K Sawyer Paul

Previously: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

See: My Personal Interpretation of Star Ratings ⭐

Games Finished

(click the titles to read my reviews)

• Tunic (Switch)⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Tokimeki Memorial (SNES via 3DS) ⭐⭐⭐
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA via 3DS)⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Golden Sun (GBA via 3DS)⭐⭐⭐
• Kirby’s Dream Land (game boy via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Bonk’s Adventure (game boy via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Bonk’s Adventure (TG-16 via 3DS) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Bonk’s Revenge (game boy via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Hyper Dyne Side Arms (TG-16 via Steam)⭐⭐⭐
• Final Fantasy IV (SNES via Delta)⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (GBA via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Sea of Stars (Switch)⭐⭐⭐
• Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Switch) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Final Fantasy XIII (Steam)⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Bowser’s Fury (Switch) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Project X Zone 2 (3DS) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Mortal Kombat (game boy via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Resident Evil (Steam) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Games I played but put away for now

• Final Fantasy Legend II (game boy via Delta)⭐⭐⭐
• WCW/nWo Revenge (N64 via Delta)⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SNES via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (SNES via Delta)⭐⭐⭐
• Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES via Delta)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Balatro (Apple Arcade) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Mortal Kombat II (SNES via Delta) ⭐⭐⭐
• Advance Wars (GBA via Delta)
• Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS via Delta)
• Paper Mario (N64 via Switch)
• Final Fantasy V (GBA via Delta) (still working through it)
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (only just began!)

Games I played but discarded

• Peggle: Dual Shot
• The Pinball of the Dead
• Rhythm Heaven (DS)
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Fire Emblem Engage
• Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin
• Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure

Notes & thoughts

2023 was the year gaming became my main form of personal entertainment, and that continued this year. There is a melancholy to that, of course. I don’t play games with others very often. Part of that is, I enjoy single-player narrative games the most. But the other part is most people I know don’t play games all that much. I follow gamers on social media and listen to podcasts where people talk about games they love, but in my real-life circles, gaming is rare.

2024 was another big backlog busting year for me. I mostly played games from the 90s, and on Nintendo consoles. There’s a reason for that. This year, I designed a series of game controllers that work with Delta, an iOS emulator. I had to test a good variety of games to make sure they worked.

At the end of 2023, my backlog was 308 games long. It is now 222. How, I didn’t play 86 games this year (32, actually), and I definitely added some new titles to the list. But somewhere in there, I culled the thing down. The term “backlog” has some negative connotations, because it feels like homework you’ve given yourself. It might be healthier to think of it as a wine collection: a curated personal set of things I plan to enjoy in the future.

2024 was also when I began using Backloggd.com as my main way to log my gaming time. It’s been a good website for it, and I don’t regret switching from my own personal database. It’s aim to be Letterboxd for video games seems to be working. Backloggd has a very nice section called “GOTY” (game of the year), where you select your own personal Best ofs. It only lets you select games that you’ve played in the year, which limited my options (I would have happily given out nods to games I’ve seen but not played). I only played 6 games from 2024, and only completed one.

Which means my Game of the Year is Thank Goodness You’re Here. I’d love to give it to Balatro, but I hesitate awarding something so dangerous. TGYH was funny, brief, accessible, unique, and the one game I played with another person in the room. That should maybe tell me something.

Last thing: my 3DS finally gave out on me this year. It was probably my favourite single-player game console of my entire life, and gave me untold hours of fun and companionship. That gadget had character. 2025 might be the first year the Switch actually becomes my main Nintendo. Wouldn’t that be funny?