My 2021 Games of the Year

Another year has wrapped up and I wanted to reflect back on the games I beat and truly enjoyed this year! To reduce repetition, I haven't included titles I wrote about in my Anticipated Games of 2021 - How Did It Go post, so feel free to check that out too!

Because I'm indecisive (and it's my blog so I can do as I please), I couldn't really pick just one or two games that were the top tier because I enjoyed all these for various reasons.

^{Fair warning, I wrote about a few of these titles individually last year so you know I will be plugging them lol.}

Control

First one right off the bat is a no brainer. I replayed Control on PS5 about 8 months after my first playthrough and finally got around to both DLCs. It was fantastic. I rarely ever play games twice in as short of a period as I did this time; so that in itself says something. I gushed about it for over 2000 words if you want to be a pal and check it out:

Creature in the Well

This was a title I was excited about before it launched and unfortunately didn’t get the chance to play until last year. I’m sad I waited so long but the lead up to finally playing was worth it. This game is dark, eerie, confusing, and exceptionally weird in all the best ways possible. A story that keeps you invested the farther you go, easy to learn but hard to master gameplay that I still think about constantly. If you are looking for a smaller-sized puzzle game with a heavier narrative, I cannot recommend Creature in the Well enough. To boot, it’s a reasonably achievable platinum trophy.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

New Pokemon Snap

I had been waiting for this remake for a very long time, and it did not disappoint. New Pokemon Snap did an outstanding job of capturing the charm and wonder that was the original, and brought it to life in a way that honoured and expanded on it. I loved it so much I even wrote a more personal post about it:

Mass Effect Trilogy

I finally got around to playing Mass Effect as it's one of the most critically-acclaimed RPG series ever created and I don’t know what I expected beyond the trilogy being an absolute masterpiece. Traversing the story of galactic salvation with my own Shepard and Liara at my side was an outstanding experience and I’m glad I’m now in a place to be excited for what the franchise holds in the future.

While this is arguable one of the best series I’ve ever played, they aren’t without their woes as they are older titles. Especially Number #3. If you want hear more of my opinions on that, I wrote a post about my most and least favourite things about Mass Effect 3. Spoiler alert: The quest menu still haunts me to this day.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

If you’ve explored my blog at all, or follow me on twitter, you’ll know that I’m on a huge robot kick right now. With the various sales strewn across the PlayStation Store front page, I managed to snag Zone of the Enders: Second Runner for an astonishing $10 and man was it the best decision I’ve made so far this year. While it’s not the the most pristine and polished game out there, ZotE is a silly, wild ride full of weirdly named battle suits and hack-and-slash absurdity. To be completely transparent, I don’t remember the plot really (lmao I’m so sorry) but the game play and the visuals/designs were so enamouring that I fully plan on playing it again in the future (so I can remember the plot again too).

Descenders

^{Seeley go weeeeeeeeeeeeeee}

But actually though, Descenders took me by complete surprise as I just decided on a whim to download it via Xbox GamePass. A procedurally generated downhill mountain biking game was not what I was expecting to be my potential Game Of The Year and yet, here we are! Between the soundtrack being exactly what I’m into, and the extremely satisfying gameplay, it’s a title I highly recommend anyone trying out, especially if you are subscribed to GamePass... You have no excuse!! It rides a nice balance between being very easy to drop in/out and a range of content with varying difficulty so there is something for everyone. I’m hoping in the future I can take some time to write about it because man, it is so much fun.

There you have it folks! Another year of (in my opinion) amazing games! Did you play any of these? What were some of your games of the year? I'd love to hear about them over at @HeySlackshow or my personal account @atlaspolara!