2021 Games
Games that I played, not just released, in 2021.
List items
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VGBC January game
In the height of Chicago winter, we played Control for Video Game Book Club, and it was a truly stellar experience all the way through. I have to be honest that I was a little wary of playing this game because there seemed to be some light horror/suspense elements (objectively light, mind you, but for me light = v scary), but I ended up feeling more of a sense of dread instead of horrified or spooked. In a good way, I think?
Anyway, what continually drew my attention to this game was its unapologetic and extremely consistent style. 60s/70s retro-future tech and midcentury modern office furniture, trippy, angular visuals in visions and alternate realities, and the slick UI with incredible depth in the notes/audio logs you acquire made every minute in Control fun to just *look* at. And on top of that, the gameplay is absolutely stellar! As I've told many people since playing it: Control is the best "superhero" game I've ever played, beating out the likes of Saints Row 4 and any Marvel game I've ever played by a country mile.
Control rips from start to finish. And I've hardly touched the DLC!
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Played on Xbox Game Pass - delightful, sad, and felt like I was playing through a Pixar movie
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VGBC February game
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>:( It hard
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Played more with my dad, who got into it for the first time. We tried some of the new modes. Turns out, still a great game.
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In February, I finished a nearly year-long campaign with two of my friends that we had played by correspondence.
We started another one, and I fully expect this one to take a few months minimum, given we do a full turn like once every few days on average.
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What an incredible thing this is! It's all the mechanical bits of D&D boiled down and essentially automated. I played this for 5 hours straight with a friend, which I almost never do anymore. It's got a great rhythm to it that I really enjoyed.
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VGBC March game
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VGBC April game
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I was on a small break from my normal routine of playing stuff on my Switch or PC and played a copy of Pokemon Omega Ruby that I was given from a friend a few years ago. I played and replayed Sapphire back in the day, but I've since lost that copy, so it wasfun to experience what things they added or changed to make it feel fresh. It wasn't really that fresh for a fan of the original, as it is still very much a Pokemon game, but some of the visuals were fun and it was great to see new art of character designs I'm real nostalgic for.
I also modified my experience in advance to better hold my attention as I anticipated that it wouldn't be so vastly different from the original: I fully randomized my team by randomly rolling for which starter pokemon, which pokemon capable of mega-evolving I could have, and then 4 other completely random pokemon. The rule being that I couldn't use any other pokemon in battle - I could use other pokemon, but only to progress in the overworld if necessary.
It ended up being a fun experience overall and I'm proud of myself for playing an older title to completion. I'm usually not very good at allowing myself to indulge in older titles, as I feel compelled (for no real reason) to play more current games.
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[Gamecube (but played on a Wii)]
My sister mentioned this entirely off-hand after seeing a LotR movie playing at her gym and we decided we needed to take some time to play it again, if only for a little bit. The combat is still pretty fun and it's got the full trappings of the LotR movies, so there's a lot to love.
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[PC]
I love this game so much. It's a near-perfect balance of mechanics that all play well together and can be traced back to great games like Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls, as well as having its own identity as an isometric ARPG. I love how much progress can be made when played in short bursts, which is basically the only way I play games these days.
The dialogue is so genuine and genuinely funny at times. These are the games I treasure most. The ones that make you feel like the people behind it are human and gave two poops about how people actually react/feel. Plus the music, art, and style of the game really make a complete package that I could recommend this game to almost anyone.
If you're somehow not convinced yet, it's also got a character named Pothead. How could it be a bad game with a character named Pothead, I ask you?
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