Author: Josh Mcmullin
Hi, I’m a sometimes contributor to the ever-excellent Sword Chomp series of podcasts, Josh Mcmullin, aka THE Bebopman! I got asked to do a top ten list for the site and here I am. Look at me, ma! All joking aside, let’s get one thing straight, okay? There was A LOT of talk during the year that 2021 just had no games and that everything important was being pushed back due to COVID still being a thing. While I agree that several big highly anticipated titles were pushed back, that doesn’t mean that 2021 lacked good or even great games. As evidence, I tried my hand at a little challenge that one of my co-hosts set out for my own podcast. The challenge in question was to complete 20 games that we had never beaten before. I rarely play games to completion unless I really like it and this year, I hit that challenge. I played 31 games this year, and completed 20 of them. What’s even better is that outside of my top three, which just flew up my rankings upon their launch, I had an incredibly hard time ranking most of them because they were all so good. That’s a long way of saying that 2021 was a great year in gaming and the games speak for themselves. So, without further ado, let’s talk about my top 10 of those games.
10. Death Loop – I’ve long been a fan of Arkane and their style of immersive sim and upon seeing the first trailer for this game I just knew that this was going to be a game that I loved. Boy, was I right! Death Loop has all the great sandbox toys that Dishonored, and Prey had, but with the addition of a new rogue-like mechanic. Arkane has previously messed around with this type of design in Prey: Moon Crash and they seem to really know what they’re doing with it this go around.
That isn’t the only thing that Arkane seemingly put tons of thought into this go-around. Everything from the art direction to the downright anxiety-inducing invasion mechanic have been well thought out and implemented to great effect. This is a game that begs you to think about it and use all the tools it supplies you in any way you see fit, and, in that way, it remains some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game this year.
9. Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy – If you would’ve told me that a Square Enix published Marvel-licensed game would make my top 10 in 2021, last year, I would have laughed quite a lot. I mean, like, full-on belly laughing. And now here we are, December 2021 and I’m writing up my thoughts on Eidos Montreal’s fantastic Guardians Of The Galaxy.
I’m not going to tell you that this game is an amazing gameplay experience because, frankly, it isn’t. Guardians’ minute-to-minute gameplay is serviceable and, in some instances, even fun, but it doesn’t do a whole lot that we haven’t seen other 3rd person action-adventure titles do in the past. Instead, where Guardians really shines is in its presentation and writing.
Guardians is one of the most stunning-looking games on the next-gen hardware and it’s not even close. The art design is beautiful with every little area littered with details that make the environments feel fully fleshed out. The writing is the masterstroke that brings this whole affair together in a package that as emotionally engaging as it is humorous. I wasn’t expecting that and by extension, it’s why I wasn’t expecting Guardians to make it into any sort of “best of the year” lists and yet here we are. Guardians deserves your attention even if Marvel’s Avengers, still, does not.
8. Death’s Door – Death’s Door is not a title I would assume is in front of one of the most charming games of the year. I’d even venture to say that’s why only 4 (from what I can gather on Metacritic) major publications bothered to review the game upon its launch back in July. That’s a shame because it’s one of the most enjoyable and charming games I played this year.
Everything about this Zelda-esque action-adventure game worked for me. From the colorful vistas of each biome to the simple (and yet surprisingly nuanced) combat to the fantastic writing, this game really had it’s hooks in me from beginning to end. If you’re even mildly interested by the cover art of the game, I say that you MUST check out this game because you will almost certainly fall in love with it!
7. Halo Infinite – Take yourself back to 2001, if you can, for just a moment. You’ve just opened your brand-new Xbox accompanied with a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved and you’re playing through the mission Halo. This is something completely new and refreshing and fills you with a sense of wonder like nothing had up to that point. That’s what playing Halo Infinite feels like.
When I say that, I don’t mean it as hyperbole. The multiplayer sandbox style that Bungie perfected during its run on the franchise was completely overwrought once 343 Industries took over as the lead developer and while both 4 and 5 were fun to play, they kinda weren’t Halo. Infinite FEELS like Halo, but with new tweaks that make it something completely foreign in the modern shooter landscape. And then there’s the campaign that is built around a sort of open area hub system that FEELS like that first mission on the first ring way back in Combat Evolved.
For as much grief as 343 received at its reveal over a full year ago, it looks like they took the year to really hone in on what makes Halo a special franchise and deliver on that. They completely shut the doubters up, in my humble opinion, and they did so in style.
6. Sable – What an absolute travesty that Sable wasn’t nominated for more awards at this year’s Game Awards. It’s also a complete travesty that it lost the sole category it was nominated for to Kena: Bridge Of Spirits (which, quick aside, is a totally and completely good game). What makes these things such “travesties” is that Sable is such an incredibly special game, and it was seemingly glossed over for bigger budget titles because they had the money behind them (similar to the Oscars, but we won’t talk about that here unless you want me to go on a 20-page rant that ultimately ends with Josef Fares’ infamous Game Awards quote).
