|
Weird year to be making this, because I played a lot of new 2021 games I liked and none I loved front to back. Or maybe I loved a few, but considered them pretty flawed in some ways. So this list might seem weirdly negative. If I'm being honest replaying Metro Exodus' absolutely phenomenal current gen upgrade on PS5 was my GOTY experience, but I already gave that game #1 when it came out and there's no content I haven't played already, so I'm gonna disqualify it, but the port is transformative enough I want to make it my #1. But I won't. 10 Death's Door: Tbh I quit at near the end of this game and didn't finish it. I still feel like it deserves a shout out for the time with it that I enjoyed. Very pretty little 2D Zelda clone with the difficulty ramped up. I could give a laundry list of issues I have with this game, but in the end I still think I got a dozen or so really good hours out of it. 9 Ghostrunner: 2020 game, but I played it earlier this year. Just a really nice mix of like, Titanfall, Shadow Warrior and super meat boy or something. I really dug my time with it overall so I feel like it deserves a spot. 8 Chivalry 2: Probably the most enjoyable PVP game I played in 2021. It was low on content so I took a hiatus after about a month, but the 1st person melee combat is sublime and it was nice taking a break from mil sim style PVP shooters for most of the year. I hope to return to it soon. 7 RE Villiage: easily the second worst RE entry since RE got good again, but there was some really creative and eye popping imagery and some fun characters. A very brief but mostly cool experience. I think it pales in comparison to the RE2 remake and RE7 was marginally better and had VR support which was amazing. I'm still salty they didn't bother including VR in RE8. 6 Halo Infinite : Hoo boy what a mix of good and bad. The gameplay is phenomenal. I enjoyed it so much I slogged through the bad stuff and mostly enjoyed the hell out of it. The open world is about as basic as it gets though. The boss fights suck and the story is horrible with one of the shittiest villains I have seen in a game. But goddamn it just feels so good to play and looks nice to boot. 5 Litttle Nightmares 2: Also 2020 but I just played it. Gorgeous game. absolutely Stunning to look at and a lot of fun to play. Nothing bad to say about this one. I enjoyed the whole thing. Maybe a little much in the trail and error dept but whatever. 4 Super Mario 3D world+Bowsers fury: Super Mario 3D world is a really good game but the controls and mostly static camera drove me nuts. I still liked it though. I felt like without the depth perception that the 3DS gave in 3D land it just feels worse to play. Bowsers Fury was the star of the show. It's a bit brief but the whole thing is so good. 3 Back4Blood This game was sort of a mess but I had more fun playing it co-op than I have in years with any game. Getting through veteran was insanely hard but I always felt compelled to come back. The game was just brutal before the patch but I dunno there was something about it. I think it's as good as dead now but I really hope they can keep it going in the long run. 2 Deathloop This one was a mix of so right and so wrong, but I mostly loved it. Colt is a great protagonist and I loved his VA. The levels are interesting and full of stuff to find. The style is great . the combat feels really good. Invading is fun. The story and "loop" structure are so disappointing though. I still really enjoyed it, but I finished it feeling like "Ok? That's it huh?" 1 Returnal I have some negatives on this one too, but I still think it's the best game of 2021. The combat is so insanely good, the atmosphere and visuals and sound design are off the charts. The use of haptics is fantastic. It's just such a joy to play and look at and listen to. The story was mostly confusing but sort of fascinating. I don't think it's the greatest at being a Rougelite though and it can be tedious at times. It still was bar none the best game that I played this year though. Razzie awards: Battlefield 2042. I played this a lot and often enjoy it but what a loving mess. Wish I liked it more award: Metroid Dread: Sometimes I like this game a lot and sometimes I hate it. I wish it had made the list but I often found it very annoying and I think the controls are stupid. I still haven't finished it.
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 09:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 19:51 |
|
|
I have finished Endwalker, so now I can no longer feel bad about putting it at my number one, cause it more than deserves it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 09:31
|
|
|
At long last, the Year of No Games has come to its indignant end. Without very many first-party titles or AAA productions that were compelling to me, I found myself venturing more introspectively toward middle and lower budget projects that could be completed over the course of a couple afternoons, rather than played for months at a time. I've always been a fan of these narrative-focused, solidly B-tier experiences, and 2021 delivered in that regard, even as I found the franchise mainstays lacking. The prevailing theme of my GOTY picks this year was definitely "nostalgic." I generally know what I like, but in 2021 I also found myself taking a couple risks to mostly pleasant surprises. Therefore, I've decided to make my Top 10 more about bringing attention to several perhaps overlooked games than celebrating the big tentpole releases everybody already knows about. I can't say that I absolutely loved anything that came out this year, but there was still a whole lot to appreciate. Honorable Mention - Streets of Rage 4: Mr X Nightmare (DLC) https://i.imgur.com/7pqhzyY.mp4 In all honesty, this was probably the game I spent the most time playing in 2021. Streets of Rage 4 was my 2020 GOTY by a wide margin, yet somehow the holy trinity of Lizardcube, Guard Crush and Dotemu managed to make the best beatemup of all time even better with an endless survival mode, brand new characters and alternate movesets for the current roster, and a soundtrack by Tee Lopes that manages to slap just as hard as the OST. If I had no honor then Mr X Nightmare would make it very high on my current GOTY list, but as I prefer not to repeat prior entries or submit DLC as its own game, I will not be including it here. Rest assured though, anybody who is even thinking about playing Streets of Rage 4 should absolutely buy this in tandem. It will add dozens if not hundreds of hours to your playtime. 10. Lake https://i.imgur.com/3KRzLpq.mp4 If you can imagine Life is Strange or Deadly Premonition without the supernatural elements, murder mysteries, or really even any active gameplay whatsoever, then you have Lake. I know it sounds like I'm being uncharitable here, but there's a cozy vibe to the relatively low stakes that make it a unique experience. In a refreshing change of pace, Lake is a game that is exactly what it appears to be. You deliver mail to a small lakeside town in 1986 Oregon, meet a cast of quirky supporting characters, and ultimately try to figure out your future. Despite the primitive graphics for being an obviously budget title, I think the decent performances and pleasant pastel lighting still manage to shine through. Whether intentional or otherwise, listening to the same 8 catchy tracks on the radio perfectly replicates that sensation of working a menial job with an unchanging selection of cheesy Top 40 ballads stuck in your head all day. I'm going WAAAAAAAY down south! Despite only being 5-6 hours long, the mail delivery minigame really does start to wear out its welcome by the end, which is why I couldn't place Lake any higher on my list. I think it could have used some more activities and dialogue to break up the monotony a little. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys games that celebrate the mundane. 9. Kena: Bridge of Spirits https://i.imgur.com/nrsVfh1.mp4 I had my eye on this game ever since I saw its debut at the Sony State of Play in 2020, and after completing the story, I remain impressed by Ember Lab's first effort. Not just in terms of the beautiful Pixar-like animation that is inarguably the first thing everybody notices about Kena, but in also crafting a mechanically solid and satisfying third-person action platformer that still manages to stand out among a crowded field. I'm looking forward to whatever gorgeous-looking thing emerges from this studio next, and no ladies, I'm not just talking about the hunky co-founders Josh and Michael Grier!  8. Trials of Mana Remake  Trials of Mana doesn't demand a whole lot from the player either narratively or mechanically, but it's great at providing a nostalgic 90s JRPG experience with just enough modern updates to the combat to make things interesting over its 25 hour runtime. The addition of a voice cast adds a lot of personality to each character, even the much-mawigned Chawwotte. I'd recommend starting with Angela as your MC because her English VA is simply fantastic in the role and Grand Diviner is super OP. 7. Resident Evil Village  While the series has had its share of ups and downs, I think Resident Evil is at its best when it's just breathlessly, exuberantly stupid, and Village most certainly delivered the dumb in 2021. Herein there is a nearly perfect confluence of cheap scares, larger-than-life characters, and half-forgotten plot threads that I don't think has reached quite such dizzying heights since Resident Evil 4. I'm eagerly awaiting whatever Lady Dimitrescu thirst trap DLC is inevitably coming to this marvelously idiotic game. 6. Road 96  A charming road trip adventure with well-written characters and a timely infusion of generational disillusionment with the political establishment, Road 96 was a pleasant surprise that came seemingly out of nowhere. Despite some obvious rough edges for being a budget project, there's a lot to enjoy here. The cast of interconnected travelers is lively, unpredictable, and entertaining. Every border crossing takes about 60 minutes to complete and is broken up into episodes of about 15-20 minutes each, keeping up the pace without the game ever overstaying its welcome. I finished the entire campaign only ever maxing out two character stories, so there's also some replay value in going back to see what vignettes you might have missed. Another highlight is the amazing synth-dominated soundtrack, which often compensates for the clunky animations in adding dramatic weight to a scene. The semi-procedural storytelling is rather unique, but does make for some very curious inconsistencies depending on where and when you meet certain characters in the story. I feel like Road 96 went overlooked by many this year, but if you can get past its relatively low production values, there's much to appreciate if you're a fan of choice & consequence-based narrative adventure games. 