Community MetaCouncil's Games of the Year Awards 2021

[Le Pertti]

Welcome to MetaCouncil's Annual Game of the Year voting! Vote for five of your favorite games of 2021.

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Shamelessly copied and changed past work done by Wok
​

Check out our GOTY's for past years:
GOTY 2020
GOTY 2019

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Rules are as follows:
The categories for voting are:

• Game of the Year 2021 Award (main award)
• Ongoing Game of the Year (optional)
• Early Access of the Year (optional)
• Turd of the Year (optional)

Rules specific to the main award:

• Up to 5 choices can be submitted (ranked voting without point):
  • 1st Choice
  • 2nd Choice
  • 3rd Choice
  • 4th Choice
  • 5th Choice
• You can submit fewer than 5 games, but you must submit at least 1 game as your 1st choice.
• For the 1st Choice, you have to write a short text to explain why you have chosen it as your GOTY. It could be a sentence.
• Do not submit the same game for several Choices of the main award.

Eligibility criteria for each category:

• GOTY 2021 Award:
  • Any game fully released in 2021 is eligible.
  • This includes remakes and remasters, provided that there is a new executable.
  • Episodic content is eligible if the last episode was released in 2021.
  • As MetaCouncil is a predominantly English language website, any game getting an English translation in the correct time frame can be eligible.
  • As to be clear, you can choose VR games for the GOTY category.
  • You can submit games from any PC store front and Console and even Phones.
• Ongoing Game of the Year
  • Any game fully released prior to 2021 which received content updates in 2021 is eligible.
  • New content can be in the form of patches, DLC or general updates, but not bug fixes.
• Early Access of the Year
  • Any game released into Early Access (or equivalent) in 2021 is eligible.
• Turd of the Year
  • Any game fully released in 2021 is eligible. We're looking for the worst games.

To Vote send a PM to me Le Pertti with the subject GOTY2021 and format you message as follows:

GOTY 2021
1. Game Title (Platform)
2. Game Title (Platform)
3. Game Title (Platform)
4. Game Title (Platform)
5. Game Title (Platform)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Your awesome text.

Ongoing:
Game Title (Platform)

Early Access of the year:
Game Title (Platform)

Turd of the Year:
Game Title (Platform)

Deadline:
January 5th 2022

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[Ge0force]

GOTY 2021
1. The Riftbreaker (PC)
2. Kathy Rain: Director's Cut (PC)
3. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PC)
4. SNKRX (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
The Riftbreaker combines the best elements from several different genres into a fresh and exciting experience. We need more games like this!

Ongoing:
Oxygen Not Included (PC)

Turd of the Year:
Epic Game Store

 

[Joe Spangle]

Thanks for setting this up Le Pertti (and Wok for past GOTYs)

Ill start thinking about my list, lots of good games this year.

 

[MomoVideo]

This thread made me realize I did not play anything that was released this year. Patient Gamer 4 Life

 

[Anteater]

Sent, I usually don't participate in these much since I don't really play a lot of games day one, but I'll do it since we're quite small. I've only completed like 5 games this year so yeah, lol.

 

[Valdien]

Can't really say for sure if I've played more or less 2021 releases this year compared to last year; however, some of the games that I was really looking forward to this year have left me disappointed.

I don't think I'll have a full list of top 5 games this time around, but we'll see. I still need to think on this. RE Village is still my GOTY, with Nioh 2 PC being second.

SMT V is most likely third. Doing a second playthrough of it right now so I can see the other endings plus take on the Demi-Fiend. I expected a lot more from SMT V, but Atlus dropped the ball on a couple of things, particularly the plot, characters, and the tedious exploration. The first two areas are quite fun to explore, even if they are long, however, from the 3'rd area onwards it just becomes tedious because it's practically the same thing but with a different colour scheme. There really is nothing interesting going on outside of the visuals and few bosses. They could've broken this up with dungeons in between, but alas, they've been gutted.

