Halftime report - has 2024 been a great year in gaming for you so far?

We’re at the midway mark! As a JRPG fan, it’s been a great year for me. FF7 Reunion, Like a Dragon, Persona 3 Reload, Granblue Fantasy, Shin Megami Vengeance (comes out in a few days). I’m also looking forward to upcoming Metaphor Refantazio. Then there’s the remakes of some of my favorite games, Silent Hill and MGS. Also excited for a couple Xbox games like Avowed and Indiana Jones. What about you, SW? Has 2024 been a great year in gaming for you?

@SolidGame_basic: No such thing as jrpg. It's just an rpg.

As for 2024, it's probably been the year i've spent the least on games so far.

We've had Helldivers and Banishers so far, which has made it a good start of the year.

For the rest of the year there's a lot to look forward to. Microsoft had a great showing for 2024 & 2025.

That’s like saying there’s no such thing as punk rock, it’s just rock n roll lol

Do you say jracing games or jfighting games? of course not because its stupid just like saying jrpg.

First half of the year been incredible. Its a great year for fans of Japanese and Asian devs. List of games I've played that been a highlight for me so far:-

• Granblue Relink
• FF7 Rebirth
• Unicorn Overlord
• ToCS 3+4 (its a PS5 enhanced port)
• Rise of Ronin
• ..... Dave the Diver (PS5 port)

I Haven't even started Eiyuden Chronicles or bought Yakuza 8, Persona 3, Stellar Blade. I pre ordered SMTV Vengeance and Trails through Daybreak for PS5 so looking forward to those!

9.5/10 year so far so far as jrpg enjoyer. Would have been a 10/10 had Square not fumbled FF7 Rebirth ending I am still salty about it.

*capcom and bandai releases DD2, Tekken 8 so its a good year for those fans as well.

GOAT Starfield and GOAT Hellblade 2 in the same first half of year is like manna from heaven baby!! ;o

Thank you, Uncle Phil. lol :P

Yes, and there's a shitload of other quality games coming by the end of the year.

Because those aren’t subgenres, simple as that

Rpg's made in Japan are not a sub-genre either.

So far shit year. Waiting for second half. Stalker 2, Space marine 2, MGS3 remake.

What about arena fighters? Are those just fighting games or a different category?

What about Euro Truck simulator or snowrunner? Is it a sim genre or a racing genre? 🤔🤔

Personally

xbox....ok

Ps.....dog shit

Going forward

Xbox....Hyped

Ps....utter dog shit

I don't know how anyone has enough time to play all those JRPGs unless that's all they play. Still, great additions to this year's line-up. Currently playing Persona 3 Reload finally and I'll probably jump on SMTV Vengeance after I've worked in a pallet cleanser or two to mix it up.

Yeah, it’s been a very good year for gaming so far and a lot of good stuff to look forward to for the rest of the year. Only 9 days until Shadow of the Erdtree.

First half has been stellar for me. Been playing Redfall, Hellblade 2, Forza Motorsport 2023 and multiplatform game, Granblue Fantasy. The second half of 2024 is OFF THE CHARTS for my Xbox with so many games coming out. PS will be in hibernation until Sony finally releases a first party game in 2026. Wolverine!

It has been okay with P3 reload being the best title. The Starfield update was also really great. After the brilliant Xbox Showcase I am sure that the rest of 2024 will be even better.

Still more great games than I have time for, so yes

Yes, got a "new" persona and a new Vanillaware game, that is always good in my list.

I've purchased one game so far... Paper Mario TTYD... which is of course fantastic.

iPhone got the Delta emulator so that's cool...

I've been gaming plenty on Xbox and Switch, just playing older stuff. Played for first time and beat Borderlands 1 & 2, finishing up getting all the S+ ranks in RE4 Remake, Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, and a few other games I've been playing too.

Hoping Switch gets something I'm excited for later this year. I might re-sub to Gamepass for first time in a while later this year to play Indiana Jones and Stalker 2. I'm also waiting for cheaper digital sale prices on games like Jedi Survivor, Hogwarts Legacy, Alan Wake 2, and Starfield. I'm a cheap gamer XD

Play used older games and play retro games, buy nothing brand new

Modern gaming is a scam. Pre orders are a scam, "legendary edition super cool extra skin pack gold bonus point omega packs" are a scam

None of you played every great game over the last 5 years.

This year in gaming is slop and scams

It has been a steady year for single player experiences and pretty fringe on the muktiplayer side.. although we still have half the year left and some shooters, sports, racing, etc. mp games are coming, so the 2nd half will probably be stronger on that front. It's been a slightly above average year overall so far, but the good games that have released have been great. The top 5 on my list are all very good. In order of the games I've gotten this year from my favorite to least favorite.

Unicorn Overlord

Granblue Fantasy Relink

V-Rising

Dragons Dogma 2

The Outlast Trials

MLB The Show 24

Rise of the Ronin

Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes

Another Crabs Treasure

Helldivers 2

Still got a few games that are out now that I still need to get. Dragon’s Dogma 2 being my next top priority.

I'm having a great time with games in 2024.... Been playing lots of varied games from present through backlog. Helldivers 2 is the goty so far this year for me. Loving Dave the diver so much. What a game! Played yakuza zero and mad max and fallout 76.... Lots of games I put off that are now very cheap!

