My 2021 In Gaming
(This is a series of short reviews I originally wrote to share with some friends in January of 2022, reflecting on all the games I had played for the first time in 2021. While this is obviously several years out of date now, I do think some of my opinions still stand up, and I like the format I had here as well. I suppose you could think of this as a preview of a format I'd potentially like to bring back in the future.)
New Pokemon Snap
As insane as this sounds even to me, I think I'd honestly have to call New Pokemon Snap my GotY for 2021. I have a lot of nostalgia for the original Pokemon Snap on N64, and it's one of those games I've always hoped would get a sequel, so I was already excited when it was announced that one was finally happening. I did temper my expectations a bit after feeling a bit burned by a lot of the more recent core Pokemon titles, but my god did New Pokemon Snap end up being everything I wanted it to be and more. The game does basically everything the original does, but does so much more and does it so much better. There's a ton of maps to visit, each with multiple different paths to take or times of day to visit on, the visuals are some of the best on the switch, and the animations are great and really make the Pokemon come alive and feel like they're really living in this environment. The game is also packed with content, between the basic missions needed to complete the story and the dozens of side goals that encourage you to take as many photos as you can. What really shines about the game for me though is just how chill it is. There's no time limits, hardcore objectives or serious time commitments anywhere in this game, so it's perfect to just pick up and play for a few minutes when you need to unwind. 2021 was very much not a good year for me, with no shortage of personal misfortune and tragedy, so New Pokemon Snap definitely came out at the perfect time to help me relax and take it easy even when times were tough.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Super Mario 3D World is a game that I had already played on Wii U back when it originally came out, and at this point I feel like there's not much I could say that hasn't already been said hundreds of times. The gameplay is fun, even if it does feel closer to a 2D Mario title than it does any previous 3D Mario games, and in spite of its linearity it does have excellent level design and some great power ups. The Switch release is also by far the best way to play, with tons of little tweaks and quality of life improvements that make the whole game feel better than ever.
Now with that out of the way, the real highlight of this re-release is the all-new Bowser's Fury mode. While it's combined with 3D World as a single package and does share the same basic controls, powers and gameplay, Bowser's Fury really feels more like a whole new 3D Mario game that just happens to be made in the same engine than it does an expansion to 3D World. Rather than the timed, linear levels of the base game you instead get an almost Mario Odyssey-like open world full of collectibles, with no life counter or time limit to hold you back. This blend of 3D World's gameplay with more traditional 3D Mario progression really feels like a perfect blend of the different Mario styles, and is something I hope they try more of in future standalone games. Overall my only real fault with Bowser's Fury is its length. With only a single large world and 100 main collectibles, I think I got 100% completion in only a couple of hours. I'd say this is fine as a bonus on top of an already meaty game, but if you already played the original Mario 3D World on Wii U it's a bit hard to justify double dipping just for some QoL and a 2 hour bonus level, as good as that bonus level is.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Having never played a Halo campaign before, this past year a friend and I decided to start working through all the campaigns on the MCC. Overall Halo 1 is a very good game, with solid gameplay, a good mix of action, puzzles and stealth, and mostly well designed levels. The level design does unfortunately start to falter about 2/3 of the way through the game though, with the varied and well designed environments largely getting replaced by several missions taking place in repetitive and boring metal corridors. The final boss fight also isn't very good, being more tedious than it is actually challenging. In spite of its flaws I did enjoy Halo more than I expected to in the end, though, and the Master Chief Collection is easily the best way to experience it.
