My fifteen favorite games of 2021
In a lot of ways, 2021 felt like an extension of 2020, didn’t it? You can re-read last year’s intro to get a pretty good sense of what I would say here as well; no need to dwell on the seemingly never-ending year that was 2020: Part Two. Despite that feeling, this was an even stronger year for games despite starting out a bit light in terms of new releases.
I played a lot of games I loved, a good number I felt were decent to good, and only a very small handful that either disappointed me or I outright disliked. With a larger number of games making a stronger impression on me than usual, it made putting together this year’s list pretty difficult. Then it dawned on me: The order matters only as much as I think it should. So consider this a rough outline of a list that I shuffled around so much it became meaningless. Well, except my top spot, that one is special.
As usual, here are a few games that didn’t make the final cut because I didn’t want to go past the arbitrary cutoff I decided for this year. Still, all games worth checking out if you missed them this year!
Axiom Verge 2 — A stronger, more inventive game than the original in just about every way. Sometimes frustrating, but never dull.
Emily is Away < 3 — I have never had a Facebook account and likely never will, but this game still managed to make me nostalgic for the early days of Facebook by expanding on the ideas of what made the first two games so memorable.
Tales of Arise — If you told me that one day I would put a Tales game in my honorable mentions, well, I’d laugh and then ask how Bandai Namco managed to pull it off. Turns out, this series is still capable of being pleasantly surprising from time to time. Easily my favorite game in the series.
Unpacking — Tells a lovely story through its simple and charming mechanics. Not the best narrative I’ve seen this year, but one that best exemplifies the strengths of video games as a storytelling medium.
Halo Infinite — Halo’s great again, hooray! I couldn’t get enough of Infinite’s open world and I’m still having a blast with the multiplayer. Best in the series since Reach and might just overtake the original as my new favorite.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy — I wrote this game off almost completely thanks to the obnoxious marketing and just how underwhelming the last Square Enix published Marvel game was, but this was such a pleasant surprise. The story here is so good that it makes up for the sometimes underwhelming combat.
Overboard! — In a year full of time loop games, Overboard! may not be the flashiest or even the best, but it still managed to stand out thanks to its brilliant premise and ability to incentivize getting as many endings as possible.
Steel Assault — One of the best throwback action-platformers I’ve played in quite some time. One of the few games I backed on Kickstarter that actually delivered an experience better than I originally expected.
Olija — Gorgeous visuals and a sparsely told, yet still effective story makes Ojila one of the rare games from the beginning of the year (January, if you can believe it) that managed to stick with me.
Toem and New Pokemon Snap — Two very different games with very different takes on photography, but both were very pleasant. I finished both pretty quickly and found myself going back to them well after the credits rolled, which is rare for me these days.
And a super special shout out to Disco Elysium: The Final Cut for getting me to finally play Disco Elysium. It’s not only one of the best written games I have ever played, it would easily top this list if it wasn’t just an updated version of a game from two years ago. Also Paradise Killer, which I played in January of this year and probably would have made my top three of 2020 if I just started it a little sooner. Not typically a fan of visual novels, but Paradise Killer’s characters and central mystery had me hooked right from the start.
Now let’s get into the list proper!
The way people discussed The Outer Wilds, a game I desperately wanted to like but couldn’t get into, is probably similar to how I feel about The Forgotten City. The big differences is how narrative-driven it is as well as being a bit more guided, but not so much so that it feels like it’s holding your hand. Going around this world, getting to know the various characters and their daily schedule, and learning how to make the most of the small amount of time I have before the day resets never got old. It brought me back to my younger self, spending time with games like Majora’s Mask and even Brave Fencer Musashi; they both dabbled in similar systems but they admittedly weren’t the main focus. The Forgotten City primarily focused on those mechanics above all else, and as a result it scratched an itch that few time loop games have and is one of the best adventure games I’ve played in quite some time.
Another masterclass in storytelling from Kan Gao as the third main entry in the To the Moon series, Impostor Factory absolutely destroyed me in the sort of way only Freebird Games knows how. It’s the kind of game that almost works as an entry point into this series as the majority of the story is disconnected from To the Moon and Finding Paradise, but if you’ve been following this series from the beginning, the final moments will have an even greater impact. It’s weirder (and at times sillier) than the previous games and I’ll admit it didn’t leave as long lasting an impression as To the Moon or Finding Paradise, but I can’t deny I still found myself loving this as a whole.
