaphor
Unpleasant: politics in general becoming a bigger topic in gaming than it ever needed to be

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Pleasant: Stellar Blade
Unpleasant: looking up what the arm missing skin meme was about

 

[Salmonboy]

Pleasant: Balatro
Unpleasant: FF7: Rebirth! (what a joke of a game)

 

[notseqi]

It was both the same event and it involved some kind of beads.

i don't get it, did you get turnt at mardi gras?

on-topic:
Pleasant - dying like a dog again in DayZ, still as exciting as it was back in Arma2 days
Unpleasant - didactic games not failing hard enough

 

[Pantz]

Pleasant: Stellar Blade and PS5 Pro
Unpleasant: Xbox closing Tango Gameworks and their continued downward spiral

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Pleasant: FF7 Rebirth, basically the entire thing

Unpleasant: Shadow of the Erdtree final boss

 

[Griffon]

Pleasant: Concord getting its much deserved fate.
Unpleasant: Played FFXVI on PC. Game is painfully mediocre by all metrics.

 

[Kings Field]

Pleasant event- ER DLC and getting PS5 pro

Unpleasant- dragons Dogma 2 performance

 

[Bartski]

The most pleasant event for me was Gamescom, loved it and am going next year 100%
The most unpleasant was the total piss take from Saber regarding Space Marine 2 Pro patch. Still hoping for redemption.

 

[Trilobit]

Unpleasant: The release of Concord.

Pleasant: The delisting of Concord.

 

[dorkimoe]

Cool thread idea


Pleasant: Deadlock
Unpleasant; the constant whining of pronouns instead of just ignoring them

 

[Hawk The Slayer]