The Final Shape’ Is OpenCritic’s Best Reviewed Release Of 2024

Look, I hoped The Final Shape would be a good expansion for Destiny 2 to cap off a ten year saga, but I was not expecting this. Reviews are in, and at least so far, Destiny 2’s Final Shape is the best-reviewed game/release of the year on OpenCritic, and tied for that honor on Metacritic. Here’s the breakdown:

OpenCritic:

1. Destiny 2 The Final Shape – 94
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – 93
3. Balatro – 91
4. Tekken 8 – 90
5. Hades II – 90
6. The Last of Us Part II Remastered – 90
7. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth – 90
8. Animal Well – 89
9. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – 89
10. Solium Infernum – 88

Metacritic

1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – 92
2. Destiny 2: The Final Shape – 92
3. Animal Well – 91
4. Balatro – 90
5. The Last of Us Part II Remastered – 90
6. Tekken 8 – 90
7. Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition – 89
8. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth – 89
9. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes – 88
10. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

I just have Destiny at #2 on that Metacritic list because Final Fantasy has more reviews in, and it’s harder to maintain a high average with more scores. The difference in scores between lists is that Metacritic includes some critics OpenCritic does not, for instance, the 46/100 for The Final Shape from GamesRD, which likely lowered the Metacritic score a few points to the #1 tie by itself. And one of its lowest scores, Xbox Era’s 7/10 went up about 36 hours after release which was before the raid, final campaign mission or exotic quest were even out as it endeavored to be the first scored review live.

And of course, full disclosure, my review is in these averages. I gave it a 10/10, with the last two things I gave that score being Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty and Elden Ring. So it’s high praise. But speaking of Elden Ring, if there’s anything that may come along and hit the top spot, it may be Shadow of the Erdtree because I mean, it’s more Elden Ring, a game that racked up a 95 score in its initial release. I’m almost expecting that to be exactly what happens.

But in terms of major AAA titles? It is a bit of a lighter year compared to last year, and I’d be surprised if we saw all that many more high profile 90+ games, much less, 92-94 like we’re seeing here.

For comparison’s sake, Destiny 2’s lambasted Lightfall expansion had a 71 score. The much-praised Witch Queen expansion had an 88. The widely-named “best” expansion before this, Forsaken, had an 82. The base release of Destiny 2 had an 84. So yes, this is territory we have never seen the game reach. Most impressive.

Follow me on Twitter, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.