OU Gaming Club Game Awards 2024

It’s becoming more difficult to pick my favorite game of the year when the options are more diverse than ever.

2024 has been a solid year for new game releases, from remakes to sequels, as well as some shocking successes that took the gaming industry by storm. From Helldivers 2to Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, 2024 has given gamers plenty of new games to love.

Like last year’s Game of the Year 2023, I made a poll for the OU Gaming Club to fill out and determine the best games of the year in fifteen categories.

This year’s poll brought more surprises than 2023 did! There’s no Baldur’s Gate 3to sweep the awards, but there were many other titles to show us why we love gaming.

Here are the results of the OU Gaming Club’s game awards for 2024!

So many modern games have deep, enriching stories, and the companies that make them take pride in deep, thematic narratives that draw players in. This year, old and new stories have resonated with audiences from Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth’srefreshed take on a classic or Metaphor: Refantazio’soriginal narrative created by Atlus.

Silent Hill 2is the one to take Best Narrative for 2024, though! Breathing new life into a beloved classic gives both series veterans and new players a chance to experience the eerie, thought-provoking story that has become iconic.

No game is complete without a soundtrack to accompany it, no matter the scope or size. The soundtrack is one of my favorite aspects of a video game, and the right one can make me obsessed. Astro Botwas a surprise standout for me this year, and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirthbrought a sweeping orchestral sound to what was once limited to PS1 hardware.

The winner of Best Soundtrack, however, is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree!The base game has one of From Software’s most iconic soundtracks, but Shadow of the Erdtreekicked things up a notch. Some of my favorite boss themes of all time came from this incredible DLC, and a large portion of the OU Gaming Club agrees!

2024 has had some of the most varied art direction I’ve seen in a video game in a while. Hyperrealistic graphics don’t make a game, and often, the games that take a bold and unique art style become far more memorable in the long run. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zerobrought the iconic look of the late Akira Toriyama’s style to gaming, while Silent Hill 2’smurky atmosphere permeates the fabric of reality.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero’sbold colors and gorgeous ki blast effects helped it win Best Art Direction! It’s one of the most gorgeous games I’ve played in recent memory, and I think it does Toriyama’s iconic style justice. I don’t know if a future Dragon Ball game could beat the beauty of Sparking! Zero,but the creativity of artists is limitless.

Voice actors can make or break characters. The right skill can make even the most bland dialogue stand out, and particularly charged performances by the people who help bring characters to life can put actors from other mediums to shame.

This category was particularly close and ended with a tie between Gareth David-Lloyd as Solas from Dragon Age: Veilguardand John Eric Bentley as Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth!

Solas is one of the Dragon Agefranchise’s most iconic characters, and David-Lloyd brings a weathered but determined god to life with shockingly human qualities. John Eric Bentley’s performance as Barret Wallace reconciles the hard exterior of a father ravaged by war with a tender and sensitive man who cares deeply for his found family. No matter the type of character, a good performance can make anyone fall in love.

In a market increasingly dominated by AAA games looking to be the most expensive and prettiest, indie game studios have been pushing the boundaries of gaming. Whether you are looking for a spooky driving survival game in Pacific Driveor you want a roguelike poker experience with Balatro,you can find nearly anything you can imagine within indie.

This year, Balatrotakes the title of Best Indie Game by a wide margin. The combination of simple rules and a near-infinite way to customize a run makes for an addictive gaming experience, the likes of which I haven’t seen before.

While indie games have a diverse set of genres and gameplay types for nearly anyone, sometimes you just want to get your adrenaline pumping with an action game that puts you in the seat of a gun-wielding powerhouse. This year, we’ve had plenty of excellent action games from many IPs and franchises, new and old.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2took the gaming community by storm with its short but excellent campaign and gritty grimdark universe. Black Myth: Wukongis a surprise newcomer that pushes you to the limit when fighting bosses as the legendary Sun Wukong.

One game has stood above the rest this year, though. Helldivers 2 won the title for Best Action Game with its creative gameplay, solid gunplay, and an evolving universe that reacts to its community’s successes (and failures).

RPGs are my favorite gaming genre, and there are almost toomany releases this year filled with enough content to last for days of gameplay. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirthis my favorite, boasting a nearly 100-hour-long campaign and a rich world that has been lovingly recrafted from the original PS1 release.

I can’t have everything I like win the awards, though. Persona 3: Reload’sreimagined world, tight turn-based mechanics, and enriching story helped it take Best RPG by a huge margin! Atlus continues to prove that it knows how to make RPGs.

I’m not usually a fighting game guy, but this year’s selections included a lot of solid titles, both new and reimagined. The Tekkenfranchise released its eighth title to critical acclaim within the fighting game community, but it’s not the only beloved franchise that has made a return.

