What's Your Game of the Year & Why?

Apex Legends again and again

mochagodzilla

Deathloop. It felt like I was playing an Arkane game that was a product of everything they had done before, strung together in such a brilliant way. The art direction was absolutely fantastic and the writing was strong.

Script_Kitty

Besides Skyrim, which like fine wine gets better with age. If I had to pick one game I bought this year which impressed me it would have to be Cyberpunk 2077, as it nailed the aesthetic, and the character writing was good. Is it a game I'll return to, probably not, but it is an experience.

John Barry

For me it's Chivalry 2. Pure energy and adrenaline when you're running with mates towards the enemy and swinging a gigantic sword. I didn't have such fun in years

Nikita Nikishin

Guardians of the Galaxy. I was expecting a pretty standard Marvel AAA shooter, but I got a new favourite game of all time! It's a fantastic story, and I can't tell you just how good the character development and writing is. It had me laughing (of course - it GotG), and literally in tears through parts. The art design and music is flawless, and the gameplay is fun.

Brentwahn

I have already been really curious about this one but i had no idea that there is an aging mechanic and then you play the kids. That sounds so fucking rad. You totally sold me on checking it out.

Nitsua MorningStr

Doom Eternal for me. I played Doom before it and loved it but before Eternal I didn't grasp the idea of a game that approaches combat encounters as puzzles and encourages (sometimes forces) you to get good at it to progress. I'd never understood that a shooting game could make you play it like a mix between Celeste and Bloodborne

YungCereza

I’m going to go with It Takes Two which I actually played with my kids (7 and 5) and not only did we all have a blast but they were also able to grasp some of the depth of the story. The game is so creative and original, and a joy to play with your loved ones sitting in the same room!! The fact that it is one of the few couch co-op games this year is a shame, bring them back for families please!!

Felipe Rojo Liviero (71139834Y)

Resident Evil Village - I loved the level and monster design. It felt like each area of the game was distinct in its feel, visuals and gameplay creating a great mix of action and horror. The story was interesting as well, I think it did a great job of linking Resident Evil 7 with the rest of the franchise

Psychonauts 2. It is everything I wanted in a sequel and more.

Simon Le Sueur

I love Death's Door so much. It's a near-perfect balance of mechanics that all play well together and can be traced back to great games like Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls, as well as having its own identity as an isometric ARPG. I love how much progress can be made when played in short bursts, which is basically the only way I play games these days. The dialogue is so genuine and genuinely funny at times. These are the games I treasure most. The ones that make you feel like the people behind it are human and gave two poops about how people actually react/feel. Plus the music, art, and style of the game really make a complete package that I could recommend this game to almost anyone. If you're somehow not convinced to play this game yet, it's also got a character named Pothead. How could it be a bad game with a character named Pothead, I ask you?

Logan Johnson

My answer is plain and simple: Deathloop and Psychonauts 2. Both game that actually achieve from everything i want from a videogame: fun and captivating gameplays with a lot of interesting mechanics, wonderful artistic directions, memorable characters, and a general sense of uniqueness in the modern gaming panorama.

Andrea Roma

My game of the year has to be Inscryption. In a sea of looter shooters and checklist open world games, it's a refreshingly creative deckbuilding rogue-lite with a unique art style and thought provoking gameplay. Some of it's puzzles can boil down to trial and error, but the game's twists and turns keep it feeling fresh until the end.

Luke

Echoes of the Eye was my game of the year. Outer Wilds stands tall above other games in the solidity of its mechanics, its immersion in exploration, its emphasis on player autonomy and the joy of learning, and the incredible depth of its themes of life, death, community, and purpose.

Jake Hakim

The game that completely stole 2021 for me would have to be Wildermyth. It's a genius little PC game that more people really need to play. Small, indie team developed, D&D style game that tells procedurally generated stories in multi-chapter campaigns (with tactical combat similar to games like X-Com!) . Watch your party start out as young, fresh faced wanna-be adventurers to crusty old heroes who eventually (if you're good at it) save the world, and retire to your legacy character list, as their children pick up the sword, staff or bow to follow in their predecessor's footsteps to save the world when evil strikes again. The progression is awesome, the combat is fun, and the art-style is unique and fun too! To top it off, the story is told in brilliant little comic book panels as you progress through the campaigns! I'm amazed at the fun and depth this game provides. I still can't stop playing it, with almost 75 hours in since I discovered it in September (considering i don't get much gaming time, this has literally consumed me lol)

Allan M Kaspar

Has to be Inscryption! Most unique game I've ever played and one that gripped me from start through to the end. I played the GameJam version that the dev made after finishing the game and I was amazed at how great the GameJam version was. I think it really does show that when working with 'constraints' (in this case it was a GameJam category of 'Sacrifice' I think) it forces devs to be more creative. Always think that constraints damage the creative process however time and again Indie games keep proving that a concise and focussed game is often way more engaging and worthy of my time than a AAA game that had unlimited resources to throw at the problem hence resulting in an unfocussed boring mess.

