Game of the Year 2024 has already been crowned at The Game Awards this year, with ASTRO BOT taking the coveted title. However, CGMagazine has collectively reviewed hundreds of games this year, and our winners don’t always line up with the general gamer collective.
Our Game of the Year 2024 winner will be joining some amazing games that have won in past years. 2020 saw the incredible title Hades take the GOTY win. In 2021, Resident Evil Village took the title by a landslide. 2022 saw CGMagazine side with many gamers in choosing Elden Ring as the clear winner. And finally 2023 saw us again going with the flow and electing Baldur’s Gate 3 as our clear Game of the Year winner.
However, 2024 saw some amazing titles in gaming and our 2024 Game of the Year winner was not as clear-cut as we thought! We took all of CGM’s highest scoring reviews and put them through a three-round voting process where all of our staff members cast their votes. We cut our original 47 titles down to ten, which meant some amazing games did not make the cut.
In 2024, we saw BioWare return to form with Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Bloober Team blew fans out of the water with Silent Hill 2. Indie darlings like Animal Well blew our reviewers away, and even Balatro was highly praised, even if it didn’t receive a scored review from CGM this year. The race for Game of the Year 2024 spanned multiple genres and though many throughout the entire voting process, we were never quite sure which game would take the crown in the end.
Without further ado, here are our top ten games of 2024, finally crowning CGMs Game of the Year 2024!
Black Myth: Wukong
Reviewer: Zubi Khan
Despite the controversies surrounding the title, Black Myth: Wukong is an excellent action game worthy of praise. From its gorgeous and surreal aesthetic, which beautifully modernizes the Journey to the West story, to its rewarding combat and gameplay loop — Game Science has created a truly unique experience for fans of challenging games.
With over 100 bosses in Black Myth: Wukong, the game, at times, can feel like a gauntlet rather than a straightforward action title, but for those familiar with the rush of defeating a formidable adversary in other popular action titles, Black Myth: Wukong distils the best elements of its contemporaries into one of 2024’s must play games, landing it on our Game of the Year 2024 list of contenders.
Animal Well
Reviewer: Jordan Biordi
Like I said in my review of Animal Well, I was mostly expecting the game to be good primarily because of videogamedunky’s stamp of approval. But what I really wasn’t expecting was just how much Animal Well was going to elevate itself beyond just having a popular YouTuber’s recommendation.
The fact that Animal Well didn’t win either Best Indie or Best Debut Indie absolutely gutted me. Largely created by one person, the game is a beautiful, haunting, captivating and truly exciting take on the Metroid formula, landing it on our Game of the Year 2024 list. It does so much with so little and creates both a world and an experience that compels players to explore it long after the main game is complete.
TEKKEN 8
Reviewer: Khari Taylor
It can be argued that the latest entry in Bandai Namco’s premiere fighting game franchise would have faced far stiffer competition in last year’s GOTY conversation had it been released just shy of Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1 in 2023 instead of early 2024. But in this reviewer’s opinion, TEKKEN 8 offers so much accessibility for newcomers as well as limitless depth for returning veterans that it easily stands head and shoulders above its competitors in any given year.
With sublime rollback net code implementation for lag-free online matches, an overhauled combat system that both encourages and rewards players for going on the offensive, and a training mode so robust that the creation of a separate, fourth wall-breaking campaign titled Arcade Quest was necessary to help contain it all, TEKKEN 8 wipes the floor with any and all challengers.
In addition, courtesy of a complete visual overhaul made possible by Unreal Engine 5 and marrying it with a soundtrack comprised of almost every TEKKEN song in the mainline franchise’s 30-year existence, TEKKEN 8 has lore, character personalization, style and most importantly fighting vibes that go on for days, if not weeks and months. If all the above isn’t deserving of a Game of the Year 2024 nomination, I don’t know what is.
Silent Hill 2
Reviewer: Brendan Frye
While it did not win our Game of the Year 2024 award, Bloober Team’s take on Silent Hill 2 deserves a place in any horror game fan’s collection. When Bloober Team announced they would remake one of gaming’s most revered horror titles, I, like many other fans, was skeptical. However, the Polish studio has delivered a remarkable reimagining that honours the original while crafting something distinctly modern.
