Welcome, folks, to the most magical time of the year (and our newest tradition), Source Gaming’s annual screenshot gallery! These are all shots we took of games we played, all taken within this calendar year. Some were taken while we scooped up images for our articles, and some were just taken for their own sake. But because it’s also at the end of the year, we’re all itching to move forward, so let’s skip a protracted intro and get started!
Be warned: this is image-heavy. By a lot.
Image: Source Gaming. Dragon Age: Origins (2009).
Wolfman Jew: Maybe the first of these screenshots, and definitely the one with the greatest boast: my cronies and I standing over the corpse of Flemeth, Morrigan’s mom and one of Dragon Age: Origins’ most notorious bosses. It was a miserable pain of a battle where I spent most of my time tossing mana potions to party members, but I did it. The nature of Dragon Age—its overproduced HUD, its limited camera options—means I couldn’t get the nicest image, but I can look at this and feel proud. Even getting 100% completion in a slow, multi-year replay of Super Mario 64 didn’t feel as special as taking this boss down.
Image: Nintendo. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (2024).
This screenshot from Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is something of an inversion. It shows a moment of weakness; this entirely fair puzzle absolutely destroyed me for hours and hours before I found an online guide. And thanks to the game’s incredible, cinematic forced camera perspectives, it looks gorgeous no matter how much tsuris I had. It was a joy to take pictures of this game, and I do hope more of you play it.
Image: Source Gaming. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (2020).
I replayed the entire Xenoblade trilogy over the course of this year, an exciting and satisfying adventure I am never, ever going to do again. That was probably near four hundred hours! I snapped a lot of pics that I liked, but this one might be my favorite from Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. I fought a generic enemy, and the treasure chest its corpse spawned became perfectly situated on this fence. You can’t open chests in midair, and there’s no way to actually jump on the fence yourself, so it was just here, forever. I even came back hours later after all sorts of crazy twists, and it’s still there. Will it show up if I start a New Game+? Who knows!
Image: Source Gaming. Dark Souls Remastered (2018).
As I become more fascinated with taking in-game screenshots, I’ve developed a perfectionist streak and spend minutes perfectly finding the right position. It’s certainly got its problems, especially when it leads me to spend three hours trying to get a header for a Mario Kart article before deciding to just use one I took days earlier. Well, that can’t happen in Dark Souls fights thanks to the game’s constant autosaves (and the PS4’s terrible capture button, something that’ll never cease to irritate me). Every boss fight picture I capture is raw, baby. Which makes it all the more incredible that I got this cool image of me backstabbing Maneater Mildred, inches from a bonfire I wasn’t allowed to use. It’s not a perfect composition, even though the animation gave me a few seconds. But it looks cool as hell.
Image: Source Gaming. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley (2024).
Part of the appeal of this series is that it can allow us to highlight games we played that we don’t necessarily intend to actually write about (or in the case of Animal Well, a game whose topic we would’ve covered before I accidentally saved after beating the final boss, but whatever. I can totally write about it whenever). Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a deeply lovely adventure game that’s unfortunately not suited to my kind of analysis, so this allows me to give it some attention. Snufkin is also important because it’s the game that got my sister’s family to buy a Switch, and since I bought it based on their recommendation, it means that they got to share it with me. I don’t really know exactly how to put this into words, but it felt nice to follow their tastes. I’m almost always the one who gives the suggestions to my kinfolk, especially for video games.
Image: Source Gaming. Animal Well (2024).
…Okay, though, no, I do wanna show off Animal Well. This is a pretty normal screenshot. It was a puzzle that I did eventually solve. Eventually. Those birds are mean. But they’re just up there, waiting for me to antagonize them. There’s no spectacular behemoth of an animal, no sudden capture of platforming ingenuity. It’s… just Animal Well, with its cryptic world and charming visuals. That’s enough! I spent a decent chunk of September and October just pouring over these graphics, enjoying the ambient music, and loving the specificity of this world. It’s a world built for you to have sudden, joyful revelations about a puzzle or challenge, and I had them constantly. And wouldn’t you know it, but it’s only taking this shot off my Switch hard drive months after finishing the main story that I realize this was a skull all along. Another revelation.
Image: Source Gaming. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024).
