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freedo

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Best of 2021

I probably have more to say, but I blew my take reservoir with my Most Anticipated list. So this is just a list. Little blurbs here and there. Games were weird this year. Like last year, I spent most of my time playing backlog games (Prey is my actual GOTY, followed closely by FF XIII-2) and replaying old favorites (some of which may or may not have ended up on this list anyway because I am history's greatest monster). In terms of new releases, not much grabbed me and the few things that did sort of let go the more I thought about them. I love Metroid while playing it, but the more I thought about how many times a cave in blocked me from backtracking after gaining a new ability (you know, THE THING THAT METROID GAMES ARE SUPPOSED TO DO) or how cluttered the map was, the sheen was gone. That was my feeling on most of these games. Aside from Fantasian and maaaaaybe SMT V, the games I had the best time with were games I'd already played to death or games that came out a decade ago.

So yeah... here's my weird top 11 of a weird year.

List items

  • This was the year of Games Barely Meeting Expectations And That's All. So this game meeting expectations means it's the best game Double Fine's made. I was genuinely surprised by how well it stuck the landing and while it wasn't a revelatory experience, it was delightful. Sometimes, delightful is more than enough.

  • This was probably the biggest surprise of the year for me. Honestly, I might've liked it better the Psychonauts 2, but it's a dead heat. I finished before they patched in the mid-run save feature and I don't even feel bad about it.

  • Have yet to even close in on the end of Part 2, but I've been chipping away at this one all year and loving it.

  • Despite the fact that I kind of forgot this game came out this year, it was neck and neck with everything above for me. Honestly? It's a better Metroid game than Metroid Dread. Blasphemy, I know. And notice, I said "Metroid game" and not "metroidvania." The "vania" part doesn't matter. This game, much like the first one, simply *is* a Metroid game. That's what it's going for, with a profound twist or two in the formula for good measure. The thing that ranks it head and shoulders above the actual Metroid game that came out this year is pretty simple: level design. Dread will be one this list later because I have to be honest with myself, but I think the level design is a mess. When I think of Metroid, I think of a giant question mark of a world to explore and understand and by the time I come to the end, I look back and realize how elegant the it all was. The way every biom floats into other bioms in Super Metroid is, frankly, awe inspiring.

    Dread is too cluttered. Too many door slam shut behind you. Too many nooks were practically invisible when I zoomed out on the map screen. But here? This game just *gets* it. It knows exactly what made Super Metroid so special. It might be the best Metroid since Fusion.

  • What is a game? I don’t think this… thing asks that question so much as I asked that question when playing it. Whether it’s a game or not doesn’t really matter. It’s one of my favorite interactive experiences of the year, so here it is.

  • Kind of a cheat since it actually came out in 2019, but the Final Cut thing came out this year and I played it on PS5 and like a couple other games lower on the list that also got re-released, it might be one of my favorite games of all time? Believe the hype.

  • It's not Person 5 because Persona 5 is Persona 5 and this is Shin Megami Tensei V, see? It's a different video game.

  • + Bower's Fury to be specific. Yes, yes, another re-release. Look, a decent chunk of my favorite times with games this year weren't with games that came out this year. Hell, couple of them are games I played before. But, you know, it's my list so fuck it.

    There is a specific reason for this one's inclusion, though. Beyond it just being a fantastic game, both base and BF, it was also a game I played primarily co-op with my girlfriend. We're long distance, which has been a bit a blessing, but mostly a curse during this pandemic, so having something to do together other than watching Netflix shows over FaceTime was important and this was a big hit. Shit, she played it more than I did.

  • It's funny, this game and Metroid Dread were both my most anticipated games of the year, they met my expectations, and yet neither of them are even close to the games above them. Like, this is a pretty distant #5 from Disco. I really liked the game, is the thing. It's great. Solid intro to what Arkane can do. I just hope it's not a last hurrah for this kind of game because the studio head left to go make a start up and Redfall sounds like every other game on the market (and online, co-op, openworld looter shooter, you say? Does have cards and permadeath, too?!?!?). I'm going to repeat myself later with Metroid, but it's true here, too: even a mediocre Arkane game is better than most other games in a given year.

  • Honestly? It's a fine Metroid game. It's not as good as either Super of Fusion and anyone who says otherwise is suspect as far as I'm concerned, but here's the thing: even a mediocre Metroid is likely to be better than most games in a given year. I think over all, it's got so much going on, it's cluttered. There's a severe lack of elegance compared to Super and Fusion. From the abilities to the controls to even just the overall level and map design. It's just cluttered. But it's also fucking sick when you nail a counter and every new suit looks badass and the end when you SPOILER REDACTED, it's just fucking WOW. I know the Metroid timeline is all over the place, but I really hope Prime 4 actually reckons with what happens in this game.

  • This is a more egregious addition than Disco since not only did it come out in 2019, I played it to completion in 2019 and it was basically my game of the year than, too. But I simply can't deny that when the directors cut came out, I dropped basically every other game on I was playing at the time and plowed through it again. This second playthrough proved something to myself, though: regardless of how bad the last five-ish hours are (and BOY are they bad), this is one of my favorite games of all time. The only thing keeping me from putting it in the Number One spot is because I've already played the damned thing two years ago. Regardless, it was still one of the best times I had with a game this year.
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