"The Best Games of 2021"
Another year has come and gone, and with it comes one of my favorite times of the year: Game of the Year.
2021 for games was certainly an interesting one. As the first full year after the launch of the new generation of consoles with the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S, no one can make the argument 2021 is gonna be fondly remembered as this high watermark for the generation we are about to see unfold (from recent memory, you can look at 2014 and 2019 as similar kind of transitional years). However, even with the lack of that defining game or games that stand as the thing that defined the year overall, I found 2021 to be a haven of variety. As someone that has decried in recent times (particularly in The X Button Podcast) about my recent disenchantment with the AAA scene being so dominated by the open world genre, I feel 2021 was a year where different kinds of experiences were allowed to stand out more thanks to the lack of that one game everyone froths at the mouth about (think “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”, “Red Dead Redemption 2”, “God of War” as recent examples). Personally, I would argue I prefer to have this kind of year than one that easily revolves around one or two massive games a year, because it's where the different kinds of experiences that enrich the medium are allowed to thrive and prove their worth.
Prove their worth they did, as many games came out of good to great quality, I had quite the hard time nailing down the one game I thought was the one game to stand tall above each other. I feel that's a good problem to have. Before I dive in to what were the best 10 games I played in 2021, I wanna give a shoutout to my honorable mentions, then go for the games that disappointed me the most. Without further ado, here are my honorable mentions for 2021.
NOTE: A podcast with the written content of this article is live:
Honorable Mentions
Destiny 2
“Destiny 2” is and forever will be the one "service game" I'll always dedicate time to any given year in between a dry spell. 2021 was an interesting year for the game. As the first year of the franchise that straight up skipped its annual expasion (“The Witch Queen” moving from 2021 into February 22, 2022), “Destiny 2” made a case where they were getting a better handle with their seasonal model, with the three seasons that launched in 2021 (along with the 30th Anniversary Celebration) being some of the coolest content the game has had in terms of storytelling and loot. While it wasn't perfect with some activities growing old rather quickly and the pervasive nature of sunsetting paid for content casting an unflattering pall over the game, I would still say the good outweighted the bad this year. If the seasonal content can remain of a relative high quality even without a looming expansion (and if it means an expansion can have some extra dev time so it can be the best it can be), 2021 proves “Destiny 2” can survive a year without an expansion. And it remaining the best feeling shooter in the market will always keep the game in constant rotation for me.
Marvel's Avengers: War for Wakanda
Yes, “Marvel's Avengers” was one of the bigger disappointments of last year. Yes, Crystal Dynamics is still struggling to build a competent endgame for the game almost a year after release. Yes, the game can sometimes be broken as f*ck (like that one time it doxxed many players). And yes, I hopelessly enjoy most of my time with it. For all the game's faults, the game's combat engine is such that I still enjoy the moment to moment gameplay of this thing even when it fails in so many areas. I will say the one area it has remained strong has been campaign content, and the “War for Wakanda” expansion is the one piece of content released this year that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with, where the introduction of Black Panther and the Wakanda biome along with the QOL changes that came in the days and months after its release finally put the game in slightly better fighting shape than it had been for a bit. While part of me feels the game will never have the turnaround story I want it to have, as long as content keeps coming, it will always remain a guilty pleasure for me.
Most Disappointing Games of 2021
Praey for the Gods
Back in around 2015 and 2016, I learned about this Kickstarter for a game that was essentially gonna be a spiritual successor to one of my favorite games of all time, “Shadow of the Colossus”. Despite the game entering an early access period, I stayed away wanting to wait for it to be fully completed to get to experience it, and suddenly it dropped off the map. Fast forward to early December 2021, and a trailer dropped randomly on the PlayStation Youtube Channel, where the game "Praey for the Gods" suddenly reappeared, looking better than I remembered in the early announcement and ready to go. I couldn't contain my excitement for a new “Shadow of the Colossus-style game.
A few hours later, I was only left frustrated, distressed and confounded at the results.
