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Best of 2021

Relevant platforms I have access to:

Android phone
Nintendo Switch
PC
PlayStation 4 Slim
Xbox Series S

Notable pre-released games and add-ons of 2021 I’ve played this year:

Grounded

Games that didn’t make the cut:

Back 4 Blood - Deck system breathes life into the formula but not for long.
Halo Infinite - Plays well but lacks in too many other departments.
Lake - Who knew being a postal worker would be boring.
Myst - It was nice to play through a remake of a historic game, except for that part with a piano.
Sable - Performance issues hampered the great visual style within.
Twelve Minutes - From the set dressing to revelations, nothing was believable.

Games I meant to get to but couldn’t:

Outriders - Actually seemed okay but I dropped off pretty quickly.

“Oversights”:

(PS5-only game) - I don’t have a PS5.
Deathloop - Waiting for it to hit Game Pass, pretty much.
Diablo II: Resurrected - In my never-ending journey to figure out why people like these types of games, I thought I’d finally go to the source but then its unruly company antics came to light and cut that journey short.
Hitman 3 - While I know I'll enjoy more Hitman, I can wait.
It Takes Two - No interest.
Life is Strange: True Colors - I’m glad to hear this seems to take place in one area, for the most part, since the last one was so disappointing in that regard.
Metroid Dread - I have many other Metroid games to play.
NieR Replicant - I only played up to a partial second playthrough of the original so from my knowing of the commitment needed to fully experience the story has put me off for now.
Resident Evil Village - Had my fill of Resident Evil by playing four of them this year.
Tales of Arise - Served as a reminder to dive into my backlog and play Tales of Symphonia instead.

List items

1. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

After playing through a majority of the game’s main story over mere weeks, seeing the latest expansion through in a matter of days was an exhausting yet thrilling experience. Actually getting into the game was a problem when login queues went up to nearly 6000 people waiting to get in during prime times, so sometimes it’d take hours to finally reach my turn, barring any random error popups. Once inside, however, everything was just peachy. Much of my expectations going in weren’t high considering the introduction of an antagonist’s destruction at any cost antics during the patch content leading up to the expansion but that soon resolved itself relatively quickly with even more questions and, eventually, satisfying answers.
It was surprising that what I thought would make up the prime meat of the story was basically tossed aside, and not in a way that completely undoes the importance and ramifications of these preliminary, and sometimes (stealthily) stressful, events, but to serve a greater purpose in once again expanding what you thought you already knew into fulfilling revelatory moments by way of even more origin stories. While I may sound a bit flippant on that last part, Endwalker really makes strides in resolving and embracing the machinations put forth by a living world that’s only been getting better and better since it’s re-release in 2013.
The many in-game recognitions of your player character’s altruistic head nods is all very smirk-worthy and somehow they made all of that relevant. Ultimately revealing your innate motivation for adventuring is a meta-move I can get behind even if it’s a bit silly. With one of the more questionable antagonists throughout much of the game’s lifespan, even within the much-deserved little screen time given this go-around, they made a massive impact and somehow made a forced rivalry into one for the ages thanks to a certain dialog choice. It’s bullshit, but I love it.
4/5
2. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve

Note: Entry for prequel is also on this list at #6.
Having two Ace Attorney games to play back-to-back so suddenly seems like a dream come true but it makes sense considering how many plot threads unfinished carry over from the first and thus ploddingly knotted in the sequel. There’s a lot, a ton really, of callbacks to a certain prosecutor’s nickname that I couldn’t help getting annoyed at just how much they wanted to remind me why they’re called that before we finally unravel the mystery behind it. Which, of course, is only part of the larger mystery that defines the final case of this off-shoot series.
Despite the series’ tendency to dole out information across games rather slowly, it’s not an altogether bad thing especially when so many characters are endearingly quirky. Some are even returning characters who’ve now gotten their shit together, or continued shit, after a time jump between the two games. The big difference from the mainline series is how focused their commitment to the throughline is, meaning less instances for filler and the like. However, at the same time, this two-parter felt rushed in a way I’m not sure how to describe. When the credits finally started rolling, the reason for their move to the UK felt like it only started and I wish we could’ve seen it through.
4/5
3. The Forgotten City

For what originally started out as a Skyrim mod, the DNA is obvious despite being built in a different engine. Primarily from the way NPCs move but it differs drastically with its small scope and laser focus. Repeatedly reliving the final day before the city is lost to time with the goal of stopping what causes it isn’t a new premise by any means, but the short journey is rife with clever revelations playing with histories and a name that carries a negative connotation today. Getting to the true ending is such a satisfying route to follow even if getting to it is a bit janky.
4/5
4. Psychonauts 2

