Another year comes to an end, and once again it’s time for my game-buying update. I’m still avidly buying – and playing – games, and two trips to Japan (since the last update) contributed to this hobby as it usually does.
This was also the year in which I sold off the bulk of my remaining collection. Specifically I sold off my Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PS Vita and PSP collections: a total of over 600 games. This was the sixth sale in eight years, the biggest I’ve done so far (in quantity and dollars) and was a portion of the collection I had previously claimed I’d never sell.
I still have robust collections of 3DS and Switch games (over 500 combined) as well as select games on many systems that I didn’t want to part with, but I think my days of selling the collection are now behind me. I’m still enjoying the Switch and the recent confirmation that the successor console (the ‘Super Switch’?) will be reverse compatible means I’ll be playing my collection for many years to come.
In 2024 I purchased 77 games for 4 different systems. I’ve dismissed the pie charts for this update since almost all the purchases were for the Switch. Here’s the breakdown:
– 73 games were for the Switch (91% of total dollars spent)
– 2 games for the Playstation 2 (4%)
– 1 game for the Playstation (2%)
– 1 game for the MSX (3%)
That last one is of note, since it’s the first MSX game I’ve ever purchased. Since it is a cartridge game for the Japanese model MSX, this means I can’t and never will be able to play it! This is also true for the PS1 and PS2 purchases (since I sold my consoles years ago) but all four of these were Wizardry games so they’re ‘for the collection’ 🙂
Compared to the 31 years of data I have, the total number of games purchased (77) ranked 8th, and the total dollars spent ($2412.50) ranked 5th. The average price of the Switch games was almost exactly $30, and the others all cost more with the MSX game – at about US$77 – being the most expensive I purchased in 2024. Of the 77 total games 17 were purchased in Japan, and I ‘saved’ a bit doing this since the Yen remains weak.
The above data also doesn’t include the approximately $150 I spent on Puzzle & Dragons during 2024. It remains the only mobile game I play (and the only one on my phone) but I still play it every day, as I have for over 11 years!
Let’s move on to my favourite games of 2024, as usual in no particular order:
Unicorn Overlord (Switch)
Vanillaware games are always remarkable, and everything they’ve released in the last fifteen years or so would likely make one of my top 50 games of all time lists (and one of them, Dragon’s Crown, desperately needs a Switch rerelease despite the fact I have previously purchased it for three other consoles). This year they released a tactical strategy game of such high quality that it even attracted players to a genre that historically has struggled to find a wide audience. Unicorn Overlord is so good in every aspect, that it’s remarkable it was the creation of a new designer. The combat and unit design is about the best I’ve seen in this genre, the world map is exquisitely explorable, the graphics and animations surpass even the astonishingly high standards set by previous Vanillaware games (I’m looking at you, Odin’s Sphere) and best of all the story and characters make it a joy to play from start to the very end. This is a masterpiece, and if I were listing best games of the last decade this one would be in the top five.
Metal Slug Attack Reloaded (Switch)
This cursed game! It’s an inexpensive (digital only) strategy game featuring Metal Slug characters autobattling against each other in a series of challenges. The amazing pixel art (taken from the famous series of run-and-gun games) hooked me initially, but the gacha element and ‘just one more try’ gameplay took over quickly and I became insane for this game. I played it endlessly for maybe ten days, and because I was starting to dream about it when I finally S-ranked every single battle I hastily deleted it from my Switch. The relief was profound, but doesn’t negate the fact that this was one of my favourite games of the year while it lasted!
Diablo II Resurrected (Switch)
This legendary game was first released in 2000, and I we bought two copies on launch day and played them (via local multiplayer) into the ground. KLS lost interest in time but I kept going, eventually modding the game and playing my own versions. I played it on and off for about a decade until Diablo III was released at which point that sequel took over. Then in 2021 Blizzard released a remastered version of Diablo II on the Switch which I bought and played for another 150-ish hours (and it very nearly earned a game-of-the-year spot that year). A few months ago, I fired it up and started again, became once again addicted, and 70 hours later walked away from a level 96 lightning Amazon. This is one of the best and most playable games of all time, and given I’ve never beaten the highest difficulty with a Paladin or Druid I can’t honestly say I won’t return again one day 🙂
2025 is now almost upon us, and I already wonder about what games will come my way this next year. As for the ones I play, well that’s already mostly decided by a ‘to play’ list of already-purchased games that is dozens of titles long. But I also know there’s a few promising titles on the horizon, including a Switch remake of one of my favourite games of all time. I think it’s a safe prediction that you’ll read more about it in next year’s update.
Oh and the ‘Part 1’ is because once again I’m following up with details of every game I played this year. Watch for that in a week or so.
