Top Games of 2021

Hey, I'm back! Sorry for being gone so long, I'm working on getting my bookkeeper certification and my classes ate my writing time. Also, there were a lot of great games to play so I was playing those instead. In fact, seeing as how 2021 is over let's talk about my Top Games of the 2021. This won't be a Top 10, those are boring, and I save that for Twitter. Instead, we'll be going by category, categories that I largely make up, it'll be fun. And remember, it's not just the games that released this year.

Best Surprise Game

When it comes to games that drop out of nowhere there's two tacts to it; one is the company doesn't want people to spend too long hyping it up in order to avoid a Final Fantasy XV scenario. Alternatively, it's because the game is trash, and the company would rather you not think too much of it. For that last category a great example is GTA The Definitive Trilogy, an absolutely trash remaster of three PS2 classics. However, the belief up to release was that rockstar wasn't marketing these games because they really didn't have to as it's GTA. Turns out they weren't marketing GTA Definitive because the remaster was trash.

On the flip side of that coin, we have one of my Top 5 games, Metroid Dread. Only announced four months from launch and not really marketed much until the final month till launch, Metroid Dread came out of nowhere from the panels of myth to become one of the best Metroid games ever made. With gameplay smooth as butter and an eye for a return to classic form, Metroid Dread is the best kind of surprise for the year in my opinion. How do I know? I managed six playthroughs before I put it down.

Game That Didn't Leave An Impact

Have you ever played a game that made you simply shrug and go "Well, that was a thing" and have to dig deep later on just to remember that you played it? That was New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS for me. I played every other game in the NSMB line except the original, so I was interested in trying it. Now that I tried it, I barely remember anything about the game except that the bosses were actually unique when compared to later games that shamelessly reused the koopalings. But that's hardly a saving point for the DS outing you can ignore.

Honestly, I'd argue the problem is that Nintendo put out so many sequels to NSMB that the original's punch is non-existent. They all sort of blended together and if I were ever interested in revisiting this series, I'd probably just play NSMBU. NSMBU is the best of the series but it's the best of a series that never really had a pulse. So, I guess that means NSMB is clinically dead by comparison and it's easy to see why reusing this formula almost killed Nintendo as a company in the early 2010's.

Game I Enjoyed Revisiting

Sometimes we need to revisit a game from time to time to appreciate it and this year I did that quite a bit. From the entire original 2D Metroid series to Final Fantasy, there was no shortage of games I went back to. But the one I think I enjoyed the most was Final Fantasy V for the Pixel Remaster on Steam, still playing this one as of the time of writing this up.

FFV is still incredible; the story isn't as deep, but the characters really carry the plot as far as I'm concerned. Also helping is the incredible Job System which allows you to make your own experience, turning Bartz and his party of heroes into unstoppable killing machines or alternatively making a hard as nails experience. And the game forces you to use that system, it will crush your face into the ground otherwise with bosses that punish mindlessly tapping the attack or magic button much more than past entries.

That said, it's requirement that you intricately learn how party members and abilities work is why it probably wouldn't be the game I recommend you start playing Final Fantasy with. That honor still goes to IV if you'll ask me, a game I also replayed but on a PSP emulator as opposed to the Steam 3D version. That said, if you've been sleeping on FFV don't, especially now that the awful looking Steam port has been replaced by Pixel Remaster.

Best Multiplayer Game

I managed to snag a PS5 this year and just in time to snag the PS5 exclusive PS Plus game, Overcooked: All You Can Eat. In terms of couch co-op games, I don't think I've played a game so addictive to play with friends. Seriously, I thought the new Mario Party was going to be my big multiplayer game of the year but Overcooked came from nowhere and stole that crown.

The premise of assembling and cooking food to gain points sounds simple, but each player has to take a role in the kitchen and the game does not tell you which role you have beforehand. So, you have a chaotic mess as players try to get into a role and then over multiple playthroughs of a level you start working out a plan that eventually results in the game becoming heated as you and your friends try to work together to optimize your playthrough.

My problem with most co-op games is that they tend to be beat-em ups and hack and slashes that don't take much strategy, just punch the bad guy until he dies. It's good if you got friends but even then I'm usually mentally tapped on those games in about an hour or so. Overcooked fixes that with the amount of strategy you and your friends are forced to use in order to achieve victory. Makes me think about getting back into Destiny 2 and actually doing the dungeon raids because this stuff is crazy fun.

Best Game From 2020 I Checked Out In 2021

You know when you're going over the games that came out last year, see one you missed, and make a note to play that the next year? Well, that's what this category is, and I can only think of one game this year that meets that mark, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition. 2020 was a great year for RPG's whether I was playing the GC/Wii Fire Emblem's or getting into Final Fantasy VII Remake, so naturally Xenoblade slipped through my fingers. But I finally checked it out this year and oh boy, OH BOY.

The gameplay of Xenoblade is pretty fun, getting used to it was weird but once I got into the habit of figuring out how to break the enemies defense I couldn't stop. But that's nothing compared to Xenoblade's story which, I'm a Halo lore fan, and even I think Xenoblade is absolutely insane in all the best ways. Xenoblade went in directions I wasn't expecting and by endgame your brain will crack from how giga-brained this plot is. Heck, I even had fun with the add-on Future Connected story; Xenoblade is just great but I'm tepid about 2, we'll see next year though.