Sable is a small game in many regards. The team behind the game was small with only two core members and a handful of “contract” workers completing the game. The music was done by “small” indie artist Japanese Breakfast and is far from the bombastic trappings of other exploration-based titles. The game features no real combat to speak of and there aren’t giant over-the-top set pieces. No Sable is a small and thoughtful and meditative game that prefers for you to just sit in its world and take it in. It’s been a while since I’ve felt a game tug at my emotions in the same way that Sable did. Sable is a very special game, and it deserves your attention.
5. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – I’ve been a fan of Ratchet & Clank since the glory days of the PS2 and I’ve loved most of the titles. So, going into A Rift Apart, there were certainly some expectations that I had set for the title before they even had shown the game off. This game far exceeded those expectations.
Ratchet & Clank, as a series, has always thrived on its core gameplay loop of dodging enemies while unloading on them with a vast array of weaponry. Here, that loop feels polished to a fine sheen. The incredible variety of weapons allows you to take on scenarios in ways that really express you as the player! Not only that, but each weapon also feels entirely unique to itself. There is no repeated weapon type or carbon copies of other guns.
When you mix that in with the stunning visuals, “Baby, you’ve got a stew goin’.” AND that’s not even the best part. Ratchet & Clank has a long-standing history of having nicely written narratives around the power of friendship and that’s present here as well. What’s really great, though, is that the narrative isn’t just about that. The story here dives into themes of self-esteem and finding your spot in the world. It’s a rich tale that boosts the already solid gameplay into something excellent.
4. Ender Lilies: Quietus Of Knights – I’m not sure I can say things, here, better than I did on the Chomping After Dark for this game. Ender Lilies is one of those Metroidvania titles that doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t need to. However, what Ender Lilies does do is offer up a detailed world, full of rich lore and characters, in a style that is just extraordinary.
The visuals of this game really are something to behold. The art design is something, unlike almost anything I’ve seen in a Metroidvania to date. It mashes decaying husks of enemies with this ethereal girl in white to great effect. Then when you look at the level design and how each individual area feels truly unique, thanks in large part to its visual design, you end up being floored by the amount of work that must have gone into making the game look the way that it does.
That’s not the only stunning thing, either. The combat is tough as nails but completely fair. There is no room for error when fighting some of these bosses, but when you overcome them, it’s a feeling like no other. Not only that but as I said about Ratchet & Clank, the variety in combat allows you to really express yourself in any way that you really see fit. It’s a system that really rewards experimentation and allows for tons of replayability, should you want to revisit the game.
I really could go on and on about this game (and I haven’t even talked about the music, which is sublime), but I need to give others their fair share, so I’ll end this little blurb by saying this, Ender Lilies is a must play!
3. Hitman 3 - I really thought long and hard about the ordering that I was going to put my final 3 spots in because I really feel like it’s as close to a tie as one can get. My feelings on these games change from day to day and, as such, I feel like putting Hitman 3 at the third position is somehow beneath it. That isn’t the case, however, as Hitman 3 is some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game, all year long. What I find fascinating, too, is that I was never a fan of the franchise. In fact, this was the first time that Hitman really clicked with me. I had tried past entries and for whatever reason, I did not like those games. Whatever the case may be, Hitman 3 delighted me in ways that I didn’t know a game could.
Hitman 3 is a game that is filled to the brim with absurdity. It’s part of the charm. Whether the absurdity be in a very recognizable man being unrecognized by highly trained guards simply because he’s wearing a hat and glasses or in the various challenges that the game lays out for you, it’s always fun and interesting. That sentiment carries over into every aspect of the game design.
Whether it be the massive skyscraper in Dubai or the more intimate confines of a posh mansion or the neon-washed exteriors of the city of Chongquin, China, every level of this game is designed with fun and interesting layouts in mind. The story is more compelling than one might think given that the Hitman games up to this point have had a very loose narrative structure to each title. The designed “paths” to follow on each mission are a delight to follow or you can just run in, caution to the wind, and do things YOUR way.
That’s ultimately the thing that kept me coming back to Hitman 3 all year long. The game is built around replayability and experimentation and the value that you get from this game is absurd. There are six levels that the game starts with, then you have the import of Hitman 1 and 2’s levels if you own those games as well as the DLC for both titles, DLC for Hitman 3, and the insane number of weekly challenges and VIP contracts. This is a game that offers more content than some live service games. Really, when I think back on my time with Hitman 3, that’s probably the biggest takeaway. In an age where time and money are often bandied about in online arguments, I can say for certain that I got my money out of Hitman 3 and anyone who bought the game certainly did as well.
2. Forza Horizon 5 – I really cannot stress this enough, I do not care about cars or racing in any real way outside of the “cool” factor. As such, I’ve never been a huge fan of racing games, or more specifically racing sims. The likes of Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsports never did it for me. I don’t want to sit in menus and tune my car for hours and hours just to shave a fraction of a second off my lap time in order to finally get a win. That sort of stuff is great for some people, but it certainly isn’t for me.
