Top 10 Video Games of 2021
Stuck in the Transition of Gaming Hardware Upgrades
2021 was a weird year for games. Delays became the buzzword, an HR reckoning came for both studios and publishers, and gamers still couldn’t easily get their hands on next-gen consoles.
PC gaming gains steam as open-source becomes more important than ever. Blockchain reared its head this year, and gamers were quick to dismiss its technology over their rightful fear of companies exploiting its economics. Microsoft has its eyes firmly on the future with its subscription model, while Sony and Nintendo use their entrenched market lead to focus on legacy distribution. I suspect we’ll see a flippening happen as Xbox devices become more available to players.
Despite huge games being delayed to 2022, it was still a great year for games.
Notable Misses (because I don’t have Xbox): Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5
Honorable Mentions: FF VII Remake: Intrograde, Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island, Guardians of the Galaxy
10 — Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Tightly built 3D platform shooter with next-level graphics. While the gameplay feels old, like those classic PS2 and PS3 platformers, you have to respect the technical achievement of this game. The graphics, ray-tracing, frame-rate, and the seamless rift-hopping mechanic with negligible load times is astonishing.
9 — Monster Hunter Rise
The most accessible Monster Hunter yet. The inclusion of the dog buddies and wire-bugs creates fun mobility in levels with added verticality. MWR ends up being the same slay, slay, and slay-again formula whose loop is ever engaging as ever until it isn’t. This entry finally cracked the multiplayer, by making hoping in with friends easier and more fun than ever.
8 — Chivalry 2
Chivalry 2 is a fun full-scale medieval battle game. The matches are short, the respawn is quick, and the blood is plentiful. In a landscape full of shooters, battle-royales, and futuristic sci-fi sameness, Chivalry 2 is a welcomed escape. With a variety of weapons, classes, and abilities, this game has plenty of variety to keep you engaged.
7 — Deathloop
Dripping with style, Deathloop makes good on the promise of allowing players to battle through a time-loop where memory is your superpower. It’s a competent shooter with a relatively linear story, but inhabiting this world is so enjoyable. It combines a 60’s French mid-century modern aesthetic with fun and goofy voice-work. Memorizing the world and choosing your own approach is a thrill that never gets old.
6 — Kid A Mnesia: Exhibition
Radiohead celebrates the 20th anniversary of Kid A and Amnesiac with an interactive musical experience that is very much a short game. Radiohead is always pushing the boundaries of technology, art, and distribution. Thom York’s longtime collaboration with digital/physical artist Stanley Donwood is immersive as you inhabit a spooky world of bears, graffiti like art, and a borderline maze that envelops you in sound. Take an edible, crank up the volume, and let the music wash over you.
5 — It Takes Two
The most imaginative, creative, and wholesome fun I’ve had in a long time. It Takes Two follows Hazelight studios innovative take at creating couch co-op experiences that are ONLY enjoyed with a friend. The gameplay mechanics are so diverse and a combination of awesome set-pieces, entertaining mini-games, and beautiful art design makes It Takes Two a classic in multiplayer gaming.
4—Death’s Door
Death’s Door is a well-crafted indie with tons of depth and secrets. It marries the quirkyness of Zelda with its goofy characters, isometric view, and tight melee combat with a Soulsbourne full of dense level-design, punishing bosses, and a clean soul-collection/upgrade system. It’s a short, meticulously designed experience that I can’t recommend highly enough.
3 — Returnal
The eerie dread of crash-landing on an alien world to only resurrect in a horrific loop after each death becomes truly unique in Returnal. The gameplay speed combined with insane neon bullet-hell combine to inject the player in a flow-state that is intoxicating. The horror elements are rendered with the unique world design, imaginative enemies, and deeply disturbing cinematics. The difficulty can be punishing and an over-reliance on RNG makes it truly frustrating at times, but the satisfaction of overcoming a world and its boss cannot be overstated. Returnal is an insane showcase of the PS5 with its innovative use of the Dualsense controller.
2 — Metroid Dread
This series goes back to its OG 2D roots with aplomb. The story is surprisingly linear without making you feel that way. I almost never got lost, which is unique in a metroidvania, and the level design constantly makes the player feel like a genius for knowing where to go. Nintendo finally dispatches the hand-holding its been mired in lately and makes a beautiful, sometimes punishing, classic experience. The art direction and world-building is fantastic, and the tight mechanics never overwhelm a player, but require mastery.
1 — Resident Evil Village
The Resident Evil series is still the GOAT at balancing methodical pacing, unique puzzle mechanics, resource management, and creeping dread. Where most games I sprint blindly across the map, in Village I slowly enter each area with fear, anticipation, and wonder. I am never playing RE half-assed, but rather fully invested in the world. And what a world they’ve created! Riffing on the reinvented first-person view that made RE7 such a wonder, Village adds fairytale storybook elements with the world that fans loved in RE4 to create a masterpiece. It hits all of the beats and elements Resident Evil acolytes love with an added fresh coat of paint.
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Read my previous years’ Top 10 list:
See my other 2021 lists:
Thanks for reading :)
