2021 is almost over, so it’s time for an epic question: What were our best games this year? We deliberated for a while and came up with a list that includes what we think are the best games of this year!
Every day of this week, we’ll have a post from one of our writers detailing the best games we played this year on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch releases. Please keep in mind that we didn’t play all of this year’s releases!
After you’re done reading this list, please be sure to tell us about your best games for this year in the comments below!
The PlayStation 5 was released a full year ago, and getting our hands on the new console was harder than expected! A year later, it already has a solid games library with many more set for release in 2022!
Between the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch, we had a lot of games to choose from, so without further ado, here are our best games of this year!
My Game of the Year: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
(PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch)
I’m a huge fan of the Marvel franchise, and I ended up skipping the Avengers game due to my backlog being a bit too packed, but boy, did this new game from Eidos Montreal/Square Enix deliver on all fronts! It’s gorgeous, the story is interesting, and there is a lot of character development through the 15-ish hours you’ll spend playing the main game. I loved playing this one on PlayStation 5, and I highly recommend everyone try it on Sony’s console!
Honorable Mention: UnderMine
(PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch)
UnderMine broke me early this year when it released. This is a pixelated roguelike in which you’ll send peasant after peasant into the mine to delve deeper and deeper in each run. The really addictive gameplay loop will see you lose half your gold every time a peasant dies, but as you progress further and further into the game, you’ll be able to purchase some permanent upgrades that will help you in future runs. You can end up doing a very short run that lasts only a handful of minutes, or you could get a good roll for the randomized items and rooms and end up playing for an hour as you defeat a bunch of enemies and maybe even a boss or two. Speaking of the bosses, each of the boss fights is downright E-P-I-C! UnderMine might not have been my best game for 2021, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play it!
Honorable Mention: Cris Tales
(PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch)
Cris Tales is an amazing time manipulation RPG using a battle system that reminded me of Super Mario RPG since you can time your actions to do more damage or to defend against attacks. I loved exploring its sometimes wacky but always gorgeous world and seeing the effects of my actions in real-time since you’re always seeing the past, the present, and the future of every location you visit, which is a great concept idea that is excellently executed on this outstanding RPG.
Other Honorable Mentions
There were a lot of great games released this year, so it was really hard to decide which games made the cut and which ones didn’t. Here are some other releases, in no particular order, that I recommend you play:
– Tales of Arise, an amazing JRPG in the long-running Tales Of franchise from Bandai Namco, featuring a story that will take you more than 40 hours to complete (PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5).
– Cthulhu Saves Christmas: a fun JRPG in the very particular style of Zeboyd Games, with a fun story that you can complete in around 5 hours or so. (PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch).
– Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe, a pixelated platformer set in the universe of The Angry Video Game Nerd, a long-running Youtube show. I loved how each level recreated the main issues of the game the Angry Video Game Nerd has reviewed, making for a fun experience. (PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch).
Stay tuned for our second post of the best PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch games of 2021, which goes live tomorrow!
Can you guess which regular writer will be presenting his best games?
What were YOUR best games this year?