There are a few issues I have with the gameplay as well and how it's been balanced. It's definitely a set back from SMT IV:A which has some of best gameplay balancing in an SMT game (IMO), even in the late game stages. Also, players looking to do low-levels runs, especially on Hard mode, can kiss that goodbye. It has a very shitty level scaling system that you'd expect in typical JRPGs, and not in a mainline SMT game. The soundtrack is great, though! I love it. Anyway, as an overall package, Nocturne still remains my favourite. And in terms of the combat gameplay, it's IV:A.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Yay! Thank you Le Pertti for running it this year! Hopefully Wok comes back soon.

I need to check my list of played games but #1 should be Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous.

 

[Bonfires Down]

We would need like a five year delay for me to make a good list. But I did play some new Game Pass games so I'll type something up eventually.

The countdown is broken btw.

At least I know my turd of the year will be Rockstar.

 

[Le Pertti]

The countdown is broken btw.

It updates on every refresh of the page.

 

[Bonfires Down]

It updates on every refresh of the page.

I can't see it at all though. I'm on Chrome on Windows.

 

[Le Pertti]

I can't see it at all though. I'm on Chrome on Windows.

Aaah! Hmh weird. Well the deadline is 5th of January.

Edit yeah doesn't seem to work on chrome for me either.

Anyone else that can't see it?

 

[beep boop]

Tough competition this year, but if you think about it, the undisputed best game of 2021 has to be the distilled gaming perfection that is Cookie Clicker.

Anyone else that can't see it?

It’s not visible to me either. Probably one of my privacy extensions.

 

[Valdien]

Aaah! Hmh weird. Well the deadline is 5th of January.

Edit yeah doesn't seem to work on chrome for me either.

Anyone else that can't see it?

Yeah, I don't see it, either.

 

[Parsnip]

Voted.

 

[Kvik]

We have another Frenchman taking big responsibilities? Oh no.

I'm joking~

Thanks for doing this, Le Pertti and hope Wok is doing fine too.


I'll cast my vote in a bit, but the No. 1 & 2 spot is pretty much set in stone at this point.

 

[Ascheroth]

Thanks for doing this!
My preliminary list probably looks like this (not going to submit it properly yet, cause it may or may not change a bit in the next month)

GOTY 2021
1. It Takes Two
2. Subnautica: Below Zero
3. Blue Fire
4. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
5. Yakuza 3

Ongoing:
Genshin Impact (It's the only ongoing game I'm still playing )

 

[LEANIJA]

For me so far:

GOTY 2021
1. Resident Evil Village (Steam)
2. The Medium (Steam)
3. Tales of Arise (Steam)
4. Life is Strange True Colours (Steam)
5. Bright Memory Infinite (Steam)

I want to play (more of) these first before I reach a final verdict, however: Deathloop, Sword and Fairy 7, The Ascent, Lake, Outriders,

Short Motivation for GOTY: "REVillage is quite good" (still have to work on that.)

Ongoing: World of Warcraft (Battlenet)

Early Access of the year: Death Trash (Steam)

Turd of the Year: Thankfully I havent really played any awful games

 

[Anteater]

1. Ys IX
2. Nier Replicant
3. Tales of Arise
4. Yakuza 3

Those were the ones I liked, there are games I only watched but not played and ones I haven't finished so I end up only having 4. I would've liked RE8 but I only saw a streamer play it.

 

[PhaZZe]

For me.


GOTY 2021
1. It Takes two (PC)
2. Metroid Dread (SWITCH)
3. Psychonauts 2 (PC)
4. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (PC)
5. Yakuza 3 (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
It takes two was an amazing experience, played with my girlfriend (who know nothing about games) and was incredible, a lot of differents gameplays, really enjoyed goty material.

Ongoing:
Sea of thieves (PC)

Early Access of the year:
Valheim (PC)

Turd of the Year:
Battlefield 2042 (PC)

 

[Joe Spangle]

Sent you my choices Le Pertti
Hope i filled it all in correctly.

Its tricky picking 5 top games, all of mine are indies this year. The only big game that got close is Days Gone.

 

[Parsnip]

I literally only have one game in my main list, Psychonauts 2.

 

[「Echo」]

Lovely community thread. Glad the tradition continues altho I cannot vote this year, the sad truth is I don't think I've completed any 2021 games outside of Outriders and DDLC+.

Outriders was just okies, defnitely not GOTY material. And DDLC+ was absolutely amazing but it's a remaster of an older VN.

