2024 was another banner year for video games thanks to a slate of big releases, strong remakes, and surprising hits. But despite plenty of games that made a splash, IGN awarded only one new game a perfect score of 10, and some argue that it’s not even a ‘proper’ game. Which is it? You’ll have to read on to find out.
Every year we go through our archive of reviews to look back at the highest reviewed games at IGN. This year, 27 games received a score of 9 or 10, and of that only one new game received a 10 (the other 10 was given to a re-review of a very popular game). This is a marked downturn from 2023 where 36 games received our highest review scores, including five games that received a 10.
That certainly doesn’t mean 2024 was a worse year for gaming – far from it. But one thing that is apparent is that they were spaced out, unlike last year when the hits just seemed to keep on coming. In 2024, IGN didn’t give out a single 9 or 10 between the end of June and beginning of September, which helps explain why it felt a bit barren for games on the whole. Nevertheless, the year began with a literal deluge of great games before the noticeable summer pause.
In the first three months of 2024 we saw several big RPGs drop, all of which scored a 9. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was first out of the gate and continued the story of Ichiban Kasuga, who finds himself stranded on the beaches of Hawaii. Sega followed it up with Persona 3 Reload, a full-blown remake of the beloved Atlus JRPG. Speaking of, Atlus would go on to release the newest Vanillaware game, Unicorn Overlord, a strategy RPG with the trademark gorgeous art the developer has come to be known for.
The last big RPG release before the summer was of course Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the long-awaited second part of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 remake project. The sequel would be even bigger than the first, with a humongous open-world to explore with hundreds of hours of side quests to pursue, all while reliving the events of Final Fantasy 7.
The next wave of RPGs didn’t hit until October, when Atlus released Metaphor: ReFantazio, its third RPG of the year and arguably the biggest. From the team that brought you the Persona series, Metaphor is a pure fantasy RPG that tackles a dramatic political fight for the throne, with plenty of analogs to our modern day. Elsewhere, BioWare also released its first RPG in what feels like forever with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which picks up after the events of the beloved Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Finally, Square Enix released another RPG remake with the gorgeous Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, which reimagines the iconic JRPG in pixelated HD. Despite the gap between big releases, anyone who is a fan of 100-plus hour RPGs ate incredibly well this year. Heck, you’re likely still grinding on at least a few of these games.
Another genre that had a standout year in 2024 were sims. While “simulators” is a broad category, there were some unique entries into the genre including Coffee Stain Studios’ factory simulator Satisfactory, where players set out to build a new factory on an alien planet.
There was also Sons of the Forest, the sequel to the hit survival game from 2014 that’s bigger and meaner than the previous game. And of course, the year was capped off with the newest Microsoft Flight Simulator, which delivered even more realistic flight time goodness.
The third big trend from 2024 was the prominence of indie games in our list of best reviewed titles. The highly-anticipated sequel, Hades 2, entered early access and delivered on the promise of fighting through hell once more, while games like Animal Well, 1000xResist, and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes also won us over thanks to their imaginative gameplay and storytelling. All of these games received a 9, as well as numerous nominations in the IGN Awards.
However, the breakout hit in the indie scene is undoubtedly Balatro, the roguelike poker game many players could not put down. After initially releasing on PC and consoles, Balatro is now also available on mobile, which is where I’ve been playing this twisted little roguelike. While the bones of Balatro will be familiar to anyone with a cursory knowledge of poker, the ingenious modifiers and ways players can hit higher scores makes the lizard brain light up in delight and deserves all the praise it’s received this year.
There was one indie game we actually gave a 10 to this year – our re-review of Stardew Valley, the cozy farming sim that’s taken the world by storm. After numerous updates, additional features, and new gameplay mechanics, Stardew Valley looks completely different from the game it was when it first launched, but no less compelling. Almost nine years after it first launched, Stardew Valley is still going strong. And speaking of going strong…
For many who stick with one game throughout the years, 2024 has delivered some great expansions. Destiny 2’s newest update, The Final Shape, is a worthwhile finale to Bungie’s long-running shooter, while World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, The War Within, kicks off a new start for Blizzard’s beloved MMORPG.
