I played a lot of great games this past year, but most of them were not released in 2021. You’ll see that next to my 2021 ranking I put the overall ranking based on all games I played, and most of them go quite far down the list. Certainly I’ve been picking out lots of stuff I’ve missed over the last decade or more, so it’s hard for 2021 to compete. Of course, the other issue is that I didn’t play a lot of the year’s biggest games because I prefer to wait for a sale… or I just didn’t feel like it.

Therefore I also made a top 10 for everything I played, and it’s much more representative of my favourite gaming experiences of the year.

GOTY 2021

1. Returnal (4th out of all games played this year)

A AAA third-person shooter take on the roguelite genre. Was unsure about whether I'd enjoy yet another from this genre right now, but it went on sale and I really wanted a nice PS5 exclusive. Thankfully enough is fresh here to make the genre tropes enjoyable. Kinda reminds me of Nier Automata with its third person shooter bullet hell gameplay. Does a good job building a very strange universe and doling out interesting loot and upgrades to draw you into another run.

On the other hand, the articles criticizing the game for lacking a save and quit feature were absolutely right (this was eventually patched in, but it wasn’t for a while so these were my experiences). A good run can easily take 3 or 4 hours if you go far. And even if you can get shortcuts, obviously you want to scour each floor to get enough powerups to handle the later levels. Apparently you can put your console in rest mode as a workaround, but I never tried it as I didn't really trust it, and I usually give myself a lot of time to get through a run. Even if I have the time it can really drag, though. I already had this game hard crash my PS5 so I'm not that positive on using rest mode with it. It looks like they eventually added save and quit after I beat the game, so now is a great time to jump in.

Even when the marathon sessions dragged, I still felt compelled to give it another run each time because it's still a great game. Every run I made some good progress somehow, whether reaching a new level, getting crucial upgrades, beating a boss, getting a new weapon, learning something strange about the story and on and on.

2. The Ascent (7th of all games)

A cyberpunk ARPG dual-stick shooter that distinguishes itself with fantastic style and worldbuilding. Graphically, walking through the cities is a real Bladerunner-esque treat. The world definitely borrows much from established cyberpunk and sci-fi but puts enough of a twist that it's genuinely fascinating to learn about this bizarre alien techno dystopia, whether through lore text dumps or even through random conversations by strangers on the street. For me, this is what truly set it apart.

Then the action part is good too. It has a cover system that always feels a bit awkward, since you're not really sticking to cover per se. But the guns feel and sound great which goes some way to making it more fun. You end up unlocking some pretty crazy weapons that help in this regard. I wish it took a bit more from Diablo et al and used procedural loot, whereas you really just find one type of weapon and upgrade its damage. A lot of unlockable abilities also weren't too interesting. I would say the action is more than competent, but doesn't really reach the heights of a Diablo 2 or 3.

But that's ok because the world pushes this over the edge to make it a great experience.

3. Forza 5 (14th of all games)

Pretty much the same old forza horizon, but horizon is great. An absolute steal on gamepass. Disappointed with how many bugs were in at release, though. I foolishly got an ultimate edition upgrade because I thought this would have a longer runway for me, as it has in the past. Except once I finished the main game I promptly got bored. I still got the expansions for a reasonable price, but most of the extra goals weren’t interesting enough keep driving.

4. Hot Wheels Unleashed (19th of all games)

It's just pure fun that sparks joy in my inner 5 year old. The cars are cool and they look great. The racing is over the top with boosting and drifting on twisty, turny, loopy tracks. Going through the campaign was a blast.

After the campaign there are definitely some issues with holding my attention. I want to collect all the cars but you make so few coins in multiplayer, and you mainly get cars through blind boxes. Multiplayer is decent, but user tracks can be hit or miss, and AFK racers just collecting coins at the starting line was still a problem when I stopped playing. I'm usually not huge on multiplayer though, so I need the extra draw of better rewards.

5. HROT episode 1 (22nd overall)

Soviet Quake. The first episode was released in Early Access and it's great. Fantastic bleak atmosphere with good shooting and level design. Only took about 3 hours on normal, plus some endless mode. It is $20 so you'll have to wait to get full purchase value, but what's here is great. I'm not even really nostalgic for Quake, yet I still love Hrot's aesthetic and feel.

