This has kind of been a horrible year for high budget (AAA) games from Western developers

I think that when the dust settles 2024 will be seen as something of an off year for gaming. There's been a lot to play and some real standouts, but I don't think that it hit the highs of 2023 or even some of the earlier years in the decade. However, while I think things have been pretty good overall, in terms of high budget development in the West the picture is actually kind of dire. If you look at the games people loved this year, outside the indie space they're almost all out of Japan, with a couple coming from Chinese studios and then a smattering of Western stuff mixed in. Last year we had heavy hitters like Alan Wake 2, Spider-Man 2, Diablo 4 and Baldur's Gate 3 coming from Western studios. This year? Call of Duty seems to have been a pretty good one. Helldivers 2 was well received. The Silent Hill 2 remake was better than expected (though that's obviously based on a Japanese original.)

I can't remember the last time that basically all the big budget games I really liked were Japanese. But while this year there are definitely some Western indies towards the top of my list (and Balatro looks like a lock for the top spot), most of the Western developed bigger budget games I've played have been pretty bad. That could change with Indiana Jones, but even then that's one game, and I doubt it's going to be anything more than very solid. I might play Prince of Persia, which is apparently quite good, but that's more of a mid budget game than a biggie.

I feel like this isn't really being discussed, perhaps because people don't really think of Japanese vs Western games anymore, but it's very notable for me. Western and Japanese games tend to have different strengths and I'm definitely feeling the lack of really strong entries from some of my favorite genres. But I can't think of a year in recent memory this weak from the West, unless I'm missing some obvious stuff here.

I dunno that it has to be an off year for gaming just cause the west had a bit of a slump. All the stuff from the East had me squarely in the "There are too many good games to keep up" phase for quite a while.

I definitely played some western stuff I like this year, but yeah, now that I think about it none of was AAA. Dragon Age was probably the biggest budget western game I played and while it was alright, it was certainly not amazing. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden was the biggest budget western game in my top 10, but that's comfortably in the AA sphere (side note, more people should play that game. It went criminally overlooked).

I have some western indies in my top 10 as well (Pacific Drive, Penny's Big Breakaway, and Dungeons of Hinterberg), but my whole top 5 is Japanese. Still, I wouldn't really consider this something to be concerned over. I looked at my top 20 list last year and only 3 Japanese games were even on there (TotK, Trails into Reverie, and Hi Fi Rush), and that wasn't really cause for alarm either. These things just kind of ebb and flow.

@efesell: I'm not saying it will be an off year because the West had a slump, I just think it's generally an off year. I think the top games didn't generate the kind of reception that games like Baldur's Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Spider-Man 2, and Super Mario Wonder did last year. This year people are looking around and thinking maybe Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Final VII: Rebirth, or Astro Bot. And those are all great games but none have the rep that Baldur's Gate 3 did.

It hasn't been a terrible year and there's plenty of stuff I've enjoyed, it's just a little bit less top heavy (and deep) than recent years.

I do think that if it weren't for the strong showing from the Japanese industry it would be a very disappointing year, though.

to borrow a metaphor i'm unqualified to use- i think it sorta depends on what you consider and value as an "at-bat."

sure- The Keighleys favorites this year are not shaping up to be AAA from The West. but if you allow Open Critic as a standard of measure, you'll find (as you've already mentioned many):

• Destiny 2 The Final Shape (expansion)
• Silent Hill 2 (Bloober edition)
• PoP The Lost Crown (debatable)
• WoW The War Within (expansion)
• D4 Vessel of Hatred (expansion)
• CoD Blops 6
• Helldivers 2
• Space Marine 2
• Hellblade 2
• DA Veilguard

^are all at a respectable 80 or higher. i'm not sure i'd qualify that as 'horrible' as much as absent. there's an awful lot of western AAA dev houses cooking at the moment. maybe that makes it a "bad" year for some, but i dunno- speaking for myself, it's not like i don't have things to play.

@mellotronrules: I think it's a little strange to call it "absent" instead of "horrible" when you're only counting the good games. You're ignoring some MASSIVE bombs there, including Skull & Bones, Suicide Squad, and, of course, Concord. That's like getting a dozen eggs, throwing out the rotten ones, and then saying "not a bag package of eggs, though fewer than I'd expect."

Those are mostly expansions or borderline AAA games (I'd put Silent Hill, Helldivers 2, Space Marine 2, and Hellblade 2 at least all on the bubble.) It's a pretty paltry lineup. Meanwhile the really big projects included some enormous stinkers.

Do you even Solar Crown, BRO?

Also, as a certified Hellblade 2 hater I find the idea of putting Hellblade 2 on a list of good AAA games offensive for MULTIPLE reasons.

@bigsocrates: We're swimming in different waters, I think. Rebirth was huge, Metaphor is huge. You got the Dragon Quest remake that is lighting up already. Dragon's Dogma 2 was this year for all of us jank appreciators. Rise of the Ronin was surprisingly solid. Infinite Wealth of course as mentioned and I never actually played Astro but the entire rest of the internet assures me it's good.

For more mid-card stuff Unicorn Overlord was the spirit of Ogre Battle 64 manifesting itself at last. P3 Reload was an incredible remake, Trails series had a new game which I'm only adding to this list because its for me personally and I love it.