Halo 2 Anniversary
As of the time I'm writing this I still haven't actually finished Halo 2, but I'm close enough to the end that I think I can give my opinion of it. To put it simply, Halo 2 is just more of what Halo CE was only a lot better. The levels are even more interesting and creatively designed, there's more weapons, more gameplay options, and it just overall feels nicer to play. Halo 2 also doesn't seem to suffer from having a rushed and poorly executed endgame in the way its predecessor does. That's not to say the game doesn't have its flaws, the difficulty and balancing can definitely feel a bit inconsistent or outright unfair at times, but this didn't hurt my experience with the game. The one thing that did negatively impact my time with Halo 2, however, was the near-constant crashes every time my friend and I tried to play together. Without fail, every time we played we would get at least one crash to the title screen because of some bug that has apparently never been addressed, and it just continued to get more common the further we got. So as it stands Halo 2 is an excellent game that is unfortunately held back by poor netplay that 343 apparently has no intention of fixing.
Edit after finishing: Opinions are still largely the same but the brute room right before the final boss can go to hell.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond
It's Pokemon Diamond Version, there's really little more that can be said about it beyond that. The game looks great, though the "chibi" art style that was used to simulate the original sprite art may not be for everyone. Gameplay wise very little has been changed over the original games, with the developers going as far as to undo some core changes made to the series over the years just to make the remakes feel more similar to the originals. The few changes that are present consist of a grab bag of genuinely nice quality of life improvements, and less positive tweaks that do little more than simplify or dumb down on the original games' design. While Pokemon Brilliant Diamond is an enjoyable experience and by no means a bad game, it's nonetheless a difficult game to actually recommend simply due to how little it actually does to build off of or improve the games it's based on. I'd honestly recommend anyone looking to experience an improved version of Pokemon Diamond just give Pokemon Platinum a go instead, as it does much more to actually change and improve on the originals.
Valheim
Valheim took the internet by storm last year, so it's no surprise that I got swept up in it along with all of my friends. Being yet another open world survival game, Valheim really doesn't do anything particularly new or grounbreaking, but it still manages to stand out from the sea of similar games just by doing what it does do really, really well. The game has good visuals, charming music, and the mechanics have some creativity and depth to them without being overly involved and difficult to understand. Crafting, building and exploring all manage to feel fun and rewarding while also providing a decent balance of difficulty. The norse mythology-inspired setting and tidbits of lore scattered throughout the world also did a lot to pull me in. The one big downfall to the game, that I also feel is responsible for myself and my friends all losing interest in playing after a while, simply comes down to its current state as an early access title. As it is now Valheim's core gameplay loop does start to feel stale rather quickly, and there's really not enough to do outside of that loop to hold my attention after a while. It is still a great game in the end though, and has plenty of time to grow and become even better.
The Coin Game
I didn't exactly sink a ton of time into The Coin Game, but it's definitely the sort of game you can pretty much get the full experience from in under an hour. The entirety of the game is just having a big island full of different arcades that you can explore and play games in, and you can either play with unlimited money or earn money by doing odd jobs. It's really pretty simple, but the sheer variety of different arcade and fairground-style games there is can be a definite draw. If you like coin-crunch arcade machines then this is definitely the game for you.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Against my better judgement I did end up buying the Anniversary Edition upgrade for Skyrim Special Edition, and overall I can't deny that you do get your moneys worth out of what it has to offer. All this "new" anniversary edition amounts to is adding all of the currently released mods from the Creation Club to the base game, but dear god does that amount to a ton of content. New gameplay mechanics, optional survival mode, dozens of new weapons and armor sets, hundreds of new crafting ingredients, a whole bunch of quests, and all of it is pretty much on par with the rest of the game in terms of quality. It honestly feels insane to say this but I think the anniversary edition upgrade might be the best DLC Skyrim has received just for the sheer amount and variety of content it adds, and it really does feel like the definitive way to play Skyrim now.
RimWorld
RimWorld is one of those slow-burn games, where you get it thinking it looks like an interesting way to kill an hour, then suddenly you look up and notice 6 hours have passed and you're still playing. RimWorld really feels like the perfect blend of an action-strategy game and a life sim, and regardless of how fast paced or slow things are at any given moment it feels like there's always something interesting happening. This is only further compounded with the addition of the game's two DLCs, Royalty and Ideology, which agument this space-western adventure with elements of feudal empires, psychic powers and religious cults. The various difficulty settings and customization options also help make the game accessible to anyone, and the extensive modding community will let you make the game into whatever you want it to be.