 

[Kvik]

And DDLC+ was absolutely amazing but it's a remaster of an older VN.

It's still eligible, though. Definitely cast your vote for DDLC!

GOTY 2021 Award:

• Any game fully released in 2021 is eligible.
• This includes remakes and remasters, provided that there is a new executable.

 

[Le Pertti]

Those of you that have only written your list in this thread, you want me to count them or will you send a DM when you are sure?

 

[Ascheroth]

Those of you that have only written your list in this thread, you want me to count them or will you send a DM when you are sure?

I'll send you a DM when I'm sure.

 

[LEANIJA]

I'll send you a DM when I'm sure.

me too

 

[Cacher]

GOTY 2021
1. Fights in Tight Spaces (PC)
2. Halo Infinite Multiplayer (PC)
3. Dreamscape (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Tightly designed (pun intended) card fighting game. Extremely addictive and satisfying to play thanks to the balanced combat styles, great sound effect and punchy animations. Watching the replay after fight always bring a grin to my face, especially after pulling out satisfying combos to finish off the enemies in a few turns.

Turd of the Year:
Tales of Arise's skits (PC). Overabundance, intrusive, preachy, and long-winding... simply awful. Huge impact to an otherwise decent game.

Edit: not a final list because I still need to play the Gunk.

 

[Futaleufu]

 

[low-G]

I usually don't vote officially in these things but I will dump my thoughts. I write stuff up as the year goes on. Here I list in vague order of preference. Enjoy... or not:

Guardians of the Galaxy
Cinematic and fun storyline packed with licensed music and humor surpassing what I'd seen in a game before. The gameplay is a fine example of the linear action adventure title which is becoming somewhat rarer, but where the game excels is in the same way FMV games of the early 90s tried in vain.

Halo Infinite
A bit like what I imagined Halo would be back before I ever played it, when they first showed it off at Macworld. A bit what of what Halo dressed its world as (like the skyboxes), but never was capable of doing (technically). A bit of BOTW, where traversal of the environment is meaningful, challenging, interesting, and rewarding. A bit like Mission 2 in Halo 1. The story, music, writing, plot, etc definitely has a distinct feeling of offbrand open world feel though. Almost like it wasn't made by all the original devs (but it's better than what they're doing now)...

Forza Horizon 5
You know, it's another one. All the core systems are slicker than ever. The game is beautiful. Didn't like the music. Lacks the overall power for its time of Horizon 3, and I miss the snowy season of Horizon 4. But otherwise it's kind of the best one?

Loop Hero
Amazing innovative addictive gameplay and a striking visual style. Kinda want to say this one easily hangs with the 3 above. But we got a real apples vs oranges situation going on.

Arthurian Legends
Oops All Secrets! A retro FPSworder (like "FPSsword") that actually is genuinely retro in gameplay and visuals. This game could have topped off a GOTY of 1995. A long lost pseudo Build engine title worthy of that mantle.

Diablo 2 Remastered
They managed to almost capture everything that made the original game the all time classic it is with a meticulous copy paste rarely seen in remasters. Unlike almost any other remakes, this one also emulates the visuals perfectly while providing an immense boost in fidelity and supplying some nice QoL updates.

Metroid Dread
It may not have the chops of Super Metroid or Metroid Prime in music, atmosphere, and visual wow, but the gameplay solidly proves yet again that Metroid is the real deal and the others are just wanna-bees... addicting game worthy of the Metroid name.

Highfleet
One of the most interesting releases of 2021. This hearkens back to the way PC games were in the early 90s. Coupled with compelling visuals and a fascinating style, it's great.

Walkabout Mini Golf
The most pure fun I had in 2021. It encapsulates all the fun and frustration of mini golf on more fantastical courses than could be made in real life.

Subverse
surprisingly fun and far sexier than I could have imagined

Cruisin Blast
It may not hold up visually to the arcade version, but this classic arcade racer really is a blast. Very short...

Steel Assault
Super short and super sweet

Lego Builders Journey
tells a story in really innovative ways. The first photoreal 3D game, ever. Not joking.

Ratchet & Clank PS5
closer than ever to playing a CG movie, fun to play

Psychonauts 2
Definitely a vision of quality games of the early 00s. Worksmanship quality, fun to play, and good humored.

