Best PC Games Of 2024 (So Far)

With 2024 already producing some true game of the year contenders on PC only a third of the way into the calendar, it’s a good time to be looking for the next great video game time sink. While 2023 was arguably one of – if not the – best years in gaming history for its slew of top-tier releases, 2024 is somehow making a case for being even better, with a variety of genres represented. AAA games and indies alike are vying for people’s attention, and the quality feels like it’s almost too good to sustain.

But sustained it has remained, at least for the first third of 2024. PC players in particular have some exceptional titles they can play, ranging from multiplayer greats like Helldivers 2 to indie darlings like Balatro. While the ubiquity of platform-agnostic releases means there are less titles exclusively for PC – and many more coming over from consoles to PC in the first place – that doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few only-on-PC games that have broken through, either.

10

Helldivers 2

Metascore: 83

It might actually be difficult to not know what Helldivers 2 is, provided the interested party has any knowledge of recent multiplayer titles. While it mostly took off on PlayStation 5, Helldivers 2 is also just as functional on PC, with just as passionate a playerbase and just as many memes emerging from their eternal struggle to slay gigantic bugs and gargantuan machines. It’s a cultural moment and a breakthrough video game that has united many fans, and not just those of shooters – the teamwork and hilarity that ensues from that collaboration is attractive even to those who might not be as accurate.

Helldivers 2 puts players in the role of an outgunned but resourceful elite shock troopers named Helldivers. They need to fend off the aforementioned bugs and robots with an armor system inspired by real world firearm interactions, over-the-top special weapons, and friendly fire always turned on. It’s the latter that has made so many moments in Helldivers 2 go viral, and why players keep returning to fight for managed democracy and Super Earth.

9

Spirit City: Lofi Sessions

Metascore: 83

Spirit City: Lofi Sessions is an interesting game. Developer Mooncube Games set out to create a setting that promoted relaxation and focus, with an emphasis placed on players actually paying more attention to other things than the game they’re playing. It’s a novel concept, and one that draws inspiration from the many YouTube playlists that are meant to help listeners focus on tasks they need to complete and might be distracted from otherwise.

As a game, there’s very little to do in Spirit City: Lofi Sessions, with players mostly able to alter their environment and collect variants of spirits. In execution, however, it’s a wonderful game that does exactly what it wants, creating a cozy nook in cyberspace for its users to find some relaxation, peace, and finish up that one chore they really didn’t want to have to engage with. Check it out before dismissing it – it really is a marvelous little tool that is an enticing addition to many Steam libraries.

8

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell

Metascore: 84

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is a 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania game developed by Bombservice and published by Playism. It’s the fifth game in the Momodora series and it concludes the journey of the titular protagonist Momo, who is a priestess charged with recovering a magical bell that summoned demons into her world and caused her village to be attacked, kickstarting her adventure.

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is simply a great iteration of the Metroidvania genre. Momo explores and collects power-ups that widens her arsenal and options in combat, which in turn helps her contend with increasingly powerful monsters and bosses. Gameplay is tight and snappy, Bombservice really understands what its doing with the genre at this point, and the aesthetics are eye-catching and demand attention, creating a powerful formula for a good time and a great farewell to a popular indie series.

7

Solium Infernum

Metascore: 85

Solium Infernum is the rare case of an underappreciated, unnoticed indie getting a second chance much later in life. The original game released in 2009 and showed a lot of promise but failed to resonate with a wider audience, remaining niche and relatively obscure. Developer League of Geeks embarked on a remake of the game in 2024 that updated its visuals and premise but maintained the core spirit of the game, and this time it has successfully found its demographic.

Solium Infernum is a turn-based strategy game where players control an archfiend who wants to become the ruler of Hell and must defeat five opponents to do so. AI is used to make up the numbers if there aren’t six total players available, but the selling point isn’t necessarily its hex-based map or its adaptable archfiend abilities – it’s its politics. There is always a way to backstab an opponent who was just a little too trusting or to scheme with someone else to eliminate a larger threat, and the aesthetics the game wraps itself in to present this kind of entertainment is pitch-perfect for its style of play.

6

Sons of the Forest

Metascore: 86

Sons of the Forest is a survival horror video game developed by Endnight Games and published by Newnight. It’s actually a sequel to The Forest, a 2014 release from the same studio, and has a narrative that involves a search for a missing CEO on a strange island populated by cannibals, monsters, and a secret that threatens to turn the entire story on its head. It’s an intriguing premise, if not wholly unique, and one of the game’s selling points is that it cares just enough about its lore to make it memorable, avoiding the tired cliche of an overly vague survival horror story.

