Unlocking Hidden Treasures: The Ultimate Guide to 2024’s Video Game Secrets
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By
Jason Rodriguez
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Numerous games offer straightforward experiences, pleasant journeys from outset to conclusion that can be wonderfully delightful in their unique style. However, some reward exploration, where straying from the main path leads to exceptional benefits. Our compilation of the best video game secrets of 2024 highlights a variety of titles featuring remarkable discoveries that significantly enhance your gameplay.
We’ve gathered everything from companions that demand considerable effort to recruit, collectibles requiring quest line completions, to concealed locations within concealed locations—a “Hidden-ception,” if you will. We also delve into intricate puzzles, chances that can be missed, post-credit playthroughs, and alternate endings. Naturally, we not only reveal secrets but also major spoilers for numerous games.
Sunless Delusion: Wukong – Concealed boss battles and finale
Sunless Delusion: Wukong serves as a treasure for players who relish discovering things on their own. As outlined in our guides hub, the game features character enhancements that you can acquire, side quests that aren’t immediately visible, and secret locations that harbor their own enigmas.
Perhaps the most significant aspect is its hidden ending, which obliges you to unlock and locate the concealed areas in every chapter. Accomplishing this leads to an epic boss battle against Erlang Shen and the Four Elegant Kings. The Destined One then evolves into a formidable entity, resulting in confrontations reminiscent of kaiju battles. It also showcases a stunning ending cutscene that provides insight into the events from the Journey to the West novel.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Solas’ redemption and his love affair with the Inquisitor
Solas’ schemes may have led to the revival of long-forgotten elven gods in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but it is still possible for him to find redemption. This gives you a completely different ending opportunity at the conclusion of the game.
To evade confronting Solas, it’s essential to complete the entirety of the Regrets of the Dread Wolf quest chain to fulfill Mythal’s wish. This must be done well before the finale. Not only that, but if you choose Solas as the Inquisitor’s romantic interest prior to starting the campaign—meaning she must start as a female elf—and if you convince her that she still loves him, then the two can be reunited in exile within the Fade.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – 50 relics and the hidden epilogue
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features the globe-trotting archaeologist in another unforgettable adventure. While it is not an open-world game like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or Assassin’s Creed franchises, it is still packed with numerous puzzles and concealed collectibles.
Among these collectibles are relics, which are uniquely found in Vatican City, Giza, and Sukhothai. If you manage to gather all 50 relics, including one in the final area, you can solve a challenging wall puzzle that reveals a hidden epilogue. Ultimately, you will discover what actually transpired with a character thought to be deceased.
Unless Then – New Game Plus and alternate realities
Let’s be honest: Many gamers likely overlook or skip a game’s end credits, which is rather unfortunate. However, this is something you shouldn’t do when playing Unless Then, a visual novel featuring distinctly Filipino characters, themes, and settings.
Once you’ve completed Until Then’s story, you’ll notice something feels amiss, as if not every narrative thread has been thoroughly resolved. These are not glaring plot holes. Instead, they contribute to a unique narrative mechanism.
After the end credits, opting to continue brings you back to the game’s initial location. You might think everything is the same as before, until you realize there are some key changes, such as interactions with different characters and new events that unfold. As you progress through your next playthrough, you gradually piece together the puzzle to unveil the true outcome of the story.
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The Casting of Frank Stone – Cutting Room Floor findings
The Casting of Frank Stone is a partnership between Supermassive Games and Behaviour Interactive. Set in the Dead by Daylight universe, this is one horror game where it is essential to make critical choices to ensure that all characters survive the night.
What enhances the campaign’s allure is the Cutting Room Floor, a comprehensive feature that allows players to revisit specific moments to explore different outcomes. There are numerous scenes with multiple interconnected branches to consider, guiding you down paths that you might have overlooked before. For example, a character named Chris from the year 1980 travels to the present day, where she can interact with various protagonists. Certainly, she and the other heroes might also face dire consequences.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – Gilgamesh boss battle
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is packed with content that can easily require up to a hundred hours of playtime. The game offers a plethora of activities, including Gold Saucer minigames, Queen’s Blood card duels, and a chance for character development and romance. And yes, there are many impressive summoned creatures that will astonish you as they annihilate your foes.
One such summon is Gilgamesh, who humorously appears in cutscenes like a recurring gag. However, if you succeed in completing all Protorelic challenges in each area—a time-consuming effort—you will witness a special moment as Gilgamesh’s personal island rises from the depths. After defeating a series of various opponents, you’ll have the opportunity to confront the legendary warrior himself. Overcoming this adversary will finally earn you the Gilgamesh summon as a well-deserved reward for your efforts.
Fantasian Neo Dimension – Challenging bosses and Divine Artifacts
Fantasian, the creation of Mistwalker, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Nobuo Uematsu, was initially launched in 2021 on Apple Arcade. It finally made its way to consoles and PC earlier this year. One of the new features in Fantasian Neo Dimension is the New mode, as the original only offered its default Hard mode.
However, this doesn’t mean that boss battles are easy. Indeed, encounters will still challenge your skills, such as the fight against Eternal Holy, a being that appears when you accidentally open a specific treasure chest. Moreover, there are many objectives you can tackle throughout the game’s second half, such as acquiring Divine Artifacts that unlock the State Maps (i.e., skill trees) for your party members.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – Scaduview and Abyssal Woods
Elden Ring stunned millions with its vast open world, formidable boss encounters, and intricate level design. We still fondly remember our first steps into the underground cities of Nokstela and Nokron, gazing in awe, mouths agape, questioning if what we beheld was real.
The expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, is equally impressive in terms of secrets, particularly with areas such as Scaduview and Abyssal Woods. You can only access the former by navigating the convoluted passageways of Shadow Salvage and performing an emote to reveal a concealed route. The latter can also be reached through Shadow Salvage, but requires traversing an illusionary painting. Let’s just say you’ve got your work cut out for you, as this area is filled with incredibly tough foes that can drive you insane.
Stellar Blade – Eidos 9
When discussing the top gaming secrets of 2024, Stellar Blade undoubtedly stands out with its plethora of collectible cans and costumes that you can acquire. However, the highlight has to be Eidos 9, a hidden level with a strict unlock requirement.
To access Eidos 9, you must collect various data slates and documents, achieving a 100% completion rate with Lily, your dependable partner. If you fail to accomplish this by a certain point in the game, then Eve and the others will head straight to Spire 4 to…
“`proceed to the second-to-last chapter. However, while you meet the criteria, Lily will request Eve to hurry along with her to Eidos 9, a devastated city filled with large tracks that you can traverse. Obviously, you’ll discover more goodies while you are there.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 – The Sphinx, the Unmoored World, and the true ending
Let’s get this out of the way: You might encounter several annoyances if you play Dragon’s Dogma 2 unprepared. The game features not just massive boss creatures that can attack you while you’re exploring, but also missable class unlocks and character romances. Perhaps more infamously, there’s a devastating curse known as the Dragonsplague that can annihilate entire towns.
However, your journey will be enhanced if you are patient enough to explore these lands. Your travels may even lead you to the Sphinx, who presents you with 10 riddles that come with equally extraordinary rewards.
Beyond that point, you can also achieve the game’s true ending. To be clear, you are provided with just two default options at the campaign’s conclusion: You can either walk away from your dragon-boss adversary or defeat them in combat. However, there is a third choice, which requires you to obtain the Empowered Godsbane Blade.
The Empowered Godsbane Blade can be used to stab the dragon while it is in flight, triggering a series of events. Soon, you’ll find yourself in the Unmoored World, where the entire realm faces greater dangers in the form of more lethal monsters and bosses. You can either prevent widespread devastation by eliminating menacing bosses or seek ways to assist citizens with their evacuation.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Fariba’s locations
At times, secrets don’t need to be all-encompassing or expansive. They can be straightforward yet useful nonetheless. This is what we observe in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. While this metroidvania title has its fair share of challenging puzzles, such as those found in the Sacred Archives and Upper City, it also features an NPC that you definitely want to encounter during your journeys: Fariba.
Fariba is a young woman who possesses extensive knowledge about Mount Qaf, the game’s key location. While you can find her in your main hub, she also travels to various locations, and you often wouldn’t have a clue as to her whereabouts. Be sure to purchase her goods whenever you manage to find her, as these items showcase the region she inhabits. These should significantly assist you as you further explore the game world.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – Recruiting Leene and saving Perrielle
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an RPG influenced by the beloved Suikoden series. Given the inspiration and the name of the game itself, you might expect to recruit 120 characters throughout the campaign. However, there are a few caveats, such as bugs that can cause you to miss vital companions.
Moreover, there is one ally who is missable due to her recruitment requirement. She is none other than Leene, the sister of the main character Nowa. There is a specific moment when Leene will be in a position to join your team, and this occurs near the end of the story when Nowa is gathering his allies. Unbeknownst to everyone, an assassin is poised to thwart your plans for good.
If you have successfully recruited all 119 characters up to that point, Leene will unexpectedly appear to deflect the assassin’s shot, saving the day and joining your party. Unfortunately, if you have fewer than 119 characters, Leene may never show up, and the assassin will kill Perrielle, one of your trusted companions, instead.
Hades 2 – Reaching the surface world
Hades 2 doubles the enjoyment and expands the size of its predecessor. Not only do you get to explore regions in the underworld as Hades’ daughter Melinoe, but you also venture into the surface world. The only trick is: The game doesn’t outright instruct you how to accomplish this.
To be precise, reaching the surface world in Hades 2 is part of a rather convoluted task that is likely to test your patience. Here’s a brief overview:
- You must converse with Hecate, Moros, and Hermes to learn that Mount Olympus is under siege by Chronos’ forces.
- This allows you to complete a spell,
- Provided that you might possess the necessary supplies.
- With the spell activated, you can proceed to the surface. Unfortunately, Melinoe’s heritage has cursed her, leading to her health to decline gradually while on land.
- Then you will need to complete a few unsuccessful attempts until Moros informs you of another spell.
- One essential item needed for this incantation is sourced from the Realm of Chaos. The gates to Chaos on the surface have a chance of randomly appearing during your endeavors, so you simply need to keep your fingers crossed.
- After obtaining the seed for this component, it is crucial to plant it and have a series of encounters until it can be harvested.
- Once you have gathered all your supplies, you can perform the spell to, at long last, survive in the mortal realm.
Star Wars Outlaws – Jet Kordo’s Legacy and Outlaw Legends
One can view the Jet Kordo’s Legacy/Outlaw Legends quest chain in Star Wars Outlaws as a kind of scavenger hunt where you must travel to multiple planets. Generally, this quest line requires you to discover the hideouts of a notorious bounty hunter based on the clues he has left behind. These clues come in the form of holographic images that depict various landmarks.
What makes this secret intriguing is that you truly need to be aware of your environment. You have to examine the hologram and then see if a specific rock formation or building matches the image. Your device will also start beeping when you are close enough to your target.
In the end, you will…