5. Guilty Gear Strive  Strive was my first foray into the Guilty Gear series and I don't think it could have been a better introduction. An insanely stylish and satisfying 2D fighter with the best netplay in the world and beautifully detailed artwork dripping from every frame. Makes all other fighting games look cheap and low-effort by comparison. I wish there were more robust single-player modes and the online lobbies could still use some work, but those are small complaints against such a complete experience. 4. Chorus https://i.imgur.com/BfLXCA5.mp4 I really enjoy experiences that harken back to the early-mid 2000s era of B-tier gaming, with linear narratives and fluid combat that also aren't a complete eyesore. Eternal Darkness, Beyond Good & Evil, and Heavenly Sword were among some of my favorites from this formative epoch before games started to become either increasingly more expensive and lavish productions threatening 100 hours of gameplay, or some horrible indie pixel art piece of crap. I'm glad to see that these intermediate projects haven't completely died out just yet, and have perhaps even witnessed a resurgence in the past few years with breakout hits like Hellblade, A Plague Tale, and now hopefully the progrock sci-fi epic Chorus. CHORVS is everything I love about B-tier 2000s gaming, complete with the melodramatic narrative and pretentiously misspelled alternate naming conventions. The combat is fun and flashy with just enough variety to keep things interesting, the inclusion of telekinetic powers into an arcade space shooter is a genius concept, the sound design is superb, and there are some really impressive visuals throughout. When you're flying through some crazy red lighting storm assaulting a huge capitol ship, skewering the bad guys with your psychic fighter jet, that's just good game feels right there. But I think what surprised me most about Chorus was the story. Fundamentally it's a super basic "unite the factions against the Evil Space Empire" deal, but I was into all the little twists and turns along the way. I loved the threeway dynamic between Nara, her sassy backtalking ship, and her cynical inner monologue ASMR. I appreciate games that, for want of a better phrase, "just go for it" and Chorus 100% goes there without respect to its many apparent limitations. 3. The Forgotten City  If you're like me then you were probably very hesitant to take a chance on The Forgotten City when you heard that it began life as a Skyrim mod. But to sleep on this game would be to deprive yourself of a time traveling classic unseen since The Journeyman Project: Legacy of Time. Adeptly written, intricately structured, and surprisingly well-acted, this dialogue-based chat 'em up is one of the most inventive narrative adventure games I've played in years. The central timeloop conceit and interlocking plot threads form an engrossing mystery that always manages to keep you hunting for that next tantalizing clue without feeling lost, overwhelmed, or bored. Whereas many other games fail to respect the player's intelligence, The Forgotten City often rewards you for being exceptionally clever or creative. I'm glad that I took a chance on it despite my misgivings, because this was one of the most refreshing gaming experiences of 2021. 2. Blue Reflection: Second Light https://i.imgur.com/DMde1op.mp4 If somebody asked you to write about that really transformative experience you had at sleepaway camp when you were 16 and construct a JRPG plot around it, you'd probably end up with something like Blue Reflection: Second Light. Some games live and die on the strength of their visuals, some by their stories, and others still by their vibes. Blue Reflection 2 succeeds at creating a wistful, slightly melancholic, but warm vibe that punches above the limitations of its small budget. I'll start with some of the things I didn't like as much -- the game begins a lot stronger than it ends, and the final sequences really start to drag as all 11 characters have to react to every little development in the plot. You could have easily lopped 15 hours off the total runtime with a leaner script, and cut down immensely on the flat exposition that doesn't really add anything to our understanding of the world. Why are we all living in this anime high school? Because we're trapped in an alternate reality made up of girls' repressed emotions and must explore them to escape, no real further scientific inquiry needed. The low production budget starts to become really obvious once you're spending a lot of time at home base with the cast and notice the same half dozen recycled animations in every single cutscene. The combat is also rather easy and at the time I played there was no way to go above Normal on your first playthrough, in case you were seeking a more challenging game. All that being said, Second Light made a really strong impression on me and I still find myself thinking about it over one month later. I tend to value memorable experiences rather than perfect mechanics, and the experience of seeing Ao's story play out was altogether poignant and unique. The characters, music, and environments all combine to invoke a deeply nostalgic feeling for the endless summers of adolescence, blending the familiar and bizarre within the liminal spaces of half-remembered memories. There's something both inviting and eery about walking through empty classrooms and abandoned swingsets, and the heavy postprocessing effects work to convey the dreamlike presentation. The core conceit of 12 youth on the threshold of adulthood, all hopeful and fearful of what that new reality might bring once the summer ends, is so strong that you don't even need to bring nonsensical JRPG jargon into it, you know? The game just has a unique vibe, and works best in those quieter moments where you're exploring the heartscapes and can let the wonderful soundtrack breathe. At first I didn't think the characters looked visually distinct enough, but through all the little dates and entr'acte cutscenes, their personalities come across well. Ao was a great protagonist and while I don't understand Japanese, I think her VA did a great job. 1. Life is Strange: True Colors  I've written an embarrassing number of words on this website about why I think Life is Strange by Dontnod Studios is the greatest game ever made. In the nearly seven years since its worldwide debut, I've kind of made my peace with it being a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that is unlikely to ever be replicated. The second-biggest miracle of this series, however, is that it has somehow continued to live on in Deck Nine, a wholly different developer who nonetheless implicitly understood what Life is Strange was all about. While it would have been so easy to fail, their 2017 prequel Before the Storm managed to recapture much of that familiar Arcadia Bay magic while still communicating their own vision for what a Life is Strange game could be. True Colors is a beautiful addition to the Life is Strange series, and perhaps the best realized vision of the concept since the original season in 2015. The memorable characters, picturesque setting, and themes of self-forgiveness in the wake of family tragedy landed with me after the somewhat mismatched and complicated emotions of Life is Strange 2. Alex Chen is a compelling and relateable protagonist whose empathy powers create beautiful and unique dreamscapes for the player to explore. Despite initially being unsure of how her abilities would compare to time travel or telekinesis, I thoroughly enjoyed helping the brilliant supporting cast work through their traumas in these well-conceived and aesthetic representations of the mind. The empathy powers added another fun dimension to the usual point-and-click exploration, and Haven Springs is an incredibly well-realized setting with an immense level of attention to detail. The main thesis of True Colors seems to be that you should allow yourself to truly experience those long-buried emotions of sadness, anger, and fear rather than to suppress them. In mastering her powers of empathy, Alex is finally able to forgive herself for the breakup of her family, to forgive her father and Gabe for leaving her, and ultimately to forgive those who wronged her in the past. But the most important step in that process of self-discovery was Alex coming to love herself -- no longer seeing her existence as an unwelcome burden to others, but as an individual every bit as deserving of love and compassion. I think True Colors beautifully and efficiently demonstrates how being truly loved starts with seeing yourself as being WORTHY of love, so that you even have the ability to accept it. Alex's journey has challenged me to be less hard on myself and not let those intrusive regrets from the past determine my future. All this from a 10-15 hour video game. Moreso than any other game on this list, It's clear that the pandemic affected Deck Nine's ability to tell the entire story they wanted. They had to finish the final chapter and DLC episode almost entirely within quarantine, which contributes to the end feeling a bit rushed and ultimately shorter than it could be. But as a holistic experience, I still find myself thinking about True Colors all the time, still wanting more. I think the wonderful thing about video games is when they can excite and invigorate the imagination, rather than completely overloading your senses until you're exhausted. I think that True Colors has successfully positioned Life is Strange from what I initially figured would be a lightning-in-a-bottle sensation to one of my favorite gaming franchises, with all the good and bad that comes from the expectations of a serialized commercial product. I have a lot of complex feelings about that, but for now, I'm happy with the result. exquisite tea fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Dec 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 12:44
|
|
|
You know, I had always assumed Life Is Strange was an adventure game in the Telltale mode, sounds like it’s more than that though!
