Just to expand on this a little in a personal context, since I've occasionally thought of writing something similar in response to Jeff's Halo review as someone who blogs far too much on here, that it's my take that the value of a written review has shifted moreso than dissipated in response to the current game industry.
Specifically, we're living in an era where we have a very prominent Indie sector producing a massive number of games per annum of a certain timelessness, chiefly in the sense that most are intentional throwbacks and/or don't prioritize state-of-the-art graphics (usually out of budgetary necessity) but instead distinctive art direction. Game design continues to evolve even within the Indie sector, the ongoing influx of Souls mechanics in explormers being one such example, but most Indies either fashion themselves on archaic, ageless templates and modernize from there or try something entirely new that eludes any attempts at imitation (say, a The Return of the Obra Dinn). When I started with the Indie reviews it was mostly to force myself to write something every week, but it occurred to me that if you could come across any Indie made in the last ten years and enjoy it as if it was freshly released that weekend, reviews of same would also endure. Perusing the vast directories of Steam or PSN or the Switch eShop, especially when the sales have reduced everything to peanuts, makes a review from a name you recognize that much more valuable.
Also, when the size of these games is such that it takes longer to produce a video on one than to actually complete it, it feels like the humble written rundown is a far more efficient way of getting your thoughts out there. (Streamers sidestep the production problem, but unless they regularly archive their streams on YouTube most of those impressions become lost to time.)
Honestly, I was intending to get around to all of these games eventually, so I'm gladdened to hear their soundtracks rip.
I won't be doing any GOTY awards this time (I've a lot to catch up on) but my answer to best music of 2021 is a semi-predictable one: Ys IX: Monstrum Nox.
[Reserving this reply to note any addition/removals I later make.]
Meanwhile, here's a breakdown of how much each year is represented:
2010: 4
2011: 3
2012: 10
2013: 6
2014: 8
2015: 14
2016: 16
2017: 17
2018: 10
2019: 12
2017 having the greatest representation isn't a surprise - it was a strong year, and I've been exploring it a lot recently - but that 2012 bump is surprising. It might've been the first truly strong year for Indies (Spelunky, Fez, Journey, Dust, Hotline Miami, etc.).
@arbitrarywater: This isn't too dissimilar to my obsession with Graces F last month, since there's a whole lot of content to wrangle if I want its platinum, but this is definitely hovering closer to a love/hate dichotomy. There are moments when I straight up despise this garbage-ass game, usually when I just got clipped from five feet away from an enemy animation that the game chose to register as a hit for reasons known only to the angels, but then I'll come across some hut in the middle of nowhere filled with valuables or level up and suddenly have the stats for some hot laser death delivery system that's been sitting in my inventory for half the game and I'm all giddy as heck.
Sometimes the core of a good RPG experience is getting your ass kicked repeatedly until you've worked hard enough to become the one that kicks the ass instead. It's satisfying in a way that is probably not healthy.
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