Bonus Action’s Best Gaming Moment of 2024

Over a year of gaming, players will naturally have their best gaming moments. Whether that’s overcoming a challenge, a profound, emotive story that connects with you, or just a cool game that lets you do a cool action, whatever it is, it’s yours, and it’s important.

Naturally, we here at BA have had a few this year too, so we took a moment to think about this year in gaming, and have chosen our picks for our best gaming moments, and what about them made them so epic.

Playing the Pokemon TCG for the First Time via Pokemon TCG Pocket – Amanda’s Pick

Growing up as a nerdy girl with social anxiety, I missed out on most games that required a social element to play. While I had a binder of Pokemon cards, I never had anyone actually to play with… even though I wanted to learn. So much of being a grown-up gamer with a better handle on her social anxiety has been going back to the things I dreamed about doing as a kid, but was too scared to pursue. A few years ago that meant finally playing Dungeons & Dragons for the first time, and in 2024, it was Pokemon’s time to shine. 

All these years later, I’ve just gotten back into collecting physical Pokemon cards. I even got to visit a Pokemon TCG vending machine! But, I still don’t really have anyone local to play actual in-person TCG matches against. Like I did as a kid, my experience of opening packs is mostly appreciating the art and looking out for my favorites.

So, cheesy as it is, I can’t help but grin thinking about how Pokemon TCG Pocket let me see Pokemon cards in action for the first time. Even though the rules and play are different, I love setting up matches with some of my longer-distance friends (including some folks here at BA). My inner child finally got to play the Pokemon TCG this year, and that’s not something I’ll soon forget, even as my Moonlit Waves deck gets crushed in PvP.

Getting Keystone Master in World of Warcraft: The War Within Season 1 – Matt’s Pick

I’m not a very competitive player in most games, and WoW is no different. However, I do like a little challenge and trying to progress, pushing myself to play better, and during the first season of World of Warcraft: The War Within, I made a point of getting Keystone Master. In essence, it means I completed Mythic Plus Dungeons, a tier-based challenge with timers and modifiers to dungeons, with the reward being a fancy mount and a way to get some powerful gear.

So, I hustled, took on the dungeons, and did all I could to improve my gameplay and learn the tips and tricks to get my shiny mount, and after a grueling journey, I got my achievement, and with it, the shiny diamond mech mount you see in the image above.

It’s not anything emotional, or particularly profound, but it’s something I am proud of, and I wanted to take a moment to enjoy my achievement, and that’s why it was my gaming moment of 2024.

All of Dragon’s Dogma 2 Pawn Mayhem – Cande’s Pick

I honestly couldn’t tell you if Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a “good” game in the traditional sense. What I can tell you is that its chaotic, unscripted nature is an endless source of hilarity. The sheer amount of time you spend trudging along roads with your AI pawns (recruits) ensures that no session ends without a laugh—usually at them.

The hardest part is picking just one moment.

There was the time I was getting absolutely obliterated by a flan, and my pawn shouted, “I’m coming, master!” only to heroically leap straight into the gelatinous death trap—and promptly get melted before I did.

Or maybe the time I spotted a chest after leaping off a cliff. I ordered my pawns to open it before they followed me down, thinking I was so clever. Naturally, the first pawn dove off gleefully, the second followed without hesitation, and the third? Oh, the third opened the chest just as I was frantically slamming the arrow keys like a lunatic. That’s how Carmina earned her spot as my all-time favorite player-made pawn.

I’m tempted to omit the time when I hopped on the aerial railway alone, forcing my pawns to huff it on the ground below to keep up. But hey, that’s what they get for yelling, “I know of a treasure chest nearby!” only to blankly stare into the middle distance without moving an inch.

A Weekend With Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth – Laura’s Pick

As a game journo, it is easy to lose track of the games you rush to play for reviews and guides. A year will go by sometimes, where I won’t even fully remember what came out. 

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth will never be like that. 

When I was playing the game for review, it was a rare weekend when I was alone in the house. As a parent of a four (then three) year-old, the opportunity to sit and truly binge a game isn’t something I get often. But I spent all three days, from the moment I woke up until I went to bed, playing FF7: Rebirth. 

It reminded me of playing FF7 for the first time when I was thirteen. Sitting for long hours on my friend’s living room floor, entranced and entirely enveloped in the story. The hours I spent with my cats cuddled on my lap, controller in my hand were so special. It was also the last big game release I got to spend with my cat Magnus, who became very ill over the summer and passed away two days after my birthday.

I just can’t even express or thank Square Enix enough for this game, and for the treasured memories it gave me. It’s so wonderful to have new, adult memories of a franchise that is part of my heart.

Snapping my Copy of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (Sorry Laura) – John’s Pick

I told the team about this while attempting to introduce myself to Chelsea and explain how I’m the guy all the silly things happen to. 2023 saw me accidentally trigger an unskippable adult scene in Cyberpunk 2077 that also doesn’t pause right in front of my plumber, but 2024 took the award for the most absurd thing I’ve done.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth launched at a tumultuous time in our lives, so I remember it fondly because it’s a brilliant game that got me through some stuff. Well, the demo is. You see, I’d pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of this two-disc monster, and after letting the install disc do its thing, I was ready to stick the play disc into my PS5.

As I attempted to remove the play disc, I realized you should actually push down in the center of the steelbook case to release it as I snapped said play disc right down one side. In my defense, I was tired and it was bitterly cold, which I think made the disc a bit more susceptible to snapping.

Yes, this sounds like the WORST gaming moment of 2024, and it was in a way. I always do this sort of thing though, and now I look back and think it’s ridiculous that I was so excited to play I actually broke a game. It made me feel like a giddy kid seeing a cool new title for the first time, and no other video game has done that for years.

One day I’ll play Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, I swear I will. A few months later I got completely lost in the world of Animal Well and that was quite a lot of fun. Despite being so utterly absorbed by that brilliant indie, snapping one of Square Enix’s most fantastic games to date is still a highlight for my 2024 for some reason.

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Matthew Fuller

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