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rjayb89

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2018) has an odd charm to it thanks to the exceedingly unintelligible Captain Toad himself. 👍

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Best New Old Games of 2021

Eligible list items are games that:

  1. I enjoyed playing
  2. I’ve never played to the end before
  3. weren’t released within the current year
  4. aren’t a remastered version of a game I’ve played to the end before
  5. are completed or reach a satisfying state of completion within the current year

Note: In the case that multiple titles from one franchise are eligible, only one will be allowed to be on the main list.

Note II: There aren't ten games on the list because of Final Fantasy XIV.

2021 personal goals:

  1. Finish games from previous generations, seriously this time. 🤷
  2. Finish at least one Castlevania game and one Metroid game. Metroid/2
  3. Play through the rest of the Kingdom Hearts games. 🤷

2022 personal goals sneak peek:

  1. Play more games on PlayStations and Nintendos.
  2. Prioritize GOTY games from followed outlets.
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Honorable mentions:

  • BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! - NSW (2019)
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - PC (2017)
  • Lego City Undercover - XONE (2017)
  • The Longest Journey - PC (2000)*
  • Mortal Kombat 11 - PC (2019)
  • Star Wars: Squadrons - PC (2020)
  • Tetris Effect: Connected - PC (2019)

“Meh”ntions:

  • AI: The Somnium Files - PC (2019)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Remastered - PS4 (2020)
  • Child of Light - XONE (2014)
  • Dreamfall: The Longest Journey - XBOX (2006)*
  • Dreamfall Chapters - XONE (2017)
  • Far Cry 4 - PC (2014)
  • Fuser - PC (2020)
  • Jurassic World: Evolution - PC (2018)
  • Kameo: Elements of Power - X360 (2005)
  • Knack II - PS4 (2017)
  • Metroid - NES (1987)
  • Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge - X360 (2010)
  • Planet Coaster - PC (2016)
  • Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - XONE (2015)
  • Resident Evil 3 - PC (2020)
  • Resident Evil 7 - PC (2017)
  • River City Girls - PC (2019)
  • Singularity - PC (2010)
  • Slime Rancher - PC (2017)
  • SnowRunner - PC (2020)
  • Star Wars: Republic Commando - PC (2005)
  • Tales of Symphonia - PC (2016)
  • The Walking Dead - XONE (2014)
  • The Walking Dead: Season Two - XONE (2014)
  • The Walking Dead: Michonne - XONE (2016)
  • Ys I Chronicles+ - PC (2013)

Dishonorable mentions:

  • Beyond: Two Souls - PS4 (2015)
  • Lost Planet 3 - X360 (2013)
  • The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - XONE (2017)

* Entirely experienced through someone else’s recorded playthrough.

List items

  • Note: Played 2018 remaster Katamari Damacy Reroll

    This game revels in an unmatched level of novelty I’ve heard nothing but fondness for so after finally witnessing its special kind of absurdity myself, I can safely say I’ve never played anything quite like it. While I familiarized myself with Katamari-adjacent Noby Noby Boy long ago, in comparison, there was no authoritative figure to guide my hands, especially not one as garrulous as the King of All Cosmos. His role may be one of a parent subjecting their child to the creations of so-called stars, within them lies the heart of the game.

    Rolling into things to become bigger is the typical task given, simple enough and wouldn’t be as interesting hadn’t the environments been so chock-full of the inexplicable. Unlike other rather mindless eat-or-be-eaten types of games, Katamari isn’t set underwater where merely other fish are the only danger or snacks to be eaten, what fuels each level are assumedly tchotchkes that I’ve only seen in my Japanese animes. Despite a clock running down limiting my time in these, at first, massive worlds, they can eventually become but mere land masses for The Prince to roll into a star for all to see and I’m all for it.

    5/5

  • When I first started my playthrough a year before I finally got a relatively adequate controller (i.e. one with fewer issues), apprehensions fostered by certain gaming personalities regarding burdensome gameplay quirks like the stamina meter and weapon durability eventually became non-issues when I decided to tackle the game how I usually do with any other open-world game. Layer by layer, unpeeling open-world mainstays by climbing towers to unveil a portion of the map then visiting locations of interest while completing side quests created an easy breadcrumb trail for me to follow and feast upon within this monumental step for the franchise.

    However, having played many games of the open-world variety, the gameplay loop already felt too familiar, too well-trodden to feel anything more than impressed with a playground of such size but no other compares when up against the charm that’s rife in Breath of the Wild. Since this is only the fourth game of the franchise I’ve played to the end, it’s hard for me to say what elements have been well-established so the interactions between Link and the denizens of Hyrule felt lively and organic despite the post-apocalyptic reality that shrouds the mostly tranquil kingdom.

    With over seventy hours spent moseying around various expanses and mountains, exploration rewarded the curious by way of collectibles. Nothing new by a long shot but they encouraged keeping an eye out for something amiss or out of place and the realization is compelling enough to go out of the way for or mildly disappointing if something unusual was overthought. While my collective impressions aren’t altogether exuberant after experiencing what many believe is one of the best games ever made, there’s a lot more to it than listing, in general, what jogged my noggin. Although, whenever I was climbing and rain started pouring down, that was never fun and will never be fun.

    4/5

  • Related titles played: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - PC (2017)

    I’m not gonna pretend I understood half of the expository dialogue the game unloads regularly but I do know that Shadowbringers (ShB) went all-out nurturing a compassionate antagonist. Leading up to ShB, the base game up to the second expansion, Stormblood, their respective notable narratives concerned an isolated nation’s struggles and the liberation of lost city-states from an invading force. While engrossing, they weren’t as personal or revelatory as ShB’s in further developing these long-running characters and expanding the greater scope of the world.