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 13:07
|
|
|
veni veni veni posted:Weird year to be making this, because I played a lot of new 2021 games I liked and none I loved front to back. Or maybe I loved a few, but considered them pretty flawed in some ways. So this list might seem weirdly negative. Where’s Hell Let Loose? Surprised it didn’t make your list! 
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 13:49
|
|
|
lol I literally forgot I played and beat The Forgotten City this year, drat. It was a fun experience. Normally I'm the kind of person that plays Life is Strange but their decision not to release it episodically and also to make the cost in my country NINETY DOLLARY-DOOS means I'm not picking it up anytime soon when even stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy is going on sale for 60.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 14:03
|
|
|
Okay I decided to make a list. It's not gonna be very good but it's the games I played this year okay shut up!! 5. Europa Universalis IV - MEIOU and Taxes  When you think about EU4, a lot of players initially think things like "groggy", "number-heavy", and "complex". When a Paradox game veteran thinks about EU4, they think of "bloat" and "window dressing". A lot of friends and I have discussed issues we have with some of the core design conceits EU4 has, and how it doesn't really try to model the period, the vast winds of change, etc. etc., and just becomes a map painting simulator. And then one of us bit the bullet and tried MEIOU and Taxes. Boy oh boy was this a breath of fresh air. The UI sucks. The performance is miserable. Sometimes buttons just don't work at all. But oh my god is it trying something new. It attempts to simulate people at the thousands-of-persons grain, their growth, migration, decay. It attempts to show the emergence of the middle class in this period and the urbanization due to higher demand and production methods. It attempts to show trade routes that rely on supply and demand, not "make money". And god drat does it feel good and satisfying to engage with. Outside of demographics and economics, it also tries to simulate the growth, emergence and importance of the state during this period, in conflict with established institutions - when you look at Estates in vanilla EU4, they were directly inspired by earlier versions of this mod, albeit watered very down, as vanilla EU4 doesn't even try to represent the internal machinations this game does. I once got visibly irritated and stepped away from my computer when the nobles rose up in revolt because I asked the clergy if it'd be okay if they maybe started paying one tax or two at all possibly?? And then punished them by revoking their hunting monopolies. I guess I'm trying to say it's dumb and half broken and super complicated. But it's so much more satisfying. If you've ever preferred internal development in EU4, or even preferred Victoria 2, you owe it to yourself to give this mod a shot. 4. Metroid Dread Not wasting more words. Game good. Go play. 3. Bravely Default I'm pretty late to the party here, but I'm enraptured by this 2014 classic. My favorite Final Fantasy games were always FF3 and 5, Tactics, Tactics Advance-2, and any games that took and evolved those job systems. The feeling of character growth, progression, and customization always spoke to me. And Bravely Default turns it up to an 11. Not sure what to put for such an old game, but it feels great to play the classic RPGs I grew up in with tons of QoL features and streamlined components. It's just Final Fantasy but Better if you loved those old games like I did. And if you love the new games, well... go look at #1! 2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate I'm pretty tired and sad and broken. For some reason I still try to competitively play this dumb unbalanced glitchy game, which just makes people upset and angry and everything. But god drat do I love it. It's the best Smash game yet released (besides Project+, but that's pretty dead), and pays just enough attention to the competitive scene's demands that it feels satisfying to play, albeit frustrating at times. Also it's a great Children's Party Game. 1. Final Fantasy XIV - Endwalker Again, other people put tons of better words here than I could. It good.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 19:47
|
|
|
Lady Radia posted:
Please, please, play Bravely Second next year if you enjoyed BD this much 
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 21:47
|
|
|
do not play bravely default 2 though
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 21:50
|
|
|
Feeling very Sickos seeing Endwalker on so many lists
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 22:42
|
|
|
cheetah7071 posted:do not play bravely default 2 though oh no, this is the one i was looking forward to the most  definitely giving bravely second a shot next!
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 22:49
|
|
|
Waffleman_ posted:Feeling very Sickos seeing Endwalker on so many lists They can't keep getting away with this
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 23:06
|
|
|
Lady Radia posted:oh no, this is the one i was looking forward to the most I'd actually say do play Bravely Default 2, DON'T play Bravely Second
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 00:51
|
|
|
if I play both will I really end up super disappointed
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 01:18
|
|
|
yes and no or no and yes, possibly
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 01:21
|
|
|
Lady Radia posted:oh no, this is the one i was looking forward to the most It seems like people who really like the original don’t like BD2. I never played the original (well, I did for all of a couple hours) but I played BD2 and loved it, and a friend of mine bought it on my recommendation and liked it as well. It’s a good game, but I guess not a great sequel if that makes any sense.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 05:00
|
|
|
Honestly, with covid and everything, it's very hard to remember what I played this year or the eyar previous. It all melts into one big confused timeline. Still, got a few choices! 5) Anbennar I've been obsessed with this EU4 mod for the past few weeks. It's basically someone's D&D setting ported to Europa Universalis 4, but the mix of the Lore (and there's a poo poo-ton of Lore) and mechanics makes for an extremely captivating world. If you like Eu4 and haven't tried Anbennar yet, you gotta do it. 4) SaGa Frontier Remastered I'll pay money as long as Kawazu makes his weird games. There's no other jrpg quite like the SaGa series, and I'm hooked. I'd played the original game back on the PS1, but had never finished it then. I wasn't ready for SaGa. Now I love that stuff. 3) Control I love the aesthetic and story and characters of this game a lot. I'll sometimes put the Ashtray Maze song just to pump myself up. But the gameplay itself isn't amazing, and some sections are downright a pain to play (looking at you Juke Box). Still, definitely one of my top games I played this year. 2) Inscryption Like everyone, I fell in love with this game the moment I started playing. Unlike some who think the game gets less good during it's second and third act, I felt it stayed strong and compelling the whole way through. And for those who liked the firs tpart of the game, the next Kaycee's Mod by the original dev should be exactly what you wanted! 1) Scarlet Hollow A small indie game I haven't seen anyone talk about and I loved it. It's very much a visual novel-style affair, with only two chapters out so far, but it's pretty incredible so far. The dev team is small, hence long wait times between chapters, but imho it's worth it. The writing is good, the artstyle and music create a powerful atmosphere, and you actually get to create your character. You only get to choose two traits, but they do unlock a pretty impressive amount of options exclusive to them. Furthermore, the completely hidden relationship system is something I've never seen attempted and is way more interesting than the usual Affection Meter you usually see. Here's what the devs wrote about how it works, well worth a click even if you don't want to play the game: https://blacktabbygames.medium.com/creating-a-dynamic-relationship-system-in-scarlet-hollow-eb175aa899a8
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 05:04
|
|
|
Starting with some (dis)honourable mentions: Game I Still Haven’t Finished of the Year Yakuza 0 Yakuza 0 was on my honourable mentions list last year as well but I've still not finished it. I've advanced several chapters and Kiryu is now a slot car racing champ and the real estate king of Kamurocho, so maybe 2022 will be the year? Most Likely To Be on My 2022 Top Ten Final Fantasy VII Remake This only came out on PC a few days ago, and what little I've played of it has made me reflect on how relentless the pacing of the Midgar section was in the original game and how well it whets your appetite for exploring the wider world. I'm aware that Remake is doing something very different to its predecessor, but I'm still interested to see how those story beats work stretched over a full game and interspersed with sidequests. Mini Boat’s Game of the Year Abzu My three-year-old is absolutely obsessed with ocean life at the moment, which has meant plenty of viewings of Blue Planet, Little Mermaid and Ponyo. He also regularly requests what he calls "the fish game". The only reason Abzu's not termed a "walking simulator" is because you're underwater the whole time, but that light level of interactivity is perfect for playing with a small child. You can even plop your character down to rest on a statue and let the camera freely roam around the area like it's a virtual aquarium. A wonderfully soothing game that's perfect for when child or parents need a bit of quiet time. Worst Game (I’ve Played) of the Year Twelve Minutes What a disappointment this was. An intriguing time loop concept and great voice cast let down by frustrating gameplay and an offensively stupid story. And on to the main event!  