I was a huge fan of Acid Nerve’s previous game, Titan Souls, and was thrilled when Death’s Door came out because I honestly didn’t even know about it until about a month before its release. Talk about a pleasant surprise! Death’s Door is not only an excellent follow up to that team’s first game (with clever ties to that original game if you get the true ending), it’s a brilliant action-adventure game with one of the coolest worlds I’ve explored all year. On top of that, it’s mechanically excellent, with plenty of challenging encounters, inventive boss fights, and secrets to discover. I really wish the game had a map because it did kill some of my desire to collect more by the end, but I still loved my time with this one.
This choice isn’t shocking to anyone who knows me even a little. The latest entry in what might be my favorite JRPG franchise of all time didn’t disappoint, expanding on the core themes, aesthetics, and world building from my personal favorite entry in the series, Nocturne. I loved just how much bigger Shin Megami Tensei V’s scope was compared to previous games, with gigantic environments to explore with plenty to discover. It’s not the most groundbreaking game I’ve played this year, but it’s not often we get a new mainline entry in the SMT series so I cherished my time with this one. I just hope it doesn’t take another five years to get #6.
Speaking strictly in terms of gameplay, I think Deathloop is Arkane’s finest work to date. Once I got a handle on what’s expected of you and how you are meant to make progress, I was completely hooked, unable to stop thinking about it whenever I put the controller down. It would be higher on my list if I felt the narrative, outside of great character moments, delivered on its initial promise or didn’t fumble the final moments completely. Despite that, I still felt myself drawn to this world and eager to explore as much of it as possible. I couldn’t get enough of Deathloop while I was playing it and really hope to see Arkane explore these ideas even more in the future.
I was admittedly hesitantly excited about Metroid Dread. While I applaud Mercury Steam for remaking Metroid 2 into something I found way more enjoyable than the original, I can’t say it gave me confidence that team could deliver a brand new 2D Metroid experience that would live up to the series’ legacy. Consider me surprised that Dread is not only excellent, it’s probably my second favorite game in the series. It’s hard to put into words, but it just feels good, you know? It captures that same feeling I had playing Super Metroid way back when and manages to do so without stumbling. The boss battles in particular probably standout as the best in the series.
I do wish the game had more control customization and accessibility options because there are so many people who deserve to play this and can’t for various reasons, but outside of that I can’t really think of anything I had issues with. This is a great return to form for a series that was dormant for far too long.
What I love the most about the Life is Strange games is the cast of characters, and in that regard True Colors is my new favorite in the series. While the overall narrative isn’t as hard-hitting as Life is Strange 2, especially as it goes off the rails a bit during the last chapter, it’s Alex Chen, the protagonist, who makes it all worthwhile. Alex is a wonderfully written character whose relationship with the characters she meets throughout True Colors’ story is what won me over completely. Erika Mori, the actress who plays Alex, did an amazing job with her performance.
I loved watching her open up to the central cast, learning more about each of them slowly as time progressed and watching as those relationships developed. Also, as someone who is a sucker for a good romance, I’ll admit I couldn’t get enough of Alex’ dynamic with Steph especially. This is a game that made me absolutely giddy during its ten hour playtime and when it finally ended, I found myself desperately wanting more of this story and these characters. Despite its narrative shortcomings, I really loved this experience and hope we see the series continue for many years to come.
The original Psychonauts is a great game that was so close to being a fantastic one. Psychonauts 2, on the other hand, is a fantastic game from start to finish. The gameplay is refined and feels as good as some of the best 3D platformers I’ve ever played, the level design is brilliant and varied, it’s visually gorgeous, has an incredible soundtrack, and the larger than expected hub world was a lot of fun to explore. The thing about Psychonauts 2 that stood out to me the most though? The story and characters. Despite its playful aesthetics, Psychonauts 2 is a game about trauma, one I think that handles the subject matter better than most like it.
The way the narrative unfolds, with Raz attempting to help each character deal with the mistakes of their pasts and the emotional turmoil tied with those moments, is something I was not expecting. I was genuinely shocked at how deep these personal stories go and how so many of them resonated with me. This is not only a masterpiece, it’s easily Double Fine’s best game to date.
IO Interative’s 2016 “reboot” of the Hitman series really catapulted a series I once considered one with a relatively small following onto a lot of people’s radars and it only continued to grow in popularity with each new game. Hitman 3 feels like a culmination of everything that came before refined into near-perfect stealth gameplay plus a handful of creative new ideas that really help this entry standout from the rest of the series. Two of the maps in this game are easily the best in the series and the rest are strong as well (even the final train level, which was frustrating at first until I realized the brilliant simplicity of it). I don’t have too much to say about Hitman that I haven’t already said in previous lists, but this easily ties with Blood Money as my new favorite in the series.