"Praey for the Gods" absolutely answers the question about what would happen if someone would make a modern, "gamier" version of “Shadow of the Colossus”. That seminal game was notable for being so singularly focused in its one design of being you against the Goliaths, all in the backdrop of an eerie, empty world with not much in the way of side content. While you could chalk the lack of other content as a sign of the lack of standards expected for open world games in 2005 (when GTA was the only notable watermark for that genre), it turns out that singular focus is the reason SOTC is brilliant, because as seen with “Praey for the Gods”, adding things like random enemies in a world not really designed for combat and tacking on survival mechanics ala "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" not as much add depth but extra baggage to what should be the core of the game: you against the giant monsters. What this ended up doing was muddy the waters and add an extra element of yank and friction to the game that made it less rewarding and more frustrating. And despite some high points like some cool boss design and an epic ending, the yank and also general lack of quality and polish just brought what should have been a triumphant piece of work from three developers into a heartbreaker.
If "Praey for the Gods" does anything, is convince me that "Shadow of the Colossus" as a single piece of work should remain a one and done, and that I should be grateful that such a singularly focused masterpiece came out when it did, and I shouldn't ask for a modern recreation of it. Modern expectations for things in open world-like games mean that a game with the singular focus of SOTC can never happen again, and I should let go and accept that game will remain a pure one of a kind. Otherwise, I only will get more things like "Praey for the Gods", and I don't need that kind of heartbreaking disappointment in my life.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition
How do you absolutely mess up something that should have been an easy win? Basically releasing it with no care and regards to your own past history. That's basically what Rockstar did when they dared to release "Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition" in the state they did, where all three versions of the three classic PS2 era "Grand Theft Auto" games have been put out in an embarrasing shape, from rain effects rendering BENEATH oceans, deformed character models, screwed art assets, erratic performance, bugginess not present in the original games, and the list goes on and on.
If Rockstar was known for something, was that above all else, they were the studio that was proud to put out a pristine, quality product that would take years to get right. To think the studio that put the immaculately produced "Red Dead Redemption 2" just four years ago would then send out a remaster of the games that made the studio a household name in the first place in this state was massively disconcerting. Coupled with questionable decisions as of late with the overall abandonment of "Red Dead Online" and some disregard to actual quality control of "GTA Online" in lieu of its constant, perpetual success, and I fear the Rockstar Games we know and love may be losing the plot a bit, and products like these "Demasters" are terrifying potential signs to come for what awaits us from this studio.
Far Cry 6
At a certain point in my gaming life, Ubisoft was considered the creme of the crop for me when it came to the big third party publishers (next to Activision and EA), by being the one publisher that focused on delivering the kind of meaty single player experience I could lose hours upon, and once upon a time had variety within its offerings to satisfy my single player needs. Over the past few years in this console generation, Ubisoft unfortunately became the victim of its own success, and a once prolific publisher full of variety became the poster child of homogeneity, where literally every single game they released was a variation of the open world formula pioneered by the excellent “Far Cry 3” in 2012. This formula has been used ad nauseum in all their titles in most of this past decade, and while its a fun formula that can be addicting and a certain kind of comfort food videogame, it's been used to the breaking point, and this past year's "Far Cry 6" just underlined that.
Despite my apprehension of the overused formula stretched to the breaking point in massive endless games, I had a little bit of hope going into "Far Cry 6". For one, I last played "Far Cry 5" in 2018, and I still found some enjoyment in this first person open world franchise despite the formula nearing its breaking point (helps there's quite a few years between mainline releases). But "Far Cry 6" was finally the moment where I realized enough is enough, as I was faced once again with another entry that toys with the idea of presenting something with real world resonance (in 6's case, dictatorship in a latin american country, something that resonates with me a lot based on my neighboring country), and immediately undercut the gravitas with crass humor. And then just witnessing the HUMONGOUS map that awaited me past the starting area and noticing that, other than better visuals and performace due to playing on PlayStation 5, I was gonna play a game that was still the same game as the seminal 2012 game. After a few hours, I put it away. In a year that somehow gave me enough experiences that weren't open world (with one surprising exception), I realized I didn't need this while I'm still sick of this formula.
Maybe sometime during a dry spell in 2022, I'll find the itch to play this game, cause like I mentioned, there is something comfy about this kind of game from time to time. Until then, the fact this didn't change any misgiving about what Ubisoft's current game slate offers me, makes “Far Cry 6” one of 2021's bigger disappointments for me.
