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Absolute gem. Wow. I can easily place this in my Top 5 of all-time. Very few games have such a full-blown story to this degree and it's impressive they were able to pull this franchise into a new genre. Ryosuke Horii and friends really gave Yakuza a new breath of life. The voice cast absolutely killed it for the English dub. The OST is amazing and keeps the energy going. The cast is a group of loveable misfits and nobody is perfect. Tons of stuff to do that's legit fun (looking at you, golf center place). Best 8 / 10 game I've ever played in my life. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is, well... Ichiban!
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In early November I did not care about Guardians coming out. Briefly saw the demo they gave at E3 earlier this year, and was like "Uh that's cool I guess" and never thought of it ever again. Until December, when I played it nearly every night. Insanely great narrative, underlying theme, and character archs. The gameplay and story is just awesome. The banter kept me smiling along the way, and each chapter was special and exciting. Much similar to Like a Dragon, this game is about the friends you make along the way and sticking up for your squad. The set pieces rival Doom Eternal as well, as the scope of these areas are frequently fresh, new, and insane to look at. For a bonus point, it has Tears for Fears in it. Absolute blast and probably the most "fun" game I played this year. They really nailed AND enhanced the Guardians going forward.
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Control nails atmosphere and world building really, really, really well. The concepts driven in that game are absolutely fascinating. From The Old House itself to the Refrigerator you can't take your eyes off of, this game really struck my old urban legends funny bone. No game touches Control it these departments. Though it ran a little long in the tooth at a point, the pros heavily outweigh the cons. Everyone should play this game. Hell, even my parents loved it.
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Solid. Very solid continuation of the legacy that RE7 stamped into place for this franchise. Gunplay feels great. Story is goofy but makes sense and keeps ya going. Enemies/antagonists are fairly unique. You know in the beginning where you're walking with like 7 bullets and all the lycans are just crouched on the roof staring at you? Great stuff. Plus, they kept the 'ol RE "make the room blue and not red on the map anymore" mechanic and I just love that.
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Absolutely the best early access game out there right now that I've seen post-Hades. Ishtar Games are a great bunch of folks and they're really killing it with Last Spell. Tactical turn-based city defense game that's got a cryptic synthmetal soundtrack? Fucking awesome. Oh, and like Hades was, this game feels very complete for an "early access" title. Looking forward to 2022 with Last Spell.
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I can't stop loving this goofy ass ghost hunting game. Why do I love this so much? I've honestly been impressed with DKnighter's (new) squad and the improvements/additions they've been making and how fast they keep making them. Every few months there seems to be new ghosts, levels, mechanics, and items. This is my favorite "let's play a few rounds" game of 2021 that's for sure.
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I got reallllly into Oxygen Not Included early this year. This is absolutely my favorite simulation experience. It's got a lot going on, cool ideas, and lots of things to manage. That said, I got just into it enough to start seeing what "real big brain" base setups you could pull off and kinda got scared and stopped playing. This game is brutal, and honestly kinda hard. At the same time, that's what keeps it interesting. This is absolutely one of the best games where you can feel things spiraling out of control, want/needing to restart, and going into the next try smarter than you were before only to fuck it all up again.
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Dang this game is slick. Think Slay the Spire but a story-driven roguelike. However, unlike some story-driven card roguelikes, they did a bang up jump with deck creation abilities. This game does fantastic at allowing for newfound synergies to really become the main theme of your deck. The stories are compact, but cool. There are multiple characters that play different and have different cards. The soundtrack is pretty on-point. It's probably one of the most tight yet robust games I've played this year. Blink, and you'll have 50hrs+ into it like I do.
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I love this studio. I really like that they continue to try and do their own thing. Humankind, while similar to another certain Civ game, is a good adaptation of a Civ-like experience but in their side-Endless world. I'm not in love with it as Endless Legend, but definitely keep coming back to it over this year and ultimately I really just dig the mechanics. Lots of cool ideas in here. They're not all perfectly executed, but they work well enough and stand out.
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