Despite all the time I spent with the game, I never felt like the plot was struggling for distinctive locales or mindscapes to explore. Bar the one which wreaked havoc on my eyes through amped up visual effects, while effective and appropriate, I did not especially enjoy my multiple voluntary searches for well-camouflaged collectibles in the area. Regardless, each respective environment approaches mature subject matters like the many forms of depression can take and crippling self-doubt with grace and makes the game more than just another 3D platformer. In tandem, traversal and combat took some getting used to, but quickly became almost mindless affairs through the beautiful/twisted minds of the afflicted.
4/5
5. Lost Judgment

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but the main plot felt almost like one incredibly fleshed-out side quest that should've been only one cog in the machine. Following up the original Judgment’s series of grisly murders with Lost Judgment’s peek into school bullies and these bullies’ bullies made for a less intriguing, but still enjoyable, story overall. Perhaps to make up for it, there's greater emphasis on our protagonist's ideals on following the law opposed to doing the "right thing," which falls a little flat.
It may be Yagami's second major outing as a lawyer-turned-detective, but there’s still a lot of room to sculpt his view on doling out justice. While Yagami’s opposition does a great job making his stance on not trusting established systems that failed him in the first place, I have to admit I kind of agreed with him sometimes despite the endgame being outright murder. When push came to shove, our intrepid protagonist would always fall back to a singular viewpoint to better appeal to their human nature, to great success, of course. Maybe I wish Yagami was a little less perfect sometimes.
4/5
6. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures

Note: Entry for sequel is also on this list at #2.
For an offshoot, it’s not surprising the game is structured exactly how one expects any Ace Attorney game to be, until the open xenophobia comes into play. Almost immediately, Japan’s legal system butts heads with the western world when a casually racist foreigner is put on the stand, dismissing their proceedings as inferior. As an aside, finding out that one of the defendants was based on an actual person who went through so much hardship as a Japanese scholar in the United Kingdom during the turn of the 20th century made for some very interesting reading. Anyway, despite following the letter of the law, external forces dictated not only the final outcome of the debut trial but the general theme shrouding the games Great Ace Attorney.
Being the first to release in what eventually ends up as a duology, much of my complaints resoundingly vanished in the sequel. Loose ends tied up and all, albeit rushed, but still in a satisfying way that, of course, still makes me want more Ace Attorney. However, solving crimes with the one and only Herlock Sholmes felt like chores that went on for too long before realizing it was all for show much, much later at the cost of my patience. While showy, with great animations all around to match it, pointing out the obvious to correct the many wrongs in Sholmes’ deductions made his character grating to the point that his goofy antics still don’t really jive with me. Great, by the end, but it takes awhile to get there.
4/5
7. art of rally

Even within minimalistic aesthetics, the unforgiving nature of rally racing is still ever present. However, since the width of the track across courses never changes, figuring out how to tackle each turn is relatively easier, especially in a forced third-person perspective; the wide view above and behind the car made the absence of a co-driver felt when parts of the environment obstructed my view, despite the transparency solution that kicked in most of the time, it still didn’t catch everything.
What came as a welcome surprise was how every car felt markedly different from the last. While I’m familiar with the developer’s previous game, Absolute Drift, I was surprised at the lengths they went to make cars I’m overly familiar with in simulators like DiRT Rally to feel close enough so I could operate these rally cars with excess impunity. Even my tastes somehow carried over so cars based on European brands just didn’t jive with me while a very specific car from a Japanese brand felt just right. For such a simple package, it reinvigorated my love for virtual rally racing.
4/5
8. Unpacking

For such a simple and personal game, gamifying the moment when you can truly make a place your own made for a relaxing and surprisingly heartfelt experience. Unpacking the same items across years of moves unlocked personal memories long past of unboxing belongings and placing them frantically before moving onto the next. The game encourages much of the same, albeit without the physical heft, fortunately, though there are a few stand out roadblocks that reveal a bit more of the person whose items we have to manhandle. Her moments may not be one to one but I know that feel.
4/5
9. Forza Horizon 5

I don’t know how many different ways I’ve said this already but it’s a car-racing video game that happens to be better than the last one. Unlike the last entry, however, I got my fill rather quickly. I raced what I wanted to race, hit ramps I wanted to hit, sped into zones and traps, etc. It’s an even more honed and well-oiled machine at this point that changing locales or making it prettier doesn’t really grab me any more than it did last time, but, like I said, even less so this time around, despite Mexico’s more livelier portrayal compared to the UK’s. It’s not bad or magnificent, it’s simply continued greatness that has no match in the genre. I will probably get back to driving around again whenever the expansions are announced and play them, and that will be that.
4/5
10. Before Your Eyes

Personal lighting issues aside, the game’s gimmick garners sympathy through fleeting memories of a childhood eventually engulfed by forces outside of his control. There are a few scenes seen and unseen, which are eventually unveiled, of hushed conversations, conversations you weren’t supposed to hear or scenes so horrific, they’re pushed out of the mind to keep sanity stable and push forward. They aren’t memories one recalls when telling your life story to ingratiate toward someone, they’re tucked in either to be forgotten or parse through at the wrong time. For such an emotional game, it conjured up similar feelings of using helplessness to better oneself and others.
4/5