Sons of the Forest really shines in its gameplay, however, where the player is immediately thrust into a dire situation and must rely on building their own weapons and shelters in order to survive. 3D printing is a new mechanic that adds some depth to the options available to the protagonist, and co-op multiplayer is supported for up to eight people, which can make for some exciting nights shared amongst friends while they attempt to uncover the truth of the island they’re stranded on.

5

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Metascore: 88

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is Capcom’s follow-up to niche darling Dragon’s Dogma, a dark fantasy title that was inspired by Devil May Cry but took on an identity of its own as a bizarre story with equally strange gameplay mechanics and unintuitive playstyles. Dragon’s Dogma 2 alleviates a lot of the tension from its predecessors’ more flawed elements but fully embraces the ones that resonated with fans, creating an exciting sequel that is a must-play for any fan of action RPGs.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 follows the story of the Arisen, the customizable player character who will then employ several Pawns in an effort to stem the world’s metaphorical bleeding and end the very real dragon that threatens it. Its narrative can be a little nonsensical at times, but the payoff is there in spades, and its gameplay is engrossing. Organic, player-driven interactions in its world can lead to surprising results, whether it’s a monster death suddenly creating a new pathway or a “boss” fight that spirals into an unseen area. There’s a lot to uncover in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and every step further into its world makes it all the more engrossing.

4

Persona 3 Reload

Metascore: 89

Persona 3 Reload is Atlus’ reimagining of an all-time JRPG classic, and it succeeds on delivering a modernized spin on what was considered by many to be the foundation for many exciting, more common mechanics present in games of the genre now. Social simulation elements, teenagers taking on a world of unforgiving adults, the strength of one’s heart manifesting as power – they’re all present here, and they’ve become even more resonant in P3‘s spiritual successors in Persona 4 and Persona 5 Royal.

Persona 3 Reload is best known for its darker Persona story – while later entries would still feature grim elements, P3 really doubles and then triples down on uncomfortable topics and difficult choices. The result is a beautiful, sad story that sticks with the player long after it’s done, and that narrative is now complemented by improved tactical turn-based gameplay, upgrades to menus and UI to be more stylish, and a significant graphics boost.

3

Tekken 8

Metascore: 91

Tekken 8 is an excellent fighting game in its own right, but also perhaps one of its franchise’s best entries, which is saying a lot for a storied series like Tekken. There’s just that much to like about the game, which features a deep character roster, the same over-the-top animations and story that have consistently won over fans, and extremely complex and rewarding mechanical gameplay that challenges players to put in the time and the work to improve before they see results in multiplayer.

That said, the biggest thing that improves with Tekken 8 is accessibility. It’s a game designed to help players get to grips with its systems in intuitive, more fun ways, and there’s a lot of content online to help further that education should someone wish to pursue it. Tight mechanics and satisfying rewards mean the payoff is always there for a player who wants to get better – and there’s very little else an FGC competitor could ask for in one of its best entries in recent memory.

2

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Metascore: 89

Ichiban Kasuga’s second turn as Like A Dragon protagonist is even better than his first, as a trip to Hawaii to find his long-lost mother spirals into a multinational crime mystery with serious implications on geopolitics. That’s par for the course in a RGG Studio game, as the developer is often capable of taking the most mundane moments and turning them into head-turning, plot-driving forces of nature.

And that’s before taking into consideration that Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth also features a dramatically improved turn-based RPG combat system. Positioning is more important than ever, and a solid roster of different job options keeps party customization flexible and interesting. The best part – like any RGG game – is the characters, though. Whether it’s an heiress turned street smart thief or cabbie with a heart of gold, Infinite Wealth‘s endless parade of captivating cast members never stops tugging on heart strings, making for a memorable, must-play journey and one of the best PC games in 2024 so far.

1

Balatro

Metascore: 90

Balatro is the little indie game that could. From inauspicious poker roguelite to superstar of content creation, Balatro has captivated thousands of players and carved out such a unique, specific niche for itself that it’s still hard to believe even with all of its success. A deceptively simple card game, Balatro takes what players understand about a common deck of cards and the usual game of poker and turns all of it on its head with roguelike mechanics that make each hand exciting.

It’s also just got style. Balatro‘s pixel-y, video poker-ish presentation nails its tone, and the already iconic Joker card will no doubt be a symbol for excellence for PC games throughout 2024. Developer LocalThunk and publisher Playstack reinvigorated the roguelike card genre in a way that’s a refreshingly humongous departure from titles like Slay the Spire, and should provide inspiration for even more deviations in the future. Until then, though, just one more game of Balatro; it’s only four in the morning.