The Player 2 Game Awards - Best AAA
It’s that time of year folks, time for the P2 crew to put together the definitive GOTY list. As always we can never agree on anything so it is just easier to let everyone have their own choice.
For our final award we look at the best that AAA had to offer in 2024
Matt Hewson - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
It is funny how 2024 worked out. The two contenders for my AAA GOTY were the first and last reviews I did for the year. It came down to Ichiban and Indy, and it was an all-mighty tussle in my head for the overall winner. Ichiban, Kiyru, and crew came out slightly ahead in the end. Their charm, RPG stylings, and awesome story only just pipped out Indy’s perfect adventure.
Infinite Wealth took the first RPG Like a Dragon title and fixed every little problem. Gone were the grinding issues, no more difficulty jumps and an even better story came on board. All this, along with the addition of Kiryu joining the crew and we have a new number 1 Yakuza game. Infinite Wealth is a must-play. Don’t miss it.
Tim Henderson - Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
For the first time in a while, picking a winner here proved a little painful. There is a very clear runner up here, and it arguably deserves the attention more. I mean, Rebirth had all of the attention in the world leading on to release. As a franchise, it represents what could be considered royalty. It’s not like poor old Final Fantasy 7 needs help getting noticed.
It says a lot, then, that this game could take the foundation laid by Remake and turn it into just about the least-interesting, most eye-rolling twist conceivable, and still come out on top. It says a lot about what actually got fleshed-out, the way that the world was expanded and brought to deeper life. Arguably, it may have too much stuff in it; this game is surely the bane of players who twitch when looking at incomplete to-do lists. But damn, the world is great to explore. The musical score is almost pure swish. The combat remains fantastic. It looks great, too, especially for its scale.
Are there changes that I would personally make? Sure. There are bits I would personally cut down and replace with filling out Barrett’s back story a bit more. There’s a bit during the final boss that is absolutely infuriating. But there was also no way that this game could ever hope to completely please everyone, and what the team here has built remains breathtaking, warts and all.
Shaun Nicholls - Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero
So 2024 didn’t have a lot of AAA games for me. In looking back over the year there were only two AAA games (and one alleged AAAA game) that I played through the year. One of those was Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero and as a Dragon Ball shill I always knew that I would end up playing it, what I didn’t realise was just how much I would enjoy my time with it and the way the game focused on the journey of specific characters throughout the Z and Super eras. With spectacular visuals, easy-to-grasp combat controls, a huge roster of characters and the ability to craft mini-story battles of your own, every player can live out their own Dragon Ball fantasy as much as they want.
Jason Hawkins - Metaphor ReFantazio
I zipped through Metaphor for review, but even after 80 hours, I was compelled to return and do it all again, to find out all these little things I missed. Metaphor blends the design of multiple Shin Megami Tensei games and their spin-offs and still somehow manages to make something that’s not only coherent but poignant. The narrative is great, the music isa banger, the visuals are lovely and the combat is tense and strategic. What a bloody good game.
Stephen del Prado - Astro Bot
Astro Bot has become a phenomenon in my house for my sons, aged almost 5 and 8, both of whom have far outstripped me in terms of progress through the game. My eldest completed the game with not much help, while the youngest is ¾ of the way through thanks to a bit of help from his older brother and me. It has captivated them in a way no other title has this year and is playful, inventive, nostalgic and rigorously designed in a way no Sony mascot platformer has ever been before. While I have played some other great AAA titles this year, none of them have gotten close to the magic spell Astrobot managed to cast over my family, a rare moment of brilliance for PlayStation to shine in a field so often dominated by Nintendo.
Paul James - Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was my most anticipated game of 2024, and it delivered in spades. Recently I’ve been able to return to the game while checking out the PS5 Pro and that incredible upgrade has seen my one major reservation get moved from the picture as well. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has done something extraordinary, forging its own path, while still paying respect to the source material, while also managing to modernise itself in ways that few other remakes have succeeded in doing. Right now I come to the end of 2024 looking for a way to carve out another 100 hours so I can go around again with it.
Jess Zammit - Dragon Age: The Veilguard
I need to start by acknowledging the games that almost took this top spot for me. Of course, there’s The Game Awards GOTY Astro Bot, which has swept many awards slates for good reason. But my personal gaming year was full of games that I reviewed, absolutely adored, and which then went on to get fair-to-middling reviews from others. But hey – it was a fantastic year of gaming for me. So, shoutout to three phenomenal games – first, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, which did a wonderful job of continuing Max Caulfield’s story, and of course The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Princess Peach: Showtime; both of which brought female protagonists to the forefront of long-standing Nintendo IPs, and in doing so created the type of games I wish I could have played as a young girl who just wanted to see herself as a hero.
But now onto the winner. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been a long time coming, and when a game arrives ten years after the last entry in its very successful series, there will always be immense pressure on it to deliver. For some, the way it leaned into a slightly goofier, cheesier tone detracted from their enjoyment of the narrative – but for me, it only made it better. Protagonist Rook was an absolute dork, and that’s exactly the kind of hero I want to see; I have no interest in stoicism – give me a flawed and awkward leader. They were, of course, surrounded by a classic Bioware gaggle of characters, the likes of whom allowed the studio to explore new and diverse stories in a way that you rarely see in games of this scale. The relationships built between them and Rook – romantic or otherwise – were nuanced and believable, and each character came with their own battles to fight that may have originally been disconnected to Rook’s greater objective, but which ultimately all have a role to play in the fate of the world.
In some ways it was derivative – it played like a mix between God of War (2018) and Mass Effect – but I don’t think something needs to reinvent the wheel to be exceptional. The risks Bioware took in their storytelling, coupled with some cool visual choices and a welcome tonal shift, made Veilguard the most well-rounded of this year’s offerings, flaws and all. Congrats, Bioware – you’re still masters at making killer games and making me cry.
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