10 Video Games That Deserved BETTER In 2024

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00:00You said that before and I don't believe you.

00:05Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're looking at the overlooked and underrated games from 2024

00:12that, for whatever reason, failed to grab as much attention as they deserved to get.

00:17I hope you're alright.

00:19I doubt it, but I'll do my work all the same.

00:22But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring

00:28the bell to get notified about our latest videos.

00:32Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble

00:39Beginning with the GameCube original, Super Monkey Ball grew into a popular series of

00:44platformer party games from Sega, but it began to fade away in the early 2010s.

00:50We got a remaster for a Wii entry in 2019, a remake collection of the first three in 2021,

00:56and finally the first new entry in years in 2024's Banana Rumble.

01:02Unfortunately, by this point, it doesn't seem like many players showed an interest.

01:06The series has grown pretty niche, resulting in some of the lowest sales in the franchise's

01:12history. However, if you have fond memories of the older games, we'd recommend checking it out.

01:18While not necessarily deep, fun level design and

01:20mechanics offer just as much entertainment as Super Monkey Ball always has.

01:26Nobody Wants to Die

01:40Adventure games don't draw nearly as big an audience as other genres.

01:45Set in a dystopian New York City, Nobody Wants to Die follows a detective tracking

01:49down a serial killer. The twist is that the killer targets the city's elite,

01:54those able to afford simulated immortality by uploading their consciousness into a new body.

02:00While it did get more coverage than others on our list thanks to strong visuals and an enticing

02:05premise, we still feel it came and went without getting as many players as it deserved. Maybe if

02:10it had more engaging gameplay, more players would have given it a shot. But the noir tale is still

02:15delectably dark, and it's a setting we wish we could have spent more time in.

02:24Banisher's Ghosts of New Eden

02:37Mostly known for narrative adventure games like Life is Strange, developer Don't Nod released

02:42this action RPG in February 2024. However, it had some stiff competition that month from others

02:49like it, primarily Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. While it sold well initially,

02:56things slowed down quickly, and by September, Don't Nod revealed Banisher's fell well below

03:02sales expectations. Not only did this cause the studio to reorient two projects and put

03:09another two on hold, but it's part of the reason the studio laid off nearly 70 employees in

03:14October. That's a shame because the story, about two ghost hunter lovers torn apart when one of

03:20them becomes one, is quite moving. And while the combat isn't quite as fleshed out, there's plenty

03:26here to please fans of the genre.

03:29Berserk Boy

03:39There are so many indie games released in any given year that it can be hard for one to break

03:45through the noise. Berserk Boy is an action platformer that takes a lot of retro inspiration

03:50from the likes of Mega Man. As you progress, it even gives you cool abilities that also change

03:55your appearance when you use them. It got really strong reviews on both Steam and Switch when it

04:00launched in March. It's just that not many people played it. While we don't have sales numbers,

04:05it only has around 220 user reviews on Steam as of writing, and an all-time peak of 89 players.

04:13Yeah, there are a lot of other games like it these days,

04:16but that doesn't mean that this one is any less deserving of some attention.

04:21Neva

04:30It's downright tragic that thoughtful, artistic experiences like this one rarely get brought up

04:34in conversation when talking about the best games of the year. Neva comes from Nomada Studio,

04:40the developer behind 2018's Grease. Just like that game, the entirely hand-painted,

04:46watercolor aesthetic is absolutely gorgeous. With more experience as a developer though,

04:52gameplay is also more exciting, with combat and puzzles having more depth. It follows a woman,

04:58Alba, navigating a corrupt fantasy world with her wolf companion, the titular Neva. While reviews

05:04were quick to point out how incredible it is in October, it disappeared from the spotlight almost

05:09as soon as it appeared, being overshadowed by gigantic releases like Dragon Age, Silent Hill 2,

05:16and Metaphor Rephantasia. But seriously, don't sleep on this one. It's a beautiful piece of work.

05:29Dungeons of Hinterberg

05:31Released back in July, Dungeons of Hinterberg is one of the cozier games of 2024.

