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[Lunatic_Gamer]

Astro Bot is officially the second highest-rated game of 2024 so far on Metacritic. On Metacritic, the game currently has an exceptional score of 94 based on 98 reviews.

It only sits behind the Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. Below are the top ten best games of the year so far as listed on Metacritic:

• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree – 95
• Astro Bot – 94
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – 92
• Animal Well – 91
• Balatro – 90
• The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered – 90
• Thank Goodness You’re Here – 90
• Tekken 8 – 90
• Tactical Breach Wizards – 89
• Destiny 2 The Final Shape – 89

If you want to be technical, then Astro Bot is the highest-rated full new game release of 2024 as Shadow of the Erdtree is a DLC expansion. In addition, Astro Bot is the highest-rated PS5 console exclusive of the year as it sits just above Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Astro Bot is officially the second highest-rated game of 2024

The reviews for Astro Bot are so positive that it has officially become the second highest-rated game release of 2024 so far.

www.videogamer.com

 

[Ogbert]

Should be number one.

 

[Sooner]

That list shows it #1. DLC isn't a game.

 

[Thief1987]

It's higher than that dlc on opencritic, basically reverse 95vs94

 

[Gaiff]

I firmly believe Black Myth: Wukong lost a lot of points for being made by a Chinese studio. Should easily be 85+ on Metacritic. Certainly much better than trash like HFW or Assassin’s Creed.

 

[DeepSpace5D]

It’s behind Shadow of the Erdtree by one point on Metacritic, and it’s ahead of Shadow of the Erdtree by one point on Opencritic.

Basically a draw.

 

[VanCityGamer]

It’s the number one rated game. DLC is not a game and never has been.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Erdtree is not like any DLC

Most devs dream they would even had a full game of that level

 

[Rudius]

I firmly believe Black Myth: Wukong lost a lot of points for being made by a Chinese studio. Should easily be 85+ on Metacritic. Certainly much better than trash like HFW or Assassin’s Creed.

Not only that, but the "folks" trying to screw Wukong for "lack of diversity". Astrobot can circumvent by being kid friendly, even if mostly old ass men will play it.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

In other words it's Astro Bot? I'll take that 10/10 times. Well deserved #1 game.

 

[R6Rider]

Astro Bot is 10x better than Erdtree.

 

[DoubleClutch]

I mean no disrespect to Astro Bot, but this has been one of the weakest years for games in probably the last three decades.

It’s not an accomplishment.

 

[DoubleClutch]

Erdtree is not like any DLC

Most devs dream they would even had a full game of that level

Erdtree is longer and has more content than Astro Bot.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

I mean no disrespect to Astro Bot, but this has been one of the weakest years for games in probably the last three decades.

It’s not an accomplishment.

 

[R6Rider]

I mean no disrespect to Astro Bot, but this has been one of the weakest years for games in probably the last three decades.

It’s not an accomplishment.

 

[Draugoth]

Stellar blade succeeded
Black myth wukong succeeded
Astro bot succeeded

Concord is dead
Dustborn is dead

We are in the good timeline

 

[Delt31]

And it should be number 1. Could be the greatest platform ever. Yes I said it.

 

[Sooner]

Erdtree is not like any DLC

Most devs dream they would even had a full game of that level

It's still DLC. You can't even play it standalone, but only late game.

 

[digdug2]

Astro Bot is 10x better than Erdtree.

Let's agree to disagree. They're both incredible achievements but they're made for two different crowds. There is, of course, some Venn Diagram-esque overlap (such as me, I love FromSoftware games but will never turn down an excellent action/platformer).

 

[digdug2]

It's still DLC. You can't even play it standalone, but only late game.

You can access the DLC in an hour or two if you're semi-decent. However, you will wish you entered the DLC during the late game because you will get wrecked if you and your weapons are under-leveled.

 

[Thief1987]

I mean no disrespect to Astro Bot, but this has been one of the weakest years for games in probably the last three decades.

It’s not an accomplishment.

How many 95+ games we have in not the weak years? Dozens, I guess?