The Budokai Tenkaichi series of Dragon Ball arena fighters returned after 17 long years in the form of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.Dragon Ball is one of my favorite franchises, and I’m happy to say that it won the title of best Fighting Game by a landslide! The return of a fighting giant has resonated with thousands of people and thrust Dragon Ball into the mainstream again.

You can’t go wrong with a good scare. Best Horror Game is a title new to this year’s OU Esports game awards, but I felt it was a necessary addition due to the amount of solid new titles released in 2024. From surprise series revivals like Emio – The Smiling Manto new indie contenders such as Pacific Drive,there’s been plenty for horror buffs to check out this year.

Silent Hill 2’srevamped graphics and classic story brought to a new generation takes the title of Best Horror. Despite initial doubts about how this game might be received, it’s become one of the most solid remakes out there.

I’m not the most familiar with sports games, but the genre’s place in the gaming industry is massive and undeniable. Every year, franchises like Maddenand NBAbring new titles with revamped team rosters for sports fans to pit against each other, but something changed this year.

For the first time in eleven years, the NCAA college football gaming franchise has returned in the form of College Football 25.I never thought the day would come, but despite everything, it’s back for a new generation of gamers to enjoy.

The return of such a beloved franchise blew every other title in this race out of the water for an easy win. College Football 25takes the Best Sports/Racing game by a landslide!

Time and time again, the best family games of the year are dominated by Nintendo titles. It’s nearly impossible notto own a Nintendo Switch at this point, and even with its successor coming soon, Nintendo continues to release new titles.

Astro Bot’sadorable style and simple but effective gameplay made it a surprise contender for Best Family. Princess Peach: Showtime!and Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomput the player in the princess’s shoes to save the day.

Despite the close results, though, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorwins Best Family game! 2024 seems to be the year for remakes, but I can’t say I’m surprised with so many classic titles making a comeback.

Another new category in OU Esports’s Game of the Year Awards is Best DLC, and there have been too many excellent contenders. I’m a sucker for expansions that bring me even more content for games I already love.

Destiny 2: The Final Shapebrought a sweeping conclusion to a saga ten years in the making, along with one of the best narratives the franchise has seen. Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail,meanwhile, continues to expand an already massiveMMORPG.

I’m just avoiding the elephant in the room, though.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreewon Best DLC with nearly eighty percent of the votes! This expansion brought enough content that it could’ve been a separate game to From Software’s magnum opus. Its dark atmosphere oozes through the screen. Some of the best boss fights in the Souls franchise can even be found within.

I couldn’t think of a better winner for the best DLC of 2024.

It’s finally time to get to what everyone’s been waiting for. So many incredible games have been released this year, but only a few could make it onto this list to find out the best of 2024. This year’s list is incredibly diverse, with contenders across many genres.

Astro Botwas a surprise hit that brought the charm and memory of old 3D platformers harkening back to the PlayStation 2 days. The game is an earnest celebration of all things gaming.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zerobreathed new life into the Budokai Tenkaichifranchise with a gorgeous art style and crisp, addictive fighting mechanics.

Silent Hill 2brought a cult classic back to life and introduced a new generation to the horrors hidden within the eerie town of Silent Hill, Maine.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirthcontinued the remake project of the original PS1 classic and brought a deeper combat system with revamped visuals and a beautiful soundtrack.

Only one game can be crowned, though.

Helldivers 2takes the title of OU Esports’s Game of the Year for 2024! This game brought its community together on the galactic quest to rid the galaxy of the tyranny of the Cyborgs and Bugs. The game’s incredible combat and community-based objectives make it an excellent choice for GOTY.

It’s brought everyone together to secure managed democracy for Super Earth.

As I did last year, I asked the Media & News team here at OU Esports to tell me their personal games of the year to put into a separate category to determine which of ours was the most beloved. All these games have been featured previously in the poll, but it was interesting to see how these titles stack up against each other.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreetook the Media & News Choice award this year! With the DLC’s staggering scope and popularity within one of the most successful games of the 2020s, I’m not surprised about its victory. There’s nothing quite like a challenging but rewarding From Software experience.

(I was banking on Final Fantasy VII: Rebirthwinning, but my favorites can’t all be winners.)

2024 has been a great year for gaming, but 2025 is shaping up to be just as good, if not better. Many franchises have announced new titles coming next year, but one gaming giant on this list stands out far from the rest.

Grand Theft Auto VIwins OU Esports’s Most Anticipated Game of 2025! The latest title in the critically acclaimed and massively popular Grand Theft Autoseries is slated to release sometime next year, and it’ll be sure to take the gaming community by storm.

I’m so thankful for the community we have here, both in the Gaming Club and OU Esports Co-Curricular and Innovation. Without the community’s support, I wouldn’t be able to do anything like this.

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you to those in the OU Gaming Club who participated in the poll and made this project a reality! This year’s Game of the Year awards shows that no matter where you look, anyone can find a favorite game in any genre, system, and format.