Top Games of 2021

2021 was a weird year. Things started off much as 2020 did, locked inside, wondering when you would get out. 

But then things started opening up. And I stopped wanting to be inside. 

It was still a year that found studios having a difficult time creating games remotely. PS5's and Xbox Series S were still damn near impossible to find. 

Despite everyone trying to keep me from playing games, I covered a bunch this year. (Mostly thanks to Gamepass which might be the best thing to ever happen to games.)

So the rules are the same, the games did not need to come out in 2021, I just needed to play them in 2021. So here they are, my top games of 2021. 

The honorable mentions

These games made it onto my top list, but not enough to break the top 10. 

• Fire Emblem 3 Houses
• Torchlight 3
• Silent Hill 3 HD
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
• Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Resident Evil REmake Switch

10. Perfect Dark Zero

Thanks to game pass, I'm able to sample many games I passed on during the original 360 run. Perfect Dark Zero notoriously got mediocre reviews at launch and being on a college budget, I skipped it. I'm glad I didn't play it then because I would've hated it. 

But coming back to it more than 15 years later, it has a charm. A long dead game design philosophy, Perfect Dark Zero feels both like an N64 shooter and a PC adventure like Deus Ex. The small, self contained levels give you several options for completing objectives, but the map is chewable bits. There's not an open world when an open world isn't needed. It's a semi-linear adventure that goes from level to level. 

It has unlocks, which I also found incredibly charming. Any weapon you end a mission with becomes available to choose from the start on the next mission. 

The AI is dumb as can be. Often times, once the sneaking is over, you just sort of stand in a doorway with your gun face level and let the baddies come to you. 

And it has Co-op. Not only Co-op, but couch co-op, something that is becoming more and more rare in the always connected age. 

9. Disco Elysium

It's not Disco Elysium's fault it's number 9 on this list. If this game caught me when I was 20, I would've probably done six playthroughs by now. I have no stamina to bang my head against puzzles and dead ends. But I love this game. 

I pick it up hard for a few weeks, then bounce off for a few weeks, then I'm back on for a few weeks. 

The story is incredible and the puzzles, even if I don't have the stamina for them, are fantastic. 

8. Lawn Mowing Simulator

No, this is not a joke. In the dozen or so games I played this year, with all of the explosions and swords clinking, Lawn Mowing Simulator was absolutely meditative. 

I'd find myself looking at my watch, noticing I had 30 minutes free, and I'd hop on my officially licensed lawn mower and take care of the cottage lawn. 

Unfortunately the game is a bit glitchy in the menus, it doesn't play nice with Xbox's suspend mode, so I had to start my lawn mowing business over once or twice, but it doesn't matter. I could do the same lawn over and over again. 

7. WarioWare Get it Together

WarioWare was a nice distraction. Right when things started opening up and you could see a glimmer of hope that the world would return to a "normal" state, I hopped on a train and spent the entire ride to Chicago banging out these mini-games. 

There's something both charming and maddening about the 7 second mini-games. I know just reacting is part of the fun, but there are times where a game will come across my screen 4-5 times and I just never figure it out. 

Overall, it's a blast. It's a hard sell at $60, but anything less than that it's worth it. 

6. Crackdown 3

The original Crackdown was the surprise of the 360. Most people bought it to get the demo of Halo 3. Well, it turns out the game bundled with the Halo 3 demo was actually really fun. Chaotic fun. Co-op chaotic fun. 

They lost the thread with Crackdown 2, thinking what we really wanted was yet another zombie game but this time with super powers. It was boring. the world was drab. 

Crackdown 3 moves back into the right direction. The world is vibrant. The enemies interesting. The super powers just incredibly fun. Unfortunately, it came out when not a lot of people were on the Xbox. I'm not sure if we'll get a Crackdown 4, but I like the way it's trending. 

5. Alien Isolation

There have been many more lows than highs when it comes to Alien games, but Isolation is right up there with Alien Vs Predator and Alien Trilogy as the best of the bunch. 

Isolation does what so many developers are scared to do with the franchise, take away the thousands of Xenomorphs and the thousands of bullets, and just let you try to survive with your wits, the things you find, and some duct tape. 

Not only did the survival horror work really well, but walking around a high definition rendered space station with the aesthetic of the alien franchise. 

4. Sunset Overdrive

Sunset Overdrive had a lot working against it. The Xbox One was marketed as an out of touch old man machine. They wanted to implement always on copy protection and pushed cable TV features. 

Gamers didn't buy the Xbox One (initially), so the install base was small. 

And then the marketing for Sunset Overdrive felt like a game out of 1998. A concept for a Surge commercial. Tony Hawk-esque traversing with a quipping, Xtreme alien hunter. 

What was largely missed by the masses is a very fun, very fast, and very funny game. 

3. Yakuza: Like a Dragon

The premise of the Yakuza games never really sang to me. It was one of those series like Shenmue that I just didn't want to invest the time into even though I knew the world was rich. 

Like a Dragon took the real time combat and made it a turn based RPG that feels fresh and plays so well. The goofy side stories, the left field characters, the familiar parts of Japan all came together to make an incredible experience. 

If it wasn't for the time investment needed to 100% the game, I probably would've started New Game+ to try and get everything on the checklist. 

2. Age of Empires IV

RTS is back baybay. I've always had a soft spot for the genre. I still boot up AGE3 and Star Craft 2 every now and then. 

I was a little nervous for AGE IV. The RTS community has been hurt before, especially with Age of Empires. Only announcing 8 civs made me pause, thinking there's no way we could have the depth of play the older games gave us. 

Well I'm happy to report, there's plenty of depth. I've put in 20 hours so far, and every single Civ is so different it's a completely different game. 

1. Resident Evil Village

Oh yeah, big shocker, the guy that loves Resident Evil puts Resident Evil at the top of his list. 

Well Village deserves it. It continues the story of Resident Evil 7, which sort of takes place in the main Resident Evil universe, but it's like a Spider-man Shattered Dimensions thing in that it's unclear if Chris Redfield punched a volcano in this timeline. But it took the engine from Resident Evil 7, which always felt a little slow to me, and sped it up a bit. I no longer feel like I'm walking through syrup. 

Village also leans into the ridiculous world of Resident Evil. You might find yourself with a severed limb and then you put it back on with a little bit of green + red herb combo. Or the enemies that are supposed to be real people wander this town as Lovecraftian horror characters as if nothing is weird about them. 

The puzzles are fun, the layout reminds me a lot of the best parts of Resident Evil 4, and the combat is rewarding without being frustrating.