 

[Hookshot]

All that list tells me is everything is rated too highly. Animal well and Balatro are both fun but not 9/10 fun. And Prince of Persia is not an 8.6 i dropped off that at Darius after having found all the urns.

 

[Mr Moose]

DLC isn't a game. Two of those don't count.

 

[Badlucktroll]

lord willing, the highest rated shall be silent hill 2

 

[RoadHazard]

You can access the DLC in an hour or two if you're semi-decent. However, you will wish you entered the DLC during the late game because you will get wrecked if you and your weapons are under-leveled.

You can get to and beat Mohg in an hour or two? I guess people really good at the game can do that, but not sure about anyone "semi-decent"...

 

[Cornbread78]

".... "X" Ninty game released this holiday is gonna have a 98%, suck it Sony ponies"

 

[PixelatedBeast]

I firmly believe Black Myth: Wukong lost a lot of points for being made by a Chinese studio. Should easily be 85+ on Metacritic. Certainly much better than trash like HFW or Assassin’s Creed.

The game has tech issues, invisible walls, silent protagonist and is basically a button mashing boss rush game. That's why it lost points. It has nothing to do with being made by a Chinese studio. Thats a silly culture war narrative. Nobody care who made the game, unless they're liberal

If people have to read a book or watch something else entirely to understand the story, that's bad game design. Add in the lack of narrative storytelling, and you realize the Unreal 5 Engine is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I'm enjoying the game, but it's not a masterpiece

 

[TheKratos]

GOTY for me

 

[Gaiff]

The game has tech issues, invisible walls, silent protagonist and is basically a button mashing boss rush game. That's why it lost points. It has nothing to do with being made by a Chinese studio. Thats a silly culture war narrative. Nobody care who made the game, unless they're liberal

If people have to read a book or watch something else entirely to understand the story, that's bad game design. Add in the lack of narrative storytelling, and you realize the Unreal 5 Engine is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I'm enjoying the game, but it's not a masterpiece

When has a silent protagonist ever been a problem? Button mash bush rush? Lol, just say you haven’t played it instead of spouting nonsense.

 

[Success]

When has a silent protagonist ever been a problem? Button mash bush rush? Lol, just say you haven’t played it instead of spouting nonsense.

Non-customized silent protagonists are usually a lazy way to write characters.

That is why most of the biggest modern games no longer have Non-customized silent protagonists.

I understand because of your age and nostalgia you prefer it otherwise, but times change.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

When has a silent protagonist ever been a problem? Button mash bush rush? Lol, just say you haven’t played it instead of spouting nonsense.

Since the year 2013 began and voice acting became a prominent feature in gaming for storytelling.

Most of the time you're spamming light attack and dodge. There are no button combinations outside of heavy attack or holding another button to trigger a transformation. GOW has more intricate combat and combinations while still only using 2 buttons to attack.


I have the game, and I'm playing it. I wouldn't speak on it unless I did, but it's starting to get overhyped now.

 

[Gaiff]

Non-customized silent protagonists are usually a lazy way to write characters.

That is why most of the biggest modern games no longer have Non-customized silent protagonists.

There are tons of modern games with silent protagonists. Most RPGs where you create your characters still have silent protagonists. Persona games, Hollow Knight, Wukong, Starfield, TES, BG3, and the list goes on.

I understand because of your age and nostalgia you prefer it otherwise, but times change.

Don’t care either way. It’s never stopped a game from being lauded, so the argument that its a worse game because of this is nonsense.

2023 GOTY winner: Silent protagonist
2022 GOTY winner: Silent protagonist
2017 GOTY winner: Silent protagonist

Now it’s suddenly a problem? Don’t think so.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Modern reviewers love when games are inoffensive and piss easy. It is sterile and they like the flavor.

 

[Gaiff]

Since the year 2013 began and voice acting became a prominent feature in gaming for storytelling.

Voice acting has been prominent since the early 2000s or even late 90s. As for the second point, ah, yes, we all know about those games that got lower scores because of silent protagonists: Doom 2016 and Eternal, Persona 5, Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest/and the Will of the Wisps, Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring, and so many more.

Most of the time you're spamming light attack and dodge. There are no button combinations outside of heavy attack or holding another button to trigger a transformation. GOW has more intricate combat and combinations while still only using 2 buttons to attack.