Michael Josephs

Hitman 3 - The conclusion to that trilogy with the full package of all the other levels. Just amazing.

Marcel Hedemand

Double Fine's Psychonauts 2, the long awaited sequel to one of my favorite games of all time, not only exceeded my expectations with great 3D platforming but it delivered a nuanced, heartfelt story about mental health, love, loss and confronting your past. I absolutely adored it.

Robert Pigott

Didn't have a job most of the year so didn't play many no things. Just got a PS5 (and a job recently) and had a ton of fun with ratchet and clank so thats my game of the year

Josh Daniels

Inscryption! What a mind f*ck. Can enjoy it whether you love or hate card games. One of those rare occasions where I just feel so lucky that I play games and can experience such amazing pieces of art.

Lucy Yearwood

Returnal is my GOTY. Amazing game with beautiful visuals, challenging but fun gameplay loop, brilliant soundtrack and topped off with a story shrouded in mystery

I played a lot of catch up this year but for me definitively Persona 5 Royal. Spend good 150 hours in that game, my wife as a backseat gamer loved it and we enjoyed it both. On second place it will be Hades on PS4 and third Mass Effect Legendary Edition. I have managed to buy a PS5 for this christmas so maybe Ratchet or Deathloop will shuffle this order by the end of the year

Jan Sovis

Returnal. It introduced me to a genre of games that I had previously ignored and I fell in love with it. The gameplay is incredibly fun and challenging, it’s beautiful to look at, runs like a dream, and the story is interesting and really moved me at times. I had a lot of fun with it.

The Forgotten City. I absolutely loved how the game surprised you constantly, reminded me of The Outer Wilds back in 2019. Story was unique and the game had strong humor.

Outer Wilds - Echoes of the Eye (expansion). Another great story wrapped in puzzles.

It we talk strictly about games that came out this year I would go with Slipways (I have only played 2 'new' games). But overall in 2021 I would go with Astrobot Rescue Mission followed closely by The Witcher 3.

I'm split between It Takes Two and Hitman 3.. Even though hitman 3 was brilliant, I might be a bit more inclined towards it takes two just because it was an original IP and just an amazing couch co op experience. It's a rare gem, games like these are very rare. It was one of those surprise hits like Until Dawn and outer wilds

Psychonauts 2. Felt like a game that isn't made anymore, had a smile on my face the entire time, and had only very minor nitpicks.

Nick Sivak

Does it have to have been released this year? Mine is escape from Tarkov. I have been addicted to this game for like the past 3 years of my life. There is a suuuuper high barrier to entry (mental and $), and some people immediately bounce off of it because of the harsh rouge-like mechanics, but my god is overcoming any challenge in this game a rush. It's also the closest (fun) thing to a FPS MMO I have ever played which is a pretty under-served genre imo.

Robert Lavern Rosentrater

Against the storm. Addictive and fun Roguelite RTS. Fairly unique and interesting.

Marcus Cowen

Sable. The gently optimistic tone and themes of self-discovery perfectly fit the visual style and gameplay, and the scale of the map strikes a balance between being spacious enough to feel mysterious and expansive to the player/character while not being so large as to be overwhelming. The writing is also very well-crafted and charming!

Ben Richardson

Resident Evil VIllage for me. Capcom's teams fixed the nitpicks I had on RE7, and they were willing to take risks doing something different, which for me worked perfectly. I enjoyed it so much that despite never going for achievements I got all of them for that one. I want the RE teams to try things, go wild, i'm all for it.

Disco Cat

Glad I finally played Death Stranding through the Directors Cut on PS5, had heard such mixed opinions on the game but I fell in love it. See why opinions on the game are polarised, and still not sure if the main story is brilliant or completely stupid, but at the very least appreciate something this experimental being given the huge budget it clearly had, don’t see many games like this anymore!