Battlefield 2042
It's getting so disheartening that whenever a new “Battlefield” game comes out, the likelihood of it being one of the bigger disappointments in a calendar year has become too common of an occurrence for it to not be massively concerning these days. Since 2013, EA developer DICE has released four mainline “Battlefield” games (remember, "Battlefield Hardline" was made by defunct studio Visceral Games), and from all of those, only 2016's "Battlefield 1" has been the only one released to critical love and positive fan fare. 2013's "Battlefield 4" was a great, content rich game undone by being that year's most broken release. 2018's "Battlefield V" was undone by releasing basically as a full priced early access title missing key features under the pretense it was a live service game with content to be added later. And now in the year of our Lord 2021, "Battlefield 2042" launches and it basically combined both of what undid "Battlefield 4" and "Battlefield V".
"Battlefield 2042" serves now as a flashpoint that the excuse of releasing a more content limited entry because you want to focus on your strenghts is double speak for "we had to cut content because our publisher demanded us we needed to get this game out this year for fiscal year reasons". DICE revealed this current entry as a full price multiplayer only experience so they could focus on "their strenghts" which was multiplayer. Yet what they released is, from a design quality standpoint, one of the weakest “Battlefield” games in recent memory, with decisions made to the class system and the game's focus on 128-player battles hurting the experience even more than those previous, more content-rich games. Content wise, this multiplayer-only Battlefield game released with even less content than the already content stripped "Battlefield V" at launch, which is unbelievable, with only the “Portal” mode that includes remastered maps from older “Battlefield” games being what makes the package worth playing. Coupled with the worst stability the series has seen since the horror days of early "Battlefield 4", and its insane this product came out this way, AND AT THE PRICE IT ASKED when its direct competitors, "Halo Infinite" and "Call of Duty Vanguard", released either with free to play offerings/Game Pass accessibility (in the case of “Halo”), or at least with a full suite of content at $69.99 despite said content not being that remarkable (in the case of "Call of Duty: Vanguard").
Out of all the shooters scheduled for this past fall, "Battlefield 2042" was the one shooter this year that looked the coolest out of the three offerings. Now as the dust has settled, “Battlefield” came out as the big loser, and the damage now done to the brand is such, I fear the series may never be considered great again. They sure have squandered it past the point of "shame me thrice".
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And now we leave bummer city into celebration mode, where I get to rank my absolute favorite games of this year. And similar to what I did once in 2019, due to the fortuitous timing of when I'm writing this, I'm going to do a Top 11 Games of 2021 instead of 10 due to my recent experience with a game that was one of my honorable mentions (as seen in the podcast I recorded above), and me beating it and having some strong feelings about it. Without further ado, here are my Top 11 Games of 2021.
Top 11 Games of 2021
11. Resident Evil: Village
The game that was the last entry in my honorable mentions when I recorded my GOTY podcast sneaks in at #11 after having beaten it before doing this write up. For a while, I thought "Resident Evil: Village" was going to remain in my honorable mentions. Having been someone that enjoyed but wasn't head over heels over "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard", another game in the perspective of that one and with the awkward opening hours this one had made it seem like “Village” just wasn't gonna do it for me like the pair of Remakes I got in 2019 and 2020 respectively. However, once I got into Castle Dimistrescu (the now famous meme area of the 9ft tall vampire lady and her three disgusting disintegrating daughters), the game massively clicked with me. The game being both a homage to both "Resident Evil 4" and "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” started to make sense, and by the time I reached the infamous Dollhouse Mansion where I had to survive a monstrous baby fetus in the scariest moment I've ever had in a game, it became clear that “Resident Evil: Village” was becoming one of the better experiences I had with a game from 2021. While the game didn't quite maintain its momentum in the final factory level, the story developments of the final moments past that factory level really made an impression, bringing the story of the perpetual dope that is Ethan Winters to a resonant close, and making me incredibly curious about what the future of the series will be past this entry. It was a reminder of how fun a series like "Resident Evil" can be, and whatever Capcom does next, as long as its not a “Resident Evil 6” level-disaster, I'll always be there to experience it.