Spamming will be a nice way of getting your ass kicked by tougher bosses. Also false that there are no combinations. You have your counter which you have to time right as an enemy attacks to avoid damage. You have your level 1 to level 4 finishers. You have follow-up combos after triggering Rock Solid and startups after coming out of Cloud Step. This is to say nothing of the myriad of abilities and three staff stances at your disposal. This game sure as hell ain't Ninja Gaiden Black, but calling it a button masher is laughable. Try button-mashing against Yellow Loong or Yin Tiger and see where that gets you.

I have the game, and I'm playing it. I wouldn't speak on it unless I did,

Then you should know there are 90 different enemies, and starting Chapter 2, there are long stretches where you simply explore because the game widens considerably. Chapters 2 through 4 are gigantic and you won't just hop from one boss to the other.

but it's starting to get overhyped now.

I compared it to Assassin's Creed and HFW, which are mediocre games. I didn't start calling it the best game ever.

 

[jm89]

Modern reviewers love when games are inoffensive and lack challenge. Much like urine this is sterile and they like the flavor.

Those types of games have been around for decades, and reviewers regarded them highly back then. No idea how you can say this is because of "modern reviewers".

Not every needs to be crazy hard. Beside later stages in astro bot can be challenging but not as to ruin what it's trying to accomplish, and that is a fun game for many players.

Also have you even played the game?

 

[Klayzer]

Those types of games have been around for decades, and reviewers back then regarded them highly back then. No idea how you can say this is because of "modern reviewers".

Not every needs to be crazy hard. Beside later stages in astro bot can be challenging but not as to ruin what it's trying to accomplish, and that is a fun game for many players.

Also have you even played the game?

Dude, you got hooked on that obvious bait?

 

[MostlyPeaceful]

2024 AAA barren wasteland hellscape score-flation.

Game would have gotten a (very respectable) 89-91 if it released last generation, and I’ll die on that hill.

Still likely the GOTY and honestly, deserved. Wtf else is there to challenge it besides…rebirth?

 

[PixelatedBeast]

Voice acting has been prominent since the early 2000s or even late 90s. As for the second point, ah, yes, we all know about those games that got lower scores because of silent protagonists: Doom 2016 and Eternal, Persona 5, Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest/and the Will of the Wisps, Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring, and so many more.

Just because a successful game had a silent protagonist, does not mean it will work for others. Some people enjoy it, some people dont. I know from personal experience I hate playing games where there is no voice acting from the characters you control 90% of the time. It comes off as lazy writing to most people.

Spamming will be a nice way of getting your ass kicked by tougher bosses. Also false that there are no combinations. You have your counter which you have to time right as an enemy attacks to avoid damage. You have your level 1 to level 4 finishers. You have follow-up combos after triggering Rock Solid and startups after coming out of Cloud Step. This is to say nothing of the myriad of abilities and three staff stances at your disposal. This game sure as hell ain't Ninja Gaiden Black, but calling it a button masher is laughable. Try button-mashing against Yellow Loong or Yin Tiger and see where that gets you.

Its a button masher bro. Sure there are nuances to combat that trigger other moves, but most of the time you're only pushing 2 buttons and a 3rd when you abilities cooldown. Most action game has a parry mechanic, but that doesnt exclude it from being a button masher. Theres only 2 buttons to use for attack and theres only one weapon you use. Lets not pretend like this game has complicated combat. Funny enough HFW has more combat mechanics and weapons despite being mediocre.

Then you should know there are 90 different enemies, and starting Chapter 2, there are long stretches where you simply explore because the game widens considerably. Chapters 2 through 4 are gigantic and you won't just hop from one boss to the other.

Yeah, and you know what would work really well to fill in those quiet moments where you're wandering around the map until you find another boss to fight....

I compared it to Assassin's Creed and HFW, which are mediocre games. I didn't start calling it the best game ever.

No, but you alluded to it being the victim of a culture war by saying it should be rated higher than western RPGs were, and the reason its not is because its from China. You think it should get a higher rating than those other Western RPGs games, which would make it a masterpiece, but its not. The game has flaws whether you want to acknowledge or not.