Joey Jo Jo Jr

It Takes Two. My partner and I had a blast playing. It has so many different domains with different game mechanics. Yes, the Book of Love is a terrible character that I wanted to boot into oblivion. But it was really the only significant flaw in a glitch-free game full of humor, delight, invention and heart.

Steve Maxey

Hitman 3 took the systems of the last two games and elevated them to new heights with incredible, unique new map designs. Not only that, but they somehow made me care about the story I has ignored up until that point. IO really went for it with this one and stuck the landing gracefully

Legend of Hayden

I don't remember Forgotten City.. My favorite game of this year would be Hunt: Showdown. A competitive shooter taking place in the end of the 19th century with some strong horror elements and sophisticated sound mechanics.

larry82

I absolutely adored Life Is Strange: True Colors. The town of Haven Springs made for a beautiful break this year, and Alex Chen portrayed by Erika Mori was wonderful. Deck Nine keeps impressing me and I can't wait to see the next iteration of Life Is Strange, which has quickly became one of my favourite franchises.

Of 2021 full release games I've played mine is Inscryption. It has a few issues (the "middle part" dragged a bit and didn't seem to add a lot) but it's more of Daniel Mullins' doing his thing and I loved it for that. If we're including Early Access games (the line seems to get blurrier every year) then Dyson Sphere Program. It's exactly my sort of game and it's really well made by a small team and is a really good example of that type of game - adding the objective of building a Dyson Sphere to a Factorio style game is just perfect.

trismugistus

Loop hero, by virtue of being the only game I bought this year. It's addicting in a way no game has been for me for years. It's a mash-up of so many genres that it's surprising it works at all, but somehow, it does.

James North

Resident Evil Village. A confident, eccentric game that doesn't stretch out its content and plays entirely by its own rules.

Yan Knoop

My GOTY this year is Walkabout Mini Golf. The mini golf itself is fun and the levels are well designed and very different. There are regular and hard versions of each hole which adds a lot to replay-ability. The courses have scavenger hunts to find new balls and clubs. The multiplayer is fun and works really well. The most unique thing it does is forces you to relax. Golfing/mini golfing is a very chill activity generally and because you are in VR it becomes really hard to check your phone, look at your 2nd monitor etc. I really enjoyed just putting around in its fun environments.

Eli Cizewski-Robinson

Death's Door

Sébastien Delfino

Neo: The World Ends with You was a very good sequel to the DS original. It's nice to see a large studio do something that is mechanically unusual (such as controlling six different characters simultaneously in real-time combat, or shopping for clothes as a major game mechanic). It's pretty tight, too. Unfortunately, the game was not marketed well and didn't sell well at all. I feel like Square Enix has created a self-fulfilling prophesy there.

Psychonauts 2, fantastic impactful story with varied environments. Was a pleasure to 100%.

Brad Davis

It was going to be wrath of the righteous but unfortunately later acts drag it down. So instead I'd like to mention Wildermyth, a small tactical rpg that has succeeded in making me care about characters in a much more visceral way than many other games. It's charming, deep and beautiful.

Charalampos Koundourakis

My GOTY is Shin Megami Tensei V. Played it with my fiancee and it's probably the most mechanically exciting turn based RPG I've ever played. An absolute thrill to customize our demons, explore the open world, and challenge bosses with unique mechanics.

The Canipa Effect

I don't know if it counts, but if it does then FF 14 Endwalker qualifies as my GotY.

newdarkcloud

Easy Pyschonauts 2 for being a collectathon that respects my time. And that's why I also put halo infinite down at the bottom, because it absolutely doesn't respect my time.

TrainDoctor

Halo Infinite. The grappleshot is the most fun I've had with a single game mechanic in years. Swinging around the world was amazing and it led to so many unexpected, epic moments during combat. Not to mention how gracefully it managed the narrative mess Halo 5 created.

Hitman 3. They built upon a great foundation from the first two games, but the new maps feel super distinct from the previous ones. And having the previous maps on there make for one of the best packages I've played in a long time.

Mundaun. It's a bit rough around the edges being a (mostly) single-dev project, but its atmosphere drew me in like no other game this year.

Dirk

Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. It looks beautiful, it plays amazingly well, and the humor of the game just makes it fun to experience. Insomniac games are just so effortlessly enjoyable.