Far Cry 6
A solid comeback after the too-often-interrupted Far Cry 5. Still delivers the sort of open world opportunities of the genre. Some really great visuals at times.

HROT
A true boomer shooter that really delivers on feel. It has a style of its own that has its own feel rather than trying and failing to purely imitate the greats. The world is oppressive like a horror game but still instrsically actiony.

New Pokemon Snap
An imperfect sequel, more foregiving than ever, but still having the core mechanics and sense of exploration, getting closer to Pokemon than ever since.

R-Type Final 2
It's a new R-Type in the style of old. Very competent, and fun with new mechanics and lots of variety of firepower.


Here are games I own, think may deserve to be on my GOTY list, but I didn't play enough to pass true judgment:

Hitman 3

Atelier Ryza 2

Resident Evil Village

Everspace 2

Guilty Gear Strive

Wario for Switch

The Mario 3D World updates (cat stuff)

Lone Echo II

Deathloop



Olde games I played a lot this year:

King's Field
I'm always replaying this

Doom (Combined Arms 2 mod)
What an amazing mod!

Starcraft (and Remastered)
Remastered is a new pickup this year. Finally appreciating this game for what it is. (p.s. had technical problems with Remastered in the past, but now it seems to work)

Dirt 5

Animal Crossing AH
My daughter finally started playing it in earnest, and what with all the updates I'm back at it.

Halo 1 & 3

Baldur's Gate II
Actually never finished. I'm playing through with completed BG1 characters

Ace Combat 7
Finally finished, was in the mood for it, hit the spot when I needed it to

Unreal, Unreal Tournament

Ninja Warriors Once Again
new pickup, fantastic game. Yaksha needs more rule 34

Metroid Prime
Always replaying this

Castlevania 4
Always replaying this

Battlefield V
Didn't really play THAT much of it, but it's amazing how much better it is than many FPS in hindsight

 

[sanhora]

This thread made me realize I did not play anything that was released this year. Patient Gamer 4 Life

Now that I think about it... Mahjong Soul, Crusader Kings 3, Yakuza 2-5, Slay the Spire, Monster Train, SMT Nocturne, Monster Hunter World, Labyrinth of Refrain, CS IV, Witcher Thronebreaker, Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, Pathfinder Kingmaker, Ys Origin and Oath in Felghana and probably some other stuff that I forgot.
Yeah, not very many games that were released this year.
Oh wait, I did buy Great Ace Attorney.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Just finished The Forgotten City and I think it was good enough to make my top 5 for this year.

 

[Paul]

GOTY 2021
1. Forgotten City (PC)
2. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PC)
3. Psychonauts 2 (PC)
4. The Ascent (PC)
5. Diablo II: Resurrected (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Three recently released games based around the principle of the time loop and the attempt to break it. Three diametrically opposed approaches to the same theme. But where 12 Minutes plays out an extremely minimalist drama in the space of a single apartment, and Deathloop provides a bloody massacre without the possibility of deeper interpersonal interaction on Blackreef Island, Forgotten City gave me the opportunity to thoroughly explore a peculiar Greco-Roman town in 65 AD, not only geographically, but especially socially. Dialogues with the twenty or so residents here are the essence of Forgotten City. Each of the town's inhabitants is brilliantly written, modeled and voiced, so it's no problem to remember them even with their Latin names.

It's not easy for me to dissect why Forgotten City is such an immersive experience, because I personally went into it completely blind - I didn't read any reviews, and the only reason I even tried the game was some positive posting on forums. And that, in my opinion, is the best way to enjoy Forgotten City to the fullest - don't research or read anything and jump into its portal. I'll just say, then, that the primary reason for my enthusiasm, aside from the great dialogue and characters, is also the real use of the potential of the time travel loop premise, a potential that e.g. Deathloop almost completely squandered due to too much hand-holding. The historical setting is also very nice, as are the many details.

A few more words on the technical aspects - the graphics are nice, the inhabitants are charismatic , the music is fitting for the atmosphere, the stability and debugging is flawless, and about the only thing I can complain about are the weaker facial animations and animation in general, which is such an age-old nemesis of studios with smaller budgets.
Forgotten City was primarily created by a team of three Australians, and I can't wait to see what their next project will be.

