It’s been a bit of a rough year for PlayStation exclusives and the studios that make them. While The Final Shape was generally lauded as an excellent concluding chapter to Destiny 2’s current story arc, Bungie was faced with all kinds of setbacks including canceled projects and layoffs. Elsewhere, Sony’s Firewalk Studios launched Concord, unlaunched it, then closed permanently within the space of a few months after the hero shooter failed to gain traction in a glutted market.

That said, PlayStation still came through this year with a slate of excellent games that will hopefully demonstrate that there’s an appetite for more than just live-service shooters. 

XDefiant, Foamstars, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, Concord — 2024 has been littered with the bones of live-service shooters that came, went, or are limping along with little fanfare and even fewer players. But Helldivers 2 was something special. It could be the game’s humorous over-the-top take on political propaganda, the developers at Arrowhead Game Studios fully leaning into the bit, or the regular content updates including the new Omens of Tyranny update that launched in early December. But Helldivers 2 managed to be the one live-service multiplayer shooter this year (that doesn’t have Call of Duty in the title) that has the juice to compete against the big forever games like Apex Legends and Fortnite. 

FromSoftware has managed to keep the Elden Ring party going with the release of Shadow of the Erdtree. The DLC is massive, stuffed with ass-beating enemies and so much delicious lore, all taking place over a map that is much bigger than what director Hidetaka Miyazaki called “the size of Limgrave.” Truly, Erdtree feels more like a straight-up sequel to Elden Ring than a mere expansion of it — which is probably what Elden Ring Nightreign is.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard took 10 years and a bunch of strife at BioWare to launch. There was no guarantee that it would live up to the reputation the series has established — but it did. Veilguard is exemplary of the Dragon Age series’ strengths: characters you come to care for and choices that devastate both them and you. Layered on top of that is a seriously detailed skill tree with a loot system that feels strangely like a Diablo game. Veilguard’s combat empowers you to customize your class to a level of specificity I’ve never seen in a Dragon Age game before, making it an interesting iteration of the standard warrior, rogue, mage RPG system. There was a concern that Veilguard would be overshadowed by last year’s Baldur’s Gate 3, and while Veilguard doesn’t seem to have that kind of runaway success, I’m pleased as hell that, in two years, I got two wonderful, life-absorbing RPGs.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues Square Enix’s attempt at adapting one of the greatest RPGs of all time to suit modern consoles and gaming audiences. This second entry in the great FFVII trilogy project takes over as the gang escapes Midgar into the wider world, and damn what a wide world it was. Every aspect from the original Final Fantasy VII has been expanded and fully fleshed out, either with more story or with a fancy new minigame. Speaking of minigames, Rebirth is less about the events of FFVII Disk 2 and more a Queen’s Blood delivery system, proving that Square Enix is really just a collectible card game developer in disguise.

Remaking a classic game is always a tricky thing. A developer needs to attempt to capture what made the original so beloved, while also updating it for new audiences. And that conflict is especially fraught when you’re dealing with a genre-defining game like Silent Hill 2. But Bloober Team did a surprisingly solid job with this remake, ensuring that the idiosyncratic survival horror experience looked and felt at home on modern platforms, while still retaining most of the scares and tone of the original. The remake is a little cleaner than the PS2 game it’s based on, but it’s also less frustrating to play. And most importantly, it still mostly nails those foggy vibes.

There’s never been a game I’ve instantly clicked with more than Astro Bot. Going back to my first demo with the game at Summer Game Fest 2024, I knew this had something special. Astro Bot is a well-crafted platformer that has players traveling through the galaxy to find the scattered pieces of a PS5 spaceship and its stranded crewmates. Though it pays tribute to the games of PlayStation’s 30-year history and features really neat homages to their gameplay, Astro Bot is also a love letter to joy. Every aspect of its design — from its music to its sound effects to its bright and cheerful graphics — is a reminder that there is still so much love in the world that aches to be discovered. Astro Bot was my game of the year from the second I rolled credits, and its GOTY win at this year’s Game Awards was richly deserved.