Game of the Year: #8 - Dragon's Dogma 2

N.i.c.e. i agree with dragon dogma 2 with the 8th spot.i got dragon dogma 2 number 8 also for game of the year.word up son

Very much enjoyed this game. When the map is mostly unexplored is when this game truly shines - pure feeling of exploration. They definitely dropped the ball with NG+, but that's a small gripe.

So far so good with the got top ten entries, not the order id place them though. Wouldn't have this above P3R and Helldivers though.

Playing this now and am loving it. The combat is a little janky but still so much fun. The exploration is great as well.

Really enjoyed exploring and experimenting with different builds.

#1 Astro Bot. If only there were more plot twists than an Atlus game on PushSquare...

The organic bond you build with your bunch of weird pawns, ambling around before pliéing through complete carnage really makes this game. I completely understand why it’s not for everyone, but I fell in love with it. Then I got distracted and now it’s been 5 months. I’ll have to dip back in in the new year

‘Stunted storytelling and wooden characters’ - you’re not selling it to me!

Still waiting to pick it up once they fix the frame rate issues.

Enjoyed about 30 hours of it, but had to drop it due to the shocking performance. Navigation did become a bit of a chore after a while. I like wandering off and exploring, but having to walk the exact same roads and fight the exact same small handful of enemy types got repetitive a million times over loses its charm eventually.

Wow! All the way up at 8?! I’m interested to see the 7 games ahead of it. I already know of one that shouldn’t be ahead of it.

Deserves to be on the list, excellent combat and world exploration.

Fantastic game. My personal game of '24.

Only got round to playing this a couple of weeks ago on my Pro and I love it! No performance or graphical issues on that console, and so far as the gameplay goes, I'm really enjoying the combat, the pawns, the exploration, the progression. The thin narrative doesn't bother me, it's just not what this type of game is about imo.

One of my most enjoyable games of the year (although I do have Metaphor, Rebirth and Ragnarok on the 'installed but not yet played' backlog so any of those could top it in due course)

When this first came out all I heard was awful things, now I see constant praise. Was it good or not?

I played this for a number of hours and enjoyed it, but I got distracted by other games that are more fun. I'll get back to it eventually.

@LavenderShroud had issues at first. Issues have been fixed. Similar to how Cyberpunk went through its problems. Sucks that’s games release with bugs so often now. But they’ve become big-budget and deadlines need to be met.

Nah. It's the rpg that has nothing to offer besides combat, and even that I found lacking due to stamina meter governing everything and over reliance on ai companions.

It should be higher on the list...rigged! RIGGED! Jk, jk. I do think it should be higher but Im glad that DD2 got included at all. Seeing as this game seems to be very controversial in certain corners of the internet. Good to see it at least getting some love.

DD2 still has the best combat and exploration out of any game that I played in 2024. It's a fantastic open world RPG and its up there with Astro Bot as one of my favorite games of the year. A well deserved #8 spot

One of my favourite games this year. Yes it's got issues but none are game breaking and it was exactly what I thought it was going to be..more of the same but on a bigger scale. I still have a fair bit to discover in this game and it's one of those games I'll return to again and again.

@LavenderShroud everything was blown out of proportion. Yes there were issues but nothing game breaking in any sense. Its an awesome game but it's pretty hard core because it does not hold your hand and encourages you to explore. For some people that's a big ask especially those that never played the first game. A rough diamond.

Well... general consensus seems to be its worse than the original in every way except on graphics. So, probably shouldn't be here. That's not really an "evolution".

@Nem And yet Kokatu have Veilguard at number 2 on their GOTY list, and I won't begin to express what I think of that decision.

Opinions and arseholes...we all have one.

@Nem maybe ask the people here who played the first game. It's not worse than the first game at all. It's more of a continuation and expansion of ideas that began in the first game. These games are a truly unique experience in the rpg genre and are not for everybody. They are definitely a marmite game just like many others out there. There are many reasons why people love these games and equally as many reasons as to why people dislike them. Much like the dark souls games you either love them or hate them and I think they are the kind of games that you just have to try out and make your own mind up about. It took me a long time to get into the first game and I wasn't sure if I was enjoying it at all but once I opened up bitter black Isle I was hooked. DD2 is more of the same and both games despite their niggles and jank are easily 2 of the best rpg's I've played.

@playstation1995 never ceases to amaze me how you rate games you've never played, lol

I’ve read that the game is great once you reach the end, but before that it’s a chore. I don’t consider that very engaging…

Out of the 7 games remaining it's obvious what the games are. Silent Hill, Astro Bot, FF7 ReBirth, Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong, Balatro and Metaphor.

That's 7/10 games from Asian developers, and another that's from a japanese IP. Western Developers need a kick up the a**.