Honorable Mentions:
Resident Evil Village - loved how varied it was, great atmosphere, fun gameplay
Days Gone - beautiful world, biking didn't get too old even without fast travel, decent story
Far Cry 6 - too long for its own good, but still a good Far Cry game, finally with likeable speaking protagonist

Ongoing:
N/A - I play singleplayer games

Early Access of the year:
N/A - I don't play early access games

Turd of the Year:
N/A - I don't play turd games if I can avoid it

 

[Amzin]

All I am seeing so far is not enough people playing Cozy Grove.

I'm going to have to dig through my played list this year and see what qualifies, as I played almost nothing anyone else has posted so far, which I usually use to jog my memory

Edit: Uh-oh, I have more than 5 I want to put in top 5. Not sure that happens that often. This is going to be hard

 

[「Echo」]

I ended up voting after all. :v

My only eligible plays this year were FFXIV for ongoing and Doki Doki Literature Club+ lol. Hopefully that is okies...
Next year I'll be in a better position to play more! (hopefully!)

 

[Le Pertti]

I have now stickied the thread so people can easily find it!

(risk is, no one looks at the stickies)

 

[Mor]

GOTY 2021
1. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Steam)
2. Nier Replicant (Steam)
3. Guardians of the Galaxy (Steam)
4. F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch (Steam)
5. Sable (Steam)

Honorable mention: Days Gone.

All those games I enjoyed a lot but Alba has a special place in my heart this year as it's based in the same area where I live so it's kind of special to see your local culture reflected in a video game in such a lovely way, from small references to local newspapers to full political real situations that happened, sadly, in our community, I wrote a lovely review for it (sorry I won't share cause' I don't like sharing my account in public) so please, check it out if you want to read a very long love card for this product.

Nier is just that amazing at a personal level, such a lovely game.

Guardians of the Galaxy is that game you don't expect anything from it and it ends up surprising you in the good way, holy smokes, loved it.

FIST was just amazing and I appreciate a lot the gift (you know who you are)

Sable was a very relaxing and exciting experience that I ended up completing at 100% cause' visually it was amazing and very special.

Turd of the Year:
Twelve Minutes (Steam)

Sadly this is the disappointment of the year, it started really well but ended up in a way I disliked a lot, sad to see I had to vote this as a bad game cause' mechanically speaking I enjoyed it a lot.

 

[Prodigy]

GOTY 2021

1. Psychonauts 2
2. Guardians of the Galaxy (wtf)
3. Halo Infinite
4. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Rightious
5. Resident Evil: Village


Short Motivation for GOTY:
This series is just special to me, I still remember the first time i ever saw Psychonauts 1. A demo was included in a CD that came with a gaming magazine. I tried it not knowing what it was about or who even made it (even though I loved monkey island, Grim Fandango etc...). The demo included the opening where you are in the cabin area and you could explore a little hub and the first brain. It had a very cozy feel that made me want to stay in the world with witty and unique characters and unique levels. I of course got the full release and adored it. I never thought there was a possibility of getting a follow up.

The sequel though had everything I loved about the first game, but expanded and I would say better, we still had the crazy characters, the hilarious dialogue, much better platforming and action, a bigger hub world with more to see and do. The levels were unique, you just never know what you will get. Overall it was everything I could hope for in a follow up. It would be like someone doing a follow up to the Lord of the Rings movies and being better, it doesn't seem possible, but that is what it felt like.

Ongoing:
Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Final Fantasy 14

Early Access of the year:
Escape From Tarkov - Keep on coming back to this as there is nothing like playing it, they just did a fresh wipe and added a new map this month. Waiting for the Chrismas sale to up my stash to max.

Turd of the Year:
NFT's - real answer 12 minutes as it is the only thing I can think of that I didn't enjoy playing this year.

 

[Le Pertti]

Mor Want me to count your GOTY from this thread? Sometimes people post their work in progress lists so I usually wait till they PM me for the count.

 

[Mor]

Mor Want me to count your GOTY from this thread? Sometimes people post their work in progress lists so I usually wait till they PM me for the count.

Sure thing, that's my definitive vote

 

[prudis]

shit i completely forgot about this .. i should probably vote too

 

[thekeats1999]

So just dropped my nominations.

