CG's Annual 2021 Best and Worst of the Year!

Jarrito3002

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2021 for was an interesting year and overall I had a bang up good time.

So numero uno goes to the

1 Ratchet and Clank A Rift Apart
Now Ratchet was pretty much silent during the ps4 era with just the reboot existing and while a good game made me miss the sass and vulgarity of the PS2 era. Now A Rift Apart does not have that and it won't come back but if the gameplay continues to improve in such a way I hope it has a strong presence again. Like I don't replay games mostly because my backlog but as soon as I beat A Rift Apart I started back up and I might mess around get a Platinum by accident. Insomniac is back and I know they got that Marvel license but please don't let Ratchet fall by the wayside and join Sly and Jak.

2 Mass Effect Legendary
Speaking of replaying a lot Mass Effect and reminded myself why I loved this series. Ending was not the best but everything else is on point. I have a save file of every single class and trying to find a different dialogue reaction with a 30 plus hour game means I am down bad. Glad to be reminded why I loved this series and one of favorite sci fi universe ever made.

3. Yakuza Like A Dragon
Never played the other games so this is my first. Any game that names drops Dragonquest so casually is already great in my book. The side quest were funky and some great wtf moments. The main story was a chefs kiss like it had my sister enthralled and ending legit had some tears coming out. Gameplay was simple yet dynamic rpg fun and while the class options could be me more expanded and less restrictive making a entire party of break dancers is worth it.

4. Wargroove
So since Intelligent Systems had their head up Fire Emblems ass until recently realizing hey we Advance Wars for a long time until recently Chucklefish pulled a thanos put on the infinity gauntlet and made Wargroove. It had the advance wars charm and enough of its own takes borrowing from Fire Emblem and add quality life improvements like difficulty setting, a challenge mode, creation mode and you have content to return to.

5. Deathloop
I have never played none of Arkanes games so I just went in as hey this interesting. And I enjoy it it is a weird gumbo of ideas and designs to the point where even if it doesn't work quite right it works wrong in a funky. Like enemies can completes dopes or geniuses. I love the style and music its like cartooning a bit comic book with just a hinge of realism. I love tackling things in a megaman kind of way of picking which bosses you want to take on and trying to corral them into one spot. Does it deserve the high praise naw does it deserve the criticism I guess my expectations were baseline. It is a pretty nice start to the next gen overall that is eclipsed by A Rift Apart.

6.Kena
If this is the capability of an indie studio and the AA market gaming is going to be just fine. AAA continues to be a goofy as shit and chasing the dollar at the expense of the game you bought. Kena looks like your playing a legit Pixar movie and combat despite pissing me off at times surprised you like yeah this looks cute but these corrupted trees will beat your ass. But for me it was the plaforming and the puzzles took me back to the PS2 era and if the make a sequel or just do something similar Ember games you got a fan her.

Worst.

The worst list is pretty short because I tend to just uninstall and forget,

Godfall Challenger Edition or something
Now a Destiny game but melee combat you have my attention but then it was just so bland. Didnt help that the free one was just jetting you straight to end game and you had to buy the actually part of the game you had to play. Basically underwhelming exasperated by AAA nonsense.

Outriders.
This hurts because I was loving the hell out of this game. Its like why do looter shooters continue to just not quite hit that Borderlands gameplay loop. Plus the developer just goes out of its way to gate you and say its for your own good. Look I had a good time with it met some cool people but when a game is going out of its way to make me not enjoy it you just got to dip.
 

BrawlMan

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Godfall Challenger Edition or something
Now a Destiny game but melee combat you have my attention but then it was just so bland. Didnt help that the free one was just jetting you straight to end game and you had to buy the actually part of the game you had to play. Basically underwhelming exasperated by AAA nonsense.
Because of what Sony and Gear Box did, I am never buying this game. Even if they make the actually game free this time, and not the expansion.
 

Samtemdo8

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4. Deathloop - Why the fuck do people think Arkane games are so good? Every game I've played is horribly balanced, filled with arbiturary systems, and pretty poor exploration. Yet these are supposed to be emirsive sims? Deathloop is an interesting concept, like most Arkane games, and is frankly held back by the gameplay. The AI is inconsistant either being capable of sniping you from across the map before you even have a chance, or being so stupid you'd wonder if they are just standing there sucking on a battery. The map layout is very limited and the overall world of Deathloop feels like it had a very indie budget. There are only like 4 areas and they aren't very big because the ultimate goal is to be able to zip through every map in a swift "loop" killing all the leaders and freeing yoruself from the cycle. Except it all really just sucks, it's buggy, it's got sloppy gameplay, and surprise surprise it's from Bethesda. I shouldn't really be surprised anymore.
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is the only good one.