Top 7 games of 2021

I feel like the list of games on my GOTY list shrinks each year, and this year I had to do some digging to find anything past the first two. I won't be surprised if next years list is just Elden Ring.

Late edit to add Final Fantasy V ><

Honourable Mention to Oddworld: Soulstorm. It's fucking terrible but I love Oddworld so it gets a mention. Despite it being a steaming pile of pointless garbage.

Far Cry 6: not super far in but this game seems real good. The sheer scale of the world alone is mind boggling. Looking forward to exploring it while causing some mayhem.

List items

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  1. Forza Horizon 5

  The first Forza Horizon was an amazing experience I had forgotten all about. Forza Horizon 2 was too little, too soon to really hook me and between that and me moving over to the PC, I took a little break from the series.

  And thus, Forza Horizon 5 was set up to be an amazing game. Between me having nostalgia for the first entry and the game itself just being an all around fantastic experience, We have ourselves a game that not only tops this list, but also got me to buy an xbox.

  It was a strange experience buying a console just so I can continue playing a game I'm already playing with a higher visual fidelity but it's one that was worth it. Well played M$.

  Also I can't not mention the title screen. That song. I had an epiphany before the game even began. I knew this game would deliver and it did.

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  2. The Artful Escape

  If this game had an arcade mode / some sort of score attack mode, It'd be my GOTY.

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  3. Valheim

  One day, I will have built my Nordic empire and it will be a vast hub of emptiness and grandiosity.

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  4. Psychonauts 2

  This was a fun surprise! Some cool level design, a fun story and so many bubbly characters. Look for Psychonauts 1 on my best old game list in 2022!

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  5. Back 4 Blood

  Great game. A lifetime ago I had a lan party for L4D and this made me long for those days. Just a shame that the matchmaking experience is ruined by people farming that one mission in Act 2 >_>"

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  6. Halo Infinite

  The shooting in Halo is still good! good enough to make this list.

  Let's hope the rest of the game is worked on in the sequel because boy this game is BARREN. I feel like at least 5 of the 14 missions in the game took place in the exact same environment.

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  7. Final Fantasy V

  *TECHNICALLY* a 2021 release so I'm putting it here.

  I don't really hear many people mention this Final Fantasy so my expectations were kind of low but it turned out to be a super pleasant surprise. It doesn't really do anything new compared to the games that came before it, but it does everything it does very well. It's like a greatest hits of the tropes of the previous 4 games.

  Oh, and there's a chocobo named Bobo. Which is just awesome.