Elsewhere, popular ongoing games like V Rising received a full release and scored a 9, and we re-reviewed Epic’s behemoth battle royale, Fortnite, which had a stellar year thanks to another fantastic collaboration with Marvel and the recent Chapter 2 Remix, featuring rap legends Snoop Dogg and Eminem.
A new live-service entrant this year that also received a 9 is Infinity Nikki. The next game in the popular Nikki fashion series, Infinity Nikki takes the dress-up series and turns it into an open-world RPG, but with full focus on what the series is best known for: beautiful clothes and wonderful outfits.
But the biggest surprise this year was Helldivers 2. Arrowhead Game Studios’ fun and hilarious shooter was the big breakout hit of the year, quickly enlisting millions of new recruits for its galactic space war. Even though it stumbled with some recent updates, it remains a massively popular game and PlayStation’s big live-service win of the year.
2024 was a good year for popular game series making big returns. Tekken 8 kicked off the year — literally — with its newest installment, which we called an “incredible evolution for the series” thanks to some interesting changes made to the classic 3D fighter that breathes new life into the classic combat.
The same can be said of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which delivers one of the best Call of Duty single-player campaigns in years thanks to its creativity and variety. This popcorn spy thriller, as we call it in our review, wonderfully marries the series’ love of bombastic, cinematic storytelling with all kinds of plot twists and turns that keeps players on the edge of their seat.
The Life is Strange series also returned with Life is Strange: Double Exposure, which picks up with original franchise heroine Maxine Caulfield 10-years after the events of the first game. It’s a worthy follow-up to the slice-of-life mystery game that kicked off the series.
For all you Sonic fans out there, the new updated Sonic x Shadow Generations re-release brings back one of the best modern Sonic games, but adds a healthy heaping of everyone’s favorite-but-evil hedgehog, Shadow. If that’s not enough, you can catch him in theaters this holiday when he’s set to appear in the newest Sonic movie.
And if you’re looking for an all-star cast, PlayStation released the game with the biggest names in Astro Bot a brilliant platformer that matches the quality of anything its rivals at Nintendo put ou,t. There are hundreds of collectible characters from across PlayStation’s biggest franchises to discover, making it quite literally a game chock-full of big names.
One big name that snuck in at the end of the year is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. MachineGames’ first game since finishing up its Wolfenstein reboots is another rollicking, nazi-punching adventure that brings the film hero to the AAA games era. It’s not only a big win for Indy fans, but for Xbox Games Studios that finally has a bonafide hit.
Nintendo had a much quieter year in 2024 and it didn’t have massive new releases like 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, likely because it’s busy working on a successor to Switch. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any hits from the Mario House this year.
Rather than big blockbusters, Nintendo’s notable games were from unexpected series. The new Mario Party game, Super Mario Party Jamboree, received a 9 thanks to a return to basics approach of the beloved party game formula. And Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door received a full on remake for the Nintendo Switch, and an Editor’s Choice award to go with it.
Nintendo did have one surprise this year, which is the first Zelda game that actually stars Princess Zelda. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom returns to the top-down Zelda world last seen in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, including using the same toy-like art style. But the Echoes puzzle mechanic, where Zelda can summon everyday objects she memorizes, leads to all kinds of delightful surprises. Think the freedom of Tears of the Kingdom mixed with the art style of Link’s Awakening and you’re on the right track
Aside from Stardew Valley’s re-review, only one new game received a 10 from IGN this year, and it was none other than FromSoftware’s first Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. This new expansion not only adds an entire new area to The Lands Between to explore, but a suite of new weapons, armors, and even combat styles like martial arts, makes FromSoftware’s magnum opus even better.
But it’s not just simply a beefy expansion with loads of content. The world of Elden Ring is rich with lore and the story Shadow of the Erdtree tells adds new layers to that rich text. The backstories for characters like Queen Marika and Miquella are both enlightening and tragic, and the sense of discovery players get when uncovering these secrets prove that nobody does world design quite like FromSoftware. This expansion is so big it practically feels like a sequel.
While a DLC like this won’t be nominated for IGN’s Game of the Year shortlist (spoiler: it might Best DLC!)We understand how a monumental game like Shadow of the Erdtree can compete for gaming’s top prize.
And that’s a look back at the best reviewed games of the year. For more from the IGN Awards, check out our full list of winners in all of our different award categories for the year.
Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
