10. CROW COUNTRY
XSX, PS5, Switch, PC (SFB Games)
So the graphics look carved out of a peat bog in Connemara, but don’t let that put you off this pixelated creep show. Your character rolls up to a rural theme park in Georgia to investigate the disappearance of the park’s owner and explore his rundown house of horrors: cue a catwalk of nightmarish beasties and fiendish puzzles. What this 2D adventure lacks in graphical finesse it makes up for in gothic ambience. There are two playable modes. Survival equips you with weapons; Exploration is literally a walk in the park. Twists and turns keep players gripped as the motives of the protagonist slowly unveil.
9. STAR WARS OUTLAWS
PS5, XSX, PC (Ubisoft)
We all loved Han Solo more than Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, and Outlaws doesn’t forget that sometimes it’s good to be a little bit naughty. Kay Vess is a street thief out of her depth after robbing a spaceship and crashing it onto a remote planet. Now Vess and her companion Nix, a squawking frog-puppy, must survive by working with local hoodlums. Outlaws is drenched in Star Wars nostalgia: stormtroopers, droids, vehicles and architecture chiselled from George Lucas’s inner sanctum. The open-world game is 100% Ubisoft though – a Jedi-infused Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed – as you juggle a spreadsheet of side quests.
8. LIKE A DRAGON: INFINITE WEALTH
PS5, XSX, PC (Sega)
From the neon-drenched alleyways of Tokyo to the sun-splashed beaches of Hawaii. That’s where this year’s instalment in the Yakuza and Like A Dragon franchise takes us. Our lead gangster, Ichiban, preoccupies himself by beating up random surfer dudes and hooligans who hassle him in the street. It’s productive as well as destructive: pick up jobs and go on dates. Crazy Eats is a mini-game homage to Sega’s classic Crazy Taxi, in which you play a bicycle delivery driver, earning tips for mad stunts. Crime really does pay.
7. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: ECHOES OF WISDOM
Switch (Nintendo)
Zelda games invariably star Link, a fantasy leprechaun superhero who rescues distressed damsels. But now, for the first time since the series started in the mid-1980s, we control Princess Zelda herself. This royal affair is a 2D, linear, dungeon-crawling adventure in the manner of old-school Zelda games like A Link To The Past, with the experimentalism of recent hits Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom. Zelda uses her magical staff to create objects (trampolines, wind cannons) and creatures (moles who dig for treasure) to solve puzzles and destroy foes.
The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom6. THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE
PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC (Panic)
Crossing the daft humour of English comics like Beano with saucy Carry On films, this Brit indie adventure is one of a kind. You play a junior salesman whose boss sends him to a fictional town in Yorkshire to meet the Lord Mayor. This balding short-arse encounters a litany of weird characters upon arrival: he frees a man with his arm stuck in a drain and gets sucked up a beer keg pipe to be neatly poured into a pint. It’s a surreal masterpiece that recalls English comedy shows like the Goons and Monty Python: the type of comedy The Beatles, John Lennon in particular, thrived upon. Utterly bonkers but very funny.
5. FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
ps5 (square enix)
Final Fantasy VII, released in 1997 on a three-CD set, set the benchmark for colossal role-playing fantasy games. Rebirth doesn’t skimp on grandeur either – it takes around 70 hours to complete. Cloud, the spiky-haired hero from the original game, has returned with his friends to explore massive open-world environments, ranging from mountains to deserts to jungles. Each region has its own mode of transport, side quests, odd jobs, mini-games (a card game being a stand-out), and opportunities for turned based battles. The story-telling has oodles of emotion and the combat is so methodical you might pull a hamstring.
4. ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE
PS5, XSX, PC (Bandai Namco)
Elon Musk raves about his love of Elden Ring but don’t let that put you off. The 2022 action adventure was a masterpiece in design, and 2024’s expansion pack lets you saddle up to explore new caves and dungeons, meeting a menagerie of new monsters. There are new weapons, spells, talismans and maps: a vast open world filled with tunnels, castles and challenging battles. Fans of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, as well as the original Elden Ring, apply here.
3. STILL WAKES THE DEEP
Xbox Series X (The Chinese Room)
A Hibernian horror set on an oil rig in the 1970s? Who said videogames were all the same. Still Wakes The Deep is an ode to authenticity: from the accents of the Scottish labourers to the furniture in the canteen. Into this Ken Loach world, John Carpenter terror comes crashing when the rig’s drill awakens an otherworldly presence. The graphics and audio design are remarkable – howling winds and lashing rain on the decks; cavernous clanks and monstrous groans in the rig’s oily bowels. Hide and flee from mutated fellow crew, while pondering your disintegrating marriage on the mainland: an apocalyptic North Sea horror with plenty of heart.
3. NEVA
(Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC)
Throw millions of dollars at a game and you won’t come close to this delicate, charming, and occasionally devastating indie hit. A warrior woman and her wolf traverse a beautifully designed landscape. The 2D pastel art style is sumptuous: fields of flowers and forests, mountains and lakes. The wolf interacts with wildlife, and as his guardian, you must reassure and guide him. Over time, the wolf evolves from a pup to become a majestic beast and your protector. The landscape too evolves into darkness, corruption and demons. Neva is reminiscent of Ico and Journey: a wordless yet haunting experience about companionship.
1. ASTRO BOT
Sony’s microwave-faced mascot, who first appeared on the PS4 in 2013, produced an enormously fun platform adventure this year. Traverse the galaxy, recovering fellow Bots scattered across dozens of differently themed planets (made of fire, ice, water and sponge, to name but a few). One is an interplanetary casino; another is made up of Japanese Shinto shrines.They are all glorious theme parks of swings, trampolines and water slides, cliff faces, pulleys and catapults. Your character is equipped with a unique skill in each location: slow time, shrink to the size of a mouse, jet pack into the sky, and so on. A combination of level design, gameplay, and innovative use of the PS5’s DualSense controller make Astro Bot a true champion. Step aside Mario and Sonic: there’s a new bot in town.
As Christmas and New Year hurtle ever closer – capping off another phenomenal 12 months of Irish music, sport, film, literature and more – we’re thrilled to present the brand new Hot Press Annual!
Inside, you’ll find captivating conversations with Fontaines D.C., KNEECAP, Jazzy, LYRA, The Mary Wallopers, Gurriers, Daniel Wiffen, Irish Artists For Palestine and more – all taking us through their highlights of the year. Plus, the HP critics deliver their verdict on 2024 – including all the top albums, tracks, movies, books, quotes, photos and events…
