2024 has started off as an even better year for gaming (if gaming companies don’t mess it up)
Could be a good year…if no one decides to ruin it
To many 2023 was essentially the greatest year in gaming in a while but you may want to hold that thought because 2024 seems to be ramping up to be quite the year as well, especially because it’s started off with quite a bang and we’ve just left January.
The games that came out in January were nothing short of phenomenal, whether they were reinventions of already existing brands or comebacks from essentially “dead” and the games that are going to follow this year are probably following the exact same path if nothing happens so buckle up folks because 2024 might turn out to be one of a year but for the sack of time, I’ll be focusing on 3 major releases that came out this month and why you might actually want to finally make that next gen upgrade.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Starting off with a name you may have last heard when you were maybe 10 or so the Prince of Persia series had long been dead but the Lost Crown gave us a comeback and reinvention, we didn’t know we needed. This fresh take on the series shifts it from the 3D platformer, hack and slash to a much simpler 2D Metroid Vania style of game play and for those of you not familiar with this type of genre it’s essentially a game where you get dropped into a dungeon type area and you have to explore said area whilst uncovering maps and bits and pieces and this is further strengthened by tying in the time travel elements that the Prince of Persia serious had become known for and the end result is a revamp which keeps the same fun and hectic combat whilst adding a new twist to an essentially dead brand and bringing it back into the limelight and hopefully the sequels will just be as good if not better. The good thing about Prince of Persia is that it’s still available on last gen consoles so that’s a plus for PS4/Xbox One Owners.
Tekken 8
The second game that came out just last week, Tekken 8 was a much-needed return to form for the series with its great offline content, revamped fighting system and actually great story that will satisfy Tekken fans both old and new with what’s on offer. The other factor that makes Tekken 8 great is the fact that it actually looks pretty damn amazing and controls like a dream and this is a vast improvement over the last mainline entry, Tekken 7, which was kind of a letdown for hardcore Tekken fans so I would say this is a game you need to add to your list however it is next-gen only so you may need to get that upgrade we talked about earlier.
Yakuza: Like A dragon Infinite Wealth
The last game we are going to be talking about is one you may have not heard off that much or maybe you’ve seen snippets and just dismissed it as a GTA clone, but that’s where you’re wrong because the Yakuza series is anything but. With the original series being your beat em’ ups where you’d fight nameless mobs and sometimes crazy bosses whilst still having a pretty interesting plot and great character work. When the first Like a Dragon game came out, most fans of the series (myself included) were pretty skeptic but boy oh boy were we wrong, not only did they introduce a great new protagonist but the creators also gave us an amazing plot and a fun RPG combat loop so I would definitely recommend checking this title out however you will need to play the first like a dragon game then if you still want to dive deeper into the lore you can play the original 6 games which have been mostly remastered and ported to newer gen consoles.
Palworld : aka Pokémon’s biggest nightmare
This game could arguably be called the scoundrel of the year so far or the thorn in Nintendo’s side because let’s face it, on look at Palworld and you get why people are calling “Pokémon , but with guns”. The Pokémon games have always been treated sort of like a darling child in the gaming industry. Always being treated like they were gold while being restricted to Nintendo consoles and maybe sometimes being shared in a limited form like Pokémon Go or Unite. And part of that has been because of both the special place Pokémon has in the hearts of millennials and Gen Z but also because of the vice-grip that Nintendo has on gaming and it’s fanbase, and an army of lawyers for anyone who even tries to make their own Pokémon remaster on their PC.Well it seems the makesrs of PalWorld don’t really care about that, because their new game is clearly Pokemon inspired, but also takes elements from Monster Hunter, Minecraft and the Ark: Survival games to create what’s basically a crazy hodgepodge of ideas that just…works. And that’s not our opinion, it’s the opinion of over 5 million people who have bought it on Steam for PC, while it’s in EARLY ACCESS. This is basically a game that’s not even done being made (and has the bugs to show it) yet people are willing to part with their cash for it. And based on the gameplay footage, I don’t blame them. This game seems awesome.
Now about that upgrade….
We mentioned earlier that you might finally need to upgrade from that old PS4/Xbox and the reason for this is mainly futureproofing because as the years go buy more and more studios are going all in on the idea of next-gen so the purpose of this mini-guide is to go over what consoles you should spend your time investing in:
Personal Pick: Xbox Series X
Alternative: Xbox Series S Carbon
Now for any of you who know me on a personal level I have been a PlayStation guy all my life however this time I will recommend the Xbox Series X for two reasons, the first being that it’s actually surprisingly cheap and the second being game pass. Now what I meant by its cheap is that for a next-gen console that’s meant to be on par with the PS5. If you look around you can find one for as low as $450 (I kid you not) and the usual price is usually $500 and you can just buy a brand new series X for $600 or $650 so yeah it actually makes sense to buy and Xbox this time around and if you cannot afford a Series X you can just get your hands on the Series S carbon and why I chose the Carbon specifically is because it’s pretty cheap but still comes with a terabyte of space however it’s slightly less powerful but if you’re still interested you can find one for around $ 450 or lower. For those of you that didn’t know it already game pass is essentially Xbox’s answer to PlayStation Plus but better in the sense that you instantly get access to almost every game that’s been around since the Xbox 360 era so if you feel like playing an old title like blur you download it and hop on. The last reason I would very much recommend is because of storage space, the Xbox Series X Comes with a whopping 1TB of space and that’s a lot of space whereas the PS5 comes with half of that so you can cram more games into it and if you’re feeling especially generous, you can buy the extra terabyte of storage for around $120 dollars and all in all the Xbox is better this time around just because it’s a bit more economical as a console.
Now if only the games can stay in focus.
2023 as amazing as it was , had the ugly stain of tones of workers in the gaming industry being laid off due to the tech industry being in it’s “we need to cut back” era. And unfortunately 2024 has started on a similar note. Just last week 1900 employees (yes you read that right) were fired from Microsoft’s gaming divisions, despite ironically that being the third most profitable division in the company. It makes you worry about how the great games will keep coming if the if the workers aren’t even there.
If you look into these games, you’ll begin to understand why I went with the statement that 2024 might be a great year for gaming and this is still just scratching the surface. There are games like the Indiana Jones game that’s coming out, Avowed which seems to be a lot like Skyrim and many other so keep your eyes peeled cause 2024 might be the year you find your new favorite game and please for the love of all that is holy get that upgrade cause it will be worth it in the end.
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