I first played the demo for Eastward at the end of 2019 and it’s been on my mind ever since. The art style and character designs were striking and the gameplay felt like a unique take on a 2D Zelda, featuring two different characters to control each with their own abilities. The final game not only delivers on the promise from that demo, it honestly surprised me with how much I loved it by the end. Once again, the real triumph here is the story and characters.
While it can be a little wordy at times, I loved the story overall. I found one of the lead characters, Sam, unbelievably adorable and the world that she inhabits one of the best examples of a truly lived-in space I’ve seen in a game all year. There is so much rich history in the environments you explore and the characters have so much depth to them you could honestly create several spin-offs from this story alone. It’s not overwhelming, but they give you just enough to keep you engaged from start to finish. The more I played this, the more I realized I was experiencing something special that I wouldn’t soon forget. Oh, and the soundtrack is incredible, give it a listen sometime!
My list is full of a lot of new entries in franchises I adore and Ratchet & Clank is the one I’ve been a fan of the longest. I’m so happy that Rift Apart is not only fantastic, it might just be my new favorite game in the series (or at least closely tied with A Crack in Time). It’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve played all year, controls like a dream, finds some new ways to mix up the familiar gameplay loop of the series, and opens things up with some areas that make exploration a blast. The new characters, Rivet and Kit, are welcome additions and they feel like they’ve been part of the series from the beginning. I squeezed everything I could out of this game and had to stop myself from playing it all over again as soon as the credits rolled. That being said, a replay in 2022 seems inevitable.
This is probably the biggest surprise of the year for me. I didn’t love Hazelight’s previous game, A Way Out, despite having a lot of fun with it (and often making fun of just how ridiculous it is). On the other hand, It Takes Two is something special. More so than any other game I’ve played this year (or perhaps the last several), it features so many original, well-executed ideas I’ve never seen before in a 3D platformer, with each new area introducing a new mechanic that is just as fun as the last. It’s fairly long for a game of this type, but it never once got old and no one section overstayed its welcome. Definitely my favorite co-op experience in a long time and one I expect to go back to plenty in the future.
Forza Horizon is probably the series that I can always trust to bring me joy with each new entry. It’s like a comforting hug from an old friend. I know exactly what I’m going to get and am rarely surprised by much it has to offer, yet what Horizon 5 does, like the other games before it, is present a racing experience I just can’t get anywhere else. It’s a very chill experience for me and with each play session I lose hours before I realize just how much time has gone by. Maybe it says more about 2021 than Horizon 5 itself that is was very close to being my top choice for this year, but sometimes familiarity is enough.
I talked about Sable a lot on Twitter back in late September and what I said there still holds true today. I rarely find myself at a place where I can relax, so I often turn to games for a distraction from, well…everything. Most games are just that, a distraction. A welcome distraction, but once I wrap up playing I find myself back in the same place I was right beforehand. With Sable it was different. I found myself in a zen-like state for the first time in a long time, and even after I stopped playing, I was still at peace. Gliding around this gigantic desert, listening to the brilliant soundtrack and just losing myself in the experience. Even if I didn’t spend nearly as much time with it as I did with others on this list, it’s a game that will remain special to me for years to come.
Like Greg Lobanov’s previous game, Wandersong, Chicory is delightful from start to finish. It tells a story that is disarmingly cute at first, only to dig into some very heavy subject matter as it goes on. It doesn’t come out of left field though, it’s handled with a level of nuance I’ve come to expect from Lobanov and his team. It’s an imaginative world full of lovely, relatable characters and brimming with life thanks to another stellar score by Lena Raine. The central mechanic of coloring the world, essentially restoring the world’s color, works wonderfully even with a controller. Also, the game not judging your artistic abilities, allowing you to put in as much or little effort into every brushstroke, honestly made me feel somewhat talented even if I know deep down I’m not.
That’s not the only thing that stuck with me though. As mentioned above, there are some themes that are handled remarkably well and really spoke to me. The lead character (who I naturally named Pizza) and Chicory (the character the game is named after) deal with both depression and impostor syndrome throughout. This really hit really close to home for me, as someone who has really struggled creatively over the past few years. I rarely write anymore. It’s something I used to have a lot of passion for from a young age, but I find it harder and harder to do so as time goes on.
I almost have to push myself to write this blog post about my favorite games, even if it’s relatively painless in the grand scheme of things. I often hate every sentence I write, and I spend just as much time re-writing and deleting my work than anything else. It’s a struggle I’m still working through and I push myself to do this every year as a means to hopefully spark something inside of me again. It hasn’t worked quite yet, but playing Chicory, exploring this beautiful world and getting to know the struggles the characters face has really given me hope that I can someday be inspired again to create. It may not happen tomorrow, or even next year, but I know I still have within me the desire to find that passion again. For that alone, Chicory will be a game that I’ll never forget.