05:37Equal parts life sim and unique dungeon crawler, it follows Luisa adventuring to a mountainside

05:43town after mysterious, monster-filled dungeons began appearing nearby. For some reason, fans of

05:49these gameplay blends, which are fairly popular, didn't show up in as large of numbers this time

05:54around. If you missed it, you should check it out. The comic book style makes the Austrian-inspired

06:00Hinterberg pop, and the Persona-inspired life sim elements bring each character to life.

06:06Additionally, with 25 dungeons to explore that all have different mechanics,

06:10there's a lot to get lost in.

06:131,000 Times Resist

06:231,000 Times Resist is another adventure game, and one that flew even further under the radar

06:29than Nobody Wants to Die. Set in the far future after most of humanity perished from an alien

06:35plague, players control a clone who navigates memories in order to find out what really

06:40happened long ago. Narratively speaking, it is a remarkable feat of storytelling,

06:45which was agreed upon by everyone who played it. So, why was that player base so small? Well,

06:51it may have had something to do with the fact that it launched the same day as two other indie

06:56games that both blew up. The PS1-inspired horror title Crow Country and the Dunkey-published

07:03metroidvania Animal Well. Tales of Kinzera

07:15Zao Tales of Kinzera

07:33puts you in the role of Zao, a shaman who seeks to win back the soul of his father

07:38from the god of death. What helped it stand out from other metroidvanias, for better or worse,

07:44was its implementation of African culture and Bantu mythology. While it wasn't as mechanically

07:49deep as others in its genre, it was still plenty of fun to play with a heartfelt story.

07:55Player numbers, sadly, weren't high enough no matter where you looked, resulting in layoffs

08:00at Surgent Studios a few months later. While there are a ton of indie metroidvanias out there,

08:06there's no denying this game was a victim of the culture war, with vocally volatile claims of

08:12forced DEI, despite it being an original story from an independent Black Run studio.

08:18There were some gamers who even celebrated the game's failure and loss of employees.

08:22Tales of Kinzera not only deserved more players, it deserved more respect.

08:35Alone in the Dark

08:42Listen, was this game perfect? No, far from it. But did it deserve its fate? Absolutely not.

08:56A remake of the groundbreaking 1992 survival horror gem, Alone in the Dark had the misfortune

09:02of launching in an era of pristine horror remakes, like Capcom's Resident Evil series and,

09:08as we'd see later in the year, Silent Hill 2. With a smaller developer and budget,

09:13it just couldn't measure up. One of the most frequent criticisms was its lackluster combat,

09:18but what it nailed was its atmosphere, so much so that even the series creator praised it for

09:24preserving the core feeling of the original. Sadly, a mid-tier game just wasn't good enough

09:29for publisher THQ Nordic's parent company, Embracer Group, which was already on a closing spree

09:36following bad business decisions and the cancellation of multiple titles. Alone in the

09:41Dark didn't meet sales expectations, and Embracer closed developer Pieces Interactive a few months

09:47after launch. Prince of Persia The Lost Crown

10:062024 was not a good year for Ubisoft. But of its many games that the publisher deemed

10:14financial failures, The Prince of Persia Revival absolutely did not deserve to be one of them.

10:21The Lost Crown is an immaculate metroidvania, with plenty of trap-ladden obstacle courses to

10:26obsessively test yourself against, and some of the best, most challenging boss fights of the year.

10:33And every second of it feels like a dream thanks to strong controls and wonderful mechanics.

10:39But all of that couldn't save it. Many have speculated on the game's failure,

10:44from its lack of a presence on Steam until seven months after launch,

10:48to Ubisoft's ridiculous sales expectations that it apparently failed to meet. Whatever the reason,

10:55Ubisoft not only passed on the team's idea for a sequel, but also disbanded them entirely,

11:01and that is just plain disappointing.

11:09What's a game you feel went underloved and underplayed this past year?

11:13Give it a shout out in the comments.

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