2021 PC Games in Review

2021 PC GAMES IN REVIEW

These are all the Steam games that I played in 2021 and either beat or played extensively. They're categorised by how much I liked them and sorted from worst to best.

Feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of these or if you want some more specific recommendations.

Notable games that aren't on this list:

Rolled Out - I've technically beat it but it still feels in a relatively incomplete state, also it has updated a few times since I last played.
Jackbox Party Packs - Enjoyment is too dependent on who you play them with.
Pompom Demo - This is a demo that I beat in less than an hour. This was fun though and I definitely am looking forward to the full game when it comes out.
Non-steam games - I'm only reviewing the Steam games because they appear in a nice list.

Okay, now let's start the list proper.


The worst game I played in 2021

Newt One
I don't have much to say about this game. It's a pretty basic 3D platformer where touching stuff brings light and music to the world in what is explicitly billed as a nonviolent platformer. The platforming itself is meh, the cutscenes are bad, and the story is kinda nothing. It's a synesthetic game where the music sucks. Pretty much everything that this game sets out to do was done better by De Blob, with the exception of the nonviolent aspect, but in De Blob you instead get to beat up cops so De Blob still wins.

Okay Tier

Spark the Electric Jester 2
This is a fast 3D platformer that takes many cues from the 3D Sonics. This is the game I played the least last year. It has fun ideas and good music and the platforming itself was good, but I had little energy to go back and replay it. The story makes zero sense, with characters just existing and doing things for reasons unknown and nothing seeming to have any purpose. The combat, despite being full of options, is a waste of time in levels, and in boss fights it amounts to hitting the basic attack button until I built up my ultimate attack that just decimates the boss's health. Also the time trial times seemed nigh impossible so I never ended up bothering with them.

Good Tier

Ynglet
This was fun. Billed as a 2D platformer without any platforms, you get to be a little swimming thingy hopping from pool to pool with a dash that lets you ricochet off of some walls and phase through certain others. The levels and their mechanics are good, but the game is the shortest game on this list by far. I feel it could have done a lot more with what it had and it could have took the concepts to new heights. Also you can't get all the achievements without physically travelling to Copenhagen. (That is not a joke.)

Hollow Knight
I know this is probably lower than most people are expecting. Don't get me wrong, this is a good game, I did enjoy it, but not as much as the other games in this list. A 2D Metroidvania with tough and punishing combat, this game has got a great world and weird characters and deep lore and a lot of fun mechanics, including some tough yet fun boss fights. However, it gets to the point where it's kind of a slog to get through everything, with long paths that don't seem to go anywhere, and ultimately everything starts seeming really far away from fast travel points, and when the overworld movement boils down to constantly dashing it starts getting boring. There's other 2D Metroidvanias that I had more fun with in 2021 (spoilers for later in the list oops).

Great Tier

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2
I love me some fast puzzlers, and Puyo Puyo and Tetris are two really good ones. I enjoyed Puyo Puyo Tetris 1, and the sequel refines it with an improved story mode flow and a couple new modes to play. Unfortunately it does have some weaknesses, such as the story still being kinda bad. There's also the voice acting where they seemingly intentionally left in a bunch of old voice lines from PPT1, causing bad clashes were voice direction was very different between the games (looking at you, Klug). Also, all of the furry characters and fully monster characters are guys - like, c'mon, I can play as a dog furry boy or some kinda limbed fish man but the most monstrous girl is basically a human with horns and a tail? Weak.

New Super Lucky's Tale
This was a fun game, a cute 3D platfomer where you play as a fox who can dive into the floor and burrow into the soil. This game has some really good 3D platforming, with the character's movements being slow but precise and overall incredibly fun to control. It also has some funny gags and some great characters. The main issue is that the 2D autorun levels, the ball-rolling levels the statue levels just aren't as fun as the 3D platforming and take up a significant chunk of it. I hope that this game gets a sequel that dials back on the filler and just adds more 3D platforming. Also Lucky's supposed to be a silent protagonist but at the same time talks a whole bunch???

Here Comes Niko!!
This is an ultra comfy experience, a fun lil 3D collectathon platformer with a paperish art style and a world populated with cool and cute characters. This is intended as a put-your-feet-up kinda game where you can just run around and explore all the game's wonderful environments, poking around and discovering a bunch of cool secrets. It's kinda short, a few things in it are really hard to find, and the player character being a billboarded sprite can cause perspective problems, but overall it's an enjoyable experience. This also gets bonus points for having a minigame in loading screens, something that most game developers forget that they can now do without risking patent infringement.