Kenzo Yasuda

Psychonauts 2. Beautiful, hilarious and innovative platforming gameplay mechanics.

Erik Sagen

Eastward was great, slow in the beginning but characters, music and story. Inscryption and Deaths Door were also great. Shout out to SNKRX

I personally love the Hearts of Iron IV: No Step Back expansion. It now feels like a feature-packed definitive edition of a WWII game. I have no idea what other features they could add.

My vote is for Gunfire: Reborn, which came out of early access in November. Loads of roguelite first-person shooter goodness, playable with up to three friends.

Jan Terje Bringe

Right now I'm torn between Psychonauts 2 and GotG. Both have amazing stories and characters. I don't know if being a Storm Rider or a Psychonaut is cooler.

neuroflare

Forgotten city has become.my game of the year by far. But being a parent of a toddler and a construction worker, not a lot of time to play games

Leif Dion

My vote is for Echoes of the Eye. Brilliantly integrated into Outer Wilds and deepens the story and play space. I played through OW again with my 7yo and then we experienced Echoes for the first time together. He's obsessed with Outer Wilds now. Our whole family is constantly humming the theme song.

Nate Bell

12 minutes. The voice acting was amazing and they somehow managed to build tension even when you can't see the character's faces. It was a lot of fun to figure out the puzzles and is my game of the year!

Shell Comics

Forza Horizon 5. I get bored by sim racing games, but Horizon always keeps me entertained. To say nothing of the technical achievement of optimising the game for its myriad of platforms.

David Vooght

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart I didn't play much from 2021, but no game truly captured the new generation like this. The technical proficiency on display is astounding with instant loading and always running smoothly, but it excels in many different areas as well. Art design, unique weapons while incorporating the Dualsense, likeable characters in a fun story, captivating worlds, accessibility options a-plenty, and a TON of easter eggs across both Insomniac and Playstation history ALL stuck with me long after the credits rolled.

Brandon K Gann

I'm a bit of a patient gamer so haven't played much that was released this year. That said, Echoes of the Eye was brilliant, if DLC is allowed.

Surells

Psychonauts 2. I couldn't believe that it's real, that it's here and that it's great. Had a smile on my face the whole way through. Pure love ♥️

yablko

Cyberpunk because it has great immersion, fun mechanics, and awesome graphics. Anyone that has problems with it just needs a 3090. If this is not acceptable ill choose death loop because its fun, innovative, and finished.

Vega

In an extremely crowded field, I will cast my mind back to the beginning of the year and say Hitman III: A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy and an endless playground where you can murder a bunch of shithead capitalists who think they're untouchable. That probably got me put on a watch list but hey, YOU look at the state of the world and tell me this isn't a compelling fantasy.

A Big Old Skeleton

Inscryption. A delightfully dark surprise of a deck-building card game that is more than meets the eye. The only trouble in recommending it is it’s hard to explain the true magic of the game without spoiling it.

Michael Gray

Returnal. My first rogue-like and the first real PS5 experience. Went from being terrible at the game to addicted and platinuming it.

Sable is a game about finding your place in the world. It reminds me of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with its truly impressive sense of wonder and discovery. The lack of combat creates an even stronger focus on the game's strange and beautiful world. The narrative and dialogue compliment the moment-to-moment gameplay so well as the titular glider Sable tries to find her purpose in the world as she completes her nomadic rite-of-passage. There are so many jaw-dropping moments as large structures in the distance come into focus, and all of it is accompanied by a lovely soundtrack by breakout indie rock band Japanese Breakfast. It's absolutely the most memorable game experience I had in 2021.

Anthony LaBella

Maybe unpopular, but Mass Effect Legendary Edition. It felt like a last visit a favorite haunt from years past, but where I knew more of the secret awesome spots and could get a new perspective on it all.

Death's Door has been my favourite game of 2021 — engaging gameplay, gorgeous stylized art, moving music that matches the tone of the game just right, and a well-paced narrative that comes across clearly despite the small amount of text and dialog in the game. All-in-all a charming, well-rounded experience that doesn't overstay its welcome

wightfyre

It Takes Two - the only time I had that much fun in a co-op game was during Portal 2.

obsKura

Probably Returnal for me. Housemarque's take on Roguelikes was both incredibly fun, scary, and challenging. My biggest negative was the double trigger function, which was cool but in the heat of the moment I messed up way too many times. Wish there weren't so many issues and bugs on release as well. Honorable mention to Tales of Arise!

