
Are you... surprised?
That's right, I'm launching the GOTY thread a little earlier than usual. Not because it might be impacted by delays in shipping (do be aware that those are happening, folks), but simply on a whim. Because good cheer is sometimes in short supply in this day and age. So I'm officially kicking off this 2021 Community Game of the Year thread. On this day of (US) Thanksgiving, I'd like to thank ClockworkHouse, my predecessor who, to this very day, continues to be a patient sounding board and amazing source of support, as well as Staygold for his enthusiasm and new ideas. And of course, you. The community. The goodjers from all over who keep bringing your joy and love of gaming to this thread. I cannot thank you enough.
You know the drill, the rules haven't changed. In a nutshell, you, the GWJ community members vote for your favorite games of the year. Limit yourself to games you played for the first time in 2021, new releases or no. It must be new to you. Additionally, if you change your list during the course of the month, PLEASE, for the love of Stan, do not edit your post, but make a new one and tell me you've changed your mind. Finally, I'm carrying this over from 2020, but I ask that you skip or spoiler your "disappointments." Let's try to keep this centered on the good stuff, because of (gestures wildly) ...everything.
Polls will be closing on January 1st January 3rd, 2022, 9am GMT+1 (that's 3am EST, or midnight PST). I'm already giving you a few extra days, so don't expect any leeway this time around.
Complete guidelines in Q&A form in the post below, and final results are now posted on the Front Page!
What if I change my mind after I posted my list?
As previously mentioned, do not edit your post and post a new list indicating you've changed your mind (it happens!). Editing will majorly mess up the tracking of new posts and make my life more difficult.
To clarify that you can post a new list, can I suggest:
As previously mentioned, do not edit your post! Instead, post a new list indicating you've changed your mind (it happens!). Editing will majorly mess up the tracking of new posts and make my life more difficult.
Thanks for doing this again!
Oh boy. I was just looking at my list today but figured it wouldn't start until Dec 1. Probably have to wait until I finish my 2 current pile games.
Wait! It's way too early! I've only just finished making the list of games I need to play before the end of the year to see if they make my top 10 list!
Technical Question: I have previously played Mass Effect 2 and 3, but this year was my first time playing ME1. But I did play all of them in the Legendary Edition this year.
So does Mass Effect Legendary Edition qualify, or just Mass Effect 1?
Thanks!!!
This is one of my favorite events of the year.
Look forward to seeing everyone's lists and thoughts and going over my notes.
I’m embarrassed to say I don’t even know what the new hotness is. I’ve been playing and enjoying Halo Infinite recently but what is this year’s equivalent of Hades?
Finally, I'm carrying this over from 2020, but I ask that you skip or spoiler your "disappointments." Let's try to keep this centered on the good stuff, because of (gestures wildly) ...everything.
Happy to see this change this year, and spoilering them is probably a good middle-ground. Those sections may not be for everyone, but I find the why game X didn't work for me to be just as interesting as the actual top-10 lists. I'm the sort of person who bought No Man's Sky because the negative reviews made it sound like something I'd really enjoy.
UpToIsomorphism wrote:Technical Question: I have previously played Mass Effect 2 and 3, but this year was my first time playing ME1. But I did play all of them in the Legendary Edition this year.
So does Mass Effect Legendary Edition qualify, or just Mass Effect 1?That's a pickle. Honestly, I've been pondering this since yesterday, and there doesn't seem to be a good solution for it. I've got an idea or two running around in my brain and it's completely reasonable to put Mass Effect 1 on your list if you'd never ever played it (so glad you decided to remedy that!). You can put it on your list as ME1 (MELE) or something to that effect.
This is funny because for me I never played ME3 and I only played it because of the Legendary Edition. I don't remember if I played part of ME2 or just some demo so I am not counting it as new. So now we have one person who skipped the first and one who skipped the last. I think Mass Effect 3 (MELE) works but I am not sure there will be enough people playing Mass Effect for the first time to swing the vote even if they are all combined into one voting block.
My was a console issue. ME was for a long time only available on Xbox 360 and PC, and I was a PS3 guy. By the time it was ported to PS3, I played a little bit, put it down, and never went back. Fast forward to last March, I got the LE, and played a complete run of all three games. That was definitely the best gaming experience I had this year, but only one of those games technically qualifies under the rules, unless the Legendary Edition itself qualifies.
Let me rephrase then and be perfectly clear: the ME:LE itself will not be admissible under current and past GOTY ruling (as it is a remaster, no more, no less).
I hope that helps.
You’re no fun.