Best Game I Put Off For Years

You ever have a game you put on your radar and say "Yeah, I'll play it." And then 5 years later you finally do? Well, that would probably be the entire Half-Life series. That's right, the whole thing minus Alyx because I don't have VR; but if Alyx is anything like the rest of the series, then it'll be good. I bought Half-Life 2 in 2011 and then never touched it beyond the initial 2 hours I spent with it. So yeah, this was a long time coming and I'll say it was worth the wait.

That said if you can experience Half-Life 1 through its remake Black Mesa, I'd recommend that instead. The original game has a lot of broken AI scripting that the game relies on, and it makes the original experience much worse for it. That said Half-Life 2 doesn't have this issue, the game is remarkably well scripted and works like a charm. Probably why it's only planned to get a remaster as opposed to a full remake, HL2 aged like fine wine.

The worst expansion by the way is Blue Shift, same price as Opposing Force but with a quarter of the content. But that's less upsetting though if you do what I did and got it for a dollar thanks to Steam sales. Probably a lot more upsetting in 2001 though, even if you consider that Blue Shift was originally made for a canned Dreamcast port.

Favorite Games of 2021

Alright kids, lightning round, favorite games I played in 2021 that came out in 2021. Remasters count as well because those are very important.

Halo Infinite. Once they get the multiplayer issues worked out this game will be great. Until then it's merely good. Campaign is a whole other beast however, easily on par with something Bungie would have made. Going open world was a very smart choice and Master Chief feels like more of a character here than he ever was, even in Halo 4. It feels like a return to Halo ODST's formula in both how you access missions and that the cast actually has a dynamic to it.

Metroid Dread. Fantastic game, probably my GOTY if I'm honest. I played it 6 times straight before getting bored and that's a damn compliment. There's still a lingering piece of me that wants to go back and play it again. Easily one of my favorite Metroid games and an absolute masterpiece.

Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster. FFV is one of my favorite FF games and Pixel Remaster is an excellent love letter to it. I talked about it earlier, so I'll just praise the OST some more and move on.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Super Mario 3D World is easily one of my favorite Mario games. Namely when playing with friends because it's an excellent co-op experience, so getting to do that again was a bop. The new campaign, Bowser's Fury, was also excellent and a great addition to a great game. 100%'ing 3D World's main game is absolutely not fun though, especially if you don't have friends to help take the edge off.

Mario Party Superstars. As someone who grew up on classic Mario Party and will never pass up a chance to play with my friends, Superstars feels like a love letter. It gives the classic game boards an excellent coat of paint and adds on some great online; like Nintendo actually listened to its fans for once and added online to something people begged for. All around a great time for the family, here's hoping for DLC.

Quake Remastered. I've never played Quake before this year, so playing the original Quake on a fan made source port was pretty fun. That was in April. Then Id surprised everyone by shadow dropping Nightdive Studio's Quake Remastered. That was fun and to be fair Quake Remastered is about on par with Nerve Software's Doom port from last year in being the definitive version to experience Quake and all its expansions. Still need to finish the free Machine Games developed missions but I can tell Quake Remastered is a banger. So, when's Quake II Remastered?

Returnal. The reason this list took so damn long is because I was playing Returnal. A game I constantly 180'd on so hard it gave me whiplash. I liked it, then I hated it, and now I believe it's an unmitigated masterpiece. Easily one of the best PS5 games of this year and a solid 10/10.

The Game I Abandoned

Every play a game you just don't vibe with, so you bail on it? Well for me that's Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I'd heard this game was a hidden gem and a black sheep. But within about 2 hours I just didn't care for it. The difficulty really is a bit too brutal without enough of a safety net that you make with save states. I think the only black sheep 2 in Nintendo's lineup I vibed with was either Metroid 2 or Mario 2, that and the remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden but I don't think that counts.

Not to say Zelda II is a bad game, it's just not a game I care for. But who knows, maybe 2022 will be a second chance year for it. Speaking of which...

Games I'm Putting on My List for 2022

And finally, a look to the future. What games am I looking forward to next year? Whether old games I'm playing for the first time, classics I'm revisiting, or hot new titles.

Horizon Forbidden West: I loved the original Horizon Zero Dawn and I'm excited for this new one. I haven't seen many trailers; I tend to be good about avoiding or removing trailers from my mind, so I have few expectations for Forbidden West other than "Zero Dawn but new." I do however want to replay Zero Dawn before Forbidden West drops, either through the PS5 update or the PC version.

God of War Ragnarök: All I know is that Thor has a dad bod; otherwise, it's the same case as Horizon, played the PS4 game, liked it, want more.

Ratchet and Clank, The Whole Thing: I've been interested in the Ratchet and Clank series since I was a kid. But I only played the PS4 Remake of 1 before 2021, and in 2021 I played the original game on PCSX2. So next year I want to get through the whole series, which means I've got about 6 more games, though two of the four PS3 games are shorter affairs. And I do hear it gets better with R&C 2, so I'm excited.

My Steam Library: I've got quite a number of games in my Steam Library I have yet to play. So I'm powering through my "Play Next" list in 2022. My prediction is that the worst to get through is probably Dark Souls Remastered. Simply because I've heard the stories of how brutal it is. Some of these are just games I played on Xbox 360 and bought on PC, like Tomb Raider or Tales of Vesparia. Either way I've got about 28 games to get through, I'm slightly less excited about this but I'm interested in getting this done.