Psychonauts 2, followed by Echoes of the Eye. But I’d say P2 as I think it’s a particularly important game. The issues it discusses and deals with are expertly and sensitively dealt with and it’s a masterclass on being interesting and thought provoking.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Having just been localized for the west this year, I finally got to experience one of the best visual novels of the past few years. This duology was the first in the franchise to be set in a concrete time and place (Victorian England), and the game shines for it, unafraid to look at the social pressures of race, class, and empire. This alongside some truly jaw-dropping cases and a charming cast of characters easily made it my game of the year.

Jon LeNeveu

My game of the year is Life is Strange: True Colors! As a huge fan of the Life is Strange series, I was surprised to find out that True Colors is the best entry yet. It has all the great pacing of the first game with the depth of choices from the second game, while having some of the best most heartfelt moments in the series so far (the concert in episode 4 is a personal favourite).

James Smith

Inscryption is my GotY. An absolutely sublime game that consistently does things that can only be done in video games, while telling an intense, spooky, and even heartwarming story. The best game yet by Daniel Mullins.

JayyMission

It Takes Two. There have been a long list of very interesting games this year, but It Takes Two is just a masterpiece in game design, level design, visuals, etc. And of course a true coop game, at its core, not as a special game mode.

Christophe Sauveur

Resident Evil Village

My personal GOTY is Psychonauts 2. The game is able to navigate potent themes in such a skillful and thoughtful manner, where every character, level, story beat, and mechanic feels like it belongs and has a narrative reason to exist. I also feel with this title Microsoft has set such a good example of what a studio acquisition can and should look like. Psychonauts 2 would have come out even if double fine hadn't been acquired, but I feel they got the time, resources, support, and platform from Microsoft to elevate the title to a level it wouldn't have achieved otherwise.

Michael Middleton

For me it was NieR Replicant's remaster, though not an original new game I was never able to play it back in the day so this was my first time with it. I loved basically every second and both the story and soundtrack were amazing. There's nothing quite like a Yoko Taro story, there's just this unique quirkiness and charm to them all so far. There have been a lot of lazy remasters lately but that can't be said about this one which even includes brand new content if you play it all the way through.

Gabriel Costa (Hired Sword)

Haven't played many new releases this year, but Resident Evil Village stands out for me especially. I loved the remakes and RE7, and I feel like Village built wonderfully on the strengths of those. Cool characters and bosses, interesting and atmospheric world design, good difficulty balance for both puzzles and combat, just a really solid traditional single player experience overall. And hey, I even like the way they developed the story and I am excited for the conclusion in RE9 :)

Simon Weiler

Game of the year for me had to be Returnal. Challenging gameplay, gorgeous environments, and a story that lends itself to multiple interpretations and online community debate? I was obsessed!

Mike Casey

It's a toss-up for me between Ghost of Tsushima and Maneater. The latter was just stupid, cathartic fun, with hilarious voice acting and "shark jump-flopping around on a beach" ridiculousness. But Tsushima was exactly the sort of calm, beautiful gameplay I needed in 2021. The game isn't perfect. But it's an open world in which I would rather walk than ride, because the scenery is just that gorgeous. I don't have many platinum achievements, but I spent the time to get both for Maneater and Tsushima.

Rick Osborne

… I hope this counts, but Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye. To have made an expansion which operates as a new experience for tenured players and a seamless addition for new/future players is an achievement which shouldn’t be overlooked. There’s nuance, care and love in EVERY element of the experience which is something often missing in mainstream games.

Unsighted. It uses mechanics like the anima/meteor dust timer to tell a tense story of urgency, in a novel way, but it has an easily accessible to turn that feature off. The things it borrows from existing genres like Metroidvania exploration and souls combat it does SO well. Surprising for being the first game of a two person team from Brazil.

O Thomaz Games BR

Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye. In a way, it is almost a sequel of sorts, but tucked perfectly into the base game. It doesn't change or diminish the base game at all, and it expands on the brilliant universe in ways that evoke the same captivating sense of mystery. Much like the original, I was left with a swell of emotion by the end that no other game has given me.

Cameron Ladd

Has to be Psychonauts 2. It's funny, but with a deceptively deep and mature story that kids will enjoy for what it is but adults will enjoy for what it says.

Connor McNamara