GoTY 2021
Figure I could start on my 2021 ranking list. Played a lot of games in 2021, see the other list, but this one is just for games that came out in 2021, to consider for GoTY stuff.
List items
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NSW, 2021: A 2D Metroid game, that is rather hard. Took me about 13 hours (probably more, not sure if it counts times where i died and respawn) to 100% it.
Completed: The game. Probably got the worst* ending (like unlocked the fewest things), but still enjoyed my time with it, and taking my time with it. It a metroid game, and i like that genre. Now the difficult was a bit of a problem, mainly with the parry timing. Which got me thinking that Nintendo is one of the few major companies out there, that doesn't do any kind of assist stuff with their current games. And that feels dated and out of touch. Hopefully that change and start doing that soon. As for the game stuff, yeah, look good, decent music, good controls, like the story, pacing and design were amazing. Would rate it higher, if the parry system was easier, or they had a build in assist option to make it easier.
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PC, 2021: An action platformer, with a lot of content, a bit too much, but even with that, it is still a great game.
Completed: The game. Got to the ending, got most of the items on the way. Thinking about going back, but there are a few bugs preventing 100%ing it, so i might not. The game length is a bit too long, there like 20 levels or close to that. And it would have been better around 15 or so. But beside that, it was a lot of fun, exploring, good story, dialogue, gameplay, and such.
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PC, 2021: A fun action horror game, with FPS controls. Overall less scary than 7, well, the doll part was more scary. But good enough action. Plus, easy enough to cheat at, so that's cool.
Completed: The game, and merc mode. Still playing around with some of the extras, but am thinking i'll be fully done with it soon. Well, until the dlc comes out, then i might be back.
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NSW, 2021: A metroidvania with a focus on exploring and melee combat. Beat the game in about 10 hours, got 88% of the items, and 98% of the map... never did figure out that last 2 percent, and i won't. Not that its a bad game, i rather enjoyed it, but there little reason to get 100%... so i won't. Also, at this point, i would just be playing it with a guide to figure it out, cause i don't have any idea on how to get to the last few places and items.
Completed: The game. The story was, and is, the worse part of this series. It is rather confusing. And the UI is just bad, really, really bad. Didn't like the melee combat, but it works well enough. But the exploring, abilities, graphics & audio somewhat, and overall gameplay was great.
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PC, 2021: An action rpg similar to diablo. In this one, it is cyberpunk theme, and you have guns and such. I like parts of this game a lot, but overall... it has too many issues to be rated higher. The visuals, and controls are great. I enjoy the theme. And most of my time with it. The problems though, are too much. First, it is buggy. I ran into two blocker bugs in my playthrough, which is made worse, when considering that this game came out 3 months ago. Those bugs should never have been in the game in the first place, and second, they should have been fixed by now as they should have been a priority. The other big problem is the camera. It is fix, and the user doesn't have control of it. This is a major problem since this is a game where you shoot, so having enemies off screen for like half the time, is a big design flaw. The other issues with it, like boring upgrades, limited weapon selection (it was ok, but should have been better considering the setting), a bad fast travel system (so too much going places), and just dull mission design (every mission is basically, go to point X, kill things on the way there, and then when you get there, and maybe flip a switch, and then kill more things).
Completed: The main quest and some side quests. After i beat the final boss, i ran into another blocker bug, and when i reloaded my save, it started me before the fight... so, nope, not going to do that again. I check, i have the achievement, so am out. Had a fun time for a bit, but not going to waste time on this.
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PC, 2021: Playing through it. Liking the open world parts, not liking the normal level parts. The open world feels like a ubisoft/tomb raider mix, with good fps stuff. But the normal levels are just dull, go from point a to point b. Also, the story overall is bad, and told poorly. Presentation factors are good. Upgrades are dull. Game doesn't feel like it does anything new or interesting. Don't like the MP, it works, but i prefer big fps matches, which this game does not offer.
Completed: The SP campaign. And my impression from before didn't really change. The open world stuff was fun, but shallow. The SP story missions were bad, and a slog to get through. Don't like the MP, it is solid, but it isn't in the style i like.
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PC, 2021: A mix of a idle game, a rogue lite game, and a deck game. There a character, which you don't control directly, who wander on a set path, a loop, and you place tiles, via the cards in your hand, on the board that summon monsters, or give buffs. The goal is to put enough of them down to summon the boss, and defeat them. In between runs there a town, where you spend the resources you got from killing monsters and such, to build stuff, to buff your character for the next run, or to get new cards for you deck.
Completed: The game, mostly. Defeated the first 3 bosses, 3 times each to see all their text. And the final boss, once... it looked like there was dialogue for 6 wins against him, but i don't have the interest to do that. I was able to cheat to increase my stats, which is the only reason why i was able to finish the game, and then i cheated more at the end, to full build the town for my own amusement.
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PC, 2021: An action jrpg that controls like an action game like DMC. The story is alright, visuals are good, VO work is great, and overall it was fun. However, like most jrpgs, it just lasted way too long. Also, it kind of jumps the shark, when it comes to character stories, near the start of the third act. Thinking back on it, and a large reason why i completed it, was that i was a sunken cost fallacy. I had spent so much time on it, i wanted to see the ending, even though, i wasn't having fun with it at the end.