6. Axiom Verge 2 (31st overall)

A great metroidvania like the first one. I'm not a big a fan of the weird techno-Sumerian syle in this one compared to the first game, but it's unique and the worldbuilding and art are still great. I didn't even realize it was made by one guy which is incredible. I think that fact shows, however, in a bit of lack of polish in the level design. I got pretty stuck and had to use a guide to find an obscure area to advance the game. It's got some cool multi-world mechanics, but the other worlds never seemed very interesting. I got around 80% of items but didn't feel pushed to find the rest at the end. And since I didn't get 100% I suspect I didn't get a full ending, but what I did get was disappointing given such a large build-up in understanding the world. I also don't think the focus on melee combat worked very well, and it made for some awkward enemy and boss encounters that devolved into running at something and smashing the X button. This was an instant purchase for me and unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my own hype, but it's still a great game that's worth your time.

7. Twelve Minutes (36th overall)

Apparently this game is very polarizing, but I enjoyed it. Frustrating at points, and while the ending has received criticism I thought it was good, if a bit confusing at first. I liked the overhead adventure game concepts and trying to figure out all the interactions going on in one small space. It definitely helps that I played it on gamepass, though.

8. Jupiter Hell (40th overall)

Apparently this is like the Doom roguelike with a fresh coat of paint. I'm into the shooting and cover mechanics. Feels like a pretty fun update on old school roguelikes without the ASCII art. Didn't see a ton of variety in enemies and worlds. Normal seemed fairly easy since I got very far on the first few runs, which removed some of the mystery that roguelikes are often good at. But couldn't quite beat the final boss on the 3rd or 4th run. Didn’t quite hook me enough to give it another try after getting so close. It's got some slapping metal tunes and your player says some hilariously dumb shit, so that's entertaining.

9. Into the Pit (52nd overall)

Surprisingly good roguelike shooter for the first few hours, considering how derivative it is. The gameplay is extremely fast and there is no need to navigate long dungeon maps and backtrack, it simply lets you choose which rooms to go to directly and beams you back with your choice of new ability. The fact that it cuts out some of the more tedious aspects of a game like Ziggurat is the appeal here. It's enemy encounters don't tend to swarm you like that game either. I also really like it visually with the pixelized shader over top. I thought it was weird at first but adds a distinct look, since otherwise the graphics would probably look pretty boring. Unfortunately it was already starting to feel a bit flat after a few hours. New maps are fun, but it also wants you to "combine" different maps together, which just seems to mean mashing some old levels and enemies together. That gets boring, but that's why gamepass is so great. I will take a surprisingly good few hours for a "free" game, which is basically a couple good nights of fun.

It ended up feeling a tad short, even though it took me about 6 and a half hours. It's definitely pretty easy, especially on mouse and keyboard. That allows you to really blast through levels, and I didn't need to try all the level combinations to beat the game. I think I only died to one boss once from a weird pattern, and it even has an integrated death save mechanic. I think the difficulty could definitely be tuned upward, but it was still a fun experience.

10. Diablo 2 Resurrected (56th overall)

Diablo 2 with a new coat of paint, and that's about it. Which is maybe all it really could be, since it's such a classic that you couldn't really change much without upsetting the diehards. Played for a bit and enjoyed the graphical overhaul but fell off it. If I know something about diablo 2, it's that I will return and play more at some point. It is inevitable.

Biggest Disappointment: Sable

What a shame. This could be great when or if it gets some fixes (played at release, not sure about its current status). It's basically a chill exploration game heavily inspired by Breath of the Wild, but with a unique art style taken from comics. I was so ready for this at the time, and I did enjoy it for an hour or two. But for a chill game that's about taking in the landscapes, the performance is dog shit. It really ruins the aesthetic that roaming around on your jetbike is a janky, framey hitchfest. And yes, it seems to happen regardless of console or computer gear. Even if it ran better, riding the jetbike feels floaty, glitchy and bad for something that is supposed to be a major draw of the experience. On foot stuff indoors is a lot better, and if the whole thing ran that well I think it would do a lot. The other thing is that it had some ridiculous bugs in the menus. Apparently windowed full screen runs worse but I can't change the option because of this. Hilariously bad. I've also heard there are other common bugs in the game, so I decided to stop playing this for now.