A lot of this year involved me using specialized, game-specific tools for capturing good shots. I used the replay feature in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe extensively, enjoyed Firewatch‘s in-universe Kodak camera, and enjoyed the photo mode in Xenoblade 3 (more on that in a bit). One of the nice things about Lorelei was that it just didn’t have a HUD a lot of the time, and while I actually do love HUDs and am kinda disdainful of the drive amongst Triple-A games to remove it, I can’t deny that it can be super useful for an amateur in-game photographer. Similarly, by removing the HUD in the overworld, the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake offers a great way to take great screenshots. It wasn’t my focus—mostly I took pictures of dialogue that I’ve had in my head since I played the original game twenty years ago—but it was incredibly helpful for my article and just nice. The game’s gorgeous. This shot was for Chapter 7, but since the Path to Fahr Outpost is pretty small in the grand scheme of things, I determined it not a priority for the piece. But I wanted to show it off somewhere.
Image: Source Gaming. Mark of the Ninja Remastered (2018).
Despite putting most of my writing time this year into “Gun Metal Gaming,” and despite not really writing a ton else, I played a lot of games. I played many from this year, many older ones, and many for the first time. While I loved some even more than Mark of the Ninja Remastered, that one felt like the most long time coming given that I ignored it in 2012, back when I was still using the old Xbox Live Arcade. It’s a great game, but it’s also a great game for me and has a lot of features that undergrad me would come to love, like aggressive stealth mechanics and a focus on player agency. And that Adult Swim-looking cartoon style is so good. Once I saw that one of the final levels featured lightning as a mechanic, I knew I had to take a shot of… actually, does the ninja have a name? Mostly he kept being called “champion.” Anyway, here he is, along with a “friend.”
Image: Source Gaming. Tunic (2022).
Surprisingly for a game that could almost be tailor-made for me, Tunic took me a few tries. I bought this instant classic last year, only for me to give up on it immediately. A second try early in 2024 fared a little better, but not much. It was only this fall that it clicked and I relished diving into its many secrets. Of course, that wasn’t it; I still kept jumping off to play other games and took until the very end of the year, right before this article’s publication, to solve the overarching mystery, feel proud that I only needed some help at the end to unlock the second ending, and hit the credits. Because I don’t play as much on my PS4 (one of the reasons it was harder to keep on with this), I didn’t really go out of my way to get new screenshots. I love this one, though. There’s another great one with the fox hero amongst the clouds, but I love the sense of motion and perspective. Among other things, Tunic‘s incredible at scale, perspective, and the idea that you’re always inside an immaculately-made world. This trek to the Quarry isn’t the game at its prettiest, but you can’t help but see the pillars and clouds and wonder exactly what happened.
Image: Source Gaming. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (2017).
I don’t know what it is about this shot from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Xenoblade 3 has a photo feature that cuts the HUD elements if you press the shoulder buttons, but I didn’t like them quite as much (also, I also accidentally deleted all of them except one from Future Redeemed where basically fine Old Man Shulk is ziplining over Colony 9, so it’s kinda moot). I have plenty of other screenshots I’ve deigned to exclude because I decided to give every writer a twelve screenshot limit. There’s stuff from Crow Country and Celeste and Carto that are just getting left out, alongside games that probably don’t start with the letter “C.” But ever since I took this in around April I’ve been enchanted with it. The positioning. The quiet foreshadowing that that entire bottom level is fully explorable. That it’s showing off the game’s best area. It’s just stuck with me, and I’m glad to finally share it.
Image: Source Gaming. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (2024).
It’d be almost heretical for me to not include a shot from a new Zelda game, and what’s great is that I’ve got a great leftover picture from The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. It was one of my absolute favorites, so much so that it almost hurt not getting to include it. The reason was that there were already pictures showing the snow area, Zelda sleeping, though I guess it is unique in having a Wizzrobe. But that’s what this listicle is for. It’s just a way for us to use stuff we liked that didn’t really fit in with the other stuff we were publishing. And perhaps that’s a good thing for me to end on, the very direct reason for this. I suppose I can’t come up with a better way to end this…
Image: Source Gaming. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024).
No, no, this is better. ‘Cause twenty years later, TTYD‘s still got it. None of you have any idea just how many comedy lines I saved.
AShadowLink: So this year I played a lot of games that didn’t come out this year, including my favorite game Honkai Impact 3rd. One of my most treasured things is decorating my dorm, which has adorable chibi versions of the characters all running around and interacting with objects. I even updated it for the holidays!
Some other games I played were from RGG Studios. I loved the Judgment games, and I played Kiwami 2. Kiwami 2 is not very good. After being on a Batman kick for a month or so I found out there was a mod to put Kazuma Kiryu in the caped crusader’s suit for the entire game. It certainly made that game a lot funnier, and a lot more palatable.