GOTY - nothing. Just not played anything eligible, or if I did it was that bad I can't remember it.

Ongoing Game - Final Fantasy XIV, played most of the year and is slowly becoming my favourite FF story. Plus Endwalker is great.

Early Access - Dorfromantik, outside of FFXIV, it is my most played game of the year. It just gets better and better with each update as well.

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

GOTY:
1) Outriders (PC)
I only played it in single player and didn't really deal with any of the launch bugs and issues that many others did. That being said, I had a ton of fun with it! Gameplay loop was quite addicting. Would like to return to it again after recent update and upcoming expansion!
2) Dreamscaper (PC)
3) Resident Evil Village (PC)
4) Sunlight (PC)
5) N/A

Ongoing Game:
Genshin Impact (PC)
This would be my game of the year if it were released this year, but alas.. late 2020.

Early Access:
N/A

Turd of the Year:
NFTs

 

[sk2k]

GOTY 2021
1. Mundaun
2. Resident Evil: Village
3. The Forgotten City
4. The Medium
5. Omno

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Sorry, not text.

Ongoing:
SnowRunner

Early Access of the year:
PowerWash Simulator

Turd of the Year:
Among Trees

 

[Le Pertti]

My top 5!

 

[Amzin]

1. Chicory (PC)
2. Cozy Grove (PC)
3. Unsighted (PC)
4. Wildermyth (PC)
5. Cloud Gardens (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
It's actually a tough call this year - I had trouble even cutting down to just 5 games on the list even. But Chicory wins out for me. It's new and novel (a top-down puzzle adventure where you do everything via painting?). The dialogue is heartfelt, wholesome, heavy, and generally wonderful. It's naturally diverse, and has very nice accessibility options. It draws (no pun intended) you in to doing things not because you have to but because you want to engage with it (like "draw a portrait" - you don't HAVE to try, but you want to). Even the hint system is charming. On top of all that, it's one of the rare games where I don't really have any nitpicks - it does what it does just right.

Ongoing:
Pistol Whip (PC)

Early Access of the year:
Dyson Sphere Program (PC)

Turd of the Year:
Battlefield 2042 (PC) (I could have also put Humankind or Echoes of the Eye here but BF2042 is clearly the worst and I would be shocked if anything else takes this).

I didn't include this in the message, but here are my other 2021 games:
Dysmantle (didn't quite make the cut, as honestly the combat is pretty meh)
Dogs Organized Neatly (delightful but it's not quite as impressive as the others)
Necromunda: Hired Gun (I enjoyed it more than DOOM Eternal by a mile but it sure isn't polished)
Webbed (fun but honestly I preferred the platforming over the puzzling and much of the game was puzzles)
Death's Door (good but relatively flawed)
Exo One (fun and neat but no level select, kind of one-dimensional, and that space level all hurt it)
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (it's good but not amazing)
Foregone (same - good but not amazing, too flawed. Needed another few design passes)

 

[kio]

GOTY 2021
1. Chicory: A Colorful Tale
2. Greak: Memories of Azur
3. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
4. Blue Fire
5. Grime

Short Motivation for GOTY:
A whimsical tale about love and duty, despair and hope, finding your purpose in the world and accepting what surrounds you. It's hard to put in words the large spectrum of emotions the game conveys, similar to wandersong (their previous game), but after each play session I was left with a smile in my mouth and a lot of questions about myself in my head. I think the best thing I can say about the game is that it's an experience everyone owes to themselves to live.

Ongoing:
Dota 2 (PC) - It's not something I personally play, jumped ship 6 years ago, but it's just an amazing spectator game.


Apart from my #1 none of the other games are particularly amazing but since I haven't played a lot of newly released games this year they get a spot. There's a lot of potentialy great games that I didn't have an oportunity to play like Wildermyth, Inscryption or Eastward

 

[fokkusu]

GOTY 2021
1. It Takes Two (PC)
2. Psychonauts 2 (PC)
3. Nier Replicant (PC)
4. Dysmantle (PC)
5. Halo Infinite Multiplayer (PC)

Short Motivation for GOTY:
Brilliantly fun co-op

Early Access of the year:
Teardown (PC)

 

[Derrick01]

I'm so clueless I just now noticed this thread lol. I still have a few 2021 releases to finish up before submitting any vote though. Trying to finish metroid (won't be making my list so maybe I should put that on hold...) and have to get through hitman 3 and wildermyth.