Completed: The game, Kasane playthrough. Didn't try the other character playthrough, didn't play to from the start, and the long length made it less likely. Took about 25 hours to complete, and it would have been better around 20. Also, the character stories jumped the shark when you party went from 4 to 9. It easy to get invested and care about 4 characters, but upping it to 9, near the end of the game, just killed the mood. I started skipping it, for all of them, soon after that point. Also, the side quests were bad. And combat was shallow. The game does have a lot of charming parts. And overall, i enjoyed my time with it, but if i had never played it, i wouldn't have missed anything.
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PC, 2021: A 4x game that tries to be like Civ, but with some notable differences. Such as, there are no builder units, or any non-combat units really. There are settlers and such later on (late game) but even those can fight. Diplomacy is mostly the same, handle differently, but overall the same results. Combat is the big change. So when armies fight, they fight on the map, like a 5 or 6 grid around the combat location, and units get placed, and its kind of a TBS combat game then. And well... it doesn't work fully. It might in a sequel or two, but in this one, it just doesn't work. It tries to do the terrain 1 to 1, but that a problem, and often armies can't get setup, and it just feels bad. Another big change is the starting turns. In this one you are a roaming tribe hunting animals for a bit, and then you find outpost, and turn one of those into a city. Oh, output/city stuff, yeah, that a big change too. Areas can be cliamed via outposts, turn into cities, or attach to cities. You can't just build anywhere like in Civ. Lastly, you pick a new civ every era, and that is ok... not great, but ok. Didn't feel like it added much to the game or genre. Overall, like most 4x games, the pacing is a problem, i found by turn 50 or so, i was usually just clicking next turn, to wait for anything to happen, cause buildings and such were taking like 5-infiinte turns to happen. So yeah, felt slow. So i started cheating, and even then, it took me like 12 hours for a tiny map game.
Completed: 1 game, and am good. It was fun, but i don't feel the need to play another round. I don't see how the next round would be any different. Since you pick a new civ every era, you kind of do it all in one game. The special units don't seem that different/crazy, and no one has a big unique thingy. Its a good start, hopefully they continue the series, and if they do, they go deeper into some of their system, and offer 'wacky/sci-fi-ish' choices and such
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NSW, 2021: New Pokemon Snap plays a lot like the old one, which is ok, but not good. The player is in a cart, on a rail, and they go through a course for a couple of minutes. During this time, they can look around and take pictures of the Pokemon in the area. There are a few special abilities, which usually get the pokemon in the area to do different things, which you can take pictures of. There are photo rankings, and score boards. But those require an online account. Overall, it is a semi relaxing experience, if you let it be one. There a few things you can do if your serious (like trying to get the rare photos, and such), but if like me, you don't care, then its rather easy.
Completed: The game's story in about 9 hours. Had fun taking pictures, but didn't have people to share it with, so i fell off after the story.
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NSW, 2021: A fun party game, but not something i would play solo. Tried it at a friends place, did some MP stuff, which was great. And also did the last third of the story mode, which was also good. But thinking about it, and i realize that it isn't a game that i would play by myself. Hence the low score. I don't usually hang out or play games in a MP setting, if i did, this would be much higher. As for the game itself, the micro games are fun, and most of the characters are fun to use. A few are really bad, but there like 20 of them total, so it is easy to find ones that you like, and have choices.
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PC, 2021: A econ building game that focuses on tile placement of items, and gathering several different resources. Thought it was going to be a story heavy, building lite game from the title, but nope... just a low rez, econ building game, where you gathering numerous different resources, manage individual units happiness, and have to figure out where to put roads and buildings. Got to the second island before calling it quits. Just too much of the same. It implied that the next step would be getting a spaceship, which might have meant going to a different planet. But considering how everything was about the same on the second island, i had no desire to re-do all that i just did, just on a different looking area.
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NSW, 2021: Got it as an Xmas gift, having fun with it so far. Still find recharging the light saber to be annoying, but whatever.
Completed: The game. While there are some cool moments, overall... it is kind of lame, and outdated. It feels like it could have came out a year or two after the 2nd game (so 2011, or 2012), but its poor performance, bad graphics, loading times, bugs, etc... and the story is more of the same. While there were a few moments that i like, for the vast majority of the game, I was just slashing nameless enemies, or dull bosses. Lucky, there an easy mode that makes you invincible, if that wasn't there, i would not have finished this game.. or even gotten close. The overall design lack most quality of life features... and idk, just feels like they phone it in... even though, its a sequel that came out 10 years after the last one.
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PC, 2021: Had low hopes for this game, and it was worse than i thought it would be. I don't play many skateboard games, but i have played some. And this was probably one of the worse ones. Now the character customization was kind of neat looking, but the actual game was just bad. Gave it a try for a few minutes, and couldn't get past the tutorial stage. The controls didn't make sense, the camera was horrible, and the overall gameplay was dull.
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