Ranked, Played Games of 2021
Keeping a ranked list of the games that came out in 2021 that I played in order to have a GOTY ranking ready to go at the end of the year.
List items
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Wow! This was basically everything I could hope for. Distinct sections of the world. Different bosses. Fun puzzles. I loved this so much, I got the platinum on both PS5 & PS4.
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Square Enix needs to hire a new marketing firm. They did a 20+ minute presentation on this game, and it looked so... freaking... boring. Mad props to my friend, artist Skititlez for pushing me to pick this up on Black Friday. It's fantastic. Halfway through the first chapter, I was fully hooked. This game makes you care about the characters, and it is also hilarious. I do not know how Square messed up advertising this.
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It looks really nice and runs really smooth. Obviously great just for having ME1 (2 & 3 are pretty good as well). Including this for 2021 purposes, but not for the decade due to this being a remaster and not a remake.
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Wow, these games are so much more fun to play on a tv than on a handheld. These are some fun Castlevania titles and getting four games for $20, there's not much more that will give you a better hours of fun to dollars spent ratio (except holding out for a sale).
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This the best of the Anthology so far. A compelling story, choices that feel like they matter, QTEs that failing is the best option. The main downfall of this game is Ashley Tisdale. She's awful. There is a moment where people act really dumb as well, but this was great. I may actually replay it.
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This game is a lot of fun. Does involve a stalker scenario, but it gives me a perspective I never had before. I have never enjoyed using daggers in games before, but the dagger here was great. The scythe was OP and great to use. I do wish there were more clear options about just being friends with some of the characters.
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Specifically, the Intergrade/Yuffie DLC. This was a lot of fun, and Yuffie was a great character to play with. Being able to be melee and range in the same battle was fantastic. Her elemental ninjitsu also made the game a lot of fun. I actually enjoyed Fort Condor (I would always do the bare minimum in the originally FF7).
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This is actually Bowser's Fury, as it was a new game in 2021. I played this game co-op with my wife (she was Mario, I was Bowser Jr.). It was a lot of fun! I'm not sure if I want Mario games to always be like this, been I have really enjoyed the co-op options of this and Odyssey. More clever and fun co-op in Mario games is hugely desired.
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I feel like Metroid Dread is a handful of tweaks/changes away from being spectacular. I think it falls short in a few categories. Overall, I enjoyed a good deal of the experience. Some of the boss fights were fun, some were just annoying. Some of the powers were cool, and some were just ok. I ended up finishing the game according to the in-game clock around 8.5 hours with 47% of items, but my Switch says I had the game open for 15 hours or more. I was ready to be done with the game maybe an hour or two before I finished it.
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I had fun with this game, but it's definitely at it's best when it's being weird and during boss fights. It's been awhile since I played the first two games, but I do remember having to do mini games to earn enough money to fight the boss. Getting to just do fights against random enemies is a nice upgrade. I thought the #1 ranked boss fight's second stage was weirdly boring. There was a lot of fun and clever design up until that point, but then it went off the rails. The final boss redeemed things though.
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This was a fun, puzzle game. Just the right length.
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This is specifically the pixel remaster. I had never played this Final Fantasy before. I have not finished it yet, but it has been quite fun. It removes something called "job sickness" where you suffer a penalty when you change jobs. I can't imagine playing this game where you're penalized for playing around with the job system.
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This is specifically about the remaster. The graphics are gorgeous on PS5. The combat is easily the weakest point of this game, but I found the story very compelling. I had forgotten the story from when I played it in 2010. The DLC actually makes the combat more fun by introducing floating words that you bring into existence by shining light on them. This can be positives like weapons, ammo, light & explosives or negatives like more enemies.
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This was cute. Sometimes I didn't understand what an item was or why it had to be moved. Fun overall.
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Fun, but after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate set the bar, I hoped this would have more characters, boards and games. They could still add them as DLC.
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This was cute and fun. It only a couple hours long, but that is just fine. It stayed the right amount of time and had some fun variety.
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I never thought I would enjoy a MOBA, but this is fun. It helps that matches are relatively short. Some times it's frustrating not understanding why you're being dominated or why you are dominating. I enjoyed my time overall.
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Ran this as a Nuzlocke, and I was bored almost the entire time. The final fight got really exciting and intense, but otherwise it was just kind of bland. I understand that this is a franchise that they want to include as many people as possible, but I wish they would include a challenge mode. They did in Black & White 2, but only after you beat the game, and then I think you had to transfer the ability to another game to do so.
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This was an interesting take on Snake that turned it into a rogue-like autobattler. Shout out to Brett of Skeleton House podcast for turning me on to this.
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After about four hours, I fell off of this game. It was an interesting art style, but I just got bored of it.
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It's been fun to play with my wife. We have not finished it, and I'm not sure if we will. The story is kind of bland, and I find myself really not liking the playable characters.
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The story is ok, and the gameplay is straightforward. However, there's nothing like the feeling of shredding your guitar will sliding down a slope. This, the art, and the music have kept me playing a game I would normally have put down within the first 30 minutes.
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This game wants to be Left 4 Dead. It's made by the same company that made Left 4 Dead. It's an Edgar game. It's wearing Left 4 Dead's skin, but it's not Left 4 Dead and is just really boring. Additionally, nothing counts unless you play online.
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Oofta. Returnal looked like it would be a lot of fun, but it's so limiting. This is a rouge-like game for sure, and I honestly think that holds it back. On my second run, I made it through the first two bosses. This opened up a shortcut to jump to the third world. Unfortunately, jumping to the third world puts you at a severe health handicap. You effectively need to grind out health upgrades every time you die to really stand a chance. After repeatedly feeling like the main reason I was dying, was because I couldn't take enough hits, I had to abandon this game. I am curious about the story, but it's not worth the effort this game asks you to put in. You receive a weapon boost when you shortcut to a world you've been to. Either giving you a health boost as well, having you spend Ether to buy a permanent health upgrade, or implementing Hades's optional God Mode (where every time you die, your defense increases) would all be things that give this game more breadth. One could argue that is not what the game is going for, but for single player games in today's world, more options for accessibility should be encouraged.
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The first few loops, I was really interested in this game. After that, it went a place that it did not earn at all.
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Oof. What a let down. Only a few of the guns are any fun. I like that when you buy one weapon, both characters get it, but they should have played a little differently. There's a lot of empty space on the map. Places that the map acts like you should go, but have nothing. Crashed my PS5 over 10 times. It has Invisible walls for no reason. The humor is awful. This is like going to your 20 year high school reunion, and the quarterback is wearing his letterman jacket, reliving the "glory days."
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I wanted to have fun with this, but playing the free trial on Game Pass got me to cancel my pre-order. No campaign and the online was just annoying.
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