In no order, apart from Returnal which is waaaaay out in front.
Returnal
Cyberpunk 2077
Little Nightmares
Concrete Genie
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Astro's Playroom
The Pathless
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@RogerRoger "they were mostly enhanced upgrades of much older games, so I feel like they shouldn't really count alongside stuff explicitly made in 2021" Maybe you shouldn't really count.. or at least your list. lol Mass Effect Legendary Edition all the way down at #10 (my personal release of the year, not GOTY)? A new game actually released in 2021 on this list (Hitman 3)? I take back any positive things I've said about your reviews...
In all seriousness, a fairly solid list otherwise though.
@KilloWertz Heh, thanks! Part of me wanted to get technical and split the list, but then I looked real hard at the games I'd selected and, in a moment of brutal honesty, saw them as...
1) Expandalone semi-sequel to 2018 blockbuster;
2) Port of three GBA visual novels;
3) Latest level pack for five-year-old game;
4) Upgraded re-release of clunky 2019 shooter;
5) PC shooter from 2003;
6) Enhanced next-gen port of last year's big exclusive;
7) Pre-installed peripheral tutorial;
8) Umpteenth version of an indie from 2019;
9) PS3 brawler from 2014;
10) Remastered collection of seventh-gen RPGs.
I mean, they're not exactly representative of modern gaming's bleeding edge, are they?!
Don't get me wrong; if I had experienced the Mass Effect trilogy for the first time this year, then ME3 would be in second place behind Spidey, and ME1 would also rank somewhere in the top ten, too. It's just that, as lovely as the Legendary Edition is, I've played the entire trilogy A: before, and B: a lot, so I couldn't really justify putting what amounted to a pleasant replay higher on my personal list (and heck, it shouldn't feature on it at all, when you think about it from that perspective).
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Book of Boba Fett sucks too. Horrible series premiere this week. I fell asleep 4 times and it was really short....
Seriously though, it's your list, so you can obviously do whatever you want with it. It doesn't matter what I agree with. About the only thing that was truly serious was Mass Effect Legendary Edition being my actual release of the year if that category actually existed.
PSN ID/Xbox Live Gamertag: KilloWertz
Switch Friend Code: SW-6448-2688-7386
Astro's Playroom - I saved the best game for last and played it over Christmas. Utterly joyous. Me and the kids got up early every morning over the festive period to play it. I'll never forget it, nor will they.
Hollow Knight - A great game, one of the surprises of the generation. The amount of love poured into every character, friend and foe alike, puts many a Triple-A release to shame.
Remnant from the Ashes - Got a surprising amount of mileage out of this PS Plus freebie. It helped that my friend and I played it in co-op and laughed a lot all the way through, especially at our many failures.
GTA III - I really enjoyed playing through this golden oldie again. Brought back a lot of good memories of Saturday nights round at my mate's house.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure - Another fun game with the family. Long live local co-op!
Salt and Sanctuary - A game I've been meaning to get around to since 2016. I don't know if I just got a bit lucky with my character build, but it just really clicked. Incredibly hyped for the upcoming sequel as a result.
I think I may have forgotten a couple of big ones from 2021 for me, but yeah. I played some good games this year.
Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.
@Gremio108 Ah so it was you that I could remember playing Salt and Sanctuary. Currently playing it at the moment. Pleasantly surprised at how deep this supposedly little indie game is.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@KilloWertz Hey, like you say, if it counts for you, then it counts! And I don't think anybody would begrudge you championing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, as it absolutely lives up to its subtitle!
And his show might suck, but Boba Fett is, and always will be, equally legendary.
***
@JohnnyShoulder Do you think you'll be interested in the forthcoming "proper" PS5 version at all, depending on whether it's a free upgrade or not? Or does the PS4 version run well enough on PS5 that you're satisfied with your experience, and reckon you've seen enough?
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger You better not begrudge me. Otherwise I'd go all Fennec on you...
As for the show, it's hard to judge it on just one episode. It is disappointing that it was such a short first episode though. Looks like my main complaint from The Mandalorian is going to carry over to this as well, and that would be too many short episodes that are lucky to even be 30 minutes long after taking into account the recap and credits.
PSN ID/Xbox Live Gamertag: KilloWertz
Switch Friend Code: SW-6448-2688-7386
@RogerRoger I think they have confirmed it will be a free update, but I've not been following it recently. Yeah I will defo dive back in as I have kept the disk and not traded it in yet. To what extent I'm unsure of. Maybe just to see what the state of the game is like natively on PS5. Even though I completed the story, i still have a bunch of side content left to do. And I think there is an expansion or something coming at the same time. It wouldn't be something I'd purchase however.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@KilloWertz Some people might pay good money for that, y'know!
And yeah, agreed. I think it's always gonna be the same with this new approach to shows on streaming services, particularly the Star Wars and MCU stuff. Each show feels like a really long movie, chopped up into little bits. If I had any patience or self-restraint, I'd probably wait and then binge all episodes.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@JohnnyShoulder Well, I hope it is free, if only for the sake of that side content. That actually sounds like a real good way to handle a potential upgrade; leave non-essential stuff to do so that you can appreciate the extra bells and whistles without having to replay the whole damn game.