The remake preserves the haunting psychological narrative of James Sunderland’s search for his deceased wife while enhancing every aspect of the experience. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, the visuals create an oppressively atmospheric Silent Hill, with dynamic lighting and shadows that amplify the terror lurking in every fog-shrouded corner.
This is Silent Hill 2, as you remember it, but better in nearly every way. The remastered audio work, including Akira Yamaoka’s iconic score, creates an immersive horror experience that leverages the PS5’s DualSense capabilities to spine-tingling effect. The result is a masterpiece that demonstrates psychological horror, when executed with care and respect for the source material, remains as powerful as ever, and without question one of the best games of the year, landing it in our top 10 games of 2024.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Reviewer: Justin Wood
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is my personal Game of the Year 2024. It sets a new benchmark for RGG Studios and what we can expect from the Yakuza series going forward. They managed to craft this impeccable story that somehow spans almost 20 years but makes newcomers and veterans of the series feel respected regarding how much knowledge they need going in.
The game’s battle system is a delicate evolution of 2020s Yakuza: Like A Dragon, making it feel fresh yet familiar with the more modern-day Yakuza games. This makes sense when you look at just how many incredible substories there are, including a sprawling 40-hour, Pokémon-style substory and a 30-hour, Animal Crossing-esque substory. Both key mini-games have unique combat mechanics and monetary systems that add this level of depth and variety to the almost one-hundred-hour story. On top of that, Infinite Wealth delivers a wonderfully stylish and humorous class system, even more so than the previous entries take on the classic RPG class system.
At its core, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has this gripping emotional story that captures the highs and lows of its characters in a way I haven’t seen anywhere else. Personal growth, trust, and change are central themes, with some characters evolving for the better while others fall into darker paths while the beats themselves are over the top; it’s the stories of the individual characters that feel authentic. Of course, no Yakuza game would be complete without over-the-top moments, and Infinite Wealth delivers with its bizarre, hilarious summons—like giant crabs and men in diapers that can be called in to fight. That lands it on our top 10 games of the year, and our Game of the Year 2024 list.
Helldivers 2
Reviewer: Phillip Watson
I’ve always thought the best video games are the ones where you jump in, and something new happens each time even though you play the exact same mission. This is exactly what Arrowhead Studios and Helldivers 2 accomplishes. Born from the idea ‘Hey, what if we can get BEHIND the player character in Helldivers?’ countless missions have been embarked on for the glory of Super Earth.
Arrowhead Studios not only made a game filled to the brim with comradery and hilarious antics. The game play is phenomenally chaotic, and the developers crafted a live service title that they themselves want to play. Friends and I would constantly discuss the threat to Democracy in real life as if our actual homes were being overrun by the antagonist legions in Helldivers 2, and Arrowhead Studios leaned into that by surprise, dropping a lot of its content and using the global community as a propaganda machine, as if Helldivers 2 were to real life as real life is to Helldivers 2.
Fun antics, real life discussions, and just excellent design choices make Helldivers 2 not just my Game of the Year 2024, but an overall experience that every co-op fan should jump into. When sweet liberty calls, I will answer.
ASTRO BOT
Reviewer: Jordan Biordi
Honestly, I’ve always thought it was incredibly derivative to say something had “any more [blank] than it deserved to,” but I do kind of think ASTRO BOT had much more quality and creativity than it needed to. Here was a game, based on a PlayStation 5 tech demo—itself having far more creativity and playability than it needed to—that was so packed to the gills with life, charm and above all FUN.
Much like ASTRO’s Playroom, at its core, ASTRO BOT is an incredibly tight and absurdly polished action platformer. Every level explodes with creativity, displayed not only in the remarkable visual aesthetic but the stellar technical design. No two levels feel the same and players are constantly given new mechanics to add increased dimensionality to the gameplay. Not only that, but it’s one of the few games that really makes use of the DualSense controller—utilizing the haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and built-in speaker to make the whole experience feel so much more alive in your hands.