 

[Gaiff]

Just because a successful game had a silent protagonist, does not mean it will work for others. Some people enjoy it, some people dont. I know from personal experience I hate playing games where there is no voice acting from the characters you control 90% of the time. It comes off as lazy writing to most people.

Doesn't matter. Never stopped dozens upon dozens of games from being well-reviewed. No reason for this to be an exception.

Its a button masher bro. Sure there are nuances to combat that trigger other moves, but most of the time you're only pushing 2 buttons and a 3rd when you abilities cooldown. Most action game has a parry mechanic, but that doesnt exclude it from being a button masher. Theres only 2 buttons to use for attack and theres only one weapon you use. Lets not pretend like this game has complicated combat. Funny enough HFW has more combat mechanics and weapons despite being mediocre.

No more of a button masher than GOW is a button masher. if your definition of button masher is a game where you have two buttons to attacks, then GOW is too, and only a moron would claim that. You gotta time your attacks combos, you can't just mindlessly press attack or you get murked.

Yeah, and you know what would work really well to fill in those quiet moments where you're wandering around the map until you find another boss to fight....

No idea what you mean. It ain't a boss rush game. Tons of secrets, items, exploration, diverging and branching paths, NPCs, quests, and more. Shadow of the Colossus is a boss rush game. This ain’t.

No, but you alluded to it being the victim of a culture war by saying it should be rated higher than western RPGs were, and the reason its not is because its from China. You think it should get a higher rating than those other Western RPGs games, which would make it a masterpiece, but its not. The game has flaws whether you want to acknowledge or not.

Not necessarily culture war. We have seen on Gaf where outlets reported the sales and all of a sudden it's "Hur hur hur, 90% sold in China," or "Chinese bought this game to up their social credit," or shit like that. Never seen any game get scrutiny for where most of their sales are. If 85% of the sales were in the US, nobody would have said a thing. As for the second point, no. Those games are mediocre as I said. Wukong getting a better score than HFW or Assassin's Creed wouldn't make it a masterpiece because those games it should have scored higher than are far from being great in the first place. Either you knock their ratings down a few pegs or you increase Wukong. Whatever the case, it's in no way comparable to freakin' Assassin's Creed Valhalla which is a bloated mess of a game with awful combat. The game does have flaws, but it's still leaps and bounds better than those I named, hence why I said it got much lower review scores than it should have had. The users even review bombed the game on Metacritic.

 

[Alan Wake]

Fully deserved. It's completely amazing.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I firmly believe Black Myth: Wukong lost a lot of points for being made by a Chinese studio. Should easily be 85+ on Metacritic. Certainly much better than trash like HFW or Assassin’s Creed.

Oh absolutely, that combined with the "lack of diversity" definitely hurt it review wise. Still one of the best games of the year.

 

[TropicanaTwista]

All that list tells me is everything is rated too highly. Animal well and Balatro are both fun but not 9/10 fun. And Prince of Persia is not an 8.6 i dropped off that at Darius after having found all the urns.

Na those games are rated too low if anything. Balatro is the best game this gen, pretty easily I might add. I havent finished Astro bot but balatro and animal well are 1 and 2 for game releases so far this year for me

 

[ItJustWorks]

I firmly believe Black Myth: Wukong lost a lot of points for being made by a Chinese studio. Should easily be 85+ on Metacritic. Certainly much better than trash like HFW or Assassin’s Creed.

Oh yeah, some funky stuff going on with how that game was treated review wise vs. Reception from gamers. Even certain sites like easy allies didn't even bother reviewing it

There's a vibe that the media didn't want that title to be good or something...

Which is frustrating. No offense to Astro Bot...but I want a game like Wukong to be getting this hype. As it would raise the bar for AAA devs and have them sweating alittle harder.

How convenient that we make this little astrobot game that won't really cause AAA devs to up their game in their arena the focal point when titles like Black Myth came through.

Celebrating the console AD platformer over the ambitious title that spent less money than most devs and still ate their lunch sits counterintuitive to what I personally want out of the industry lol

But that's just me.

 

[Metnut]

All top 3 on PS5 and two of them exclusive.

