2024 Wrapped (Gaming Edition)

This year has been a bit of a weird one. We started of the year living in a caravan while we were renovating our house, and I didn't have my PS5 with me in that caravan, so the first months I only gamed on my Switch.

Dave The Diver

I had loads of fun with this one, a chill game with 2 gameplay loops that feed into each other: go diving and get fish during the day, sell fish in sushi restaurant during the night, use money to buy better diving gear, so you can dive deeper and get better fish to sell at your sushi restaurant to sell for more money and get even better gear!

Cult of the Lamb

Similar to Dave The Diver, 2 gameplay loops intertwined: go on crusades to rescue followers and gather resources, which you can use to build a base (and clean poop) so your followers generate devotion, which you can use to upgrade your abilities, so you can go on longer crusades and get more resources, which you can invest in better buildings, more devotion, better stats, longer crusades!

The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered

And then we finally moved back into our house after the renovations were done, and I got my PS5 back (and we also bought a very sweet OLED 4k tv with HDR and all the fancy new features). And the first game I had to test was The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, in glorious 4k with HDR. I played through this game 4 times already:

• When it came out on my base PS4
• Another run when it came out to get all the collectibles and the platinum trophy
• Another run when I got my PS5
• Another run when the PS5 performance patch released

And now I played it again, and all the moments hit just as hard (and some even harder because you know what is coming) as the first time I played it, during lockdown in 2020. Can't wait for the 2nd season of the HBO show next year!

Sniper Elite 4 and 5

Then there was a couple weeks when these games were in sale, and I played Sniper Elite 4 and 5 simultaneous: Sniper Elite 4 on my Switch, when I was watching TV on the couch. And Sniper Elite 5 when I had access to my PS5. Fun little games, kind of like Hitman, but with more sniping!

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Then September hit and the game of the month was Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom! I've played it quite a lot, but haven't finished it yet, I should get back to it soon, it's a very fun little game! Pro tip: you can use the bed for everything!

Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

Next up was October/November with the Black Friday sales and I picked up The Lost Crown for my Switch. It runs at 60fps, it looks amazing and it handles amazing (due to the 60fps). I've been wanting to play this game ever since it came out and this black friday sale was the perfect opportunity to pick it up and play it.

Assassin's Creed Mirage

On my Switch I was playing Prince of Persia, and at the same time I was playing Mirage on my PS5. Got it on loan from a good friend (you know who you are!). After sinking 180 or so hours in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, it felt good to have a more condensed experience like Mirage. It's more stealth focused, and the 15 hours or so it takes you to go through the campaign makes it an excellent bite sized snack. Back in 2020 I had the 180 hours during lockdown to play Valhalla, but right now with a 3yo son and work and all the other things happening in life, I just don't have that kind of time anymore... So it feels good to have these more condensed experiences that take a week or 2 to finish.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

It's december now, and a new 2.2 patch just hit the streets of Night City. I played Cyberpunk when it first came out on Dec 10, 2020. I played it for a couple days and then returned it because of all the bugs and the failed launch. I bought it again on sale when the 1.5 patch was released, which finally gave us a PS5 version and I loved it! Played it to the end, played all the different endings and had about 40 hours of fun with it! Then Phantom Liberty came out, but I haven't had time to dive back into it, but I've got a 2nd son on the way, and I want to play this game before he is born, because once he's here, there'll probably won't be a lof of time to game anymore... So I booted up the 2.2 patch and the expansion, and I'm fully plugged into Night City again! Ready to go out in a blaze of glory! Gotta say, as different as v1.5 was to the original game, this 2.2 version is again a whole new game. The skill tree has been revamped, a wanted system is now in place, everything is polished and looks great! Going to have another 40 hours or so of fun with it I guess. Hell yea!

Honorable mentions:

Some games that I played this year in between the others that I want to mention as well:

Red Dead Redemption Remastered

Played it a couple hours when it came out last year, then shelved it a couple months, and played it again a couple hours this year. It looks and handles great on the switch, and it just feels nice to be a cowboy and ride your horse through the prairie in handheld mode. Going to come back to it in a couple months to finish the story, it's probably going to be on the honorable mention list next year as well!

Hitman 3

This game is my comfort food, I keep coming back to it when I only have like 30 minutes of free time or so. They keep releasing new content regularly, and it keeps me coming back: an elusive target left and right, a celebrity elusive target (the latest Jean Claude Van Damme is especially great, kudos IOI interactive!), a new challenge to unlock yet another suit (I already have them all, yet I still want more).

Pokemon Sword and Violet

Just like Hitman 3 is my comfort food, Pokemon is also comfort food. Every now and again I hop back into Pokemon Violet and try and complete my pokedex, get all the different forms of pokemon (this year I got all the Sinistea forms, only took me about 200 tries to get 2 antique forms, no worries, it was fun, and I watched some TV while doing it). I also got Pokemon Sword, and now I'm getting all the pokemon there as well. I'm also playing some Pokemon Go while out in the real world, and with those 3 games combined, I'm trying to get a full living dex in Pokemon home. I'm about 60-70% there. It's a long term project. I work at it for a couple days, then I get bored with the tedious tasks and I forget about it for a while, then I pick it up again. Every once in a while there's a new raid going on in Violet, gives me an excuse to boot up the game again. It's fun!

Predictions from 2024 (and for 2025)

My predictions from last year were:

• The Switch 2 will release: yea, that didn't happen... Postpone that one to next year!
• I'll get my PS5 back and play Hitman 3: ding! that one did happen!
• I'll buy whatever Pokemon remake/remaster game they'll release: ding! Nothing came out... There's a new game announced for next year tho, which I'm going to get on release, so let's postpone this one as well!

Let's see how my backlog items went:

• TLOU2 Remaster: First game I played when I got my PS5 back
• Resident Evil 2,3,7,8: I want to play those games, they're still on my backlog. I played RE2, but I didn't find it that great, so it's not in my list for this year. Maybe next year...
• Bayonetta 3 and Bayonetta Origins: I played Bayonetta 3 a bit, but it didn't really click with me, I should play Origins soon though, let's postpone till next year!

I talked about a project for 2024, but I never explained it: The project was to not buy any new games and only play backlog games for an entire year. As you might have noticed: I failed at that... But I did spent way less on games in 2024, than what I did in 2023. In October 2023, I bought about 10 games. In 2024, I bought less than 10 games (Prince of Persia, Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, Sniper Elite 4 and 5). I did buy quite some DLC: all the Hitman stuff, Phantom Liberty, TLOU2 Remaster Upgrade, but that is not as expensive as full new games on release day.

Next year I'll be doing the same project: buy only a handful of games, DLC for the games I already own, and play more of my backlog. With a 2nd baby on the way (due in March), game time is going to be limited anyway, and most of the game time will be short bursts, so the type of games will be different.

See you all next year! Curious to see what 2025 brings for my gaming!