10. Deathloop
"Deathloop" is definitely a weird one for me. As someone that has been a big fan of developer Arkane's previous work with both their "Dishonored" games and even the less enjoyable but still great "Prey", I mostly had a blast playing through their more action packed timeloop game. The humor of protagonists Colt and Julianna kept the mostly minimal story engaging for the most part, and some of the lessons Arkane learned co-developing the much maligned "Wolfenstein: Youngblood" for sure gave them some shooter chops that made combat in this game satisfying enough as a shooter. And credit where it's due, considering how complicated the premise of this game sounded on paper, Arkane managed to make the idea of learning how and when you have to take out all the targets to break out of the time loop mostly a digestible thing.
So why is this a weird one for me?
Having experienced most of Arkane's catalogue, it was during a replay of "Deathloop" where it really hit me the different ways Arkane "dumbed down" the depth and malleability of the immersive sim experience to make "Deathloop" work. Because the game ultimately has one main path to follow to take care of all the targets in one time loop, "Deathloop" shockingly misses out on being the highly replayable/gameplay rich experience that defined games like "Dishonored", instead revealing this game's choice driven design to be an exercise in smoke and mirrors. This game's version of multiple endings can be quickly acquired once you know the loop, and only things like "Trophies" create the one incentive to experiment in the way Arkane's previous games would intrinsically funnel you to experience and experiment with them. And the less said of the game's abysmal enemy AI (something many people defended as intentional design before Arkane actually went and patched it) the better.
Considering the kind of reception this game got (lots of 10's from reputable sites) and how many people took to it compared to Arkane's previous catalogue, I can't begrudge them their approach in order for more people to enjoy and appreciate one of their games. Despite my misgivings, I still had a lot of fun with "Deathloop" and believe it's a game worth experiencing from 2021's varied catalogue. I just hope the people that enjoy this game then do their due diligence to experience Arkane's better, earlier work afterwards!
9. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Considering the state of things currently at Bioware following the back to back flops "Mass Effect Andromeda" and "Anthem", as well as the perpetual state of insecurity the next "Dragon Age" seems to be in year in and year out, it can be seen as crazy cynical that the most positive thing Bioware can actually put out is the much requested remaster of their seminal "Mass Effect" trilogy. But they finally did, putting the trilogy out many years after it should have ideally come out. Cynicism around the release aside, I have to commend Bioware for at least doing a good enough job at preserving the experience of this original trilogy in good shape (specially in lieu of the other cataclysmic remaster of 2021), as well as putting a lot of work into making the original “Mass Effect” into an experience not held back by truly archaic gameplay.
Having done a replay of the Xbox 360 versions of the “Mass Effect” trilogy on 2020, the release of this trilogy remaster initially felt like a "too little, too late" moment considering when I finally did my long delayed replay since I first played through these games in 2007 through 2012. But having seen the work put into the original (where the gameplay in that 360 version is pretty much poop for modern standards), I was happy to see how they updated the game to feel closer to how the two sequels felt, while still retaining a lot of the more RPG nature of the gameplay that still gives it a unique flavor compared to what came after. In fact, I would even make the argument that the improvements to that first game are such, that moving into the second game is way less jarring of a jump, and also unflatteringly shows the way Bioware stripped a lot out for "Mass Effect 2".
The remaster quality of "Mass Effect 2" and "Mass Effect 3" is more predictable in nature, and I didn't have to fully replay either game to see how the experience felt in the remaster in lieu of my 2020 replay. Just on the quality of that first game alone where I went as far as getting 100% completion for the first time, I feel makes this collection a worthy entry on my favorite games I played in 2021, and the absolute best way for anyone to experience this classic trilogy in modern hardware (as long as they are not purists and feel the 360 versions via Xbox Backwards Compatibility is enough).
8. Metroid Dread
"Metroid Dread" is a game that dominated the discourse in my podcast for close to a full month this past October. Considering how much conversation I had over this game, and contrasting my initial experience with it compared to how I feel about it how, I find it funny where it landed within my favorite games of this year. To start with the positives, I feel "Metroid Dread" is arguably one of the best playing games that came out this year. It was the most fun I had playing a game on the Nintendo Switch more tailored for the hardcore, and I have to give props to developer Mercury Steam for doing a really good job at making a 2D version of “Metroid” work really well in 2021. And considering how long it's taken for a proper sequel to the excellent "Metroid Fusion" to come out (literally 19 years!), what “Metroid Dread” does for 2D “Metroid” and the “Metroid” lore is incredibly tantalizing and makes me incredibly curious where they would take it from here.