 

[Mivey]

GOTY 2021

1.Metroid Dread

I love Metroidvania games, and Metroid itself has a special part of my heart as one of the games that spawned the name itself (even if one can argue that it wasn't the first such game, but that's neither here nor there). Dread is such a fresh take on the franchise, continuing a lot of new ideas from Metroid Fusion and bringing back some key gameplay ideas from Mercury Steams previous Metroid game, Samus Returns. Ultimately, I loved this game's relentless focus on a fast moving narrative, incredibly challenging (but never unfair) boss fights and beautiful animation. Definitely the highlight of the year for me.

2. Psychonauts 2

A great sequel to a classic action adventure game. Hopefully one of many great games from Double Fine under Microsoft.

3. It Takes Two

Easily the best co-op game of all time. Incredibly long and never running out of fresh ideas. Hazelight Studios continues to make better and better co-op experiences, and I look forward what else they have in store in the coming years.

4. Kathy Rain: Director's Cut

Point and Click adventure games will always be dear to me, and Kathy Rain is very much a modern classic already. The Director's Cut feels a bit superfluous, but just because how great the first game already felt. Still, technically a 2021 release, and I'll take any opportunity to put great PnC games on GOTY lists.

5. Impostor Factory

Beautiful, heart-breaking sequel to what is the best RPG Maker game series out there. I didn't really expect this game to take the turn it did, but I'm also glad Kan Gao didn't go for a conventional sequel and instead opted for something far crazier. I do hope we get one final game in the "To The Moon" world, but even if we don't, Impostor Factory is a great swan song to end the series on (even if it does not quite provide definitive closure, but instead a bitter-sweet longing for more).

 

[prudis]

GOTY 2021
1. Wildermyth - Amazing papercraft RPG with great story generator and fun banter engine. , that restarted my DnD soul and made me after like a decade go back to it. also great to name heroes after folks and posting about their little stories
2. Fights in Tight Spaces - perfectly designed roguelike with amazing idea, absolute blast
3. Pronty: Fishy Adventure - basically Hollow Knight but in the sea (yes its that good) , The devs managed to turn the infamous "underwater levels" into a full underwater game that just worlks and is blast to play
4. Fuga: Melodies of Steel - phenomenal tactical rpg with furry kids in a big tank .... sleeper hit of 2021
5. Idol Manager - addictive and surprisingly complex simulatorfo "producer-san", where its always fun to name idols after MC folk

Honorable mentions (in no particular order):

• Guardians of the Galaxy - surprise of the year, just super fun
• SNKRX - simple stupid idea that just wirks
• Nier Replicant √2 - with amazing soundtrack
• It Takes two - best Coops
• Dap truely unique and horrifying spin on pikmin
• Inscryption - Daniels Mullins at it again with his 4th wall breaking weirdness, this time in escaperoom deckbuilding psychological horror form
• They Always Run - supefun fast action metroidvania focusing mainly on the combat instead of exploration
• Let's Build a Zoo - best burger farm and crossspecies breeding simularoe
• Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator - the sci-fi body horror market tycoon you didn't know you needed.
• Cruelty Squad - best immersive WTF sim of the year

WTF "happening.jpg" port
- moon: Remix RPG Adventure - and overall super fun game the hero is a dick though
El Shaddai - weird aertsy game with super fan compat ported by the one heroic man

Ongoing:
Oxygen Not Included - gift that keeps giving

Early Access of the year:
Teardown - destructive voxel sandbox with fun gameplay, absoluete joy to mess with , progresing super well in EA
Honorable Mention: Timberborn - beaver citybilder with supertight gameplay even this early on

Turd of the Year:
Skatebird - this one just hurts , the premise is amazing , but sadly the execution was just
Dishonorable Turdmention - Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition.

Dissapointment of the Year
Outriders - it had like everything i should love .... but ended up not clicking with me at all and pissing me off with online only , lets say i got bamboozled by IGN preview

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daaaamn , went wild with the mentions despite already deleting mroe than half of them