I do agree that the balance is off, and I do want more great games from all sources like anybody would. But it's been a hell of a year for me still.

@bigsocrates: yeah fair enough on the clunkers- but to be be fair (and pedantic) Skull and Bones was Ubi Singapore right?

it's true Concord and Suicide Squad were big misses- but i dunno, 2 failed live service games just don't drag down the average for my personal assessment. it's not like i hold every failed MMO or MOBA against the broader industry- just feels like failed trendchasing.

i mean real talk i agree with the sentiment, but as someone who enjoys a variety of stuff- i think it's ok and not necessarily indicative of anything other than long dev times for western AAA.

@mellotronrules: I think that's where I am when I mull over this thesis or argument that it was a down year for "Western games" which I think is by default a slightly problematic term.

The heavy-hitters were kind of expected but they are still worth noting. EA had an overall good yeah especially considering that they debuted EA Sports College Football 25 after an extended hiatus and have shown they don't actually need FIFA. Veilguard seems like it might have righted the ship at BioWare even if I personally don't find it especially remarkable or interesting. There's a new wave of interest into 40K thanks to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II and also thanks to Vtubers and Blops 6 made a ton of money even if its online community is pissed about premium skins. How much of Silent Hill 2's success to Bloober is worth debating and some have questioned if S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl qualifies as AAA, but despite it releasing "hot" it's already sold millions of copies. Shit, if Ubisoft hadn't been completely off their rocker about their expectations for Star Wars Outlaws, I think you'd consider that game a success as well.

None of that excuses the studio closures or layoffs we saw this year, but I think the downward trends we saw in the industry were across the board. This year, Square-Enix had Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but they also had Foamstars. Sega had Metaphor: ReFantazio and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth this year, but they also continue to mismanage The Creative Assembly though their real white elephant continues to be their cratering pachislot and pachinko division.

@efesell: I mean...the majority of the games you named are some flavor of JRPG. And yes, it has been an INCREDIBLE year for JRPGs. They are experiencing a true second golden age. But while I like JRPGs (I'm actually playing the Dragon Quest III remake right now and enjoying it) in terms of sales they don't tend to be a huge mover (not that that's important) but more importantly there are only so many you can play. You didn't even mention Ys X or Persona 3 Remake. That's how many JRPGs we've had this year (I guess those might be seen as AA depending.)

It's certainly not a balanced menu.

@zombiepie: I'm not really talking about sales numbers here, though a lot of Western publishers have taken a bath compared to last year in that department too. Is EA Sports College Football 25 a creative triumph? It seemed decently well received but it's just reskinned Madden and doesn't seem to have evolved that formula. Star Wars Outlaws definitely seems to have mostly negative buzz around it, though it's hard to tell how much is that game just being more Ubislop and how much is the poisonous discourse. It's a 75 on Metacritic so maybe a little of both.

So while you can certainly point to Foamstars to say that Square hasn't had a spotless record I'm not really concerned about the Pachislot stuff here. I care about the business of games and of course the people who make games, but this is mostly me looking through the games I've played from this year and those I still want to play and realizing it's pretty much all from outside "The West," which I agree is a problematic and difficult term but does represent something of a different tradition in games from much of the stuff coming out of Japan and other Asian territories.

@bigsocrates: I am equally surprised that I did not mention Ys X cause I was playing it like Yesterday..

Definitely true that there's been more Japanese stuff I've enjoyed this year. When I think of games from "western developers" that I really enjoyed in 2024, I come up with:

• Helldivers 2 (though I fell off it hard after a month or two)
• Hades 2 (though it's still in early access)
• Xenonauts 2 (ditto, and in truth I've not played this much while waiting for 1.0)
• Patches/expansion(s) for Crusader Kings 3
• Patches/expansion for Diablo 4

The first three would be considered "indie" by most, though Supergiant feels like a household name at this point. And I played a lot of CK3 and D4 this year, but neither of those was actually released in 2024, they just got major patches and content expansions.

Anyway, I think all of those except Xenonauts 2 will be on my "Top 10 games I played this year" list, so it's not a total fail from where I'm sitting. But I do acknowledge that there weren't any brand new AAA releases from western devs this year that really blew my skirts up and down.

Yeah, this year has been pretty bad for AAA games overall in terms of the number of them. I'm struggling to come up with a top 10 GOTY list. I still have FF7 Rebirth and Persona 3 Reload at the top, despite both games coming out early in the year. And guess I will put Black Ops 6 somewhere on the list, because it's a solid entry in the CoD franchise. Stalker, that just came out, is a disappointment. It's filled with bugs, and I won't even get into the weird issue of the game not having anyone but white men in it, not even women or children, something that the similar Metro games did. I've yet to play Metaphor outside the demo, but I'm sure it likely would've made the list. The same with Astrobot. Indiana Jones is coming out soon. Hopefully, the game lives up to the hype. Both for Microsoft and the gamers' sake. But I'm not surprised. After 2023, I knew 2024 would be a cool down period. It would've been crazy if this year was also filled with a seemly endless amount of awesome games.