Even though 2023 has put out some truly excellent video game efforts, 2024 is somehow shaping up to be even better still. From Dragon’s Dogma 2 to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, here are the top upcoming games in 2024 to keep on your radar.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Easily one of the most anticipated titles of 2024, Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks set to be every bit the full-blooded sequel to Dragon’s Dogma that action RPG fans have long craved. An epic, third-person RPG with ample sweep and scope, Dragon’s Dogma 2 builds upon its predecessor by not only bringing back the Pawn system and a range of new vocations, but now players will have the opportunity to take their party of heroes and tangle with towering titans, soaring giant eagles and so much more besides.
Powered by the latest iteration of Capcom’s RE Engine, Dragon’s Dogma 2 also stands a very good chance of being one of the most technically ambitious games of 2024 as well.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Mechanically speaking, though Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hews close to its predecessor, that is pretty much where the similarities end. With the metropolis of Midgar now in the rear view mirror, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth greatly expands its ambitions to the horizons, allowing players to take Cloud, Tifa, Barrett and others into a sprawling overworld as they continue on their heroic journey to dismantle Shinra and save the planet.
With upgraded visuals and the inclusion of the Synergized combat mechanics seen in the Integrade DLC, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth looks set to thrill both Final Fantasy and genre fans alike as it enables players to ride Chocobos, indulge themselves at the infamous Golden Saucer and, finally, meet fan favourite character, Vincent Valentine. You’ll struggle to find a more anticipated sequel in 2024.
Helldivers 2
Marking a departure from the top-down, alien-blasting efforts of its 2015 predecessor, Helldivers 2 instead transplants the action into a third-person, over the shoulder perspective. Make no mistake though, while the perspective may have changed, Helldivers 2 has lost none of the satirical charm or the massive arsenal that so well defined the first Helldivers. As such, players can fully expect to hop into massive mechs, unleash aerial bombardments, fire huge railguns and so much more besides as they attempt to restore ‘liberty’ and ‘democracy’ to the furthest reaches of space.
More than that, Helldivers 2 looks set reignite its own particularly chaotic brand of co-op, alien shooting shenanigans for all new generation of gamers and that fact alone puts it on course to be one of 2024’s most anticipated games. After all, who doesn’t enjoy being teamkilled by your ‘best’ friend after they land a drop ship on your noggin during a particularly challenging boss fight, eh?
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Imagine one of the best Metroidvania games ever made was to get a follow up and then, well, imagine no more, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen when Hollow Knight: Silksong releases sometime next year.
Unfurling a vast and opulent underground kingdom in front of the player that is quite unlike any other, Hollow Knight: Silksong soars past its beloved predecessor with more than 150 new creatures to tangle with, reworked crafting systems and some absolutely gorgeous visuals that once again reaffirm the fact that developer Team Cherry is absolutely at the top of its game. Metroidvania titles likely won’t get any better than this in 2024.
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
When Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth releases in January 2024, it’ll herald a great many things. Not only will it seemingly bring the story of longtime series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu to a close, but it’ll also signal the debut of the single largest entry that the Like A Dragon series has seen to date.
Perhaps there is no better example of Infinite Wealth’s massive scope than the fact that it plays host to a story that spans from Japan all the way to Hawaii, a first for the series. Beyond its sizable scope, Infinite Wealth doesn’t just bring back the JRPG turn-based combat of the previous game (though Kiryu hilariously can ‘break’ the turn-based system and fight in real-time – he’s just that hard), but it also introduces a vast range of minigames, one of which is essentially Like A Dragon’s take on Animal Crossing.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Seemingly in development for around 1,000 years and with its Ukrainian studio suffering additional delays as a result of the ongoing conflict, the fact that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is going to make a 2024 release at all is a miracle in and of itself. By all accounts too, Heart of Chornobyl is shaping up to be a barnstorming open-world survival horror offering, with a range of complex life simulating systems, an epic storyline, some cracking gunplay and some truly next generation visuals to boot.
With a sprawling 64-km² radioactive zone to explore, Heart of Chornobyl is looking like the spectacle-stuffed and utterly terrifying S.T.A.L.K.E.R sequel that we’ve always wanted.
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Star Wars: Outlaws
Representing a perfect match for Ubisoft’s well-loved open-world template, Star Wars: Outlaws unfurls its narrative between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, putting players in the well-worn boots of one Kay Vess, a scoundrel of the Outer Rim who together with her partner Nix, are set to pull off one of the biggest heists that the galaxy has ever seen.
Very much a story driven, third-person open-world Star Wars offering, Outlaws meaningfully separates itself from both Ubisoft’s previous efforts and other Star Wars games thanks to its swashbuckling approach to action which sees players doing everything from taking on bounties, exploring planets, riding speeders and flying deadly intergalactic fighter craft. With no shortage of humour, action and epic spectacle, Star Wars: Outlaws is looking like it’ll very much do justice to its licence – to the delight of Star Wars fans everywhere.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
Even though Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League isn’t the direct continuation to Batman Arkham Knight that many players had originally hoped for, the latest superhero offering from Rocksteady Studios nonetheless has intrigued more and more with every new piece of media that has been released. A squad-based team shooter (of all things) set in a warped take on the DC Comics universe where the Justice League has been corrupted and only the titular group of baddies can win the day, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League asks players to do pretty much what it says on the tin.
With an emphasis on the sort of high-speed, acrobatic open world exploration that would make Peter Parker sit up and take notice, coupled with a tandem combat system that requires players to fulfil roles of tanking, damage dealing and support, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is one of the most antipated comic book adaptations in quite some time.
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Tekken 8
Emblematic of the apex of a fighting series that has gone from strength to strength, Tekken 8 very much represents Bandai Namco’s legendary franchise operating at the height of its powers. In every way that a sequel can be, Tekken 8 is overwhelmingly superior to every entry in the series that has come before it.
With a burgeoning cast of some 32 different fighters, an overhauled cinematic story campaign, a newfound emphasis on destructible stages and the most technically accomplished visuals seen in a fighting game to date, Tekken 8 is looking like a resoundingly obvious candidate for best fighting game of 2024 already.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
After seemingly being stuck in development hell for far too long, it finally looks like that talented developer The Chinese Room will be the studio that finally delivers Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 to thirsting gamers late in 2024. Now empowered by Unreal Engine 5, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is a first-person, non-linear action RPG that puts you in the boots (well, fangs) of an elder vampire looking to establish the order of one of the main vampire clans above any other.
With the titular Masquerade being ever present, where vampires must conceal their savage natures by ensuring that their supernatural activities are never seen by regular humans, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is shaping up to be the sort of sophisticated, non-linear vampiric odyssey that fans of both the source material and genre are sure to be enraptured with.