I was genuinely shocked at how well this mod worked tbh. It was extremely funny.
I also used mods to play as my boy Masayoshi Tanimura from Yakuza 4 while I was cleaning up side content in Lost Judgment. Look at his sweet moves and stylish attire.
One game I did play from this year was Dragon’s Dogma II. It’s been a fun immersive experience, and I’d just like to shoutout my favorite usermade pawn that I inducted into my party early on: Mungbean. I saw his name was Mungbean and he was wearing a goofy-looking hat, and I knew it was fate. The hours he spent awkwardly hanging around the background will forever hang in my mind. I love you, Mungbean.
PhantomZ2: This is our second End of the Year Photo Album, so I’d rather change what I did from last year. Last time, I shared only two games I played while also discussing some of my thoughts on them. This time around, I have 11 in-game moments to share, but I think I’d rather take the time to discuss why I take these in the first place rather than talk about the games themselves. Each game within my gallery is worth a playthrough of your own.
Image: Source Gaming. GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- (2021).
Image: Source Gaming. GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- (2021).
Image: Source Gaming. Tekken 7- (2015).
Image: Source Gaming. Tekken 8 (2024).
Earlier this year when I was working at a new job for a bit, there was a moment amidst my rooftop lunch where I could see New York City, specifically Brooklyn, from a more distant and serene view. That moment immediately brought me back to similar views that I saw in NieR Replicant, allowing not just for inspiration to unfold for myself but also build an understanding of why concept artist Koda Kazuma chose to depict (or rather re-depict) the Northern Plains or Seafront. However, the worlds within video games don’t always map onto the visuals or environments of the real world. Granted, this could just be due to where I live.
Image: Source Gaming. Silent Hill (1999).
Image: Source Gaming. Webfishing (2024).
Image: Source Gaming. Mouthwashing (2024).
Image: Source Gaming. Balatro (2024).
Despite that, the designs of these games’ worlds, their characters, movement, and visuals are all so captivating and provide a chance to learn or sample when it comes to my artwork and graphical edits (those of which you’ve seen as thumbnails, headers or posts on my social media).
Image: Source Gaming. DINNERDINNNER (2024).
Image: Source Gaming. ZONE OF THE ENDERS THE 2nd RUNNER M∀RS (2018).
Image: Source Gaming. Lethal Company (released 2023 in early access, official release TBA).
Image: Source Gaming. NieR: Automata (2017).
Additionally, there is also the cool gaming moment that I feel pride, so screenshots and clips allow me to share that feeling with others who can say, “damn that’s cool,” to a thing I happened to do.
Image: Source Gaming. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017).
Cart Boy: Unless I’m actively taking screenshots for an article, I don’t use the screenshot features on my systems often. This pic, however, was taken accidentally. While practicing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s downloadable content, I happened to press the screenshot button as a Spiny Shell was approaching. What I couldn’t capture was the profound feelings of frustration that immediately followed. Don’t fret, though—future “Character Chronicle” subject Funky Kong took the setback in stride and we still won.
Image: Source Gaming. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
Swinging over to another Mario game, here’s a Bowser Jr. determined to help save the day in Bowser’s Fury. I was messing with the first-person view and the kid happened to strike a decent pose, so why not take a snapshot? Him and Mario made a decent team, actually. Shame he’s still a brat.
Image: Source Gaming. Banjo-Kazooie (1998).
And finally, we’re travelling back in time to Banjo-Kazooie. This is Mumbo’s Mountain, the first level. This is also the highest point of the stage, only accessible by using the termite transformation. As the first transformation, it’s fittingly the smallest, least imposing one. But it elevates the mood here, the feeling that we’re a scrappy underdog on an adventure. Sightseers can enjoy a similar view in the next level, Treasure Trove Cove. Perhaps we’ll chat about the tropics soon…
Liquid: Balatro is driving me insane. It’s poker, something I already like, but it’s also a roguelike deckbuilder with an extreme amount of variety. I could clutter this entire article with some of my crowning build moments, but because that would take hours, here’s five moments that only scratch the surface of what I’ve been able to land.
Image: Source Gaming. Balatro (2024).
You wanna know what Balatro and Elden Ring have in common? Madness is detrimental to you when used improperly. Unlike in Elden Ring, you can flip the bird to Madness in Balatro by just stacking Eternal cards. The fine print matters. So ultimately, what we have here is a self-stacking build that spams Pairs with free leveling from Burnt Joker, more scoring from Splash, extra multiplier with a Half Joker (also Polychromed), and two Ride the Bus copies for infinite scaling if you’re careful to not play face cards.