So, when Forza Horizon comes flying out of the gates in 2012, promising an open-world racing game, I had my interest peaked. It was a fun game, but I didn’t really feel as impressed by it as some other titles at the time and it fell to the wayside. Then in 2014, Forza Horizon 2 dropped on the then barely new Xbox One and I was just stunned. Whatever FH1 had lacked, FH2 had in spades. It was probably my most played game from 2014. Forza Horizon 3 launched in 2016 and supplanted the series for me as a must-buy with every entry. And now, 5 years later and Playground Games has done it again.
I’m not sure what the special sauce is that makes Forza Horizon 5 so addicting if I’m being honest. It’s somewhere between the unbelievable vistas, the excellent sound design, and insane racing events that the whole coalesces into a masterpiece of game design. That’s not even to talk about just how insanely deep this game gets in its preferences or accessibility options. Whatever they’ve got going on over at Playground Games, I want more of it. Between the just plain fun I have riding around Mexico and the white-knuckle-inducing fights to the finish, I am always having a fun time and there is something to be said about that.
Video games are supposed to be fun. Whatever constitutes fun from person to person, so I’m not going to tell you that you MUST like Forza Horizon 5. What I will say, however, is that Forza Horizon 5 is an absolute blast to play for me. It’s probably the game I’ve played the most this year and it only just came out two months ago. That’s insane and yet when I turn on my series X and boot up Forza Horizon 5, everything else just melts away and I am having the time of my life. And that is what makes Forza Horizon 5 such a special game.
1. Resident Evil VIII: Village – I’m sure this will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, I love horror media. Whether it be movies or books or games, I cannot get enough of the genre. With that said, there is one thing that I am certain will surprise you, I wasn’t sure that Village was going to even make my top 10 before the game was released. There were troubling signs all around that the game wouldn’t be a return to form the way that Resident Evil 7 had been or that it would even evolve what that game had set out to do. Instead, there were utterances of the phrase “open-world” and action was touted as what the game was aiming for. I was excited, but apprehensive, that the game would not be what I wanted. And then I booted up the game and was blown away.
Resident Evil Village, or RE8 as I like to call it (which, quick side note, really bothers me. We can still put numbers in titles guys and not just allude to it with cleverly hidden roman numerals guys), is everything I could have hoped for and more. The worries that I had were torn away almost the instant that I got into the game. That open-world that the director had talked about was more of a labyrinthine village that at some points felt more like a maze than an open area. The game was action-oriented for sure, but the horror bits weren’t gone. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that RE8 has one of, if not, THE scariest bits of the entire franchise. Village really nailed the haunted house roller coaster ride that it set out to do.
Then there was the story. Listen… Resident Evil is dumb. It is really really dumb and RE8 is absolutely no exception to this rule. The main plot could’ve been solved in, like, 15 minutes if Chris Redfield had just gotten his head out of his ass for a second. BUT (and I absolutely cannot stress this enough) there is something deeper at play here than many might think. When you look at the thematic elements of this game’s story, there are many things tied to parenthood, having children, and the grief that one can suffer from when that child is taken from you, and I don’t even think it’s subtle. It’s pretty damn overt, but when you dig in even deeper, I think there’s this incredible meta-narrative about the Resident Evil franchise.
There’s a parent figure (Mother Miranda/Capcom) determined to resurrect its child (RE Franchise) by way of Rose (RE8). The parent figure has 4 children that she cares about to varying degrees. In this instance, the children are stand-ins for the different eras of the franchise. Lady Dimetrescu and her three daughters and the castle (RE1,2,3) are the original phases, an ornate mansion filled with a stalking presence the entire way through. Donna Beneviento’s stage is a stand-in for RE4, with it arguably being the standout sequence of the game and housing the scariest bit of the entire game. Then there’s poor old Salvatore Moreau, the stand-in for RE5/6, who is only trying to do what Mother Miranda wants. Finally, you get Karl Heisenberg, the stand-in for RE7, who is building zombie-like creatures into new hulking monstrosities.
I really do think that there’s something to that. Maybe, I’m being overly pretentious and grasping at straws that aren’t there, but I’ll say this, Village made me sit and think about it over and over and over again. This was a game that sank its teeth into me and just would not let me go. I played through the entire story four times and the mercenaries’ levels repeatedly. That’s miraculous when you consider the lack of free time that I have. Resident Evil Village really is an amazing game. It might not be what many consider Game Of The Year material. It doesn’t have the dark brooding narrative of The Last Of Us 2. It doesn’t have the intense combat of Sekiro. It may not have the overall sense of wonder of Breath Of The Wild. It didn’t have any of those things, but it didn’t need to. Sometimes a game just speaks to people in very specific ways. All of this is completely subjective. What I can absolutely say, here, is that Resident Evil Village spoke to me loud and clear, and I listened, and I loved what it had to tell me.