The only consolation is that this is a gamepass game so I didn't spend extra money on it. I sincerely hope it gets some fixes and becomes what it can be, since it would probably be a good way up my list otherwise.

Likely GOTY Contenders I Didn’t Play

Deathloop

RE Village

Halo Infinite

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

Death’s Door (Just played this in 2022 and was way more underwhelming than expected, so no way)

Far Cry 6

GOTY: All games I played

1. Dragon Quest 11

A fun, colourful and beautiful JRPG that was... much longer than I expected. But its epic length ends up being well warranted. Characters and enemies have awesome designs by Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame. I honestly get a lot of enjoyment in seeing elements that remind me of certain characters and designs from DBZ. Of course, I think they're appealing even without that type of appreciation. Unfortunately the environments in general don't look as good, because this re-release is based on the Switch version. But that's okay because it's a good time, even if it seems very traditional for a JRPG. It helped that I haven't played one of those in a while. But really it just does all those traditional JRPG things extremely well with a high degree of polish and charm. It being so fun and colourful was a breath of fresh air for me, as someone who gravitates towards realistic and gritty games. Finally, for all the criticism the original soundtrack received, this orchestral version is fantastic, even if the overworld music is repetitive. Every time I loaded up the game I had to listen to the entire title screen music track for how awesome it is, and the rest follows in that path.

2. Dying Light

It's an incredible open world fps zombie parkour survival game... any more terms needed? This is from 2015 but it holds up extremely well, other than some odd performance bottlenecks on PC. They were still supporting it up until this year, crazily enough. As many have said, the story can be a bit meh but it's just such a well realized city, and the parkour and combat mechanics are so fun that just running around the city is a good time. Even the DLC is fantastic, moving to a rural area with a great buggy to drive.

3. Unity of Command 2

This is very similar to the first one - an elegant wargame that distills the challenges of weather, supply and sharp timetables into an accessible framework, while straddling the line between puzzle and simulation. It also improves on almost every aspect of the first one, with more depth, a better difficulty curve, and more cool alternate history scenarios. I spent 80 hours going through the campaign and took the trouble of getting a gold medal in every scenario, and I loved doing it.

For anyone new to the wargame genre I might recommend trying the first one, though, since that one's a bit less complicated. I found this one could get a bit cumbersome because they introduce different command posts for different national armies, which might be a bit too much for a first timer. But as it is, it's a great ramp up from the first one.

4. Returnal

5. Days Gone

I saw some criticism about this being a mediocre open world game, but I think it's great so far. Surprisingly good story and characters. Still haven’t finished it, though.

6. Running with Rifles

A top down shooter with a pretty high difficulty curve, I really loved this game for about 30 hours, so it was well worth the admission. It was that type of addiction where I could scarcely stop thinking about how awesome it was when I wasn't playing it. You play as one soldier in an army and gradually develop more tactical decisions as you level up, but death comes quickly. Fast respawns help you get the hang of it, and the AI on both sides really help make battles fun and get you to make interesting tactical decisions.

Yet I really expected to keep loving it longer, especially with two WW2 campaigns. Unfortunately my interest fell steeply when my attempt at the WW2 Pacific campaign ran into some pretty frustrating balance issues. And every campaign playthrough happens on the same maps, with some variation in spawns, but not enough to get me playing through fully another time. Maybe I'll return, but I thought this game would have a longer runway for me.

It feels like a similar issue with Brigador, where the game's core combat and mechanics are really amazing and addictive, yet the lack of more maps and modes, or some sort of interesting variations, make the game wear out faster than it could. Obviously 30 hours of fun is great value, but with some more good content I could see myself enjoying so much more time with it. Perhaps I will attempt some of the WW2 content again sometime.