At the same time, "Metroid Dread" is a game in a longrunning series that came out (after laying dormant for years) into a "Metroidvania" market (the genre it and fellow series "Castlevania" birthed) that has many stellar games that have done many things to improve the genre. So when "Metroid Dread" comes out by essentially ignoring the way the genre has improved on things like map design layout, cheap boss battles and even storytelling, after the initial high of the incredibly tight gameplay wears off, it's hard not to wish for the ways "Metroid Dread" could have been an even better game than it actually was.
Nothing can ever downplay how incredibly fun this game's gameplay is. But the best kinds of games are the ones that nail all different aspects, and its what surrounds the gameplay where "Metroid Dread" just barely misses on legendary status, despite being for the most part a great time. And frankly, the discourse by the people defending every aspect of this game did sour me a bit on the whole thing (which tends to be a problem when anyone dares criticize the mighty Nintendo). But my annoyance by some external outside elements aside, "Metroid Dread" for sure delivered some of 2021's greatest thrills. I just enjoyed other games more!
7. Outriders
As someone that absolutely adores and plays "Destiny" more than I would dare admit, I've also been wanting another game that scratches the same itch to stand as a compliment during the times that game would have a dry spell. Initially “Borderlands” was that series before the series disappointed me with "Borderlands 3", and then the other live service equivalents in the form of the two "The Division" games, "Anthem" and even "Marvel's Avengers" have all failed to endear themselves as the alternate games in the loot genre to scratch that addictive itch. While it initially suffered from some bugs (like wiping out people's inventories), I would say "Outriders" by developer People Can Fly is finally the game that scratches the alternate itch I've been wanting scratched.
"Outriders" is the result of what would happen if you were to combine the bonafides of a third person shooter similar in concept to "Gears of War", deemphasize the cover aspect despite providing it, and add a bit of "X-Men" flavor to the proceedings to provide a frenetically addicting, unique looter shooter. I can't stress enough just how well tuned Outriders is on both its combat, its loot loop and the powers you get from the different four classes. It helps a lot how it presents itself as that kind of B-tier/AA quality shooter, embraces its campy midtier nature all while doing the one thing I wish more looters did: being respectful of your time.
To its great benefit (despite doing all it could to almost make itself feel like one), "Outriders" is not a live service title requiring your daily/weekly commitment like other looters in the market, and its always online nature may have hurt itself in the eyes of players in that initial borked launch period. The "New Horizon" free update that improved all aspects of the game (and delivered an excellent transmog system) made the game fulfill its potential as a looter you could put down once you were done with its content, and sets the game for success for the eventuality of a new expansion without having to worry about seasons or live updates week in or week out. That is probably its greatest success, and having the other classes available to me to run at any time a dry spell hits, I can see myself playing "Outriders" as long as its meaningfully supported.
6. Returnal
Developer Housemarque's first foray into doing something more AAA in quality after their almost eternal foray into doing top down twin stick shooters, "Returnal" was certainly a risky endeavor, specially its positioning as the first true post-launch PlayStation 5 exclusive. That risk wasn't mitigated by the fact the game was a brutally hardcore rogue-like game, a kind of punishing game that is not everyone's cup of tea. Fortunately, for those that like a challenge that test someone's dexterity with a controller, "Returnal" is certainly one of the best games to come out in 2021.
I would make the argument that "Returnal" is the most pure, best playing third person shooter that came out in 2021. The general tight feel of the game's controls feature Housemarque's trademark pitch perfect gameplay necessary for the kind of high stake difficult game this is. And when you combine that pitch perfect gameplay with a game aesthetic that fulfill's the Giger "Alien" aesthetic better than the most recent "Alien" games and movies, and do a very clever conceit for why protagonist Seline is stuck in this weird timeloop, and the recipe for a real classic is all there.
