Top Five of the 2021 Gamers Dozen

We're nearly 5/6 done with 2022, so I better write a blog post reflecting on 2021 before it's WAY too late, instead of just sorta too late. 

While my 2020 was better than usual for my annual tradition of completing gaming goals (11 out of 13!), 2021 was a return to disappointment. I finished 4 out of my 13 targets, and my only explanation why is a series of excuses. But I did play 24 total games in 2021 (which I helpfully wrote down on a spreadsheet), and a lot of them were fulfilling experiences! So while this post started as a mea culpa, it will end up as a celebrationem. (I never studied Latin.) 

So here we are. I'm going to go over 18 games I played in 2021, and shout out another 9 I didn't play. These aren't ALL of the games I finished last year , but are the ones that left the largest impression on me and I was able to fit into a few specific categories. Let's go. Starting with nine I didn't play, then thirteen I played outside of my stated Gaming Goals, then a very special top five at the end. I'll explain as I go: 

Unplayed, Embarrassingly

Assassin's Creed: Origins

Bayonetta

Disgaea 5

Hollow Knight

Judgment (pictured)

The Last of Us

Monster Hunter Stories

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Tales of Xillia

These are my nine video game targets that I shamefully ignored, with one coming close (Persona 2) and one getting a few hours in (The Last of Us), but the others completely unplayed. I ended up folding over three of these into my 2022 goals list, and as of the time of posting this, I've finished two of them! (Judgment and Xillia). I'm still interested in all of the others and they could show up in a future list, or even to play on a whim, but... yeah. None of them were in the cards for 2021. 

Played For the Podcast

Cosmic Star Heroine

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Radiant Historia

Muramasa: Rebirth

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (pictured)

Ys: Origin

I podcasted about a bunch of games in 2021, including three games in my final list at the end of this article; those three and the six above comprised of a non-trivial amount of my video game playing on the year. Of the six podcast games not on my gaming goals list, three were replays (DQ4, RH, and Ys) and three were new experiences for me, but my favorite of the bunch by far was SMT III. That bleak and beautiful masterpiece might be one of my favorite PS2 RPGs now. Slightly upset with myself for waiting so long to finally play it. 

A Few 2021 Surprises

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Shin Megami Tensei V

Tales of Arise (pictured)

These are three games I knew about before 2021, didn't *intend* to play in 2021, but ended up doing so anyway. Blame impulse shopping, FOMO, and me surprisingly managing to snag a PS5 in March 2021. And hey, I enjoyed all three! Rift Apart is a stunningly beautiful platform shooter that made me wish I had a better television; SMTV has impressive combat, open world, and demon designs with a story that doesn't live up to the rest of the game; and Arise is an action-packed JRPG with flashy combat and beautiful setting. I ultimately liked Tales of Arise the best out of the bunch, and if it was a planned part of my 2021 gaming it would've finished 2nd or 3rd in the list below. 

My Biggest Distractions

Monster Hunter: Rise (pictured)

Yakuza 3

Yakuza 4

Yakuza 5

I knew about Rise before 2021, but wasn't planning on going into Monster Hunter relapse last year. And, well, here I am. I played around 150 hours of Rise in 2021, playing it on Switch and hunting regularly with my close friend David, my original Monster Hunter Freedom 2 partner from back in 2008. Rise is the game I played the most in 2021 (not counting phone games) and is the fastest, most colorful, most stylish experience in the entire series. I hope that the sixth generation of Monster Hunter games (which I'm 100% sure is coming, but not for at least a year) takes the best ideas from both World and Rise and makes something truly special. If I included Rise on the final list below, it would've finished #1 overall. 

