Heeeere we gooo!
Games of the Year 2021
 | 1. Monster Hunter Rise I put in a minimum of 500 hours on the Switch port and will put in at least 1000 more on the PC port. I loved this game and its newly introduced mechanics enough to (poorly) Time Attack/Speedrun a few monsters, learn multiple weapon types, and make 12 different sets for my new main weapon: the switch axe. I will admit that despite my hours I jumped off the bandwagon a wee bit early but that was due to the allure of the modding scene for Monster Hunter World, knowledge that I could do all of the newly introduced content on the PC port at 60 fps, and admittedly a lack of strong incentive outside of cosmetic rewards to continue into the extremely late postgame. That is hardly enough of a detraction to keep this game from being my GOTY hands down. |
 | 2. Shin Megami Tensei V While I didn't finish this game due to losing momentum on it, getting sick and having IRL issues come up, I put over 130 hours into this game within a week or two of its release and wasn't even halfway done. The mechanics are as awesome as ever and they added elements of more open exploration and verticality which freshen the old dungeon crawl experience. I feel that the atmosphere and characters are weaker than in Strange Journey, IV, Nocturne and Soul Hackers but it stands on its own and has its own trademark mechanics and feel. |
 | 3. Final Fantasy VII Remake The intermission DLC brought me back to the game and drove me to not only play through its added Yuffie storyline, but to attempt taking on more of the postgame challenges along with other things I'd not gotten around to the first time playing through the base game last year. The combat mechanics are one of the primary drivers of what I love about this game and what Yuffie and her comrade bring to the table fail to disappoint. I just hope that in the next game she isn't as grossly overpowered and fully kitted out as in the DLC, because she will without question be carrying the rest of the party around with ease in that scenario. |
 | 4. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights This metroidvania harkens to the mechanics of the DS/3DS Soma playstyle Castlevania games in which your enemies' attacks in effect are summoned and used by you. The secrets are myriad, the atmosphere and art style beautiful, and mechanics perfectly tuned in such a way as to make you feel like a god when used in creative ways. Easily among the top in a very crowded and competitive list of entries within its genre. |
 | 5. Sable I will not spoil much of the game other than saying this: In my opinion this is the only open world game to properly copy/be driven by Breath of the Wild's formula for exploration. Every other game I have seen that claims to do so only dips their toes out of fear that they will lose the player's interest by not inundating them with constant map markers or the half baked guidance of blowing wind, birds flying or running foxes every 5 feet. This game very well would've taken #2 or #1 if not for the fact that it released in an unreasonably glitchy and broken state. Without question, when the issues are rectified this will be a game I return to. Possibly many times. |
 | 6. Trials of Fire A single player roguelite deck builder with hex based combat semi reminiscent of duelyst mixed with semi-open world RPG exploration and mechanics. It was fun and I beat the game a few times however from my experience with it, I soon found myself preferring specific characters for specific roles with specific cards/equipment/playstyles and in turn did not experiment and did not engage with its replayability. With that said I found the game quite enjoyable during my 31 hours playing it and would not be surprised if a patch or two has already shaken up or rectified my concerns with it. It is likely a game I will return to in the future. |
 | 7. Loop Hero Yet another roguelite game that I reached near the end of. It was interesting to experiment with and had novel systems but I cannot lie about the fact that the end challenge was a difficulty wall I wasn't willing to climb and I let the game go. I don't think I can really describe the mechanics of this game in a way that does it justice, however I can assure you it is definitely something unique and different. If you want a challenging new roguelite with novel mechanics to tackle this is most certainly for you. |
 | 8. Griftlands A roguelite deckbuilder with engaging story beats and impactful decisions that uniquely change up each run. At almost every impasse you have the option to build your deck around and decide to either engage with a novel interpretation of dialogue/haggling/arguing to deal with the problem or fairly standard turn based combat gameplay akin to Slay The Spire. I beat the game once or twice and unlocked another character to play with. I admit that the game was relatively fun and the replayability through decision making engaging for a while but I was not a fan of the dialogue side of the gameplay. I also found the combat side of things relatively simplistic when chosen as my sole method of engagement after being tired of dialogue. |
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