With that said, there are some definite frustrations here that prevent "Returnal" from being the definitive game of 2021. For one, until it was recently patched, the fact there was not a single way to save in the middle of the very long runs through the game's different biomes was an initially shocking oversight. Of course the initial design intent of that was to emphasize the game's truly hardcore nature. But when the solution to that initially was to put the console into rest mode (with the potential of a random system update fully resetting your progress), you know Housemarque messed up big time. It didn't help that "Returnal" was also initially one of the most unstable releases on the PlayStation 5, with the game behaving so differently from console to console where it would crash systems or not script progress through the levels, which sounds inconceivable for an exclusive from PlayStation Studios. All of this has been cleaned up and patched, but the game coming in as hot as it did considering its hardcore nature is a big reason it sounded like the biggest turn off possible.
Fortunately for me, I was able to miss a lot of the game's rough edges, and getting to experience it through the new added save system (which can be easily scummed if you know how to manipulate your PS Plus cloud saves) takes a lot of the stress of the game away and lets its greatest elements shine high. Experiencing the game's tight gameplay and the kind of high skill difficulty that's more about controller skill than arbiratry difficulty like some of the Souls games makes "Returnal" one of the most satisfying games I played on 2021. Just beware about a potentially different experience than mine!
5. Halo Infinite
"Halo Infinite" is exactly the kind of "Halo" game developer 343 Industries needed to put out to rescue the franchise from the brink of irrelevancy. It is no secret that, as fun as it was to play in both single player and multiplayer, some of the choices made for 2015's "Halo 5: Guardians" didn't sit well with the majority of the Halo community and therefore hurt the series' reputation. Considering how important "Halo" is to the Xbox platform, being left on shaky ground after 5 was something Microsoft needed to course correct. While the delay out of the console launch after the disastrous first showing waved all kinds of red flags and sounded many alarms about the potential quality of the game, Microsoft delaying "Halo Infinite" out of 2020 and into 2021 was probably the best decision they could have made. Despite some imperfections in the campaign and multiplayer, this is the strongest "Halo" has been since the days Bungie handled the franchise.
Let's get this out of the way: there's many issues you can level at the game's campaign. The lack of biome diversity hurts the game from providing individual memorable moments, which can also be blamed to the switch to a seamless open world structure. The story occupies this weird space in being both an epilogue to a "Halo 6" we never got to see, while also being a prologue to whatever happens in the future (whether its content drops for this one game or a new sequel, which is still unknown). And on top of that, the story of the game plays out like that kind of throat clearing season premiere that has to resolve a badly received season finale, all while providing a filler "villain of the week" plot in between before setting up the real story to come.
Even with all those problems, "Halo Infinite" comes out as one of the best games to come out in 2021 simply because of how pitch perfect its gameplay is. The "Halo" gameplay manages to brilliantly transition well to a more open world structure thanks to the addition of the grappling hook, which proves an essential new addition to the classic "30 seconds of fun" gameplay loop that's defined the series since "Halo: Combat Evolved". Combined with an open world that wasn't big enough (which pushed me to 100% the map in the way that reminded me of old Ubisoft games prior to their excessive bloat), and "Halo Infinite" comes out on top even with the fundamental issues that plague the campaign side. Then there's multiplayer.
I've long stopped attempting to be a multiplayer guy. It's just not the kind of game I like playing (specially being reminded of that with my calamitous experience with “Battlefield 2042”). The fact I fell so head over heels over the multiplayer of "Halo Infinite" says a lot about how incredibly fun this game's multiplayer is, where 343 Industries finally honed in on what makes "Halo" fun without having to trend chase from other series, while keeping the game essentially "Halo". Whenever I have time to kill, "Halo Infinite" has become the "one match" kinda game, and that's something I never expected to feel again as I've moved more towards strictly PVE experiences. And I say that while also acknowledging the progression system in this multiplayer is frankly one the worse in a game of this caliber. That says a lot about the quality intrinsic to this game, and for that reason alone, I can't imagine not declaring "Halo Infinite" one of the best experiences I had with a game. And extra shoutout for being the one open world game this year I played to completion with no reservation. I guess “less is more” does work, huh?
4. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
If there is something I have remarked about "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" during my podcast this past year, was how it always seemed like I had a bone to pick with this game based on how the use of the PlayStation 5's SSD for this game may have been an oversold feature. In a way, the scripted nature of the way this game utilized the PS5's much vaunted technology may have not been the revolution one would have wanted, but that conversation is what prevented me from truly singing the praises of what an incredible game Insomniac Games managed to do so early into the PS5's lifecycle, and so soon following up their excellent "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" launch game.
