2024 video games we're looking forward to
Now that we’re in a new year (and hopefully you’ve put a dent in your game backlog over the holidays), we can take a glance at some of the interesting video games with 2024 release dates.
(Please note: Release dates are current as of publication and may change.)
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Release date: Jan. 18
Available on: PlayStation 5/4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
It’s been two decades since the release of the critically acclaimed "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" — which, incidentally, is the last time I played a PoP game. But Ubisoft’s "The Lost Crown" is looking to change that.
According to trailers and previews, the game blends its well-known 2.5D platformer mechanics with a Metroidvania design (meaning an interconnected world you’ll repeatedly traverse as you gain new abilities/items), which seems like something the franchise should have done before.
While the visuals don’t look award-winning, the combat looks meaty and engaging, which is paramount for a game that reportedly takes about two dozen hours to complete.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
Release date: Jan. 19
Available on: PS5
"The Last of Us Part II" is a narrative heavyweight — traumatic, engrossing, draining, hypnotic. The original PS4 game is well worth playing, but the remaster offers a few upgrades and extras you won’t find in the 2020 version.
The major one: a new mode called No Return, a survival mode featuring a variety of playable characters from TLOU franchise. Another bonus includes Lost Levels — playable but not fully finished levels cut from the original game. (Developer Naughty Dog frames this as a behind-the-scenes treat for gamers to further understand the game.)
Then there are the basics that come with most remasters: upgraded graphics, better load times and, since this is on the PS5, haptic feedback integration with the console’s DualSense controller. If you haven’t played the original, the remaster offers a perfect opportunity to dive into this phenomenal game. (Those who own the original game and a PS5 can upgrade their version for $10, rather than paying the full $49.99.)
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Release date: Jan. 26
Available on: PS5/4, XSX/S, Xbox One, PC
The "Like a Dragon" games (known as the Yakuza series until 2020) are wild, nonsensical and completely addictive in the best way possible. One minute you’ll be singing karaoke, and the next you’ll be thrown into a massive, multilevel brawl where you’re just as likely to perform a wrestling move as you are to brandish a traffic cone as a weapon.
From what we’ve seen so far, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s "Infinite Wealth", a sequel to 2020’s "Yakuza: Like a Dragon", continues this chaos with colorful aplomb — and, for the first time, adds a non-Japan location to the mix: Hawaii.
Along with "Like a Dragon" protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, longtime Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu makes his knuckle-brawling return as the two team up to … well, if previous games in the long-running series have taught us anything, it’s that we really have no idea what’s going on in any Yakuza/Like a Dragon game. Just perfect your fighting styles and you’ll be good to go.
Pacific Drive
Release date: Feb. 22
Available on: PS5, PC
Why is that every game set in the Pacific Northwest has to be a horror game? (Maybe it’s all the trees? It’s probably all the trees.) In "Pacific Drive", a first-person survival game from developer Ironwood Studios, you explore the haunting Olympic Exclusion Zone where some super dangerous research has transformed the area from something tranquil to something twisted.
You’ll drive around in your trusty station wagon as you collect material so you can build tools and upgrade your garage (where you’ll use said tools to improve your car). Your goal: to escape the anomalies (and oddly disturbing metal monsters) plaguing the Exclusion Zone. Here’s hoping there are some rockin’ tunes on the radio to keep us distracted from impending doom.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Release date: Feb. 29
Available on: PS5
By the end of Square Enix’s "Final Fantasy VII Remake", we were introduced to an alternate version of the 1997 original, where protagonist Cloud Strife and his teammates defied fate and changed their future.
It was also the first entry in a trilogy: The second game, Rebirth, is slated to diverge even further from what players of the original classic remember. While combat and visuals look similar to 2020’s Remake, other more important questions abound: What does it mean for that character to be alive in this timeline? Will that character die this time, or will they be saved?
We know Rebirth’s storyline will take us from leaving Midgar to the Forgotten Capital (where one of the gaming world’s most famous deaths happens — or does it?), but what happens along the way is more of a mystery fans will be eager to see play out.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape
Release date: June 4
Available on: PS5/4, XSX/S, Xbox One, PC
"The Final Shape" is meant to wrap up Destiny’s decadelong Light and Darkness Saga and answer long-standing questions about the Traveler, the Witness, the Guardians and so much more. But the real mystery lies in our reality.
Sony-owned Bungie has hit some rocky times as of late: The Bellevue-based Destiny developer in late October announced both layoffs and title delays following reportedly missing revenue projections by 45%.
The reported reason for the financial turmoil: a drop in the player base for Destiny following last February’s lackluster Lightfall expansion. So players are rightly concerned about what will come with "The Final Shape", which was delayed from this February until June. Here’s hoping the company pulls out all the stops for what should be (and, for Bungie, what must be) a competent and celebratory moment for the company and Destiny community.