Dust: An Elysian Tail
Dust is a platformer, sorta Metroidvania-ish sorta RPG-ish, with a lot of focus on combat. On the surface it seems to be about combos, but it's actually much better if you just spiral fly everywhere while your furry fluttering bimbo friend throws ultra murder shots and showers your enemies with raindrops of killer death. The combat, platforming, and exploration are all fun, and it's backed up with an interesting and gripping story. The main issue is that all the times you have to escort around these exploding fruits which is an absolute pain, and some of the time trials are obnoxious, but overall it's really fun.

Amazing Tier

Lair of the Clockwork God
This is a terrific little game that blends platforming with point-and-click, with two characters working together to solve puzzles and progress through levels.  It has a great gags, a fun story, and great characters, and overall plays out in a really fun and clever way. This game's sense of humour might not be for everyone - it's very British - and of course some of the puzzles are a little obtuse, but that's kind of par for the course with point-and-clicks.

Bug Fables
This was a fun cute RPG, taking many cues from Paper Mario, but remaking it in a completely new way. This game has some great turn-based combat using Paper Mario-style action commands. The combat is backed up a strong story and spectacular characters. The main issue is the game's low level cap and little difference between levels means you can find yourself in tough battles with midgame enemies even when you have endgame stats. Ultimately, if you're staring at the modern Paper Marios wishing for a new game like TTYD, just get Bug Fables.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Banana Mania is Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 remade into a great package. With the only changes being to round off some of the sharper difficulty spikes, this game retains most of the magic that the original games had. This isn't a perfect port by any means - modern game controllers don't have the Gamecube's notches and deadzones, and micromovements are way trickier due to the new camera behaviour. But overall, it's great. Also it still has the party games! Just bear in mind that it might take a while to get used to Target's controls. Additionally, this game has the best soundtrack of all the games I've played in 2021, with spectacular remixes of the original games' OSTs - but if you prefer the original music, the game has DLC that adds it.

Spectacular Tier

Super Animal Royale
This is a simple top-down battle royale featuring furry animals with guns. When people have a suggestion of a new game to try, I recommend this. I enjoy it in solos where I can methodically destroy my opponents, but it's even better in squads where I'm in VC with others, where we can co-ordinate our attacks, help stockpile supplies, and overall just crush our opponents with the power of teamwork. It's a nice simple battle royale that you can easily pick up and have fun with, and I hugely recommend that you play it with friends at first, as playing without experience in solo battles might be a slog. Also, it's free to play!
Note that this game does have an F2P model with a Fortnite-style cycle-based shop system.

Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition
This is one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played. I beat this game 100% in 10 hours in a single sitting. Ori moves incredibly fluidly and beautifully, and the constant flow of new powerups and ideas kept the wheels of the game turning. My main issue was that I kept forgetting to make checkpoints and that meant that dying would send me back way far, and I had somehow missed an entire side area full of stuff when I first played through it. (spoilers for later in the list: the sequel fixes both these things) Also the art style is absolutely spectacular.

Terraria
I've been behind on Terraria content, having not done anything in years, but decided to go through the game once again with the Don't Starve crossover update. It's still an amazing game and a great timesink. Every run is slightly different and there's always something to do when playing through it. I played through it on expert mode, which is a bit tough to start with, but you get such great exclusive accessories (like one that grants infinite flight!) and after beating the Wall of Flesh you get an extra accessory slot, so I consider it worth it. The main issue is that having the wiki open is still recommended, and that the wiki migrated to Fandom and Fandom fucking sucks.

The best game I played in 2021

Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Remember when I said Ori 1 was one of the best Metroidvanias? This one is even better. This took what worked with Blind Forest, already one of my favourite games this year, and made it better in pretty much every aspect. Ori's movement is as fluid as ever with even more cool ideas and skills thrown in. The ability to make checkpoints anywhere was removed, which seemed kinda weird, but honestly my main gripe with the original was that you'd just forget to make them anyway. The art style is still spectacular with incredible visual effects like an object in the distance being a place you eventually get to when everything is 2D and WOW it's good. The story was great and the ending was powerful enough to move me to tears which isn't something that happens often. I didn't have any major issues with the game and I loved it dearly please make more Ori games ty.


CONCLUSION

I had a lot of fun with 2021's games, with only 2 duds and everything else ranging from good to spectacular.
It's currently February 2022 and I've played and beat a handful of games so far - Tribal Hunter, Please Don't Touch Anything, the Hanaby trilogy, and Youropa. All four of these were really fun games. Additionally, I'm playing through Dragon Quest XI S and that's also proving to be really good so far. I'm sure that as the year goes by I'll be playing even more great games.
I'll probably do another one of these for 2022 when 2023 rolls around, so look out for that!