Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Dragon's Dogma 2 and Like a Dragon: do we already have the GOTY candidates?

The release of Dragon's Dogma 2 concludes a first quarter of 2024 really exciting for gamers (for the industry, however, we draw a veil of mercy), both for quantity and quality of the games releasedso much so that if you wanted to play with your imagination you could already draw up a possible list of candidates for the Game of the Year which wouldn't look out of place too much with those of previous years.

Among other things, it would largely be in the name of Japanese-style productions. Looking at the release calendar, in this hypothetical list we could in fact include games that have received great consensus such as Tekken 8, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. I also mention Dragon's Dogma 2, although the players' verdict will only arrive in the next few weeks, with the hope that the performance problems will be resolved quickly as the controversy, perhaps a little out of hand, over microtransactions is deflating.

And it didn't end here. Those mentioned so far were practically some of the most anticipated games by the press and gamers, but this first quarter was also full of surprises that many did not expect. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which had little enthusiasm when it was announced, turned out to be a high-level metroidvania the likes of which hadn't been seen in a long time. Helldivers 2, then, was a real bolt from the blue and the first great success of Sony's new GaaS-based strategy.

If I wanted, I could also mention games that are a little more niche, but which cannot be omitted from the scope of recognition that should reward the best of the best (and not the “best of the best among the most popular games”), such as Unicorn Overlord by Vanillaware and the addictive rogue-like card game Balatro.

What about the rest of 2024?

As much as part of the community believes that the most important games of 2024 have already arrived in stores, looking at the lineup of next months there is certainly no shortage of titles that could prove equally valid. Here too we could make a list, with the difference that we are talking about interesting and potentially excellent titles on paper, but which will clearly have to pass the test of the press and the public.

For example, on Microsoft's side we have Avowed, Hellblade 2 and Indiana Jones and the Ancient Circle and a semi-certainty represented by Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, while Sony has already confirmed that it has no major releases planned, but has grabbed the The exclusivity of Stellar Blade, which despite its flirty costumes, still has a lot to prove: we will be able to get an idea with the demo scheduled for this week. The future of Nintendo Switch is more murky, given the uncertainty over the launch of the next console, but there is certainly time for further announcements from the big N.

As for multiplatform games I could mention Metaphor: ReFantazio, Hades 2, Star Wars: Outlaws, STALKER 2, Black Myth: Wukong and also great expansions such as Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail and Destiny 2: La Ultimate Form. And I'm sure I'm forgetting many others, which will surely be mentioned in the comments.

What are the games you enjoyed most in this first portion of 2024? And which ones are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.