On top of being a fantastic game, it’s just a really charming love letter to the legacy of PlayStation—being filled with fun references to characters that were either exclusive to the PlayStation or popularized by it. And while it may not be CGM’s game of the year, I’ll rest warmly this Christmas knowing that my favourite little robot is the true Game of the Year 2024 winner.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Reviewer: Dayna Eileen
Dragon Age: The Veilguard had a lot riding on it for both fans of the Dragon Age franchise and BioWare as a whole. After a 10-year wait, we got to head back Thedas, see what some of our favourite—and least favourite—characters from past iterations were up to, and make life-altering choices with some of our newfound companions. Dragon Age: The Veilguard accomplished everything it set out to do, even if it had a world of hate at its back for all the wrong reasons.
The reason The Veilguard made it to our top 10 games of the year as one of our Game of the Year 2024 contenders is simple: BioWare made a great game. The graphics were truly spectacular, accessibility was well-thought-out, choices had weight behind them and the all new combat system was a breath of fresh air, especially the mage’s Orb and Daggar. Most importantly, Dragon Age: The Veilguard brought a story filled with lore, emotion, inclusivity and passion, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Reviewer: Justin Wood
While it may initially appear as a high fantasy spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei-related Persona series, Metaphor: ReFantazio makes a name for itself, going even more realistic and somehow darker than the games before it.
ATLUS has always had its finger on the pulse for creating stylistic, deep, and dark games, and they deliver again with Metaphor: ReFantazio. It blends traditional turn-based combat with a fantasy world inspired by myths, philosophy, and art. It does carry the familiar themes of misfits coming together to battle a great evil, but this time, the stakes are not only personal; they touch on a lot of political themes that the other series of games by ATLUS only skim past. The standout strength of the game is its deeply rooted political drama, with the unlikely hero coming to terms with their role as the face of a diverse group of allies, all while navigating a world where human desires and fears manifest physically.
Combat is fresh and strategic, with turn-based battles that require careful tactical thinking. Another highlight is the game’s fantastic side characters and the amazing as-always social link mechanic, which allows players to bond with their allies, deepening the personal stakes and allowing the depth of the relationship to affect character progression and combat mechanics. All of this combined land Metaphor: ReFantazio in our top 10 games of the year and on our Game of the Year 2024 contenders list.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
GAME OF THE YEAR 2024 WINNER
Reviewer: Chris de Hoog
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth had huge shoes to fill—not only as the second instalment of a trilogy, but as a remake of one of the most influential games of all time. Instead of resting on the laurels they earned with the previous game, the team at Square Enix reached for even greater heights, and ended up winning our Game of the Year 2024.
Just as the PS1 original blew players’ minds in 1997 by revealing a sprawling, 3D world map, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth translates that same map into one of the most holistic open-world environments we’ve seen to date. Thanks to clever level design, thoughtful lore integration, and new rendering processes that utilize the PlayStation 5’s hardware, Cloud Strife’s quest feels both deeply familiar and inspiringly new.
“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth lives up to the name of its forebear, reinventing the medium in the same way the original did a quarter-century ago.”
The same can be said of its ensemble. While the original game was hindered by a hasty English translation, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth fills in holes in its heroes’ characterization, expands their personalities, and brings them to life with nuanced performances. Barret is perhaps the best example of this: his original mannerisms, once riddled with stereotypes, have been pulled back to reveal the conflicted beauty of his arc, and John Eric Bentley’s passionate performance drives it all home.
Stripped down to just its main story, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a massive quest worthy of the price of admission. The main story alone is at least a 40-hour emotional roller coaster. Veteran fans may know the route in broad strokes, but there are enough complications to make it fresh without losing the depth of the expected journey.
Add a staggering number of minigames and side quests onto that, and Rebirth easily breaks into 80-100 hour territory. Yet at no point did I feel either railroaded or totally mired down, thanks to some deft pacing. The world is your oyster outside of main story moments.
It’s all powered by one of the smoothest RPG battle systems in recent memory, marrying turn-based and action-based elements. The playable roster has grown to incorporate the less conventional gameplay styles of Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith, and each feels as robust as the returning cast members. Weaving through them all is a cunning Synergy system, rewarding teamwork and experimentation.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth lives up to the name of its forebear, reinventing the medium in the same way the original did a quarter-century ago, rightfully earning it CGMagazine’s Game of the Year 2024. It’s rare to see a game manage and subvert expectations so well, or reinterpret and expand an existing experience so lovingly, while also raising the technical bar so much. I can’t wait to see where its bittersweet, tense conclusion leads in the next game.