2024 has been a year so far of catching up of games during the Xbox one gen but its causing me a problem of being miles behind current gen. Probably should have moved on with everybody else.

I disagree.... You're not obliged to follow the front edge of this hobby... Matter of fact I'd argue that the people who allow the present releases to come and go find their way back to them when the games have been fully developed and many times at lower cost are the true winners. Don't ever think that you should've moved on with a bunch of mouth breathers playing to their own desires.... Patience is a Virtue that most often pays off.

Nah! By the time you get around to the games they would be in a superior state than they would be at launch or ever the launch month.

Patient gamers stay winning, don't buy any of the new shit, it's a scam. Plenty to play, just wait until today's new shit Is $20 in a year or 2 and runs like a finished game.

Yeah pretty much... They make a choice to release games in wonky shape, and I make a choice to wait for it to be finished. I do on ocassion spend more than 20, but I'd say 95 percent of my purchases come in around 20 and play great.

Imagine cyberpunk at launch? I can't.

Imagine fallout 76 at launch? I can't. I played these games when they were wonderfully fun.... And finished.

Can't help it. The industry has conditioned me this way.... #drama I used to be day 1 midnight launch guy... But again, those games were usually finished being made.

Exactly, not our fault, we know how this works.

Had 2 buddies that bought into the hype for Anthem before it dropped, I told em "there's alot of bad reviews comming out, they say it's buggy and not great"

They just assumed I was being negative, $60 down the drain, both of em played for 2 weeks pretending it was great and then quit lol

I bought the game for $5 in 3 months, yes $5.. gamestop was throwing away copies practically

What does that have to do with rpgs made in Japan being called a sub-genre when they're not?

JRPGs have become subgenre due to their distinct features. It’s like “Souls games” being a genre. You can say something is an action RPG, but ”Souls games” have become their own subgenre. it’s really that simple.

@SolidGame_basic: Stop using the word simple as you don't understand its meaning. Rpg's made in Japan are not a sub-genre of rpg's they are rpgs, that's pretty simple to understand.

Go look at the box art from rpgs from Japan and you will see it says rpg, jrpg is a term created from the West to differentiate the games, and it stuck with the dumb generation of gamers.

Honestly this is the dumbest conversation I've had to have all week.

Yeah, for sure. Lots of stuff to look forward to, as well as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Game Pass is getting tons of content, which is great.

2024 has been great.

The only real tragedy this year is the the studio behind Kerbal Space Program 2 was shut down and the game was incomplete, so who knows what's going to happen there.

Otherwise, really enjoying everything we get. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the best year for gaming is the one you're currently living!

Sure, you might have fond memories of the games of yesteryear, but the games we get today blow older games out of the water for the most part. Especially independent and small-sized studios, they're really putting the AAA publishers to shame.

There is a certain design and aesthetic to JRPG's, though. A specific style very common to almost all JRPG's.

Not sure why people get so hung up on this, it's very helpful in defining the kind of game it is. Do you think it is racism or something? That it lessens the status? Sorry I don't agree with that, it's simply a way to define a subgenre. I know one or two JRPG developers dislike the term, perhaps you are paying homage to their wishes? Idunno.

If you told me "Hey, you should play this RPG" my immediate questions would be "Oh ya? Is it good? What kind of RPG is it?" and I would expect your answer to be DnD-style RPG like Baldur's Gate, JRPG like Final Fantasy, action-rpg like Skyrim, retro JRPG, action JRPG, and so on and so forth.

Simply calling it an RPG and leaving it at that is not helpful.

Genuinely curious what the objections here are, but I don't think it's stupid to call a game a JRPG.

As for the "jracing" and "jfighting", those genres tend to have less distinction to them and a racing game made by Japanese developers often has the same overall design as a racing game made by anyone else. The focus is generally on realism, less room for aesthetic choice, for art direction.

Helldivers 2, Tekken 8, ff7 remake, granblue rising + others

Pretty good actually.

@mrbojangles25: Lets be serious here we all know early on what kind of a game it will be.

The West is just dumb with it's "creations" I mean uneducated people think there's a genre called immersive sims, just because some guy once came up with it to try and differentiate their ganes from others, it's just silly.

It's just dumb to put a j or w at the start.

@mrbojangles25: Yeah same here. I don’t really care if it’s “legitimate” or not to use the term “JRPG” but it’s something that I’ve always used and associate with the sub genre. Whenever I hear the term I have an immediate picture of what kind of game that I think of it to be. Same thing when I hear the term “WRPG”.

I feel like nuance and specifics are important when discussing things with like-minded people.

I like death metal. Specifically death and black metal. More specifically, I like the stuff from Norway and such (or like that).

I do not like thrash or rap-metal or whatever. Like at all. It is an important distinction and one I don't make simply for appearances because for every song I enjoy on the metal XM station, there's about four or more I don't like.

But if my mom asked me what I am listening to these days, I'd probably just say "metal" and not "death or black metal".

Ditto for games. You only use generic descriptions when talking to people that don't game. Otherwise I'd argue the nuance and details is important.

@mrbojangles25: Same here. Just makes sense to do so in my opinion.