While not the very best "Ratchet & Clank" game (that honor still goes to "Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time" on PlayStation 3), "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" stands as a great technical showcase of what's possible on the PlayStation 5 when a developer understands the underlying hardware available. Simply put, the level of quality and fidelity in display borders on obscene, showcasing how Insomniac Games may have been PlayStation's most important acquisition of the past decade with their quick quality output. But looks is not everything, and "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" once again shows that the "Ratchet & Clank" series is the creme of the crop when it comes to that kind of quality/comfort gameplay loop combined with solid platforming. It's just a baseline awesome game to play.
With nothing particularly wrong with it outside some frustrating sections, "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" is the kind of safe, guaranteed good time you can expect early into a console's life cycle. As a showcase to what can be possible with the PlayStation 5 from Sony's first party studios, it's a very tantalizing glimpse into the future, and it happened six months into the console's life cycle. Highly recommended to anyone that manages to get their hands on a PlayStation 5 and has a 4KTV with HDR they want to take on a full spin.
3. Kena: Bridge of Spirits
More than anything, I'm impressed at how a first time studio in Ember Labs was able to make their first ever videogame something as good as "Kena: Bridge of Spirits". A game that manages to mix a Pixar-quality aesthetic mixed with a Studio Gibli charm that oozes from every pixel of the screen, "Kena: Bridge of Spirits" is one game with a strong visual identity throughout. Combined with a story that manages to maintain a kiddy tone that then hits hard on themes of grief and loss provided me one of the most memorable experiences I had with a game in 2021.
From a gameplay perspective, while I'm impressed with how Ember Labs was mostly successful in combining many elements from some of my favorite games (think “God of War”, “The Legend of Zelda” and “Tomb Raider”), they do stumble a little bit with how they implement another game inspiration, “Dark Souls”. The game can get unforgivingly difficult in its homestretch, and the one area where this game didn't quite get it right is its parry mechanic, with a parry window so arbitrarily small, it's hard to really master it, which becomes more aggravating when some of the later boss fights seem designed to be parried to succeed, which is not ideal. The game at least allows for a lowering of difficulty, and my stubborn desire to beat the game in my initial difficulty may have hampered the experience more in the homestretch than it should have.
But everything surrounding the gameplay...my God. The game made such a indelible impression on me with its aesthetic, its beautiful story, the quirks of the beautiful creatures called "The Rot". It's a game that could be beaten quickly and respect your time, yet I took my time with it, soaking this beautiful world for all I could. With this new generation of hardware, I feel more than photorealism, I want to see the consoles power be stretched more in this more cartoony/3D animation stylized direction, and "Kena: Bridge of Spirits" seems like the perfect example of how the new powerful hardware can be used in such visually evocative ways. It certainly stuck with me more than some of the more realistic fare this year, even with its imperfect gameplay.
2. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
Considering "Marvel's Avengers" was the last Marvel game that came out of this publisher, I surely wasn't having that high of expectations for "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" coming from Square Enix and Eidos Montreal. Even with the news that it was gonna be a strictly single player experience compared to the failed experiment that was a live service Avengers game (with a good campaign despite its missteps), I was expecting "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" to be a strictly solid game I would play, enjoy that I played it, and just move on to better games. What I wasn't expecting was for developer Eidos Montreal to deliver one of the very best, traditional "no frills" single player games that used to be my bread and butter from the classic days of Naughty Dog's "Uncharted", all while delivering on one hell of a story that's probably my favorite of the year.
"Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" manages to take the tone and visual inspiration of James Gunn's two Guardians movies, and with the added advantage of being a longer game where we spend more time with these characters, manages to outdo the amazing work Gunn did on two of the MCU's most important movies. If you thought you knew what made each member of the Guardians of the Galaxy tick, you've seen nothing yet with how this game manages to get deep into what makes each character who they are with surprising depth, without sacrificing the tone and crassness that defines these characters. Ironically, similar to "Kena: Bridge of Spirits", I'm shocked how much mileage this story gets from a theme of loss and grief, and the ways you cope with said feelings in order to come out on top a better person. All five guardians deal their own grieving, and how the game's script allows each character a chance for growth provides some seriously memorable moments.