I don’t need to tell you how 2021 started - you lived it too. So I hope it’s understandable that I retreated from the real world and into virtual ones with the purchase of an Beat Saber is just a huge amount of fun to play, and gets even better if you mod it to include custom songs. As with any other community-driven rhythm game there are a vast number of 200bpm anime songs to sort through, but there’s also plenty of more accessible tracks for slow normies like me. It’s also a game you can easily pick up for a few minutes at a time - I’ve had to study for a lot of exams this year and my typical break in a study or revision session was to refresh my brain by quickly slicing my way through Toxic or X Gon Give It To Ya.  Is this a Dark Souls game? A Metroid game? I don’t really care, it perfectly captured the Star Wars feel and married it with punchy and engaging combat.  Like the first Ori game, this is a joy to control and every frame of it simply drips with charm. While you have to go through the Metroidvania tradition of relearning your skills, you’re thankfully given the first game’s standout move - the high-flying, projectile-redirecting Bash ability - very early on, and by the end of the game you’re expected to use every tool available to you to get around increasingly hostile environments. A gorgeous and joyful game from start to finish.  Hey, a 2021 release! Thanks Gamepass! Tim Schaefer and Double Fine return to the world of 2005's Psychonauts and (apart from a brief VR diversion) pick up just where they left off, with psychic-in-training Raz fresh from psychic summer camp and off to Psychonauts HQ. Psychonauts 2 perfectly recaptures all the things that made the original so beloved - smart writing, a great voice cast and astonishingly creative worlds that unfold from the minds of the various folks Raz encounters. That's not to say that it's just more of the same, as in the intervening years Double Fine have clearly paid attention to changes to 3D platformers and, more importantly, changes in how we think about mental health. I didn’t expect a game that looks like a Nicktoon birthed by Pixar (and I should make it clear that I mean this as a compliment) to deliver a thoughtful and compassionate view of the damage that alcoholism does to relationships, but I’m glad that it did.  2020 was a year of roguelites for me, but for some reason I didn’t get around to trying this run-based deckbuilder until this year. That’s probably for the best, as I’m not sure that 2020 would have allowed for another distraction gobbling up hours of my time. Spire's smartest feature, showing you exactly how hard each enemy is about to hit you, transforms every single turn into an optimisation puzzle. Do you build up enough block to soak the hits, or go on the offensive to take one of your foes out of the battle before they get the chance to strike? There’s rarely a “perfect” solution so you’ll be making tradeoffs almost continually, and it’s that depth that keeps it engaging for run after run. Now if I can just resist the urge to pick up every card that’s offered to me, maybe I’ll make it past Ascension 4.  With face-to-face socialising out of the question for much of this year, my gaming group revived our long-dormant Blood Bowl league in the virtual realm. Between tactical discussions, smack talk and even player interviews being sent back and forth on WhatsApp this has easily been the game I've thought about most this year. This is not a game for you if losses to RNG upset you - outside of movement, almost every action in Blood Bowl involves a dice roll and a single failure means your turn is over. As a 1 on a six sided die is always a failure, that means a lot of turns end prematurely even with rerolls. A good Blood Bowl coach therefore assumes they will fail at some point and prioritises their actions accordingly. I am not, and have never claimed to be, a good Blood Bowl coach. Sometimes I get lucky though, and those lucky streaks are some of the best moments I've had with a game this year. Of course I've had just as many unlucky streaks - Nuffle, the god of Blood Bowl dice rolls, takes as much as he gives after all.  At the heart of many great games there’s a simple but pleasing loop of interactions. In the case of Horizon: Zero Dawn, my personal gameplay loop is plan an attack on a group of machines, gently caress up, improvise, accidentally drag even more machines into the battle, survive by the skin of my teeth, repeat. Much like Breath of the Wild, it’s very happy to let you get in over your head and fight your way out. I just wish there was more of it - when the hunting lodge questline began I thought for one wonderful moment that I would have a bunch of sidequests hunting down named machines. Maybe in the sequel.  This is the reason I got a VR headset, and while it doesn't justify the purchase on its own, for me it's absolutely the best VR game I’ve played, largely because of how thoroughly Valve immerse you in the world that they’ve built. The word that comes to mind when I try to summarise the world of City 17 is "gross". Wet fungal growths plaster the walls of what was once an apartment building. Troubleshooting a Combine computer, I found that part of the CPU was grown from the still-living body of a rat, encased between sheets of glass. And that's before we get to Jeff. Jeff is the game's best moment, an invincible, blind mutant ceaselessly spewing choking spores into the air as he wanders an abandoned vodka distillery. The puzzles in this area repeatedly force you into uncomfortably close quarters with him, and there’s no shortage of bottles that can be accidentally - or deliberately - broken to attract his attention. The whole game delights in pushing dread and discomfort on you and Jeff is the pinnacle of that. The horror atmosphere isn't relentless though, largely thanks to Rhys Darby as Russell, providing advice and support over the radio. His description of a club sandwich to Alyx, who's spent almost all her life under Combine rule eating water-flavour ration blocks, is some of the best writing in a Valve game. There's also plenty of gunplay against Combine troops which had me ducking and dodging about while desperately trying to remember how to reload my guns. As a fan of the Half Life games I am slightly annoyed that the future of the series seems to be gated behind an expensive peripheral that not everyone can use, but the experience of Alyx absolutely would not be the same outside of VR.  The observation that Hideo Kojima accurately predicted a future where the well-off hunkered down inside their homes while underpaid couriers risked their lives to bring them everything they desire is a bit tired by now. It's still true though. Death Stranding might not be the best Kojima game, but it’s the most Kojima game. Untethered from the military shenanigans of Metal Gear, he delivered a game where deadly time-accelerating rainwater is filtered into Monster Energy® so you can piss on ghosts. Terrorist villian Higgs removes his mask to reveal another mask underneath. Late in the game Mads Mikkelsen’s character Cliff has a dying monologue where he explains in great detail how he is like an actual cliff. Even outside of the bizarre story, the gameplay of taking on orders and optimising your routes and loadout was oddly satisfying. A quick jaunt from A to B would have to go via C because you picked up something for them too, with an unplanned detour to D to deliver some stuff you picked up on the way. Add in the late-game planning out of roads and ziplines and you could easily spend dozens of hours just making your delivery network more efficient. I was initially sceptical of the game’s limited take on multiplayer, where other players’ structures appear in your world, but for the most part it worked really well, providing occasional help without being too overbearing. I did laugh in early January when I encountered a literal bridge to nowhere from a player with the username “VOTE TRUMP 2020” though. The smartest and subtelest feature is one called “desire paths”, where just as in real life the landscape changes in response to where successive players walk over time. It weirdly made me feel connected with all the other people who had taken that same route, so mission accomplished I guess Hideo. Keep on keepin’ on.  What can I say about this game that goons haven’t already said a hundred times over? The best writing in video games, an incredible voice cast (I’m pretty sure I never skipped a line of dialogue) and a world that is both real and unreal, with political institutions and the fabric of reality itself both coming apart at the seams. I was told early on that save-scumming isn’t recommended in Disco Elysium (at least for a first playthrough), as failures can advance the story just as well as successes do. So I owned my failures, and there were plenty of them. Two stick in my mind though. The first concerns the tribunal. I was an empathetic cop with Inland Empire as my signature skill, so my horrific necktie was talking my ear off from the start. I ignored a lot of its advice, but I did pick up the bottle of medicinal alcohol and, hours later in the tribunal, I got the prompt to stuff my tie in the bottle and hurl the makeshift spirit bomb. And of course I absolutely whiffed it. My horrible talking tie spent so long obsessed with its glorious destiny, only to smash uselessly on the Martinaise cobblestones because I made motorics my dump stat. It was hilarious, or would have been if it hadn’t gotten a bunch of people killed. The second is the resolution of the working-class woman’s story. Having pieced together that the body I found on the pier was her husband, dead in a tragic accident, I had to deliver the news to her. But as an empathetic cop this would be easy, no sweat. I rolled the dice and… snake eyes. It felt like the game was admonishing me for being so blasé about delivering the worst possible news to this poor woman. Of course Kim Kitsuragi (greatest character in all of gaming) came to my rescue, but it was a painful lesson in never taking success for granted. Failure is more interesting than success. Play Disco Elysium. Become an absolute disaster of a human being. Just the list for Rarity: 10. Beat Saber 9. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 8. Ori and the Will of the Wisps 7. Psychonauts 2 6. Slay the Spire 5. Blood Bowl 2 4. Horizon Zero Dawn 3. Half-Life: Alyx 2. Death Stranding 1. Disco Elysium Party Boat fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Dec 20, 2021 |
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 15:10
|
|
|
drat fine list Boat, and no expense spared with the snazzy graphics! 