7. The Ascent

8. Ion Fury

This basically perfected what Duke Nukem achieved with the Build Engine and it was a joy to play. Love the concept of making a modern game in a super old engine, and this shows how well it can work.

9. Supraland

Fun fps "metroidvania" with lots of puzzles. I put that in quotes because I don't know if this really qualifies, but whatever, it a 1st person exploration/ puzzle game with some areas gated by abilities. It's got some light combat but it's only barely serviceable and not really the draw. The exploration and puzzle elements are good to great. It's very impressive that basically one person made it. It all takes place in a literal sandbox so it's got that cool Levelord-style charm and doesn't take itself too seriously. Sometimes to a fault, but whatever. There's lots of good value here in terms of a money to time ratio, if you care about that. DLC is alright too.

10. Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour Anniversary

Never played through the whole thing before, but the gameplay and level design holds very up well, much like Doom. Actually, the Build Engine was so impressive to me in comparison to Doom and its ilk that I decided to play all the other big games made with it. I like the straightforward old school shooting and fake 3d environments (pre-Quake), but also the Build graphics were good enough that they could design recognizable urban environments and not just the weird abstract environments of Doom et al. Anyway, this release also includes a nifty feature that allows rewinding time after death. It also has new levels, including one at a weed dispensary, because of course it does.

Honourable Mentions: Biggest Periodic Obsessions

1. Doom, Doom 2, and mods with GZDoom

Specifically I started playing a standalone mod released in 2021, Ashes 2063. It's sick. Makes the doom engine look more like the build engine, and reminds of Ion Fury. Fantastic shooting and level design, and surprisingly good hub levels and npcs, if you can believe it. Gives me a bit of half life feel in how you progress with your motorcycle. Episode 2 was even more elaborate and challenges what you think is possible in a Doom mod.

After that started playin’ good ol’ doom 2, bad levels and all, then continued to go down the Doom mod rabbit hole: the "way id did" series, UAC Ultra, Deathless, Base Ganymede, Vanguard, BTSX and more. After spending practically a month straight only playing Doom, I might be a bit burnt out, but it was a cool experience! Doom is probably going to be part of my usual rotation of games for a long time, simply because it’s so easy and convenient to find and load up anything between a map or a megawad (15+ levels), it’s always a straightforward goodtime shootfest, and there’s almost 30 years of fan made content. The Doom modding scene is one of those great past-times that is making me glad to have gotten into PC gaming again in the last few years.

2. Topps Skate

It's just a stupid digital hockey card trading app, and yet it single handedly got me back into watching hockey. During the playoffs it was practically the only "game" I was playing. The daily fantasy contests use cards and ended up being a fun way to learn about each team and follow the games, especially in the playoffs. And while I thought digital cards were a pretty dumb concept verging on a scam, I found that it actually has a lot of advantages over physical cards in terms of the aforementioned contests, free to cheap entry prices (especially compared to current highly inflated physical card prices), new daily cards and weekly sets and having lots of people to trade with at all times. Also, apparently these can hold some value on ebay if you really want to sell them, though I'm not doing it for that. It also wouldn't be long term considering these aren't NFTs (yet...) and live as long as the app. But really, I just enjoy collecting cards and finishing sets. It's not like I would get anything of lasting value if I spent the same minimal budget on physical cards, that's for sure. The daily missions, collecting and trading ending up having an appeal kind of like an idle game, or at least what idle games seem to be since I don't play those. But it's just the satisfaction of continual accumulation.

Despite the fact that I eventually fell off the game, it was surprisingly enjoyable during my time with it. I still appreciate it for helping to get me back into hockey again.

3. Build Engine Games

Like I mentioned with Duke Nukem, it was so good I played the Big 4 Build games. Except it should really be the Big 3 because Redneck Rampage is fucking terrible. Blood and Shadow Warrior are still sick, though.

And that does it for my ginoromous GOTY list. It was a good year for gaming, even if you were just playing your backlog or even dipping into the 90’s to revisit some classics. Here’s to a 2022 where I can get started on all the 2021 gems I missed! And the cycle continues…