Image: Source Gaming. Balatro (2024).
“Can I offer you an egg in this trying time?”, said Frank Reynolds once. You’re supposed to sell the Egg, on paper, but a Negative Egg said otherwise, and it just so happened to be better to keep it on hand for Temperance abuse and Swashbuckler scaling. This one went really far.
Image: Source Gaming. Balatro (2024).
Discard your notions of discarding with a duplicate pair of Green Jokers. Play four cards ad infinitum with two Polychromed Square Jokers for free chips. And since you can afford it, get some enhanced cards to enable Driver’s License for that sweet x3 multiplier. An unstoppable build until you hit the hundred million blinds.
Image: Source Gaming. Balatro (2024).
Checkered Deck is an easy build to win with. It translated well into speedrunning a game under 12 rounds to unlock the Merry Andy Joker, with some incredibly lucky acquisitions; namely a Tag to level Flushes, a Negative Blue Joker and Stuntman for chips, getting permanent 1.5x multipliers with Smeared Joker and Ancient Joker, Cardsharp for the extra repeat hand boost and Abstract Joker to add more mult with the negative from earlier.
Image: Source Gaming. Balatro (2024).
So that’s what getting stoned is like. Free Hologram multipliers, though!
Image: Source Gaming. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024).
Hamada: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is my game of the year and one of the best I’ve ever played, due in part to its overworld. By balancing both the scale of a Breath of the Wild with the set pieces of a Skyward Sword, Rebirth’s areas make for perfect screenshots. And nowhere is that clearer than in Cosmo Canyon, whose serene music and landscape at sunset shook me in a way in-game environments rarely do. Needless to say, if this phenomenal game comes to a platform you’re on, get it! If it’s about to, use the downtime to play its prequels and catch up!
Image: Source Gaming. Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (2024).
Moving on to something smaller, Pokémon TCG Pocket’s been a very nice surprise. Usually, I wouldn’t even nominate a shot from a mobile game, but I’m too proud of my haul to leave it out. Immersive cards are my favorite part of the whole thing, and collecting the original four was a very memorable hunt. Mew was especially tough, making you collect the entire Kanto Pokédex to earn it, but mapping everything out and reaching that goal just a few days ago was so satisfying. Now, if only I could pull that Immersive Celebi…
(Last-minute update: I got the Celebi!)
Image: Source Gaming. Marvel Rivals.
Another of 2024’s welcome surprises was Marvel Rivals, which gave me an unexpected throwback to my Overwatch era. Although a free-to-play game with cosmetics this fancy is dangerous, I can’t deny how much fun it’s been. As shown by my first-ever MVP, I’m a wannabe Psylocke main, but until I actually get decent with her, I’m also letting my teams carry me by picking Mantis or Peni. It’s kinda sad to admit that this game was the last nail in my personal MultiVersus coffin, but it is what it is.
Image: Source Gaming. Astro Bot (2024).
This year, I played more PlayStation exclusives than usual, and my non-FFVII highlights of that experience were definitely Stellar Blade and Astro Bot. I’m missing a worthwhile screenshot of the former, so it’s a good thing the latter gave me the perfect two-in-one! I played through all of Astro hoping to find a robotic take on the Stellar heroine EVE, and decided to draw one myself when that failed. Imagine how validated I felt when, a day after posting my sketch, a State of Play aired and showed off the official, near-identical EVE Bot! Despite Stellar Blade’s issues, that cemented it as a newfound favorite, and while Astro Bot was already excellent enough to not need the memory, it’s still much appreciated.
Image: Source Gaming. Mario & Luigi: Brothership (2024).
Finally, let’s not forget that we mostly talk Nintendo around here. I loved the remakes of Super Mario RPG and The Thousand-Year Door, but as someone whose favorite spin-off was always Mario & Luigi, seeing it get an all-new entry was the real highlight. Brothership rules, even if my choice of picture reveals that I still miss the Bowser’s Inside Story glory days. Sooner or later, I’m hoping to show how great the new game is by giving one of its characters a “Dream Smasher,” but until then, just take my word for it.
Told ya it was long! But that was just some fun from all of us to all of you. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, folks! Let’s do this again next year.
- Passing the Buck: Prologue - January 1, 2025
- The 2024 Source Gaming In-Game Screenshot Art Gallery - December 30, 2024
- Gun Metal Gaming Chapter 12: Crisis on Earth Fun - December 28, 2024