While nothing too remarkable, the gameplay turns out to be one of the most surprising elements of the entire package. While initially limited and shallow (with your main character Peter Quill not doing enough damage to feel satisfying until later), once you unlock the full ability suite of all the Guardians, the way the game allows you to strategize and maximize how you chain the abilities of Rocket, Groot, Drax and Gamorra is just some stunning pandemonium. And if you get your Huddle's right (a special ultimate ability where Peter rallies everyone into battle), you may be blessed with a great song needle drop during combat that will give you a special feeling of nirvanna that sticks with you. I'll never forget getting a Huddle right in a crazy combat sequence and the perfection that it was hearing Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" in that particular section.
While the game is not perfect, with some of the pacing later in the game suffering from "Return of the King" syndrome where you feel the game's about to end and it just keeps going, and some slight progression bugs (Groot wouldn't create a bridge when I prompted him, causing me to reload a checkpoint once), it doesn't take away from just how downright enjoyable this game is. "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" reminds me of how important authored, linear experiences can still be in this gaming landscape that's constantly pursuing giant open worlds and endless games as a service. It's a throwback to design from two console generations ago, but absolutely shows how viable it is to have this kind of experience these days. What's old is new again, and I hope we get more of this again.
1. Hitman 3
This one came out of left field for me when tabulating what my favorite game of the year was.
The Top 4 games of this list are somewhat interchangeable for me in that at any given point, depending on the mood, each one could easily have taken the GOTY crown for me. "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart'" being a system showcase with technical bonafides and its excellent, comfort food gameplay could have made me give it the crown. "Kena: Bridge of Spirits" proving a first time game developer can make a videogame that's visually impactful, charming and with a touching story could have made me give the crown too. Or "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" absolutely surprising me after my initial low expectations with an impactful story and being a reminder of the power of the authored, "no frill" linear single player experiences. All three of these games are worthy winners in my book.
In the end, I went with the very first big game that came out in 2021 as my Game of the Year.
Simply put, in 2021, there is no game that nails its design intents with near perfection as "Hitman 3" does. As someone that is a massive stealth game fan that has seen how that genre has been mostly underserved over the past half decade outside some of the immersive sims we've gotten (like the one's from Arkane) and the abrupt end of “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” making that game an incomplete masterpiece, the Hitman "World of Assassination" Trilogy has been the kind of traditional stealth experience I have been craving as someone whose idea of the perfect stealth game is closer to classic "Splinter Cell". While 2016's "Hitman" and 2018's "Hitman 2" saw developer IO Interactive experiment with the formula and slowly inching it into its best self (with some maps being better than others), "Hitman 3" is the moment where their design goals and intents finally hit a high watermark that should prove defining to the stealth genre.
Simply put, maps like the massive Dubai building and the mystery Mansion provided me some of the most clever level design I experienced with a game this year. The level of creativity and possibilities in display with the collection of maps included in "Hitman 3" are a design marvel. It's the kind of expert design that makes the game so infinitely addicting and replayable. And with the addition of the "Hitman 1" and "Hitman 2" maps available all here with the new engine bells and whistles of playing it on a newer machine, and "Hitman 3" stands tall as a great collection of stealth gameplay for anyone looking for the best game of its kind currently in the market.
I want to believe developers will wake up and realize that the classic stealth genre has been one that's been so massively underserved, and anytime someone releases one, it will easily satisfy a high demand that's clearly there. I mean, Ubisoft is reviving "Splinter Cell" now sometime in the future as a remake, so that could be proof in the pudding. But until then, us stealth fans have to deal with the hands we're given, and I'm so happy that "Hitman 3" doesn't win by default just for being what's available, but by also being one of the best games from its respective genre.
In a year with the variety I got, I'm happy that "Hitman 3", the first game I played this year, was able to stand tall among the best of them. If you are a fan of stealth games with high replayabillity and expert design, I can't think of a better overall game that came out this year that nails all it attempted. As long as you exercise patience and embrace creativity and don't expect a game that's all about going guns blazing, you'll have a fantastic time with this one.
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For those curious, here are my pick for Honorable Mentions and Game of the Year for 2020
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