But a Fair and Just ruling all the same. It surely was a painful decision by Mighty Eleima to disallow Mass Effect anything, but also a sagacious and wise one, worthy of the kings and queens of old. Solomon himself would have faltered.
But a Fair and Just ruling all the same. It surely was a painful decision by Mighty Eleima to disallow Mass Effect anything, but also a sagacious and wise one, worthy of the kings and queens of old. Solomon himself would have faltered.
Solomon has split my baby into three parts, and only let me keep one.
No! I'm not ready to pick my favorites! It's too hard!
(Never mind this has already been on my mind for a month)
hmm...i don't *think* there's anything else due out this year i'm massively invested in, so it might be time to get the ol' list together if i can find a spare minute to do so...
Wow. It's that time of year already, huh? Ok time to go to the spreadsheets...
I'm game. I have one or two more games I may play before the end of the year, but my list has been taking shape for awhile. The only tricky part is the writeups for the top 2 or 3 games.
I guess the nice thing about hardly finishing a game is I have a short list!
1. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
2. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
See told you it was a short list!
I think I might have my list already? I realised that one of the games on my list is ineligible - I forgot that I had played about a quarter of it about 5 years ago. But I think I have a late entry! On the other hand, ranking these are going to be difficult.
1. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart!
Never played a Rachet game, should I check this out?
farley3k wrote:1. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart!
Never played a Rachet game, should I check this out?
Try the 2016 one if you have it. It was a PS+ freebie at some point. I played it this summer while everyone else was playing the brand new one and I had a blast. New one is on my list waiting for a good sale now.
1 Dragon Quest Builders 2
There is building, but also quests!
Great variety of things with great balance of freedom and direction. Wonderful Dragon Quest monsters and silly characters.
Technical issues warning:
Had to load a community save in order to get past the intro on PC.
2 Dragon Quest VIII
The tone of the game is really great. It's a wonderful introduction to Dragon Quest.
The characters and monsters are silly and the bosses are more often misunderstood or confused rather than evil.
A highlight for me was when, unprompted, Yangus took out a King Metal Slime after he'd been missing constantly while I was controlling him.
3 Persona 5 Royal
The original ending is really something. I did not expect that.
A great introduction to Persona!
It's becoming a theme, but like Dragon Quest, this is consistently fun. There is a good balance between freedom and direction and it never feels very repetitive even though the game is very long for me. I liked the smaller stories quite a lot.
4 Control
Fun movement, fun setting, and fun combat.
Main story was decent and the DLC, particularly the Alan Wake DLC was a nice twist.
5 Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
You can listen to someone's demo song on their phone as the characters bob their heads. For the whole song.
I love how the game asks you to take breaks to provide a space to think over what's going on. Games and movies are so often charging forward, that this was a really nice shift.
I ended up playing Life Is Strange again almost immediately afterwards and they did a nice job of integrating the stories.
6 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I found myself having to break habbits and try and just wander around and see what happens.
The simulation aspects (interactions between objects) and exploration work well and work pretty consistently.
It often wants to invisibly guide you to learning how things work, and that almost always works well too.
7 Dragon Quest XI
Quite liked how they worked with the multi-act structure of the story.
Consistently fun, occasionally very fun, mostly along for the ride.
The full auto combat and quick animation options had the game mostly play by itself which wasn't bad.
8 Persona 4 Golden
"Weeeeell, we go rescuing people who've been kidnapped by jumping into the TV! And theeen, we do stuff like, ""Persona!"" with our Personas and beat the crap outta Shadows..."
I like most of the characters and had more fun with random dungeons than I thought I would. Continued to surprise me.
Content warning:
Gender and sexuality topics are explored and presented in seemingly realistic, but disappointing ways. These sections of the story are quite prominant.
9 Pokemon Unite
Slowbro's surf attack is fun to pull off.
For about a month, this was a fun light MOBA. The characters are different enough, the games are really short and to the point, and there is enough customization to be fun without feeling overwhelmed by choices.
10 Nethack
Warning: Not a computer hacking game.
A lot more going on than Rogue.
Final thoughts
This year, I think I slowed down and was happy to keep going through games that I would have considered VERY long previously. I also appreciated the shorter games that moved slowly. Maybe for that reason, I didn't feel as pressured to buy new games on sale and try to focus more on what I have now. :shrug:
Thanks again and look forward to reading everyone's lists and thoughts!
Quick edit was to specify Persona 4 was the Golden version...
Lots of gaming time in those Persona and DQ games! Nice list.
Only played one game this year. Been busy with work.
1. Monster Hunter Rise.
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