I knew I was going to continue "my Yakuza journey" in 2021, but made the mistake of including Judgment among my 2021 gaming goals instead of one of the PS3 Yakuza games (played on PS5), because that's what I ended up focusing on. I think Yakuzas 3 and 4 are both good, but have wildly different strengths and weaknesses - Y3 has great writing and characters but series-worst combat and movement, while Y4 has worse writing but better action. Yakuza 5 blows them both out of the water, with five beautifully-realized cities to explore, great writing and characters, an absurd wealth of side activities and games, and generally better gameplay than any prior Yakuza game (Y5 released just before Yakuza 0). I'm glad I played all three, and particularly enjoyed Yakuza 5. If Y5 was officially included in my gaming goals of the year, it would've finished somewhere in the # 2 to # 4 range. 

But that's enough preamble. Let's get to the actual thesis of the article. My five favorite games among my planned Gaming Goals of 2021. Sort of. You'll see: 

Sollosi's Top Four Five of the 2020 Gamer's Dozen

Number Five

Suikoden III

This is a very, very good PS2 RPG that is only held back by being: 1) weaker than its two predecessors; 2) not one of the absolute best PS2 RPGs, because the PS2 is *loaded*; and 3) full of backtracking and repetition. I love Suikoden III's characters and most of its story, but being a very good PS2 RPG isn't enough to hang with the best of the great games I played back in 2021. Sorry, Murayama-sensei. 

Number Four

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... 

NieR Replicant (a PS4 remake of a PS3 game) is one of the most emotionally manipulative games I've ever played. Nier, Yonah, Kainé, and Emil are four memorable main characters with heartbreaking struggles, and navigating NieR Replicant's sad, empty post-apocalypse gets more depressing the more you understand. I loved it. And especially loved that it smoothed out many of the rough edges of the original PS3 version. If you want to have a great time and a sad time at the same time, you could do a lot worse. 

Number Three

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Ys IX plays great, has a few fun extras, and the second-most satisfying open world environment in the series (other than the island in Ys VIII). Ys IX *really* doubles down on the map completion and item hunting elements that began in Ys Seven or Memories of Celceta, then expanded in Ys VIII, but maybe not always for the best? Too many Ys IX environments are confined to the city walls, but I can't be a hater; Ys IX is excellent. 

Number Two

Bravely Default II

Bravely Default II has an excellent story for about the first 75% or so, and a main character that's a little bland. It also mostly lacks the subversive 4th-wall breaking of its two predecessors (BD1 and Bravely Second). But other than that, it's super dope. The combat is great, the job system is greater, and a few of the plot points and side quests are truly great. Bravely Default II felt slightly incomplete, but its strengths were so strong that I have very positive feelings overall. However, it didn't exceed every expectation of my fanboy self like this next game...

Number One

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

I'm breaking my rules here. The Great Ace Attorney wasn't on my list of 2021 goals. It was indeed one of my biggest surprises of 2021; it was one of my biggest distractions of 2021; AND I recorded a podcast episode on it shortly after finishing it. I'm putting TGAAC in my number one overall spot because it was genuinely one of my favorite games I played in 2021 (the only other contender is Monster Hunter Rise), and if I knew it was coming in 2021 when I was writing my gaming goals list in December 2020, it ABSOLUTELY would've been included. I can't believe it exists, but I am so happy it does. 

These two games (that's Chronicles PLURAL) have some of the best story and character work in all of Ace Attorney (I especially love the tap-dancing scene in the second game), a few fun new wrinkles in Deduction segments and jury trials, and the signature Ace Attorney tone and humor. And it's a triumph of adaptation! The contrast of Meiji-era Japan and Victorian England is stark, even though Englad was Japan's tightest Western ally at the time, and TGAAC explores xenophobia and racism at times, when its predecessors never have. I think The Great Ace Attorney the best Ace Attorney has to offer (especially the 2nd game), on par with or better than Ace Attorney 1, 3, and 6 (the best of the first two trilogies). I love this game, almost as much as my girlfriend does. 

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So that's that! My first blog post in six months was fun to write, and I hope you had fun reading it. See you in another six months! 

(That's a lie. I'll have something ready for January 1st, like I do every year.)