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 15:39
|
|
|
Goons have really raised the game with the custom graphics this year, goddam
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 15:39
|
|
|
2021 has truly been the year of the time loop.....
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 16:10
|
|
|
My list has no fancy graphics, I'm lazy.  I've got formatting though! Honorable Mentions: Castlevania (Adventure 2’s soundtrack) I played Castlevania Anniversary Collection this year to prove to myself I could do it, then I grabbed all the trophies for good measure. Classic games, but honestly the only one that still really holds up well in my opinion is Simon's Quest. The linear stage > boss > stage > boss formula was pretty normal for the time these came out, but Castlevania's always better with a non-linear adventure format. Great music. The Belmont’s Revenge soundtrack in particular deserves respect for slapping way too hard for a Gameboy game. Contra Anniversary See above, except the music wasn’t as good. Fun games that kind of haven’t aged all that well, mainly due to the whole lives/continues system. Save states fix it but I’m kinda glad home games stopped trying to be quarter-munching arcade games. Also got all the trophies here, may god have mercy on my soul. Gabriel Knight A fantastic first game, an interesting second game, an abysmal but fascinating third game. Check out me and Professor Duck's LP thread for all the insanity. As much as I bitched about the game though, GK3 is a unique look at a dead-end path for early 3D game design. I can't say I've ever played anything else quite like it, but I'm also not entirely sure I'd want to anyway. Arkham series Another trophy-focused mention! I platinumed all three this year. Take my advice: Don't. Arkham City has way too much side poo poo to do to accomplish that, but they’re all drat good games regardless. Every drat Thing RGG Studio Makes Ah, one more year past, and one more playthrough of nearly every RGG Studio game for me. I've beaten Yakuza 0-6 on Legend mode now, got 100% on 0, and I actually went and bought an import copy of Kenzan because that's how deep I'm down this rabbit hole. Fun fact! Yakuza Kenzan has an in-game glossary to explain some antiquated phrases and words used by the characters. So if you don't speak much Japanese (like me), you have to translate poo poo multiple times! Anyway, specific shoutout to Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. I never got super deep into the side stories and minigames (apart from bartending), and trying to go for 100% in it has just been super fun the whole time. It's not in the top ten because I've beaten it twice already, but I still enjoyed the hell out of the hard mode run. Danganronpa I'm nowhere near finished but so far this has been a hell of a thing. I can see why this drove the internet partially insane when it was being LP'd, but I'm glad I decided to play it for myself rather than look into anything about it beforehand. The Matrix Unreal Engine 5 Thing The UE5 Matrix demo is fuckin' cool. That's all I really have to say about it other than "if you can try it, try it". TOP TENS: 10) God of War (2018) I've beaten this before, but I decided to give it another solid run with a focus on trophies and running it on hard mode, and it was even better than the first time through I think. The PS5 update to bring it to 4k/60 certainly doesn't hurt things either. The smoother combat flows a lot better, and it made the valkyrie fights much more manageable. Quick note though: Give Me God of War difficulty is stupid. Just an absolute clownshow. It's neat that they bothered but a mode where even the most basic fights take ten minutes is just way too drat tiring. Give Me A Challenge is tuned just right by comparison. 9) Returnal It feels like this should be higher in my list maybe, but I don't think it's clicked with me quite as hard as it has for other goons. Still a great time, awesome visuals, great use of the DualSense, amazing particle effects and fluid sims, fantastic sound, and it all wraps up to a drat fine time. The patch to suspend a run is a welcome change, but I don't think I've actually used it yet. I usually just YOLO my way into an early grave too fast for it to matter. 8) Days Gone A game I tried for about an hour last year when it was a PS5 collection freebie, and totally bounced off it. The writing was kludgy, the gunplay was unsatisfying, the VA work was wonky, and the game felt like it had been through more design revisions than Windows. This year I needed something to play that I already had, so I steeled myself for the things I just complained about and gave it another shot. And it turns out it's a pretty drat good game! I don't think any of my complaints are totally invalid, but once the game starts to open up it refocuses on crowd combat in ways that really work for what they set up here, and ended up with an open world collectathon type of experience where none of it ended up feeling too tiring or repetitive by the end, which is pretty impressive. I actually ended up getting the Platinum on this I liked it so much. If you bounce off (or have bounced off) Days Gone before based on the first few hours, I highly recommend giving it another shot and letting it have some more time to really get its hooks into you. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm definitely in the "it's a shame it won't get a sequel" camp now that I finished it. 7) Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session Ah, Taiko Drum Master. Hit the drum, play the music, not much more needs to be said. It's good, and been a great game to keep installed for a couple of minutes of fun. Drum Session for PS4 can be had on sale pretty cheap pretty often, and if you like music games at all it's a must-get. The DLC can add up to a bit at a buck fifty per song, but at least for me there wasn't a whole lot I wanted to grab other than the Undertale songs and the one theme from OutRun. 6) Far Cry New Dawn New Dawn probably isn't the absolute best Far Cry game, but it's a solid one, and the new powers and upgrades are a neat addition to the formula. The story's dumb and inconsequential as always, but it's a great co-op game if you have someone to run it with (which luckily I did!) The short campaign is actually pretty welcome here too, since it sets you up for doing repeated camps and away missions, which are pretty much what you're here for anyway. I also liked how you can always upgrade something, whether it's one of your crappy starter guns or your ammo capacity. They're not significant must-haves, but the game pretty much makes sure that you always have something to do right up until you get tired of playing it, which I appreciate. TOP FIVE!!! 5) Lost Judgment Now we're getting to the good poo poo! Kind of like Returnal, Lost Judgment feels like it should be higher on my list, but the pretty mediocre main plot hurts it enough to be only at number 5. It's not terrible, but the conclusion is handled really bizarrely in a lot of ways, and Judgment was a hell of an act to follow anyway. In terms of gameplay though, it's awesome. Probably the best combat they've had in the Dragon Engine so far, and all they really did was speed it up. Yagami starts off about as fast and powerful as he was at the end of Judgment and they just ramp it up from there, which was really the right choice. The boxing style added as DLC is really fun to use too, though they made a bit of a misstep by not giving it any combat EXP bonuses like the other three. 4) Hades I don't think I liked Hades quite as much as the general internet did, but I did like it quite a bit. I don't know if I can say much else that hasn't already been said about it, just a perfectly polished example of an isometric action game with roguelike progression done really well. Oh wait, I do have one more thing to say! Here it is: Dusa is the best. 3) Yakuza LaD Poor Like A Dragon. Third place last year because I hadn't finished it yet, third place this year because I really really liked my top two. Still a great game, and it sticks the landing on the ending really well. I think this is also the first Yakuza game where I did every sidequest before hitting the credits, and it was 100% worth it. 2) Deltarune Pt 2 A sequel to a sequel that expands on its predecessors in significant ways, has great character writing, fun expanded gameplay, fantastic music, and it was $free. Just phenomenal, and Toby Fox's skill at putting in weird little secrets (like a really disturbing alternate route) is on full display. I enjoyed playing this so much that I did a full run of it with Undertale and DR Part 1, twice. Can't wait for the next parts (though I'm probably gonna have to wait a good while...poo poo) AND NUMBER ONE WINNER 1): Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia Exhibition What the hell? This isn't even a game! No, but it's easily the most impressive, unique, inspiring bit of video whatevery I've come across in a good long while, not even just this year. I'm not even much of a Radiohead fan if I'm being honest, but being able to essentially wander around an album is one of the coolest concepts I've ever seen. I think it's also kind of incredible how it came about : They started it as a real-life exhibit, but ran into planning and venue issues (the management of the Albert Hall wasn't too pleased about them wanting to "crash" a spaceship into the side of the building apparently), and then got completely derailed by COVID and decided to go digital. It was a great choice too. If nothing else, you owe it to yourself to try this out with a good set of headphones just to see the environmental and audio design work on display. It's probably because it was designed to work in a physical space to begin with, but there's something about how it all just works and fits together and then completely defies reality when it feels like it that is just...  . An awesome experience from start to finish, and a great showcase of something that I've never really even seen attempted in the medium before.List outdated, see my updated GOTY post: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3987583&userid=87202#post520299078 10 - God of War 2018 9 - Returnal 8 - Days Gone 7 - Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! 6 - Far Cry: New Dawn 5 - Lost Judgment 4 - Hades 3 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon 2 - Deltarune Chapter 2 1 - Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia Exhibition Dewgy fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Dec 29, 2021 |