Very happy PS5 owner here. Can’t wait for the Pro.

 

[near]

Wow. Animal Well > TLoU2.

 

[ItJustWorks]

Doesn't matter. Never stopped dozens upon dozens of games from being well-reviewed. No reason for this to be an exception.

No more of a button masher than GOW is a button masher. if your definition of button masher is a game where you have two buttons to attacks, then GOW is too, and only a moron would claim that. You gotta time your attacks combos, you can't just mindlessly press attack or you get murked.

No idea what you mean. It ain't a boss rush game. Tons of secrets, items, exploration, diverging and branching paths, NPCs, quests, and more. Shadow of the Colossus is a boss rush game. This ain’t.

Not necessarily culture war. We have seen on Gaf where outlets reported the sales and all of a sudden it's "Hur hur hur, 90% sold in China," or "Chinese bought this game to up their social credit," or shit like that. Never seen any game get scrutiny for where most of their sales are. If 85% of the sales were in the US, nobody would have said a thing. As for the second point, no. Those games are mediocre as I said. Wukong getting a better score than HFW or Assassin's Creed wouldn't make it a masterpiece because those games it should have scored higher than are far from being great in the first place. Either you knock their ratings down a few pegs or you increase Wukong. Whatever the case, it's in no way comparable to freakin' Assassin's Creed Valhalla which is a bloated mess of a game with awful combat. The game does have flaws, but it's still leaps and bounds better than those I named, hence why I said it got much lower review scores than it should have had. The users even review bombed the game on Metacritic.

I agree with you, lately I've been noticing ambitious new IP's that push fidelity and such have been getting weirdly scrutinized to harsh extents this gen.

Whereas FROM games and titles like astrobot are getting love immediately. It's like we're in an era wanting stripped down, old school shit only now.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

Doesn't matter. Never stopped dozens upon dozens of games from being well-reviewed. No reason for this to be an exception.

No more of a button masher than GOW is a button masher. if your definition of button masher is a game where you have two buttons to attacks, then GOW is too, and only a moron would claim that. You gotta time your attacks combos, you can't just mindlessly press attack or you get murked.

No idea what you mean. It ain't a boss rush game. Tons of secrets, items, exploration, diverging and branching paths, NPCs, quests, and more. Shadow of the Colossus is a boss rush game. This ain’t.

Not necessarily culture war. We have seen on Gaf where outlets reported the sales and all of a sudden it's "Hur hur hur, 90% sold in China," or "Chinese bought this game to up their social credit," or shit like that. Never seen any game get scrutiny for where most of their sales are. If 85% of the sales were in the US, nobody would have said a thing. As for the second point, no. Those games are mediocre as I said. Wukong getting a better score than HFW or Assassin's Creed wouldn't make it a masterpiece because those games it should have scored higher than are far from being great in the first place. Either you knock their ratings down a few pegs or you increase Wukong. Whatever the case, it's in no way comparable to freakin' Assassin's Creed Valhalla which is a bloated mess of a game with awful combat. The game does have flaws, but it's still leaps and bounds better than those I named, hence why I said it got much lower review scores than it should have had. The users even review bombed the game on Metacritic.

It matters because most kids growing up in the western hemisphere arent knowledgeable in chinese culture. A protagonist with voice lines can help fill in that void where players are left confused, rather than being told to go read a book. Agree to disagree about the rest. The games sales speak for itself. Its shouldnt need an arbitrary rating to justify its hype. It will likey be the most sold game of 2024. Is that not enough?

 

[Gaiff]

It will likey be the most sold game of 2024. Is that not enough?

No. I want monkeys to overtake gaming and eventually the whole world.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Stellar blade succeeded
Black myth wukong succeeded
Astro bot succeeded

Concord is dead
Dustborn is dead

We are in the good timeline

Geez if only we could see a pattern here... Several patterns actually.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

No. I want monkeys to overtake gaming and eventually the whole world.

Well you might not get your wish, but outside of Donkey Kong, Wukong Black Myth will be the highest selling game to feature an ape or monkey as the main protagonist, which is a big feat on its own. Now I would like to play a planet of the apes game.