Fallout 76
Fallout 76 was a game I told myself I would only get if it got both substantial updates and also got a steep sale, and 2021 just happened to be the year both of those things happened. For better or for worse, Fallout 76 is pretty much just multiplayer Fallout 4. The gameplay is largely the same outside of a reworked skills system, guns work the same, crafting is the same, settlement building is the same, really the only thing substantially different is the setting. I will say the multiplayer is a welcome addition, and the story feels both better written and less intrusive than Fallout 4's, particularly since your character doesn't have a voice this time around. My problems with the game are pretty much the same as in Fallout 4 too, with the gameplay loop of exploring and collecting trash then using the trash to improve your base and equipment just getting stale after a while, except this time it wasn't happening in a setting I'm familiar with IRL so I was considerably less drawn in from the start. I will say that Fallout 76 is a much better game than its reputation would let on, but it definitely has room to improve and I still wouldn't recommend buying it at full price if you can avoid it.
Guild Wars 2
I've always been hesitant to get invested in another MMORPG, but a friend eventually convinced me to give Guild Wars 2 a go. My initial reaction to the game was rather cold, the early game can be fairly slow and tedious to progress through and I had some difficulty getting properly invested in the story and characters because of that. Once I reached max level though (thanks in part to a free level booster) the game really felt like it opened up, and from there I was hooked to the point where I bought all of the game's expansions and DLCs. GW2 doesn't play like I'd typically expect from an MMO, with less emphasis on skills and questing and more focus on exploring, interacting with players and advancing the story. The most unusual aspect of the game I felt was the total lack of traditional quests outside of the game's main storyline. Instead, the game features various interactive events throughout the world that can be done both solo or in larger groups. The game also uniquely features what I might call "passive multiplayer", where you will often end up seeing or playing around other players, but there's very little need to actually directly interact with them if you don't choose to. While I still feel like Guild Wars 2's early game experience could use some work, the overall experience has still been one of the most enjoyable I've had in an MMO in some time.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood and Deadlands
As has been typical for the last several years, 2021 saw the release of two new DLC story zones for The Elder Scrolls Online. For this season. This time around, we were given access to a large portion of Cryodiil and Black Marsh in The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood, and returned to the Deadlands for the first time since Oblivion in ESO: Deadlands. Overall I felt these expansions were both very solid additions to the game, and were definitely a step up from the two Skyrim-centric DLCs released in 2020. The overarching story was interesting and fairly enjoyable, and it seems like they have some interesting plot threads they could address going forward. While my interest in ESO has waned some since getting into GW2, I still enjoy all the new offerings that came with this update and continue to look forward to any future expansions coming in 2022.
Old-School RuneScape
Okay so RuneScape isn't exactly a "new" game for me, considering I played it almost daily from 2008 until probably 2014, but 2021 did end up being the year I finally gave in and properly gave Old-School a try. I had always ignored OSRS, mostly because it was missing several updates originally released between 2008-2010 that I was fond of, but in its current state OSRS feels much closer to the game I remember RuneScape being when I most enjoyed it than RS3 does in its current state. RS3 simply doesn't feel like RuneScape to me anymore, while OSRS had finally scratched that itch I've been missing since the mid 2010s.
Sea of Thieves
Rounding out this little list of MMOs is Sea of Thieves, another game which I never thought I'd play until hearing that it had improved substantially since its launch and deciding to give it a go with a friend. We didn't end up playing a ton of it, never really completing any story missions and mostly just spending our time sailing the high seas gathering treasure and messing with other players. In that regard, I can safely say that Sea of Thieves is the perfect pirate simulator. As progress is tied to your characters and not your ship, fighting with and losing to other players never feels like more than an inconvenience, and does a good job of encouraging interactions while also making solo play feel just as viable. I'd definitely like to play more of this game going forward and see what all we can do.