Every year, I take a look at games that came out in previous years, but that I never got a chance to review when they were new. Here are five games from the backlogs I played in 2024 that were worth trying out.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Actraiser on the SNES is one of my favorite games of all time, but when I heard a spiritual successor centered on Japanese mythology was coming out I was just not interested. It was only after the Wife With One F gave it a go that I tried it out and found that it had advanced the formula quite a bit.
You play as Sakuna, a rice goddess who is banished for her many mistakes and has to renovate an island of demons. She uses a combination of side-scrolling action and life sims skills to build up her new empire, helped along the way by a colorful cast of characters. The game is gorgeous and well balanced, though the shallow pool of enemies gets a bit repetitive. The plot was engaging, the combat dynamic, and you can even carry a puppy around. What’s not to love?
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
A side-scrolling RPG sister piece to Hundred Heroes, rising has a compelling mix of classic and new RPG elements. You’re limited to three characters, and can only control one at a time, but switching between them in mid-combat is flawless and fun. The story of a small town being controlled by both an evil empire and a hidden curse makes everything feel grounded and important. Like Sakuna, the enemy pool is a bit too shallow, but the narrative is strong enough to carry the game over its bumps.
After Us
As far as dreary adventures go, After Us does it better than most. You play a sprite that is tasked with collecting the last of the animal souls after the humans have destroyed the planet, navigating nightmarish perversions of industry and running from the few remaining humans. All the horror aside, it’s oddly beautiful the way ruin often are. The controls are a bit wonky and some of the puzzles needlessly obtuse, but the game is a good way to tide us over until Little Nightmares 3 and Reanimal come out. As is…
Bramble: The Mountain KIng
Hoo boy what a ride! You play as a young boy looking for his missing sister through a landscape filled with Norse monsters. While it starts magical, it quickly descends into pure horror as you crawl through troll abattoirs and avoid witches. It all ends with an epic final boss fight against the titular Mountain King, set of course to a rousing version of Edvard Grieg’s most famous piece. While it’s not going to topple Limbo anytime soon, Bramble has plenty of dark charm.
Arcade Paradise
By far the backlog game I put the most hours into is Arcade Paradise. Set in 1993, you control a young woman who is put in charge of a laundromat my her distant and controlling father. Once you discover some old game machines in the back, you quickly start building your arcade empire to spite him.
The framing story is perfectly Gen X, with your character having to listen to her hyper-consumerist father berate her for wanting to succeed in something as silly as games. The way she takes control of her life is triumphant and masterfully handled. Plus, the various minigames throughout the run are incredibly addictive, Stack Exchange and Blockchain were my favorites, but almost every title has something to offer a player.
My only complaint is historical. You honestly expect me to believe an arcade in 1993 is succeeding without a single fighting game?! That gross inaccuracy aside, Arcade Paradise is a gem,
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
