The Book, The Film, The T-Shirt’s Gaming Editor, Louis Sherman, runs down his top ten games of the year.
10 – Deathloop
It seems like 2021 was the year of the rogue-like games, you will see another example of it further up the list, but ‘Deathloop’ set this game style within a unique design style alongside the feeling of the 80’s thread throughout it all. It got rave reviews from across a range of critical sites and seemed to join some of the top rogue-like games of the last few years (Such as ‘Hades’ and *cough cough* ‘Returnal’). However, it was the inclusion of Julianna Blake which really made this game stand out and the unique playstyle element she brought when fighting Colt. The only reason it’s placed so low down on this list is its ignoring of the audiences who wanted to play and who also had accessibility needs.
9 – Life is Strange – True Colors
Previous ‘Life is Strange’ games have been pretty excellent, but with True Colours, it felt like developer Deck Nine took all the best bits of previous games, added a wonderful new story and protagonist, and splashed a beautiful look and artistic style across it. It was a bit of the best hits of everything that worked so well in previous ‘Life is Strange’ games but felt like it was made with ease and love. Something is rarely seen.
8 – Resident Evil: Village
In 2017, Capcom very successfully softly rebooted the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise with their seventh mainline game, ‘Biohazard’. In 2021 however, Capcom took it even further – introducing twists and turns, a freaky-as-hell ‘village’ full of intriguing and creepy characters. The story was in ways heartbreaking, and in others, truly gory and horrendous. It mixed so many elements together so well, and the ending hint only teasing more for the future. The only letdown? Not enough Lady D!
7 – Kena: Bridge of Spirits
When Sony revealed the PS5, one of their first trailers for games on the system was ‘Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ and it blew many of us away, from its character design to its general incredible graphics. On release Kena met all expectations, not letting down on the technical front whilst ‘The Rot’ and Ken herself instantly became fan favourites and PlayStation icons. Whilst the game was beautiful, the puzzles and combat were innovative and finely tuned, the only big surprise? The difficulty of what this cutesy game could regularly hit!
6 – Guardians of the Galaxy
Well, well, well what a surprise this was. Just over a year ago, Square Enix released ‘The Avengers’ to a lukewarm response as best, terribly awful at worst, so when ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was announced there were little expectations for it – and maybe this helped it? Whilst it didn’t break boundaries or change the way we played games, it was visually great and more than anything had a solid and fun story, sticking to a single-player narrative worked perfectly and made this a must-play in 2021.
5 – New Pokemon Snap
New Pokemon Snap is probably the exact opposite of most of the other games on this list – there isn’t really much story, it doesn’t re-invent gameplay and it probably isn’t even the best Pokemon game. What it is, however, is a slow, meditative and wondrous game. A game you can sink hours into without realising it. A game you can sit and escape in, taking you away from the day’s stresses. It is a wonderful game, completely different to anything else and all the better for it.
4 – Returnal
We have already had one rouge-like on this list, but to us, the superior one of the two is ‘Returnal’. Not only did ‘Returnal’ make sure to reflect the needs of those with accessibility needs, but it was also stunning, a fantastic piece of game writing and also truly effecting in playing a game where you play through the lead characters most difficult moments and previous challenges. Seline is another iconic character, and whilst the difficulty was brutal, it was worth it as you explored and faced some truly extreme boss battles.
3 – Forza Horizon 5
‘Forza Horizon’ is one of the few game series that seems to get better and better with each one, and on attempt number 5 it has reached astronomical levels of awesomeness. From a great car collection, all wonderfully realised in near photo-realistic graphics, to the wonderful world of Mexico which has got to be one of the best looking maps ever committed to the game. Many racing games become monotones and dull, racing the same track with little fun after a few hours. Horizon is the opposite, with every inch of the road giving you XP, a reason to explore and a new piece of fun to find. Kudos to Playground Games and the hype for the 6th instalment is already very real.
2 – It Takes Two
Several years ago, Hazelight Studios relaunched the couch co-op (a hugely popular play style in the ’90s and somewhat forgotten recently) ‘A Way Out’. Now that game couch co-ops a bit of an electric shock and brought it somewhat back to life, but ‘It Takes Two’ has fully reinvigorated the couch co-op. This game was not only incredibly fun, well-thought-out and truly unique, but was framed around an emotional story of a divorcing couple that twinged many heartstrings. It is a truly incredible experience, and we truly hope it brings the couch co-op firmly back to the mainstream.
1 – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
So we reach our number 1 game of 2021 – ‘Ratchet & Clank: Rift Part’. Boy oh, boy did we love this game. It was a technical marvel, we still aren’t fully over being able to jump between universes in a blink of an eye, with a compelling story that clearly laid the foundations of a whole new series of ‘Ratchet & Clank’ games moving forward. For us, this game defined fun, a key element of games and one that is easily forgotten. Playing as a Lombax, using weapons as mad as guns that sprouted topiary on beautifully designed worlds whilst riding a 300mph snail pretty much made us go wow, and become an eight-year-old all over again. Insomniac Games was our games studio of 2021, and this game was key to that. This is a game we will be replaying throughout 2022 and will continue to drop our jaws at.
No Comments