While 2024 has not arguably been one of the biggest years for exclusives, Sony has still had some big hitters come in. Those include remakes and reimaginings of beloved favourites, the dawn of new IPs that could go on to establish themselves as part of the PlayStation Pantheon, and more memorable experiences that will live on in memory whether you’re new to gaming or have been part of the PlayStation journey since the beginning. With that in mind, there could only have been one clear winner for this award.
Astro Bot is pure, unfiltered joy. What better game to win Best PlayStation than one that celebrates everything PlayStation from its 30 year history? Astro Bot is more than just a celebration though. It is the culmination of a character that found its beginning in the original PSVR era, and then introduced players to all the features of the PS5, and now being cemented as the current PlayStation mascot.
Astro Bot has so many elements to it that make it great. Levels are based on classic franchises, there are plenty of Bot characters to find hidden away, tons of secrets to uncover, and it is getting regular free updates with even more content to play through. It looks stunning, it sounds stunning, and the gameplay of Astro Bot is really smooth too. Astro Bot captures the very core of the message Play Has No Limits.
Helldivers 2 – Runner-up
Helldivers 2 was one of those gaming phenomena where it feels like literally everyone is playing the exact same thing… or at least trying to, as servers inevitably crumbled during the early days and weeks. Taking Arrowhead’s familiar formula of friendly fire filled co-op action, but adapting it now to a third person shooter, just being able to blast bugs like its 1999’s Starship Troopers was enough to grab everyone’s attention, but that initial drop would lead to another, and then another, and then another.
The initial hook was the humour of the excessive military might you could call upon for backup, while being inherently very, very squishy and prone to being caught in the explosion that you or your friends just called in. Throw in a meta-game of planetary conquest/liberation played against a DM within Arrowhead, and a wild obsession with a planet that quickly became dubbed ‘Space Vietnam’, and Helldivers 2 was pretty much all that anyone was talking about for a month or two following its release. That’s the stuff that GOTY contenders are made of!
– Stefan L
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – Runner-up
It’s a little wild to think that a remake of a game that’s more than two decades old could be hemmed in by technical limitations, but with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth leaving the PS4 behind and going all in on the current generation, that seems to have been the case. This middle chapter in the remake trilogy goes all in on having broad open areas that are stuffed with things to do, whether that’s fixing chocobo stops, settling in for a round of Fort Condor, or getting stuck in with some challenge battles to perfect your use of the subtle new tweaks in combat.
Of course, the real draw is still going to be the retelling of the JRPG classic’s story, which is handled masterfully well as it fleshes out the middle third of the tale, further exploring the cast of characters and additional backstory in ways that the original couldn’t. It’s a good thing there’s so much side content to help tide fans over until the series’ conclusion.
– Stefan L
Honourable mentions (in alphabetical order)
What games filled you with joy this year on PlayStation? Let us know in the comments!