    What stood out to me immediately was how the cutscenes actually felt crafted, from camera angles to music beats. An unusual thing to suddenly notice within largely MMO trappings, as if they are incapable of implementing techniques to better affect the player’s engagement, but FFXIV’s were effective nevertheless. During some of the more impactful encounters, I’ll admit to feeling overwhelmed because of the music swelling up at just the right moment. The through lines preceding these fateful encounters touching upon themes of belonging and self-identity led the journey into a bittersweet aftermath.

    4/5

  • Note: Remake of Resident Evil 2 (1998)

    Related titles played: Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - XONE (2015), Resident Evil 7 - PC (2017), Resident Evil 3 - PC (2020)

    One of my earliest gaming memories is watching my cousin play through the original version of Resident Evil 2 in the night of my childhood bedroom, on a CRT TV that would soon after flicker into disrepair, while huddled in my blanket. It’s a memory long forgotten until after my own playthrough with the remake, which obviously isn’t one to one but reminded me how little these late nights affected my current gaming tastes. No fondness or reverence for the genre, perhaps knowing that a game was considered “scary” was enough for me to swiftly disregard them.

    However, for a few years now, my time with “scary” games has been mostly seasonal, an almost obligational affair, during the month of October. Planning ahead according to a theme helped chip away backlogs of games, movies, books, whatever without missing a beat to choice paralysis. This year, I made a huge dent in my Resident Evil backlog, in which Resident Evil 2’s remake (RE2) blends together horror, action, and exploration astonishingly well and now I think I finally understand why the series is so beloved, warts and all.

    While RE2 doesn’t solve the one of many weaknesses of the genre, namely having either too much action or stealth, it straddles the line and makes up for it with intensity materialized through a completely avoidable unkillable machine. Even though I didn’t have any notable encounters, the fear of making a noise was ever present, and I didn’t even have to hide behind a desk or in a locker. So spending my time scrounging through a museum-turned-police station became an almost obsessive pastime, yet anxiety-inducing, but that couldn’t’ve happened without the ever-informational in-game map.

    4/5

  • Aside from some incredibly catchy music, I didn’t know what else to expect from a game that became a cult hit overnight. Jumping into games with these glowing reputations, ripe with likely annoying fanbases, worrying whether or not my feelings will align with them is a common apprehension when heightened expectations are in play. Thus, it didn't take long for me to sympathize with a handful of characters and their own misgivings so I felt right at home.

    For posterity’s sake, I committed to only the pacifist route as figuring out how not to resort to violent means made for a more fulfilling experience. My history with similar games that allow a less confrontational approach is a short list, with Shin Megami Tensei, but much of those encounters were left to chance and deceit while Undertale’s encourages a trial and error approach with endearing results, even in failure. There were a few tough encounters, with one a bit too metanarrative for my tastes, but they serve their purpose against pacifism well.

    4/5

  • For a franchise I’m rather indifferent toward, even I know there’s no denying the aura lightsabers impose is unmatched. Somehow, wielding one seems like such a huge responsibility that requires an elegance and innate talent one needs to nurture or be born with, but, really, they’re just incredibly hot swords. My ongoing disappointment with what shouldn’t make lightsabers seem so limp a weapon in modern portrayals is on full display in this game by requiring multiple (what should be) fatal slashes to kill fleshy enemies. Honestly, one cut should be enough to disable and send them running but, of course, that’s too much to expect. Hanging bits of flesh and dismembered berserkers disregarding whatever handicap is likely something I shouldn’t hope for when Disney is in control of all things Star Wars.

    General gripe aside, the narrative doesn’t start off interesting nor does it go anywhere surprising for the longest time until a much-needed wrench is finally thrown in. Saving children from the horrors inhabitants of the ship Stinger Mantis suffered is an admirable aim but the consequences and efforts needed to not let them happen again were impossible to achieve let alone imagine considering the Empire’s strength after having just ordered a large number 66. Overheard conversations that pictured ideal scenarios left me in a constant state of disbelief should they follow through so when they were finally questioned and dealt with in the most appropriate way possible in the end, all that effort was thankfully for naught and I respect it.

    4/5

  • For a sequel, the similarities between VI and its predecessor were surprising in that they seemed almost identical at first, right down to the user interface which just so happens to look very similar to a heavily recommended mod of the former. In many ways, the newest entry hones and, at the same time, expands upon the machinations put forward by V as if V itself was simply the base game while VI was the solution in response to any and all shortcomings but in an entirely new package. Aside from the stylistic character models, preferable to stifle any discourse of “aging” graphics and such hullabaloo, I couldn’t be more ecstatic to have Civilization be in my rotation of games to play once again.

    (2021/12/31 update: Only one game was played)

    4/5

  • Related titles played: Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge - X360 (2010)

    Despite my own shortcomings by approaching the game with a guide in hand, I can safely attest that the art and humor hold up, and the music was catchy. Realizing this was released in 1997 was a surprise considering there were no egregious references made I was confused or appalled by, unless they flew right over my head, of course. Dilly-dallying my way through an adventure game’s logic was never any fun but it was always the conversations had with such an eclectic cast of characters that made these worlds so fun to be in. Otherwise, puzzles like the one requiring you to sunburn someone’s back to attain a map, while funny, in its own twisted way, why would I want to do that.

    4/5

  • Forget Myst (2021), now this is a real puzzle game.

    4/5
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