Hope it isn't the subject of yet more controversy, and that you enjoy returning to it later this year!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I've had family round so not had time to get to this yet. Seeing as this thread has had more activity than the PS5 specific one, I'll do a combined list of everything I've played as some could fit into a 2021 or not list.
By my reckoning, I've played 25 games through 2021 (including Kena which I've almost finished). So narrowing it to ten I'd say....
10 - Chicory
Some of the honourable mentions at the bottom were probably more fun to play but this was just a surprise package for me.
It wasn't something I originally planned to pick up but Kidfried's thoughts on it made me give it a go. The paintbrush mechanic works well and is used to make a fun platformer which features some clever puzzles too. The boss fights are also incredibly well done and super stylish.
9 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
I played both 5 and 6 this year but the former was very bloated with four big stories for separate characters plus side missions etc etc.
Y6 was made for the PS4 and the upgrade was noticeable with much smoother gameplay and it was the first to have the entire script voice acted, rather than just the bigger parts. Kiryu is the only playable character and it was a much more streamlined affair which I appreciated. That said, there were a lot of staples of the series missing with regards to characters and areas which was a surprise given this was the swan song for the main series. The story was as bonkers but fun as ever but I didn't think they nailed the ending sadly.
8 - Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
I played the reboot for the first time this year which I think may have been more fun but this game wins out for just how incredible it looks and for using so many features of the new console brilliantly.
The story was good fun, the weapons as silly but enjoyable as always, and the locales well varied too. I had no problems with the run time as it meant that the game never really dragged. The boss fights were a bit disappointing for me though.
7 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Another solid, concise game based around fun mechanics that was an absolute blast to play and cleverly toyed with the mechanics from the original game but used them for a whole new cast to great effect.
The new abilities really helped elevate this and I really appreciated the game's shorter play time as it never dragged and allowed the side content to be just as engaging as the main story.
6 - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
One I'd put off buying as I'd read a lot of people had suffered from serious technical problems playing it. However, it was one of the last games I played on my original model PS4 and had no issues whatsoever (other than the utterly terrible map).
The combat, story, and settings were all top notch, and I thought this story separate from other films/TV series etc worked really well on it's own, even for a very casual Star Wars fan like myself. The puzzles also worked well without being too frustrating and the end of the game was just great.
5 - Control: Ultimate Edition
Another one I'd avoided due to technical issues and the fact it seems to be a real "love it or hate it" type game. Playing on PS5, I had no issues with the game at all and definitely fell into the love it camp.
The story is so intriguing and baffling and reveals itself slowly but perfectly as you play along. The acting can be a bit wooden but I think this actually suits the main character and makes it feel a little distinct from other games by not having to have an in your face, witty, charismatic lead. The combat certainly isn't the game's strong point but the different mechanic work well and fights can be pretty intense. The FMV sequences also give the game a unique feel to it and I really bought into the quirky narrative.
4 - Disco Elysium
A game unlike any I've played before; it is almost the true definition of a role playing game. It's just a shame that we're almost all conditioned to play it as a clean cut saviour who must solve the case but it's great that the game almost mocks you for doing so.
And that's the beauty of the game. It has an incredibly in depth and thought provoking story but one that you can spit in the face of and decide to play by your own rules if you want. The writing is just fantastic and I can't even begin to fathom how it can branch and evolve in so many different ways. One of those games that stays with you after the credits roll.
3 - Death Stranding: Director's Cut
Yet another game I'd put off buying after hearing mixed things so it worked out well for me that the Director's Cut edition dropped for me after getting a PS5.
And this ended up being quite a special game. Only Kojima could build such an intricate and beautiful game around delivering parcels. The story is so well done and you can completely buy into it even though it is utter nonsense really. The cast are (mostly) fantastic too and the soundtrack works so well too. There are some serious pacing issues and the combat sections are sometimes terrible but they really don't stop this being a memorable experience.
2 - Ghost of Tsushima (plus the Iki Island DLC/Director's Cut
I finally picked up the game to play on my PS5 and even without the Director's Cut upgrade, it ran and played wonderfully.
This was such a beautiful world to explore and one that it was wonderful to just ride around and experience. Playing with Japanese dialogue really enhanced it for me too and I thought Jin was a great protagonist who was like Jesse from Control where the performance and dialogue suited his character perfectly. The rest of the cast were also great and I enjoyed the story. The combat was really enjoyable but I did feel the game unlocked your gear/abilities a bit too quickly so you didn't really have much more to experience from that point of view in the second half of the game. The DLC ended up being more of the same but that was not bad thing for me.
1 - Returnal
Wow, what a game. Even without everything else I liked about the game, this was just so beautiful to handle. Movement and combat were just so slick and it used the DualSense controller so well that it was just a joy to play and made other games feel so bad afterwards.
The vague story held everything together, even if it's never quite clear what was really happening. The different biomes all had such great character and the boss fights were some of the best of recent times for me. Not an easy game but one that was so rewarding and is still so great to go back to now. I'd love to see more from this game but would have no complaints if that's all we're getting as I will remember this as such a fantastic experience.
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Topic: Best Games played in 2021 (but not released in 2021)
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