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 17:21
|
|
|
Oh yeah something I forgot to add Subscription Service of the Year Xbox Gamepass for PC Seriously it's responsible for like four of the games on my top ten as well as a bunch of smaller games like Carrion and The Artful Escape that I didn't find space to talk about, it's absurdly good value
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 19:14
|
|
|
Well dang, what a year it has been sitting at home while everything continues to be quantifiably worse for most people. At least we have the sweet escapism of video games to make us feel like we can affect any meaningful change in a world that defies understanding, let alone control. Haha! What I mean to say is, let’s hear it for the games! Honorable mention: Later Alligator – What a warm hug of a game. “Most laughs per minute (LPM)” award 2021.  10. Aleste Collection (M2, 2020) ♫ Last Messiah A very cool package that includes some games I had looked over before. Who knew a console shooting game of this vintage could be so amazing? What's the coolest thing, however, is that M2 made a new Game Gear game in 2020 that works on the original hardware, the absolute mad lads. Just more proof that they're not just one of the best emulation / porting houses in the business but a group that cares about doing weird stuff like this just because they can and love what they do.  9. Opus Magnum (Zachtronics, 2017) ♫ Intrigue A puzzle game where you play as an alchemist tasked with creating different materials by programming levers and arms and pistons. When everything clicks, it's wonderful and makes you feel like a mastermind. Then you look at your friend's scores and your solution is garbage and you want to rework your entire approach to better optimize everything. It is the kind of game where a viable solution will occur to you when you’re in the shower or staring at the ceiling in bed. I think this is my favorite Zachtronics game by far, from the theme to the actual moment-to-moment play.  8. Touhou Youyoumu - Perfect Cherry Blossom (Team Shanghai Alice, 2003) ♫ The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky I spent a long time *aware* of Touhou but not really getting it. About ten years ago, I played a bit of Mountain of Faith, said "that's neat", and then moved on with my life. As I'm starting to get more into shmups this year, I decided to give the series another shot (especially after becoming familiar with a lot of the characters and music through rhythm games). Boy, I'm glad I did. A lot of people cite PCB as a great entry point; I haven't had this much fun playing an arcade-style game in a long time. The level of tension that builds up as you work your way through the game is nothing short of thrilling. I'm wending through the rest of the series to at least beat each one with continues, but I find myself coming back to PCB regularly. I'd like to work my way up to a 1-credit clear on Normal. Someday.  7. Mahjong Soul (Yostar / Catfood Studio, 2019) I never thought I'd see the day where a mobile gatcha game ended up on my GOTY list, especially this high up, but here we are. While I've spent years playing Chinese variants of mahjong, I've always skirted around the idea of really getting into Riichi, mahjong's intense Japanese ruleset. This year I took the dive, and in a big way. I probably spent more time playing Mahjong Soul than any other game on this list. I'm not going to sugar coat it: I could go play on Tenhou, which features an actual ELO system and no anime cheesecake, but having a dedicated mobile client and some sort of polish goes a long way. Luckily, the gatcha elements are purely cosmetic, and the core game is just the venerated table game with its exciting mix of luck, reading opponents, and strategy. I've worked my way up to Expert II rank and have a lot to learn before I'd even consider myself even close to competent. That said, it is one of the few competitive games where I can actually feel myself improving. The first time I got into Expert rank I was pretty much immediately bodied repeatedly and kicked back to Adept. I learned some important lessons and now I can hang in Expert. I’m excited to play more mahjong.  6. Deltarune: Chapter 2 (Toby Fox, 2021) ♫ Attack of the Killer Queen Love him or lump him, Chapter 2 of Deltarune shows that Toby Fox has still got it as a writer, composer, and game designer. Somehow, impossibly, Chapter 2 delivers "more of the same" but doesn't wear thin or outstay its welcome. Playing through Chapter 2 in one night was probably the coziest time I had playing video games this year, like visiting with old friends. I'm very excited to see where this series goes, and feel that if it keeps this level of quality it will eclipse Undertale as Toby’s landmark work.  5. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Capcom, 2021) ♫ Summation Examination Better late than never right? And all it took was swapping two letters in a certain detective’s name. I’m so glad this finally came out here, because it’s the best the series has been since the original trilogy. It looks and sounds amazing and has some great features sorely missing from previous entries (gone is looking up what to do next when stuck in an investigation, just flip on the “Story Mode” for one beat, then turn it off again). Its slightly more grounded plot and writing really let what makes Ace Attorney great shine. I do hope they take a lesson from this doing well and take the series forward in this direction, even if not with Ryunosuke and the gang.  4. Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! (Vertigo Gaming, 2020) ♫ Haulin’ Buns Are you a bad enough chef to brave the future? Is your toque tough enough to sling sinigang to the huddled masses despite rising seas, corporate violence, and interstate conflict? CSD 3 is the latest and greatest entry in what I can only describe as a cooking action series that has you entering keyboard or button commands to prepare dishes under strict time limits. Take a time management game and combine it with fighting-game style speed inputs and you’ve got yourself a gosh-darn cooking game where it counts. I love this series, and I especially love this game. The devs have distilled what has made the previous games great down to their most core element: manic cooking action (set against a wild base of lore). Like a rhythm game, it rewards intense focus; it just feels so good to be in the zone and absolutely nailing your inputs and serving complex dishes with ingredient variations one after the other.  3. Tetris Effect: Connected (Monstars / Resonair, 2019) ♫ So They Say I played Tetris Effect when it first came out on PSVR back when, and while it was a truly moving and unforgettable experience, I quickly shelved it and moved along, thinking that while it was a very pretty and well put together game, it was kind of a one-time thing. Well, since it got a re-release on Switch I decided to take another look, and I was very glad I did. While the Journey mode remains an all-time *religious experience* in game form, there's so much meat in the Effect Modes and Multiplayer options that I've been content to spend most of my time there. The love and care put into them makes this the best dedicated Tetris game since Tetris DS. The only things missing are a sakura mode and bombliss mode and it'd basically be perfect. Especially of note is the Classic Score Attack online mode, which replicates the Classic Tetris World Championship format, spearheaded by one of its GOATs, Tomohiro “Green Tea” Tatejima. It's just all so good (unlike most Tetris games, which is a true shame) and makes me hopeful that the Tetris Company will give them and other groups more creative license in the future so we could see more things like Tetris Effect or even a return of the Grand Master subseries.  2. Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom, 2021) ♫ Domain of Dust and Desolation What is there to say? It takes the existing Monster Hunter formula and polishes it to a mirror sheen. While World did much to bring the series up to speed with modern game sensibilities, Rise removed a lot of what I can only call "busywork" that was still present. Gone is slogging your way to whatever Mon you're hunting; the traversal tools you're given combined with camps means you're not going to spend more than 30 seconds before you're in the thick of things. The Wirebug just feels so good and gives the player agency without making it feel like you're being coddled or the game is playing itself. I can't fathom how any MonHun will work without it or an analogue of it in the future. There are a few weak spots like Rampages and a dearth of endgame content at launch, but I feel these are minor blemishes when the whole experience is so smooth otherwise. I absolutely cannot wait for the Sunbreak expansion. I’ve been playing since Tri, but dang if Monster Hunter isn’t better than ever. If you've bounced off of the series before this, you owe it to yourself to give this version a try.  1. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (ZA/UM, 2019) ♫ Tiger King There's not much I can say about Disco Elysium that hasn't already been said. I’ve spent years hearing about it, but nothing could prepare me for this beautiful, haunting puzzle box of an adventure game. Playing it is like living a waking dream, being pulled into this other world aided by its luxurious (and often laugh-out-loud funny) prose and its jaw-dropping soundtrack. More than any other game I've played this last year, I've spent more time thinking about this game when not playing it. I feel the mark of a good game has you planning your next run through it, and that is so true with Disco Elysium. I’ve resisted save-scumming, and believe me, I felt those failures. I want to go back in and do things right. I want to impress Kim and be friends with him. I want to further spread the good news of Communism. I want to learn more about this world. I want my body to be riddled with Disco. Tempura Wizard fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Dec 20, 2021 |
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 20:25
|
|
|
2021 is the year of touhou
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 20:38
|
|
|
I can't believe Disco Elysium is gonna be in the running for a third year in a row
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 20:40
|
|
|
Deformed Church posted:
Hey someone else that enjoyed this great game! And you wrote a much better blurb about it than my zero effort sentence. I've been hooked on the soundtrack again lately and it's been giving me the itch to hop back in to just explore the beautiful world once again.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 20:50
|
|
|
This is my first time contributing to this series! And I'm phone posting so go easy and bear with me here. Here's my list, from a really insane Playstation player with 144 games played between January 1st to December 20th. Honorable Mentions Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut Man, I played the base game last year but with the new Iki Island content and actually playing the Legends mode had me falling in love with the game all over again. I haven't done anything like a raid since I quit Destiny 2 but the Legends mode raid is one of my favorite sections of a game I've played, even if it was frustrating learning some of it. Death Stranding Director's Cut This was basically one of my favorite games of 2019 and it just got even better. Basically it's just more extra stuff but if you haven't played it before I hope this gets someone to play it now. The themes of this game resonate even more so in this current world events. And here we go with the list 10. Titanfall 2 Yeah I know, this under rated gem has flown under everyone's radar for years. Anyways I revisited this and finally got the platinum (all trophies) and also ended up playing multiplayer for another 100 hours this year alone. Game still holds up very well and there's just nothing like this. 9. Hypnospace Outlaw The design of this game is so on point. If you grew up with any memories of the world wide web in the 90s,this game will just get you so hard. 8. Guardians of the Galaxy So this game probably got too much of a 'judged by their cover' effect here. The dialog in this game is stellar and the combat is far better than you'd assume it'd be. A must play especially when you need a game that's a little more light hearted fair. 7. Great Ace Attorney Chronicles I really can't say much but this is a great Ace Attorney game and at this point most people know what they're in for. I just loved it basically from start to finish. Charming with a gripping story. 6. Returnal I just started this recently but wow it's really jumped on my list. It's a true ps5 exclusive and showcases a lot of things. What it should be commanded for is getting the rogue like into a triple AAA space. 5. Hades Do I really need to say anything that hasn't been covered ? Game so great I actually did the platinum (all trophies/achievements) twice 4. Yakuza Like a Dragon For most people that played Yakuza they know what they're into. But LaD has done a fantastic job of trying out the turn based rpg space and I love how even more ridicous they got with Ichiban's delusions. 3. Nioh 2 I love From Software and all their games, but especially Dark Souls. Nioh 2 is probably the best souls like not made by From Software. There is massive amounts of content to this game, the combat system can get very deep and there are a lot of interesting levels and bosses. Shout out to Segaholic who played through most of it with me! 2. Persona 5 Royal Wow one of the best rpgs of all time just got even better. The entire extra act adds even more and IMHO the new ending is even more interesting and emotional as a resolution to the entire story of P5. You also appreciate a lot of the new p5r stuff if you played the original. 1. It Takes Two And here it is. Number 1. I give this mostly props for how creative it is for the entire game but also because it is such a blast playing it with my wife. She was absolutely engrossed throughout the whole thing and we even finished it twice (ps4 and ps5 and even had turns with each character) Ineffiable fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Dec 20, 2021 |
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 21:24
|
|
|
I always love these threads but I never contribute due to not playing enough games. But this year I played through more games than I have in a LONG time, and as a result my list is stacked. Almost all of these games have been spoken for many times so I kept it short and sweet, and why they are good To ME. Honorable Mentions: Returnal (PS5) I love the core gameplay of this game. Unfortunately I haven't made it deep enough for it to make my list. Theres a very good chance this makes my top 10 next year. God of War 2018 Beautiful game, some of the boss fights were amazing, I just didn't love most of what was in between bosses. Kentucky Route Zero The writing in this game was superb. Some of the acts had rather boring gameplay though. This is probably my favorite game thats so reliant on text and dialog. Rachet & Clank: Rift Apart Very fun gameplay and it looked amazing. The story was very boring and to be honest I've barely thought about it since beating it. Mario Golf: Super Rush I'm a sucker for golf games and this version of Mario Golf was very fun. Speed golf mostly sucks but the regular golf modes are great. The game should have launched with all of the content it has today, and there should have been more variety in Supers. Bowsers Fury 3D World is in my top 3 "Start to Goal" Mario games (I dare say it might even by my favorite). Unfortunately I played that on the Wii-U so will not be counting it in this entry. Bowsers Fury was a delight start to finish and a full length Mario game in this style would be amazing. Paper Mario: Origami King Its a Paper Mario game post Wii that doesn't completely stink! This game should have been shorter and standard combat gets very tedious. Halo Infinite I haven't played this enough to justify a top 10 spot, but somehow they made me care about Halo again in 2021. Into the Breach Absolutely addicting tactics game. I just started playing this the day before making this post. It owns!!! --------------------------- The List --------------------------------------------- 10 Deathloop I loved absoultely everything about the game for ~22 hours of playtime....and then the ending happened. The ending seriously was pretty unexciting and realizing there is only ever 1 path to victory was a big bummer. If they could follow up with a similar game with more dynamic routes it would be perfect. 9 Hitman 3 My first Hitman game! I'd love to explore this sandbox some more but I had a great time coming up with wacky ways to take out the targets. 8 Art of Rally I hate racing games besides arcadey ones like Mario Kart. Yet somehow this game Just Works. I love the artstyle and the feel of the cars. Despite being a racing game I've found this game to be one of the most relaxing games I've played in years. 7 Mario Party Superstars Mario Party?! Over all those other bangers ranked lower and in the Honorable Mentions?! Yes! 2020 and 2021 really sucked buckos and the in person 4 player games of Mario Party have been some of the most fun Ive had playing games. This game needs more boards though and I don't love all of the mini game choices. 6 Guilty Gear: Strive Basically everything I've said about Mario Party but with a better game. I love the locals Ive played with my friends even though I completely stink at this game. 5 Ghost of Tsushima I do not really love open world games. I almost always get bored halfway through and drop off. Not only did I finish GoT but I'm itching to play the expansion. The difference is the combat is actually fun and engaging through the entire game. 4 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim Thread favorite from last year and for good reason! Every twist and curve in the story completely took me by surprise. 3 SMT V Absolutely loved playing through this one. It runs like total butt on the switch and the story is oddly paced, plus the ending is a bit of a stinker. Other than those quibbles I loved everything else: combat, the world, the writing, ect. 2 Metroid Dread 2d Metroid perfection. Some of the EMMI sections are not great but thankfully they make up a short portion of the game. Every Non-EMMI second of the game is fantastic. 1 Hades I don't have anything to say about this game that hasn't been said already in the last 2 threads. This game is near perfect.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2021 23:42
