2024 hasn’t started for very long, and yet, quality or very promising games are already jostling at the gate.

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH

Highly anticipated by the vast community of fans of the license, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth  is undoubtedly THE game of the beginning of the year. After Final Fantasy VII Remake released in the middle of a pandemic, in April 2020, this is the second episode of a revisit which will have three in total. Perfectly thought out, this long J-RPG appears to be one of the most beautiful open world games on the PS5. It’s a shame, however, that some flaws are still present, such as a camera that’s difficult to tame during fights, but the adventure remains incredible. 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , Square Enix, on consoles and PC

2 EXPEDITIONS: A MUDRUNNER GAME

The Mudrunner license, which offers serious challenges to fans of driving off the beaten track, is enriched with a new title called Expeditions. The goal this time is to help science, by transporting equipment to unexplored places. Obviously, the developers have increased the challenge by peppering the courses with traps that are more or less easy to overcome. On the other hand, unlike Snowrunner, the studio’s previous game, the adventure is not played in an open world but in the form of missions, which allows progression to be well structured. A piece of advice: be organized and don’t start without thinking, or else you will taste bad. 

Expeditions: a Mudrunner game , Focus entertainment, on consoles and PC 

3 PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE LOST CROWN

While Skull and Bones, the other Ubisoft game from the start of the year, doesn’t really appeal, the opposite happened with Prince of Persia: The lost crown. By offering a makeover to the license, Ubi has struck the right note. Juggling between a modern graphic style and proven game mechanics, this title is a real gem which, as a bonus, was entirely produced in the publisher’s Montpellier studios. It’s beautiful, it’s clever, it’s fluid, and the players were not mistaken in giving it a triumphant welcome almost everywhere.

Prince of Persia: The lost crown , Ubisoft, on consoles and PC

4 TEKKEN 8

A new episode of Tekken? Yes, but not only. Bandai Namco listened to the criticisms made by players and redesigned its now thirty-year-old license with gameplay resolutely focused on attack. The result is stunning, with a fighting game with exemplary playability, which allows even novices to have fun. Obviously, the scenario is not the keystone of the project, but we notice that it has been the subject of very particular care. Moreover, with its very punchy cutscenes, even the single-player mode is a success that will keep you busy for several hours. 

Tekken 8 , Bandai Namco Studios Inc., on consoles and PC

5 PACIFIC DRIVE

What a strange journey this Pacific Drive is. In this motorized survival game made by the small team at Ironwood Studios, you must drive a car in the disturbing – and rainy – landscapes of the North-West of the United States. The atmosphere borders on the supernatural, since the game takes place in an area marked by radiation, where you have to be organized and smart to hold on. Every outing of your old station wagon could be your last, so plan your route carefully and keep all your senses alert. 

Pacific Drive , Ironwood studios/Kepler Interactive, on PS5 and PC

6 HELLDIVERSE 2

Hellodivers 2 is THE online game of the moment. A phenomenon which surprised even its designers (the Swedes of Arrowhead) overwhelmed by the success and the some 400,000 players connected simultaneously for a few days via Steam alone. The principle of this game very freely inspired by the cult sci-fi film Starship Troopers (1997): defeat cohorts of giant insects or robots and… not much else. The game, which can be enjoyed with others in the mode of a multiplayer TPS (third-person shooter) (you never play alone here), propels you onto planets across the galaxy to shoot at all costs, run, throw grenades, dive to dodge the enemy or launch a devastating orbital strike. A simple, if not simplistic, formula which, somewhat surprisingly, excited the players. The fun is instantaneous, basic, sometimes intense. A simple pleasure, a little guilty, which has the merit of doing good.

Helldivers 2 , Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment, on Playstation 5 and PC

7 MARIO VS. DONKEY KONG

Tireless Mario! The mustachioed muse of Nintendo returns once again in a video game exclusive to the Nintendo Switch console entitled Mario vs. Donkey Kong. This title is in fact a remake of an older game released in 2004 on the old Game Boy Advance. Suffice to say that few will remember this first iteration here sublimated in terms of production and content in its 2024 version. The game, in 2D, invites you to guide Mario in a succession of levels which are all puzzles of platforms to solve. Here you have to use reflection more than skill to progress in these increasingly complex levels (130 levels in total!) Fortunately, the title offers two modes: a classic with a limited time and a relaxed one, without a timer and with protective bubbles to limit a premature end against opponents. A really nice series of puzzles that can be tackled in short yet cerebrally intense gaming sessions alone or in pairs. A title as attractive as it is intelligent.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong , Nintendo, on Switch

8 PERSONA 3: RELOAD

Having become cult thanks to its 5th opus released in 2016 in Japan, the Persona saga is back this year with the remake of its 3rd opus, initially released in 2006. The scenario of “Persona 3: Reload” remains the same as that of original game, but the story takes on a new rhythm and remains particularly catchy and sophisticated. Atlus was able to infuse the gameplay of Persona 5 to make an adventure attractive, the initial gameplay of which could have been off-putting for players in 2024. We also welcome the fact of having modeled the combat on the Persona 5 system to offer more dynamism , always with the possibility of summoning creatures (persona) to defeat enemies and tame them to then reuse them against other monsters.

With an up-to-date facelift and much more dynamic gameplay, Persona 3 is enjoying a deserved comeback. The animated sequences taken from the Japanese anime Persona 3 as well as modernized graphics closer to Persona 5 are enough to convince.

“Persona 3: Reload” , Atlus, on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4 and PC

9 BANISHERS: GHOSTS OF NEW EDEN

The French studio Don’t nod regularly offers titles with originality praised by critics and players. This is once again the case with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, an action RPG with an intriguing storyline, where the player plays a “couple” of ghost hunters at the end of the 17th century. In New Eden, you will try to fight against a curse by freeing souls. But the moral choices at the center of the game are likely to torment you long after your game is over. Beautiful, gripping and mastered from start to finish, Banishers is a magnificent success!

Banishers: Ghosts New Eden , Don’t nod/Focus Entertainment, on consoles and PC

10 LYSFANGA

Originally developed by a team of students and awarded a prize at the Pégases 2022, Lysfanga is now available in its full version and it thrilled us. Presented as a tactical hack n’ slash, the game offers some great gameplay ideas, including the ability to face monsters with different versions of yourself. How ? Quite simply by integrating the possibility of traveling in time and continuing the fight with your double. A very fun concept which allows Lysfanga to take on a tactical aspect bordering on a puzzle game for the most complex confrontations. 

Lysfanga , Sand Door Studio/Spotlight by Quantic Dreams, on consoles and PC