@dschons. I played it and i already know im going to enjoy dragon dogma 2.i got a spider sense when it comes to video games thst i know i will like dog.word up son

@playstation1995 sure bruh

@UltimateOtaku91 Are you certain about Wukong? I would suggest Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth in its place.

@Jey887 Hmm you're probably right as Wukong didn't score very well but for some reason it's been nominated in quite a few more prestigious award publications so I'd assume it would be the same here, whereas LAD hasn't been nominated for much as far as im aware.

@dschons. Yeah dog.word up son

Gave it a go...lost interest didn't get that far .... currently playing dragon age the veilguard though and an surprised by how good it is

@somnambulance I think there would be riots if ff7 didn't make the top 10, I think it will be 1 or 2,.personally 1 for me

@StylesT I can’t understand all this love for Veilguard on here - a brutally sanitised IP with some of the wettest characters imaginable and a combat system so simplified and lobotomised the word ‘repetitive’ is FAR too mild a descriptor.

I would say considering the field this year, much of which is greatly overrated, this is about right. It's decent but feels unpolished and greatly unoptomized in terms of technical performance but also gameplay balance.

If you explore the sandbox that beckons just that, you are overpowered and the gameplay thus gets repetitive long before The credits roll. Combat is the main draw here, As the game has little in terms of story and even that is essentially a retread. Yet, despite it's mechanics being good They really wiffed it in terms of Combat balance and for me the game became the typical open world slog because of it about 2/3 through. It's such a shame because the game doesn't hold your hand and there is tons to uncover organically much like elden ring, however it essentially breaks the game doing so unless you enjoy just destroying the same 5-10 spongey enemies with padded health bars over and over again with no real challenge after about the 15 - 20 hr mark

They really had the opportunity to expand the bones of the original, yet instead just essentially made a remake without refinement and feels unfinished just as it's original did. Turns out it's really Capcom leadership to blame, and I'm guessing that's why the game leads jumped ship post release. This game was a 6-7 for me, but had the potential to be far More had it been Given the resources and time to manifest as intended.

@Northern_munkey Well... i played the first one and got pretty bored of it. I definitely don't like Souls games either. 🤷
I played the trial of DD2 and researched it a lot cause i was undecided. The criticisms were sound. Lack of enemy variety, less skills, unrewarding(aka chests weren't rewarding exploration).
Are you gonna dispute those? When people say it's more of the same with less than what dark arisen had i kind of have to conclude it's not gonna satisfy me.
But if you say it's more of the same, we can agree it's not an "evolution".
Actually i am waiting to see if they make a dark arisen version of the second game that fixes the shortcomings.

@Nem on a personal note I will dispute those criticisms as I thought that they were blown way out of proportion. I've already said it was not a perfect game and had issues. You did not make it clear you had played the demo and came across as having no idea about the game so having personally put in almost 70+ hours on my first playthrough I thought I'd give you my personal,honest opinion. I use reviews as a guide to help me decide on games I've been waiting on and do not take the reviewers thoughts or other gamers comments as verbatim and ultimately decide for myself if the game is worthy of a day 1 purchase or a wait for a sale one. In this instance I loved the first game so much that I just pre ordered DD2 as soon as it was available to do so and even though I knew exactly what I was getting I have not regretted my purchase or the time spent thus far in the game. So yes I refute the over blown and sensationalist attention grabbing negative gaslighting DD2 has received and will continue to do so. Have a great Xmas buddy 👍

Unfortunately, this is the game that is currently stuck in my PS5. So, I kinda have a grudge. Seemed great from what I played though.

@somnambulance yeah I forsee those 3 been too 3 for sure FF maybe around 4-7 with stellar blade and silent hill and meta mixed around somewhere there

@FinneasGH mostly fixed. Or are on Pro.

@AhmadSumadi Its a reason to never buy these games before reviews and wanting on discounts. You can only make first impression and of its not that good i wont pay full price.

I played the game at launch but I couldn't stand the technical issues it had but loved it. I wanna go back to it sometime early 2025 since I heard a lot of praise of its performance on the Pro.

@StylesT As a Dragon Age fan, I liked the direction of Dragon Age The Veilguard and enjoyed the 97 hours played in the game. The last few hours in the game was a masterpiece that gave me confidence that BioWare still knows how to make Epic sequences and get you attached to their worlds.

@Cloud39472 I was playing MGS V on PS3 when mine died. I was just kinda like, "yeah...yeah that makes sense."

Did they ever fix the 60fps issue?

This was my Game of the Year, a great adventure from start to finish

I came to DD2 late, getting it with my PS5 Pro, so much of the performance bugs were already gone when I played. This game is my favorite of 2024.