|
|
|
10. Wildermyth Tactics game meets proceedural storytelling. It's crazy how this game makes you care about your random party of characters and gives them stories that don't feel like they were spit out at random. The tactics side of the game is also fun to play, even if I with there were a couple more classes or builds for characters. 9. Monster Hunter Rise Another good entry in the Monster Hunter series. Makes a lot of great improvements (wirebug, new hunting horn moveset) that I hope transfer over to the next PC/PS5 version of the game. 8. Resident Evil: Village This was the first time I had played through a Resident Evil game, and I ended up really enjoying it. The characters in the game are super fun, and it's just a fun world to explore. I think the first half of the game is stronger, and I wish it was a little more difficult, but I'm excited to see what the next one of these will be like. 7. Chivalry 2 Chivalry 2 was the most fun I had in a competitive multiplayer game this year. I think it's really helped by the fact that everything is low-stakes, and it sort of recaptures that feeling that early 2000s FPSes had where you'd join a server and just kind of play. I hope they expand the game a bit to include more content, but I really enjoyed my time so far with Chivalry. 6. Deathloop As a big fan of Arkane, I was expecting this to be much higher on the list. It feels like a lighter version of Dishonored or Prey, which is fine but kind of a let down from how good Prey was. Overall it's a fine game and seems to have gotten a lot of positive buzz, so I hope Arkane gets to keep making interesting immersive sims. 5. Bowser's Fury On the flip side, I had no expectations for this game and ended up finishing everything in it. The concept of one huge world is interesting even if it's not necessarily used in a super creative way, but the islands themselves are fun and the perfect length. 4. Hitman 3 A great capstone to this trilogy. I feel like the Hitman games all have excellent levels, and this one's no exception. The nightclub and last level both have interesting twists on the normal Hitman formula, and all of the more standard levels have some great setpieces to work around. I'm not sure what happened with the weird licensing stuff on the PC, but I appreciate that they let you transfer everything between the three games. 3. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Pathfinder's an extremely buggy game, bogged down by some really slow travel and a tedious crusade mode that you can disable and the cost of content. I'm also terrible at Pathfinder, and constantly got destroyed by enemies that seemed like random trash mobs. That being said, I could not put this game down. There's very few games that feel like they have this level of character customization, to the point that I restarted several times to try different builds that just seemed interesting. The writing works well for what they're going for, and it has some of my favorite evil RPG party members (shout out to Daeran and Regill). The implementation of combat is also some of my favorite in a cRPG - letting you switch between real-time and turn based at the press of a button. I really hope they get it all fixed up, but if you have any interest in games like these I'd highly recommend it. 2. Cruelty Squad Cruelty Squad is that it's extremely fun. It feels like Hitman mixed with a sort of punishing shooter. You're encouraged to replay the levels to find secrets, and going from awkwardly getting used to the weird controls to zipping through levels at 100 mph to pull off some weird assassination plan rocks. Absolutely my biggest surprise of the year, and closer to what I wanted out of deathloop. 1. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker It's hard to talk about XIV without the context of 10 years of content, but it's so nice to have something conclude in a satisfying way. I've played this game more than any other during the pandemic, and I can't wait to play more.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 03:34
|
|
|
Sir Dingleby Dapper posted:The fact that an expansion to an MMO is gonna win 1st place should say a lot about how mediocre this year has been for new games. All media this year has been terrible. The music "best of lists" have no uniformity as there were literally nothing approaching a classic or instant great, whereas last year there were several. The best of movies list is debatably even worse as the current favourite for best movie of the year was a netflix movie that only dropped three weeks ago and its still relatively obscure. It's like 2020 was the pandemic year, the worst year ever, but there was pent up art to be made in it. 2021 was "society has fallen and we have nothing ready to release as we struggle to get back to work".
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 03:41
|
|
|
2021 is when all the media that was being made in 2020 that got derailed due to the pandemic is coming out or was supposed to come out, so yeah.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 03:53
|
|
|
Lid posted:All media this year has been terrible. The music "best of lists" have no uniformity as there were literally nothing approaching a classic or instant great, whereas last year there were several. The best of movies list is debatably even worse as the current favourite for best movie of the year was a netflix movie that only dropped three weeks ago and its still relatively obscure. It's like 2020 was the pandemic year, the worst year ever, but there was pent up art to be made in it. 2021 was "society has fallen and we have nothing ready to release as we struggle to get back to work". That's an interesting take. Personally, if there was uniformity, I would take that as a a sign that it was a bland year with only one or two worthwhile games, and a big mix like we have this year is an indication that there's a lot of decent games being made.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 03:57
|
|
|
I played a ton of amazing games that came out this year
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:02
|
|
|
Chairchucker posted:That's an interesting take. Personally, if there was uniformity, I would take that as a a sign that it was a bland year with only one or two worthwhile games, and a big mix like we have this year is an indication that there's a lot of decent games being made. Uniformity is more than the top result, its the results going down. When everything had middling reviews and at the end the ante up is "i don't know maybe this" its not indicative of a big mix of equal astonishment but a sludge of mediocrity with no way to identify anything that was special.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:03
|
|
|
Lid posted:All media this year has been terrible. The music "best of lists" have no uniformity as there were literally nothing approaching a classic or instant great, whereas last year there were several. The best of movies list is debatably even worse as the current favourite for best movie of the year was a netflix movie that only dropped three weeks ago and its still relatively obscure. It's like 2020 was the pandemic year, the worst year ever, but there was pent up art to be made in it. 2021 was "society has fallen and we have nothing ready to release as we struggle to get back to work". TV was great this year.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:03
|
|
|
as were video games, as evidenced by all the people gushingly posting about games that came out this year, far too many to contain in a single top ten
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:05
|
|
|
"My personal tastes weren't catered to therefore this year sucked" - something someone or other has posted in every iteration of this thread. 13 out of the 15 games on my list I really need to sit down and make hard choices about came out this year.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:09
|
|
|
I suppose I did consciously spend less money on entertainment this year than I would normally, one good thing about 2021 is that pre-2021 games also exist for poors like me
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 19:51 |
|
|
whenever people say it was a bad year i assume they only own a PS4 or an XBone.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2021 04:19
|
|